Chapter 14: The Two Exchange Gifts, Jin Ling Brings Up the Past

Chapter 14: The Two Little Ones Exchange Gifts, Jin Ling Brings Up Someone from the Past

Hearing this, Lin Yu looked up with wet, shiny eyes at Jin Ling before him, and softly and obediently returned the greeting: "Hi, Senior Sister."

The moment the two titles were spoken, the scene got a little mixed up for a moment.

Going by sect rank, Jin Ling respectfully addressed him as Little Martial Uncle; yet Lin Yu, feeling he had joined the sect last, believed he should respectfully call her Senior Sister. The two exchanged greetings, their titles totally backwards.

When she realized this, Jin Ling's heart warmed instantly, and her eyes curved into a bright smile.

Barely able to hide her joy, she smiled and opened her storage bag, taking out a strand of old, smooth wooden beads and offering them to Lin Yu.

"This is a thousand-year-old Wood Spirit bead strand, which I stumbled upon in a secret realm when I was younger."

"It's carved from the core branches of a thousand-year-old spirit tree, and it's great at storing wood-type spiritual energy. Wearing it makes cultivation twice as efficient."

This bead strand didn't match her own water-type spiritual root, so she couldn't use it to its full potential and had kept it stored away, never using it. Today, giving it to Lin Yu was the perfect choice.

Looking at the delicate, smooth bead strand, Lin Yu turned his gaze toward Ling Xuanche beside him, a silent question in his eyes.

Ling Xuanche gave a slight nod, his eyes soft with warmth, silently giving him the okay to accept the gift.

Only then did Lin Yu carefully reach out his small, pale hand to gently take the bead strand.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

After accepting the gift, Lin Yu remembered he should return the favor.

He turned to the spirit plant field he'd grown himself by the house, paused to pick carefully, and plucked two of the healthiest water-type Dew Condensation Grass stalks.

He held out the two fresh spirit herbs to Jin Ling. "Senior Sister, here—this is my gift back to you."

The whole time, Jin Ling kept staring at his soft, cute little face, her heart full of the boy's sweet, soft "Senior Sister" calls, a warm feeling washing over her as she instinctively reached out for the herbs.

But the second her fingertips touched the herbs, a soft, lingering water-type spiritual energy rushed into her palm.

Jin Ling snapped back to reality and looked down at the herbs in her hand.

These weren't ordinary spirit plants you could find anywhere—they were rare, top-quality spirit herbs that were hugely helpful for her cultivation!

"Little Martial Uncle, this is way too precious—I really can't accept this! I just gave a little gift; you don't need to give back something so serious!"

She figured the boy just didn't know how valuable the herbs were and had picked them randomly, so she tried to hand them back to Ling Xuanche to return.

"A Yu genuinely wants you to have these as a return gift. He grew all these spirit plants himself, and he knows them best. If he gave them to you, then keep them."

Hearing that, Jin Ling felt a tug at her heart, and remembering the amazing spiritual power Lin Yu had, she held back her refusal and took the herbs with both hands.

"Thanks, Little Martial Uncle, for the gift. I really love them."

One gave from the heart, the other gave back with real thanks—simple exchanges that actually made things feel more relaxed and friendly between them.

Jin Ling looked around the neatly kept spirit field. "Can I look around this spirit field? I've never seen spirit plants grow this well."

"Sure," Lin Yu said softly, leading the way to the field behind the house.

The whole field had soft, damp soil, with rows of spirit herbs lined up neatly—giving it a warmer, more lived-in feel than the standard sect fields.

Lin Yu sat at the edge of the ridge, letting his robes gather dust, his fingertips meticulously tending to the stray fibers among the leaves, his movements gentle and practiced.

Jin Ling also crouched down beside the ridge, quiet and unobtrusive, watching him tend to the plants in peaceful silence.

Having spent years traveling down the mountain for training, she had seen countless landscapes and secret realms, accumulating many lighthearted and interesting tidbits. Now she slowly picked out harmless, amusing stories and shared them in a low voice with Lin Yu.

Lin Yu listened with exceptional attentiveness, occasionally chiming in with a brief response.

Ling Xuanche did not approach to interrupt, standing by the bamboo house at a distance, his gaze fixed on the boy the entire time.

