Chapter 11: Changes on the Mysterious Island

“……” Lin Li stared blankly at the spirit stone in his hand that had already been drained dry, feeling a sharp, aching pain in his heart.

He had spent 500,000 to buy ten spirit stones, yet they could only sustain his cultivation for ten hours. This was something he had never anticipated.

However, the silver lining in this misfortune was that after consuming this spirit stone for cultivation, he felt he was one small step closer to a breakthrough. Once all ten spirit stones were used up, he could basically guarantee a breakthrough to the peak of the First Order.

“Keep cultivating! There is no turning back now. Since I have chosen to walk this path, I must persist until the end.”

Lin Li took a deep breath. After his emotions calmed down, he reached out, took another spirit stone from the box, and held it in his palm.

A pale golden spiritual light bloomed on Lin Li’s right hand. Wisps of spiritual energy overflowed from the crystal-clear spirit stone and were then absorbed into Lin Li’s body.

Cultivation continued. One spirit stone after another was drained dry by Lin Li, and he grew closer and closer to breaking through to the peak of the First Order.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

Apart from bathroom breaks and dinner, Lin Li spent almost the entire time cultivating.

Nearly midnight, the last spirit stone was drained dry by Lin Li.

As he slowly opened his eyes, one could see a flash of pale golden light in them, along with an overwhelming sense of excitement.

Peak of the First Order. Having spent half his savings and over ten hours of time, Lin Li had finally broken through. Now, his plans could continue to move forward.

“Hiss...”

Lin Li, preparing to rise from the sofa, gasped. Maintaining a sitting posture for so long had made his lower back quite sore.

“My back is so sore. I won’t use this posture for cultivation next time. The principle of cultivation is the same anyway; it’s more comfortable to cultivate lying on the bed. Why bother sitting cross-legged?”

Lin Li muttered to himself, then got off the sofa and stood up to stretch his aching back, which had grown stiff from cultivation.

It was past twelve o’clock, and most people in the residential complex were already asleep.

Having just finished his cultivation and successfully broken through to the peak of the First Order, Lin Li still felt a bit excited and couldn’t fall asleep yet.

He thought for a moment, and with a flick of his mind, a flash of spiritual light enveloped him, and he vanished from his home.

…………

White mist, clear water, a small island, a small tree, and a person who appeared out of thin air.

“This... how did this island get bigger?” Arriving at the mysterious island, Lin Li looked at the island, which had clearly increased in size, with a face full of astonishment.

At this moment, a piece of information surfaced in Lin Li’s mind out of nowhere.

Current area of the island: two hundred square meters!!!

“This mysterious island can actually grow? The area doubled all at once? What exactly caused the area of this mysterious island to increase?”

Lin Li frowned and pondered deeply. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he formed an uncertain hypothesis.

“Could it be that this mysterious island changed in size because I just broke through my cultivation level?

Uh... but when I broke through to the high stage of the First Order before, I didn’t see it get any bigger! Forget it, I won’t think about it. I’ll know once I break through to the early stage of the Second Order later and see if it grows again.”

Compared to the doubling of the mysterious island’s area, Lin Li was more concerned about the magical little tree in the center of the island. After all, whether the little fruits grown by this magical tree would allow him to become a powerful cultivator in the future was at stake.

He walked around the magical tree twice, examined it carefully from top to bottom, and reached out to touch its trunk.

There was no change at all. It seemed that without the flesh and blood of exotic beasts, this magical tree would not undergo any changes.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild to take the exam for the Exotic Beast Hunter license, and then I’ll prepare to go into the wild to hunt exotic beasts,” Lin Li said to himself, looking at the unchanged magical tree before him.

Then, with a thought, he exited the mysterious island and returned to the real world.

…………

The next morning.

The weather was overcast, and the air was a bit muggy. Checking the weather forecast, there would be a light rain in Rong City today.

The Rong City Exotic Beast Hunter Guild was located in the central district of Rong City. Several buildings, dozens of stories high, made up the guild, covering an area of over 20,000 square meters.

The office area inside was not open to outsiders; only the service building near the main entrance was freely accessible.

Before coming, Lin Li had already researched it online and knew that the place to take the exam for the Exotic Beast Hunter qualification certificate was inside the service building.

Walking into the lobby of the service building, Lin Li noticed there weren’t many people. Thinking about it, it made sense; those who could become exotic beast hunters were, after all, a minority.

Even if people came here to take the exam, it was impossible for them to swarm in all on the same day.

“Hello, I’d like to take the exam for an Exotic Beast Hunter qualification certificate. What procedures do I need to follow?” Lin Li went to the service desk in the lobby to inquire.

“Just pay a registration fee of one thousand, then wait ten minutes, and we will arrange the exam for you. After passing the exam, we will issue you a qualification certificate,” the staff member introduced simply to Lin Li.

Unlike the government agency he visited yesterday to test his cultivation and register his status as a cultivator, the qualification certification exam at the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild was not free.

“Okay, can I pay with my phone?” Lin Li nodded and asked.

“Yes, open your payment code,” the staff member said.

After paying the one-thousand registration fee, Lin Li sat on a nearby chair and waited for a while. Soon, the staff member called out to him, “Mr. Lin Li, the examiner in charge of your test has been arranged. Please come with me.”

“Finally,” Lin Li felt a bit nervous. He stood up, walked toward the staff member, and followed them toward the testing site.

To become a First Order peak cultivator and obtain an Exotic Beast Hunter qualification certificate, one had to fight an examiner arranged by the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild.

The combat time was three minutes. As long as the candidate could hold out against the examiner for three minutes and still be able to stand at the end, they would pass the exam.

……

Lin Li’s testing site was in Exam Hall No. 6.

This hall covered an area of five hundred square meters and was equipped with three arenas.

When there were many applicants, three examiners would test candidates' strength simultaneously on the arenas, but today, Lin Li was the only candidate in this hall.

Lin Li’s examiner was a tall man in his thirties, a head taller than Lin Li’s 1.8-meter height.

The man was likely over two meters tall and covered in knotted muscles.

Because he was wearing a short-sleeved training uniform, one could see terrifying, centipede-like scars on his exposed chest and arms.

This was a veteran exotic beast hunter who had survived life-and-death battles with exotic beasts.

…………

(End of chapter)