Watching Li Xun absorbed in his work, utterly enthralled, Lin Ge felt a rush of emotions and couldn’t help but space out.
anwhile, Li Xun snapped back to awareness. Those few strokes from Lin Ge had opened a door he’d never seen before, showing him a far richer and more intricate world beyond.
And in just that short ti, he could feel his understanding, insight, and perception all deepening noticeably.
This was the rare, almost mystical benefit that ca from a master and disciple sharing the sa lineage of inner cultivation. Even soone like Qingxu, whose raw cultivation may surpass Lin Ge’s, wouldn’t be able to guide him with this kind of seamless clarity.
Only now did Li Xun truly understand why people always said: “In cultivation, the most important thing is finding the right master.”
Li Xun wasn’t the type to be coldhearted or ungrateful. He truly felt thankful to Lin Ge. Snapping out of his daze, he stood up and gave a deep bow of respect.
But Lin Ge now seed to have lost interest. He waved his hand dismissively. “If there’s nothing else, go get so rest.”
That was clearly a dismissal. Li Xun didn’t dare push further. He bowed again and said, “Then, I’ll co back to ask for your guidance another day.”
As he reached the door, he suddenly heard Lin Ge speak from behind him: “From now on, you don’t need to wait a whole month. If you run into any trouble… just co to anyti.”
The days of hard cultivation flew by. When Li Xun finally erged from his cave again, the mountains were still buried in snow, but the plants on the summit were already showing the first hints of green.
The season of rebirth had arrived.
This ti, unlike his last retreat, Li Xun stepped out with barely contained excitent.
After nearly three months, he had finally stabilized the Golden Core True Breath Lock Structure. Even with both Blood Nightmare and Yinfire bearing down at once, they couldn’t do a thing to shake it. Through months of relentless physical and spiritual tempering, his mastery over the structure was now sothing he could take real pride in.
Using his Golden Core as the center, he controlled the flow of true breath throughout his entire body, connecting every part into a single, seamless system. There was no longer a single weak point anywhere in him.
At this stage, Li Xun had basically reached the “pinnacle” level of Moonrise Over the Sea, a major breakthrough. But Lin Ge had warned him: while his realm might be there, his foundation wasn’t necessarily solid enough. The Lingxi Art was especially unforgiving when it ca to rushing; if your roots weren’t stable, you could easily collapse your own path.
That’s why, even though he’d completed the Qi Transformation stage, he couldn’t just jump straight into Spirit Transformation. He had to go back, polish his skills at each step, let everything sink in properly. Only then would the next breakthrough co naturally, like water flowing into place.
Li Xun understood clearly: closing himself off for secluded cultivation right now would do more harm than good. So he stopped setting rigid schedules for himself. Instead, he spent his days roaming around the mountain, occasionally heading to the Terrace of Ten Thousand Immortals to look for spiritual inspiration, or dropping by to chat with Shan Zhi and strengthen their connection. After months of high-pressure cultivation, a bit of wandering and leisure was exactly what he needed to unwind.
During this quiet period, sothing worth ntioning was the subtle shift in his relationship with Lin Ge.
Ever since that snowy night when he helped sweep the path, sothing between them had quietly changed.
Li Xun started to realize that Lin Ge never actually disliked him. He was just aloof by nature, not soone who liked spending extra effort on others. So while they were never going to have so father and son bond or anything dramatic like that, if Li Xun put in a bit of effort, Lin Ge wouldn’t push him away either.
Maybe it was because of that mont during the snowfall, his own pride acting up or sothing, but Li Xun didn’t really mind Lin Ge’s cold deanor. He wasn’t chasing after so warm, fuzzy master and disciple relationship anyway.
Even his birth father, back when he'd been mortal, used to test him constantly and teach him all the subtle tricks of surviving court life. His relationship with Lin Ge didn’t feel all that different.
Honestly, he kind of preferred it this way.
So, he didn’t go out of his way to force the connection. When questions ca up, he’d head to Lin Ge’s residence to ask. Sotis they’d chat a bit. Occasionally, he'd spend an entire afternoon there just to brew a perfect pot of fragrant tea, the two of them sitting in silence amid rising steam, neither speaking a word.
It had to be said, he and Lin Ge were actually very similar.
Lin Ge was soone who lived with refined taste, obsessed with quality. Everything he used had a history, a story. His lifestyle teetered on the edge of luxury. Li Xun, on the other hand, had grown up among nobility. He’d been wearing silk and eating delicacies since he was a kid, often hanging around the imperial court, exposed to all kinds of rare treasures and cultural arts.
Seeing how Lin Ge appreciated the finer things, Li Xun adapted. He wasn’t talkative, but when he spoke, his observations were sharp and well-inford, sothing Lin Ge actually respected.
Over ti, things shifted. Though their interactions were still low key, that invisible wall between them started to fade. Lin Ge even let Li Xun co and go freely from his residence. For the first ti, they actually felt like master and disciple.
That morning, snow had fallen all night. Li Xun, bored and restless, woke up early, climbed to a snowy peak, and found a lone plum tree blooming in the frost. He scraped so fresh snow from its petals, lted it into a pot, and sealed it with his spiritual energy. Then he zipped off to Lin Ge’s place, planning to use this rare “Peak Plum Snow” to brew one of Lin Ge’s prized teas and maybe squeeze in a few cultivation questions while he was at it.
But as he approached the residence, he heard voices inside. One of them was sharp, almost scolding:
“This isn’t right! You’re the sect’s eldest disciple. These responsibilities should fall to you!”
