Chapter 149 Thank You Gift:

Rong Xie was surprised that after so long, when she saw Lu Yinglin again, they were still able to continue their previous conversation.

Is it that Lu Yinglin's nature is hard to change, or is working at Yuanbao Auction House really that easy?

"Yes, Senior Brother Lu is a seasoned player in love. It's quite surprising that he didn't realize I was so fond of Shen Bingsi." Rong Xie smiled.

Lu Yinglin's smile faltered slightly as he observed Rong Xie: "Junior Brother Rong, your personality has changed after wandering around for so long. You're so enthusiastic and straightforward, it's really..."

"What's wrong?" Rong Xie took the wine pot from the waiter and filled the wine cups for the two men.

"This is truly wonderful news!" Lu Yinglin raised his glass. "A great thing worth celebrating!"

Rong Xie smiled, clinked glasses with him, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Excellent." Lu Yinglin also downed his drink, turned his cup upside down to show his appreciation, and then placed it on the table. He reached into his robes and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a gilded brocade pouch. The pouch was gleaming gold and had a gold ingot symbol printed on it. "Perfect timing. I have something I'd like to give to Junior Brother Rong to celebrate his great achievements in the martial world!"

“That won’t be necessary…” Rong Xie hadn’t wanted Lu Yinglin’s gift anyway; he wanted something else.

"No, no, it's absolutely necessary. You'll definitely like it when you see it." Lu Yinglin reached into the brocade pouch and slowly took out a silver box.

The silver box was intricately patterned, and it was immediately clear that the contents inside were extremely expensive.

Rong Xie raised his eyebrows slightly.

What surprised him was not that Lu Yinglin would take out any expensive treasures, but that the silver box was unusually long. Lu Yinglin tried to pull it out for a long time but still couldn't. Rong Xie thought that Lu Yinglin would give him some jewelry or jade, or a beautiful fan. He didn't expect that the silver box would be more than two feet long. Obviously, it was not what Rong Xie had imagined.

"This...it can't be a sword, can it?" Rong Xie chuckled.

Lu Yinglin glanced at Rong Xie, his smile deepening: "Junior Brother Rong and I are indeed of one mind. Don't you really want to give it a try with me?"

As he spoke, Lu Yinglin opened the box.

Inside the box was a small silver sword, two feet long, shaped like an orchid leaf.

Rong Xie's heart suddenly raced, his eyes fixed on the silver dagger, an indescribable emotion welling up inside him, choking him.

"It's time to return this 'Photonic White Orchid' to its rightful owner," Lu Yinglin said.

As he uttered those words, his nonchalant air vanished, and his gaze toward Rong Xie became clear. If Rong Xie hadn't known that Lu Yingqi wouldn't give him the orchid, he would have thought the person in front of him was Lu Yingqi, not Lu Yinglin.

“You… actually, I haven’t raised enough money yet,” Rong Xie said hesitantly.

“No, I’ve already paid the redemption money, I don’t need any more money,” Lu Yinglin said.

Rong Xie was taken aback, raising an eyebrow at him: "What are your conditions?"

Lu Yinglin chuckled, shook his head, and looked troubled: "What misunderstanding does Junior Brother Rong have about me? Do I look like the kind of person who wants to thank someone but then tries to make demands?"

"Thank you...?"

“Yes,” Lu Yinglin said helplessly, “You wiped out the Lu family in one fell swoop, exposed Madam Mei, and avenged Xiao Ya. Doesn’t that deserve me offering a sword from our auction house?”

Rong Xie's brows relaxed; if Lu Yinglin hadn't mentioned it, he would have almost forgotten about it.

"Or do you think I made up Xiao Ya to fool you?" Lu Yinglin looked directly into Rong Xie's eyes.

This time, Rong Xie realized that the burning passion in Lu Yinglin's eyes was genuine.

Although I don't like Lu Yinglin's style, his feelings for Xiao Ya seem to be somewhat genuine. At least, after so many years, he is still willing to pay 35,000 spirit stones to thank the person who avenged Xiao Ya.

"Alright, since that's the case, I'll accept it without hesitation." Rong Xie took the Radiant White Orchid out of the box. The flying sword, made of Lu silver, was light and agile, and its silver surface felt very comfortable to the touch. Rong Xie was momentarily lost in thought, recalling that twilight moment on the beach of the South Island, when someone danced with a sword for him, and in the sky after the flames had burned, a huge silver orchid slowly bloomed, and a figure in cyan gracefully moved...

"Cough." Hearing Lu Yinglin cough, Rong Xie snapped out of his daze and put the orchid into the brocade pouch.

"I heard that Sword Saint Shen is no longer serving as an adjudicator," Lu Yinglin said, while observing Rong Xie's expression.

Rong Xie gave a wry smile: "Yes." He hadn't avoided talking to Shen Yan in front of Lu Yinglin, and Lu Yinglin had heard everything he was supposed to hear. Of course, this was intentional on Rong Xie's part; he had other purposes for seeing Lu Yinglin.

“Hey, the matter of a shattered Dao heart is indeed…” Lu Yinglin said, “It can be a big deal or a small deal.”

Rong Xie's spirits lifted, and he was just about to bring up the matter: "Senior Brother Lu has cultivated in both the Xuantian Sect and the Liujin Sect, and knows the connection between the Wuqing Dao Palace and the Hehuan Sect. Does he know any way to solve the problem of a shattered Dao Heart?"

When Rong Xie and Lu Yinglin were drinking with the younger generation of the Shen family in the back garden, Lu Yinglin mentioned the connection between Elder Bai and the Hehuan Sect as if it were a joke. At that time, everyone took it as a joke, including Rong Xie.

However, after the Lu family case, Rong Xie already knew that Lu Yinglin was not just making things up, but actually knew something.