He watched A Yu gradually relax, listening to another's casual conversation, while keeping a close eye on the boy's emotional shifts. The moment he sensed any sign of unease or timidity, he would step in immediately to help. Fortunately, A Yu was in excellent spirits, fully immersed in the relaxed chatter and plant tending.

And so the three of them—one quiet, one speaking, one observing, one conversing—spent an entire hour together on the tranquil Xuan Yue Peak.

A gentle mountain breeze drifted by, spirit fragrance lingered in the air, and time passed in soft, leisurely warmth.

Seeing the sky approach noon and recalling her duties at the peak, Jin Ling rose, patted the dust from her robes, and smiled as she took her leave.

"It's getting late—I should return to Qing Lian Peak to report. I'll come visit Little Martial Uncle again next time."

With that, she turned to descend the stone steps.

"No need to take the stone steps," Ling Xuanche spoke up at the right moment, taking a light step forward.

Jin Ling turned back in confusion, only to see Ling Xuanche gesture toward a brand-new, compact formation beside the bamboo house.

The formation's lines were subtle and restrained, its spiritual light warm and steady, its layout exquisite and meticulous—it was the teleportation formation he had casually set up that morning, now fully stabilized.

"I only set up a delivery formation earlier," Ling Xuanche said in a calm voice. "Since A Yu got along with you without issue, I adapted it into a transport formation. If you have free time, feel free to come by—it can carry people to and from the peak, saving you the trouble of the climb."

Jin Ling bent down to examine the formation's lines closely, and the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed.

"It feels so familiar—I'm certain I've seen formation techniques like yours somewhere before, Martial Uncle!"

Ling Xuanche remained expressionless and brushed it off.

"All formation cultivators under heaven share the same principles; the arrangement methods are largely similar. Perhaps you've seen works by other formation cultivators before."

His explanation was steady and natural, revealing not a single flaw.

Jin Ling, who knew little about formations, couldn't discern the unique, signature traces within, and upon hearing this, she nodded without suspicion.

The two stood by the formation, and Jin Ling suddenly seemed to recall something from the past.

"Speaking of which, I once knew a fellow cultivator who was exceptionally skilled in formations—gifted beyond compare, mastering formation setup and control at a young age with remarkable insight."

Her tone grew slightly heavier. "It's just a pity that heaven is jealous of talent, and his sect failed to recognize his worth. He passed away prematurely. Interestingly enough, he, like you, Martial Uncle, possessed a mutated ice spiritual root."

A mutated ice spiritual root was a peerless gift, extremely rare—perhaps not even one in a thousand cultivators could possess it.

Ling Xuanche's gaze flickered almost imperceptibly, yet his expression betrayed nothing unusual, his tone utterly devoid of emotion as he uttered just two words: "What a pity."

Two minimal words, flat and unruffled.

Jin Ling noticed nothing amiss in his demeanor, taking it as a casual expression of sympathy. She composed herself and smiled once more as she took her leave.

"I'll teleport back to the peak now. Thank you for your care, Martial Uncle. Little Martial Uncle, I'm off!"

Hearing this, Lin Yu raised his little hand and gave a gentle wave. "Goodbye, Little Senior Sister."

Jin Ling's heart warmed at his soft, endearing manner, and she smiled, waving back before stepping into the teleportation formation's glow. With a brief flash of light, her figure vanished from the peak in an instant.

As the light of the teleportation array faded, the last trace of outsiders' presence on the mountain dissipated completely.

The barrier enclosing Mystic Moon Peak closed once more, and the brief liveliness of the moment receded entirely, returning the entire peak to its former state of secluded tranquility.

Ling Xuance sat down on the bluestone in front of the bamboo cottage, closed his eyes in quiet focus, and began to cultivate.

Lin Yu sat down beside him.

From his storage pouch, he took out a few small jade toys that Ling Xuance had gotten for him.

The jade ornaments were cool and smooth to the touch, small items meant to calm a cultivator's mind—playful yet soothing.

One focused on his cultivation, the other played quietly. The bamboo breeze passed through the cottage, the sunlight was gentle, and the days on the mountain passed in leisurely peace, so peaceful that not a hint of the mundane world touched them.