Lin Ge’s response ca, as indifferent as ever: “You’ve done better than I have these hundred years. Why switch back now?”
“Better? Even if I do better, it doesn’t stop the ridicule! Do you know what other sects say? ‘The leader of Mingxin Sword Sect’s second generation, too busy fondling jade and sipping tea to cultivate. A wasted man.’ No matter how well I perform, Luo Nanchuan, I can’t cover for your disgrace forever!”
Li Xun froze outside the door. The angry voice belonged to none other than Second Uncle, “Profound Darkness Sword” Luo Nanchuan. Like Lin Ge, he was a disciple of Daoist Qingming, but his personality was more like Qingxu’s, rigid, upright, and dead serious. All the younger disciples were scared stiff of him.
Still, despite the harshness, his words didn’t seem to land. Lin Ge stayed calm, even lazy: “Luo shidi, you’re regressing again. So what if they talk? What’s it got to do with us?”
Yet Lin Ge remained unmoved. "Has your self cultivation regressed, Junior Brother Luo? Let them talk. What does it matter to or you?"
Luo Nanchuan’s voice dropped a notch, but sohow, that only made it tone harsher. “It may not concern just you and , but it does concern the sect! Fine, if you’re dead set against going to the Langya Water Mirror Heaven, then I’ll go in your place!”
"But listen. The Polar Night's Heaven of the North Pole has rallied hundreds of rogue cultivators under their banner, bold as brass, forming so so called Rogue Cultivators Alliance. The comrades from the Nightless City have already sent sword ssages, urging all righteous sects to gather and discuss a response. Master has agreed to send a second generation disciple. That ans you.”
Lin Ge let out a cold snort. “Send Third Brother.”
“He’s in seclusion.”
“Fourth Sister?”
“She’s traveling in the southern regions. She can’t make it back in ti.”
Lin Ge wasn’t giving up. He started listing nas, Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, Seventh Sister, even a few second generation juniors outside the main bloodline. Luo Nanchuan shot them all down, one by one. Finally, with nowhere left to turn, Lin Ge muttered, “My disciple is in the middle of a breakthrough. I can’t leave.”
Li Xun was quietly enjoying this from outside when he suddenly heard Luo Nanchuan’s cold laugh cut through the air: “What a joke! A breakthrough? Li Xun!”
The shout made him jump, nearly spilling the pot of snow lted water he was carrying. So... Luo Nanchuan had known he was eavesdropping the whole ti. That really put Lin Ge in a tight spot.
Li Xun’s mind raced, but his mouth responded smoothly. “Yes!” he called out, stepping through the doorway.
Inside, Luo Nanchuan’s sharp, penetrating gaze locked onto his face the mont he entered.
Lin Ge sat in the seat of honor, expression as unreadable as ever. Below him, Luo Nanchuan looked like he was carved from steel, stern, cold, powerful even in stillness.
But Li Xun wasn’t the sa nervous boy who used to freeze up at the sight of Qingxu. His breath stayed steady, heartbeat normal. With calm steps, he approached, bowed deeply, and placed the snow water pot on the table.
“Disciple greets Master. Greetings, Second Uncle.”
Then he smiled lightly and added, “I went out early this morning to collect so plum blossom snow from the mountain, to brew so of Master’s Tianwu Tea. Should be the perfect pairing. Second Uncle is welco to enjoy so as well.”
Lin Ge let out a soft sound, clearly pleased with his tone and attitude.
Too bad Luo Nanchuan was completely unmoved. He frowned. “We can talk tea later," he asked bluntly. "Li Xun, tell , what stage are you currently trying to break through?”
Li Xun didn’t even pause. “Reporting to Second Uncle, it’s”
“Second Brother.” Lin Ge cut him off mid sentence.
Li Xun stopped imdiately, unsure what his master was trying to do.
Luo Nanchuan frowned, about to press the issue, but Lin Ge spoke first: “Whatever breakthrough my disciple is pursuing, that’s my business. No need for you to worry.”
Luo Nanchuan was clearly well trained. He didn’t react, didn’t even twitch. But Li Xun understood, Lin Ge was shielding him. Rather than letting his disciple lie or struggle under questioning, he’d taken the matter into his own hands.
Then ca the twist, one neither of them saw coming.
“But seeing this disciple reminds ,” Lin Ge said, like it had just occurred to him. “He does need to get out and train in the real world for a while. And as his master, I suppose I can’t just sit around on the mountain…”
Both Li Xun and Luo Nanchuan were stunned.
“The North Pole’s too cold," Lin Ge continued. "And the journey is a pain. I’d rather go to the Langya Water Mirror Heaven. I’ll take that mission instead. As for the minor logistics, you handle them, I don’t have the patience.”
Before either of them could reply, he was already heading upstairs. Just before disappearing from view, he added, “Xun’er, see your Second Uncle out for .”
Li Xun hurried to respond, “Yes, Master.”
Luo Nanchuan stood up, watching Lin Ge ascend with a faint shake of the head, but also, surprisingly, a rare smile.
“Your master really does care for you,” he said as they stepped outside.
Li Xun kept his tone steady and proper: “That is this disciple’s great fortune.”
Luo Nanchuan looked at him for a mont, then sighed. “You and he are very much alike. Especially when he was your age… I just hope you don’t follow the sa path he did.”
Li Xun bowed his head respectfully. “I will take your words to heart, Second Uncle.”
“Good.”
With that, Luo Nanchuan’s face returned to its usual stoic mask. He glanced at Li Xun one last ti, then turned and walked away, his back tall and straight as always.
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