Su Jin always blushed when he was nervous, and he always get nervous when someone was paying extra attention to him. Perhaps it was because he had an older brother above him, so when others praised him or paid extra attention to him, he always compared himself to his older brother in his heart and then felt like the other person was being too excessive. After all, what was so good about him when his brother was so outstanding?
However, even though he was nervously blushing due to Xai Lin's excessive attention at the moment, if one looked closer, one might be able to see the expectations in the depths of his eyes as he answered her question.
"Elder Sister Xai Lin, I've only studied the theory of Artifact Refining, but I was able to refine a mid-level Low-grade Sword when I tried Artifact Refining once."
Upon hearing this, Xai Lin's expression stiffened slightly.
"You—How old were you when you refine that sword, and what was your cultivation realm?"
Su Jin scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, but the expectations in his heart hadn't lessened by a fraction, as he said.
"Elder Sister Xai Lin, at the time when I refine that sword I was ten years old. As for my cultivation base at the time, well, we only start our cultivations when we reach twelve years old, right?"
By this point, Xai Lin could no longer suppress the doubts in her heart, and her feign composure completely collapsed as she stared at Su Jin with her eyes wide open, filled with shock and incredulity.
What did it meant for a ten-year-old who hadn't even started cultivating yet to refine a mid-level Low-grade Spirit Treasure? This wasn't even being a genius that was capable of refining treasures beyond one's cultivation realm, it was a monster-like child being able to refine treasures that cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm can use, despite only being a mortal that hadn't yet stepped onto the path of cultivation.
A mortal refining cultivation Spirit Treasures; if news got out that such a prodigy existed, then the entire Human Race would be thrown into chaos.
Xai Lin looked at Su Jin, who was still wearing an innocent expression, and asked in a slightly dazed tone.
"Does your family know about this?"
Su Jin immediately shook his head and said.
"I didn't tell them."
"Why?"
Xai Lin looked at Su Jin with a confused expression. At this point, how could she not have realized that stupid author in her past life had thoroughly downplayed Su Jin's talent in the novel. Rather than his brother, he was the one who should have become the Earthly Spear Immortal Sect's Holy Son.
Su Jin paused, and the expectations that were hidden in the depths of his eyes were immediately snuffed out by him, before he lowered his head. He had wanted someone to acknowledge his talents and secret efforts, but he backed out and cowered at the last moment.
Only after a moment of silence did he raise his head and hesitantly speak.
"Elder Sister Xai Lin, can you not tell anyone about my talent in Artifact Refining, especially my older brother?"
Xai Lin clearly heard the pleading tone in Su Jin's voice and saw the nervous look in his eyes. With that, she immediately understood.
Su Jin's admiration for his brother was deeply ingrained in his heart. If he were to reveal his talent in Artifact Refining, it would undoubtedly overshadow his older brother.
But suddenly, Xai Lin realized another matter.
How could that white dragon twist Su Jin's thoughts so quickly and so thoroughly?
Context mattered. It wasn't simply due to Sikong's unconscious act of looking down on him, but it was also the fact that Su Jin had been suppressing himself all along so his older brother could remain in the spotlight; only for his older brother to turn around and treat him just like everyone outside said he was, a trash.
Even if it was only done unconsciously, it was like accepting someone's forbearance then turning around and mocking them for it. Because as it turns out, even with his cultivation half crippled, Su Jin's talents in Artifact Refining could more than make up for it.
For Xai Lin at this moment, suddenly discovering that the story she had read in her past life was even more tragic than she had thought, she only felt a wave of emotions rushing through her heart as she looked at this brat name Su Jin.
After releasing a heavy sigh to calm her tumultuous emotions, she raised her hand and patted Su Jin on the head.
"If you have such a talent, why hide it? Even if you were afraid of outshining your brother and making him jealous, couldn't you have just refined several Top-grade Spirit Treasures to make up for him in the future? Who would stay jealous of someone who was gifting them Top-grade Treasures for free?"
Su Jin froze upon hearing that, but then his eyes went round in sudden realization.
"I—I never thought of that."
After saying this, Su Jin lowered his head in thought.
Xai Lin shook her head at this. She realized this Su Jin was too innocent, more than she had thought previously, to the point he was actually willing to suppress his own talents in fear of upsetting his older brother. Putting aside the fact of whether Sikong in the original story with his Chaos Tower would be jealous or not, even if the him of the present, who had lost it, were upset due to his talents, Su Jin had plenty of ways to resolve such a situation instead of going to such extremes.
Xai Lin patted Su Jin's head a few more times, before she turned him around and pushed him toward the pavilion, while urging in a gentle tone.
"Alright, we'll be traveling using this flying boat a lot in the future, so go ahead and pick a permanent room on the first floor."
Su Jin snapped out of his thoughts, and politely thanked Xai Lin before scurrying off to choose a room. He had wanted to say more, but he didn't dare to stay and endure An Mo's increasingly murderous glare.
After watching Su Jin enter the pavilion, Xai Lin turned to look at An Mo, who had appeared next to her at some point.
An Mo met Xai Lin's gaze and said in an aggrieved tone while tugging at her hem.
"Xai-xai, you are not allowed to pat anyone's head besides mine."
Xai Lin chuckled at this but still said in an indulgent tone.
"Alright, I won't do it again, I promise."
After getting Xai Lin's reassurance, An Mo's mood instantly recovered while a smile bloomed on his face.
"Mhn, I will be magnanimous and forgive you this time."
Xai Lin was amused by his statement.
"Come on, let's go pick a room on the top floor."
Xai Lin said, grabbing An Mo's hand and leading them to the pavilion.
An Mo didn't resist Xai Lin's pull and happily followed along. However, just as they stepped into the pavilion, he glanced back to realize a thin membrane had covered the entire ship while the scenery outside was flashing passed.
They had already started on their journey without him realizing it. Nonetheless, he felt nothing but excitement, after all, a journey with his Xai-xai would undoubtedly be extremely long and exciting.
***
End of Volume One: The Start of a Long and Exciting Journey