That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Lin Zhifeng led Qingfeng back to their residence.

After Lin Zhifeng's soul returned to its place, he was no longer mentally impaired, and Qingfeng seemed even happier than Lin Zhifeng himself.

Lin Zhifeng remembered the elders' instructions, and had no choice but to nag Qingfeng again: "Qingfeng, you must not let anyone else know that my intelligence has been restored before the people of Yufeng Valley leave. Remember! Remember!"

Qingfeng quickly suppressed her smile, her small face tense as she said seriously, "I understand, young master. I will be careful, don't worry."

Now that things are looking up regarding the annulment of the engagement, we can consider doing the side quest. Every little bit helps! Besides, Mingyue is a bad person; we can't let him stay in the Sword Sect.

It's easy to kick him out; it only takes a word from Lin Zhifeng.

Even if Mingyue has now latched onto Lin Jun's coattails, he can't gain Lin Jun's complete trust anytime soon. If Lin Zhifeng suggests sending Mingyue away, Lin Jun won't go against him for the sake of a menial servant.

But chasing Mingyue away is the final step. Before that, you need to teach him a lesson and retrieve the items; only then can you consider the side quest complete.

Therefore, Lin Zhifeng would have to make a careful plan.

Fortunately, Lin Zhifeng was not in a hurry. He could wait until the matter of annulment was settled before dealing with Mingyue's affairs.

This wait lasted for three days.

Three days later, the elders sent word, asking Lin Zhifeng to come to the council hall.

Lin Zhifeng had stayed at his residence for the past few days and hadn't gone anywhere. Upon receiving the news, he led Qingfeng to the council hall.

Upon arriving at the council hall, they found all nine elders present, each with a joyful expression, indicating that the annulment of the engagement had been successfully resolved.

After Lin Zhifeng greeted the elders, the eldest elder smiled and handed him a storage bag.

Lin Zhifeng opened it and exclaimed, "Wow, there's quite a lot of stuff here!"

There are 10,000 low-grade spirit stones; 1,000 mid-grade spirit stones; and 10 high-grade spirit stones. In addition, there are quite a few thousand-year-old spiritual herbs.

Lin Zhifeng feigned a question: "What is this?"

The Grand Elder laughed and said, "Take this. This is the compensation from Yufeng Valley for annulling the engagement. We have reached an agreement with them, and the engagement is canceled. From now on, you and Yu Bingqing are free to marry as you please, and you will have nothing to do with each other."

Lin Zhifeng exclaimed happily, "That's wonderful! Thank you all for your thoughtfulness!"

The elders all said, "No need to be so polite, we're all family, it's only right."

Lin Zhifeng asked again, "Are you giving me all these spirit stones? Don't I have to hand over some to the sect?"

The Grand Elder waved his hand and said, "Although our Sword Sect is not wealthy, we don't need your spirit stones. Besides, this is what you deserve. You'll need money for cultivation in the future, so keep them safe for yourself!"

Lin Zhifeng then put the storage bag into his pocket. No one could see that he had actually put the storage bag into the system's storage slot.

Lin Zhifeng bowed deeply to the nine elders and said, "I am ashamed to accept such an honor. I will definitely work hard to cultivate in the future and live up to the sect's kindness in protecting me."

The elders were increasingly delighted—the child had become even more endearing since his soul returned to his body. His talent, his emotional intelligence, his demeanor, his appearance… he was sure to be a great person in the future!

After bidding farewell to the elders, Lin Zhifeng led Qingfeng back to his small cave.

After sending Qingfeng away, Lin Zhifeng opened the minimized system panel.

He discovered that the "Complete" button had appeared in the main quest section where the engagement was annulled.

He clicked "Done," and an electronic voice announced: "Congratulations, Master, on completing the main quest of annulment. You have received 10 points of luck and one Golden Essence Pill."

The Golden Essence Pill can greatly increase the success rate of breaking through from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core. Lin Jun, who has already reached the Golden Core stage, mostly owes his success to the effects of the Golden Essence Pill.

Thinking that breaking through to the Golden Core stage was just around the corner, Lin Zhifeng happily put the Golden Core Pill into his storage.

Now that the engagement has been annulled, I'm no longer afraid to reveal my true strength. Next, I'll deal with Mingyue, and then focus on my cultivation, striving to break through to a higher level as soon as possible.

Speaking of dealing with Mingyue, that kid is currently under Lin Jun's command. It would be easier to bring him back to my command and deal with him then.

As for how to bring him back, that will have to be handled by Qingfeng.

