Chapter 543: Purpose of Visit

Liang Liren was reluctant to answer, but Xue Qinghong had no such concerns. She didn’t even know why Liang Liren had come this time. Hearing this, she said unhappily, “Sister Yun, why are you just like my brother-in-law—neither of you seems to want to see me?”
Yun Lan understood why Liang Liren was silent and smiled, saying, “How could I not want to see you, Sister Xue, after you’ve come all this way? It’s been a long time since we practiced swordsmanship together.”
“That’s right! I thought the same, so I insisted that our master intercede and let me come too,” Xue Qinghong replied with a bright smile. “I’ve mastered the Dance Dress Sword recently and have been wanting to practice it with you.”
“Alright, let’s give it a try later,” Yun Lan said with a smile.
“No rush, let’s talk about it tomorrow,” Xue Qinghong waved her hands repeatedly.
Unsure of her intentions, Yun Lan assumed she was hungry or tired and nodded with a smile.
Everyone sat down at the stone table. Yun Lan and the others chatted about everyday matters while Lin Dong went to prepare dinner. It wasn’t until Ma Chun brought tea and a tray with three pairs of blue-green fruits that Yun Lan truly understood why Xue Qinghong wanted to wait until the next day.
“So Sister Xue doesn’t want to practice swordsmanship today because she’s so hungry she’s growling—she wants to eat,” Yun Lan joked, feeling good since it was a reunion after a long time, and it was Liang Liren who brought her here. Lin Dong shared the same positive outlook.
Xue Qinghong, not being a refined lady, felt a bit embarrassed but still replied cheerfully, “I certainly don’t want Sister Yun to monopolize the Lucky Star and never run out of good food.”
Yun Lan blushed, feeling as if she had just kicked herself in the foot.
“Yun Lan, I heard from the sect leader that you’ve recently obtained a set of formulas for crafting pills—over a hundred thousand kinds, right?” Liang Liren asked quietly. “I wonder if you’ve finished copying them?”
Yun Lan now understood why Liang Liren had come. The Grand Elder clearly prioritized profit. He knew that coming first would only lead to conflict, and he might not even get the formulas.
The Second Elder, on the other hand, was kind-hearted and popular. Asking for the pill formulas—let alone the fact that she originally planned to give some to the Sky Sword Sect—made it hard to refuse, even if she didn’t intend to.
Once she had the formulas, it would be no problem for the Grand Elder to come and cause trouble later.
It was a pretty clever plan.
After some thought, Yun Lan nodded with a smile and said, “I’ve already prepared one copy. The Second Elder can ask for it whenever they want.”

Liang Liren hesitated. There were hundreds of thousands of alchemy formulas, including many advanced ones. Although they couldn’t significantly boost the strength of the Tianjian Sect, they could greatly enhance its foundation. Given time and the right materials, the sect’s strength could reach even higher levels. These alchemy formulas were undoubtedly of immense value to the Tianjian Sect.

To be honest, Liang Liren wanted to get them immediately and return to the sect right away. But after thinking it over, he held back. Acting in such a hasty manner would be unreasonable. Who would leave right after arriving and taking benefits? Face was not the main issue—Yun Lan was the heir of the Tianjian Sect. If she doubted the sect’s ways and refused to take over, it would deal a severe blow to the sect.

“Senior Sister Yun, is this eaten directly?” Xue Qinghong didn’t understand what the two were talking about, nor did she figure it out. Her attention was entirely on the green and blue fruits on the tray.

“The green and blue fruits can be consumed within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense,” Yun Lan replied with a smile.

“Oh…” Xue Qinghong licked her lips and said shyly, “Uncle, since you two are busy chatting, may I eat first?”

“Go ahead if you want!” Liang Liren said with a smile.

“Uncle is really nice—no so many rules!” Xue Qinghong eagerly picked up a pair of green and blue fruits, one in each hand. She placed the green fruit near her lips and took a gentle bite, then did the same with the blue fruit, alternating between them.

Mo Jianchen’s stomach growled, but he was too embarrassed to speak. He wasn’t Xue Qinghong, who could act cute to get elders to ignore her.

Liang Liren knew Mo Jianchen wanted to eat too, but he didn’t say much. Although he wasn’t as rule-bound as Qin Mengtai and the other elders, it was still best to follow the sect’s rules.

After chatting with Yun Lan for a while, Liang Liren picked up the green and blue fruits from the tray and consumed the green ones first, then the blue ones.

By the time Liang Liren finished eating the fruits, Mo Jianchen acted swiftly, grabbing the fruits as well. Just like Xue Qinghong, he was afraid the effects would be wasted, so he ate one green fruit and one blue fruit at a time. However, his eating manner was less graceful than Xue Qinghong’s.

After all the fruits were gone, even Liang Liren didn’t want to stay any longer. The airflow emitted by the fruits made him eager to try them somewhere else.

“There’s still some time before dinner. Second Elder, you two try the effects of the green and blue fruits. I’ll go help in the kitchen,” Yun Lan said, clearly understanding the three of them’ thoughts.

Yun Lan’s words were immediately met with nods from Xue Qinghong and Mo Jianchen. Liang Liren hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded slowly. He knew that Yun Lan would eventually tell Lin Dong his purpose, which was inevitable. He was only worried that Lin Dong would find out about the alchemy formula before he could obtain it, leading to extra complications.

