"Jun Qingcheng?"
In the boudoir where a faint fragrance floated, Lin Cangxue frowned slightly. She flicked Lin Huang’s head with her finger. "How do you know Qingcheng?"
"Uh..." Lin Huang stared blankly at Lin Cangxue’s questioning expression.
"Confess, honestly," Lin Cangxue demanded with a serious face.
"She... She’s just..." Lin Huang suddenly didn’t know how to explain. In Lin Cangxue’s eyes, he had always stayed in the Great Xia Dynasty, and she knew most of the people he interacted with. He wondered how he could explain suddenly asking about someone who might appear in Piaoxue Palace.
"...I met her... in a dream!" Lin Huang looked utterly guilty.
"Do you think I’d believe that?" Lin Cangxue’s face turned cold.
"It really was in a dream!" Lin Huang refused to budge even if it killed him.
"If you don’t tell me, don’t even think about knowing where she is!" Lin Cangxue sneered. "If you want to see her, tell me what happened between you two first."
"She really came to Piaoxue Palace?!" Thrilled, Lin Huang immediately sat down.
"Lie down!" Lin Cangxue scolded. "How long have you liked her?"
"For a long time!"
"How did you meet?"
"She was being hunted down at the time, and I blocked a sword strike for her. Later, I accidentally lifted her veil, so she started hunting me down instead. She kept chasing and chasing, and then... one thing led to another," Lin Huang spoke with a guilty conscience, seemingly afraid to look Lin Cangxue in the eye.
Lin Cangxue snorted and continued, "I saw a scar on her chest. Did you cause it?!"
"She doesn’t have a scar on her chest!" Lin Huang suddenly frowned. He looked at Lin Cangxue in disappointment and probed, "You’re tricking me! You don’t know Qingcheng!"
However, Lin Cangxue showed no guilt for lying. Instead, she stared at him with a smiling yet frosty gaze. "Oh? So you even know she doesn’t have a scar on her chest!"
In the room, Lin Huang’s expression changed drastically!
"Did you come to Piaoxue Palace for Jun Qingcheng, and not for me?!" Lin Cangxue asked again.
"Yeah!" Lin Huang was still trapped in Lin Cangxue’s trick. The moment he felt a sharp pain from his back, he snapped out of it and hurriedly corrected himself, "Only half of the reason! Naturally, I came for you, Cangxue."
"What... did... you... say..." Lin Cangxue’s voice instantly rose several octaves.
"Just a little bit, a tiny bit!" Sensing the fury radiating from Lin Cangxue behind him, Lin Huang felt a chill run through his entire body.
A moment later, Lin Huang’s tragic, bloodcurdling screams echoed from Lin Cangxue’s room.
After applying the medicine, the siblings headed toward Celestial Waterfall Cliff. Along the way, Lin Huang could sense the explosive anger lingering around Lin Cangxue. He didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
Deep down, Lin Huang was somewhat relieved that Lin Cangxue didn’t know Jun Qingcheng. It meant Jun Qingcheng hadn’t arrived at Piaoxue Palace yet. That being the case, as long as he stayed in Piaoxue Palace, he had a high chance of running into her. Thinking of that woman who loved wearing crimson sheer dresses and possessed a smile as pure as the first snow, a burning passion flared in his heart.
By the time the two arrived at Celestial Waterfall Cliff, it was already dusk. Ahead of them, a waterfall several thousand feet high cascaded down like the silver river of the Nine Heavens. Lin Huang’s eyes lit up as he recalled the days he spent practicing his saber at the bottom of Thousand Feet Cliff.
"Celestial Waterfall Cliff is three thousand feet high and connects to a Dark River below. Because it is situated in the north, the waterfall is exceptionally freezing. Ordinary disciples in the Earth Element Realm don’t even dare to get too close."
Lin Huang nodded, seemingly understanding Xiao Yishan’s intention in sending him to Piaoxue Palace. His own talent wasn’t particularly high, so he sometimes needed to rely on external forces to cultivate. Cultivating beneath Thousand Feet Cliff was no longer of much use to him. As for this Celestial Waterfall Cliff, even standing near it would likely make him shiver. It was undoubtedly the best place for cultivation.
Practicing saber techniques beneath the waterfall was the first reason. The second reason was likely for the Snow Falling on Earth.
Others might not know the origin of the Snow Falling on Earth, but back in the Great Xia Dynasty, when Lin Huang was intercepted and nearly killed by Hann Ming, he had heard Xiao Yishan say, "Seventy-two years ago, I took in a Registered Disciple named Yann Cangfeng. I taught him a Martial Technique called Snow Falling on Earth." In that case, Snow Falling on Earth was actually Xiao Yishan’s Martial Technique.
