Lin Yun left with a smile as Su Ziyao arrived at the throne. Was he feeling proud? He definitely was. After all, Su Ziyao ultimately turned around for him when the throne was within her grasp. But he still kept his emotions because he didn’t want to be killed by her.
He knew that he had to work hard. Otherwise, when Su Ziyao stood at the peak of the mountain, he would still be an ordinary person in the crowd.
Half an hour later, Lin Yun saw Ye Xinyan standing outside the capital. He greeted, “Senior Sister.”
Ye Xinyan faced Lin Yun with her back as she sat on the Dragon Blooded Horse. It was as though she hadn’t heard him.
“What are you thinking about?” smiled Lin Yun as he walked up to her.
Looking at Lin Yun coming in her direction, Ye Xinyan was startled awake. Her face changed a little when she saw him, “You’re injured. Let me take a look.”
“It’s nothing. I’ll heal in a few days.” The old man could kill him easily, but the old man had clearly held back.
“I can’t seem to get a break from worrying about you. D-d-did you see the princess?” asked Ye Xinyan.
“Yeah. She’s the person that I’m looking for,” smiled Lin Yun, without noticing Ye Xinyan’s expression.
“Indeed…” A bitter smile appeared on Ye Xinyan’s face. “I knew that you two must have quite a story. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have helped you. You nearly stripped her of her clothes and she still didn’t kill you.”
“Senior Sister, what’s wrong?” Lin Yun asked as he sensed the abnormal emotions in Ye Xinyan.
“Go away!” Ye Xinyan shook Lin Yun’s hands away as her face turned pale. “I know that you already have someone in your heart, but I still dream about wandering the world with you. I knew that I was never in your heart.”
“Senior Sister!” Lin Yun’s face changed as he walked up.
But Ye Xinyan kept backing off as she replied, “Don’t call me Senior Sister. We’ll go our separate ways after today. I don’t need your pity.”
Before Lin Yun could even reply, Ye Xinyan had already run off. When she turned her back on Lin Yun, tears began to roll down on her cheeks. This instantly blew Lin Yun’s mind because he had no idea what was wrong with Ye Xinyan. Was it because of me? But by the time he recovered from his shock, Ye Xinyan was already gone.
“Damn it!” Lin Yun cursed as he chased after Ye Xinyan on the Dragon Blooded Horse. He only felt relieved when he saw Ye Xinyan beneath an ancient tree.
“What are you doing here? I don’t need you to take pity on me,” grumbled Ye Xinyan when she sensed Lin Yun approaching. Her eyes were still red.
“Here, for you,” smiled Lin Yun as he gave her a bundle of flowers.
Turning around, Ye Xinyan looked at the flowers and grumbled, “You picked this along the way?”
“But isn’t it beautiful like you?” smiled Lin Yun.
Ye Xinyan’s face blushed. She took the flowers and whispered in a soft voice, “I’m sorry, Junior Brother.”
She was never angry, but her emotions were just too suppressed. This was why she flared up when she saw Lin Yun coming back injured. After all, pure relationships between the opposite sex were a big fat lie. Which girl could hold their heart back if they saw someone fighting the entire world just for her?
As a sensitive woman, Ye Xinyan had already noticed that there was someone else in Lin Yun’s heart, another woman who could make Lin Yun bear the loneliness. But last night was too beautiful and Ye Xinyan didn’t want to wake up from her dream. She just wanted to wander the entire world with him.
But she ultimately had to wake up from the dream because Lin Yun already had someone in his heart, so much so that he went straight to the palace the moment she purposely mentioned the ceremony.
“Don’t apologize,” replied Lin Yun. “Senior Sister, you should know that I won’t take pity on you, nor will I blame you. I will only feel heartache for you, just like how you felt heartache for me when I was being bullied. You will always be someone I had close to my heart.”
“How close?” Ye Xinyan returned to her usual playful self.
“So close that I can give my life for you,” replied Lin Yun seriously.
“Fool. Sit beside me.” Ye Xinyan patted the ground beside her with a blushed face. A long time later, she leaned against Lin Yun’s chest and whispered, “Junior Brother, can you hug me?”
Lin Yun didn’t utter another word and took her in his embrace. Just like that, the two of them slowly fell asleep.
When Lin Yun woke up the next morning, he noticed that Ye Xinyan was already gone. He rubbed his eyes and found a letter lying beside him.
“Junior Brother, by the time you see this letter, I’ll be long gone. I must have fallen in love with you, but I don’t know when that happened. Perhaps it was when I was helpless and you saved me from Qin Yu or maybe it was when I first saw you. Who knows?”
“I really thought of wandering the world with you, regardless if you fell for me or not. I’ve thought of sticking by your side as your Senior Sister even if you chased me away. However, I know that I can’t be so selfish. I can’t force you to make a decision and I don’t want to put you in a difficult position. So I’m leaving. I don’t think I will return to the Sword Firmament Pavilion, but I have a feeling that we’ll meet again.”
Lin Yun looked at the letter with a smile on his lips. Putting the letter away, Lin Yun rode on the Dragon Blooded Horse and wore his hood, “Time go get moving.”
The capital was still immersed in the joy of their new empress, so Lin Yun’s departure didn’t cause any splashes. So much so that only the Locket Mountain’s disciples knew that he was gone. After all, his title, Flower Burial, was destined to become a legend in the empire. He couldn’t help it since he was labelled as a monstrous genius from long ago.
Nightime in the Extermination Barrens was lonely. It was a restricted zone that went for miles. The only thing that was present were the endless amounts of demonic beasts. After Lin Yun left the Great Qin Empire, crossing the Extermination Barrens was naturally the best idea for him.
He would officially leave the borders of the wasteland and pass through the territories of demonic beasts. The sky was dark and the only source of light was a bonfire. Lin Yun was using tree branches to roast meat on the bonfire. With great proficiency, he sprinkled seasoning on the meat.
“Let’s eat,” said Lin Yun to the Dragon Blooded Horse. Then, he tore a piece of meat and threw it at the drolling Dragon Blooded Horse.
The Extermination Barren had plenty of demonic beasts to the point that there would occasionally be beast waves that threatened the safety of the capital. Lin Yun wasn’t unfamiliar with this place since he previously came here for the Demonlotus Realm.
After eating the demonic beast’s meat, Lin Yun sat down to cultivate. He could already refine sword energy within his body and 40% of his origin energy had been converted to it. Gradually, the pale-white aura had slowly turned into a silvery-white.
I can only make full use of the origins left to me by Guardian Plum when all my origin energy is converted into sword energy. At that time, the quality of my origin energy will reach a whole new level. I won’t even need to fear Violet Palace Realm cultivators.
Roars could gradually be heard in the barrens as they were drawn over by the bonfire. There were even bold demonic beasts who sneaked away and stared at Lin Yun. Among the demonic beasts, there was a crimson leopard looking at Lin Yun with cold killing intent.
It was a demonic beast that had just reached the Violet Palace Realm. The leopard gradually and carefully approached before it suddenly pounced at Lin Yun. Just when it was about to knock Lin Yun down and devour him, Lin Yun suddenly opened his eyes and flicked his finger.
A wisp of a purple-silver ray flew towards the leopard, sending it flying one thousand meters away. Shortly after, a crimson bolt charged at the leopard.
“I’ll leave it to you. It’s time for you to reach the Violet Palace Realm or you’ll end up letting down your bloodline,” murmured Lin Yun.