Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Su Bai’s Gift

Wan Le reached toward Lin Zhao like a mad dog cornered.

Lightning flickered.

Lei Yuan moved without moving, and a barrier of crackling thunder formed around Lin Zhao.

Wan Le’s fingers struck the barrier and bounced away as if he’d grabbed a blade.

“No.” Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji’s eyes turned cold as her starlight blade cut Wan Le’s body in half. “He already got away.”

Lin Zhao blinked.

The body splitting apart… didn’t look like flesh.

A clone.

His attack on Lin Zhao had been a feint—meant to draw Lei Yuan’s attention into protecting her, buying him the breath he needed to flee.

“He got away!” Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji’s voice carried genuine annoyance.

Lei Yuan retracted the lightning and stared at the fading remnants. The skin on his old face trembled. “A clone that could fool both of us carried power he’s saved up over the years. Even if he escaped, he won’t be doing well. Once we issue a Bounty Warrant, we’ll catch him sooner or later.”

Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji nodded once, hard. “That beast wears a human face and hides an animal heart. Everyone on the Righteous Path has the right to kill him.”

Then both of them turned their attention back to Lin Zhao.

Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji’s gaze slid to Lei Yuan, expression strange. “Since when did the Thunder Hall gain a Young Lord?”

With the Continental Grand Tournament approaching, the young generation’s events were huge. Thunder Hall youths were fierce competitors for Yin Yang Palace.

Lei Yuan’s voice remained hoarse. “The hall master decided it.”

He paused, then asked evenly, “But Xuan Ji—who in Yin Yang Palace has ties to this girl, to move you?”

The probing was gentle.

The calculation beneath it was not.

Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji laughed. “I just owed that brat a favor.”

Her gaze flicked to Lin Zhao. “Sixteen years old and Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. You’re far behind Wan Tang.”

Lin Zhao didn’t flinch. Wan Tang had endless resources. Lin Zhao had spent years crippled, held back, surviving.

Comparisons didn’t bruise her anymore.

Lei Yuan shook his head at Xuan Ji’s judgment.

He had followed Lin Zhao ever since she returned from You Lan. He had watched her create impossible miracles with his own eyes, and now he understood why Lin Zhao held such influence among the younger generation—and why even the arrogant Young Lord couldn’t forget Nian Nian.

“A hidden dragon rises from the clouds, soaring straight up ninety thousand li.” Lei Yuan’s gaze rested on Lin Zhao. “This child will become someone great.”

Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji raised a brow. “You think so highly of Lin Zhao?”

Lei Yuan was one of the old famous experts of the Heavenly Phoenix Continent. If he hadn’t been heavily wounded during the clash with Demon Clan years ago, he might have already broken through beyond Spirit Transformation.

That meant his standards were high.

For Lin Zhao, he praised her ability—not her luck.

Lin Zhao bowed. “Senior, you praise me too much. Junior does not dare accept it.”

Immortal Venerable Xuan Ji propped her chin with a smile. “Lei Yuan values you so much, and you’re good-looking too. If you hadn’t already entered the South Sea Academy, I’d want to snatch you.”

Her eyes narrowed with amusement. “Since Lei Yuan thinks so highly of you, work hard. But don’t let down the feelings of that brat from Yin Yang Palace.”

She gave Lei Yuan a meaningful glance, then her Star Platform faded into starlight and vanished.

Lin Zhao was still trying to recall when she had ever met anyone from Yin Yang Palace when Lei Yuan spoke.

“Is Miss Zhao Zhao returning to the Lin Family?”

That “Miss Zhao Zhao” made Lin Zhao’s skin crawl.

“Senior,” she said, forcing politeness, “please just call me Lin Zhao.”

Lei Yuan chuckled. “In the Thunder Hall, aside from the hall master, no one dares call you by your name. I’m just telling on Su Bai.”

Lin Zhao’s mouth twitched. “If Senior doesn’t mind… you can call me Zhao Girl, like the Old Ancestor does.”

Lei Yuan nodded. “Yun Ding is being restrained by Peak Master Xiao Chang Qing. With Old Ancestor Lin Feng in the Lin Family, Yun Ding can’t touch your clan directly—but he’ll look for chances to target you.”

Lin Zhao nodded. There was no such thing as guarding forever. Once she entered the South Sea Academy, even Yun Ding wouldn’t dare reach inside and strike her.

Lei Yuan continued, “The shadow guard your clan arranged for you was captured by a Nascent Soul cultivator of Yun Ding Peak. I already sent him back.”

Lin Zhao’s breath hitched. “Uncle Zheng is okay?”

“He’s fine.” Lei Yuan waved a hand. “Now I’ll take you back. Otherwise that brat will nag these old bones again on Heavenlink Mirror.”

Lei Yuan wrapped Lin Zhao in a streak of light, protective and steady. He lifted his cane and tore open a space rift.

The world tilted.

Darkness swallowed her vision.

When light returned, Lin Zhao stood at the gates of the Lin Family.

A red-robed youth sat on the doorstep, bored, playing with a small white beast. Sensing something, he shot to his feet and looked toward Lin Zhao, eyes reddening instantly.

“Sister Zhao Zhao!”

Su Bai crossed the distance in three strides and pulled Lin Zhao into his arms.

Lin Zhao was still dizzy from space travel. The cool pine scent on him filled her nose. His breathing was fast, his heartbeat hammering, and she understood immediately—he had been terrified.

She sighed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Su Bai loosened his hold, but his hands still hovered as if afraid she’d disappear.

Lin Zhao turned to Lei Yuan and bowed deeply. Su Bai followed, smiling obediently. “Thank you, Elder Lei.”

Lei Yuan’s gaze softened by the barest degree. “Young Lord, you’re too polite.” He glanced past them, as if listening to something only he could hear. “The hall master urgently summoned me. This old man will take his leave.”

Su Bai nodded. Lei Yuan vanished.

As Lin Zhao and Su Bai walked in, Su Bai asked quietly, “Sister… when are you going to the South Sea Academy?”

“No time to waste,” Lin Zhao said. “Tomorrow.”

Su Bai’s gaze fell. The brightness in him dimmed like a lamp covered by a hand.

Lin Zhao patted his shoulder. “When there’s a break, I’ll come back to see you.”

Su Bai’s fingers tightened, then he reached into his sleeve and took out a bracelet shimmering with silver light. A sea-blue teardrop gem hung from it like a frozen drop of sky.

“It’s made from Celestial Fox tears and Moonlight Silver,” he said as he slid it onto her wrist. “An Upper Grade Spirit Artifact.”

Lin Zhao’s pupils shrank. She reached to remove it. “This is too valuable. I can’t accept it.”

Su Bai pressed her hand down. For the first time, his narrow eyes held something that looked like pleading. “Sister… we’re parting again. I can’t stay by your side, so can you let it stay with you?”

Lin Zhao scratched her head, searching for words. Then she took out a blood-red gem from her Spatial Ring and placed it in his palm.

“This is a blood Spirit Crystal I found in a Secret Realm,” she said. “They say it can be used to make a Sacred Artifact. I don’t have much to give you, so take this.”

Granny teased in her Sea of Consciousness, delighted. “Why not kiss him? I think he’d be happier than with that blood Spirit Crystal.”

Lin Zhao’s face heated. “Granny, you’re overthinking it.”

Su Bai stared at the blood Spirit Crystal as if it were something sacred, then closed his fingers around it.

No matter what happened, he was still the child in her memories—crying on a battlefield, whispering that he wanted to go home.