In Martial Universe, Signed in at the Start with Yao Lao's Ring

Upon hearing Lin Ken's words, Lin Xiao also turned his gaze toward Lin Yan with curiosity.

Like Lin Ken, Lin Xiao had also witnessed Lin Yan fighting on equal footing with Lei Ying earlier—and even vaguely suppressing him.

So now, Lin Xiao was extremely curious.

Had Lin Yan really stepped into the Heavenly Yuan Stage?

If that were true, then it would be simply absurd. After all, from the time he started cultivating until now, it had barely been a year.

Yet, in just a single year, he had advanced from the Tempering Body Stage to nearly the Heavenly Yuan Stage. This kind of speed was simply monstrous.

"No."

"Uncle Ken," Lin Yan said, shaking his head at the two elders.

"I'm still at the Late Earth Yuan Stage."

"Earth Yuan Stage, huh?"

"That's still impressive."

Both men seemed slightly disappointed at first, and Lin Ken offered words of encouragement.

But then, something clicked in his mind. His expression quickly shifted to one of sheer shock.

"Wait a minute, Lin Yan—are you saying that you're only at the Late Earth Yuan Stage, yet you managed to fight Lei Ying, a Heavenly Yuan Stage opponent, to a standstill… even suppressing him?"

Lin Xiao was stunned by this realization.

"That's right! Lin Yan, how did you, at the Earth Yuan Stage, overpower someone at the Heavenly Yuan Stage? This completely defies logic!"

Lin Xiao couldn't wrap his head around it.

As a Heavenly Yuan Stage expert himself, he was well aware of the massive gap between the two stages.

Whether it was in terms of physical toughness or the purity of Yuan Power, Heavenly Yuan Stage cultivators were vastly superior to those in the Earth Yuan Stage.

It could be said that even a Heavenly Yuan Stage beginner had a much greater advantage over a Late Earth Yuan Stage cultivator than an Early Earth Yuan Stage cultivator had over a Late one.

Realizing this, Lin Xiao stared at Lin Yan in utter disbelief.

"I suppose I was just lucky…"

"Or maybe Lei Ying is just on the weaker side for a Heavenly Yuan Stage cultivator?"

Lin Yan scratched his head and let out an awkward chuckle.

Lin Ken and Lin Xiao both shook their heads firmly.

"No, Lei Ying's strength is not weak for his level."

"It's you who is simply too monstrous!"

As they spoke, smiles broke across their faces. The frustration they had felt earlier over the destruction of Steel Wood Manor was suddenly swept away.

They couldn't help but say:

"Though the destruction of Steel Wood Manor is infuriating…"

"The fact that our Lin family has someone like Lin Yan makes us incredibly fortunate."

"Luck truly balances itself out. If our family has Lin Yan, then suffering some misfortunes along the way is a small price to pay."

Lin Yan merely smiled without saying much.

He wasn't the type to boast, preferring to keep a low profile. Thus, he didn't continue along their line of conversation.

Lin Xiao and Lin Ken were well aware of Lin Yan's personality by now.

So, upon sensing that Lin Yan didn't want to attract too much attention, they tactfully dropped the subject.

After all, Lin Yan was of great importance to the Lin family now, and they had to respect his wishes.

"Let's inspect the Steel Wood Forest inside the manor and assess the extent of the damage!"

Lin Ken shifted his focus and issued orders to the Lin family guards.

"Understood!"

The Lin family members immediately responded and quickly set out to investigate.

However, the reports they returned with were not good—far from it. In fact, the situation was utterly disastrous.

Upon hearing the assessment, Lin Ken and Lin Xiao's expressions turned completely grim.

The news quickly reached the Lin family.

As expected, upon receiving the report, Lin Zhentian rushed to Steel Wood Manor in a fury.

(TL: Sounds better Lin Zhentian or Lin Zhen Tian?)

At that moment, standing outside the main hall and hearing Lin Zhentian's enraged roars from within, Lin Ken and Lin Xiao exchanged bitter smiles.

Lin Ken turned to Lin Xiao and said, "It looks like Father is going to be fuming for a while."

"Third Brother, we should probably avoid the storm for now. If we go in right now, we'll definitely get scolded too."

"It's better to wait until Father calms down, then we can tell him about Yan'er. Once he hears about Yan'er, his mood should improve."

Lin Xiao nodded in agreement, fully supporting Lin Ken's approach.

Meanwhile, perched atop a steep cliffside, Lin Yan couldn't help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.

Even he had never seen Lin Zhentian in such a fiery rage before.

"Sigh, I'm still not strong enough. I need to keep improving."

"If even fighting a mere Heavenly Yuan Stage beginner was this troublesome… I'm still way too weak."

Lin Yan sighed to himself. The more he thought about the powerful Lei family—who, in the original story, even went as far as colluding with others to destroy the Lin family—the more he realized how lacking his current strength was.

However, when Lin Dong heard this, his expression stiffened, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

"Brother Lin Yan, you really don't think like a normal person, do you?"

"With your level of strength, you still think you're weak?"

"Then I might as well quit cultivating altogether. What a disgrace."

Lin Dong stared at Lin Yan with a resentful look.

Lin Yan chuckled awkwardly, choosing not to argue further.

Soon, he turned to Lin Dong and said, "Lin Dong, I'm going to take a walk around. Sitting here and listening to Grandpa's shouting is getting a bit dull."

Lin Dong nodded, then stood up and asked, "Want me to come with you?"

Lin Yan shook his head. "No, I have some other things to take care of."

Lin Dong rolled his eyes. "Tch, fine then! Acting all mysterious."

With that, the two parted ways.

As for Lin Yan, he soon began wandering around Steel Wood Manor.

Of course, his real goal was to sign in at the manor. Since he didn't know the exact sign-in location, he had no choice but to roam around and test his luck.

And as for why he sent Lin Dong away? Naturally, he didn't want anyone discovering his secret.

Lin Yan strolled through Steel Wood Manor for quite some time.

At first, he was a little worried—what if he couldn't sign-in here?

But the system didn't disappoint him.

Just as he reached a well-preserved section of the forest, the system's voice suddenly rang out, making Lin Yan pause in his tracks.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Sign-in at Steel Wood Manor completed!]

[Reward obtained: Limitless Death Seal!]

[Origin: The Great Thousand World!]

At first, Lin Yan assumed the reward would be something from the Dou Qi Continent, just like before.

After all, every reward he had received up until now had been from that world.

But upon hearing the system's announcement, Lin Yan was momentarily stunned.

Because this time, the system's reward wasn't from the Dou Qi Continent—it was from The Great Ruler, the Great Thousand World!