Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 29

Having reached the Nascent Soul stage for several decades, this was the first time Mu Ling had touched the threshold of advancement.

However, breaking through was no easy feat. After meditating, Mu Ling fell into a peculiar state. She felt like a plant seed, slowly basking in sunlight, gradually stretching and growing, sprouting roots and stems, then gently breaking through the soil.

When Mu Ling awoke from her meditation, she had no idea how much time had passed. Like all cultivators emerging from seclusion, the first thing she did was examine her own condition, only to find that her cultivation had not advanced in the slightest.

She felt a pang of disappointment, but such was the way of the cultivation world. Advancement required repeated practice and enlightenment, and the higher one climbed, the harder it became. It was never a smooth journey. After a brief moment of dejection, Mu Ling adjusted her mindset: after all, there were now signs of her realm loosening. As long as she diligently cultivated from now on, she would eventually break through another stage. There was no need to rush.

Then, she realized something. There seemed to be a life form growing inside her spiritual sea.

This life was nestled within the spiritual spring’s eye, like a tiny sprouting seed. The seed appeared to share the same origin as the black cocoon in her spiritual sea. It didn’t belong to this body but rather to Mu Ling herself, sharing an inexplicable, hidden connection with her spiritual world.

Unlike the black cocoon’s ominous aura, Mu Ling could sense a warm energy emanating from the seed.

She spent a long time studying the seed, but just like the black cocoon, she couldn’t make heads or tails of it. After some thought, she decided to let nature take its course.

After finishing her meditation, Mu Ling sat idly in her cave abode for a while before slowly making her way out and returning to her bamboo house.

Everything inside was just as she had left it. Ding Xin and Lin Qingge were nowhere to be seen, but Xiao Qi rushed over and hugged her tightly. “Peak Master, you’re finally out!”

“You’ve been in seclusion for over a year!”

…

Only then did Mu Ling realize she had been in seclusion for more than a year. Previously, her longest seclusion had lasted half a year at most. She had never imagined she’d be secluded for over a year.

Could it be that the higher one’s cultivation, the longer the seclusion?

The thought crossed her mind, but she didn’t dwell on it. After all, some cultivators in the cultivation world secluded themselves for decades. A little over a year was nothing in comparison.

“Where are Qingge and Ding Xin?”

“The Sect Master summoned them,” Xiao Qi sighed with an exaggerated air of maturity. “So much has happened in the immortal realm this past year! The Bai Xu Sect somehow got wind that the Demon King was severely injured and sent out invitations for a ‘Demon Subjugation Conference,’ calling all immortal sects to discuss the eradication of demons. The Sect Master intends to send our sect’s elite disciples, and the other Peak Masters have been fighting tooth and nail for the leadership position. But the Sect Master insisted on you and since you were in seclusion, all the preparations fell on poor Qingge and Ah Xin.”

“Disciples serve their master’s needs, after all!” Mu Ling chuckled guiltily, though her eyes flickered with thought.

She hadn’t expected the Demon Subjugation Conference from the plot to arrive so soon!

The little booklet in Mu Ling’s consciousness had everything planned out for these cultivators: the factions of the immortal realm, each with their own hidden agendas, took half a year just to confirm the participants for the assault on the Demon Palace. Along the way, some even died due to internal conflicts among the sects. By the time they reached the Demon Palace, the ragtag group fell right into an ambush. If it hadn’t been for Lin Qingge stepping up at the critical moment, advancing her cultivation and slaying the Demon King, the so-called “Demon-Subduing Alliance” would have been utterly annihilated.

Mu Ling couldn’t understand why the other peak lords were fighting tooth and nail for this potentially deadly assignment.

But since Zhao Yunshi had now appointed her, Mu Ling had no choice but to grit her teeth and accept the task. She just hoped she wouldn’t be recognized by anyone at the “Demon-Subduing Conference.” After all, the gathering was a mixed bag of people, and Mu Ling worried that someone who knew her original body might also attend.

Thus, despite Xiao Qi’s enthusiastic and animated description of the conference, Mu Ling remained uninterested. The thought of having to see Bai Junhao’s revolting face again made it impossible for her to feel any excitement.

“Alright, alright, I’ll learn about these things later,” Mu Ling interrupted Xiao Qi dismissively, yawning. “I’ve been holed up in the cave for a year now. I’m exhausted. I’m going to soak in the pool at the back mountain. You stand guard and don’t let anyone else in.”

Mu Ling had some modern quirks. She believed that bathing should be the most relaxing time and didn’t want to expend her spiritual sense to detect whether someone was approaching. She just wanted to lie there leisurely, like a salted fish.

