After Xu Lin finished speaking, everyone was stunned, whether it was the disciples below the stage or the elders behind him.
The scene fell silent for a moment, so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard.
Only Jiang Luo, who had grown used to Xu Lin’s temperament during this period, pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, an awkward smile threatening to show itself.
She looked around, only seeing the people beside her with their mouths agape.
It was as if their original worldview was collapsing, and a new one was slowly being built in their minds.
“Stupid Senior Brother, it’s one thing to mess around with me like this on normal days, but why would you do this in front of so many people all at once?”
Jiang Luo didn’t even know what else to say to herself.
She truly didn’t know if Xu Lin really couldn’t read the room, or if he was just like this in every situation.
Xu Lin, standing on the steps, also sensed the subtle shift in the atmosphere and looked slightly surprised.
“Why are you all not saying anything? Give me some kind of reaction.”
He had spoken so passionately, so why did these people all look like they’d been hit with a Binding Body Spell?
The first ones to snap out of it looked at each other, all able to see the bewilderment in one another’s eyes.
This Saint—how was he different from what they had imagined?
The Holy Maiden was cold and aloof, so why was the Saint…?
The two were complete opposites.
But upon careful reflection, his words seemed to carry some truth.
After a while, no one knew who spoke up first.
“The Saint is right!”
Everyone snapped back to their senses, then shouted in unison without prior coordination.
“Saint! Saint! Saint!”
“That’s right.”
Xu Lin was very satisfied with these people’s reactions.
“You’re not stupid after all.”
Those words just now, whatever way one looked at them, except for that last part, Xu Lin would absolutely never apply them to himself.
Are you kidding? He still had to break away from the storyline and live well!
If there was no way, he’d have to find one, like figuring out how to safely leave the Sunset Sect.
Seeing the scene before them, the few elders behind him exchanged glances, then could only shake their heads helplessly.
Whether Xu Lin’s words counted as twisted reasoning, they couldn’t quite figure it out for the moment, but upon first hearing them, there was a bit of sense to it.
Jiang Luo listened to the rising and falling shouts around her and let out a sighing laugh.
She noticed that Xu Lin had already gotten somewhat carried away in the clamor, and his resting hand was trying to raise itself, as if he wanted to join in with their shouting.
But just as her hand hadn’t even reached halfway up, a Sound Transmission entered her ear.
“If I remember correctly, you’re Jiang Luo, right?”
Jiang Luo’s body froze.
She quickly looked around but couldn’t immediately pinpoint who had sent her the transmission.
“That voice is so familiar, like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
She murmured to herself, yet she couldn’t confirm it right away.
At that moment, the voice continued.
“Come to the Jade Spring Lake later. I have something to discuss with you.”
With those words, it disappeared completely this time, leaving Jiang Luo even more puzzled.
Someone was using Sound Transmission to reach out to her?
She was just a disciple who had recently advanced to the Inner Sect.
If it were someone from the sect, it seemed like they wouldn’t need to go through so much trouble to find her.
After Xu Lin’s strange lecture, the elders took over and wrapped things up, though many disciples were still hungry for more of Xu Lin’s unconventional style.
When it was over, following the reminder from that voice, Jiang Luo came alone to the Jade Spring Lake.
This was also the place where she had caught fish for Xu Lin back then.
As soon as she approached, Jiang Luo spotted a figure from afar facing the Jade Spring Lake, standing with her back to her.
It was a woman whose very silhouette gave off an air of ethereal detachment.
And just like the voice from the Sound Transmission, the figure also felt very familiar to Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo walked a few steps forward and cautiously asked,
“Was it you who sent me the Sound Transmission just now?”
“Yes.”
The figure glanced back from the corner of her eye, and after confirming it was Jiang Luo, she turned around.
“It was me.”
Once she saw who it was, Jiang Luo’s eyes went wide.
“Senior Sister… no, Holy Maiden.”
She quickly corrected herself, her tone becoming more respectful.
So it was the Saintess.
No wonder the voice and figure felt so familiar.
“You may call me Senior Sister.”
Yang Yao’s tone was calm, her gaze deep, sizing up Jiang Luo in an instant.
She had never paid much mind to the title of Saintess.
To her, it was neither here nor there.
But seeing Jiang Luo again stirred something subtle within her.
In the memories of her Previous Life, Yang Yao’s Dao Heart had been nearly shattered by that person, and her Master was embroiled in the Great Righteous-Demonic War, with no time for anything else, let alone tending to her severe injuries.
Back then, even though Yang Yao was still the Saintess of the Sunset Sect, many elders had long since become estranged in all but name.
Some wouldn’t even give Yang Yao healing Medicine Pills, and most disciples harbored their own ulterior motives.
After all, if Xi Ranchen were to fall, she, the severely injured Saintess, would become expendable.
It was in that moment that a single Junior Sister had secretly risked danger to go outside and pick a Spirit Herb, bringing it to Yang Yao in the dead of night.
That Spirit Herb wasn’t any rare medicinal plant, and it was only a drop in the bucket for Yang Yao’s injuries, but that act of offering aid in her time of need made Yang Yao remember that Junior Sister.
And that Junior Sister was the Jiang Luo standing before her now.
During the Grand Tournament, Yang Yao had already noticed Jiang Luo.
But when she saw Jiang Luo use a Spear Technique almost identical to that person’s, Yang Yao couldn’t describe the feeling.
Jiang Luo, who had offered charcoal in the snow in her previous life, was now using that person’s Spear Technique in this life.
But Yang Yao knew that the Jiang Luo of the Previous Life shouldn’t have known that set of Spear Techniques, and her Cultivation Base had broken through far too quickly.
After all, when she had brought the medicinal herb to her, Jiang Luo had only just barely broken through to the First Stage of the True Profound Realm.
Seeing Yang Yao staring at her without saying anything more, Jiang Luo felt uneasy.
Could it be that Senior Sister had discovered my excessive contact with Senior Brother and came specifically to warn me?
Ever since seeing the scene that day, Jiang Luo had considered this possibility, but she just hadn’t expected it to come so soon.
Right now, she was like a cat caught stealing, with nowhere to hide.
“Junior Martial Sister Jiang, first of all, congratulations on advancing to Inner Disciple.”
This line, Yang Yao meant from the bottom of her heart.
In her Previous Life, given Jiang Luo’s Cultivation Base at the time, she probably would have advanced to Inner Disciple very late, or perhaps never become an Inner Disciple at all.
“…Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Jiang Luo’s hand unconsciously gripped her skirt, not daring to meet Yang Yao’s gaze.
Forget Yang Yao’s status and the aura she carried, Jiang Luo now felt like a guilty thief and didn’t even know how to face her.
“Don’t be nervous.”
Yang Yao could see Jiang Luo’s tension and offered a brief reassurance.
“I didn’t call you here for anything else. I just wanted to understand a few things from you.”
“Ah… alright, Senior Sister, please speak.”
But the more she said that, the harder it was for Jiang Luo to calm down.
Yang Yao paused, her mind unconsciously recalling Jiang Luo’s Spear Technique from that day.
“Where did you learn the Spear Technique you used during the Grand Tournament? I recall that the Scripture Pavilion of the Sunset Sect shouldn’t have this set of Spear Techniques.”
The Scripture Pavilion of the Sunset Sect did have Spear Techniques, but most disciples still preferred sword arts.
The key point was that Yang Yao could tell Jiang Luo’s Long Spear that day was prepared at the last minute, and it didn’t look like she had been practicing the Spear Technique regularly.