Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Eldest Brother Lin Yu

After settling her people within their marked area and leaving instructions for the period she would be gone, Lin Zhao told Lu Yuan, “This time I’ll need about a month. Your operations will be led by the two Enlightenment eighth-level captains. You only ambush smaller teams. Do not clash head-on with Zhao Ji Xing’s trio. Wait for me to return. Then everything will be decided.”

Lu Yuan nodded without hesitation.

Qu Shu and Ming Yue stood behind.

Ming Yue glanced at Qu Shu. “Aren’t you going to talk to her?”

Qu Shu froze. “Talk about what?”

Ming Yue sighed. “Sister is very slow. If you don’t spell it out, she’ll never understand.”

Something dark flickered through Qu Shu’s silver eyes. “She’ll never understand.”

Ming Yue sighed again.

From the side came Lin Zhao’s bright laugh. “Holy Son Qu Shu, Little Yue—goodbye!”

Qu Shu looked up.

He only saw the blue hem of her dress spin in the wind before it vanished between trees.

Like many times before, he whispered a reply only he could hear. “Goodbye.”

—

When Lin Zhao returned to Spirit Sparrow Pond, the golden Spirit Hawk was startled—then immediately tense.

After hearing the Qingluan was about to be born, it didn’t waste time on surprise. It led Lin Zhao straight inside.

“There’s another person in the pond,” the Spirit Hawk warned. “I’ve separated you to opposite sides, so you won’t run into each other.”

Lin Zhao’s brows rose. From the Spirit Hawk’s caution, the other person’s identity—or strength—had to be terrifying.

She didn’t ask. She only nodded.

After the Spirit Hawk prepared everything and set up a Barrier Domain, Lin Zhao stripped to her underclothes, hugged the Qingluan egg tight, and stepped into the pond.

Qi-rich water wrapped around her like warm silk. She ran Phoenix Pulse Art, slowly transferring heat and qi into the egg.

A faint azure glow spread across the shell.

Then—so fine it was almost invisible—a crack appeared.

The moment that crack formed, Lin Zhao felt her Phoenix Fortune shift on its own. It took shape like a small Qingluan perched on her shoulder, tilting its head to stare at the egg.

At the same time, heat surged through Lin Zhao’s body.

Phoenix Fortune feedback.

“Run Phoenix Pulse Art and digest it,” Granny urged inside her mind.

Lin Zhao inhaled, teeth gritting as discomfort flared. She kept her mind clear and continued cultivating.

Granny hovered, frowning. “Is an Enlightenment body still too weak?”

Lin Zhao’s physical body had already reached the limit of what Enlightenment could withstand, but Qingluan feedback usually required at least Golden Core cultivators.

Was it still too risky?

Heat roared through Lin Zhao’s veins like fire. Golden light flashed at her brow.

Indestructible Golden Body: Greedless Aspect.

Once it activated, the scorching sensation eased—just a little. Her cultivation began to climb in that rising heat.

But Granny’s voice tightened. “No. At this rate, the feedback will burst you apart!”

Lin Zhao’s eyes opened, fierce. “It’s already in me. You think I’m going to spit it out? Impossible.” Her breath shook. “It wants to burst me apart? Let it try. I’ll digest it and show it!”

She would rather die full than live hungry.

She formed seals and leapt up, using the third form of Hong Hu sword art together with Heavenly Phoenix Steps.

Granny froze.

Even burning like she might split open, Lin Zhao still had the clarity to vent excess power through techniques—sheer stubborn will forged into something terrifying.

On the other side of Spirit Sparrow Pond, a young man who had been silent in the water slowly opened his eyes.

“Thousand Spirit Hundred Arts…” he murmured. “His disciple?”

He sat up, gaze piercing through the Spirit Hawk’s array. He saw the maiden clearly.

“Qingluan feedback. Late-stage Enlightenment.” His eyes narrowed with a hint of reluctant admiration. “What a terrifying little girl.”

Because he suspected Lin Zhao might be someone’s disciple, protective instinct rose. He didn’t interrupt. Instead, he strengthened the Barrier Domain further, sealing the pond tighter against any disturbance.

In the constant cycle of absorbing qi and releasing it through techniques, Lin Zhao endured the blaze in her body and barely kept her consciousness intact.

In just over ten days, she reached Enlightenment ninth level.

The moment she stepped into that realm, her strength gave out. She went limp in the pond, clutching the Qingluan egg to her chest. She was so exhausted she couldn’t lift a finger.

For days, she had cultivated and fought her own body without sleep, only to keep herself stable.

Now she felt that if this ancestor didn’t crack the shell soon and keep feeding her, she would be finished.

“Take out the Jade Pendant your brother left,” Granny said.

Lin Zhao pulled the Jade Pendant from her Spatial Ring. As if sensing her, it released a coolness that wrapped around her like a clear stream.

Lin Zhao held it and thought of her brothers.

After she recovered the memories the System Plunder had stolen, the two figures in her mind grew clearer and clearer.

Eldest Brother Lin Yu—gentle, refined, a proper young master of a great clan. The one who spoiled her most in the entire Lin Family.

When Lin Zhao was little, no matter what trouble she caused, the first person she ran to as a shield was always him. Lin Yu indulged her so much that even Lin Mang—already a father who doted shamelessly—felt Lin Yu went too far.

Second Brother Lin Yi—carefree and unruly, Sword Intent bold and unrestrained. Even the Ten Thousand Swords Sect’s Sect Master had praised him as a sword genius not seen in ten thousand years.

When she was little, he dragged her into trouble constantly. His exploits included—but were not limited to—carrying Lin Zhao, only one month old, to show off to friends, getting beaten by Lin Mang and Yao Yun, then getting beaten again by Eldest Brother.

“Brother…” Lin Zhao whispered. Pure qi flowed from the pendant. Even with her stubbornness, her eyes reddened.

As her breath sank into it, faint light rose and formed into a tall, slender figure.

Phoenix eyes. Thin lips. Ink-black hair. Features delicate and handsome like a painting.

Refined elegance from head to toe.

He reached out as if to touch her forehead.

“Zhao Zhao,” Lin Yu said softly, “don’t cry.”

Lin Zhao stared at the projection—slightly more mature than the brother in her memory—and her breath caught. “Brother? Is it you?”

“It’s me.” Lin Yu smiled. “Before your brother and I left, we left this Jade Pendant behind. A strand of Divine Sense is sealed inside. When someone uses what’s stored, it triggers either mine or his.” His gaze softened, regret threading through it. “If you’re the one using it, we sense it and form a Divine Sense clone to see you. But this clone can’t exist across planes for long…”

He shook his head, like he didn’t want to waste time on explanations. “Forget that. Zhao Zhao—are you late-stage Enlightenment now?”

Lin Zhao nodded. “I wasted many years. Brother must be laughing at me.”

“Zhao Zhao has already done very well.” Lin Yu’s expression turned gentler, and more pained. “It’s a pity I can’t watch you grow up.”

Lin Zhao rubbed her eyes hard, forcing emotion down. “Brother, how can I go find you and Second Brother?”

Lin Yu fell silent for a moment. “Parents told you?”

“Yes.”

“If Zhao Zhao wants to come…” Lin Yu’s gaze went deep. “You need at least Spirit Transformation cultivation.”

Lin Zhao’s fist clenched. She stared at her brother’s fading projection, voice shaking with iron. “Brother, wait for me. I will bring you and Second Brother back.”

Lin Yu’s phoenix eyes stayed gentle, steady on her until the very end. “Alright.”