87: Chapter 87 Going Home!

Lin Tian looked into Lord Su Wan's sincere eyes, then glanced at the precious materials.

He knew that Lord Su Wan was genuinely grateful and was also using this method to solidify their alliance.

If he were to decline again, it would only seem pretentious and distant.

Therefore, he smiled, stopped being overly polite, and reached out to take the crystals: "Very well. Since Lord Su Wan is so generous, I will accept them without further ado. If you have any more good things next time, be sure to call me, and we shall cooperate again."

"It's a deal."

A look of relief appeared on Lord Su Wan's face, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her heart.

Once the materials were handed over, Lin Tian checked the sky and sensed the little bit of strength he had recovered within his body. He then said to Lord Su Wan: "Since the secret realm challenge is over, we won't overstay our welcome. Lord Su Wan, and all our elven friends, this cooperation, while dangerous, was also exhilarating. We will see you next time."

"See you next time, Lord Lin Tian. Take care on your way."

Lord Su Wan and the elves politely saw them off.

Without further delay, he communicated with the alliance contract through his mind and once again opened the milky-white teleportation array on the open ground before him.

He commanded his two thousand soldiers—who were also burdened with exhaustion and the shadow of 'death,' yet still maintained their discipline—to step into the light gate one by one.

Lin Yin remained half a step behind him, her gaze scanning the surroundings vigilantly until everyone else had entered and only the two of them remained.

"Let's go. It's time to go home."

Lin Tian smiled at Lin Yin. Although the smile was still a bit forced, the words "go home" carried an immensely grounding power.

"Mm, let's go home."

Lin Yin replied softly, her gaze softening involuntarily.

The two stepped side-by-side into the swirling curtain of light.

After a brief sensation of weightlessness and spatial displacement, the solid, familiar feeling of the ground, carrying the unique scent of their own territory, returned beneath their feet.

Before them stood their own towering, gray stone city walls and the neatly arranged Barracks.

The afternoon sun shone upon the city walls, gilding them with a warm golden edge.

The air was filled with a familiar scent—a mixture of grass, soil, steel, and the atmosphere of daily life. It was safe, intimate, and comforting.

"Whew!"

Lin Tian stood where he was and took a deep breath of the territory's air, feeling as if even his soul had been soothed.

Looking around at the home he had built with his own hands, a home that was now thriving, an endless sense of emotion and belonging welled up within him.

The brutality, the shadow of death, and the desperate struggles within the secret realm... it all seemed to be exhaled and diluted along with that familiar breath of air.

The feeling of being home is truly wonderful.

He turned his head to look at Lin Yin, who was standing quietly beside him, her gaze softly scanning everything in the territory.

The sunlight gilded her moon-white holy robes with a golden edge, and a light breeze stirred her hair; her beautiful profile appeared exceptionally serene and lovely in the light.

After experiencing life and death together, some things had already changed.

But regardless, they were back—back in the place that needed them to protect it together, and which, in turn, protected them.

New challenges might lie ahead, but for this moment, only the peace and gratitude of returning home filled his heart.

As the teleportation light completely dissipated in the afternoon sun, and his feet once again touched the ground of Lin Tian City—which was slightly warm from being baked by the sun but felt incredibly solid—the breath that Lin Tian had been holding in his chest was finally released in a long, slow exhale, carrying a sense of relief that bordered on exhaustion.

This entire scene of peace, normalcy, and vitality stood in stark contrast to the cold, murderous images, desperate slaughter, piercing whistle of arrows, and the incredibly real, soul-shuddering sensation of 'death' on the plains of the secret realm.

The scent of home rushed toward him, giving Lin Tian a dizzying feeling as if he had been away for a lifetime, and his eyes grew slightly warm.

However, his gaze first fell upon the two thousand soldiers who had returned with him.

They did not cheer, nor did they relax; they simply stood in formation on the open ground in front of the teleportation point, silent and somewhat stiff.

The sunlight shone upon their bright silver heavy armor, which was stained with the dust of the secret realm and the not-yet-fully-dissipated simulated scent of blood, reflecting a cold, hard light. Yet, it could not penetrate the lingering terror, emptiness, and deep fatigue in their eyes.

Many were pale, their lips pressed tightly together, their gazes fixed forward, yet seemingly without focus.

Their bodies still maintained an unconscious, defensive, slight forward lean and tension, the muscle lines of their arms clearly defined, as if the cold vibration of bowstrings and the roars of monsters were still echoing in their ears.

The vast majority of them had personally experienced the moment of 'death'—being pierced by arrows, torn apart by sharp claws, or covered by the hail of arrows from the 'Mirror Lin Yin.'

Even though their reason knew it was fake, the bone-deep pain, the coldness of life rapidly slipping away, and the fear of endless darkness descending had been branded onto their spirits like the deepest of nightmares, not easily wiped away.

At this moment, they were more like a group of survivors who had suffered severe mental trauma and had just crawled back from the edge of hell, rather than triumphant warriors.

Looking at these brothers who had risked their lives for him and for the territory, and who had just experienced a brutal 'death' on a mental level, a strong sense of bitterness, heartache, and heavy responsibility welled up in Lin Tian's heart.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his churning emotions, walked to the front of the formation, and cleared his throat.

His voice was not loud, but it carried a peculiar, steady power that could pierce through fatigue and numbness, clearly reaching everyone's ears:

"Brothers!"

Two thousand pairs of eyes slowly focused on him, somewhat sluggishly and blankly.

"You have all... returned alive."

Lin Tian spoke. His first sentence contained no praise, no summary of the battle results; it was merely a statement of the simplest, yet at this moment, the most precious fact.

He scanned the crowd, letting his gaze linger for a moment on the few soldiers who were particularly dispirited and whose bodies were still trembling slightly, as if offering silent support with his eyes.

"I know that what happened in the secret realm was not easy."

He continued, his tone frank and devoid of any lordly airs, as if he were talking to comrades who had shared life and death: "That pain, that darkness, that feeling... I took a hit too. It was, damn it... it was not easy."

He used a curse word, which instead caused the soldiers' tense faces to relax slightly, and their eyes showed a glimmer of resonance: 'So the Lord is like this too.'

"But it's all over!"

Lin Tian raised his voice, firm and decisive: "Look clearly, where are we? This is our Lin Tian City! This is the home we built brick by brick! The wounds on your bodies are fake! But the sun here, these city walls—they are all real!"