A long time later, Mu Xueling said, “He’s in the Nine Lotus Diagram?”
“In the Nine Lotus Diagram… Big Brother Lin really gave us a surprise.” Yue Weiwei was briefly stunned before she smiled. Squinting her eyes, her pupils were filled with joy, and she gave Mu Xueling a playful gaze.
Mu Xueling still hadn’t recovered from her shock. Taking a deep breath, she formed the Nine Lotus Saint Seal. When the space within the saint diagram trembled, Lin Yun was forced out of the Nine Lotus Diagram.
When Lin Yun appeared on the Golden Crow Altar, he turned around and looked at the two ladies before smiling. With a flash, he appeared before them.
“Saint Elder, Profound Fairy.” Lin Yun smiled, winking his eyes.
Just when Mu Xueling calmed down a little, she was deeply shocked again when she saw Lin Yun. She asked, “You’ve reached the seventh-pulse Dragon Pulse Realm?”
Lin Yun nodded his head in response, acknowledging it.
“You’ve also reached the tenth-grade Saint Spiritualist?” Mu Xueling asked again.
Once again, Lin Yun nodded his head with a smile.
When Mu Xueling saw Lin Yun’s response, she fell silent while Yue Weiwei’s smile became even more brilliant. She turned to look at Mu Xueling, “Senior Sister, I’m right, aren’t I?”
“I lost.” Mu Xueling replied.
“Mhm?” Lin Yun was confused when he heard that.
“I made a bet with Senior Sister to see if you can reach the ninth-stage Saint Spiritualist within this period of time.” Yue Weiwei smiled.
“What’s the betting stake?” Lin Yun asked.
“Hehe.” Yue Weiwei smiled, and didn’t say anything.
On the other hand, Mu Xueling indifferently turned around and started walking away. This made Lin Yun smile awkwardly because he could sense she wasn’t too happy. When he raised his head to look at Yue Weiwei, they exchanged a gaze before they smiled.
Suddenly, Mu Xueling turned around, causing the two to quickly stowed their smiles. But they soon noticed that Mu Xueling wasn’t looking at them, but behind them.
When Lin Yun and Yue Weiwei turned around, they discovered that the Nine Lotus Diagram had flown out of the altar without them noticing it, and it was following Lin Yun.
As Mu Xueling waved her hand, the Nine Lotus Diagram changed direction and flew towards her right hand. But when it flew out halfway, it returned to Lin Yun. This repeated three times, but Mu Xueling couldn’t summon the Nine Lotus Diagram to her, no matter how she tried.
In the end, Mu Xueling lost her patience and formed a seal, forcibly summoning the Nine Lotus Diagram. When the Nine Lotus Diagram flew over, and she grabbed it, before her gaze fell onto Lin Yun with bafflement.
“Saint Elder, this has nothing to do with me. I have no intention of taking this painting away.” Lin Yun said with an awkward expression. After all, this misunderstanding was a little huge, and this painting could be considered a priceless treasure. The value wasn’t at all inferior to the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion’s Heavenly Origin Mirror.
“I know.” Mu Xueling replied.
Suddenly, Yue Weiwei innocently blinked her eyes and said, “Senior Sister, since the Nine Lotus Diagram wants to follow Big Brother Lin, why don’t you loan it to him? I believe Big Brother Lin will return it.”
Lin Yun was shocked when he heard that. He was first surprised by Yue Weiwei’s form of address toward Mu Xueling before he was shocked by her suggestion. After all, it was a painting created with divine runes. How could someone possibly borrow something like this?
Even if Mu Xueling was willing to loan it to him, Lin Yun might not dare to use it. But just when he wanted to refuse it, Mu Xueling said, “That’s not impossible, but the Nine Lotus Diagram will have difficulty maintaining their divine runes’ energy without the nourishment of saint flames from the Golden Crow Altar.”
“Is it this?” Lin Yun opened his palm, and a wisp of golden flames appeared from his palm.
The golden radiance wasn’t dazzling, nor did it possess that much saint aura. There was no way it could be compared to the saint flames on the altar, but anyone could sense the Golden Crow’s aura coming from it. For some reason, the fire within Lin Yun’s palm was purer than the flames on the altar.
