Lu Lihua brought Lin Yu to Lin Yun, and soon forced Lin Yun to release the Great Mist again.

After all, Lin Yu was someone with status now. If others saw him being too intimate with Lin Yu, it could damage her reputation.

"What do you want?"

As soon as Lin Yun drew close, Lin Yu adopted an attitude of keeping strangers away, exuding a don’t-mess-with-me aura.

"Yu’er, don’t be mad, okay?"

Lin Yun completely shed the gloomy heaviness of his solitude before, and became all smiles, which made Lin Yu scowl and push him slightly away. Lin Yun took advantage of the moment to hug her again, and Lin Yu made a half-hearted attempt to push him away before she reproached, "Let me go!"

"I won’t let go. What if you run away when I do?"

Lin Yun didn’t only not let go but also placed his hands on Lin Yu’s waist. They were very close, and Lin Yu looked exasperated, weakly expressing her resistance on Lin Yun’s shoulders. She seemed to enjoy this little game, though.

"Why would I run? You should be the one running back to your Snow Maiden’s side. What are you doing entangling with me here!"

See, the seal on the jar of jealousy was undone.

Lin Yun knew she was just waiting for him to coax her, and he quickly said, "If my sister Lin isn’t happy, I won’t be able to rest easy."

"What sister Lin!"

Lin Yu found this title utterly embarrassing and struggled even harder. To keep her in place, Lin Yun had to use other tactics. With both hands preoccupied, he had to resort to just using his words.

Lin Yun was very good at verbal contests, and Lin Yu was no match for him.

Lin Yun also verified a rumor: what to do when the wife is angry?

A kiss does the trick.

The previously proud Lin Yu softened after the kiss, no longer playing a game of feigned rejections. She straightforwardly voiced her displeasure.

"You hit me for another woman!"

"I was wrong."

"You didn’t even come to see me before you left!"

"I really was wrong."

"And when you came back, you deliberately didn’t tell me!"

"I truly realize my mistake!"

"Will you dare to do it again next time?"

"Next time I definitely... won’t dare."

Lin Yun almost said it without thinking.

When dealing with an angry woman, he offered no explanations, but this was the right answer.

Stuff like, "If I hadn’t acted then, you would have killed the Snow Maiden," or "It was an emergency situation..."

All explanations are excuses, not as good as simply admitting the mistake.

But even though he admitted his mistake, he would dare to do it again.

Lin Yu evidently knew Lin Yun would dare to do it again next time, but this time she let it go since Lin Yun gave in. She wasn’t a devil after all.

Leaning in Lin Yun’s embrace, now that she was the only one with him, she also wanted to have a talk with Lin Yun.

"Where have you been this past month? Not a word from you. Did you find Bai Jiaojiao?"

"What?!"

Lin Yun was shocked on the spot. When did I leave for a month?

Taking into account one day for traveling, one day for climbing the mountain, and the day he entered the Desolate Ruins, he had only spent three days in total.

One trip, and a whole month had passed.

It seems that time flows differently in the Desolate Ruins compared to the outside world.

Hey, wait, why is Ziyang City still in your hands after a month?

Lin Yun suddenly realized this important information and immediately asked.

In the plan, Ziyang City was supposed to have fallen.

Lin Yu glanced at him and said, "What, do you suspect I wasn’t satisfied with the Snow Maiden and didn’t follow your plan?"

Lin Yun immediately replied seriously, "How could I? Yu’er has always been magnanimous and considerate. If things didn’t go according to plan, there must have been other reasons."

"Hmph."

Lin Yu hummed, but the pleasure in her twinkling eyes betrayed her mood.

She quite enjoyed Lin Yun’s flattery.

"The matter is actually quite simple."

Lin Yu’s expression turned serious as she said, "This happened shortly after you left. While organizing Daoist Master Yuxuan’s belongings, Disciple Zhen Li discovered a will he left for her, mentioning that a major upheaval was about to come upon the world and reminding the seniors of various sects to remember their countermeasures to dispel disasters and calamities."

Yuxuan had not written those methods in the will, to prevent Zhen Li from seeing them and disturbing her Daoist heart.

After all, Zhen Li was still young, and looking at those cold strategies might make her wonder if reaching the pinnacle of cultivation would turn one cold and heartless.

Using human lives to appease the calamities, the thought itself sent chills down the spine.

Moreover, such a scheme could change the meaning of the sacrifices made in the war.

Were they warriors who died protecting their homeland, or merely sacrifices offered to appease the calamity?

The former would allow one to die a glorious death, whereas the latter could leave behind lingering resentment even in death.

It’s true, but the defense of Ziyang City became more brutal with the arrival of Yuxuan’s will.

The higher powers restrained each other while the lower to mid-level tiers began to clash.

Every day, the death toll in the battles of Ziyang City exceeded the casualties of the entire war between humans and demons, where the Central Plains Human Race fought against forces from the north and south without significant losses.

But in Ziyang City, when the mid to low-tier Cultivators acted, death was final.

With the higher powers holding each other back and the lower layers fighting to the death, the skewed style of combat that had developed was finally pulled back on track.

"...Zhen Li inherited Daoist Master Yuxuan’s divine skills for stargazing, and she too saw the future crisis, so the war that should have ended persisted,"

Hearing Lin Yu explain the reasons one by one, Lin Yun’s feelings also became somewhat complex.

