Chapter 221: CH. 221 | Meeting of the Kingdom’s Sects

The next day.

Lin Tian opened his eyes and sensed the dominant pulse of spiritual energy radiating steadily from An Yue’s body.

The two of them were still inside the pavilion, hidden from the eyes of every other disciple on Tianxun Peak.

The illusion wall formation had worked flawlessly. No one knew where An Yue and Lin Tian actually were. Still, disciples had been talking about it since early morning.

They kept wondering aloud, gossiping about where the two of them had gone, and quite a few had wandered around the peak searching for any sign of them.

But their search turned up nothing. They even checked the pavilion where An Yue usually cultivated and cleared her mind, only to find it completely empty, an effect of the illusion formation at work.

"Sect Leader Lin Tian has mastered dimensional techniques. He’s probably using that power to hide himself and Elder An Yue somewhere."

"You’re right. This search feels pointless. We should just get back to cultivating and training instead."

Slowly but surely, they gave up looking for An Yue and Lin Tian, choosing instead to spend their time productively on training and cultivation.

Lin Tian felt relieved and pleased with their decision. He turned and looked over at An Yue. His eyes settled on her, deep in closed door cultivation.

Thanks to the effects of Lin Tian’s Extreme Yin Yang Energy Seed, combined with their dual cultivation, An Yue’s chances of breaking through had improved significantly.

She’d said as much herself, that she could feel the spiritual energy inside her body churning restlessly. If she didn’t channel it properly into cultivation and use it to break through soon, her body would suffer serious consequences.

That was exactly why, before the sun had even risen, An Yue had firmly asked Lin Tian for permission to enter closed door cultivation.

Only that way could her cultivation truly advance, opening a wide window of opportunity to break through to Nascent Soul.

Lin Tian summoned the orb containing his clone’s Nascent Soul essence, letting the golden orb float in front of his face.

Now that An Yue had found the right momentum to break through on her own, she’d chosen closed door cultivation over relying on a soul pill to get there.

That meant this Nascent Soul essence had become somewhat less essential for her. Still, it felt like too great a waste to simply discard.

He found himself caught in a dilemma. Throwing it away felt like tossing aside something far too precious. But keeping it meant he had no immediate use for it either.

In the end, Lin Tian decided against acting rashly. He chose to hold onto it instead, planning to use it later, once he and An Yue had a child who grew old enough to begin cultivating.

The golden orb went back into his bag of holding. Right before heading back to the sect’s main hall, Lin Tian turned briefly to look at An Yue.

"I’m heading back to the main hall, Yue’er."

"I’ll leave the illusion formation active. Once you break through, you can come find me."

There was no response. An Yue stayed silent, eyes closed, sitting cross legged in meditation. The flow of spiritual energy moved steadily through her dantian, nothing seemed out of order.

Lin Tian felt confident, certain that An Yue would reach Nascent Soul before long.

He turned and moved quickly, leaving the pavilion atop the rocky peak of Tianxun behind.

His movement was so fast it seemed to cut through the dimension itself, unnoticed by any other cultivator, who only felt a sudden gust of wind without knowing its source.

In a flash of white lightning, Lin Tian arrived at the sect’s front courtyard without drawing any attention. Even so, a group of Qi Condensation disciples training nearby noticed his arrival.

They paused their training to offer a quick bow of respect to Lin Tian. Hearing that he’d returned, the main hall’s doors opened, and Wu Yue came flying out to meet him.

"Greetings, Sect Leader Lin."

"What is it, Elder Wu?" Lin Tian asked.

"Someone arrived at the sect this morning carrying an honorary invitation for the Lingxian Sect, sent directly from the Qin Emperor."

"They’re hoping you’ll attend," Wu Yue said.

She produced a rolled invitation scroll and handed it to Lin Tian. He unrolled it and read through the message inside, the Emperor’s wish to restore the kingdom and guard against invasion from foreign cultivators.

"They tried to destroy us before the Yuanmo Sect crisis ever happened. Now they’re asking for our help," Lin Tian said.

"What do you think, Wu Yue?"

Wu Yue clasped her hands together in respect, then straightened up, meeting Lin Tian’s gaze firmly, "I’ve come to understand their politics and schemes over the last ten years. They’re cunning, yes, but everything they’ve done has come from fear."

"The Qin Sect Alliance’s attack plan was rooted entirely in their fear of the Lingxian Sect, which they accused of being a corrupt demonic faction. I couldn’t find any solid reason to think it was jealousy or feeling threatened by our presence," Wu Yue said.

