Chapter 242

Chapter 242: The Day of Spreading Flames

After Lin Qing Ling brought Li Shuang up, she left the peak on her own.

At the summit, only Elder Ling and Li Shuang remained.

Elder Ling’s voice was gentle: “Your growth is faster than I thought.”

Li Shuang answered with respect: “Thanks to the sect giving me the Wanfa Eye, I gained a lot in Myriad Arts City.”

Elder Ling had already guessed that Li Shuang’s rise was tied to the Wanfa Eye. She showed a small, relieved smile: [Meng Yi Fei chose well.]

She had also heard about what happened to Li Shuang. When the trouble at Ling Xu Peak happened, the sect did bear some blame. No one expected a demon to sneak in and almost cause Li Shuang to fall silent.

After that, Meng Yi Fei opened the Heart-Inquiry Platform and also gave the Wanfa Eye. The goal was only one: to help Li Shuang find her sense of belonging to the Sword Sect again.

This thought was never hidden, and with Li Shuang’s smarts, she knew it very well. [Cards on the table.]

But Li Shuang was soft at heart. Even if the sect had failed to check things before, once the sect fixed each mistake, she would naturally return to them.

Not to mention, she had been willing to share her self-created Breathing Method. That alone proved her heart.

She was brilliant and gentle, yet she kept a line in her heart.

A person like Li Shuang was easy to read. As long as the sect did not fail her, she would not fail the sect.

If they could just hold on until Li Shuang grew strong, the few old ones could finally be at ease.

[Her thoughts drifted.] It had been a thousand years since the founding Ancestor’s Ascension. The three of them had guarded the Sword Sect for a thousand years. All this time, they were waiting for someone to take their place.

But perhaps the Sword Sect’s luck was truly running thin. In a thousand years, the sect had not produced even one new Tribulation Crossing Stage expert. The three of them could only keep holding the line.

If one day the Sword Sect gained a new Tribulation Crossing Stage powerhouse, maybe they could leave and make one last try for Ascension.

Now, Li Shuang gave her that hope.

Elder Ling’s smile grew warm: “The Wanfa Eye is a fine chance. But many people on Nanlan Continent have gained it, and none truly made a name. You must have gotten a Soul Method in Myriad Arts City, and most of your Merit Points came from climbing Great Dao Mountain, right?”

Elder Ling hit the mark with one sentence.

Li Shuang did not hide it. She nodded: “Yes. I climbed five Great Dao Mountains and earned eight thousand Merit Points.”

“Five Great Dao Mountains?” Elder Ling paused, surprised.

She herself had never owned the Wanfa Eye, but she knew the basics of Myriad Arts City. To climb five Great Dao Mountains at this age was something even the Heaven’s Chosen of the Central Continent might only match.

Elder Ling’s smile grew deeper: “Good, good. Your goal next is to keep climbing Great Dao Mountain. Also, Soul Prison is too dangerous, so do not go there for now. In the early stage, you must stay steady.”

Li Shuang showed an embarrassed look.

Elder Ling stopped, a strange feeling rising in her heart. That look seemed to mean…

“Elder Ling, I already went to Soul Prison,” Li Shuang said, dropping heavy news one after another: “My fast growth also came from chances I found in Soul Prison. When I came back to Myriad Arts City, I discovered my name on the Golden List. In a month, I have to attend the Golden Soul Altar. So I was hoping to rise one more step before then.”

Elder Ling fell silent.

She worked to digest what she had heard.

Li Shuang did not dare to rush her. She waited quietly.

After a long while, Elder Ling said softly: “I understand. Then let us begin.”

She changed the topic and started to guide her: “Lin Qing Ling should have told you some basic theory. To merge with all things and sense all things sounds too lofty. What you need now is practice.”

Elder Ling hesitated and then said: “I am not good at teaching Disciples. How about I do some embroidery while you watch?”

“Alright,” Li Shuang answered at once.

She truly liked watching Elder Ling embroider. Every stitch seemed alive.

[Technique close to Dao.]

Elder Ling took out a handkerchief-sized cloth. She looked around, then casually chose the bluish rock in front of them.

Then she said nothing and began to sew with full focus.

Li Shuang watched from the side.

Once Elder Ling entered the state of embroidery, she slipped into a selfless calm.

Her hands were not fast, yet on the cloth, the rock quickly took shape.

The embroidered rock did not look exactly like the real one. Even so, Li Shuang faintly felt that the rock on the cloth was the very same rock before her.

She kept watching and slowly grew absorbed.

The plain rock, under Elder Ling’s needle, was given a soul and seemed to wake up.

[No. Not right.]

[The rock itself has always been awake.]

[My level is not enough. I cannot sense its soul directly. But through Elder Ling’s deconstruction by embroidery, I can faintly feel a trace.]

Comparing the two, a new world slowly opened in front of her.

Right now, Li Shuang could not reach very deep insights. She just watched.

She could not even say what she had gained. She simply stayed quietly by Elder Ling’s side, watching her finish piece after piece.

Only by watching, Li Shuang felt her soul washed clean.

[So calm.]

Elder Ling truly was not skilled at formal teaching; she did not know what to explain to Li Shuang. At first she embroidered flowers, birds, fish, insects, rocks, and trees.

Later, she used the whole mountain as her model and worked boldly on a huge cloth.

Time slipped away.

In a blink, half a month had passed.

Elder Ling embroidered; Li Shuang watched.

They said nothing, yet a strange understanding formed between them.

The giant mountain tapestry before them was about to be finished.

Elder Ling carefully set the last stitch.

At the very instant the piece was complete, suddenly, the world turned bright.

The round sun Li Shuang had seen once before rose again.

For half a month, there were days of heavy fog, and days of steady rain.

But a view like this, where the golden sun broke the dawn and the needle-like rays seemed to stitch the sky, appeared for the first time.

In the distance, layers of cloud were dyed bright, rosy veils melting over red-tinted peaks.

Such beauty was rare.

Elder Ling lifted her eyes to the sky.

Suddenly, she felt something stir.

The silver needle in her hand danced.

On the cloth, dyed clouds appeared first, and then came that sun of spreading flames.