"For this period of time, just recuperate in the courtyard outside the waterfall. Don’t run around, and don’t even think about getting close to the waterfall. Do you hear me?" Lin Cangxue warned, catching the fervent glint in his eyes.
"Got it!" Lin Huang grinned. "There seems to be someone under Celestial Waterfall Cliff."
Gazing into the distance through the splashing water, he could vaguely make out a figure sitting cross-legged beneath the waterfall, eyes closed in cultivation.
"His name is Lu Han. He entered the Outer Sect of Piaoxue Palace the year before last, and last year, he advanced to the Inner Sect by securing first place in the Outer Sect competition," Lin Cangxue said, seemingly familiar with the person under the waterfall. "Ever since he joined Piaoxue Palace, he has been cultivating under the waterfall. He does this every single day. Although his talent isn’t high, his strength is surprisingly formidable. Even the average Inner Sect elites wouldn’t dare provoke him."
At this point, Lin Cangxue looked at the figure beneath the cliff with a hint of admiration. Anyone who could cultivate so diligently would certainly achieve great things in the future. She had once seen this Lu Han being washed into the Cold Pool thousands of times by the waterfall, yet he stubbornly refused to give up.
Similarly, a trace of respect appeared in Lin Huang’s eyes. He couldn’t help but feel curious about this Lu Han... as well as a faint sense of familiarity! He seemed to have met him before!
"If you two ever interact in the future, absolutely do not ask about his parents. That is a taboo for him," Lin Cangxue reminded him, seemingly knowing something.
"You can head back first, Cangxue. I’ll settle down here. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!" Lin Huang nodded.
Lin Cangxue smiled radiantly. She escorted Lin Huang to the bamboo-fenced courtyard outside the waterfall before finally taking her leave.
After she left, Lin Huang sat on a massive boulder outside the courtyard, quietly watching the blurry figure in the waterfall. The latter sat beneath the cliff like a Panshi, completely motionless, his soaked robes clinging tightly to his body. Even from afar, an aura of resilience radiated from him.
Lin Huang didn’t remain idle either. Although he was currently covered in wounds and found it difficult to even move, he could still cultivate Arrays. Ever since his battle against Crown Prince Lingyun, where he simultaneously condensed eight Array Seals, Lin Huang had kept practicing. Throughout his journey from the Great Xia Dynasty to Piaoxue Palace, he had been silently cultivating Arrays. The day before arriving at Piaoxue Palace, he was already capable of condensing sixteen Array Seals, becoming a First-Level Array Master.
However, this was nowhere near enough for Lin Huang!
According to the records in the *Qiankun Da Nirvana*, in order to trigger Lin Cangxue’s Martial Soul Nirvana, aside from the Sea of Karma Flower, Flame Dragon Fruit, and Heart-Burning Lotus, he would also need a Tier Four Fire Array as an auxiliary tool to extract the Nirvana Flame from those three items. Precisely because he was still far from reaching that step, he had to cultivate even harder.
Under the night sky, Lin Huang flicked his ten fingers. Pale cyan Primordial Qi danced at his fingertips like leaping sprites, gradually condensing into Array Seals one after another under his power.
"Eighteen..."
In the middle of the night, the Array Seals in Lin Huang’s hands dispersed. A faint smile graced his lips. After nearly three hours of cultivation, he had finally increased his limit from sixteen to eighteen seals.
"Fourteen more to go!" Lin Huang let out a sigh. Becoming a Second-Level Array Master required simultaneously condensing thirty-two Array Seals. He was still a long way from achieving that.
This massive gap weighed heavily on Lin Huang’s heart, yet the faint smile remained on his face. Three hours of cultivation had allowed him to condense two additional Array Seals, which was enough to leave him highly satisfied.
When Lin Huang looked up, he realized that Lu Han was still sitting cross-legged beneath the waterfall, motionless like a living fossil.
"Does he not sleep?" Lin Huang squeezed his hands, feeling somewhat perplexed. He could sense an aura of absolute madness coming from the latter. Even when he himself cultivated beneath Thousand Feet Cliff back then, his intensity was only on par with this.
In the darkness, after observing Lu Han for a short while, Lin Huang grew slightly bored and finally returned to his room to sleep.
When Lin Huang woke up early the next morning, he felt a biting chill filling the entire room. The first thing he saw was a drenched, skinny young man with a dark and stolid face, staring at him coldly.
A wave of dread washed over Lin Huang’s heart...
However, he had vaguely seen this dark and stolid face before. It was very familiar. In fact, it was unforgettable!
Snapping back to his senses, Lin Huang’s eyes widened in astonishment. He never expected that the guy standing before him was the linen-clothed youth he had encountered at the Xuese Auction!
That gullible blockhead!