Chương 9: Prime-Originator

Lin Shen's body naturally roused from his sleep. His body had already rested enough, but it was mostly his brain that felt refreshed. He slowly got up from his bed but felt a slight resistance. He took a look and saw Jie Xiulan's hand on his chest.

'This girl, when did she get on my bed…' He removed her hand from his chest gently, not wanting to wake her up, and quietly moved towards the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Lin Shen washed up his face and dried it off with a soft towel. He checked his phone for the time.

"Fuck...I slept till night time? I'll need some coffee to stay awake for the whole day then."

He went to brew some coffee in the kitchen. While waiting for the coffee, he decided to check the new item he received.

[Inventory]

-The Key To The Immortal World

'System, can you give me a description of 'The Key To The Immortal World'?'

[The Key To The Immortal World]

-It is one of the ways to enter the world of Immortals. Jie Xiulan is the key.

'Wait, what?'

'System what do you mean Jie Xiulan is the key? Do you mean to say that she knows how to get into the immortal world?'

(Precisely. In addition to that, she has a very strong father at the Prime-Originator stage, almost at the level of immortals.)

(And before you ask; if I, a mysterious app that grants upgrades to your physical and mental abilities exist, then who says cultivators and immortals do not?)

Lin Shen reacted calmly to this, since he wasn't an atheist. He was just about to ask more questions concerning cultivators when the coffee machine beeps to indicate the successful brewing of the coffee.

Beep.

The noise wasn't loud or anything, thankfully. Lin Shen poured the coffee into a cup and took a sip.

'Mmm...that really soothes my mind.'

"Yawn… ah Lin Shen, you're drinking coffee. Do you think I can have some?" Jie Xiulan entered the kitchen while patting her mouth, trying to suppress her yawn.

"Sure, grab a cup. There's still some more in the pitcher." Lin Shen pointed to the coffee maker.

She proceeded to fill a cup with some coffee. When that was done, she took a sip since it was still hot.

"Mmmh… this is really good stuff. How do you make such a good coffee?" Jie Xiulan turned to Lin Shen and asked.

"It's nothing special. I just paid more attention to the amount of sugar I put into the coffee, plus I used the right amount of heat." Lin Shen smiled and allowed his OCD to explain.

"Wow…" Jie Xiulan opened her mouth in awe. No matter how simple he put it, to have achieved this level of taste required studious effort. Normal people would just add sugar until they felt the taste was right, while some others wouldn't add any at all. Here was Lin Shen who paid attention to not only the appropriate amount of sugar but also the temperature.

Lin Shen glanced at Jie Xiulan while contemplating his thoughts. He was thinking about his earlier discussion with the app. If Jie Xiulan had a father who was very close to being an immortal, then did that mean that she was, at the very least, a very talented cultivator? That would explain why she was able to escape from Jin Da, although the use of treasures could have been in the play.

He decided to just ask her. "Jie Xiulan, are you by any chance a cultivator?"

"Pfft...huh what do you mean by that?" She was in the middle of sipping on her coffee when Lin Shen asked her that surprising question. People shouldn't normally know about cultivators, so where did Lin Shen get this information from? From novels? No, that stuff wasn't reliable.

Lin Shen's cheeks turned a little red as he spoke, "Well, earlier when you...kissed me, you said something about being intoxicated with my spirit. Normal people wouldn't say stuff like that."

Jie Xiulan also blushed when being reminded of her early antics. However, since it had already happened, she wasn't that embarrassed about it anymore.

"Well, you're half right. I am not a cultivator but my father is. Even that being the case, I could've just been a weird girl muttering weird things. What made you associate me with cultivators?"

With his intelligent mind, Lin Shen started bullshitting. "Well, the first reason is Jin Da. He is the boss of Wolf's Bane as you already know, leading many men to do his biddings. However, he personally came to capture you, which speaks of your importance. I have some history with him as well so I personally know his strength, which you should not have been able to escape from, which brings me to the next point."

"You were able to escape Jin Da. That's not a feat regular people can achieve. The only possible explanations could've been that one, you are not a weak person; however if that was the case then you shouldn't have been caught so easily and beaten so much."

Lin Shen gently caressed Jie Xiulan's face which had a few bruise marks, although it didn't manage to cover her beauty. She lightly blushed at his actions and felt her heart beating a little faster.

Lin Shen retracted his hand after a while. "Two, you had some help from others to aid you in your escape. If that was the case however, then you shouldn't have needed my help. So it could only be the third one. You are not a regular person, and since you yourself said that you are not a cultivator, you probably had some protective items or charms to help you escape."

Lin Shen felt his throat a little parched from all that talking. He just observed Jie Xiulan while sipping on his coffee. After getting to first base with her, he felt more comfortable around and could speak his mind around her.

"I mean...wow. You are really intelligent, Lin Shen." Jie Xiulan spoke her feelings. She could not believe a high schooler could think that far into it. She suddenly felt dumb.

._.

Jie Xiulan nodded her head. "Yeah, I really did have a protective talisman that allowed me to escape. Actually, the first time it was activated was when I was knocked out, which also sent a signal to my father. That also means he should be on his way."

Ding Dong!

"Is that him?"

"I think so."

"Well to be safe, you stay in the kitchen and I'll go check it out. It might be Jin Da and his men for all we know." Lin Shen told Jie Xiulan to hide in the kitchen.

He finished the cup of coffee in hand quickly then went to check out the door.

He looked through the peephole and saw a man around 30-years old standing in front of the door. The man wore weird clothes that did not fit the times, and he could faintly notice a floating piece of carved wood hovering above his head.

Lin Shen opened the door. He had a faint idea of who this man was but he needed to make sure just in case.

"How may I help you, sir?"

The man standing in front of the door saw a young man opening the door and furrowed his brows. 'Why would Xiulan be in this place?'

"I'm looking for my daughter. She has blue hair and a delicate face. Have you seen her?"

"A girl with blue hair...are you perhaps at the Prime-Originator stage?"

"You!- Who are you?!" The man immediately became more alert at the fact that such a young man could see through his cultivation.

The young man stepped aside to allow him in. "Your reaction confirms it. You are indeed Jie Xiulan's father. She's inside the kitchen."

Jie Xiulan's father was curious about Lin Shen but his daughter was a more pressing matter. He entered the apartment without removing his shoes, which Lin Shen noticed seemed to not have left any traces of dirt or mud.

He found Jie Xiulan in the kitchen, just as he was told.

"Father! You're here!" Jie Xiulan seemed to have finished her coffee when she noticed her father entering the kitchen. She immediately sprang to him and gave a hug.

"Xiulan! I'm so glad you're safe! Dad was really worried when the protective talisman I gave you was activated." Jie Xiulan's father shed tears of relief at finding his daughter safe and sound, although there were a few bruises on her face.

'Hmm, bruises?'

"Ahh Xiulan! What happened to your face? You've suffered in the mortal world! Who dared to beat you up like this? Was it him? Was it this young man here who bared his fists against you?"

"Father! Relax, it wasn't Brother Lin who did this to me. He was actually the one who saved me." Jie Xiulan hurriedly explained to her father, worried that not doing so would harm Lin Shen.

Lin Shen noticed her change in addressing him, but he didn't point that out.

Jie Xiulan's father calmed down and sat on the nearest seat.

"Tell me everything that happened."