Liang Liren decided to stop trying to stop them because he realized that doing so might only anger Yun Lan. He no longer had confidence that she would prioritize the interests of Tianjian Sect over Lin Dong’s.

As Liang Liren had predicted, once Yun Lan arrived in the kitchen, Lin Dong already knew their purpose.

After some thought, Lin Dong came up with a plan. He had no objection to sending the alchemy formula to Tianjian Sect—after all, even if they got it, Tianjian Sect wouldn’t be able to grow stronger in a short time. It would merely give Qin Mengtai more confidence to oppose them. Once Linji Inn rose to prominence, such confidence wouldn’t even matter to Lin Dong.

He simply didn’t want Tianjian Sect to get the formula and then have Qin Mengtai come demanding revenge. If he didn’t strike hard enough, Qin Mengtai wouldn’t be satisfied; if he struck too hard, it would provoke a fierce reaction from Tianjian Sect. Although he had already planned how much force to use after receiving Tianjian Sect’s letter, it was better to avoid this trouble if possible, as he couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t still cause a reaction from them.

After discussing things with Yun Lan for a while and having the food prepared, the two carried trays and left the kitchen.

Among the three, Xue Qinghong, though the weakest in strength, still possessed the power of the Eighth Level of the Mental State. Sensing their footsteps, though still immersed in the feeling of rapidly growing spiritual energy, she forced herself to pull out her sword.

Once the food was set out, Lin Dong poured a drink for each person and toasted them one by one.

Although each of them had their own concerns—some wanting to return quickly to practice, some wanting to obtain the alchemy formula as soon as possible, and some worrying about how to deal with Qin Mengtai’s arrival—there were no conflicts, and everyone enjoyed the meal.

As they ate and talked, the meal continued until it was completely dark. Lin Dong personally arranged guest rooms for the three of them, and only then did the night settle down peacefully.

Early the next morning, Lin Dong and Yun Lan left together.

Just as the night before, though immersed in the joy of practicing, the three opened their door while having breakfast.

“Sister Xue, would you like to try your Dance Sword?” Yun Lan asked Xue Qinghong while Lin Dong went to prepare breakfast in the kitchen.

Xue Qinghong nodded repeatedly. The last time they met, she was still at the sixth level of the Heart Reversal stage, but now, with the help of the seventh-tier mutated spirit snake inner pill, she had made rapid progress to the eighth level. Naturally, she wanted to show off in front of Yun Lan as well.

Liang Liren and Mo Jianchen sat down on the stone benches with smiles, ready to watch the battle. Xue Qinghong took out a fiery red spirit sword and shouted, “Sister Yun, be careful!”

Yun Lan nodded smilingly, and her Green Rainbow Sword appeared silently in her palm. Xue Qinghong pushed off with her right foot, soaring into the air like a swallow. The spirit sword in her hand seemed like a dreamlike vision—a dancing red streak or a fairy dancing in flames—as it rushed toward Yun Lan.

Thwack!

The Green Rainbow Sword suddenly flew out of her hand, hitting the tip of the seemingly indistinct fiery red spirit sword. With a crisp sound, Xue Qinghong landed, her sword technique instantly interrupted.

“Great!”

Mo Jianchen stood up abruptly, cheering loudly. That strike was perfectly timed, and the Green Rainbow Sword was fast as lightning—he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of its shadow.

“Not bad, Yun Lan. I didn’t expect your strength to have improved so much. Whether it’s your judgment or your control over the speed and agility of the Green Rainbow Sword, you’re clearly stronger than last time,” Liang Liren couldn’t help but praise. The Dance of the Sword was also a top-tier spiritual skill of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Once used, it was unpredictable. Although he could track the tip of the sword, he believed he couldn’t break through as quickly as Yun Lan.

Suddenly, Liang Liren’s body trembled as he looked up at Yun Lan.

“Yun Lan, what level have you reached now?”

“The ninth level of Heart Reversal!” Yun Lan replied.

“What?” Liang Liren and Mo Jianchen stood up abruptly, staring at her in shock.

Xue Qinghong, who had intended to attack again, was also stunned by these words. Liang Liren watched Yun Lan nervously before finally recovering and asking urgently, “The ninth level of Heart Reversal? You say you’ve reached the ninth level?”

Yun Lan nodded and thought about the auxiliary cultivation pills she hadn’t used yet at the Lin’s Inn before saying, “In another three months, if nothing goes wrong, I believe I can break through to the Heart Riding stage.”

“Three months? Just three months to join the ranks of peak experts?”

Liang Liren and the others were stunned. Reaching peak expert status in one’s early twenties meant easily breaking the record of the sect master reaching that status before the age of forty over the past three hundred years. She might even become the youngest peak expert in history. If this became known, the prestige of the Heavenly Sword Sect would surely rise to become the foremost among all major sects in the Great Han Kingdom.

Two peak-level warriors, one under fifty and the other just twelve or thirteen years old—such strength meant that no sect would dare to become their enemy. As long as the Sky Sword Sect did not provoke the Heavenly Might Pavilion, it would not cross its limits. Without any accidents, it would be able to intimidate all the major sects in the Great Han Kingdom for a hundred years.
In the kitchen, Lin Dong, who had been paying attention outside, smiled leisurely. The reactions of Liang Liren and the others were exactly as he had expected.