The two stood facing each other, and the scene fell into silence.
The atmosphere was awkward. Shen Yun forced a smile on her face and asked despite knowing the answer, “I heard you’ve advanced to the Inner Sect. You’ll be moving out of here soon.”
The deliberate distancing before, and now this sudden visit, she herself found it strange too.
“We used to spend time together often. I figured there was nothing good enough to congratulate you with, and I remembered how you used to enjoy hearing us talk about interesting things from the outside world, so I thought I’d give you this.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she gave a light wave of her hand and took something out of her Storage Pouch.
Jiang Luo watched as Shen Yun handed the thing over. It was a somewhat yellowed book.
On the cover of the book, clearly written, was: “Tales of the Wind, Chronicles of the Rain, Zhaowen Tower.”
“You always loved hearing the interesting stories from Zhaowen Tower, didn’t you? So take this.”
Jiang Luo didn’t move for a long while. She roughly understood the other’s intentions. Now that she had advanced to the Inner Sect while Shen Yun remained in the Outer Sect, Shen Yun was worried that because of their earlier distancing, she might seek revenge against them later.
After all, in the Sunset Sect, this was nothing unusual.
Looking up and seeing Shen Yun’s awkward and uncomfortable expression, Jiang Luo paused, then said, “It was just luck on my part. But since it’s your heartfelt gift, I’ll accept it.”
She knew a thing or two about social niceties. If she didn’t accept it, Shen Yun would probably fear her from now on, worrying about her seeking revenge. But she had no such intention or thought.
And if Shen Yun were to give something truly valuable, she probably couldn’t afford it anyway. Catering to her interests was the best choice.
Hearing this, Shen Yun’s face lit up with joy, and she felt a wave of relief in her heart. “If there’s ever anything we can help with in the future, just come find us.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Luo responded simply.
Having received her answer, Shen Yun left, satisfied.
Looking at the book in her hands, Jiang Luo felt a surge of emotion.
If not for Xu Lin’s help, forget advancing to the Inner Sect. She’d be lucky just to avoid her Realm regressing.
And as Shen Yun had said, when she had just started on the path of cultivation, they girls loved hearing the interesting gossip collected by Zhaowen Tower, soothing the boredom of daily cultivation.
It was said that in recent years, the situation between the Righteous Path and the Demon Sect had been tense, and Zhaowen Tower didn’t dare collect too much gossip from the cultivation world, fearing they might displease one side or the other.
So these books were all from long ago. They couldn’t be found now. One could even say the book in her hands was out of print.
Without deliberately collecting it, it couldn’t be found at all.
Only people like them, who enjoyed interesting stories, would keep it around, occasionally taking it out to read.
Back in her room, she closed the door. Jiang Luo placed the book on the table and, propping her face on one hand, casually flipped through a few pages.
To be honest, she quite missed those times. At least everyone truly treated each other openly, never caring about trivial things.
Shen Yun was also the one who had spent the most time with her. But because of that one embarrassing incident on her part, seemingly prompted by others, she too had deliberately distanced herself.
If she hadn’t done that back then, her own situation might have become just as awkward. It was understandable.
As for Zhaowen Tower, they often recorded interesting events from various places. Even if disciples of the Righteous Path and the Demon Sect didn’t go out to train, they could learn about the outside world from the books issued at regular intervals.
Most importantly, they would document suddenly appearing talented juniors, and even some high-ranking sect members would pay attention.
Nothing was too trivial or too major. This side proved Zhaowen Tower’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.
But it was also because it was too detailed that it inevitably drew attention and courted unnecessary trouble.
Jiang Luo skimmed through casually. Everything in it was from long ago. By now, even the people involved had probably forgotten.
Instead, she rather missed that time. After all, cultivation was dull back then, and only these interesting stories could provide some comfort.
Of course, there was another rather interesting part of this book. Based on various factors like cultivation and appearance, it would list rankings for male and female cultivators of the same generation, with reasons noted, and even an ink portrait, remarkably lifelike.
Back then, they had seen Yang Yao in it. When they later met her in person, they felt the description hadn’t done her justice. They were filled with admiration and longing.
After reading for a while, Jiang Luo sighed.
Looking at this thing again, she couldn’t tell whether she was still interested or whether she was nostalgic for those times.
Nostalgia was useless. Jiang Luo stood up, preparing to go organize some things.
“Honestly, Senior Brother is the Saint, and of all things, he takes my Storage Pouch, making it impossible for me to pack my things.”
Jiang Luo began to complain.
During the Grand Tournament, Xu Lin had temporarily returned the Storage Pouch to her to store her Long Spear, but afterward, he took it back. After all, it contained many medicinal herbs and spiritual plants.
But Jiang Luo really couldn’t understand it. The illustrious Holy Son of the Sunset Sect was actually fixated on her Storage Pouch.
If he truly wanted these things, couldn’t he just ask for better ones?
She really didn’t know if he had some strange hobby or was simply trying to tease her.
Just as Jiang Luo walked to the bedside, the complaints about Xu Lin on her lips suddenly stopped. A distant thought surged up, as if emerging from the mud of memory, making her body freeze uncontrollably.
Jiang Luo’s expression went blank. Narrowing her eyes, she tried hard to distinguish that distant memory clearly.
When she first met Xu Lin, and afterward, she had said more than once that she felt like she had seen his face somewhere before.
The problem was, she hadn’t left the Sunset Sect much. Everyone she had seen should have been from within the sect. Yet Xu Lin’s unfamiliar face back then had a certain indescribable impression, one she couldn’t place.
Jiang Luo maintained her surprised expression and turned sideways to look at the book on the table.
“Could it be… in here?”
She suddenly thought of a possibility and hurried back to the table, then quickly flipped through it again.
This possibility wasn’t unfounded. Although Xu Lin’s identity in the Sunset Sect was now mysterious, with his Realm, he might have shown his talents long ago and been noticed by Zhaowen Tower.
When she had flipped past the halfway point, an ink portrait of a man appeared in her view. Jiang Luo’s eyes widened instantly.
She rubbed her eyes, confirming she hadn’t seen wrong.
The person in the portrait was exactly the same as her Senior Brother. This also corresponded to the vague impression in her mind.
But reading further down, Jiang Luo’s widened eyes churned with shock.
“Xu Lin, Senior Brother of the Green Cliff Peak of the Vast Dao Sect, True Mystery Realm, Second Stage. He is reserved and cold, with a solid cultivation foundation. Among his peers, he is above average, with the strength to step into the Heavenly Firmament Realm. Furthermore, as the head of Green Cliff Peak, he has the potential to become the next Peak Master. However, he keeps to himself and rarely has deeds worth recording…”
The portrait’s brushwork was well-balanced, and his appearance gave off an impression of handsome elegance. But these few short lines—unless one particularly cared about this person—most people wouldn’t linger on them.
Back then, when Jiang Luo and the others had seen it, that was exactly how it was. They skimmed past it, so there was no deep memory.
But now, looking again, Jiang Luo’s heart surged like waves, unable to calm for a long time.
People with the same name and surname weren’t strange. But the same name and surname, with the portrait and the real person being roughly identical, was hard to explain.
Remembering what Xu Lin had said to her jokingly before, Jiang Luo felt her mind become a mess.
“Senior Brother… Holy Son of the Sunset Sect… Senior Brother of the Vast Dao Sect…”
Jiang Luo had told Xu Lin before that these two identities from opposing sides couldn’t possibly belong to the same person.
She had always thought Xu Lin was just teasing her when he said that.
But with a certain established fact before her, Jiang Luo couldn’t understand, and didn’t know how to refute it.