24: Chapter 24 Ten Years in the Blink of an Eye

Although your cultivation technique aura and realm had no problems whatsoever, for the sake of his teacher's safety, Lin Bufan still hardened his heart and decided to test you.

"Mhm, there is still half a day left before we exit the secret realm."

"Ah? Is it that fast?"

You hurried up to him, looked him up and down, and seeing that he wasn't injured, you quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Bufan was carefully observing your every move, naturally noticing your thoughts, which made him feel even more guilty.

Taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice:

"Qingyu, can you let me see your storage pouch?"

This request was actually very rude, and such things were rarely done even between Dao companions.

You lowered your head and didn't speak for a long time.

Lin Bufan's heart skipped a beat, and at the same time, he felt somewhat flustered.

What should he do if Qingyu really was a Hehuan enchantress?

Should he stay away from the enchantress to protect his own safety, or strike on the spot and fight to the bitter end?

Just as his mind was wandering, you slowly raised your head, your pretty face blushing fiercely.

You gritted your teeth, and under Lin Bufan's puzzled gaze, you pulled him and ran towards a nearby secluded patch of woods.

After making sure there was no one around, you shyly took out your own storage pouch and handed it over.

"Big Brother Lin~ If you... want to look, then go ahead and look..."

Seeing your appearance, Lin Bufan took the storage pouch completely puzzled. After his spiritual power probed inside, his expression became extremely colorful.

What came into view were various women's undergarments and dudous, as well as some extremely revealing gauze garments used to add spice during your dual cultivation, and there were even a few pieces that he had torn apart with his own hands...

The reserves of spirit stones and medicinal pills were clear at a glance, not differing at all from his memory, since most of them had been prepared for you by him anyway.

"Cough~"

The tips of Lin Bufan's ears turned slightly red. With a light cough, he handed the storage pouch back to you.

"Sorry, Qingyu, I..."

You hurried forward, raised your hand, and gently covered his lips.

"Everything I have was given by Big Brother Lin. You can look whenever you want, and if you even want to see something else, that's fine too..."

The flush on your face had not yet faded, and now with such an enticing posture ready for his picking, it left him with zero resistance.

"Ah?!"

Amidst your exclamation, Lin Bufan scooped you up horizontally in his arms and shot like a bullet towards a nearby cave.

"Teacher, please go out for a stroll."

"Ssigh~ Today's youngsters, public morals are degenerating!"

A solitary wandering soul slowly drifted among the mountain woods...

The secret realm business concluded.

You returned to the Tianxuan Sword Sect. Taking advantage of Lin Bufan being out, you tallied up your gains from the secret realm trip.

One hundred storage pouches actually contained a mere twelve thousand low-grade spirit stones within them.

The medicinal pills were also very limited. After organizing them, you found that there were only about thirty bottles of pills that could be used to boost cultivation (ten pills per bottle).

The rest were just some scrap-metal-like magical artifacts and low-grade spiritual herbs picked from the secret realm, but since you were currently inside the sect, these stolen goods were temporarily a bit difficult to deal with.

Apart from their swords, sword cultivators were truly dirt poor.

However, Feng Yuan's storage pouch did contain a rather interesting secret technique—the Thousand Mechanisms Transformation.

It was an extremely brilliant disguise technique that could alter appearance, voice, and even disguise one's realm together, though it couldn't fool cultivators who were a major realm higher.

For someone like you who possessed Dust Transformation, this technique came right on time, allowing your disguise to reach the next level.

After organizing this batch of ill-gotten gains, you wouldn't need to worry about resources for a long time to come. You gradually settled your mind and began your methodical cultivation.

Meditation, practicing swordsmanship, studying spell arts, and occasionally dual cultivating with Xiao Fanzi.

Time quietly slipped away amidst such peaceful and fulfilling cultivation.

Six years slipped by quietly, and now it was already your tenth year joining the Xuantian Sword Sect.

Lin Bufan had left the sect three years ago. You knew he was going to keep an appointment—that promise which had tormented him for ten years.

You originally wanted to tag along to pick up some scraps, but he was completely out of character and his attitude was extremely firm.

Was it a dispute born of youthful pride?

Oh well, you had no thoughts of romance in your heart at all, but after all, having accompanied each other for nearly ten years, you could still be considered good friends who knew each other inside out.

You didn't make things difficult for him and continued to stay in the Tianxuan Sword Sect to cultivate.

Early in the morning of this day, you practiced swordplay outside your cave dwelling as usual.

After a round of sword dancing, you slowly sheathed your sword.

Suddenly, a pair of large hands reached out from behind, steadily pressing onto your waist with a firm and unshakable force that prevented you from breaking free.

After a slight start, you got into character in a second.

Turning your face with anger in your eyes, upon seeing who had come, your eye sockets quickly reddened and your lips trembled slightly, unable to speak for a long time.

He opened his mouth, clumsily helping you wipe the corners of your eyes, yet not knowing how to comfort you.

The next moment, you suddenly turned around and threw yourself into his arms, your low sobs seeming to contain endless longing and grievances.

"Big Brother Lin, it's truly wonderful that you're okay."

The guilt in Lin Bufan's heart reached a peak.

He had only wanted to become strong as quickly as possible and give that woman who had humiliated him for ten years a lesson deep enough to engrave into her bones, yet in his obsession, he had ignored the person he should have cherished the most.

"It will never happen again in the future."

Lin Bufan's voice was terribly hoarse, wrapped in a heavy nasal tone.

You were stunned for a moment. Could this kid have been acted to tears by you?

"Mhm."

Leaving it at that, you responded softly.

But after waiting for a long time, seeing that he showed no intention of pulling out any treasures at all, and that the smell of blood on his body was extremely heavy with bloodshot eyes covering his eye sockets...

It seemed this trip had not gone smoothly.

Since that was the case, you might as well contribute a bit to your secret technique. There was still a little time left; it would be best to elevate your Three Spiritual Roots aptitude to intermediate.

By the way, you could comfort his seemingly very wounded soul.

Thinking of it, you did it. Raising your head and standing on tiptoe, under his stunned gaze, you kissed him directly.

Having practiced asceticism and kept his desires in check for three years, Lin Bufan truly missed your gentleness immensely.

But with the sudden changes in his family, he needed to take care of your emotions even more, so he hadn't had that thought at all for the moment, never expecting you to proactively start the fire.

He didn't refuse, and indeed wanted to grow close to you.

"Mhm~"

You gave a soft, dissatisfied hum and grabbed his large hand.

"There's a smell of blood, it stinks to death. Go take a bath."

"It's fine, I know the Cleansing Spell."

"No! I'm a clean freak, go use the spirit spring to wash up!"

"Then let's wash together!"

He unexpectedly hoisted you onto his shoulder in one go and strode towards the cave dwelling.

"Eh?"

This kid, not seeing him for three years, had turned wild.

And as a frail maiden, you could only silently endure everything...