Chapter 204: CH. 204 | Something about Huangyun Pavilion
Lin Tian stepped forward and pulled apart the rune array wall sealing off the main hall from the outside world.
The array opened, but no response came from within. That was because the clone was already fully aware of what had happened and knew exactly who had brought down the barrier dome outside.
The main hall’s door opened, and Lin Tian stepped inside to find his clone deep in focused recovery. It had already reached Nascent Soul, though only as far as Mid Nascent Soul.
Even so, Lin Tian had no intention of keeping the clone around any longer.
Beyond sharing the same cultivation path, any future clash in their dao concepts risked triggering a heavenly tribulation that could destroy the clone outright.
Fundamentally, now that he’d reached Soul Formation and secured his own dao concept, his only remaining option was to dissolve the clone and condense its Nascent Soul into a solid form.
That would end up being useful for whoever eventually broke through to Nascent Soul next, An Yue, for instance.
Lin Tian stepped forward and triggered a new rune, sealing the main hall inside a stronger array dome, one matching the strength of Soul Formation.
Wu Yue watched what he was doing. Along with Cao Ying, she took charge immediately, managing the Lingxian Sect according to Lin Tian’s instructions.
Everyone listened closely to what the two women had to say, understanding their individual roles in restoring the Qin Kingdom.
Inside the Lingxian Sect’s main hall, Lin Tian took a clear look at his clone’s condition.
Even though it was in the process of recovering from battle injuries, its Nascent Soul was badly damaged.
The clone paused its cultivation and opened its eyes, its attention fixed intently on Lin Tian standing before it.
"You’re finally back," the clone said.
"My mission to reach Soul Formation is done. I don’t need you watching over the sect anymore," the real Lin Tian answered.
"I already had a plan for this. Once you returned with Soul Formation cultivation, I intended to sacrifice my own Nascent Soul and turn it into a pill."
"I need your help with this," the clone continued. "This pill... needs to go to Yue’er. I want her to reach Nascent Soul using my soul pill."
The real Lin Tian cleared his throat, fully understanding what the clone meant.
He’d actually considered something similar himself, once he no longer needed the clone watching over the sect.
He raised his hand, summoning a white qi orb carrying primordial energy. "I’ll help restore your Nascent Soul first."
"Go ahead."
The clone formed a hand seal again, activating its cultivation technique, while the real Lin Tian stood there, channeling his primordial qi energy forward.
The white qi energy flowed into the clone’s forehead, passing through its dantian and settling into its dantian sea.
Slowly, the energy began sealing the wounds and gaps in the clone’s Nascent Soul.
Thanks to the power of that primordial qi, the repair and restoration of the clone’s Nascent Soul progressed smoothly, without any real obstacles.
They kept at it for hours. Lin Tian didn’t feel tired in the slightest, repairing someone’s soul with his primordial qi came easily and cost him barely any effort at all.
A burst of spiritual energy rippled outward, so dominant and powerful that it broke through the hall’s walls, shaking and rattling the trees throughout the entire sect.
It wasn’t just the trees either. Other cultivators felt it too.
The disciples of the Lingxian Sect sensed the surge of spiritual energy pouring out from the main hall, stronger than anything they’d ever felt before.
Lin Tian finished restoring his clone. Its Nascent Soul was fully repaired now, in good condition and well maintained, capable of absorbing spiritual qi properly once more.
The clone stopped cultivating, opened its eyes, and fixed its attention forward, studying Lin Tian closely.
Its recovery had gone faster than expected, thanks to the primordial qi from the original body.
"Time for me to end the clone technique and take—"
"Wait!"
Lin Tian’s steps came to a halt, his eyes locking onto the clone, "What is it?"
"Before you take my Nascent Soul, you should really look through my memories first."
"It’s important, it concerns the Qin Sect Alliance, the Qin Kingdom, and also the Huangyun Pavilion."
"Huangyun Pavilion?"
Lin Tian’s eyes narrowed, curious about what the clone was getting at.
Ever since he’d been stuck in the valley dimension, he’d lost contact with his clone entirely, leaving him with no idea what had been happening.
Maybe the best way to find out is to just take the memories directly from the clone. That way, I’ll know exactly what’s really going on.
"Alright. Understood!"
He formed a hand seal, activating several rune arrays above the clone’s head.
The runes flared to life, capturing the clone’s memories, and a white diamond shaped memory core shot forward straight into Lin Tian’s body.
His eyes took in everything clearly. The clone’s memories revealed that the Qin Sect Alliance had been plotting to destroy the Lingxian Sect, working together with the Qin Kingdom itself.
But their plan had fallen apart because of the Yuanmo Sect’s invasion. Even so, they’d made it painfully clear, openly even, that this had genuinely been their plan all along.
Once the kingdom recovered and the Qin Sect Alliance regained its strength, there was a real chance they’d pick that plan back up, even knowing full well how much the Lingxian Sect’s power had grown.
On top of that, the Huangyun Pavilion from the Wei Kingdom had come to propose a marriage to An Yue.
One of their young masters, Shi Yun, had shown up and openly stated his intention to pursue dual cultivation with her.
His reason was simple enough, Shi Yun had fallen for An Yue at the Grand Sect Gathering. He couldn’t get her charm out of his head.
Watching that flashback through the clone’s memories left Lin Tian furious.
He clenched his fist and released a powerful burst of spiritual energy across the entire sect, startling even those stationed at the mountain peak hall.
"The Huangyun Pavilion... Shi Yun!"
"They made an offer. If Shi Yun married An Yue, the Huangyun Pavilion would help the Lingxian Sect fight off the Qin Sect Alliance," the clone answered.
"I refused. Flatly refused. But they wouldn’t let it go. It felt like they were seeing something in An Yue, something beyond just marriage."
Lin Tian nodded. He understood exactly what that meant.
A major pavilion in the Wei Kingdom like Huangyun would never willingly offer a deal like that to a still developing sect like Lingxian, unless there was something unusual about An Yue specifically.
"Has something happened to An Yue?" Lin Tian asked.
The clone paused for a moment, holding its chin, seeming to think something over carefully. Then it looked back at Lin Tian, as if it had just remembered something.
"Actually, I think there might be."
"What is it?" Lin Tian asked.
"Five months before the Grand Sect Gathering, An Yue received some kind of blessing, or more accurately, a stroke of fortune," the clone answered.
"Yue’er told me she met a woman in a beautiful blue dress, who told her she’d been waiting for her."
Lin Tian’s eyes sharpened, intrigued by what the clone was describing. But for some reason, that account lined up strangely well with the will of the Saintess from the valley dimension.
Could it be... a fragment of soul inheritance from Senior Ling Weixi?