Lin Zhifeng searched through his private stash and found that apart from the spirit stones and herbs he had acquired today, he had nothing of value.

Having received the original owner's memories, Lin Zhifeng knew that the original owner's sect leader father had prepared a lot of pills and spirit stones for him, and some protective talismans and magical artifacts had also been tricked away by Mingyue.

Lin Zhifeng summoned Qingfeng and said, "Come with me down the mountain to buy some things."

Qingfeng knew that Lin Zhifeng had just acquired a lot of money, and since he didn't have any pills on hand, he would definitely have to go to the pharmacy to buy some.

Qingfeng readily agreed and followed his young master down the mountain.

The Sword Sect is a large sect, and there are many smaller sects nearby that rely on it for survival. As a result, a small town has sprung up around these sects and the vicinity of the Sword Sect.

The town has blacksmith shops, pharmacies, clothing stores, talisman shops, and magical artifact shops, among other things. Although it can't compare to large cities, it can still meet the daily needs of the nearby sects.

Lin Zhifeng led Qingfeng straight to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy is located in the center of the town; it's a two-story building. A railing extends outward from the eaves of the second floor, with a flag hanging on it bearing the large character for "medicine."

Upon entering the pharmacy, one sees a large counter on the first floor. The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man, sits behind the counter and quickly gets up to greet the guests.

Lin Zhifeng got straight to the point, stating his purpose: he wanted to buy one Foundation Establishment Pill, one hundred Initial Yuan Pills, and one hundred Middle Yuan Pills.

This Foundation Establishment Pill is a pill that helps cultivators in the Qi Refining stage break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. It is not cheap, costing one thousand low-grade spirit stones per pill.

Ordinary people can only begin cultivation after they can draw qi into their bodies, but they must break through to the Foundation Establishment stage to truly shed their mortal form. The ability to reach Foundation Establishment filters out a large number of people, which explains the high price of Foundation Establishment Pills.

The Initial Essence Pill is used to increase the power of cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, much like the experience-boosting potions you can buy in a game. The Middle Essence Pill, on the other hand, is for those in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Lin Zhifeng now has the Golden Core Pill in hand and needs to quickly advance to the late Foundation Establishment stage before breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

Seeing Lin Zhifeng buy so many pills at once, the shopkeeper was overjoyed. He said, "Young master, the Foundation Establishment Pill has a uniform price across the entire continent, so our shop's wholesale price is high. I can't give you a discount of 1,000 low-grade spirit stones. However, the Initial Yuan Pill and the Middle Yuan Pill that you want can be refined by our resident alchemist. I'll give you a 20% discount on both. The original price of the Initial Yuan Pill is 1 low-grade spirit stone per pill, so 100 pills will be discounted to 80 low-grade spirit stones. The Middle Yuan Pill is 5 low-grade spirit stones per pill, so 100 pills will be discounted to 400 low-grade spirit stones. The total is 1,480 low-grade spirit stones."

Lin Zhifeng knew that he could get a discount if he bought a large quantity, but he was very pleased that the shopkeeper offered him a discount before he even asked. Therefore, he didn't haggle and readily paid.

After completing the transaction by exchanging money for goods, Lin Zhifeng led Qingfeng to the magic artifact shop. There, he spent another hundred low-grade spirit stones to buy Qingfeng a jade pendant with storage function.

Qingfeng naturally refused to accept it, but after being persuaded repeatedly by Lin Zhifeng, he reluctantly accepted it.

After shopping, the two returned home.

Lin Zhifeng called Qingfeng over and whispered to him, "Qingfeng, I'm planning to deal with Mingyue. What do you think about this?"

Qingfeng said, "Of course I agree! In my opinion, we should have taught him a lesson long ago. That ungrateful bastard! Bah!"

Lin Zhifeng said, "I plan to lure him back first. It's not easy for us to do anything to Lin Jun while he's with him. Even if we don't care about Lin Jun, we still have to consider the Seventh Elder, right? As for how to lure him back, that's up to you."

Qingfeng's eyes shone brightly: "Young master, please give me your orders, and I will do my best to help you."

Lin Zhifeng shoved all the Foundation Establishment Pills and Initial Yuan Pills into Qingfeng's hands and said, "Don't do anything for the next few days. Go and break through to the Foundation Establishment stage first."

Qingfeng was chosen by Lin Yuan to serve Lin Zhifeng, and was groomed to become his future bodyguard. Therefore, Qingfeng's talent is quite good; although only a teenager, he is already at the seventh level of Qi Refining. With the Initial Yuan Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills given to him by Lin Zhifeng, successfully establishing his foundation shouldn't be a problem.