In December, the Mystic Traversal Talismans finally regained their function, and Li Ling bade Sea Ji farewell.
Sea Ji said, "You're planning to head back? Very well. Starting next year, I'll bring some specialties from our kingdom to your Incense Accumulation Sect to try out mutual trade. You should also prepare the everyday necessities and cultivation resources we need, especially that Elephant-Treasure Incense. If it really benefits us merfolk, I'll certainly have to commission you to refine it for us."
Li Ling said, "Then I'll await your arrival on Nine-Wan Island. But we'd best keep this matter quiet, lest the Merchant Association find out and cause complications."
Sea Ji gave him a rather speechless look. How had a perfectly legitimate trade arrangement come to sound like an illicit affair?
Still, she understood Li Ling's intentions and likewise wanted to avoid unnecessary complications.
"Sect Master Li, are you going back so soon?"
The little maid Die'er and the flock of chattering beauties were reluctant to see him go.
During this time, they had learned a great deal of useful knowledge from Li Ling and had long since been won over by his vast learning, excellent memory, and systematic approach to study.
Many of the maids attending Sea Ji could not help becoming as admiring and infatuated with this human Sect Master Li as Die'er was.
Li Ling smiled faintly. "No banquet under heaven lasts forever. I'm only a guest in the Merfolk Kingdom. Staying here is no long-term solution."
"But we've only just begun our cultivation." Die'er pinched the hem of her skirt.
Li Ling said, "The master leads you through the door, but cultivation depends on the individual. Do your best."
With that, he strode outside.
He understood these little demons' attachment to him. All the more reason to withdraw