Not long after He Yi arrived at Lingxian Academy, Lin Xiao received word and came over.
Seeing that He Yi seemed in good spirits and hadn't been thrown into panic over the sudden changes in his body, Lin Xiao breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling a bit guilty.
After Lin Xiao had checked He Yi's condition three days ago, he knew that the cause of He Yi's coma was likely connected to him.
The small bead within He Yi's Golden Core seemed to be in the process of transforming between spiritual energy and yuan energy.
And given that the spiritual energy within He Yi's Golden Core was purely water-based, it was clear he was a cultivator with a single water spiritual root.
Lin Xiao had even checked He Yi's bone age and found that he was only thirty years old.
A thirty-year-old Golden Core cultivator with abundant water spiritual energy — clearly, He Yi was one of those single spiritual root geniuses from the cultivation world.
While the transformation from spiritual energy to yuan energy was beneficial in the long run, for He Yi at the moment, it was far from ideal.
The issue was that He Yi's cultivation technique was a spiritual root-based one, meaning it couldn't accommodate the transformation from spiritual energy to yuan energy.
As a result, the small bead was stuck in a state of transition, unable to complete its transformation.
At that time, Lin Xiao had humbly asked the system why He Yi had undergone such a change.
The system replied:
[Host, now that you are a Nascent Soul cultivator, your cultivation technique is fully aligned with your Dao heart. Your insights and state of mind have far surpassed those of most cultivators. Therefore, when you express your understanding and beliefs with full concentration, it can easily influence those whose minds are unguarded.]
[Thus, there's no need to wonder — this person's changes were caused by you.]
Lin Xiao: ...
This was a bit awkward...
But discovering that he had this kind of ability also made him somewhat pleased.
In the future, if he took a liking to someone... cough.
Feeling somewhat guilty, Lin Xiao put on an innocent look and flashed a big smile at He Yi, who was sitting in the guest seat.
Seeing his expression, He Yi immediately knew that Lin Xiao was aware of his condition, so he cut to the chase and asked directly:
"Sect Master Lin, you seem to know a bit about the cause of my sudden coma three days ago. Is there a solution? If you could enlighten me, I would be deeply grateful."
"To be honest... if you want to resolve this issue, you may need to join my Lingxian Sect," Lin Xiao said, blinking sincerely.
He wasn't lying!
After all, he didn't know of any other places where techniques that could convert spiritual energy to yuan energy existed.
As far as he knew, joining his sect was the best solution for He Yi.
He Yi: ...
He studied Lin Xiao for a long moment and realized the other man wasn't joking.
"What do you mean by that?" He Yi asked.
"There are many secrets within our sect. If you join us, I'll tell you," Lin Xiao replied, still sincere.
He wasn't lying either!
After all, spiritual energy transforming into yuan energy was something that, as far as Lin Xiao knew, hadn't been seen in the cultivation world. Elder Liao had mentioned that it was an even purer form of energy than spiritual energy, but it was rare, and not many had heard of it.
It was quite possible that Lingxian Sect — or perhaps just Lin Xiao himself — was the only one who had access to such knowledge. Lin Xiao had learned the technique to convert spiritual energy to yuan energy not long before he went into seclusion, and he'd been so busy afterward that he hadn't even taught it to the other disciples yet.
Unexpectedly, He Yi, an outsider, had gotten a head start because of a few things Lin Xiao had said...
Lin Xiao's thoughts began to drift, but He Yi's voice brought him back to the present.
"Since Sect Master Lin is unwilling to elaborate, I won't press the matter further. Let's return to the unfinished conversation from three days ago."
With this, He Yi politely declined Lin Xiao's invitation to join the sect.
Lin Xiao wasn't disheartened.
After all, He Yi was a disciple of the number one sect in the Northern and Southern Spiritual Domains, and he probably had powerful backing as well. It wasn't likely he'd want to join a small sect in the mortal realm.
But Lin Xiao wasn't in a hurry. Following He Yi's lead, he asked:
"Three days ago, you mentioned having two questions. Is there a third one?"
He Yi nodded.
"Indeed."
"Sect Master Lin, as you know, I came to the mortal realm to investigate the matter of the Ji Stone from three years ago."
"I've heard that during the Ji Stone campaign in Huanyou Country, you had a role to play."
Lin Xiao nodded and confirmed, "Yes, originally, an unknown sect like Lingxian Sect wouldn't have been involved in such a large campaign. But I heard rumors of a suspected plague breaking out there, so I went over to offer my humble assistance so the allied forces could focus on defeating the Ji Stone faction."
Back then, Lin Xiao had met with the two leaders of the allied forces, so he had no reason to deny it.
As for how he'd managed to enter and move freely within the Ji Stone mine, some members of the allied forces had asked, but with the existence of Qinglian Sect's artifact that could ward off Ji energy, Lin Xiao had vaguely claimed that his sect also had a similar heirloom, though it could only protect one person. No one pressed the matter further after that.
After all, he'd said it was a sect heirloom. No one could expect him to hand it over.
If he had to, then Qinglian Sect would have to give up theirs as well, right? And other sects too? Everyone knew that wasn't going to happen.
So the issue was dropped.
Hearing this, He Yi lowered his eyes. On his left hand was a string of jade beads, and his right hand was idly rotating them, one by one.
"However, there are rumors that Sect Master Lin had no artifact in hand at the time, nor was he surrounded by any protective shield. Some have speculated that what you used back then wasn't an heirloom artifact, but rather a cultivation technique."
"A technique that can resist the Ji energy and remain unaffected by its draining properties."
With these words, He Yi raised his eyes to meet Lin Xiao's gaze directly.
Lin Xiao remained calm, giving He Yi a warm smile and shrugging.
"It seems that my brief trip to Huanyou Country three years ago became quite the tale, with rumors spreading even to your ears. It's a novel experience for me."
Seeing that Lin Xiao wasn't admitting anything and was treating it as a mere rumor, He Yi paused in his bead-rotating and let out a quiet breath before saying:
"Our Talisman Sect has a grand library, filled with countless texts, from ancient times to the present. Among them is a fragment of an ancient text that contains a single phrase."
"'Ling nurtures the world, Ji defies it, and yuan suppresses it.' From this, we deduced that there may exist a power in this world other than spiritual energy — the power of yuan."
He Yi looked at Lin Xiao and continued,
"My purpose in coming here wasn't to trouble you, Sect Master Lin. In fact, I possess an ancient incomplete text that contains a recorded formation known as the Binding Ji Treasure Formation."