"Creak."
He opened the door to find a beautiful female cultivator standing before him, her smile radiant and her manner as gentle and graceful as an orchid.
She had changed into a blue-green robe, shedding a little of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's ethereal air and gaining a touch of the charm of a modest young lady.
Who else could it have been but Mo Zhaoli?
"Li'er? Come in, come in."
Lin Changheng smiled and stepped aside to invite her in.
The cultivation world had none of the shackling formalities of the mortal world, nor its strict separation of men and women. There was nothing improper about meeting at night.
"Have you settled in, Brother Lin?"
Mo Zhaoli walked over with light, graceful steps and sat beside the table with a smile.
"Of course." Lin Changheng nodded, smiling, then brought up the essence blood. He said he had examined it earlier and found it far too valuable. Li'er had only just reached Foundation Establishment and needed resources herself.
Mo Zhaoli shook her head gently. Looking at him, she said she had not thought that much about it. She had simply felt that Brother Lin might need it, so she had acquired it.
With the friendship they shared, why should they keep such careful accounts?
Even so, after a moment's consideration, Lin Changheng declared that the spirit stones she had previously "borrowed" had actually been a gift from him. They would serve as an additional present to celebrate her Foundation Establishment.
Mo Zhaoli wanted to argue, but Lin Changheng interrupted her, stopping her with the very same words: "With the friendship we share, why should we keep such careful accounts?"
She could only accept.
Only then did Lin Changheng smile warmly, close the subject, and ask what had brought her here.
"Grandfather