Qin Wanyuan truly found it hard to believe that Lin Que had come to the Sword Seeking Sect in search of immortality at such a young age. He was only twelve or thirteen years old.
Even with a highly skilled maid accompanying him, the difficulty of such a journey was almost unimaginable.
After all, that maid looked like she was just a young girl herself, barely older than Lin Que at the time.
What surprised her even more was that when Lin Que first joined, he held the same status she did now. He had been a personal disciple of An Xiaoyao.
What in the world could have happened for Lin Que to go from a personal disciple to just an ordinary inner sect member?
Just like the system had said, she really knew far too little about Lin Que.
Fortunately, heaven had granted her a second chance to truly understand his past.
“And to think, Lin Lang looked like this when he was young… What a huge difference…”
Qin Wanyuan circled around the boy Lin Que within the dream, occasionally poking his still-youthful yet determined little face with her finger.
“So soft and round… how cute~” she murmured, eyes squinting happily.
Though there was no physical sensation in the dream, she could easily imagine how it might feel.
Just as she was about to poke him a few more times, the boy suddenly lifted his cold gaze and met her eyes.
Startled, Qin Wanyuan took two steps back only to realize that the eye contact had lasted no more than a fleeting instant.
In the dream, the maid also noticed something off about Lin Que and asked with concern, “Young Master, is something wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I just felt like something touched me,” Lin Que replied calmly.
[System Notice: All talismans in the Shared Dream series function by recreating memories within a dream. If the host interferes too much and is noticed by the dream’s subject, it won’t reveal your identity, but it will cause the dream to collapse.]
That warning got Qin Wanyuan to behave. She didn’t dare tease Lin Que anymore.
“Even in a dream, Lin Lang is still this alert,” she muttered, stepping back a little to quietly observe from a safer distance.
The story continued. After introducing them to each other, An Xiaoyao began discussing arrangements.
“Since Que’er arrived on short notice, and only Qing’er and I have residences on Drunken Jade Peak, the two of you are around the same age. How about letting Que’er and his maid stay at your place for now, Qing’er? It’ll liven things up a bit.”
Jiang Moqing simply gave Lin Que a faint glance. Seeing that his expression remained cold and unreadable, she finally gave a nod.
“Mhmm.”
Watching this unfold, Qin Wanyuan blinked in surprise. “Looks like Master was already trying to match Senior Sister Jiang with Lin Lang back then. So is this where it all starts? They move in together, gradually fall for each other, and end up as Dao companions?”
With that assumption in mind, she eagerly kept watching.
Time flew by in the dream. Several months passed in the blink of an eye.
Qin Wanyuan followed along, waiting to witness the budding romance between the two…
But to her shock—
There was zero development between them. Not even a hint!
Even though Lin Que and Jiang Moqing lived under the same roof, the two of them barely interacted at all. It was as if they existed in completely separate worlds.
Over the course of several months, Lin Que spent nearly all his time holed up in his room, immersed in the introductory sword and cultivation manuals that An Xiaoyao had given him.
Only occasionally would he come out into the courtyard to practice a few moves or have his maid read aloud and spar with him for training.
Jiang Moqing didn’t seem particularly concerned by any of this. She continued her own cultivation at her usual pace. The only reaction she ever showed was a slight frown whenever she saw Lin Que acting like a young master and ordering the maid to read or help him practice.
Other than that, the two of them were like parallel lines. No matter how close they lived, there was no point of intersection.
They’re basically just one big ice block and one little ice block! At this rate, when are they ever going to connect?
Qin Wanyuan thought, both baffled and curious as to how the story would develop from here.
Just then, An Xiaoyao reappeared at Jiang Moqing’s residence, and finally, Lin Que and Jiang Moqing formally met again in the courtyard.
“Que’er, these past three months I had you study the sword and cultivation manuals alone. Do you understand why?”
“I don’t,” Lin Que replied bluntly.
An Xiaoyao let out a soft sigh and gently explained:
“You traveled eighteen thousand li to get here, but your path was marked by too much killing. Your heart is restless. Though the sword path is one of killing, it also requires cultivating the mind and tempering the spirit. Only with a calm and steady heart can you truly grasp the profound meanings of the sword.”
