A True Dragon pulled the carriage at the front.
The Phoenix guards brought up the rear.
Just imagining the scene made him click his tongue. It was so vivid, and genuinely something to look forward to.
Lin Xiaoyao thought about it happily, eagerly hoping that a Dragon King would come looking for trouble.
Unfortunately, none did.
Though this world was infinitely vast, and its unknown regions might be home to countless mighty figures and powerful beings, there were no dragons within a radius of ten thousand li, at least.
So for now, his wish for a Dragon King to come looking for trouble was sure to remain unfulfilled.
But Lin Xiaoyao wasn't disappointed.
There was no need to rush.
Meals were eaten one bite at a time. One day, a True Dragon would pull his carriage, with a Phoenix guarding it from behind. That scene was bound to happen, and it might even be more spectacular than he imagined.
For example, besides a True Dragon and a Phoenix, he could find a few Qilin and Black Tortoises, too.
But that was for the future...
As for now?
He'd better not think too far ahead. First, he'd stay tucked away in the sect and slowly recover his Saintly cultivation and magical power.
After all, his lifespan was infinite. Why rush?
With that in mind,
he decided to claim today's reward first.
So he silently said, "System, claim."
Before the words had left his mind, a porcelain bottle appeared in the palm of his right hand.
He popped off the stopper.
Inside were more than a dozen snow-white pills.
The Youth-Preserving Pill kept one forever young, preserving a cultivator's appearance.
Naturally, Lin Xiaoyao had no use for it.
Saints did not age in the first place.
But though he didn't need it, for all the beauties who cherished their looks, it was a priceless treasure—far more alluring than pills that increased magical power or helped one break through a bottleneck.
"I'll put it away for now!"
Lin Xiaoyao glanced at the pills, then casually tossed the Youth-Preserving Pill into the System Space.
Seeing them reminded him of someone.
For the past two years, he had kept an exceptionally low profile, hiding away in the sect. Yet somehow, his fame had soared, and ordinary people in particular had built many temples in his honor.
But apart from his own fame, which was riding high, there was another person in the Feathering Sect whose reputation had risen. Her cultivation still wasn't particularly high, but she had already made a name for herself in the cultivation world.
Su Zhiyan!
That's right. She was the delicate little girl who had gone up the mountain with him all those years ago and joined the Feathering Sect.
She had an exceptional spiritual root and the makings of an immortal. In less than ten years, she had already successfully formed a Golden Core.
What's more, when she formed her core, her talent was so extraordinary that it incurred Heaven's jealousy. An Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon descended, seeking to block her path to immortality.
There had seemed to be no way out.
A genius was about to perish before her time.
Fortunately, Lin Xiaoyao happened to be there.
Unable to bear seeing a genius cut down in her prime, a beauty meeting an untimely end, he stepped in.
Er... Strictly speaking, he hadn't really stepped in.
He hadn't done anything at all. He'd merely stood there, and the all-conquering Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon had immediately fallen to its knees.
And that wasn't a figure of speech.
The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon, which struck terror into cultivators, hadn't hesitated for a moment when it faced Lin Xiaoyao. It had dropped to its knees and trembled.
He hadn't even needed to lift a finger. The demon had wisely turned to ash on its own.
And just like that, a great calamity had been snuffed out before it could take shape.
Afterward, Lin Xiaoyao discovered that this girl truly was a Seed of Immortality. She had formed the legendary Purple Core.
But the Purple Core was flawed.
The Way of Heaven took from those with excess to make up for those with too little. It would not permit such a perfect thing to exist.
But even if Heaven forbade it, he would grant it.
So Lin Xiaoyao intervened, using a Saint's might and a Saint's words to complete her Purple Core. He also helped her obtain the perfect spiritual root, something even the texts only described vaguely.
Though she didn't know who he was, she was deeply grateful to him.
She was also very obedient and kept the matter under wraps. She hadn't breathed a word of it, not even to her master or the sect's Grandmaster.
Su Zhiyan was a very clever girl.
She had also sensed that, after forming her core, something unbelievable had changed within her.
In the past, she had cultivated at an astonishing pace and sensed the world's spiritual energy as easily as eating or drinking.
It made others envious.
But she discovered that ever since forming her core, this effect had grown more than tenfold.
Cultivation had been easy before, but she had still needed to sit cross-legged and meditate to guide the world's spiritual energy into her dantian and purple palace.
Then she had to circulate the Greater Celestial Circuit through her extraordinary meridians, cleansing her marrow and tempering her bones.
But now it was different.
She discovered that she didn't even need to do anything.
Whether she was eating, drinking, flying on a journey, or even resting with her eyes closed, she didn't need to deliberately circulate her cultivation technique. The abundant spiritual energy that filled the world would enter with every breath and automatically increase her cultivation and magical power.
Of course, this wasn't a benefit that came from forming her core.
It was a gift from an immortal.
The young girl was deeply grateful.
She still remembered that in the illusion, she hadn't been able to see the immortal's face clearly, but she had felt... that the other person was very young.
It seemed that he wasn't much older than her!
As she pondered this in secret, Su Zhiyan startled herself with the thought.
That was a True Immortal. How could he possibly be her age?
She knew the idea was absurd.
But for some reason, the girl couldn't shake the feeling.
Her fellow disciples, even her martial uncles, all said that the immortal had been one of the sect's ancestors.
Yet Su Zhiyan felt certain that wasn't true.
They had to be mistaken.
That immortal was definitely not one of the sect's ancestors.
Of course, all of this was only the girl's guess.
Or perhaps it was intuition.
But she still knew nothing about the mysterious immortal's true identity.
The young girl's heart was full of affection, and whenever she was alone, she often thought fondly of him.
Su Zhiyan was clever. She knew she must never tell outsiders about the changes that had taken place within her—not even her master.
A man without guilt should still beware of carrying jade. To increase her cultivation with every breath without even practicing was too shocking.
If the news leaked, it would surely bring disaster upon her, and perhaps even the sect.
For the past two years, she had kept a low profile.
But gold would always shine. No matter how low she kept her head, it was hard not to stand out. After all, she wasn't Lin Xiaoyao, who could stay tucked away in the sect and keep signing in.
As a Golden Core cultivator, she was bound to venture out and gain experience.
Even when she tried to hide her brilliance, she still outshone her peers by far.
Besides, she was only twenty, in the bloom of youth, and exceptionally beautiful. Her cultivation far surpassed that of her peers, so even though she kept a low profile, her reputation still spread.
They said she was so beautiful that flowers paled and the moon hid its face, fish sank and geese fell from the sky.
When she wielded her flying sword to slay enemies, a faint mist often shrouded her body.
It was like trying to admire a flower through the fog.
So people bestowed a flattering title upon her: the Fairy in the Clouds!
By now, Su Zhiyan was quite famous within a radius of ten thousand li.
But a tree that rose above the forest would be battered by the wind. What Su Zhiyan didn't know was that as her fame gradually spread, a danger, a great calamity,
had already begun to silently descend upon her and the Feathering Sect.
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