Xiao Qi nodded eagerly like a chicken pecking at rice and stood guard outside the bathing pool.

There were some things Xiao Qi hadn’t told Mu Ling. For instance, during the six months Mu Ling had been in seclusion, Qingbo Peak had become unusually desolate and quiet. Ding Xin remained as smooth and sociable as ever, but Qingge had grown increasingly silent, obsessively practicing her swordplay day after day, sometimes going days without uttering a single word.

Yet, without fail, Lin Qingge would stand outside Mu Ling’s secluded cave for a while every day.

Xiao Qi never expected that Lin Qingge, who usually seemed so cold and aloof, would actually be so dependent on and longing for the peak lord.

Now that the peak lord had emerged from seclusion, Qingge must be overjoyed!

Thinking of this, Xiao Qi grew excited. Considering that the mountain’s protective formation was in place and outsiders couldn’t ascend, the bathing peak lord was perfectly safe. Eager to be the first to tell Qingge that Mu Ling had emerged from seclusion, Xiao Qi hesitated for a moment before happily running off to wait at the spot where Lin Qingge often landed on the peak, planning to surprise her the moment she returned.

Since Lin Qingge and Ding Xin had just left not long ago, Xiao Qi figured they wouldn’t return so soon. While guarding the mountain pass, she squatted on the ground to play with ants. When a shadow passed overhead, she assumed it was just a bird and paid no mind, completely unaware that the very person she was waiting for had already soared past on her flying sword.

Lin Qingge had returned to discard something.

For some unknown reason, Bai Fengqing had been frequently sending tonics and rare treasures to Qingbo Peak over the past six months. Knowing Mu Ling’s miserly tendencies, Lin Qingge feared she might accept these ill-intentioned gifts. So, whenever she discovered them, she secretly destroyed them. She even enlisted certain animals at the mountain’s base to stay vigilant. If Bai Fengqing sent anything up the mountain again, they were to report it immediately.

Therefore, when the animals reported to Lin Qingge that Bai Fengqing had once again sent gifts up the mountain, Lin Qingge couldn’t even bother to maintain her composure in front of Zhao Yunshi. She excused herself, claiming she had forgotten something, and immediately flew back to Qingbo Peak on her sword.

As she sped along, her only thought was to destroy the gifts and return to Qianqiu Pavilion as quickly as possible. But as she flew over the hot spring pool, a casual glance downward made her pupils constrict. She stumbled on her sword, nearly falling off.

Mu Ling lay there with half-lidded eyes, arms comfortably spread by the poolside. The warm spring water had turned her skin a tempting shade of pink, and the clear water did nothing to hide the curves of her figure. Her long legs, slender waist, and flawless jade-like skin made her look like an irresistibly delectable dessert, tempting one to take a bite.

Lin Qingge’s grip on her sword tightened abruptly.

For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming.

But the real Mu Ling was far more vivid and alluring than any dream.

She even felt the urge to rush over and pull Mu Ling into her arms, just as she had in her midnight dreams over the past year, to do everything she had ever wanted to her.

Yet, in the end, she restrained herself.

No, the bait had only just been laid. The fish hadn’t taken it yet. She couldn’t rush things.

Pressing her lips together, Lin Qingge cast one last deep glance at Mu Ling before turning away.

After soaking for a while, Mu Ling felt her fatigue had mostly dissipated. She lazily called out, “Xiao Qi, bring in the ointment!”

This ointment was something Mu Ling had concocted herself after arriving in the cultivation world. Just a dab after washing her hair would leave it smooth, glossy, and rarely prone to shedding.

Light footsteps approached from the doorway, stopping unhurriedly behind her. A pair of hands gently lifted her hair, expertly applying the fragrant ointment.

Mu Ling closed her eyes in contentment, stretching as she rose from the pool. Having crouched for too long, her legs had gone numb, and as she stood, her vision blurred. She nearly toppled back into the water.

A familiar, delicate fragrance enveloped her as a pair of hands steadied her.

These hands!

Mu Ling turned in shock to see Lin Qingge, clad in white robes. Perhaps because a year had passed, Mu Ling thought Lin Qingge had grown even more beautiful. Standing beneath the peach blossoms, her face outshone the flowers in full bloom.

Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be something different about Lin Qingge, though Mu Ling couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

“Shizun,” Lin Qingge said, meeting Mu Ling’s startled gaze. A flicker of something dark passed through her eyes, but her expression softened into a faint smile. “It’s been a year. I’ve missed you terribly.”

Missed her shizun’s care, missed her shizun’s smile, missed making her shizun cry as she had in her dreams.