In the darkness, Ling Qingzhu’s moving figure suddenly froze. Her bright eyes were no longer as calm as before. Instead, a rich disbelief had taken its place.
Her emotions, which only surfaced rarely just like the blossoming of the epiphyllum flower, suddenly arose at this moment because of a single name uttered by her companions.
Lin Dong…
It was an ordinary name. However, it stirred violent ripples in Ling Qingzhu’s calm lake like heart.
She would never forget what happened four years ago in that tiny Great Yan Empire.
Over the past four years, she had buried that incident deep within her heart. Along with it, she had also buried the one called Lin Dong in the deepest recesses of her heart and tried to forget about him with the passage of time.
However, despite burying it for four years, everything had been completely awakened with that name at this moment. The scene from four years ago also flooded out from the deepest parts of her mind, and was still so vivid…
After what had happened back then, even with Ling Qingzhu’s character, she was secretly filled with shame, rage and killing intent towards him. She had once contemplated killing Lin Dong in order to wipe this incident clean forever…
Of course, she did not do that in the end. Perhaps it was because of the steely mettle the immature youth had displayed back then, while he was being pressured by a far stronger Lin Langtian, that had touched her. Or she was actually a kind person deep in her bones. Or it could be due to other reasons she was unaware of…
In the end, she chose to let Lin Dong off and even saved him from Wang Yan. Perhaps only she knew just how complicated her emotions were back then.
Ling Qingzhu still remembered the youth’s disheveled yet exceptionally bright expression back on that mountain peak, when he proclaimed to her that he would surpass Lin Langtian, and that ruffian like tone when he declared that when he appeared in front of her once again, he would tell her that any woman that he slept with would be his…
At that time, Ling Qingzhu did not believe his words. She very clearly knew how weak Lin Dong was, and the distance between them was far beyond his imagination. After all, she was a member of a super sect and he was merely a branch family member from a low rank empire.
The two of them belonged to completely different worlds. If nothing unexpected happened in this world, the two of them would never have met.
Ling Qingzhu did not mention this back then. In the face of the youth’s bold promise, perhaps she could only treated it as a joke in her heart, or the right of frivolous youth…
Even the young man called Lin Dong.
This was what she had secretly believed until that name once again resounded in her ears. Only then did she realize that all her suppressed memories were still as vivid as before…
That pitifully weak youth who was once forced into such a sorry state by Lin Langtian’s aura, that youth who was forced into a perilous situation by Wang Yan…
He had finally walked out of the tiny Great Yan Empire and rose above the rest in the Hundred Empire War.
He had actually delivered on the promises that he had made back then.
The gauze on her face gently trembled as Ling Qingzhu gently bit her red lips. A complicated expression flowed in her bright and clear eyes. She could only imagine the effort and price Lin Dong must have paid in order to reach this level.
This guy… the steely mettle that had touched her back then seemed to have not changed at all.
“Senior Qingzhu? What is it?”
Behind Ling Qingzhu, the other girls were also startled when she suddenly stopped. Promptly, they cautiously asked.
Ling Qingzhu gently lifted her head and breathed in an icy-cold breath of air through her gauze. As the cold flowed through her heart, she used it to suppress the surging emotions within.
“It’s nothing.”
Ling Qingzhu softly said. She leaned back her head and turned her eyes to the back, as if she wanted to see through space and catch a glimpse of that familiar figure again. Moments later, she finally turned around, gently clenching her slender jade-like hand. No longer hesitating, the green lotus beneath her feet flickered, before it transformed into a meteor and flew out.
“Lin Dong, it is indeed surprising that you can make it here. However, now that you are here, you will finally understand the gap between us. I am not looking down on you. The fact that you can reach such a stage is more than enough proof of your talent.”
“However, this alone is still not enough for you to utter those words you had said previously before me.”
“You are the first man to have taken my body. If you are truly capable, make yourself the last. However, it is not so simple to conquer me, Ling Qingzhu.”
“Hopefully, you will have the genuine qualifications to utter those words in front of me the next time we meet in the Eastern Xuan Region. Regardless of the outcome, at the very at least, I admire your courage and conviction…”
“She’s gone…”
Atop the Hundred Empire Mountain, Lin Dong stared at the spot where Ling Qingzhu vanished as his lips gently pressed together, and his originally surging heart gradually calmed down. However, he did not feel anxious. Since he had reached the Eastern Xuan Region, he believed that he would have the opportunity to meet her again in future.
“The currently Ling Qingzhu is quite powerful.” Little Marten casually said. “From what I can tell, she should have reached the peak of Nirvana stage and she is merely one step away from the Life and Death stage.”
“Peak of the Nirvana stage.”
Lin Dong’s pupils shrunk a little before he involuntarily sighed in his heart. She was truly a lady blessed by the heavens. In merely four years, she had improved tremendously. Her progress made even himself feel as if there was no chance of catching up.
“Heh heh, I believe in you. I believe it will be quite satisfying to conquer such a lady.” Little Marten patted Lin Dong’s shoulder before he laughed in a strange manner.
Lin Dong rolled his eyes at him.
“Oh? Is brother Lin Dong interested in Ling Qingzhu?” While Lin Dong and Little Marten spoke, Liu Bai clearly saw the direction Lin Dong had been staring at. Immediately, he asked with a twinkly smile.
“Do you know her?” Lin Dong was somewhat startled as he asked.
“Heh, is there anyone in Eastern Xuan Region who does not know Ling Qingzhu of the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace? She is the direct disciple of the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace Empress and she holds an extraordinary status. Furthermore, her looks are out of this world and countless geniuses from various super sects have a crush on her. It is a pity that no one has been able to peel off her gauze and peek at her beauty.” Liu Bai laughed. There was an unconcealable passion in his words as he spoke.
Lin Dong scratched his nose in an unnatural manner while a peculiar expression filled his eyes. Not only did he peel off her gauze and saw her face, he even…
When he thought of that absurd deed that happened back then, even someone like Lin Dong involuntarily felt a slight heat in his heart. To a man, there was nothing more satisfying in this world that conquering an ice queen…
Of course, Lin Dong was not dumb enough to mention this incident. Even though he had stood out in the Hundred Empire War, there was still an extremely huge gap between him and the direct disciples of the super sects. If news that he had defiled this goddess got out, several of Ling Qingzhu’s admirers would come hunting for him.
“So she is from Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace…”
Nonetheless, Lin Dong managed to uncover Ling Qingzhu’s background from Liu Bai. He had never expected that she was someone from Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace. In a manner of speaking, Lin Dong had quite a strong affinity with this sect. In fact, back in Great Yan Empire, he even managed to obtain a Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace’s martial art from that fellow.
With these thoughts in mind, Lin Dong involuntarily chuckled before he stretched his back. When his eyes once again turned to look at that spot where Ling Qingzhu vanished, a small smile appeared on his face. Meanwhile, a tiny bit of anticipation gushed out from his heart.