By the time Jiang Luo managed to sort out the relationship between Xu Lin and Yang Yao, the sun was already setting in the west.
Though she still didn’t fully understand the meaning behind Yang Yao’s words, her heart felt somewhat relieved.
Senior Sister didn’t like Xu Lin, even hated him—judging by her demeanor back then, there wasn’t a shred of goodwill to speak of.
That meant the worry she’d harbored about getting too close to Xu Lin and offending Senior Sister was completely unfounded. What she’d seen that day was merely her own misunderstanding.
At the thought, Jiang Luo felt the tightness that had been clogging her chest ease considerably.
But there was still one thing she didn’t understand. Yang Yao said Xu Lin wasn’t a good person, yet she never specified exactly what was wrong with him.
That was the subtle part.
Because in Jiang Luo’s eyes, Xu Lin indeed wasn’t a proper good person, but after all the help he’d given her, he shouldn’t count as a bad person either… right?
Even Jiang Luo herself couldn’t confirm it.
On the way back, she passed by Xu Lin’s residence. From a distance, she could see the lamp burning bright inside the room. Jiang Luo hesitated for a moment, then turned and descended toward that direction.
She completely forgot Yang Yao’s recent advice.
After the Advancement Tournament, Jiang Luo’s first instinct had been to come share the news with Xu Lin, but the scene she’d witnessed that day ruined her mood and left her unsure how to face him.
Now that the Mental Knot had been untied, she couldn’t help wanting to see what Xu Lin was up to.
Besides, she truly didn’t know how to repay his kindness.
Walking up to the door, Jiang Luo raised her hand to knock. She hesitated, then composed herself anew. Just as she was about to knock again, Xu Lin’s voice came from inside.
“It’s unlocked. Come in yourself.”
The sudden words caught Jiang Luo off guard. She paused, then pushed the door open and entered.
The moment she stepped inside, she saw Xu Lin sitting on a chair looking vexed, one hand propping up his face against the table beside him.
Under his manipulation, Jade Slips flew past him one by one. After inspecting their contents with his Divine Sense, he would toss them aside in disappointment.
“Senior… Senior Brother, what are you doing?”
Jiang Luo lifted her foot cautiously, afraid of stepping on the Jade Slips scattered across the floor.
Xu Lin shifted his gaze slightly and glanced at Jiang Luo with a detached expression.
“Looking for cultivation techniques, and some of Sunset Sect’s unconventional arts.”
The only person who would come to his place and knock was Jiang Luo, no guesswork needed.
“Cultivation techniques?”
Jiang Luo picked up a Jade Slip and realized it was one from the Scripture Pavilion.
“Senior Brother, you went to the Scripture Pavilion?”
Just holding the Jade Slip, Jiang Luo found it strange.
“These Jade Slips seem to be specifically for Outer Disciples. Why did you bring back so many at once, Senior Brother?”
Though both Outer and Inner Disciples could enter the Scripture Pavilion, their treatment was worlds apart.
For instance, Outer Disciples couldn’t access the higher floors to view high-grade techniques, nor could they bring techniques back to their residences to cultivate. They could only use these Jade Slips to transcribe the contents—and even then, the content would only last a few days.
It might’ve been better not to mention it. The moment the subject came up, Xu Lin couldn’t help but furrow his brows. He shook his head and said,
“Isn’t it just because I took a few extra Medicine Pills and Spirit Herbs last time? No need to be this wary of me. There’s not even a shred of trust between people.”
Jiang Luo smiled awkwardly. Last time Xu Lin had ransacked the Elixir Workshop, and now he’d gone to the Scripture Pavilion. The Elders there must have been forewarned, worried that Xu Lin would take things out and never return them.
That was why they made him use transcription Jade Slips. After all, if these got lost, it wouldn’t matter much.
It was only reasonable.
“They even said it was the Sect Master’s order.”
Xu Lin curled his lip.
She’d already placed a Restriction on him, and now she was still this guarded against him.
Either she truly thought of him as a thief, afraid he’d have designs on her things, or she genuinely wanted him to go find her and have her teach him techniques.
He shouldn’t have told Yang Yao about the Sect Leader Token’s function. Now he was stuck using such a tedious method to go through everything one by one.
He let out a sigh to vent the irritation in his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Lin glanced at Jiang Luo.
“Where’ve you been these past two days? I thought you’d wiped the dust off your shoes and bolted the moment you advanced to the Inner Sect.”
“How could that be!”
Jiang Luo’s mood, which had only just recovered, was doused in an instant.
She bit her lower lip in displeasure, not understanding why Xu Lin showed her not a shred of trust or recognition.
“Good that you didn’t.”
Xu Lin was just saying it casually, completely unconcerned about how much it bothered Jiang Luo.
“Here, see if any of these techniques suit you. Take them and practice for fun.”
After all, the contents transcribed in these Jade Slips would vanish in a few days. They were Sunset Sect techniques anyway—if Jiang Luo wanted to practice, she could.
Seeing Xu Lin toss the Jade Slip toward her, Jiang Luo quickly stepped forward and caught it.
These Jade Slips were nothing remarkable—every Outer Disciple had one, some even bought extras from other disciples. Having a few wasn’t unusual.
But having this many Jade Slips transcribed with Scripture Pavilion techniques at once was a rare treasure for any Outer Disciple.
She looked down and caught a line of text flashing across the Jade Slip.
Heart-Binding Curse.
Jiang Luo was a bit puzzled. This wasn’t simply a cultivation technique; it was more of an alternative art.
Take this one in her hand, for instance—it was exactly the kind of unconventional art Xu Lin had mentioned.
“Senior Brother, these things don’t all seem to be for aiding cultivation. Some are pretty strange. You’re not planning to practice all of them, are you?”
“What, do you have some unique insight?”
Xu Lin asked absentmindedly.
He naturally didn’t think Jiang Luo would have any special insight, since she’d only been an Outer Disciple before.
“Not really, but practicing too many mixed arts can easily cause problems.”
Jiang Luo meant well. Sunset Sect’s techniques were domineering; practicing too many without mastering any would truly lead to trouble.
“I know that.”
Xu Lin’s gaze sharpened into a serious expression, though he still swept his Divine Sense across the Jade Slips flying before him.
He’d deliberately gone to the Scripture Pavilion for two reasons. One was to find a Demon Sect cultivation technique suitable for him—he couldn’t rely solely on absorbing ambient Demonic Aura to cultivate forever. This time had already shown him how easily problems could arise.
The other reason was that, despite Xi Ranchen saying the Scripture Pavilion couldn’t possibly contain a way to undo the Demonic Pattern Forbidden Curse, Xu Lin still wanted to look around for something similar—maybe he could find a breakthrough.
That Heart-Binding Curse was somewhat similar, though nowhere near as powerful.
Was there really nothing to find?
Jiang Luo stood there and noticed the Bronze Ghost Mask casually tossed aside by Xu Lin.
Yang Yao’s strange words suddenly flashed through her mind… The Saint is not real.
“Senior Brother, there’s something I’ve been curious about for a while now.”
“Speak.”
“Are you really the Saint?”
Xu Lin, who had been nonchalant, froze mid-motion at Jiang Luo’s words. He fully withdrew his gaze from the Jade Slips and looked at Jiang Luo.
Only then did he notice that, compared to usual, Jiang Luo seemed different today—as if she had something weighing on her mind.
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