Chapter 138 - 137: Two Months
Two months passed.
For Lin Yuan, these two months were a necessary anchor. After experiencing the grueling sixty-year simulated lifetime and the seventy-year struggle within the temporal void, his soul craved the quiet, beautiful mundanity of the present.
He had become a Spirit Severing expert, a cultivator who possessed the might to level mountains with a single breath. Yet, if one were to peer into the inner gardens of the estate during these two months, they would not see a terrifying god of war. They would simply see a husband and a mentor, existing entirely in the warm, precious moment.
On a bright, crisp afternoon, the serene melody of a guqin drifted across the surface of the sprawling koi pond.
Bai Qingyue sat gracefully within a shaded, open-air pavilion extending over the water. She wore a light, silken robe, her long black hair cascading down her back like a waterfall. Her delicate fingers plucked the silk strings of the zither with a masterful, fluid grace. The music she played was a simple melody of the southern provinces, carrying a gentle, rolling rhythm that perfectly mirrored the soft mountain breeze.
A few dozen paces away, sitting on a smooth, moss-covered stone at the edge of the pond, was Lin Yuan.
He held a simple bamboo fishing rod, watching the small wooden bobber drift lazily on the ripples caused by Qingyue’s music. Fishing had become a daily habit—a meditative practice that kept his immensely powerful aura perfectly steady and his mind tethered to the physical world.
Beside him, resting on a low wooden table, were a stack of high-grade parchment and an exquisite jade calligraphy brush. Whenever the fish were not biting, Lin Yuan would set the rod aside and practice his strokes. The characters he painted were poetry, observations of the weather, and transcriptions of the Zither melodies his wife played. The habit of writing, born from the memories of the jade brush he had once gifted to his phantom son in the dream domain, brought a profound, stabilizing warmth to his heart.
Lin Yuan set the bamboo rod in a wooden holder and walked over to the pavilion. He sat down behind Bai Qingyue, gently wrapping his arms around her slender waist, resting his chin softly upon her shoulder.
She did not stop playing, leaning back slightly into his solid, warm embrace, a beautiful, peaceful smile touching her lips. Lin Yuan closed his eyes, inhaling the intoxicating scent that naturally radiated from her skin. He let his ambient body heat seep into her, acting as a gentle furnace to ward off the chills of that hour.
[Host has invested: A serene afternoon spent practicing calligraphy, fishing, and listening to Dao Companion play the Zither.]
[Congratulations to the Host! You have triggered a 50,000X Return!]
[Reward: Heavenly Yin-Yang Nourishing Lotus]
Lin Yuan ignored the mechanical chime in his mind, caring only about the steady rhythm of his wife’s breathing against his chest.
This peaceful environment was not just a sanctuary for Lin Yuan and Bai Qingyue; it had also become the ultimate crucible for Bai Chen.
Later that same week, in the expansive training courtyard, the air was thick with the scent of sweat and burning spiritual energy. Bai Chen was moving through a complex sword sequence, his blade flashing with a brilliant, aggressive silver light.
Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the courtyard, holding a cup of steaming tea, watching the young man with the gaze of a teacher.
"Your footing is too heavy on the third pivot, Chen’er!" Lin Yuan called out, his voice echoing across the tiles. "You are relying too much on your momentum and not enough on the ambient flow of Qi. If you strike a true expert with that stance, they will simply redirect your weight and shatter your knee!"
Bai Chen gritted his teeth, his robes soaked in sweat, and instantly adjusted his stance, making the correction flawlessly on the next pass.
"Good," Lin Yuan nodded. He reached into his spatial ring and retrieved a glowing, pale blue pill. It was a Dragon-Marrow Cleansing Pill, an incredibly rare elixir he had received as a system return a week prior after investing time refining low-level herbs for his wife.
Lin Yuan flicked his wrist, sending the pill shooting across the courtyard. "Catch."
Bai Chen caught the pill out of the air.
"Consume it and sit," Lin Yuan commanded. "Let the Dragon Essence within it burn away the impurities in your bone marrow."
Bai Chen did not hesitate. He swallowed the pill and dropped into a lotus position on the floor. Instantly, a terrifying, rushing sound echoed from within the young man’s body. His skin flushed a deep, vibrant red, and the ambient spiritual Qi of the valley rushed toward him, forming a visible vortex above his head.
