As soon as Lin He returned to the valley, he went to the Mission Hall to turn in his assignment and collect his spirit stone reward. Truth be told, he had long since stopped caring about such a paltry reward; he had only taken the assignment to make it easier to travel outside.
High-level demonic beasts were scarce in the Heavenly South. Materials from a fifth-level demonic beast might cost only two or three thousand spirit stones in the Chaotic Star Sea, but in the Heavenly South, that price would multiply several times over. Nangong Wan worked efficiently. In just three days, she had sold the two complete sets of fifth-level demonic beast materials for more than two hundred medium-grade spirit stones, resolving Lin He's financial crisis in one stroke.
In excellent spirits, Lin He flew back to his cave abode after turning in his assignment. Just as he was about to enter, a graceful figure rushed into his arms. It was Senior Sister Chen!
"You're finally back!"
Having tasted the marrow, Senior Sister Chen now craved more and had grown increasingly forward. She grabbed Lin He and pulled him into the cave abode without giving him a chance to argue.
Lin He couldn't help recalling that famous internet saying: "C'mon, get inside with me!"
Fortunately, he was a cultivator and practiced a body-tempering technique as well. Otherwise, his kidneys might have faced a crisis.
After a bout of clouds and rain, Senior Sister Chen leaned against Lin He, her face flushed. He patted her shoulder, then realized something was wrong.
Senior Sister Chen had been unusually wild today. Beyond passion, there seemed to be something else behind it.
He looked at Senior Sister Chen and asked, "Has something happened lately?"
"No."
"Really? If you don't want to tell me, I can ask your eldest brother."
"Don't!" Senior Sister Chen sighed and finally told him everything. Lin He's expression darkened as he listened.
During the year Lin He had been away, a young master of the Qin Family had met Senior Sister Chen by chance and immediately expressed his desire to marry into the Chen Family and become her dual cultivation partner.
Naturally, Senior Sister Chen had rejected him without a second thought. But he refused to give up and even began drawing on the Qin Family's influence. A family elder had accompanied him on a visit to the Chen Family, hoping to use the opportunity to achieve his goal.
How could Lin He possibly look pleased after hearing that? He hadn't expected someone to try to steal his woman while he was away.
"Senior Sister, does this man have a Core Formation Stage cultivator backing him?"
To be safe, Lin He asked another question. Senior Sister Chen understood his meaning and hurriedly replied,
"Of course not. He only recently reached Foundation Establishment and is a cultivator from Heavenly Gate Fort. I haven't heard that he's become the disciple of any Core Formation Stage cultivator."
"Then this will be easy."
Hearing that his opponent had no powerful backing, Lin He felt reassured. Then he asked, "By the way, what did your master, Martial Aunt Hui Ming, say?"
Senior Sister Chen shook her head. "How could my master interfere in something like this? She doesn't know my wishes, either. Forcing her way into the matter would only make things awkward. But if the Qin Family tries to force me to submit, I'll have no choice but to ask her to intervene."
"Since he has no powerful backing, there's no need to involve Martial Aunt Hui Ming. Let's do this: he should still be staying with the Chen Family. Arrange a meeting somewhere tomorrow and call him out. I'll make him realize he's outmatched and back off."
Hearing that Lin He intended to intervene, Senior Sister Chen nestled happily in his arms.
The next day, somewhere in the Taiyue Mountain Range,
Lin He and Senior Sister Chen stood hand in hand, looking utterly devoted to each other. The young master of the Qin Family who had just arrived turned grim at the sight. He was about to lash out when the Qin Family elder beside him held him back, allowing him to calm down a little.
Chen Qiaoshan, who had been leading the way, could only smile bitterly at the sight. He knew perfectly well that his Seventh Sister was doing this on purpose, but she was leaving the other party far too little face.
The Qin Family's young master was reasonably good-looking, though he naturally fell short of Lin He. Taking in the scene, he said in a low voice,
"Junior Sister Chen, you invited me here, yet brought another man with you. Just what do you mean by this?"
Senior Sister Chen went straight to the point and said frankly, "Qin Ye, I already told you my heart belongs to someone else-Junior Brother Lin, right here beside me. Why do you keep pestering me?"
Qin Ye's face filled with bitterness, but he clearly wasn't ready to give up. He hurriedly said, "Yes, I admit he's a little better-looking than me. But he has no family backing and hasn't become the disciple of any Core Formation Stage cultivator. I can draw on my family's power to obtain cultivation resources far beyond his. How could his cultivation prospects compare with mine? I don't understand why you would choose him over me."
