Gazing at the Bright Moon

Lin Luoyu was naturally present as well. Compared to the others, whose trust was mixed with a hint of worry, she appeared much more composed.

It wasn't that she didn't care about Li Yingling, but rather that Lin Luoyu had absolute confidence in her eldest martial sister.

Li Yingling had polished her cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm for a long time. Her breakthrough to the Soul Formation realm this time was naturally a matter of course.

The one who felt Li Yingling's profound cultivation most intimately was not Chu Xingchen, but Lin Luoyu.

Besides cultivating, Li Yingling had also taken over some of the matters Chu Xingchen originally handled. At the same time, she was responsible for receiving updates on Li Junzi's current situation.

After all, the path of a Sub-Sage would inevitably encroach upon the interests of established groups.

Naturally, Lin Luoyu temporarily assisted Li Yingling in handling these matters. This allowed her to receive news about Li Junzi immediately and make the necessary arrangements.

After all, not only was Li Junzi familiar with Lin Luoyu, but Lin Luoyu also knew Li Junzi well and understood exactly what needed to be done.

During this period, Lin Luoyu had spent a lot of time with Li Yingling, personally witnessing how her senior sister's Nascent Soul cultivation had steadily improved step by step.

She sensed that Li Yingling's spiritual energy fluctuations were becoming increasingly faint; later on, if one didn't deliberately probe for it, it would almost be subconsciously ignored.

Then there was the Dao rhyme on Li Yingling's body...

Lin Luoyu found it hard to describe exactly what kind of elevation that was.

If she had to describe it...

It easily reminded Lin Luoyu of her own breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm a few years ago.

At that time, almost everyone in the sect who could come had gathered. Her master hadn't shown much reaction back then, offering only ordinary instructions and praise, along with a grand celebratory banquet.

However, what deeply moved Lin Luoyu was the heart-to-heart talk her master had with her at the very end.

Five years ago, after Lin Luoyu broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, just as the sect-wide gathering was about to disperse.

"No, no! We've barely started! The sun isn't even up yet, why are we dispersing! Lingyu! Lingyu! Let's keep going... don't leave!"

Qinghe's reluctant pleas to stay were loud and full of attachment.

Lin Luoyu turned her head slightly, only to see Qinghe standing straight as a board, her feet wishing they could root into the dirt, while both of her hands tightly gripped Xie Lingyu's arm.

It was already common knowledge that Xie Lingyu was their master's wife. If the master's wife didn't want the party to end, the others naturally couldn't leave either.

But it was obvious that Xie Lingyu was not easily swayed. Not only was she not soft-hearted, but her methods were also quite tough.

"Wah! It hurts, it hurts! Qinghe's ears are going to fall off!"

Xie Lingyu's movements were crisp and clean. She reached back and pinched Qinghe's ear, grabbing Qinghe's horn with her other hand. With a synchronized pull, Qinghe's shameless stalling tactics naturally failed.

Naturally, Qinghe wasn't the only lively one.

Once the happy times were over, the time for settling scores naturally followed.

"Cui Hao! Have you been slacking off in your cultivation lately?"

Li Yingling's voice was only slightly softer than the reluctant Qinghe's. Her tone was filled with the frustration of iron failing to become steel. As for whether there was an intention to settle scores, perhaps only the eldest martial sister herself knew.

"How would I dare, Eldest Senior Sister! It's just that my talent is far inferior to yours, and my tasks are heavy. But I promise I spend all my remaining time cultivating! I haven't dared to delay at all! Eldest Senior Sister! You have to believe me!"

"Believe what! Luoyu has already reached the Nascent Soul realm. You joined the sect on the same day as her, so why are you still dawdling around the mid-to-late stages of the Golden Core realm! I think you really lack tempering! Let your Eldest Senior Sister teach you a good lesson!"

Faced with this interrogation, Cui Hao seemed to hear Li Yingling's underlying threat, so he unleashed his ultimate move:

"Master! Save me!"

Lin Luoyu then heard her master beside her speak in a somewhat helpless tone:

"That's enough, Yingling. Your junior brother is currently gaining worldly experience, so it's normal for his cultivation progress to be a bit slow. Hasn't his previously superficial aura become much more solid now?"