Lin Yuan stepped forward, extending a single finger to project a tiny, but highly controlled barrier of Spirit Severing aura around the boy, ensuring the violent influx of energy did not damage the surrounding architecture.
With a loud crack that sounded like shattering glass, Bai Chen’s aura violently expanded, breaching his previous limits. The young man exhaled a dense cloud of impurities. He opened his eyes, which now shone with the bright light of a cultivator who had successfully reached the absolute Peak of Foundation Establishment.
"I did it..." Bai Chen gasped, looking at his trembling hands in sheer disbelief. "Brother-in-law, I reached the peak!"
"You put in the work," Lin Yuan said smoothly, offering a rare, genuine smile of approval. "The pill merely opened the door. Your discipline walked you through it."
The days flowed seamlessly into the nights, and it was in the quiet, moonlit hours that Lin Yuan’s devotion truly manifested.
Inside their expansive chamber, the hearth fire burned low, casting a warm, flickering orange glow over the heavy silk draperies.
Bai Qingyue sat at her mirror, dressed in a thin, elegant nightgown of white silk. Lin Yuan stood behind her, holding a comb carved from fragrant sandalwood. With slow, meticulous, and incredibly gentle strokes, he brushed the tangles from her long black hair.
"You do not have to do this every night, Yuan," she murmured softly, her eyes meeting his reflection in the mirror. "You’re a peerless expert now. You shouldn’t be doing the work of a handmaid."
"If being a Expert means I cannot comb my wife’s hair, then I will gladly return the cultivation to the Heavens," Lin Yuan replied without a second of hesitation.
He set the comb down and leaned forward, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the crown of her head. He slid his hands down her shoulders, gently massaging the tense muscles along her collarbone. Bai Qingyue let out a soft, breathless sigh, leaning her head back against his chest, her eyes fluttering shut as his warm hands worked away the exhaustion of the day.
He scooped her up effortlessly into his arms, carrying her to the massive bed. He laid her down, pulling the thick blankets over them both.
Lin Yuan pulled her close, tucking her head beneath his chin. She naturally wrapped her arms around his torso, throwing one slender leg over his hip, pressing her body as closely against his as physically possible.
In the absolute safety of his arms, her breathing slowed, falling into a deep, peaceful, and entirely painless sleep. Lin Yuan stayed awake for a long time, simply holding her, listening to the rhythm of her heart.
Ding!
[Host has invested: Time spent cuddling Dao Companion through the night.]
[Congratulations to the Host! You have triggered a 200,000X Return!]
[Reward: +30,000 to comprehension ability]
[Ding! Host has gained <<Against Heaven Understanding>>]
The moment the notification appeared, Lin Yuan’s expression changed slightly.
Against Heaven Understanding.
His comprehension was already terrifying. With the returns from the system, his understanding of the Great Dao had long surpassed what ordinary cultivators could imagine. But Against Heaven Understanding was on an entirely different level.
It did not simply make him comprehend faster, but It allowed him to comprehend things that ordinary cultivators were simply incapable of understanding.
With Against Heaven Understanding, profound cultivation techniques could be dissected at a glance. The hidden flaws within ancient inheritances could be seen almost instantly, while the mysteries of the Great Dao that would take other cultivators thousands or even tens of thousands of years to comprehend could be unraveled in a fraction of the time.
Most importantly, Against Heaven Understanding did not place a limit on what Lin Yuan could comprehend.
Even when faced with an incomplete technique, a broken inheritance, or a Dao that had never been successfully cultivated before, he could use the fragments available to him to deduce the missing pieces.
It was a comprehension ability that truly went against the heavens.
For other cultivators, cultivation was a process of slowly climbing a mountain. They had to follow the path left behind by their predecessors, step by step, carefully avoiding mistakes along the way.
But for Lin Yuan, the path itself could be understood, analyzed, and even reconstructed.
If others were walking along an established road, Lin Yuan could simply look at the destination and figure out how the road had been built.
His eyes flickered with profound light.
"With this ability..."
Lin Yuan murmured, his voice carrying a trace of disbelief.
"Perhaps even the Great Dao itself can be dissected."
...
