"Just now when you were working on the desolate bone, there were some parts where you were inadequate…" As Su Jie spoke, he demonstrated the Mystic Crystal Hand once again. This time, Su Jie was even more serious. Every movement was broken down into parts, as he patiently taught Yi Yun.
Once Su Jie became serious, he was indeed an excellent master. Yi Yun had no problems in energy control, but he needed plenty of time to practice the sealing techniques.
Su Jie did not speak much and demonstrated it again and again for Yi Yun. From the Mystic Crystal Hand to the Small Thousand Seal, every runic seal was broken down into parts for Yi Yun. This carried on through the night, till it was early next morning.
Before they knew it, the two of them had been in the bone refinement room for more than 20 hours.
Yi Yun was covered in sweat as it was very draining to use the Purple Crystal continuously.
On the other hand, the Old Man Su Jie was still as fit as a fiddle.
And at that moment, a spark flashed in front of Su Jie's eyes. It was the beam from a voice transmission charm.
"Oh? Xintong is coming out!"
Su Jie's words made Yi Yun's heart thump. He stopped forming his hand seals. Lin Xintong was coming out?
Previously, Su Jie had passed a message to Lin Xintong. Now, with her coming out, it was oviously to meet Su Jie.
"I'm going to meet Xintong. Right… why don’t you come with me?" Su Jie suddenly said to Yi Yun.
Yi Yun was stunned for a while. Can I go too?
For this girl who he was indebted to and not met for two years, Yi Yun really wanted to meet her again.
Yi Yun followed Su Jie and left the Tian Hua peak. They headed to one of the other main peaks, the Jade Bamboo peak.
The Jade Bamboo peak was in the central region of the 18 main peaks. The mountain peak was not very high and it was covered in arrays. Jade bamboo grew throughout the year, despite the seasons. The peak had beautiful scenery.
At that moment, Yi Yun landed on the Jade Bamboo peak. It was early in the morning and it was misty. Looking down, all he saw was a sea of clouds. Above the clouds, there were green bamboo forests. It looked like an immortal paradise.
The Lin family's females mainly lived on the Jade Bamboo peak. Usually, male members of the Lin family could go up the mountain, but males were restricted from the back mountain regions.
Su Jie took Yi Yun to a Jade Bamboo Temple on the mountain peak. The entire Jade Bamboo Temple was built inside a bamboo forest. The tiles used for the temple's dome were made of jade making the entire place look green.
This made the Jade Bamboo Temple appear very harmonious with the Jade Bamboo. It was as if this temple was not man-made, and it was a natural occurrence from the bamboo forest.
A maidservant had been waiting at the door. When Yi Yun and Su Jie arrived, she took them inside.
In the Jade Bamboo Temple, there were pine and cypress trees interweaving with the jade bamboo everywhere.
And what made Yi Yun surprised was that many of the structures inside the Jade Bamboo Temple were made of bamboo or pine. These structures had the scent of bamboo and pine and it made one feel relaxed.
"The Lin family's Matriarch likes bamboo. This Jade Bamboo Temple was also built by Her Aged Reverent."
When Su Jie said this to Yi Yun, Yi Yun was slightly stunned. From Su Jie's tone, this old granny's age was not low. Even Su Jie himself addressed her as Her Aged Reverent. Was she at least 40,000-50,000 years old?
The maidservant took Yi Yun and Su Jie through a yard till they arrived at a newly built bamboo hut.
Yi Yun could see a beautiful girl dressed in white in the distance. She held a long sword in her hand and she was practicing her swordplay amongst the bamboo trees.
Her motions did not seem fast, but they gave a feeling of freely flowing water and floating clouds. Every stab of the sword would cause the surrounding bamboo leaves to fly around. Under the girl's sword, these bamboo leaves seemed to possess some soul as if they were alive.
This girl was the person who Yi Yun had not seen in two years, Lin Xintong.
Su Jie stopped in his footsteps as he watched Lin Xintong practicing her swordplay. His eyes were filled with love. Having not seen her for two years, Lin Xintong's sword skills had greatly improved yet again. A nonchalant brandish of her sword would become one joined with the surrounding environment. If it was described, this realm could be called, "one sword, one scene".
Every sword move would present a different scene to the people watching the swordplay.
"Master!"
Seeing Su Jie, Lin Xintong stopped. A happy smile hung on her face. After separating from Su Jie, she had always been thinking of him. This was because she knew that Su Jie had entered a very dangerous mystic realm. She was naturally worried since she had not heard any news from him for two years.
"Oh? You are…Yi Yun?"
Lin Xintong saw Yi Yun and she was taken aback. Yi Yun had changed so much in these two years. He had gone from a child to a bright teenager.
Lin Xintong was tall. Two years ago, Yi Yun only reached Lin Xintong's nose tip; but now, Yi Yun was slightly taller than Lin Xintong.
"Miss Lin, long time no see." Yi Yun smiled shyly. Having been separated for so long, he had experienced so many things. Now that he met Lin Xintong again, it was natural that he had the feeling of meeting an old friend.
"Oh? Who are you?"
At that moment, a sharp female voice rang out. Yi Yun turned his head and he saw a middle-aged woman dressed in a red palatial gown slowly walking over.