After Xiao Ya met with misfortune, Lu Yinglin must have done something. However, after investigating some information and weighing the pros and cons, he ultimately did not take action. Years of depression turned into drunken slips of the tongue—that's just how Lu Yinglin is, his words and actions are half true and half false, and no one knows what his true thoughts are.

Rong Xie didn't need to know that; all he needed to know was how to resolve the shattering of his Dao Heart.

“Junior Brother Rong thinks too highly of me. I don’t cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, I left the Xuantian Sect and have been wandering the martial world for many years, without much proper cultivation,” Lu Yinglin said with a smile. “However, if Junior Brother Rong wants to know, I can inquire. Currently, the Lingjing Sect and the Xuantian Sect have achieved the highest level in the Path of Ruthlessness cultivation. I don’t know about the Lingjing Sect, but I’m sure Sword Saint Shen knows much more about it than I do. However, the Ruthless Dao Palace had some methods to resolve the problem of a shattered Dao Heart in the early years.”

"What is it!" Rong Xie's heart pounded wildly, and his hand on the table involuntarily clenched into a fist.

“Junior Brother Rong should know that Elder Bai has a junior brother, known as Elder Hong, right?” Lu Yinglin said.

“I know, Elder Hong was expelled from the sect and later became the leader of the Hehuan Sect.”

“Exactly.” Lu Yinglin tapped the table with his index finger knuckle as he pondered, “Before that, the main method used by the Ruthless Dao Palace to train its disciples was not illusion arrays, but actual combat.”

"It is... the furnace of the Hehuan Sect..." Rong Xie had heard Madam Mei mention this.

“That’s right. First, enter the mortal world, play in the mortal world, and then see through the mortal world. That’s their cultivation method,” Lu Yinglin said. “The principle of this cultivation method is exactly the opposite of the current mainstream ruthless path cultivation method. It makes people first indulge in desires and then break free from desires. Its effect is actually quite good. As far as I know, people who have cultivated using this method can easily get rid of the control of desires and improve their realm.”

"Hmm..." Rong Xie found it hard to evaluate this method of cultivation. He felt something was off, but it was indeed effective. The only thing to be thankful for was that Shen Bingsi was not cultivating this "path of ruthlessness".

“However, this cultivation method also has serious drawbacks—some disciples started out cultivating very smoothly and were almost about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, but suddenly their Dao heart shattered, and some simply didn’t want to cultivate anymore,” Lu Yinglin said.

"What? You don't want to fix it anymore?" Rong Xie asked in surprise.

“Yes, for example, Elder Hong is like that.” Lu Yinglin said, “On the surface, Elder Hong was expelled from the Ruthless Dao Palace because of his misconduct, but in reality, he left the Ruthless Dao Palace and went to the Joyful Union Sect because he himself did not want to continue cultivating the Ruthless Dao.”

"This..." That's fine. Rong Xie didn't know what to say. This Elder Hong was truly capricious. Wait! Elder Hong previously cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness, but now... A flash of inspiration struck Rong Xie. His gaze met Lu Yinglin's in mid-air. He knew he had grasped the key, "How did Elder Hong do that?"

Elder Hong, a cultivator of the ruthless path, went to the Hehuan Sect to become its leader. One can imagine what his daily life must be like. He did not suffer from the five signs of decay or his body exploded and he died. How did he manage to go against his Dao heart and still be safe and sound?

Of course, Lu Yinglin would never know Elder Hong's cultivation method.

However, the information he provided to Rong Xie was extremely important, essentially pointing Rong Xie to a clear path.

Rong Xie is willing to try anything as long as there is hope.

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Lu. This information is extremely useful," Rong Xie said happily.

"You're welcome. However, the Hehuan Sect is very xenophobic and looks down on disciples of the three major sects, especially those from the Xuantian Sect. Unfortunately, I don't have any connections there and can't help Junior Brother Rong with an introduction," Lu Yinglin said.

"It's alright, I'll figure something out." Rong Xie already had someone in mind to consult, and it just so happened that he was going to Xuantian Sect.

"There's one more thing... Could you please help me find out about Shen Bingsi?"

"Of course, that's no problem."

Rong Xie was quite surprised to receive so much useful information after having a meal with Lu Yinglin.

When he got up to leave, Lu Yinglin unusually did not invite Rong Xie to go anywhere, but simply got into the carriage and left.

"Junior Brother Rong, until we meet again." Lu Yinglin cupped his hands to Rong Xie, lowered the carriage curtain, and the carriage rolled onto the road, merging into the crowd.

As night fell, the lights of the North Gate Market remained bright, and the lanterns of the shops along the street illuminated the side of the carriage. Lu Yinglin lifted the curtain on the side and looked up at the deep blue sky above the eaves, lost in thought.

Rong Xie withdrew his gaze, returned to his home in Lan Yuan, explained some matters to Wang Mu, went out, took out the Yunmeng Flat Boat, and used magic to make it fly towards Chongyue Terrace.

The Xuantian Sect's sphere of influence extends to the outskirts of Shengjing. Within this area, one cannot fly around recklessly. Rong Xie originally thought that if he flew a certain distance, he would be detected by the sect's Heavenly Eye, thus allowing him to directly meet the disciples of the Xuantian Sect and take the opportunity to request an audience with Elder Bai.

Unexpectedly, Rong Xie flew all the way to Chongyue Terrace in the Yunmeng boat without anyone coming to arrest him, which left Rong Xie somewhat at a loss.

He was eager to find a solution to his broken Dao Heart and didn't want to waste a single hour. After arriving at Chongyue Platform, he didn't rest but flew straight towards the Heavenly Ladder of the Xuantian Sect's main gate.

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Bingbing will be appearing in the next chapter! [Sprinkling flowers]