"Since Elder Hong has no objections, I'll be taking him now."
Hong Hai watched as Qin Xiyan led Lin Yun away. He then called over a disciple and whispered something to him.
Lin Yun followed behind Qin Xiyan, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
"Senior Brother, are you alright?" The moment they were outside, Qin Xiyan immediately began to look Lin Yun over with concern. "I heard many people died in the bloody battle at Chen Family Fort this time."
Lin Yun's expression turned grim. That's right. The massacre the Red Ghost Sect had committed at Chen Family Fort was still vivid in his mind.
"I'm fine now. It's just a pity that those who died will never come back."
Qin Xiyan also fell silent, unsure of what to say. But Lin Yun quickly pulled himself together.
"After I returned, the sect didn't even ask me what happened. They just took me straight to the Disciplinary Hall. Do you know what's going on?" Lin Yun knew that something must have happened in the Flowing Cloud Sect during his absence.
"Master asked about you a few days ago. Our sect suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Red Ghost Sect this time. The Sect Master was worried that the elders and my Master would be dissatisfied, so he wanted to create the illusion that he was also a victim."
Hearing what Qin Xiyan said, Lin Yun hadn't expected that he would be used as a scapegoat.
"The Sect Master probably thought you were already dead. That's what he reported to my Master before." Qin Xiyan was also very angry as she said this. Lin Yun had fought hard for the Flowing Cloud Sect, yet not only did he not receive any reward, but he was also used as a scapegoat to cover things up.
It was just a pity that after all her efforts, the most she could do was get Hongxiu to agree to spare Lin Yun's life. But from this day forward, Lin Yun could only stand guard at the mountain gate.
"Senior Brother, Xiyan is so useless. I couldn't help you clear your name." Seeing Qin Xiyan's guilty expression, Lin Yun patted her on the head.
"It's alright. I was getting tired of staying on the mountain anyway. Being at the gate isn't so bad."
Qin Xiyan knew that Lin Yun was just comforting her. "If there's anything you need, Senior Brother, just let me know. As long as I can do it, I will definitely not refuse," she said, looking at Lin Yun very seriously.
At that moment, Lin Yun was still marveling at the fact that Qin Xiyan hadn't reacted negatively to his head pat just now. Good heavens. This is the Empress!
After chatting with Lin Yun for a while, Qin Xiyan was called back by Hongxiu. Lin Yun, on the other hand, was assigned to the mountain gate by someone from the Internal Affairs Pavilion. To put it bluntly, he was a gatekeeper. However, he was allowed to keep his previous Cave Abode and could go up the mountain during his time off. This was a benefit that he was only able to retain thanks to Hongxiu's influence.
Lin Yun didn't care about any of this. He was only annoyed that he couldn't see Xiao Pingtian often, which would make shearing his wool inconvenient.
Lin Yun now lived in a small bamboo hut at the foot of the mountain, with a patch of deserted wilderness outside. The place probably hadn't seen a soul in decades. After arriving, he tidied up the place a bit and was about to go to bed.
But just as night fell, Deng Pengzu arrived with two jugs of "Nü'er Hong" wine.
"Tsk, tsk, to think they'd throw you in a godforsaken place like this. That bastard Gu Xiande really doesn't hold back." He muttered, not sounding polite at all.
Lin Yun stood up. "What brings Elder Deng here?"
Deng Pengzu looked Lin Yun up and down, then frowned. "I heard you were punished, so I came to see." Although he didn't say anything caring, Lin Yun could feel Deng Pengzu's concern.
In the great battle of Chen Family Fort, the Flowing Cloud Sect had suffered countless casualties. The only one to survive from within the city was Lin Yun.
Just as Lin Yun was about to ask about the condition of his body, he heard Deng Pengzu say, "You've broken through to the Yuan Sea Realm? No, that's not right. Your yuan qi isn't gathered in your dantian, but is spread throughout your entire body?"
Lin Yun gave a bitter smile. He had indeed stepped into the Yuan Sea Realm, but his current condition was probably the only case of its kind in a thousand years.
Although the yuan qi gathered by circulating the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" initially converged in his dantian, Lin Yun could see through his inner vision that his dantian was now occupied by an intangible sword embryo. The sword embryo would absorb yuan qi, then separate a small portion of it and distribute it throughout his body, strengthening his every cell. Under this continuous cycle, his body would naturally become stronger and stronger.
Deng Pengzu had never seen such a situation before. He immediately came over and examined him for a moment. He then gave a half-convinced, half-incredulous laugh.
"I don't know where you, you brat, get such good luck. Although I've never seen your current condition before, I don't think it's a major problem. Just keep cultivating as you are."
Fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Lin Yun's current realm could be called the Nascent Yuan Realm, or it could be called the Yuan Sea Realm. But to have survived the battle at Chen Family Fort, one would need to be at least at the Yuan Sea Realm.
That night, after a few cups of wine, Deng Pengzu went back with a worried heart, likely concerned about Lin Yun's condition. For the first time, Deng Pengzu, who had always been in control of everything, had discovered that there were some things he couldn't control.
Lin Yun, on the other hand, continued to cultivate. After the previous events, his "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" had now reached the second level. At this point, Lin Yun seemed to be able to master even more sword arts. His "Great River Sword Art" and "Azure Origin Sword Art" had also reached the fifth and third levels, respectively. It seemed the battle with Duan Heng had not been without its rewards.
Aside from the storage ring confiscated by the sect, the benefits he had now were not few at all. As for the status of an inner-sect disciple, it was the most insignificant thing of all.
After confirming that no one was around, Lin Yun carefully took out the Jade Hornless Dragon Lamp and the Mysterious Yuan Embryo. As the two items drew close, Lin Yun could clearly feel that the Mysterious Yuan Embryo seemed to be developing much faster.
So, Lin Yun placed the Mysterious Yuan Embryo inside the Jade Hornless Dragon Lamp. Sure enough, the patterns on the embryo began to flash continuously, and the surrounding yuan qi gathered with the force of a whale swallowing mountains and rivers.
Lin Yun naturally wouldn't miss this good opportunity. Although he had been driven to the foot of the mountain without a spirit-rich Cave Abode, the strong never complain about their environment! With the Jade Hornless Dragon Lamp working in tandem with the Mysterious Yuan Embryo, Lin Yun's small bamboo hut was in no way inferior to a hundred-year spirit abode.
Lin Yun sat down cross-legged to the side, circulating the "Primordial Chaos Sword Embryo" technique and competing with the Mysterious Yuan Embryo to absorb the yuan qi.
However, this brought misery to the outer-sect and handyman disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect. The mid-mountain where they were located already had thin spiritual energy. Now, with Lin Yun's actions, the spiritual energy from hundreds of miles around was being gathered at an extremely fast rate. Before they could even absorb any, it was all swept away by Lin Yun.
For a time, the entire outer sect of the Flowing Cloud Sect was filled with complaints. However, the higher-ups of the sect seemed to be completely indifferent to this situation. It was said that a golden age of the cultivation world was about to begin soon. Coupled with the incident with the Red Ghost Sect, the higher-ups were swamped. Who had time to care about these outer and handyman disciples?