Miao Ling quickly took the rouge box and jade hairpin. She held them carefully with both hands, as if they were unbearably heavy. Her whole body swayed slightly. As she caressed the hairpin and the box, Miao Ling suddenly sank into distant memories.
After only a short while, Miao Ling drew a long breath and pulled herself back. Perhaps to distract herself, she suddenly turned to Lin Xiao and asked, “I heard you killed a Martial Saint from the Ji family?”
Lin Xiao was momentarily taken aback by the question, then nodded. “Yes.”
Miao Ling took a pill from her storage ring and said, “This pill combines speed and defence. It can save your life if you need to escape. Take it. It is an early eighth-grade pill. Consider it your reward.”
“Thank you, Mistress.”
Lin Xiao was delighted and quickly accepted the pill.
An early eighth-grade pill was priceless, even if it did not boost cultivation.
Most importantly, it could save his life. A life was worth far more than anything else.
A pill that fused speed and defence was surely Miao Ling’s own work, or something left by the Heaven-Swallowing Spirit Emperor.
Only an early eighth-grade spirit controller could refine such a pill, and the formula was exceedingly rare.
Compared to that, obtaining the token had been almost effortless. Gaining a life-saving eighth-grade pill made the whole trip more than worthwhile.
Miao Ling nodded, then turned to An Miao who stood nearby. “An Miao, go outside and have Elder Gu Liqun stand guard. I am going into seclusion. No one is to enter.”
An Miao nodded and withdrew at once.
As she left, An Miao glanced at Lin Xiao and murmured, “He truly did not misjudge you.”
“You flatter me, Mistress.”
Lin Xiao replied politely. Sending An Miao away and keeping him here meant she had more than a simple compliment to say.
“Actually, I have one wish.”
Speaking as an elder, Miao Ling continued, “I truly count as your mistress now. If you will listen to me, I hope you will marry my daughter.”
“…” Lin Xiao was speechless.
He had wondered what important matter she wanted to discuss alone.
He had never expected this.
Marrying An Miao, from a purely male perspective, he would naturally be willing.
A spirit body like An Miao’s was a rare treasure. What man would not want her?
Yet he was a man of deep feeling. He was already entangled with Feng Youyu, unclear with Hu Yue, and had even made things plain with Huo Ruyan. Now another, An Miao. His head ached at the thought.
And this was not An Miao herself, but her mother, his own mistress, arranging it. At least it was Miao Ling and not An Miao, which made refusal easier.
“This matter cannot be forced. If she married me, she would not be happy. Moreover, I am already entangled with many women.”
Lin Xiao refused tactfully.
“A man having three wives and four concubines is perfectly normal. The more women entangled with him, the more charm he has. What is wrong with that?”
Miao Ling countered at once.
“…” Lin Xiao was left speechless.
Was this really An Miao’s own mother?
She was praising him for having multiple women and pushing her daughter into the fire.
“Mistress, I would agree to anything else. This I cannot. I cannot decide for An Miao. I do not wish to wrong her, nor wrong the others. I do not wish to wrong anyone.”
Lin Xiao refused firmly.
“Alas. It seems I cannot arrange it for you after all. Very well.”
Seeing Lin Xiao so resolute, Miao Ling could only sigh deeply. “You may go. Oh, and be careful of the Ji family. These great powers have deep foundations. They are not as simple as they appear.”
“Yes.”
Lin Xiao felt as if granted amnesty and quickly withdrew.
He rushed towards the outer part of the underground passage and soon emerged at the entrance.
In the small spirit-field room of the underground space, Miao Ling watched Lin Xiao’s retreating back. A faint glimmer shone in her eyes. She sighed and said, “He really does have a trace of your shadow…” Then she lowered her head again, stroking the jade hairpin. Spirit power flowed along mysterious patterns into it.
A terrifying, boundless mysterious force faintly surged from within the hairpin, then stilled as Miao Ling ceased circulating her spirit power.
Next, she summoned a blade of spirit power and cut her slender jade-like hand. A drop of blood fell onto the rouge. Spirit power flowed again along the corresponding patterns. The rouge box slowly opened.
An inexplicable aura filled the spirit field. The void itself seemed to tremble.
…Outside the entrance, An Miao arrived with an elder.
The elder wore plain, ancient robes that looked covered in dust. His face was deeply wrinkled, ashen, as if one foot were already in the grave. He appeared extremely old.
Yet no aura leaked from him. Even Lin Xiao could not probe his depth.
The more concealed it was, the more unfathomable Lin Xiao found the elder. Very likely, he was a seventh-grade advanced spirit controller even more terrifying than Dantai Wenjun.
After all, Dantai Wenjun had only been first among those under fifty.
The grey-robed elder looked deeply at Lin Xiao, seemed about to speak, then stopped. Finally he only sighed. “Truly, a great era is coming.”
Lin Xiao did not know how to respond.
In the end, he merely greeted the elder.
The elder only nodded, saying nothing more.
“Lin Xiao, Long Tutian is looking for you.”
An Miao said to him, worry clear on her face. “He is at the guest island where you met him last time. Go quickly.”
Seeing An Miao’s expression, Lin Xiao immediately sensed something wrong. He nodded and hurried away.
“I hope you can all survive this calamity. Right now, I cannot help you. If I can break through in this period, I will come to assist as soon as possible.”
An Miao sighed deeply.
She naturally knew about Zi Ling. Zi Ling was her disciple, and she was very worried.
Yet with her current strength, going would only hinder rather than help.
She could only rely on the pills her father had left to break through quickly and then go to assist.
As for Spirit Pool Island, she could not count on Ximen Haoyue helping.
Ximen Haoyue would not go. Long Tutian had already sought aid.
Moreover, it concerned two major powers.
If Spirit Pool Island mobilised an eighth-grade spirit controller, it would mean full intervention.
Full intervention would trigger chain reactions. Other hegemonic powers and families would be drawn in. The consequences were unimaginable.
Thus, she could only hope to break through soon and hurry over.
Long Tutian had said he had some confidence in rescuing them, and she trusted Lin Xiao. For now, she could only “watch from the sidelines”.
Then An Miao swept back into the underground entrance. The elder beside her closed it. He sat cross-legged in the hall, guarding the place.
