Chapter 215

Yun Xiazi took a deep look at Han Xiaoyue, seemingly understood something, said nothing more, and vanished in a flash.

Behind Han Xiaoyue, the courtyard gate swung open on its own. Lin Hui, guiding his Internal Force with one hand, was carefully reattaching fallen camellia blossoms to their branches, one by one.

"A shattered mirror cannot be made whole. Spilled water cannot be gathered back. What makes you think fallen flowers can return to the branch?" Han Xiaoyue walked slowly into the courtyard, watching his seemingly futile efforts.

"How would you know if you don't try?" Lin Hui cut a tiny slit into each branch with his Internal Force and tucked the flowers inside to secure them. "Besides, as long as it looks presentable for now, that's enough."

He turned to face her. "What did you mean by that?"

"Nothing much." Han Xiaoyue smiled. "You've changed quite a bit recently—you've even managed to get yourself entangled with the Nine Dreams Sect."

"What do you want to hear? My secrets?" Lin Hui smiled back. "Don't you have secrets of your own?"

"Someone wanted to ask me about your role in all this. My news came fast, so I came here directly." She couldn't quite conceal her curiosity.

She had few friends—but that didn't mean she had none. When a major incident erupted at the Clear Wind Temple, one of them had rushed to ask her about it, and she had learned the news almost immediately: a fearsome expert named Xia Si had surfaced from the Clear Wind Temple. A clash between two martial sects—the Clear Wind Temple and the Carefree Pavilion—had drawn out a High Divine Officer. It was almost unbelievable. Had Liu Xiao not been pulled into the factional struggle on account of Liu Wujun's situation, a master hidden so deeply within the Clear Wind Temple might never have emerged.

"Xia Si's name will have reached the Inner City's Moon Tower by now. A High Divine Officer genius at such a young age—the Three Great Powers will certainly have their eyes on her. What are your plans?" Han Xiaoyue continued.

Lin Hui paused.

He had originally expected this incident to do little more than reveal some of the Clear Wind Temple's background—and he had prepared for exactly that. But Han Xiaoyue was telling him it was Xia Si who had been exposed. Everyone's attention had fixed on Xia Si, not on him, the Temple Master who should by rights have been at the center of it all.

A strange sense of displacement settled over him.

Though this was fine, too.

He had already instructed everyone to keep the Bestowal Seal's method a strict secret. It would inevitably leak sooner or later—but as long as that happened after the Clear Wind Temple had relocated out of the Outer City, it would be manageable. Besides, the Blood Seal's appraisal ensured that anyone taught the method was unquestionably loyal. He intended to finalize the relocation arrangements within the next couple of days.

"Xia Si was born with monstrous strength. It's only natural she'd attract attention," Lin Hui said at last.

"That's all?" Han Xiaoyue raised an eyebrow. "I've managed major factions before. I know exactly what kind of future opens up for a peerless genius with that talent. Aren't you worried she'll be poached?"

Lin Hui smiled. "If she can be poached, then so be it. For a peerless genius to reach her absolute limits, she needs many teachers guiding and protecting her over the course of her life. If I can simply be one of them, that's no small thing."

"How magnanimous." Han Xiaoyue shook her head. "You won't be keeping Xia Si this time—the Three Great Powers, the Moon Tower, and perhaps even the Federation will all send people. One glance at her bone age makes it obvious she's under ten. A High Divine Officer under ten is an extraordinarily rare seed even by Federation standards." She paused. "I truly don't know where you managed to find her."

"Just luck," Lin Hui said with a smile—though privately, he suspected Xia Si was likely not human.

If she were human, her talent was undeniably terrifying, but he didn't believe his luck was so extraordinary that he could stumble across a genius of that caliber the moment he stepped outside the Boundary Wall. Miyin Village sat right on the Wall's edge; it was hard to imagine Moon Tower experts had never explored the area. A human girl of that talent would have been taken away long ago. A humanoid monster from the Outer Mist Zone, however, was another matter entirely. Among the creatures that roamed those depths, even the weakest possessed the physique, speed, and strength of a High Divine Officer—anything less and Xia Si simply could not have survived there for so long. That was his best guess at her true identity.

Everything would become clear once she returned, and he appraised her with the Blood Seal. Whatever the outcome, he was quietly looking forward to seeing how far her strength would climb after receiving the Bestowal Seal.

"The Clear Wind Temple is well-known now. What are your plans going forward? Being drawn into the Inner City's power struggles is not a good position," Han Xiaoyue said.

"I plan to relocate," Lin Hui answered. There was no use concealing it—where a person lived and cultivated was something that would be noticed sooner or later, and transparency now was better than secrets later.

"Relocate?" Han Xiaoyue frowned. "Where? You'd be abandoning everything you've built here?"

"I'll leave a branch here. The main temple is moving to a ruin I know of in the Mist Zone."

"...Are you serious?" She stared at him. "A Mist Zone ruin as a base—how will you live? How will you operate? Where does food come from? Where does water come from? You'll be completely surrounded by the Mist Zone. Would you even dare to drink what you find out there?"

"I'll resolve those problems as they come," Lin Hui said lightly.

