Lin Qing took a long while to connect the gentle woman before him with the Katsuyu Sage.
Seeing Lin Qing's shocked expression, the Katsuyu Sage covered her mouth and smiled softly. Her crescent eyes fixed him with a clear, curious gaze as she asked:
"Lin Qing, do I look more like a human, or a god?"
Lin Qing was stunned.
Was she asking him to grant her a title?
"Don't misunderstand."
The Katsuyu Sage explained, "Those of us who enter the River of Time exist as souls.
"Once a Projection of the Past has been constructed, we can communicate across temporal rifts with fellow practitioners who also cultivate the path of the past.
"Lin Qing, your soul is extremely stable, which is why you appear in your original form.
"But I am different.
"I have too many clones. My existence is 'unstable,' so everyone sees an entirely different version of me. Usually, I appear in the form that makes the observer feel the most at ease."
Lin Qing understood.
No wonder he had found her so pleasant to look at the moment he first saw her.
Lin Qing walked up to the temporal rift and, through a layer of invisible force, looked at the Katsuyu Sage's Projection of the Past. After thinking for a moment, he asked:
"Since we can communicate, could we, at critical moments—say, when the other party has exhausted their energy—draw energy from our own Projections of the Past and send it through the temporal rift?"
This time, it was the Katsuyu Sage's turn to be stunned.
She had expected Lin Qing to ask about her form, or how to construct a second Projection of the Past. She had not expected such unexpected pragmatism.
"That's a very good idea. I wouldn't mind lending you energy either, but..."