The lingering scent of spiritual herbs still floated in the cave dwelling, and the cracks on the stone wall’s spiderweb-like patterns were especially clear in the morning light.
Lin Nan stood before the stone table, her fingertips suspended in midair, her emerald eyes fixed on the porcelain bowl on the table. The bowl held half a cup of clear water, its surface reflecting the white strands at her temples and the golden light that hadn’t yet faded from her eyes.
Cultivation was truly a troublesome matter. After breaking through to the eighth rank yesterday, Lin Nan’s Demon Power surged wildly inside her body. If it weren’t for the Soul-locking Ring helping her suppress the restlessness of the Demon Qi coursing through her, that energy might have actually overflowed from the cave dwelling.
Such dense and pure Demon Qi—no matter how much Xuan Chenzi and Shu Ying vouched for it, claiming it was the effect of the Summon Demon Art, probably no one would believe it.
She looked down at her palm, where a mark flickered for a moment.
“If I want to break through again in the future, I’m afraid I’ll have to find a place where no one is around,” Lin Nan sighed.
It was still a troublesome matter. Breakthroughs were always critical—any slight misstep could not only prevent progress but even destroy all her cultivation, leaving her to fall into a mundane state.
That was why Qingyun Sect disciples usually remained within the sect when breaking through. Here, there was a stable environment and plenty of fellow disciples and elders to guard and protect.
But who could she ask to guard for her when the time came?
That was a problem for another day. Lin Nan felt the steady flow of energy inside her again, calming herself to carefully sense the changes brought by the rise in her cultivation.
The Tiger Demon’s “She Duan Shen” focused on fierce strength, while the Spirit Cat’s “Flowing Shadow Body” emphasized swift agility. These two powers collided from time to time, causing faint pain where the Soul-locking Ring’s cracks appeared.
At least, the demons she summoned this time were all her own.
That spared her the long, painful process of adapting to a demon body.
“But after all, I’m still a Half-Demon. Not so easy to control,” she murmured, raising her hand to press against the crack in the stone wall.
The remaining force of “She Duan” lingered there, and as her fingertips touched it, a fierce energy surged up her arm like a tiger’s roar, rushing to her shoulder. She grunted, staggering back half a step, her palm numb from the shock.
At that moment, the talisman above the doorframe suddenly trembled. Shen Yuer’s painted cat tail swept across the paper talisman, making a faint rustling sound.
Lin Nan looked up and heard a bright voice outside the door.
She smiled and said, “Just a moment,” tidying up the cave before opening the protective formation.
Outside, she saw half a face peeking in, black eyes shining like morning dew.
“Xiao Lin! Did I disturb your cultivation?”
Shen Yuer bounced inside, carrying a food box, sniffing hard at the tip of her nose. “What a strong herbal scent! Did you cause some commotion last night? I dreamt you turned into a big tiger chasing me!”
Lin Nan smiled helplessly and ruffled her hair. “Just finished cultivating.”
She lifted the lid of the food box to reveal steaming osmanthus cakes, white mist rising. “So many osmanthus cakes—you’re not worried about wasting them?”
“What’s there to worry about?” Shen Yuer shoved a piece into Lin Nan’s mouth, muffled, “Making Xiao Lin happy makes me happy!”
The sweet osmanthus scent mixed with medicinal fragrance spread, calming Lin Nan’s heart.
She picked up a piece of cake and suddenly remembered the aura Shu Ying had left outside last night. Her fingertips unconsciously traced the crack on the Soul-locking Ring. “Have you decided which books you want to borrow from the Library Pavilion?”
“Not sure yet. I’ll ask Master for advice when I have time,” Shen Yuer said, leaning on the stone table. She noticed a fleeting tiger stripe on Lin Nan’s hand and suddenly widened her eyes. “You have patterns on your hand! Is that a breakthrough phenomenon?”