“That’s the Golden Crow Saint Flames, but it’s a little too weak… Where did you get it from?” Mu Xueling asked.
With a smile, Lin Yun summoned the Golden Crow Wings. The wingspan was close to twenty feet, and it had over twenty thousand saint runes engraved on it. A Golden Crow Divine Rune was at the core of this pair of wings.
The Golden Crow Wings were comparable to a pair of top-tiered saint artifacts, to begin with. It might not be comparable to Sovereign Saint Artifacts, but it was stronger than ordinary myriad-rune saint artifacts.
“Your encounter is a little terrifying.” Mu Xueling said. “You should’ve cultivated the Divine Sunchasing Art, right?”
Lin Yun was shocked when he heard that, and he replied, “Saint Elder is right. It appears Saint Elder already knows of my true identity?”
When Mu Xueling nodded her head, Lin Yun wasn’t too surprised. If Mu Xueling still didn’t know about his identity, Yue Weiwei wouldn’t be so casual with him.
“So, what are you going to do with me?” Lin Yun asked, recalling the Golden Crow Wings.
“I already said that I don’t mind your identity. Since the Heavenly Origin Mirror failed to discover your true identity, you’re Lin Xiao in the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.” Mu Xueling replied.
Lin Yun breathed out a sigh of relief. For some reason, he didn’t suspect her words, despite his fear for her.
“Senior Sister, what about the Nine Lotus Diagram?” Yue Weiwei smiled.
“You can have it, then. I will also teach you the complete Nine Lotus Art later.” Mu Xueling handed the Nine Lotus Diagram over.
Lin Yun was in disbelief. After all, it was a painting forged with divine runes. Even if the effects weren’t as strong as before, his mental cultivation would snowball as long as he cultivated within the painting. If he could use it to fight, he couldn’t imagine how powerful it would become. At the very least, he could predict that it wouldn’t be inferior to his Sovereign Saint Artifact—Azure Dragon Sun-Moon Umbrella.
“You don’t want it?” Mu Xueling asked.
“Of course I want it.” Lin Yun seized it from her.
“Senior Sister, what about the Heavenly Mulberry Score?” Yue Weiwei chuckled. This was their bet. Yue Weiwei would obediently return to the divine mountain if she lost, and Mu Xueling would teach Lin Yun the Heavenly Mulberry Score if she lost.
The Heavenly Mulberry Score? Lin Yun’s heart trembled when he heard that. Was it the song that Mu Xueling played at the West Garden Banquet? That song gave him a deep impression of a towering tree growing from the bamboo flute with suns hanging on the branches like fruits. Mu Xueling easily knocked away the three Saint Lord’s auras using that song.
Mu Xueling turned around without saying anything. This made Lin Yun and Yue Weiwei baffled, but they could only follow behind her. When they passed by the level storing musical instruments, Lin Yun’s gaze fell onto that erhu forged with Divine Mulberry Wood.
“Saint Elder, can I borrow this instrument?” Lin Yun asked.
“This instrument is long lost, nor can it emit any music. What do you want it for? It’s useless when compared to your Thunderstorm Zither.” Mu Xueling sent a weird look to Lin Yun.
“I wish to study it.” Lin Yun smiled.
“Take it with you, then. It’s fine as long as you don’t dismantle it.” Mu Xueling wasn’t too bothered by it. But this instrument was forged with Divine Mulberry Wood, and the material used to craft this instrument was ten times more valuable than its value as a musical instrument. So as long as Lin Yun didn’t dismantle it, Mu Xueling wouldn’t mind him taking it away.
“Thank you, Saint Elder.” Lin Yun thanked Mu Xueling.
When they left the Heavenly Fragrance Treasury, it became peaceful once more. Lin Yun would oblige their agreement and use the Ni Chang Dress Song to assist Yue Weiwei in practicing the Nine Heavenly Profound Dance.
Meanwhile, aside from stabilizing his cultivation and practicing the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Sword Canon, he would also spend time on the Divine Firefly Sword that his master gave him. It was a sword technique created by the ancestor of the Jian Clan, one of the few who could compete with the Blue Dragon Ancestral Deity in primordial times.
