“Alright, alright, it’s getting late. Time to sleep.”
After tending to her wound, Lin Guiming said this while taking spare bedding from the side and laying it on the floor.
“…”
He Wanying looked at him with a complicated expression but ultimately said nothing, blowing out the nearby kerosene lamp.
The world plunged into darkness, and a sense of calm seemed to settle in.
He Wanying stared blankly at the pitch-black ceiling.
Everything that happened today felt like a dream…
And now, in the room she’d lived in for over a decade, there was an extra man—a man who, by all rights, should be sleeping beside her.
“Senior Brother, are you asleep?”
After staring for a long time, He Wanying couldn’t hold back and spoke.
“Not yet. What’s up? Get some rest. Tomorrow we’ve got training, and without some hard work, you won’t reach the Strength Training Realm in just a few days.”
“Mm…”
He Wanying responded, falling silent for a moment before suddenly blurting out, “Senior Brother, you really don’t want to come up and sleep?”
As soon as she said it, her face burned red, her body curling up as her heart raced.
“How could I say something like that?
If he actually comes up, what do I do?!”
She covered her scalding face, a mix of nervousness and a faint, barely noticeable anticipation.
“Pfft—”
Lin Guiming nearly choked on his own breath.
“You silly girl, what nonsense are you spouting?
If you don’t go to sleep, I’ll flick your forehead again.”
“Oh…”
He Wanying let out a breath, her tension easing significantly, but she also felt a faint sense of loss, as if she’d let go of something.
“By the way, Senior Brother, you mentioned those cultivation realms earlier.
What realm are you in now?”
This was something He Wanying was very curious about.
He had easily defeated those two Flesh Tempering Realm men today, so he was at least at the Tendon Tempering Realm, right?
“What realm am I? Guess~”
Lin Guiming chuckled.
“Um… you beat those two uncles, so probably the Tendon Tempering Realm?”
He Wanying said, a hint of envy in her expression.
Her senior brother seemed around her age but was already at the Tendon Tempering Realm.
With that strength, getting into the Imperial Academy would be easy, wouldn’t it?
She’d heard that reaching the Flesh Tempering Realm gave a good chance of entering the Imperial Academy.
Of course, the academy had an age limit—no one over thirty was accepted.
Reaching the Flesh Tempering Realm before thirty was already considered genius-level.
“If you think so, then sure.”
Lin Guiming didn’t reveal his true strength, not wanting to crush her confidence.
It wasn’t her fault.
The secular world was like this—outdated techniques and scarce resources.
The Acquired Realm was already considered impressive, and even prodigies here rarely reached it before thirty.
Lin Guiming, however, came from Bixiao Palace, one of the ten great immortal sects, and as a true disciple, he practiced top-tier techniques with endless resources.
There was no comparison to the secular world.
He was already at the final stage of the Body Refining Realm, standing at the peak of the Innate Realm, just one step from Spirit Condensation…
In a place like the Great Qian Dynasty, where even the Innate Realm was rare, he was practically invincible.
“Mm…”
He Wanying responded, clenching her small fists.
With a Tendon Tempering Realm expert guiding her, she’d surely progress quickly.
In a few years, she could reach the Flesh Tempering Realm and successfully enter the Imperial Academy!
As she thought this, her eyelids grew heavy.
The day’s events had exhausted her, and soon, she drifted into a hazy sleep.
***
Author’s note.
PS: No way it’ll actually take years…