“I… you…”
Jiang Luo’s words stuck in her throat for a long time, coming out haltingly.
Xu Lin set down his teacup and studied her again. He really couldn’t tell if her stammering was because she got easily worked up, or if she was always like this.
“Listen first. If I’m wrong, you can rebut me then.”
Xu Lin said with a serious expression.
“The Guiyuan Realm. This realm requires a cultivator to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into their body and evolve it into their own True Essence.”
Whether it was from transmigrating into the book or being the Senior Brother of Vast Dao Sect, Xu Lin understood every realm well.
Combined with his special eyes, just like how he’d spotted the poison deep in Yang Yao’s Root Bone, seeing through this little girl’s cultivation problem was nothing difficult.
“But it seems you can’t fully evolve that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into your own True Essence. At the final step, does that spiritual power run out of your control, surging through your body like a tidal wave?”
Jiang Luo, who had been about to argue, paused. She didn’t know how he could tell, but her situation was exactly as he described.
“Under those circumstances, that spiritual energy flows through your Hundred Meridians and gathers in your Dantian.”
Xu Lin extended a hand, pressing two fingers to his own chest, then slowly moved them downward.
When he reached his abdomen, he couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
He’d just been put under a Forbidden Seal by Xi Ranchen, and the Demonic Mark happened to be right there.
What a wild move—why of all places did it have to be here?
Pulling his thoughts back, Xu Lin continued, “In the end, you can’t restrain it, and it… leaks out.”
Since it involved something somewhat private, Xu Lin didn’t know how to phrase it exactly.
Seeing no response from the other party, Xu Lin looked up. He thought she might think he was wrong, but instead found Jiang Luo red as a sweet potato, even her neck flushed, her whole face steaming with heat.
Jiang Luo’s hands tightly gripped the hem of her clothes. The secret she’d never dared to tell anyone had been so easily exposed. She was both embarrassed and angry, yet she couldn’t refute him.
“Based on what I know of Sunset Sect, your cultivation technique should have nothing to do with Calming the Mind and Guarding One’s Nature. On the contrary, that technique actually aggravates your condition. Not only does it fail to raise your realm, the more you cultivate, the more troublesome it gets. You had no choice but to seek Cold Jade to suppress it.”
“But that’s just a drop in the bucket. In the end, it ended up ruining your bed like that.”
“Stop talking!”
Unable to bear it any longer, Jiang Luo mustered all her strength and shouted at Xu Lin.
Xu Lin was a bit startled. He was surprised that this timid girl had suddenly flared up like that.
“Fine, I won’t say anymore.” Xu Lin waved a hand. “I’ve said what I needed to say. Miss, please.”
Xu Lin didn’t get up to see her out, instead closing his eyes with a slight sigh.
He’d said all he needed to. She could believe it or not.
But in the moment he closed his eyes, the entire area fell silent, without a single sound. When he opened his eyes again, he found Jiang Luo still standing there.
“My name is Jiang Luo.”
“Hmm?” Xu Lin replied indifferently.
She’d given her name, only to receive a lukewarm response.
Jiang Luo bit her lip, her fingers kneading the hem of her skirt. After hesitating for a long time, she said, “Since you know about my situation, do you have a solution?”
Only then did she understand why Xu Lin had laughed at her like that last night.
Xu Lin didn’t answer immediately. His gaze fell on Jiang Luo, his index finger tapping on the table as he weighed something in his mind.
He’d been mysteriously dragged to Sunset Sect, and now Xi Ranchen had done something to him.
Not to mention Xi Ranchen’s intentions toward Vast Dao Sect, his own position didn’t look good no matter how he saw it.
To escape this predicament, he needed an insider in Sunset Sect to help him get away later.
“Maybe I do have a way.” Xu Lin spoke. “But why should I help you?”
He’d tried to stay out of the storyline, but ended up in this mess just because he’d saved Yang Yao without thinking.
Whether he could help Jiang Luo in front of him, and whether it would stir up more trouble—these were things he really needed to consider.
Struck speechless, Jiang Luo didn’t think Xu Lin was being cold, but rather felt she was being presumptuous.
He’d already been kind enough to explain her problem, and now she was asking him to help her. That really didn’t make sense.
Jiang Luo struggled to find some reason, but she wasn’t like her senior sister, who could produce Heavenly Treasures. This Cold Jade had been hard enough for her to obtain, and Xu Lin didn’t seem to care about it anyway.
The atmosphere suddenly stiffened. Jiang Luo froze there, not knowing how to respond, looking even more flustered and at a loss.
Seeing her like that, Xu Lin sighed. “Actually, you could ask others. With Sunset Sect’s heritage, there might be a way. You don’t have to fixate on me.”
Xu Lin gave Jiang Luo an out.
Jiang Luo shook her head like a bell. “I dare not, and I don’t want to. If I told others about my situation, they would all laugh at me.”
Even if they had a solution, she would become a laughingstock and have no face to live on.
“Are the relationships among disciples in Sunset Sect like this too?” Xu Lin yawned.
Righteous Path, Demonic Path—no matter which side, competition and mockery between disciples seemed to be common.
The Path of Cultivation was always about stepping on others to rise. That never changed anywhere.
“Mm.” Jiang Luo responded weakly.
In Xu Lin’s eyes, she already saw him as a lifeline, trying to please him with every word.
“I still need to think about this.”
Jiang Luo’s eyes had just dimmed, thinking Xu Lin didn’t want to help her, when she heard his voice again.
“Come here at midnight tonight. I’ll tell you my thoughts then. By the way, my name is Xu Lin.”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.” Jiang Luo quickly nodded, afraid he might change his mind. “Okay!”
From the moment he said his name until Jiang Luo left, Xu Lin kept watching her expression.
According to the plot in the book, Xu Lin didn’t know Jiang Luo, and her expression didn’t show any special reaction to his name.
Still sitting in his original spot, Xu Lin began seriously considering whether to help Jiang Luo.
When evening came, Jiang Luo arrived early near Xu Lin’s room. Since the time wasn’t yet midnight, she didn’t barge in but paced around nearby.
When she’d been searching for the Cold Jade earlier, she hadn’t paid attention to the bell. Only when she returned to her dwelling did she hear many people discussing the matter of the Saint.
The appointment of a Saint came so abruptly that most people in Sunset Sect were curious about what kind of person would prompt the Sect Master to make such a decision.
But Jiang Luo couldn’t care less about that right now.
Her mind replayed Xu Lin’s words. She felt some anticipation, but also a kind of dread.
In hindsight, she realized she’d agreed too casually.
Regardless of Xu Lin’s identity, he’d asked her to come to his room late at night. No matter the reason, shouldn’t she be on guard?