The Divine Firefly Sword was a powerful sword technique that was widely spread in ancient times. It was one of the sword techniques many sword saints had to practice. But it had a high threshold, and the minimum requirement was Firmament Sword Intent at complete mastery and cultivation in the Samsara Edict Realm to barely practice it.
Lin Yun might be lacking in his cultivation, but he grasped the Heavenly Dome Sword Intent. So he could try and comprehend it. But when he attempted to understand it for the first time, he felt a setback. This was the first time he failed to even enter the threshold of a sword technique.
This was the first time he had run into something like this. When he forcibly tried to practice it, his sword intent nearly spiraled out of control several times.
“Logically speaking, I should be able to cultivate it.” Lin Yun was baffled. But he couldn’t get an answer because his master wasn’t around with him, and he couldn’t figure out why. Thus, this gave him a massive headache.
One day, when he was done playing the Ni Chang Dress Song, Yue Weiwei gently landed beside him and smiled, “Big Brother Lin, do you have something bothering you?”
Knowing that he couldn’t keep it from her, Lin Yun could only tell her what was troubling him.
When Yue Weiwei heard what he said, she smiled, “Go ask my senior sister about it. She definitely knows the reason.”
“How can she possibly know when she’s not even a swordsman?” Lin Yun asked.
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Big Brother Lin, just go and ask her. Senior Sister is strong, and you haven’t gone to look for her, right? You can’t use the Nine Lotus Diagram, right? And you also haven’t learned the Heavenly Mulberry Score.” Yue Weiwei asked.
Lin Yun hesitated because he was embarrassed to do that. After all, he was asking a little too much when he had already received a lot of help from Mu Xueling. So he didn’t know how to open his mouth again.
“Senior Sister has a thin face, and the Heavenly Mulberry Score can only be taught to disciples of the divine mountain. So even if she lost the bet, she wouldn’t lower herself to teach you on her own accord.” Yue Weiwei smiled.
“But, I’m not a disciple of the divine mountain.” Lin Yun said.
“But, you’re not an outsider, either.” Yue Weiwei winked, and the smile on her face grew even denser.
Lin Yun fell silent when he heard that and wondered if he should try asking Mu Xueling for help. This question was wandering around his mind when he left the snowy mountain. In the end, he still couldn’t make up his mind.
But he first headed to Gu Jun’s residence. The latter was now the Grand Elder of the Law Enforcement Hall. When Gu Jun saw Lin Yun, his eyes lit up, and he smiled, “It has been a long time since you’ve visited me. Shall we have a game or two?”
Since Lin Yun had lost quite a bit of Profound Saint Pellets to Gu Jun, he naturally wouldn’t fall for it again. He went straight into the topic and asked, “What is the best material for zither strings?”
“Dragon tendons, of course.” Gu Jun replied. “But dragon tendons are hard to find, even harder than dragon bones. Why did you suddenly ask about it?”
“Help me find two dragon tendons.” Lin Yun replied. Through a period of study, he couldn’t find any damage on that erhu, aside from being a little old. It could still be used if he could find strings and a bow. But it would be impossible to play it without the bow, and Mu Xueling wouldn’t be able to figure out how to play it, no matter how she racked her brain.
Gu Jun’s face sank when he heard Lin Yun’s request, and he replied, “Aren’t you giving me a tough question?”
“Make a trip to the Heavenly Star Pavilion and help me spread the news. Also, let them help me create this as well.” Lin Yun replied and took out the blueprint for the bow that he had already prepared. The Nirvana Banquet wasn’t far away, so he naturally had to make preparations when he was determined to do something. Who would give up on something like the Three-Lives Fruit if he could become first?
“That’s more like it.” Gu Jun smiled, stowing the blueprint.
But just when he was about to leave, Lin Yun suddenly held onto him and asked, “Wait. Do you know about the Saint Elder’s identity?”
“I thought you were not curious since you’ve never asked me.” Gu Jun smiled.
Hearing that, Lin Yun’s heart throbbed. Could it be that Gu Jun really knew something?