A master was a master, after all. Li Yingling's tone softened:

"For Master's sake, I'll spare you this time. But if Yun Li reaches the Nascent Soul realm and you still haven't, you won't have any more excuses!"

Watching Cui Hao give his profuse thanks and guarantee that there would be no problems, Lin Luoyu chuckled softly.

Chu Xingchen's voice was calm and gentle:

"Let's go."

"Alright." Lin Luoyu nodded lightly.

After the gathering dispersed, her master called her back alone, expressing that he had some things he wanted to discuss with her.

Lin Luoyu naturally had no reason to refuse.

She followed her master's footsteps. He didn't walk very far; they didn't even leave the Loving Family Peak.

He simply found a cliff illuminated by the moonlight.

Her master sat down on the cliff first. As he calmly looked up at the bright moon, he gently patted the spot next to him.

Lin Luoyu sat down beside him.

Her master spoke in a teasing tone:

"You've reached the Nascent Soul realm. Back in the Southern Zhanbu Continent, you could already be an ancestor founding your own sect."

"Indeed." Lin Luoyu also smiled and nodded. "It's all thanks to Master's nurturing."

"I didn't nurture much. Your journey here has relied on your own talent and hard work."

Lin Luoyu looked at the bright moon and softly exhaled, saying:

"Master, at first I was worried that I was an idiot when it came to cultivation, and that I would never have the chance to step onto the immortal path in this life. That was before I met you, Master. Before I met Teacher Li, I was just a child who wanted a full meal."

"Meeting the people you are meant to meet is actually very difficult, so... I am also very lucky."

"I met Teacher Li, and I met you, Master."

"You both treated me incredibly well and guided me through my most confusing times."

Hearing this, Chu Xingchen shifted his gaze to Lin Luoyu, who wore a nostalgic expression:

"Do you miss your Teacher Li?"

Lin Luoyu nodded straightforwardly and replied:

"Although I know she is doing well, I still worry that her path might not be smooth."

"The path of a Sub-Sage... Teacher Li originally hoped that I would be the one to try walking it."

Chu Xingchen neither agreed nor denied it, but instead asked:

"I spoke with Teacher Li before. She already has an answer in her heart; right now, she is merely verifying that answer."

"As for the path of the Sub-Sage, your Teacher Li naturally hoped she could be the one to fully understand it, rather than you. She just felt her abilities were insufficient. But facts have proven that she underestimated herself."

"Besides this, I also talked with Teacher Li about your childhood."

"Linjiagou... It seems your parents were not originally from Linjiagou, so you had no relatives there. That's why you were bullied as a child, with no one to stand up for you."

Lin Luoyu paused upon hearing this, staring blankly at the bright moon. After a moment, she slowly said:

"Mhm... But I've forgotten what my father and mother looked like."

"All I can remember is that the wind was very cold, the rain was very heavy, I was very hungry, and we had to go to a different place every day."

"My mother always told me to be quiet, sometimes gently, sometimes urgently."

"Thinking about it carefully, we were probably fleeing from a famine, or perhaps something had happened."

"The thing my mother said most often was—no matter what happens in the future, don't steal, don't rob, and try your best not to do bad things."

"It seemed like there was a reason my mother specifically instructed me this way, but I can't remember what that reason was anymore."

"Later on, I didn't know how I ended up in Linjiagou, nor did I know how my mother came to leave me."

"As for my father..."

Lin Luoyu paused. After a long moment, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to say anything more, though her eyes grew slightly red.

Chu Xingchen asked gently, "Do you dream about them?"

Lin Luoyu gave a slight nod. "I do."

"Nightmares?"

"They are nightmares, which is why I didn't retain such deep memories of that time," Lin Luoyu said with a soft smile. "Even though I sometimes realize I am a cultivator in those dreams, I still can't change a single thing."

"But dream after dream, they keep reminding me."

"Reminding me to do my utmost to do what is right."

"I don't hate these nightmares, even if they can be truly frightening at times."

"Perhaps it's because my mother is in them."

"Perhaps she still worries that I'm not doing well, which is why she always visits me in my dreams."

"Or perhaps it's just me wanting to tell her that I am strong enough not to be bullied anymore."

Hearing this, Chu Xingchen fell silent for a moment, as if he too had been swept up in his own memories.

Together, the two of them gazed silently at the bright moon.