Chapter 26

“Is there still roast sparrow today? Little Master Uncle, roast sparrow is the best in winter. It’s so delicious.”

Since the day Lin Du took the initiative to speak to him, Yuan Ye felt more confident in starting conversations with her.

Lin Du responded, “Sometimes it’s good to have some new dishes. As long as it tastes good.”

“Where did these sparrows come from? Our sect has ample spiritual energy, and even the sparrows we raise are quite spirited. I couldn’t even hit one while practicing swordplay before; they fly really fast.”

Mo Lin picked up a sparrow and took a bite. It seemed Little Master Uncle particularly liked sweet and salty flavors, and indeed, it was quite tasty.

Lin Du pondered for a moment and said, “Oh, it’s so cold that the sparrows froze and fell from the trees.”

Mo Lin responded with a thoughtful, “Indeed, it’s cold.”

It was November, and the Supreme Sect was in the northern mountains. Although it hadn’t snowed yet, frost had already formed.

“But… isn’t this supposed to be a warm winter?” Xia Tianwu asked.

Lin Du’s hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, “Yes, a warm winter. Maybe the sparrows came from the south and weren’t used to it, so they froze and fell.”

“That makes sense,” Xia Tianwu was convinced.

“By the way, Tianwu, do you still have those defective pills that explode on impact? Can you get me some? I’ll use them as thunder bombs in the secret realm.”

Lin Du looked at Xia Tianwu with sincere eyes.

Xia Tianwu paused for a moment, “Little Master Uncle, those are Fire Velvet Pills.”

Fire Velvet Pills, despite their name, were actually very mild and could nourish yin and strengthen the kidneys.

Lin Du felt quite apologetic, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say…”

“I meant, the defective Fire Velvet Pills don’t have enough explosive power. How about using defective Dragon’s Breath Pills instead? They pack a punch.”

Xia Tianwu’s face was exquisite and serene, with only the vermilion mole at the corner of her eye standing out. Her expression remained calm as she spoke, as if discussing the warm winter.

Lin Du felt relieved, thinking she had inadvertently hurt her junior’s pride, but clearly—

There weren’t many disciples in the Supreme Sect who were entirely sane.

Lin Du found these days quite pleasant, so much so that she was almost forgetting her purpose for coming to the Supreme Sect.

Until the day she went to the secret realm and encountered the heroine of her first completed quest among the hundreds of disciples in the Zhong Zhou, Du Shao.

The Du Shao who wished to save the world.

Du Shao also immediately noticed Lin Du, not because she was deliberately searching, but because the Supreme Sect’s people stood out everywhere, and among the four of them, Lin Du’s presence was particularly captivating.

The child was no longer the shabby figure in a green robe from their first meeting. She seemed to be living well, looking refreshed, except for her still excessively pale skin, and whether in fine silk robes or coarse cloth, she carried the aura of distant snow-covered mountains.

Anyone who saw that child would feel a pang of sympathy and a desire to draw closer—she seemed too thin and lonely.

Lin Du noticed a particularly tender gaze, and given how unusual this tenderness was, she naturally identified its owner as Du Shao.

She had once looked at her own gradually plump cat with the same tenderness.

Lin Du had once owned a cat.

She had found an abandoned, already ill Scottish Fold and spent thousands trying to save it, but couldn’t keep it for long.

When she found the cat, its back was just bones, and it was always slumped.

Lin Du knew the cat was in pain, and she could only spend as much as possible to delay its suffering. Eventually, the cat’s back became a little less bony and would curl up in her arms and purr.

That’s how she had looked at the cat.

Now, Du Shao looked at her the same way.

Lin Du couldn’t quite describe her feelings now. She thought that the cat had come to briefly heal her hopeless life.

Perhaps now she was here to heal their seemingly hopeless lives.

Lin Du smiled at Du Shao from afar, not realizing how many people were stunned by that smile.

It was not the carefree, meaningless smile she usually wore. The aloof youth’s slight smile was like the melting snow of spring, instantly bringing the scent of spring water.

Not only did Du Shao freeze, but Ni Jinxuan was also captivated.

A few breaths later, questions began to rise from the crowd, “Who is that disciple in green from the Supreme Sect?”

Today’s secret realm was, in Lin Du’s words, a “chicken-eating chicken” situation. Each sect sent disciples at the Qin Xin Realm and Feng Chu Realms, with a small portion being new disciples from this year.

Lin Du turned her head and snapped her fingers, and only then did Ni Jinxuan come to her senses.

She checked the time, “The secret realm will open in a quarter of an hour. You all have the map of the secret realm, so remember to call me if you encounter any danger.”

The three disciples looked at their Little Master Uncle and then exchanged glances, feeling that she might have said the opposite.

Although her cultivation was the highest among the four, she was physically weak and lacked the ability to protect herself. What would happen if she encountered danger?

It was said that Lin Du’s cyan-green robe with pine and crane patterns was a special artifact retrieved from the sect’s storeroom by Feng Chao, engraved with a second-tier defensive formation.

But the three didn’t refute Lin Du’s statement. They nodded obediently and planned to find Little Master Uncle as soon as they entered the secret realm.

Their sect’s disciple tokens had sensing formations that could locate nearby fellow disciples.

Lin Du noticed their lack of belief but chose not to address it.

In fact, being a frail person had its perks. At least, at the moment she arrived, she could clearly hear someone in the crowd boasting loudly.

“Top of the Qingyun Ranking? Today I’m going to see just how capable this top talent really is. Can they withstand ten moves under my sword?”

“I wonder what this top talent kid looks like. They haven’t even grown all their hair yet. Can they really handle a sword?”

Lin Du heard this and only smiled faintly.

They had guessed correctly; Lin Du indeed couldn’t wield a sword.

As for whether she could withstand ten moves, that depended on whether he could deliver ten moves.

To show respect, Lin Du decided not to use the Floating Life Fan.

So when someone approached to introduce themselves and asked who Lin Du was, the three disciples stood in front of Lin Du, blocking her.

“What is it? Why are you looking for Little Master Uncle?”

“It’s nothing. I just want to see the demeanor of the top talent.”

The newcomer was a sword cultivator, appearing to be in his late twenties, already at the peak of the Qin Heart Realm. He was considered a young talent in the Zhong Zhou and a leading figure among the cultivators present.

He glanced at the four members of the Supreme Sect and finally fixed his gaze on Yan Qing, who was carrying a black iron greatsword, his eyes burning with eagerness.

Lin Du’s eyelashes fluttered. After establishing her foundation, she had undergone a significant transformation, growing quite a bit taller. At thirteen, girls often experience a growth spurt, and combined with her cultivation progress, she had grown to about the same height as the seventeen-year-old Yan Qing. Thus, the three people blocking her didn’t actually manage to obstruct her.

She raised her hand, gently brushing aside Yuan Ye and Ni Jinxuan who were in her way, and then calmly addressed the robust young man in front of her, “I am Lin Du, the ninety-ninth generation direct disciple of the Supreme Sect, the top talent of the Qingyun Ranking. May I ask what you seek from me?”