"That’s right," Lin Tian said. "From the very beginning, our conflict with them stemmed from that accusation of being a corrupt sect. That was because I refused to join them, and instead tore their alliance apart, member by member."

"Right now, the Qin Kingdom is unstable. Countless mortals have died or gone missing, the economy has ground to a halt, and security across the land has completely broken down."

"Without solid footing from the Qin Kingdom itself, I’m worried the Lingxian Sect could run into serious trouble down the road," Lin Tian added.

Lin Tian burned the scroll as he turned around, walking toward the wind dragon gate at the sect’s entrance. "I’ll go attend their meeting. You stay here and hold things down."

"Understood, Sect Leader Lin."

He shot off fast, leaving the Lingxian Sect behind. The disciples in the front courtyard rose to see him off, Wu Yue among them.

Lin Tian flew fast, tearing through the sky and cutting through the clouds, leaving a white trail streaked across the heavens, like a brushstroke painted across the sky.

Every now and then he glanced down, taking in the destruction below, ruined villages, shattered sects, entire cities reduced to rubble along the way.

Dust and collapsed buildings stretched endlessly across the land of the Qin Kingdom.

Thankfully I managed to stop the Yuanmo Sect before it caused any more devastation to this kingdom.

If I’d failed, that demonic sect might have spread its invasion to other kingdoms and eventually seized control of the entire planet of Wangzhou.

Lin Tian pushed his speed even faster until the Qin Kingdom’s capital city came into view.

It wasn’t just the city itself, he also spotted a large number of cultivators arriving from other sects. With so few sects still standing, the ones that survived had sent even more envoys than usual.

They caught sight of Lin Tian, unmistakable in his gray and white Lingxian Sect robes. They immediately began whispering and gossiping about him, but Lin Tian paid them no mind.

He passed through the city’s protective dome and landed on the main road. Unlike the other cities outside the capital, this place was full of people going about their daily lives as usual.

They carried on as if no great catastrophe had ever happened, shopping and interacting with each other normally. Lin Tian took note of them but didn’t dwell on it further.

His steps came to a stop in front of a grand crimson gate, adorned with two crimson dragons carved above it. Royal guards stopped Lin Tian to ask for his identity.

"I’m—"

"I’ve been waiting for you. What took you so long, Lin Tian?"

Li Qingxue flew out from inside the Qin palace and landed just beyond the gate.

The two royal guards froze in shock, never expecting the man standing before them to be Lin Tian himself, the man who’d saved the entire Qin Kingdom from the Yuanmo Demon Sect.

"M-Master Immortal Lin Tian?"

"P-Please, come in, Master."

Lin Tian nodded and walked toward Li Qingxue, clasping his hands together in a respectful greeting. Li Qingxue returned the gesture, feeling strangely honored to be greeted so formally by Lin Tian.

"Everyone’s talking about what you accomplished, something the entire Qin Sect Alliance never managed to pull off," Li Qingxue said, walking alongside him.

"I only managed to beat them because the Sect Alliance helped me along the way. Without all of you, destroying the Yuanmo Sect would have been far harder."

"The Qin Emperor wants to meet you. I hear he has a beautiful daughter at the Perfect Core Formation stage."

"I can already guess where this is going, he probably wants you to marry her and take up dual cultivation together," Li Qingxue teased.

Lin Tian didn’t respond, choosing to stay quiet as if he hadn’t heard a word of what she’d said. Ever since marrying An Yue, he genuinely had no interest in any other woman, no matter how beautiful they might be.

The two of them walked on together and crossed paths with several other cultivators. Once again, conversation turned to Lin Tian, as if the topic would never run dry.

Two royal guards opened the doors to the Qin palace’s main hall, welcoming Lin Tian and Li Qingxue inside.

Once he stepped in, he saw a large gathering of cultivators already seated and waiting at their tables, Yun Zhao from the Yuntian Sect among them.

The moment Lin Tian entered, everyone rose from their seats and clasped their hands together in greeting.

"Greetings, Sect Leader Lin Tian."

"Greetings, fellow Daoists."

In the middle of the gathering, a man arrived wearing crimson robes and a royal crown. He came accompanied by his two children, a crown prince and a princess.

The Qin Emperor’s attention shifted forward. He smiled and walked toward Lin Tian. Lin Tian clasped his hands together, offering his respects to the mortal ruler of the Qin Kingdom.

"Without you, I fear the Qin Kingdom would exist only as a memory."

"I did what needed to be done. It had nothing to do with the Qin Kingdom specifically."

"HAHAHA!"

"Of course. From the very beginning, the affairs of cultivators and the mortal world have always been separate matters," the Qin Emperor said.

"Thank you for coming, Master Lin Tian."