Ye Jingyun

When Chen Lin returned to his lodgings, he found the woman from Shuiyue Pavilion standing in the courtyard, gazing up at the sky.

Seeing Chen Lin enter, she scrutinized him for a long while but said nothing.

Chen Lin rubbed his nose. Unsure what to say either, he simply went straight back to his room.

Once inside, he began refining an Enlightenment Pill.

His talent for pill refining had already been exposed anyway, so there was no need to hide it anymore.

After ten consecutive failures, he obtained a pitch-black pill.

Even after finishing it, he continued refining a few more batches. Naturally, they all failed.

He did this to conceal his Ten Attempts One Hit ability. If he succeeded exactly once every ten attempts, it would be far too obvious.

By scrambling the sequence, he could pass fish eyes off as pearls and make the other party believe he was merely lucky.

Even so, the woman from Shuiyue Pavilion outside wore an expression of astonishment and doubt.

"Does someone with such extraordinary luck really exist in this world? What a treasure. No wonder Senior Brother Yu told me to protect him in secret and bring him along when we leave."

Chen Lin had no idea that although Yu Yuehai had lifted his confinement, he had also ordered the woman from Shuiyue Pavilion to follow him secretly. On the one hand, he feared Chen Lin might encounter danger; on the other, he wanted to observe further and discover where his "luck" came from.

Or perhaps it was not luck at all, but something else entirely.

Chen Lin knew nothing of this, and even if he had, there was nothing he could have done. Once the pill was ready, he eagerly began testing it.

This time, he chose to practice Vajra Cover, the only defensive spell in Detailed Explanation of Elementary Spells. It was also a low-grade first-rank spell, with only average defensive power.

Of course, "average" was relative to cultivators. Against mortals, even the greatest martial arts masters would never be able to break through it.

Defensive spells were the hardest to learn. Despite its low rank, Vajra Cover was profoundly intricate. Chen Lin had studied it for a long time before, yet had never found the door in.

With Object Manipulation Art and Wind-Walking Art, his progress had been slow, but at least he could broadly understand them. With this one, he was completely in the dark.

He could not help questioning his intelligence again.

With aptitude like this, even in his previous life he would probably have ranked dead last among the worst students-a teacher's nemesis.

But his grades in his previous life had not been that bad. He had at least gotten into a third-tier university. Thus, he laid the blame on the body's original owner and lamented that he had failed to choose a good target when transmigrating.

After wallowing in self-pity for a while, he gathered himself and swallowed the Enlightenment Pill.

As the wondrous sensation emerged, Chen Lin immediately began trying to comprehend Vajra Cover.

His eyes lit up at once.

Sure enough, taking the pill made all the difference.

Looking at the spell's contents now, he immediately gained many new insights. The feeling of reading an incomprehensible heavenly script had vanished.

A quarter of an hour later, he finally had a rough grasp of how the spell worked, though he was still a little short of mastering its basics.

The wondrous sensation faded, and agonizing pain immediately followed.

Just as Chen Lin clutched his head and silently cursed Yu Yuehai for deceiving him, a cool current suddenly emerged from his dantian and surged straight into his brain.

Then his head cleared, and the pain diminished considerably.

It still hurt a little, but it was bearable. He no longer needed to roll around on the floor clutching his head.

It really worked!

Chen Lin was overjoyed.

Having a worm in his belly was disgusting, but in his current circumstances, he could not afford to worry about that. Learning more spells to improve his chances of survival came first.

In good spirits, he tidied up, then cooked a pot of Spirit Rice Porridge. After eating, he began refining another Enlightenment Pill.

Since he had already accumulated a few attempts earlier, he succeeded after just six tries this time.

Outside, the woman from Shuiyue Pavilion had been monitoring Chen Lin's actions with her perception all along. Now she frowned slightly, looking puzzled.

Then she glanced at Yu Yuehai's room and slowly walked over to Chen Lin's door.

"Knock, knock."

She extended her slender fingers and tapped twice on the door.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, I'm coming in!"

Without waiting for Chen Lin to reply, she pushed the door open and entered.

Chen Lin immediately rose, taking no issue with her rudeness.

Given the disparity in their standing, knocking at all was already quite courteous.

"Is there something you need, Fellow Daoist?"

Not knowing her purpose, Chen Lin took the initiative to ask.

The woman glanced around the room before her gaze settled on the Iron Cauldron Pill Cauldron. One delicate eyebrow rose slightly.

"You truly possess heaven-bestowed talent, Fellow Daoist. To think you could refine an Enlightenment Pill using such a crude Pill Cauldron. It really is astonishing!"

Chen Lin said nothing.

More words meant more chances to slip up. The more he said, the more trouble he would invite.

The woman did not mind his lack of response. Instead, she smiled and said, "Come to think of it, we're companions now, yet you probably still don't know my name, Fellow Daoist Chen. My surname is Ye, and my given name is Jingyun. I've practiced immortal cultivation for over twenty years, and my cultivation is at Qi Condensation Level 9."

Surprise appeared on Chen Lin's face.

He had not expected this woman's cultivation to be so high. She had already reached the final level of the Qi Refining Stage.

These two were definitely not ordinary rogue cultivators. He just did not know which faction they came from.

Ye Jingyun showed no intention of introducing herself further. Instead, she changed the subject, fixing her eyes on Chen Lin's with an expectant look. "I hear you're also skilled at talismancrafting?"

Chen Lin froze briefly, then nodded. "I know a little, but right now I can only make low-grade talismans."

Having shared a courtyard with Yu Yuehai for several years, he could not conceal his abilities from him.

Ye Jingyun gave Chen Lin a look that was almost a smile.

"Why be so modest, Fellow Daoist? My senior brother told me you can even make Soul-Detaining Talismans. Those are special talismans that even I can't make."

Chen Lin opened his mouth, inwardly exclaiming, Fuck!

So not a scrap of his secrets had stayed hidden. They had uncovered everything.

And to think he had believed he was being discreet and sufficiently cautious!

With a helpless, bitter chuckle, he said, "It seems nothing escapes Fellow Daoist Yu's discerning eyes. But that time was pure luck. I don't know why either-I just managed to make it."

Ye Jingyun studied him again for a while, then said enviously, "Luck is a kind of strength too. That's precisely the sort of luck I lack."

Chen Lin fell silent again.

He did not know what to say. Aside from the fact that they barely knew each other, if he said something wrong and angered her into attacking him, he would only be asking for trouble.

Now that the Blood Demon Pill had been refined, his usefulness was dispensable at best. He needed to know his place.

Ye Jingyun was merely voicing her own feelings, not asking Chen Lin to comfort her. Noticing his attitude, she could not help smiling.

"There's no need to worry, Fellow Daoist Chen. My senior brother's methods may be somewhat ruthless, but as long as you don't resist, he won't make things difficult for you."

With that, she lightly brushed the Storage Bag at her waist, and a Jade Slip appeared in her hand.

Under Chen Lin's puzzled gaze, she held it out to him.

"What do you mean by this, Fellow Daoist Ye?"

Chen Lin asked in confusion.

"This contains the method for making a talisman. I'd like you to take a look, Fellow Daoist Chen, and see whether you can make it."