As the faint light of dawn began to peek through the windows, signaling the end of their two-month rest and the inevitable departure to the Sky Jade City for the Lord Tournament, Lin Yuan decided to call upon his system interface to review the culmination of the two months.
A glowing, translucent blue panel materialized in the air before his eyes.
[Millionfold Return System]
[Host:] Lin Yuan
[Wife:] Bai Qingyue
[Root Bone:] Supreme Heavenly Talent
[Comprehension:] Against Heaven Understanding
[Lifespan:] 200/3000 years
[Physique: Ancient Beast Body (Rank 1)]
[Realm:] Spirit Severing Realm (Early Stage)
[Divine Skills:] Death Gaze, Thunder Rain Dao Intent, Immortal Cloud Step, Thunder Step, Eye of Heavenly Retribution (Autonomous), False Immortal Palmstrike, Shatter Illusion, See Truth
(Below are the Divine abilities Lin Yuan gained from the system throughout the two months)
[Cloning Technique:] The cultivator uses their spiritual power to create one or more clones. The clones can act independently, use divine abilities, and may even possess part of the original body’s combat strength. It is commonly used to confuse enemies or overwhelm an opponent through numbers.
[Five Elements Escape Technique:] By borrowing the power of the five elements, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, the cultivator can merge into one of the elements and escape through it, such as burrowing through earth, traveling through water, or passing through fire. It can be used for rapid escape or unexpected ambushes.
[Heavenly Thunder Break:] The cultivator gathers the power of heavenly thunder and condenses it into a devastating strike against the enemy. Its power is extremely fierce and is often accompanied by thunderclaps and flashes of lightning.
[Great Tortoise Breath Technique:] The cultivator suppresses their aura to the extreme, becoming like a hibernating tortoise that can go for a long time without eating or breathing. It is commonly used for healing injuries, avoiding danger, or hiding from powerful enemies.
[Great Evolution Divine Ability:] A profound divine ability derived from the concept of the Great Evolution. It can deduce the secrets of Heaven, predict fortune and disaster, and even derive and evolve countless techniques. Its power is unfathomable and is often associated with ancient supreme experts.
[Heaven and Earth Shift:] An unparalleled divine technique capable of shifting and manipulating space, as well as redirecting an opponent’s strength. The cultivator can instantly transfer and redirect the force of an incoming attack, using the enemy’s own power against them.
[Nine Revolutions Profound Art:] An internal cultivation art that requires nine rounds of tempering and transformation. With each revolution, the cultivator undergoes a complete transformation. Upon reaching the ninth revolution, their cultivation undergoes a qualitative leap.
[Taiyi Divine Thunder:] A supreme thunder technique passed down through the Taiyi lineage. It can summon divine thunder from beyond the heavens to strike enemies, with enough power to shake mountains and rivers.
[Myriad Swords Return to the Sect:] The ultimate form of sword manipulation. The cultivator can simultaneously control thousands or even tens of thousands of flying swords, forming a massive sword formation. Countless swords attack at once, creating an overwhelming spectacle and astonishing destructive power.
[Soul Transformation Art:] A supreme cultivation method for refining the soul and tempering the primordial spirit. It helps a peak spirit severing cultivator break through the limitations of the physical body and advance into the Soul Transformation Realm, greatly increasing their soul power.
[Devour Heaven, Swallow Earth:] An extremely overbearing devouring divine ability. The cultivator can absorb the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, other people’s cultivation techniques, and even the blood essence of living beings to strengthen themselves.
[Illusory Array Concealment:] A formation that combines illusion techniques with formation arts. It confuses the enemy’s mind and traps them within an illusion, making it impossible to distinguish reality from falsehood.
[Army-Breaking Art:] An extremely aggressive technique designed to counter armies, break formations, and slaughter enemies. When unleashed, its momentum is overwhelming, allowing a single cultivator to face thousands of soldiers head-on. It is an absolute killing weapon on the battlefield.
[Heaven as Net, Earth as Web:] A large-scale technique or formation designed to trap enemies. The cultivator creates an invisible net that encompasses Heaven and Earth, imprisoning the enemy within it and leaving them with nowhere to escape.
Author Note: Only one Chapter today, and will release two after the reset. Thanks for reading