Chapter 290: Time to Work Hard

Seeing Yun Lan’s attitude, a smile appeared on Lin Dong’s lips. His personal guard had a refined and gentle personality, unmatched talent, yet no trace of pettiness. If she had to fly around in the sky all day, she would be like a fairy far removed from the mortal world.
There could be many reasons for ignoring others, but in this situation, there was only one: jealousy.
Though this jealousy seemed somewhat inexplicable, it was still good news for Lin Dong.
This was probably the second time Yun Lan had shown jealousy—once at the Humen Inn. The two incidents were only separated by about ten days. In Lin Dong’s previous world, such reactions would have seemed unreasonable, but in this world, he could understand it. He immediately turned to You Qinxang and smiled, “Thank you for your kindness, Miss You. I’ll visit another time!”
You Qinxang felt slightly disappointed, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded helplessly.
Lin Dong quickened his pace and walked side by side with Yun Lan, muttering meaningfully, “Back to the mortal world again!”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it made Yun Lan’s cheeks flush slightly.
Lin Dong suddenly realized he needed to work harder.
“Senior Yun probably won’t object. But still… the pressure is huge!”
Scratching his head, Lin Dong was troubled by the rules of the major sects.
“What won’t she object to?” Yun Lan asked instinctively.
“Of course, it’s between us,” Lin Dong replied.
Yun Lan’s fair neck turned pale red, and her voice grew urgent, “What could possibly be between us?”
“I suddenly realized you have one big flaw—hypocrisy!”
Lin Dong looked at her helplessly. After being together for so long, in his previous world, even the most reserved girls would have accepted their relationship by now. But in this world, everyone was so hypocritical and stubborn.
Yun Lan was stunned, then felt an urge to split Lin Dong in two with a sword. After a long pause, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll practice moves later!”
Lin Dong smiled leisurely, holding his head in his hands, clearly pleased with himself.
There must be effort to gain rewards. Since he had decided to work hard, even if Yun Lan didn’t say anything, he would find someone to train with.
Seeing Lin Dong’s expression, Yun Lan’s heartbeat quickened, and her heart trembled uncontrollably.
“One of the rules of our Tianjian Sect is that…”
“Never mind!” Lin Dong waved his hand to cut her off, declaring firmly, “If you provoke me, I’ll destroy your Tianjian Sect. By then, there won’t be any rules left.”
Yun Lan was speechless. She wanted to retort, but she was overwhelmed by his dominance.

Behind them, although You Qinxang couldn’t hear the two of them talking, she clearly noticed something. She bit her red lips, seemingly struggling with hesitation.

The group arrived at the council hall in great numbers. You Beide invited Xiao Tianchi to take the first seat in the hall. After a brief hesitation, Xiao Tianchi gladly sat down. In his view, regardless of status or strength, Yun Lan was unmatched among those present. Even Lin Dong, though perhaps not the strongest, could achieve things no one else could due to the spiritual array that accelerated cultivation and the growth of high-grade spiritual materials.

Of course, Xiao Tianchi wasn’t foolish enough to say this out loud. Yun Lan’s identity shouldn’t be revealed, and as for Lin Dong… Since You Beide didn’t know how formidable Manager Lin was, there was no need to let him know. Although the Gu Huan Sect had the connection through Tianhao, if You Beide really wanted to forge a relationship with Lin Dong, it would mean sharing some of the benefits of the Gu Huan Sect.

In Xiao Tianchi’s private thoughts, the better You Beide treated Lin Dong and Yun Lan coldly, the better. If he could even make them angry, it would be worth celebrating.

Xiao Tianchi’s expectations were somewhat disappointed. On the benches in the hall, the left side was reserved for guests. You Beide and several elders from the Xingli Sect, unable to distinguish the identities of the Gu Huan Sect’s elders, did not invite them to sit.

The Gu Huan Sect’s elders voluntarily gave up the two front seats. Although You Beide and the Xingli Sect’s elders were surprised that Lin Dong and Yun Lan were seated above the Gu Huan Sect’s elders, they weren’t foolish enough to interfere. They assumed Lin Dong and Xiao Tianchi had a very close relationship, and given their strong strength, the Gu Huan Sect’s elders were extremely polite.

As for Lin Dong and Yun Lan, they paid little attention to such things. Especially Yun Lan, with her indifferent personality, such trivial matters didn’t stir even the slightest reaction in her. Lin Dong, however, was somewhat annoyed that You Beide focused only on being friendly with Xiao Tianchi, completely forgetting to show courtesy to his savior. But since he had taken some mundane treasures from the Xingli Sect’s treasure vault, he didn’t feel right complaining.

As Xiao Tianchi and You Beide began discussing defenses and countermeasures, their minds were still preoccupied with their own matters, so much so that they didn’t even realize the discussion was over.

After a lively lunch and after arranging their accommodations, Lin Dong and Yun Lan immediately found a quiet place to practice their skills.

Outside the Xingli Sect, as Xiao Tianchi had predicted, Qian Changjian was leading a group of elders and disciples searching for the thieves. Fang Shijin, the leader of the Ningji Sect, led his men to confront them, and a fierce battle ensued. Qian Changjian was unable to resist and had no choice but to lead his people back to their sect.

