Chapter 206 | Elder Liu’s Summon*

Chapter 206: 206 | Elder Liu’s Summon*

The narrow corridor outside the Conduct Chamber was cool and quiet.

Lin Tian stepped away from the sealed doors, his robes settling smoothly around his body. He had barely taken three steps toward the central stairs when a junior alchemist in green-trimmed robes hurried around the corner, nearly colliding with him.

The disciple froze. His eyes widened in immediate, terrified recognition.

Ever since the night of the demonic boarding party, no one on the Flying Spiritual Ship dared to look at Lin Tian as an ordinary representative anymore. To them, he was the monster who had turned a Core Formation commander into ash.

"S-Senior Brother Lin," the junior alchemist stammered, bowing hastily and keeping his gaze pinned to the floor. "Elder Liu sent me. She ordered me to find you immediately."

He swallowed hard, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"She requires your presence at the Alchemy Recovery Station for a... private post-battle meridian and herb verification."

A faint, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Lin Tian’s lips.

Private verification.

On a ship filled with hundreds of active disciples and wounded guards, an alchemist of her supreme rank could have easily handled standard checks through any senior deacon. But this wasn’t about paperwork or healing the wounded.

Since the battle at dawn—where Lin Tian had unleashed his true power to burn that demonic commander just to protect her—Elder Liu’s Verdant Flame had been violently restless. Her obsession had reached 92%, and the forced, formal separation on the ship had only amplified her craving.

"Lead the way," Lin Tian said simply, his voice a low, unhurried baritone.

The Alchemy Recovery Station was located near the aft section of the representative deck. It was heavily partitioned by thick linen screens and glowing isolation talismans.

The outer area was chaos—junior disciples scrambling to sort bottles of recovery pills and bandages. The air smelled of blood and bitter medicine.

But as the junior alchemist guided Lin Tian past the primary tables, they slipped through a concealed side door into the restricted inner room.

The moment the heavy wooden door clicked shut and the internal array sealed, all sound from the outside world vanished.

The air inside was thick and heavy, saturated with the rich fragrance of refined spiritual herbs. But beneath that clinical scent lingered something else—a restless, feverish wave of pure Yin energy.

Elder Liu was already waiting.

She stood near the center of the room, dressed in her formal emerald robes embroidered with golden flame patterns. Her long black hair was tied in an elegant high bun, secured by jade ornaments.

Yet the cold, untouchable Matriarch mask she wore in public was completely gone.

Her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths. A deep, feverish flush painted her cheeks, and her dark eyes were dilated, hazy with a starvation she had been fighting all morning.

The moment the isolation array sealed and Lin Tian’s Irresistible Yang Scent flooded the small room, her entire body shuddered.

"Lin Tian..."

A soft, broken whisper escaped her lips.

All the heavy restraint, the pride of Alchemy Peak, and the dignity of a Core Formation expert shattered in an instant. Elder Liu crossed the room in two rapid steps, her emerald robes rustling as she practically threw herself against his chest.

Her arms locked tightly around his neck. She buried her face into the crook of his shoulder, inhaling deeply, greedily, of his masculine scent.

"You took so long," she murmured, her voice thick with raw need and a sharp flash of possessive jealousy. "Do you have any idea how long I have sat in this room, enduring the cold, waiting for the ship to quiet down so I could finally feel your fire?"

Lin Tian wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his frame. He could feel the rapid, heavy hammering of her heart through the silk of her robes.

"The ship has many eyes, Liu-er," Lin Tian said, his voice a low, vibrating purr near her ear. "Even a Matriarch cannot lock herself away without raising questions."

"I don’t care about," she breathed out, pulling back just enough to look up at him. Her hands fisted tightly in the dark fabric of his robes.

"When you stood on that deck and burned that demonic beast because it dared to utter my name... do you know what it did to my Dantian?"

Her fingers traced the line of his jaw, her touch trembling with a desperate hunger.

"My Verdant Flame went wild. It didn’t want ordinary Yang; it wanted you. Every minute you spent away from me felt like my meridians were slowly turning back... I felt so hollow... so empty."

Lin Tian smiled darkly. He caught her trembling hand, pressing a hot, lingering kiss to her palm before sliding his fingers down to grip the soft curve of her hip, pulling her closer.

"Is that so?" he taunted softly, his thumb tracing the sensitive dip of her waist. "And here I thought the great Matriarch of Alchemy Peak was busy healing wounded disciples."

"I was," Elder Liu whimpered, her resistance completely melted under his dominating touch. She pressed her burning cheek against his chest.

"But healing them only reminded me of how thoroughly you healed me. Their blood, their injuries... it all just made me crave your warmth even more. My core is empty, Lin Tian... I am burning from the inside out. Please... fix me."

The proximity, the absolute surrender of a Core Formation expert, and the sheer desperation in her voice made Lin Tian’s blood run hot.

He didn’t rush. He took his time, letting her feel the heavy, oppressive weight of his Yang aura.

"If I fix you," Lin Tian murmured, his lips brushing against her ear, sending a violent shiver down her spine. "You might not be able to walk back onto that deck for a while."

"I don’t care," she gasped, her eyes glazing over. "Let them wait. Let the whole ship wait. I just need you."

The recovery room was small, isolated, and hidden right beneath the nose of the entire sect. It was the perfect blind spot.

Lin Tian finally pulled her closer, capturing her lips in a deep, hungry kiss.

The moment their mouths met, it wasn’t a gentle embrace. It was a collision of fire and frost. His hands roughly mapped the voluptuous curves of her body beneath the emerald robes, feeling the feverish heat radiating from her skin.

Elder Liu let out a muffled moan, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Her Yin energy instinctively rushed out, wrapping around his Yang Qi, desperate to draw it in.

The Alchemist’s secret summons had been answered. And the storm behind closed doors was finally about to break.