Chapter 206: CH. 206 | Story About Past
Hearing that Lin Tian wanted to talk to her caught Ann Yue a little off guard, but deep down, she felt happy and excited to see and talk with Lin Tian again.
The two of them walked away from the Hall of Techniques and Weapons together, heading toward the bamboo forest near the waterfall, the training grounds where the hall’s disciples practiced their sword swings.
Other disciples noticed this. They clearly saw Lin Tian and An Yue walking off in a different direction, away from the sect’s main hall building.
Several disciples were there practicing their swordsmanship, swinging their blades.
When Lin Tian arrived, they lowered their heads and bowed respectfully.
Realizing the two of them were about to talk privately, the disciples, most of whom were women, excused themselves and left the bamboo forest.
Now only Lin Tian and An Yue remained. He took a breath and let it out slowly. An Yue also stopped walking once Lin Tian did.
Lin Tian’s right hand swept to the side, summoning a dome shaped rune array that immediately sealed off the bamboo forest, keeping anyone outside from hearing what they were about to say.
An Yue looked at the rune array dome and was impressed. Still, she felt certain Lin Tian was capable of far more than just that illusion barrier.
"Do you need something from me, Lin Tian?"
"It’s been years since I left. Now the bamboo forest has grown so much, with special areas set aside for those who need advanced sword training."
What Lin Tian meant was the section of the forest with the old bamboo stalks. Old bamboo had thick, sturdy stems, far stronger than most people would expect.
A simple sword strike wouldn’t be enough to cut through it. It took precise qi control and just the right amount of strength to break through that bamboo.
An Yue glanced to the side, looking at the part of the forest Lin Tian meant. A wide smile spread across her face. She was pleased that Lin Tian was praising her work.
She’d done it because she felt she had to. Her hall’s disciples kept growing in number, and the veteran students kept growing more talented.
Only by upgrading their training grounds to match their abilities could the training truly be considered ideal.
"I worked with Ji Xue and Ya Fei to improve the forest, then recreate it elsewhere. It was hard at first, but we finally pulled it off."
"We now have three bamboo forests, each suited to a different level of the hall’s disciples. Small Bamboo for the beginners, Great Bamboo for the intermediate disciples, and finally Heaven Bamboo for the core disciples."
Lin Tian grew curious. He raised his hand and summoned a small sword at his fingertip.
With a sideways flick of his finger, he unleashed a crescent shaped strike of white sword energy toward all three forests at once.
The bamboo in all three forests was cut cleanly. The white blade strike even tore through the ground and sliced clean through a stone hill, causing it to collapse to the earth.
An Yue flinched in surprise. Lin Tian hadn’t used any advanced sword technique or skill. Yet even his basic swordsmanship was enough to shear the top off a hill perfectly.
After the strike, Lin Tian reached his hand forward to restore the bamboo forest’s ecosystem and repair the stone hilltop that had just been damaged.
The regeneration worked. The bamboo stalks grew back exactly as they’d been before being cut, and the stone hilltop filled back in completely, radiating the same powerful spiritual energy as before.
Now An Yue understood something new: immortal power wasn’t only used for attacking. It could also be used to preserve and restore things to their original state.
That was primordial energy, a power only available to those who had broken through to Soul Formation and formed their own Dao Concept.
"You’ve built something truly impressive, Yue’er."
"Thank you for the compliment, Master Lin. That means a lot to me."
Elsewhere, no one knew that An Yue shared such a special bond with Lin Tian. Plenty of rumors claimed An Yue had been Lin Tian’s first love, though others denied it.
They’d never even seemed close before, so why did Lin Tian’s demeanor seem so different from usual now? That question left plenty of people confused.
The two of them kept walking deeper into the forest until they reached the waterfall, a place rich with dominant spiritual energy.
Their footsteps came to a stop, both of them gazing out toward the falls.
"I’ve already dispersed that clone technique. It no longer exists," Lin Tian said.
An Yue looked a little startled, then turned to study him closely.
She’d already known that the Lin Tian at the sect’s main hall was a clone, but she’d never felt anything different toward him because of it.
Her heart had stayed loyal to the real Lin Tian all along, even though the clone had shown touching dedication and sacrifice.
"I understand. Since you’re not leaving again, you don’t need your clone anymore," An Yue said.
"Yue’er?"
An Yue glanced over briefly, her eyes settling forward before meeting Lin Tian’s gaze for a moment. "What is it, Lin Tian?"
"I heard from my clone, and saw through its memories, that you received some kind of enlightenment from someone?"
"Is that true?"
The woman fell quiet for a moment, sighed, and nodded in agreement. She told Lin Tian the whole story in detail, holding nothing back.
"When I finally obtained that artifact, a sliver of light, a soul fragment, shot out and entered my body before I even realized what was happening."
"I met its soul projection inside my dantian sea. Our meeting was brief."
"It only left me a message telling me to advance my cultivation and try to make my way to the Saintess Spring Valley."
Hearing An Yue say that caught Lin Tian off guard.
If she was talking about the Saintess Spring Valley, then that sliver of soul had almost certainly come from a fragment of Senior Ling Weixi’s spirit.
He didn’t know exactly why An Yue had been the one to receive it, but he was sure it wasn’t a bad sign. That information, that soul projection, wasn’t a bad omen for her at all.
"I don’t really understand what’s going on. Could you explain it to me?" An Yue asked.
Lin Tian smiled and nodded. He took her hand and led her up to the highest peak on Mount Taixuan, where they sat together, looking out at the Lingxian Sect spread out below them.
"I hope you’ve got some time, because this story of mine is going to be long, but I think you’ll find it worth hearing," Lin Tian said. An Yue smiled faintly.
"It’s fine, Lin Tian. I’ve got the time. They can train with the hall elders for a while."
"I really do want to hear everything, the whole time you were in that valley, Lin Tian."
Lin Tian turned to her and nodded, "The journey to the Saintess Spring Valley started when Li Qingxue and I arrived at the ancient gate out in the northern wasteland."
He began telling her everything, and she listened, nodding along now and then to the rhythm of his story.
An old reunion happened once again, and with it, the seeds of love began to bloom between them.
That day, at the peak of Mount Taixuan, nothing could disturb them. Not even the heaven itself.