Chapter 12: Mortal Sentiments
Three days past, and within the quiet isolation of the outer-city, Lin Yuan had spent every waking moment of those days entirely dedicated to spoiling his wife.
He cooked for her, meticulously preparing meats to slowly nourish her frail body. He then washed her face in the mornings with warm water, carried her out to the porch to watch the evening sunsets, and even told her amusing stories to chase away the tragic shadows that usually haunted her eyes.
Bai Qingyue, who had initially been terrified of waking up from this beautiful dream, slowly began to relax. The genius of the Bai Clan was rapidly melting into a soft, heavily pampered wife who would subconsciously lean into his touch.
And for Lin Yuan, over the course of these three days, the millionfold return system was active.
[Ding! Host has invested: Gifted Dao Companion a piece of expensive jewelry.] [Triggering critical multiplier... 1,000,000X Return!] [Reward: 10,000,000 Spirit Stones!]
[Ding! Host has invested: Personally cooking a bowl of Iron-Beak Soup.] [Triggering critical multiplier... 5,000X Return!] [Reward: Recipe for the Supreme Nine-Star Dragon Bone Broth!]
[Ding! Host has invested: Washing Dao Companion’s feet in warm water (Act of Humility & Care).] [Triggering critical multiplier... 300,000X Return!] [Reward: Immortal-Tier Movement Art - Immortal Cloud Step!]
Through this system, he was stockpiling supreme techniques, recipes, and protective artifacts at a rate that would make any cultivator cough blood in sheer envy.
On the afternoon of the third day, the sunlight streamed through the bedroom window.
Bai Qingyue sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes closed in peaceful contentment. Lin Yuan stood behind her, holding a comb. He was gently brushing her hair. Her long black hair cascaded down her back like a midnight waterfall, incredibly soft to the touch.
With every stroke of the comb, a faint aroma wafted through the room, calming her mind.
"Your hair is beautiful, Qingyue," Lin Yuan murmured softly, gathering a section of the them in his palm.
A faint blush dusted her cheeks. "It is only because you are so gentle, Husband."
Right at that moment, the familiar chime echoed.
[Ding!] [Host has invested: Time spent giving Dao Companion attention by brushing her hair.] [Triggering critical multiplier... calculating...] [Congratulations to the Host! You have triggered a Critical Insight Return!] [Reward: 3 Years of Comprehension into the Dao of Rain!]
Lin Yuan’s hand paused. Three years of meditation on the essence of rain, granted in the blink of an eye!
Before he could pull that ocean of knowledge into his mind, a respectful voice drifted in from the courtyard outside.
"Lord Lin. This subordinate, Bai Chen, requests an audience."
Lin Yuan’s eyes opened, the crimson light of his aura flickering briefly. The three days were up.
He gently set the comb down on the bedside table and leaned down to press a soft kiss to the top of his wife’s head. "Your cousin has returned. I will be right back."
"Take your time," Bai Qingyue replied softly, opening her eyes with a serene smile.
Lin Yuan stepped out of the bedroom, the door closing silently behind him. Using his newly acquired Immortal Cloud Step, his figure literally blurred into a wisp of mist, instantly zipping across the main hall and materializing in the center of the courtyard.
Bai Chen, who was kneeling respectfully in the mud, flinched as the supreme expert seemed to simply teleport in front of him. The young disciple quickly lowered his head further.
"Speak," Lin Yuan commanded, his voice returning to a cold tone.
"Lord Lin," Bai Chen said, holding up a small spatial ring with both hands. "I have quietly acquired the alchemy cauldron as you requested. It is of high quality, procured from the black market so it cannot be traced back to the Bai Clan."
"Good," Lin Yuan said, effortlessly pulling the spatial ring into his own grasp with a flick of his finger. "And the second item?"
Bai Chen reached into his robes and pulled out a jade slip. It was glowing faintly with a myriad of shifting, complex colors—a physical manifestation of condensed human emotions.
"I did exactly as you asked, Lord Lin," Bai Chen reported, his voice filled with a mixture of confusion and profound awe. "I walked among the mortals. The farmer’s desperate prayers during a drought. The weeping mother, the reuniting lovers, and the quiet sighs of the elderly watching the storm. I have gathered the sentimental aura of the mortal realm."
He offered the jade slip upward.
Lin Yuan reached out and took the jade slip. The moment his fingers brushed the smooth stone, he could feel the chaotic, buzzing of a thousand different mortal lives echoing within it.
"You have done well, Bai Chen. Wait here," Lin Yuan instructed.
Closing his eyes, Lin Yuan crushed the jade slip in his palm. The glowing, multi-colored aura of mortal sentiments flowed up his arm and directly into his mind.
Then, his understanding of the Dao of Rain far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators.
Yet the more he comprehended, the more he realized how shallow his previous understanding had been.
"The great Dao is simple, yet simplicity contains endless profundity."
Rain. What truly was rain? Was it merely water condensed within the heavens? No — that was only its form. Its essence lay elsewhere.
"Flow when the time comes. Rest when the time departs."
Rain never chose where it fell. It did not favor the virtuous over the wicked, did not avoid mountains because they were high nor seek valleys because they were low. Whether emperor or beggar, cultivator or mortal, saint or sinner, all stood beneath the same rain.
"Heaven and Earth are impartial."
As this realization surfaced, the countless mortal sentiments contained within the shattered jade slip no longer appeared as separate, chaotic emotions. Joy, sorrow, hope, despair, love, regret, each was merely a ripple upon the river of life. Rain neither celebrated joy nor mourned sorrow. It simply witnessed. Silently. Eternally. Like Heaven itself.
Lin Yuan’s breathing unconsciously slowed, falling into a rhythm that matched the profound pulse of the world around him. Within his sea of consciousness, every conceptual raindrop transformed into a tiny mirror, each reflecting a different life, a different story. Millions of stories, millions of destinies, yet every drop eventually merged into the same endless, unified ocean.
"Hundreds of rivers return to the sea."
His eyes suddenly opened. A profound, terrifyingly deep azure light swirled within his pupils, completely replacing his previous crimson aura. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I was wrong."
"I believed the Dao of Rain lay within mortal sentiments, but sentiments are only the bridge. Because the true Dao is impartiality."
Rain does not fall because mortals rejoice, nor does it cease because they grieve. It simply follows the will of Heaven — nourishing all things without seeking gratitude, washing away blood without remembering whose blood it was, witnessing the rise of dynasties and the fall of empires without favoring either.
"The highest virtue is like water," Lin Yuan Concluded.
Water benefits all things and contends with none. Rain was no different. His three years of comprehension instantly fused with this newfound insight, and the Dao of Rain within his heart became infinitely clearer. If before he had understood rain through the eyes of mortals, now he understood it through the eyes of Heaven.
The countless emotions gathered by Bai Chen had served their ultimate purpose, not because they defined rain, but because they proved one undeniable truth. No matter what humans laughed for, no matter what they cried for, when the first drop finally fell, rain embraced them all equally.