Chapter 411 Li Muwan’s longing for Lin Che

Li Qianmei left the Guiyuan Sect, and Lin Che was once again alone.

He gazed at the sky, blue as the sea, remaining still for a long time, his mind as calm as water, extremely tranquil and composed.

Since arriving in this world, he had joined the Hengyue Sect, becoming the personal disciple of True Lord Huanglong, and later, during his cultivation, he accidentally entered the Land of the Ancient Gods, becoming the current God of Slaughter.

Afterward, he met Li Muwan and became her Dao companion, and took Hongdie and Zhou Ruer as disciples.

He slayed various powerful experts, his name shaking the world.

Now, after a thousand years of cultivation, his own cultivation had long since reached the True Realm, breaking through the Heaven-Human Realm to become a great power in the world.

However, in the end, Lin Che discovered that his life was not as comfortable as he had imagined; instead, it was as if he had been shackled, progressing step by step according to a normal sequence.

Just as Lin Che was filled with myriad emotions, it wasn't until Lu Yanfei appeared that she interrupted his thoughts of many years…

"Senior, you have been sitting here for ten days.

Has something happened?"

Lin Che slowly turned around, looked at Lu Yanfei beside him, and nodded, "Nothing, I was just thinking about some things."

The celadon teacup Lu Yanfei held was still steaming.

Seeing Lin Che turn around, she smoothly placed the teacup in the center of the stone table.

Her fingertips accidentally touched the tabletop, and she could still feel the residual warmth left by the sun.

"This is cloud-mist tea freshly picked from the back mountain, brewed with morning dew for half an hour.

Would Senior like to try it?"

Lu Yanfei always spoke with a hint of caution, her gaze falling on a few barely noticeable silver strands at Lin Che's temples.

Everyone said he had reached the Heaven-Human Realm, but in these ten days, she always felt that the back of this great power was even more desolate than a solitary pine on a mountaintop.

Lin Che raised his hand and picked up the teacup, the lid gently scraping the rim, spreading a circle of light green ripples.

The tea was not as mellow as he had imagined; instead, it carried a hint of bitterness, like the wild tea True Lord Huanglong had brewed in a coarse pottery bowl when he first entered the Hengyue Sect.

"It tastes good."

Lin Che nodded faintly.

His gaze, however, drifted towards the bamboo forest not far away.

The rustling sound of the wind passing through the bamboo leaves actually overlapped with the sound of Hongdie's sword tassel sweeping through the bamboo forest when she first learned to wield a sword a thousand years ago.

"If Senior doesn't mind, this junior will come to brew tea every day from now on."

Seeing his expression soften, Lu Yanfei grew a little bolder, her fingertips picking up a pine cone from the stone table.

"The pine cones in the back mountain are ripe.

Yesterday, I even saw a few squirrels hoarding food under the trees.

Does Senior want to go and see them?"

Lu Yanfei knew that Lin Che was accustomed to seeing extraordinary phenomena, but she always felt that these ordinary plants and trees might ease his tightly furrowed brows a little.

Lin Che followed her gaze, only to see a few grey squirrels leaping among the branches, clutching pine cones.

Occasionally, a pine cone would roll down from a tree, making a soft thud as it landed in the pile of fallen leaves.

He suddenly remembered when he took Hongdie as a disciple; the little girl was just like this, always chasing squirrels in the forest, even saying she wanted to train them into mounts.

Life back then had no endless powerful enemies, no pressure to break through to the True Realm, and even the wind during cultivation breaks carried a hint of laziness.

"No need."

Lin Che withdrew his gaze, the teacup in his hand already mostly cold, and said indifferently, "If you have nothing else to do, go tend to the herb garden in the front courtyard.

Yesterday, I saw that the leaves of a few spirit herbs were turning yellow."

He deliberately changed the subject, not noticing the flicker of disappointment in Lu Yanfei's eyes.

Lu Yanfei just wanted this senior, who had been alone for a thousand years, to experience a little more of the human world.