Beside the woman was a white-haired elder.
When Lin Xintong saw those two people, she bowed slightly, "Lin Xintong greets (paternal) grand aunt and sixth grand uncle."
The two of them were Lin Xintong's elders, and they were members of the upper echelons of the Lin family.
The woman in palatial gown gave Yi Yun a deep glance. She was perplexed when Su Jie brought a youth that was either his in-name disciple or medicine boy to the Jade Bamboo Temple. After all, the Jade Bamboo Temple was the women's residence in the Lin family. Typically, Su Jie would not bring an outsider to meet Xintong.
And since he brought him along, then it meant that Su Jie's relationship with the kid was not ordinary. Now, it appeared that even Lin Xintong knew him. This astonished her even more.
"He is a friend of mine." Lin Xintong calmly explained.
"Friend?" The woman repeated the word and frowned slightly. Looking at Yi Yun's appearance, he did not appear to be from a large family clan. Ignoring anything else, just the interspatial rings on Yi Yun's hands were common goods sold on the street. How did Lin Xintong befriend such a person?
Although she was unhappy, the woman did not say anything. Now, Lin Xintong's status was sensitive. Other than that matter, she would abide by Lin Xintong's intentions for any other matter.
"Grandaunt and sixth grand uncle, what are you doing in my bamboo porch?" Lin Xintong asked without much emotion. It appeared as if the two were not very welcomed.
"We are here to see you, Xintong. Why, do you not wish to see your grand aunt?" The woman said as she cordially held Lin Xintong's hand.
In the Lin family, about half of the elders supported the Shentu family clan's marriage proposal. The woman and the old man beside her were two of them.
To them, the marriage between the Shentu family clan and the Lin family was a win-win situation. Although in recent years, the Shentu family clan and the Lin family had been fighting due to all sorts of interests and had some old scores to settle on both sides, the small grudges were nothing compared to the gains laid in front of them.
The main reason was that a peerless Great Empress was too great a temptation for the Lin family.
Once the natural Yin Meridians were cured, Lin Xintong's future prospects were limitless.
Compared to the ancient Great Empress, the Shentu Patriarch and the Desolate race's Shepherd Boy who had appeared ten years ago were nothing.
She would definitely be a figure standing on the peak of the world. In this world's vast history, few people could be chosen to match this peerless Great Empress.
Other than the family's interest, this was also a very good thing for Lin Xintong. Lin Xintong's lifespan was originally less than 500 years. She was destined to have her cultivation level capped before reaching the title of Sage. Such a tragic fate could be reversed with this.
Not only would she be the person who could dominate the entire Tian Yuan world, she would also gain several hundreds of thousands of years of lifespan. She could create her own era which was very enviable.
One had to know that for a figure like the Shentu Patriarch, lifespan was more attractive than strength!
That was at least a few hundred thousand years and maybe even millions of years worth of time. Where could one find such a good deal?
The woman in palatial gown only found it a pity that she was aged and lacking natural Yin Meridians, or else, she would have agreed to marry into the Shentu family clan 10,000 times and obtain that great opportunity. And marrying into the Shentu family clan was not an unacceptable matter either. After all, it was a large family clan that was almost equal to the Lin family. There was no lack of resources or heritage.
As for Shentu Nantian, if Lin Xintong did not like him, then she could maintain a distance. When warriors practiced martial arts, they would usually go into reclusive training for several years or several decades at a time. When Lin Xintong reached the Sage realm, she could go into reclusive training every year. Out of sight, out of mind, what was unacceptable?
Unfortunately, no matter how she persuaded a thousand or ten thousand times, Lin Xintong was unwilling to let her fate be arranged by others. This made the woman find it hard to understand. Would Lin Xintong rather die in 500 years than letting go of her so-called pride and accept this great opportunity that people wished they had?
Although many of the Elders in the family were in favor of this, they could not force her. As such, the matter had been dragged on. Many Elders had tried to enlighten Lin Xintong, but it was useless.
The woman knew that many of the Elders in the family did not have a good relationship with Lin Xintong.
This was because Lin Xintong was born with terminated meridians, which was equivalent to a crippled body. No matter how good her talent was, who would bother caring about a person who could not live for more than 500 years?
Lin Xintong was ignored in the family when she was young, she was even mocked.
However, there were two people who showed additional love to Lin Xintong. One was the Lin family's Matriarch, and the other was Su Jie.
Lin Xintong's relationship with the two of them was the deepest. If the Matriarch was willing to persuade Lin Xintong, then the result would definitely be different.
Alas, it had to be that the Matriarch was indecisive for the past two years. On one hand, the Matriarch was leaning towards letting Lin Xintong accept the Shentu family clan's marriage proposal if they were able to refine that elixir. After all, she did not wish to see her most beloved granddaughter die before the age of 500.
Yet, on the other hand, she did not wish to force Lin Xintong against her will. As such, the Matriarch was indecisive. Besides, two years was nothing for martial artists. She was taking a wait-and-see attitude.
With the Matriarch not committing to it, the other person was Su Jie.
Su Jie's attitude to the matter was vital. The woman knew that Su Jie had come to see Lin Xintong, so she had rushed here early in the morning. She was afraid that Su Jie would say something that he shouldn't say, adding oil to the flames.