Lin Yan tilted her head slightly and glanced at Meng Qi, reiterating her previous inquiry: “Meng Qi, would you rescue him if you were in my place?” She didn’t even wait for the response, speaking softly as if lost in her own thoughts: “I must save him, no matter what. I’ve spent thousands of years in the Starfallen Sea solely to save him. What does the life of others have to do with me? Back then, no one cared about his death either.”
Meng Qi remained frozen in place. She felt there was something off about Lin Yan’s words, but couldn’t figure out how to refute them. The accounts of Lin Yan in the books she had read only portrayed her most touching aspects and never had she come across a record that revealed how this ancient healer had sacrificed even the life of her own Dao companion to save countless of that of strangers. It was not wrong for Lin Yan to want to save her Dao companion. To put it bluntly, considering all that she had given for the Three Thousand Worlds, she could ask for even more.
If it’s her…
Meng Qi lowered her gaze slightly, contemplating. What if the same situation happened to… her? If she had the chance and the means to revive her beloved, would she defy even the heavens, even if it meant becoming enemies with the world?
Meng Qi’s hand, hanging by her side, began to tremble slightly. Luoxin Tree, Heavenly Purgatory Array, the puppet masters from tens of thousands of years ago… With these clues in place, Meng Qi could actually guess what Lin Yan was trying to do. A puppet master could turn living cultivators into puppets using the Luoxin Tree. And when combined with the Heavenly Purgatory Array, there was a chance to gather the remnants of the fallen individuals’ souls into this world, which then…
“Senior Lin Yan.” Meng Qi frowned, “Even with the Heavenly Purgatory Array, is it really your Dao companion whom you revived? Isn’t that just…”
“Just a puppet, isn’t it?” Lin Yan chuckled softly. “Meng Qi, you seem to have forgotten that I am still within the Starfallen Sea, gathering the aura of so many living cultivators and…” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Utilizing the Luoxin trees to refine the Soul Seizing Powder and collect their spiritual consciousness.” She giggled. “In this way, it goes beyond mere puppets. Those mediocre puppet masters did not understand these methods. I can truly and completely resurrect him, allowing him to return to this world.”
“Meng Qi,” Lin Yan extended her hand and gently tucked a strand of Meng Qi’s hair behind her ear. Her fingertips emitted a faint glow as she lightly pressed them against Meng Qi’s forehead. “You have the Five Spirit Cauldron and my medical notes, so you can be considered my successor.” Lin Yan’s eyes shimmered with a hint of a smile, and her voice becoming gentle, “I have never taken on any other disciples, nor have I passed down my medical skills to anyone else. You are the only one.”
“By passing the test, you have the potential to become my successor. This means that you possess exceptional talent in medicine.”
“So, Meng Qi, if it were you, would you save him?” Lin Yan asked once again. She seemed particularly fixated on this question, asking it repeatedly. Though her face wore a smiling expression, her gaze never wavered from Meng Qi’s face, continuously watching her eyes, unwilling to miss any subtle change in her expression.
“I…” Meng Qi parted her lips, her voice trembling. She gazed at Lin Yan in a daze. What would she do if she were in Lin Yan’s place?
Meng Qi had never imagined that one day she would be hesitant because of this question. She had also never thought that the ancient medical cultivators had the ability to manipulate life and death. This should be a part of the cycle of reincarnation as mandated by the heavenly dao, a part of the immortal path that almost all cultivators in the Three Realms pursued throughout their lives.
She felt a lump stuck in her throat. If it were her, should she save the person or not? She couldn’t help but imagine, what if the one injured and died was someone she cherished and held in the highest regard, someone for whom she would willingly give up her own life in order to ensure their survival, such as…
Yun Qingyan.
Startled, Meng Qi’s back began to tremble with a sudden realization.
If it was for Yun Qingyan, even if she had to defy the heavenly rules, even if she become the enemy of the heavenly dao itself, even if her probability of success was almost nothing… she would still go forward and tried everything she could to save him.
“I…” Meng Qi opened her mouth again, the answer on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
Lin Yan gently smiled, lightly reaching out to touch Meng Qi’s face. “Your heart has already spoken the answer to me,” she said. Her fingers were slender and pale, and their tips felt cold, like ice, as they brushed against Meng Qi’s cheek, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
Above Meng Qi’s spiritual sea, the medical notes unexpectedly began to sway gently. Withdrawing her hand, Lin Yan turned away from her, speaking almost to herself as she uttered, “If I can’t protect the person closest to me, the one I hold dearest, then what purpose does my pursuit of medical dao serve?!”
Meng Qi remained silent. Above her spiritual sea, the medical notes gifted to her by Lin Yan trembled more intensely, emitting a subtle and soothing glow. It seemed to recognize its true master and became much more animated within this silent forest. Before Meng Qi could even examine it, the notes shook faster and more urgently, its radiance growing brighter. Suddenly, an entire passage of text was imprinted directly into her mind, without Meng Qi needing to read it.
“…So I must save him, I absolutely have to save him,” Lin Yan muttered, her back turned to Meng Qi. “I’m not wrong, am I? Meng Qi.”
Meng Qi tightly grasped the hand hanging at her side before slowly letting go. She lifted her gaze upward. Perhaps because she had already seen through them, those illusions of ‘Yun Qingyan,’ ‘Sikong Xing,’ and others had vanished. At this moment, only Lu Qingran and Pei Mufeng were left on the tree, tightly bound by vines, hanging high. Both of them had their heads drooping, remaining unconscious.
In fact, as early as in the Apricot Forest, Meng Qi had already guessed that Lin Yan must also be proficient in arrays. The entire Grand Tournament barrier was actually a set of massive and intricate arrays, stacked layer upon layer. Lin Yan’s remnant could remain within it and manipulate the entire array, indicating her exceptional skill.
“These two people, one is just an acquaintance, and the other is someone you don’t like,” Lin Yan raised her head as well. “Meng Qi, if you’re willing to assist me, not only will I help you deal with the person you dislike,” she said, lifting her finger and pointing meaningfully towards Lu Qingran, a playful smile on her lips, “but I will also teach you this technique. How about that?”
“Senior Lin Yan.” Meng Qi asked, “I have a question.”
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