The fierce wind subsided, the Yao qi dissipated, and the sky was as blue as if it had been washed clean.
Lin Fan stood in the courtyard, patted the dust from his hands as if he had just done something trivial, a look of disgust on his face.
"Seriously, the nice fresh air has been polluted. It stinks of filth. Now I have to waste one of my precious 'Dust-Cleansing Talismans'," he muttered as he took out a talisman with a breeze pattern from his robes and tossed it casually. The talisman ignited without fire and transformed into a clear wind, sweeping away the faint lingering stench in the courtyard and cleaning up the scattered leaves that had been blown about.
He walked to the array light screen, which had been somewhat dimmed by the Blackwater Profound Serpent's poison miasma, and tapped it lightly with his finger, carefully inspecting the damage, his face full of heartache.
"Sigh, this was a huge loss!" he said, grief-stricken. "Three of the array foundations of the outermost 'Bewildering Array' have been slightly shaken, the energy circuit of the 'Spirit-Gathering Array' has a slight blockage, and my 'Sound-Proofing Array'... with so many problems, it will cost me at least half a low-grade spirit stone to repair everything! Who am I supposed to bill for this unprovoked disaster that fell from the sky?"
Deep in the tunnel, Yue Qingqian had witnessed everything that happened outside through the miniature observation array. At this moment, she was in a complete state of mental shutdown, her soul having left her body.
She hadn't seen clearly how her senior brother had done it.
From her perspective, the terrifying Yao King, which was enough to put the entire Sky Profound Sect on high alert, had descended arrogantly and spat its poison miasma with a great show of force. Then, her seemingly harmless senior brother had just complained impatiently for a bit, and then... casually threw a rock.
And then... and then the terrifying Yao King... just ran away scared?
Yes, scared away. That scrambling, fleeing, wishing-it-had-more-legs kind of pathetic retreat was not a strategic withdrawal, but the instinctive flight of a creature encountering its most terrifying natural enemy!
What... what in the world had just happened? How could the world be so surreal?
She felt as if her understanding of cultivation had been completely shattered at this moment, then kneaded into a messy ball by an invisible hand.
With a heart full of reverence, she slowly, carefully, crawled out of the tunnel. The way she looked at Lin Fan had completely changed. It was no longer simple admiration and respect, but was now mixed with a complex emotion she couldn't understand herself—a blend of awe, confusion, and fanaticism.
"S-Senior Brother..." Yue Qingqian's voice trembled uncontrollably, and she felt her teeth chattering. "Th-that... that big serpent just now... it..."
"Oh, you mean that long worm," Lin Fan turned, saw her terrified look, and waved his hand dismissively, explaining, "Just a brainless beast. It smelled something it shouldn't have and came over. It was also incredibly loud and disturbed my peace. I just scared it a little to make it quiet down, but it turned out to be too timid and ran away on its own."
Scared it a little?
The corners of Yue Qingqian's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
She recalled the world-destroying pressure of the Yao King and contrasted it with her senior brother's casual tone. An extreme sense of absurdity filled her heart. What kind of terrifying existence could "scare" a Yao King into that state? This wasn't "scaring" it; this was a dimensional-level smackdown!
She suddenly remembered the culprit of all this and quickly pointed to the jade box, asking nervously, "What about... what about that fruit? Senior Brother, should we destroy it quickly?"
Lin Fan took out the jade box made of ten-thousand-year-old cold jade from his robes, opened the lid for a look, and the fragrance that could drive even Nascent Soul old monsters mad wafted out again. He, however, looked at it like a troublesome package, casually closed the lid, and sighed.
"Sigh, let's keep it," he said with a tone full of helplessness. "I originally wanted to bury it to eliminate the problem for good. But now it seems this thing was probably deliberately thrown here by that old schemer, the Heavenly Dao, just to keep me from having a peaceful life. Even if I bury it today, it might just break out of the ground on its own tomorrow and attract new, bigger troubles. Instead of that, it's better to keep it close by where it's at least controllable."
As he spoke, he did something that Yue Qingqian would never forget for the rest of her life.
He casually tossed the jade box, which was capable of starting a bloody war in the entire Southern Domain and causing the deaths of countless beings, to Yue Qingqian as if it were an ordinary apple.
"It's yours."
"Y-y-yours?! Mine?!" Yue Qingqian fumbled to catch the cold jade box, feeling as if she were holding not a fruit, but an active volcano that was about to erupt, so hot that she almost threw it away immediately.
"Yes, it's yours," Lin Fan yawned lazily, as if he had just done something trivial. "Your 'Innate Sword Heart' talent is too good, too conspicuous. You're a walking trouble magnet. Eating this fruit will help you better cleanse your marrow, hide your foundation, and restrain your aura. When you've cultivated the 'Turtle Breath Art' to the ninth level and can perfectly control your own aura, then eat it for the best effect. Remember, being low-key is the way to live a long life."
Yue Qingqian held the jade box, standing there dumbfounded, her brain having completely stopped thinking.
This was... this was a Heaven-rank Spiritual Root Treasure that even a Yao King would fight to the death for!
And her senior brother... just casually tossed it to her?
And the reason was... that he found her talent too good and too troublesome?!
At this moment, all of Yue Qingqian's understanding of the cultivation world, all her concepts of power, treasures, and opportunities, were completely overturned and then reshaped.
She looked at her senior brother, who was stretching, preparing to go back to his room for a nap, and still complaining, "Seriously, another beautiful morning wasted. My arrays need a major overhaul again."
A thought, clearer and more certain than ever before, emerged in her mind.
This senior brother of hers was not some reclusive master, nor was he a peerless genius.
He seemed to be... invincible?
And the ultimate goal that he pursued, fought for, and strived for his entire life... seemed to be just to quietly... be a shut-in?