When they returned to the Xingli Sect, they found that You Beide had already been released, and the spiritual array had been altered.

The assault failed, and You Beide once again offered to forgive the past if they returned to the Xingli Sect. Seeing the situation turning unfavorable and fearing that his disciples might truly side with You Beide, Qian Changjian wisely chose to lead them in retreat. As a result, they were surrounded by Ning Jizong once more. After several fierce battles, with fewer and fewer people left, Qian Changjian had no other choice but to try to break through from Qingmei Mountain and find an opportunity to make a comeback. The fight-and-flee continued for five or six days. Finally, Lin Dong, who had been training hard, could no longer bear it. In his mind, the task of rescuing You Qinxang should be completed simply by saving You Beide and driving away Qian Changjian. But the reward for the task never arrived, clearly not as simple as he had expected. If it was more complicated, then he would have to kill Qian Changjian and even eliminate Ning Jizong to prevent future threats to the Xingli Sect. There was no other way—if Qian Changjian escaped, the task reward would be lost. Having wasted so much time in the Xingli Sect, plus the travel time, if there was no reward, the treasures in just the first floor of the Xingli Sect and Ning Jizong’s treasure hall would not be worth it for Lin Dong. Fortunately, the harder the task, the richer the reward. After discussing it with Yun Lan, the two left the Xingli Sect secretly at night without telling anyone. With Yun Lan’s speed and strength, searching Qingmei Mountain wasn’t too difficult, despite its size. Following the direction of the battles and Ning Jizong’s disciples’ pursuit, as dawn approached, they finally found Qian Changjian’s trail in a lush green meadow. In the meadow, dressed in tattered clothes with bloodstains, Qian Changjian held a spiritual sword and fought while retreating with several disciples, trying to escape the pursuit by Ning Jizong’s scouts. “Is it okay?” Lin Dong asked quietly from behind a huge rock. Yun Lan observed the surroundings for a moment and shook her head. “We should be able to kill Qian Changjian before Ning Jizong’s elders arrive and then leave safely.” “Alright, how about a decisive move?” Lin Dong asked. Yun Lan nodded. “Let’s give it a try!” Lin Dong suddenly leaped up and threw the bench in his hand at Qian Changjian’s head from behind. Qian Changjian quickly shook his wrist, didn’t turn around, repelled several Ning Jizong disciples attacking from behind, and then thrust his sword at the bench behind him. The moment the long sword touched the bench, its tip instantly moved rapidly, transforming into a dazzling light screen that gradually crushed the entire bench to pieces. Suddenly, the Blue Chen Sword stuck to the bench’s foot exerted force and shot out swiftly.

At the sudden appearance of the blue spiritual sword, Qian Changjian, as the senior elder of the Alchemy Sect, immediately realized that this sword was by no means an ordinary one. Soon after, a chill surged in his heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung his wrist, causing the spiritual sword to abandon its attempt to crush the remaining four legs of the bench and strike toward Lan Chen Sword. Whoosh… Just as the spiritual sword was about to intercept Lan Chen Sword, Qian Changjian felt it accelerate slightly, cutting through a strand of air even before Lan Chen Sword could strike. This sudden change terrified him; his spiritual energy surged to his right arm as he desperately tried to stop the sword from slashing forward. It was already too late to draw the sword back to block Lan Chen Sword. With the blue blade tip looming close, Qian Changjian quickly leaned back to avoid it. Before he could straighten up or breathe a sigh of relief, Lan Chen Sword swiftly turned and sliced toward his throat. Panicked, Qian Changjian tried to dodge, but having lost the advantage, no matter how he tried to evade, Lan Chen Sword kept chasing him. After just five or six moves, it already left him in a flurry. In a moment of carelessness, Lan Chen Sword whistled past, leaving behind a trail of bright blood, returning into Yun Lan’s hands. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Hidden by the darkness of the night, no one could see why Qian Changjian suddenly darted left and right before collapsing to the ground. Watching Qian Changjian slowly fall to the ground, all he heard was the howling wind, with no system alerts. Lin Dong sighed. It seemed he still had to destroy the Ningji Sect for the task rewards to appear. “Let’s go!” Glancing at the remaining disciples of the Xingli Sect, Lin Dong had no intention of intervening. These disciples couldn’t pose a threat to the survival of the Xingli Sect. The system wouldn’t be so extreme as to require eliminating everyone to complete the task; otherwise, unless enough people surrounded the entire Qingmei Mountain completely, there would always be some who escaped. Under these circumstances, it wasn’t suitable to find someone to gain combat experience. After giving a call, Lin Dong quickly retreated, only to feel his shoulder grabbed by Yun Lan. The two flew back to the Xingli Sect as the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon. Two days later, Lin Dong finally received news from a disciple of the Guhuan Sect: the Ningji Sect had launched a full-scale attack and was trying to break through their defenses. Undoubtedly, most of the traitorous disciples of the Xingli Sect had been eliminated. Perhaps believing that the remaining forces of the Xingli Sect were not strong, the Ningji Sect decided to destroy the entire sect at once. Everything was unfolding as Xiao Tianchi had predicted.

Just show weakness temporarily; by leveraging the power of the spirit array to drain Ning Jizong’s strength, it will be time for a fierce counterattack. There’s only one task left.