He thought of Yuxuan again, feeling that Yuxuan probably didn’t truly wish to follow the Heavenly Mandate either, so he alone attempted to defy fate. If he succeeded, he naturally could change destiny. If he failed, he at least left behind a method for transcending tribulations.

To follow Heaven is merely to prolong the spark of civilization.

To defy Heaven is the final perseverance of a seeker after the Dao.

If Heaven does not align with my wishes, then we shall defy Heaven to fulfill them.

Of course, the consequences of defying Heaven most likely lead to death and the dissipation of one’s Dao.

Lin Yun, thinking of the Phantom of the Earth Scripture that Daoist Elder Yuxuan had given him, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Elder, you really know how to pick ’em, out of so many people in the world, you had to give it to me, the insider traitor.

Lin Yu also felt a bit reluctant about this war. After all, each was a living being; sometimes she even thought of dueling the Snow Maiden to decide the outcome, and if she lost, give up Ziyang City—thus, ending the war.

Let the high-end warriors decide the outcome, rather than sending the low and mid-level cultivators to die pointlessly.

However, Lin Yu, though hot-headed, knew that she couldn’t take responsibility for such an act.

If she were the only decision-maker, Lin Yu would without doubt wait for the sky to collapse, to see who the enemy was waiting, and then just deal with it and be done.

But she could only represent Shenxiao Sect.

The Shenxiao Sect cannot represent all the people of the world, let alone take on the risk of confronting even greater disasters because of an impulse.

Therefore, Shenxiao Sect could only go with the flow. Whatever everyone else decided, the Shenxiao Sect had to follow suit.

"When my cultivation level was low in the past, I often thought that if my cultivation surpassed all others, I would certainly eliminate all the unfairness in the world. But now, having reached such a level of cultivation, I realize the limits of one’s power; wanting to be free from worldly concerns all one’s life isn’t an easy thing,"

Lin Yu rarely expressed such introspective sentiments, seldom showing her vulnerability in front of Lin Yun. This time, it must have been because her frustrations had been stewing for a while.

Instead of going along with her words to comfort her, Lin Yun started to make a move.

Lin Yu was immediately irate. When we’re this close together, can’t you say some sweet words instead of always getting handsy!

Not that she was opposed to it, per se, but right now they were in the middle of a conversation!

"What are you doing?"

"I think your sword has gotten a bit dull; let me sharpen it for you."

A simple phrase snapped Lin Yu out of it.

Her Sword Intent used to be relentless, cutting through everything. Now, she was hesitating, considering this and that.

Lin Yun was right; she indeed had become dull.

Her excessive desire to break through in her cultivation had led her into a bottleneck. Now, with Lin Yun’s words piercing through, that barrier was broken.

Lin Yu felt an epiphany but couldn’t break through immediately; she needed to go into solitary cultivation for a while.

"I understand now, I need to go into seclusion. Stop bothering me..."

Lin Yu, blushing, grabbed Lin Yun’s hand.

She thought Lin Yun was just pretending to sharpen the sword, but he was serious about it!

She hurried away, seizing the rare opportunity for a breakthrough. She had to make the most of this moment.

As for getting intimate with Lin Yun, there would be plenty of chances for that later. There was no rush for that.

Watching Lin Yu flee in disarray, Lin Yun just laughed.

Afterward, he found a place to sleep.

This sleep, however, left Lin Yun stupefied.

He dreamed of the deep sea, and once again, he was submerged by water.

Having not slept and dreamed in such a long time, he had forgotten that ever since he recited Sister Qing Nu’s divine name, whenever he slept, he would dream of being submerged in water.

Seeing the sea, Lin Yun realized he most likely couldn’t summon Bai Jiaojiao anymore.

However, this time, he didn’t feel like he was suffocating quite so quickly, and he remembered Bai Jiaojiao.

If that’s the case...

Lin Yun tried hard to imagine Bai Jiaojiao appearing.

With that thought, a great White Dragon emerged within the deep sea.

The White Dragon floundered about in the water while Lin Yun quickly called out, "Jiao Jiao, let’s get out of here, alright?"

"Where is this?"

Bai Jiaojiao swam around joyfully in the sea, as if she was in her own home, seemingly without the slightest intention of leaving.

"This place is dangerous, let’s get away quickly."

Lin Yun was aware that he probably hadn’t drowned today thanks to the grace of Sister Qing Nu.

Sister Qing Nu is the best in the world!

Lin Yun silently recited this in his heart as a sort of appeasement for the day.

But Bai Jiaojiao was rather stubborn. She blew a bubble and said, "Don’t be afraid, I will protect you. This place is so mysterious, shouldn’t we explore it a bit?"

Lin Yun: "..."

That’s not the way to court death, is it?

Yet Bai Jiaojiao twined around him, continuously diving deeper into the sea.

"Jiao Jiao, do you remember what you’re supposed to do?"

Lin Yun wondered if Bai Jiaojiao actually hadn’t arrived in his dream yet.

"To let you ride?"

Lin Yun: "..."

As clever as Lin Yun was, he couldn’t decide whether this Bai Jiaojiao was one he had conjured up, or if the real Bai Jiaojiao was there...