His confidence rested entirely on the Blood Seal. All he needed was for it to evolve a few closed-loop agricultural systems. Any other faction attempting to establish a base in a Mist Zone ruin could sustain only a very small population—food, water, and sanitation were nearly impossible to solve, leaving them entirely dependent on stockpiles transported in from outside, with no path to self-sufficiency. But he was different.

A Blood Seal capable of evolving even a conceptual sect title would have no trouble with a few closed-loop systems. And if it fell short, he could draw on knowledge from his past life—combining it with the unusual elements of this world—to construct a self-sustaining ecosystem from the ground up. At worst, a reserve-style base for a small, carefully chosen group: family, close friends, and core disciples. With enough supplies laid in, it could sustain them for years at a stretch.

Seeing that his mind was made up, Han Xiaoyue said nothing more. She was not a talkative person by nature; saying this much in one breath was already unusual for her. The sight of Mingxia earlier, and the scale of what Lin Hui had stirred up, had shaken her more than she let on.

She was not a native of Tuyue. Her local Trueblood identity was entirely fabricated, and she understood better than most just how rare a genius like Xia Si truly was. This incident would cast a long shadow—the Clear Wind Temple would be thrust squarely into the sights of the Inner City's Moon Tower and the powers above it, and living quietly from here on out would be genuinely difficult.

When you are in the ocean, even standing still, the waves crash into you from every side.

"One thing I should warn you about: once you leave the city and establish a base in the Mist Zone, you'll need to stay alert for experts who might appear at any time out there."

"I understand," Lin Hui said. "The Mist Zone is beyond the city's surveillance—but it's equally beyond the Moon Tower's deterrence. That makes the security situation far more critical. A disturbance inside the city draws the Inner City's attention the moment it grows loud enough. In the Mist Zone, you can cause any manner of trouble without anyone blinking."

"Good." Han Xiaoyue nodded.

"Anything else?"

"No." She shook her head. "Let's cultivate."

"Alright."

They said nothing more after that. One practiced the False Enactment Art; the other sat cross-legged and entered a deep, wordless visualization. This was how the two of them spent most of their time together.

As evening drew in, Han Xiaoyue slipped away quietly, inviting Lin Hui to cultivate at her place next time before she left. She always came to him—he had never once been to her residence. Deciding it made no real difference where they practiced, he agreed.

Just before dark, he finished reviewing the application summaries Wang Hongshi had submitted, stamped the last one with his seal, deployed his movement technique, and returned to the Lin Manor.

The conflict between the Clear Wind Temple and the Carefree Pavilion had drawn out a monster-level genius in Xia Si. The turbulence that would follow was inevitable—and certain things still needed to be properly addressed.

…

By the time he arrived, night had fallen.

The Lin Manor blazed with light, its enclosing canopies drawn shut on every side.

These canopies were a recent development from the Inner City—foldable leather awnings not unlike the convertible rooftops Lin Hui had known in his past life. When not needed, they folded back out of the way; when deployed, they pulled shut and sealed airtight at the seams, keeping the Night Mist entirely out. They had become a common sight in the Outer City, and they made the evenings significantly more manageable.

People always say the Inner City doesn't care about the Outer City. But if that were truly the case, why develop something so specifically designed to address the Night Mist problem?

In the manor's largest central garden, a canopy stretched over the entire courtyard. Thick metal poles braced it from below at a dozen points; beneath them, the garden—roughly the size of a basketball court—had become a safely sealed enclosure for the night.

The family had gathered for dinner.

A large round table was crowded with over a dozen dishes, each served in a basin, steaming and fragrant. Lin Hui, his father, his mother, his second mother, his older brother, his older sister, and his younger sister sat together around it.

The one speaking was his older brother, Liu Wujun. He had just returned from outside the city and came straight home—something that had never happened before. In the past, he always stopped at the Rain Palace first to report in. This time, he had come directly.

The mood around the table was heavy.

Lin Shunhe and Yao Shan both wore drawn expressions. His older sister Liu Xiao sat rigidly upright, staring at the dishes in front of her as though she weren't seeing them at all. Lin Xiaoliu fidgeted in her seat, hands clasped, head low—stealing glances at her mother Liu Shenglan, then at Lin Hui, then back again.

With no one else willing to begin, Liu Wujun sighed and took the lead.

He looked at Lin Hui, whose expression had not changed.

"After everything that's happened, Third Brother—what are your plans?"

"If you have something to say, Older Brother, say it plainly." Lin Hui had already guessed at what was coming, but he offered the opening politely.

"When Second Sister was attacked, it was Miss Xia from your Clear Wind Temple who came to her aid. I owe that debt. Whatever choices Miss Xia makes going forward, I will do everything in my power to secure her position and fight for the best possible terms for her." Liu Wujun's voice was measured, but it carried weight.

In his eyes—and likely in everyone else's at the table—Xia Si leaving the Clear Wind Temple was simply a matter of time. A sect of this size could not sustain the growth of a High Divine Officer genius. Only the Three Great Powers, the Moon Tower, or the Federation itself could offer what she would need. As for the massive battle that had erupted in the Mist Zone afterward, Liu Wujun assumed it had been a clash between powerful factions contending for the right to claim Xia Si—such things had happened before.

"I'll pass that on to her," Lin Hui said.