The Qin Family elder beside him was a white-haired old man at middle Foundation Establishment. He stepped forward and added,
"I am Qin An, Qin Ye's third uncle. To be frank, a Core Formation senior in Heavenly Gate Fort has already taken an interest in my nephew, and he will soon become that senior's disciple. His future is boundless. Miss Chen, you should think this through carefully."
Senior Sister Chen still shook her head. "Whether Qin Ye becomes someone's disciple or not, I won't marry him. Let this matter end here."
Qin An's expression became exceedingly ugly, while Qin Ye looked utterly unconvinced.
Lin He stepped forward. "Fellow Daoist Qin, since things have come to this, why not let it go? A melon forcibly twisted from the vine will never be sweet."
Qin Ye couldn't hold back. "Fine, fine, fine. Fellow Daoist Lin, since you put it that way, why don't we have a duel? If you win, I'll never bring this up again."
Qin An frowned and was about to stop him, but Qin Ye had already spoken. He could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
Lin He had been waiting for precisely those words. He immediately replied, "Since you say so, Fellow Daoist Qin, you must have some ability. I would like to experience your methods for myself."
Seeing this, Qin An knew further persuasion would be useless. He could only warn his nephew not to underestimate his opponent.
Chen Qiaoshan also offered a few words of persuasion, but Qin Ye had already made up his mind, so he said no more. Besides, he was quite interested in Lin He's strength himself. Although his Seventh Sister had praised Lin He so lavishly that flowers might have rained from the heavens, he still wanted to take this opportunity to see for himself.
Senior Sister Chen gazed at Lin He's back with complete confidence, showing no intention of trying to dissuade him.
The two men took their positions more than a dozen zhang apart. Qin Ye was just about to say something when Lin He attacked!
With a wave of his hand, Lin He sent more than twenty low-tier beginner talismans flying as though they cost nothing. In an instant, spells of every color swarmed toward Qin Ye.
Qin Ye, raised in a cultivation family, had never seen anything like this. Flustered, he hurriedly took out a blue shield and placed it before him. The multicolored spells slammed into it, making it shake violently. Fortunately, the blue shield was a top-tier defensive magical artifact and managed to withstand the barrage.
Qin Ye was just about to catch his breath when two streaks of red light suddenly appeared behind him to one side. They were two red flying knives, circling around the blue shield's defenses in a surprise attack, and were about to
strike this Qin Family young master who had spent his life sheltered in a greenhouse.
Startled, Qin Ye hurriedly maneuvered the blue shield into their path and managed to block the two flying knives that excelled at sneak attacks.
"Phew..."
Qin Ye had just breathed a sigh of relief when a muffled crash rang out. A wolf-fang-shaped magic artifact struck the blue shield. Strangely, the shield, despite its exceptional defensive power, seemed to have met its nemesis. The wolf-fang artifact punched a hole through it, and the two red flying knives seized the opening, darting through the hole to stop before Qin Ye's throat. Their icy red light shrouded the Qin Family young master like death itself, leaving him drenched in cold sweat.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, do you still want to continue?"
Lin He's icy voice reached him, sending a chill through his heart. Qin Ye sighed deeply and said,
"Your abilities are formidable, Fellow Daoist Lin. I concede!"
The duel had been decided in less than two minutes, and everyone's expression changed at the sight.
The difference was that Senior Sister Chen was beaming with delight, Chen Qiaoshan looked admiring, and Qin Ye and Qin An were deathly pale.
As expected of a Qin Family elder, Qin An knew when to take a stand and when to let go. He soon apologized to Lin He and even invited him to visit the Qin Family, clearly demonstrating his shrewdness.
Qin Ye fell far short of him. He grew timid and shrinking, not even daring to meet Lin He's eyes.
And so the disturbance ended. After the two men from the Qin Family left, Chen Qiaoshan praised Lin He for a while before returning to the Chen Family to report what had happened.
Lin He, meanwhile, wrapped an arm around Senior Sister Chen's slender waist and returned to his cave abode.
Time flowed like water, and another year passed in the blink of an eye. The tightly shut doors of the cave abode finally opened, and a handsome young man in blue stepped out. It was Lin He!
He glanced at the neighboring abode. Senior Sister Chen was still in seclusion, so he did not disturb her. He merely murmured to himself,
"Wan'er should be waiting for me in Yuejing by now. I'd better not keep her waiting."
With that, Lin He boarded the Divine Wind Boat and flew toward Yuejing.