Lin Nan instinctively pulled her sleeve down. “It’s just True Qi manifesting externally. By the way, has the Martial Transmission Hall updated the task list? I want to check the tasks in Broken Sword Valley.”
“You’re really going?”
Shen Yuer’s tone turned serious. “Senior Sister Qiao said that place is very strange, and they say the corpse of a Sword Immortal is buried there—pretty eerie.”
She grabbed Lin Nan’s wrist, fingertips touching the crack on the Soul-locking Ring. “Xiao Lin, what’s wrong with this jade ring? It looks cracked.”
Lin Nan calmly withdrew her hand. “It’s nothing. Maybe I bumped it during cultivation. I still want to go and take a look. For one, the altar incident in Changning Village feels related. And two, I’m a Sword Cultivator after all—I want to see what that valley full of broken swords really looks like.”
Lin Nan was on the path of combining Summon Demon Art with the Qingyun Heart Sutra. While the former helped her breakthrough, her swordsmanship also needed to grow.
If there was anywhere in the world that could boost a sword cultivator the most, it would naturally be Broken Sword Valley.
Shen Yuer wanted to say more but then seemed to think of something. She suddenly said, “Isn’t Huo Yuanyao from the Sword Sect? Maybe we should ask her about it.”
Lin Nan tilted her head, thought for a moment, and quietly gave a soft “mm.”
“If it’s yes, it’s yes. If not, then no. What’s with the ‘mm’?”
Seeing Lin Nan’s indifferent expression, Shen Yuer inexplicably felt annoyed. She slammed her hand on the table and snorted heavily.
Lin Nan was startled. She looked up at the pouty little girl, blinking, not understanding.
Shen Yuer took a deep breath but suddenly felt deflated, resting her chin on her hands. Her gaze drifted past Lin Nan’s casually draped hair to the wall behind her.
Then, with a bang, she crossed her hands and buried her face in her arms.
Her cheeks flushed red in an instant. She felt dizzy, as if bubbles were steaming out of her head.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She only knew that at a certain moment, she suddenly felt a huge possessiveness over Xiao Lin.
Logic told her that if Lin Nan was going to Broken Sword Valley to train, then asking Huo Yuanyao for information first was the best choice.
But emotionally…
She didn’t want that.
Especially not with Lin Nan’s indifferent attitude.
What was this? They had met first, and Huo Yuanyao was just a Sword Sect disciple who appeared halfway through and completed a mission with them!
Clearly—
Shen Yuer quietly raised her head, wanting to secretly observe Lin Nan’s reaction, but as soon as she lifted her brows, she saw the white-haired girl resting her chin on her hand, a gentle smile playing on her lips, eyes softly fixed on her.
“Mm…”
The little girl buried her face again, but her mind kept flashing with all sorts of wild ideas.
“I’m just a fellow disciple with Huo Yuanyao.”
“Hm?”
The small eyes beneath her arms blinked.
“You and I are the closest.”
“Eh!”
Shen Yuer sat up straight with a start, her flushed face flustered, her small hands clutching her robe, making her dizziness worse.
The girl still propped her chin, speaking softly, “We’re the best of friends in the whole world.”
Shen Yuer was stunned. Her heart should have raced at Lin Nan’s words, but upon hearing “best friends,” it suddenly felt cold.
“J-just best friends?”
Lin Nan remained gentle, but a trace of mischief flickered in her eyes. Having been teased so many times by the little girl, she finally had the chance to tease back. She tilted her head innocently and asked, “Then, what does Yuer think our relationship is?”
Shen Yuer bit her lip.
She straightened her neck and said with no small amount of pride, “Of course, it’s just a best friends relationship! What else could it be?”
“By the way, Xiao Lin, I saw Elder Xunlin waiting outside your cave. Maybe she’s here for you. I’ll go first!”
With that, the little girl covered her face and dashed out of the cave like she was running away. But in her heart, a sudden wave of profound loss surged.
Who even wanted to be just best friends?
She sighed.