Chapter 208: CH. 208 | One Big Step Ahead
"But didn’t you say the Lingxian Sect would help us?" the man from the Yuntian Sect asked.
"That’s right, but only for the Yuanmo Sect situation," Lin Tian said. "I have no intention whatsoever of helping you fight them."
"You liar, Lin Tian!"
Lin Tian narrowed his eyes, then stomped his foot on the ground, letting out a significant surge of cultivation pressure that slammed straight into the man’s body.
The man flinched, shaken, his eyes going wide with shock. He knew immediately that he’d made a mistake.
He’d clearly been wrong to challenge Lin Tian, someone whose cultivation base was far above his own.
"I... I’m sorry, Master Lin Tian!"
Lin Tian waved his hand, releasing the man from the pressure. Freed at last, the man let out a long breath and felt a wave of relief.
Even so, he’d already gotten the information he needed about Lin Tian’s decision.
With the Qin Sect Alliance in a weakened state and its members scattered, the odds of them winning against that invasive group of cultivators were slim.
He said his goodbyes and flew off in another direction, leaving Lin Tian and the others behind. Lin Tian turned around and told Wu Yue and Cao Ying to get ready.
"The Lingxian Sect is the only one still standing after the Yuanmo Sect’s invasion. We can’t afford to let our guard down. I’m worried those cultivators might band together to come after us."
"Bring out whatever resources we have. Train our disciples to push through their bottlenecks."
"Anyone still stuck at Qi Condensation needs to break through to Foundation Establishment as quickly as possible. Anyone still at Foundation Establishment needs to push straight through to Core Formation," Lin Tian said.
Lin Tian turned to look at Cao Ying, who was standing right next to Wu Yue. "I need your help getting the disciples at Mid Core Formation to break through quickly to Nascent Soul."
"I know. I’ll help you with that."
He turned back and looked closely at An Yue. He raised his hand and gently brushed his fingers against her pale cheek.
"Go on back to the peak of Taixuan. There’s something I need to discuss with them."
"Alright, Lin Tian."
An Yue looked ahead, then nodded, following Lin Tian’s instruction. She summoned her flying sword qi and shot off quickly, heading back toward the peak of Taixuan.
Once she was gone, Lin Tian’s attention snapped forward, "About her... I’ve already prepared a Nascent Soul spirit essence for her."
"What? Don’t tell me you took it from your own clone," Wu Yue said. Lin Tian nodded.
To Wu Yue, using a Nascent Soul spirit essence to break through to Nascent Soul was genuinely effective, but he hadn’t expected Lin Tian to actually go through with something like that, something most other cultivators would consider insane and unreasonable.
"It can be done, but it would take a huge amount of herbal materials, and that’s not even counting the rare ones," Wu Yue said.
"That’s an interesting idea, Lin Tian. Still, I think it’ll be difficult to pull off," Cao Ying said. "Especially with the kingdom in such a shattered state after the war. We’re worried those herbs might be nearly impossible to find."
What Cao Ying and Wu Yue said was completely accurate. They weren’t wrong about any of it.
The herbal materials were hard to come by, and the failure rate ran high when working with a Nascent Soul spirit essence.
If things went smoothly, the pill refinement might actually succeed, but there was no way to guarantee it outright.
"About An Yue, there’s something we wanted to discuss with you privately, Lin Tian."
"We already brought this up with your clone once, but it gave us a firm answer. It didn’t want to take that advantage."
"Advantage?"
Wu Yue and Cao Ying exchanged a glance, then both of them led Lin Tian toward the sect’s main hall. He followed along.
The three of them arrived at the main hall, where Wu Yue immediately activated an array barrier to keep anyone from getting in or overhearing their conversation.
"You might not know this, but the Huangyun Pavilion from the Wei Kingdom has been after An Yue for a while now."
"They even tried to kidnap her at one point. Lucky for her, An Xiao managed to save her just in time."
Cao Ying stepped forward, her eyes fixed entirely on Lin Tian. "Do you know anything about An Yue? I mean, do you know why that pavilion is after her?"
Lin Tian went quiet and let out a short breath, then turned and walked over toward his cultivation altar in the main hall.
His gaze drifted to the side, settling clearly on the fish pond with the small pavilion sitting above it.
I can’t tell them that An Yue might have received a Dao inheritance from the Saintess.
Lin Tian took a long breath, then turned back to face them, his focus returning to Wu Yue and Cao Ying, "About that... I don’t know."
"I’ve been checking on her condition ever since we met earlier. But she hasn’t shown any symptoms of anything."
"Maybe she just isn’t ready to be open with me about it yet."
Wu Yue cleared his throat. This was going to be a problem for them, since the Huangyun Pavilion kept targeting her specifically, even though there were plenty of other women in the Qin Kingdom, including Li Qingxue, whose beauty and strength were unmatched by anyone.
Because of that strange fixation, Wu Yue and Cao Ying felt fairly certain that the Huangyun Pavilion was after something inside An Yue’s body, something only the two of them could possibly know about.
Lin Tian let out a breath and looked forward again, his eyes landing on Wu Yue and Cao Ying.
"Head back and let me know if anything happens. I’m going back to the peak of Taixuan to see Yue’er."
"Understood, Master Lin."
In an instant, Lin Tian shot off, flying fast away from the hall and back toward the peak of Mount Taixuan. When he arrived, he found that An Yue wasn’t at her hall.
Lin Tian’s qi sense flared to life, and he located her sitting on top of the hill by the waterfall, cultivating quietly to steady her mind.
In a flash, he shifted from the front courtyard of the Hall of Techniques and Weapons straight to the waterfall behind the bamboo forest.
He drifted forward, stepping without a sound, without so much as a ripple of qi, moving gently and calmly, careful not to make anyone feel on edge.
"Yue’er?" Lin Tian called out.
An Yue opened her eyes and paused her cultivation. She glanced down and saw Lin Tian standing near the waterfall, having come to visit her again.
"Lin Tian?"
She rose and flew down from the top of the hill until she landed right in front of him. Their eyes met for a moment, and they smiled at each other.
"I never imagined this day would actually come. The path to immortality, I’ve been walking it, even if it’s taken up so much of my time."
"Now, it’s my duty to help you along that path."
Lin Tian reached out his hand, gently asking to hold hers.
"Would you be willing... to become my partner on this path to immortality?"
An Yue smiled, then raised her hand and gripped his tightly. "We’ve already talked about this before. Of course I’m willing."
"This is different."
"What do you mean, Lin Tian?" An Yue asked, confused but still holding onto his hand.
"Will you... marry me?"