Lu Yanfei responded and stood up, but as she turned, she suddenly remembered something, took a small wooden squirrel carving from her sleeve, and gently placed it on the stone table.

"I carved this yesterday when I had nothing to do.

If Senior doesn't like it, just throw it away."

Lu Yanfei finished speaking and quickly left, afraid Lin Che would refuse, her retreating figure even showing a hint of haste.

Lin Che looked at the wooden carving on the stone table.

The squirrel's eyes were painted with hematite powder, glimmering in the sunlight, and its paws clutched a tiny pine cone.

The carving was not exquisite, but it conveyed a clumsy sincerity.

His fingertips gently traced the grain of the wood carving, and he suddenly felt that this cool afternoon didn't seem so hard to bear after all.

The wind once again passed through the bamboo forest, bringing a crisp, fresh scent of plants and trees.

Lin Che placed the wood carving into his sleeve and picked up the teacup again.

This time, Lin Che no longer stared blankly at the sky, but looked at the busy figure in the herb garden not far away, at the squirrels leaping among the branches, and at the dappled light spots cast by the sun through the bamboo leaves.

Perhaps a thousand years of solitude could not be easily dispelled, but this moment of normalcy was enough to slightly relax his tightly strung heart…

The next morning, the golden rooster crowed.

In the small world enveloped by immortal essence, Li Muwan and Immortal Lord Qingshuang were enjoying tea.

Upon seeing her husband appear, a gentle smile also blossomed on Li Muwan's cheeks.

Li Muwan stepped forward, looked at her husband, and softly said, "Husband, it has been many years since you last came to the small world."

The time in the small world was completely different from the outside world; thus, one year in the outside world meant several years had passed in the small world.

This was why Li Muwan's handsome face carried an expression of boundless longing when she saw Lin Che.

Lin Che said softly, "Recently, I've been thinking about how to break through to the Five Declines of Heaven-Human Realm.

It's still too difficult to break through the third step right now."

Upon hearing this, Li Muwan gently placed her slender hand on Lin Che's hand, the warmth of her palm passing through his clothes, bringing a comforting warmth.

She did not rush to speak, but simply refilled a cup of the warm tea on the table and handed it to him.

"Husband's cultivation is already unparalleled in the world.

The Five Declines of Heaven-Human Realm is an ancient hurdle that is difficult to overcome.

Even the ancient gods had to exhaust their minds contemplating it, so why be in such a hurry?"

Immortal Lord Qingshuang nodded in agreement from the side, his fingertips tracing the dark patterns on the rim of the teacup.

"Brother Lin, for years you have cultivated day and night to break through, almost forgetting the dawn and dusk in the small world.

"Sister Wan has been waiting here, hoping every day that you would come to rest, not to hear about these troubles of yours."

Immortal Lord Qingshuang had a straightforward personality, and his words carried a hint of teasing, but his gaze was full of understanding.

Everyone knew that what Lin Che carried on his shoulders was never just his own path, but also the entrustment of past acquaintances.

Lin Che looked at the tenderness in Li Muwan's eyes, and the anxiety in his heart, born from the stagnation of his realm, strangely faded a little.

He took the teacup, and the warm tea slid down his throat, carrying a familiar sweetness.

It was the taste of the osmanthus honey tea Li Muwan had personally brewed for him back at the Hengyue Sect.

"I was negligent."

Lin Che sighed softly, his fingertips unconsciously caressing the cup wall.

"I always thought that breaking through sooner might protect more people, but I forgot that those around me also worry about me."

"Husband has always been like this."

Li Muwan smiled, raising her hand to smooth out the slightly wrinkled collar of his clothes.

"Back then, when you confronted the Cultivation Alliance to protect me and Hongdie, weren't you just as stubborn?"

"But the path of cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation.

If you are constantly tense, you are more likely to suffer a cultivation deviation."

"The weather is beautiful today.

Why don't you come with me for a walk by青山 Lake?"