“These three months, I left you alone so you could settle your thoughts and carefully reflect on the principles in those books. But now the time is right….tell me, what parts of the sword and cultivation texts do you not understand? I can help explain them.”
At that moment, An Xiaoyao stood in a simple Daoist robe. She looked elegant and timeless, exuding an ethereal aura that made her seem every bit the immortal master descended from the heavens.
Qin Wanyuan also noticed something subtle….An Xiaoyao hadn’t completely left Lin Que to his own devices over the past three months. Every now and then, she had quietly come by his door, checking in on him from the shadows.
“I’ve understood everything,” Lin Que said calmly. “Can I have the next-level manuals now?”
“Oh?” An Xiaoyao raised her brows slightly in surprise, while Jiang Moqing frowned.
That was… quite the arrogant claim.
“You’re saying you truly understand it all?” An Xiaoyao asked.
“Mhmm.” Lin Que nodded.
“Then let me test you. What are your insights into the four sections of the first volume of the Sword Scripture?”
What followed was a rapid-fire exchange between master and disciple. Lin Que answered every question with precision, not only responding fluently but even extrapolating beyond what was asked.
Qin Wanyuan was stunned.
Lin Lang is actually this amazing…?
When she had first entered the inner sect, it had taken her nearly a whole year to make sense of just the sword manual and basic cultivation techniques. And even that had earned her the praise of the elders as a rare talent.
But Lin Que had grasped and mastered it all in just three months….and not just learned it, but thoroughly comprehended it.
What kind of monstrous talent did it take to achieve something like that?
And more terrifying still….Qin Wanyuan had been guided by instructors during her study, while Lin Que had done it all entirely on his own…
Truly terrifying.
In the dream, An Xiaoyao was visibly surprised. Then she smiled faintly and murmured to herself, “Old friend, you’ve truly sent me an extraordinary genius.”
After a moment of reflection, her gaze toward Lin Que softened slightly but then her eyes narrowed again. “This boy may possess outstanding talent, but his temperament still needs tempering.”
With that, she gestured for Jiang Moqing to step forward.
“Since you’ve already understood the contents of the Sword Scripture, it’s time you put it into practice.”
“Qing’er, exchange a few moves with him. Remember, keep it to a spar…no more than that.”
Jiang Moqing drew her sword without hesitation, pointing the tip straight at Lin Que’s chest.
Lin Que didn’t back down. He immediately unsheathed the iron sword he always kept cradled in his arms. The blade, worn from use, bore a few nicks, but there was neither bloodstain nor rust.
Clearly, while he didn’t care much for the scabbard’s appearance, he still maintained the blade itself with some care.
As the two swords met, the two who had until now been like parallel lines finally intersected in earnest.
So Senior Sister had that “draw first, talk later” attitude even back then, huh?
Qin Wanyuan couldn’t help but remark to herself.
The battle was about to begin.
At the time, both Lin Que and Jiang Moqing were still young, and their cultivation levels were not yet profound. Their clash didn’t shake the heavens like Qin Wanyuan’s duel earlier that day, but it was still far beyond the realm of ordinary mortals.
Their figures darted swiftly across the courtyard. The stone tiles shattered beneath their feet, and in an instant, the ground was covered with sword marks.
An Xiaoyao sat upright in the pavilion, watching the match with narrowed eyes, a flicker of amazement occasionally crossing her gaze.
Lin Que and Jiang Moqing exchanged over a hundred moves. At last, when the iron sword in Lin Que’s hand shattered, An Xiaoyao called out to stop, and the “spar” finally came to an end.
By then, Lin Que’s body was covered in bloodstreaks, his breathing ragged. The flesh between his thumb and forefinger had split open from the strain of holding his sword, blood blooming across his palm. Yet even so, he did not let go of the broken blade.
On the other side, Jiang Moqing was far less battered. Compared to Lin Que’s mangled iron sword, her own blade bore only a few nicks, and her sleeves were marked by just a handful of shallow cuts.
It looked very much like a decisive win for Jiang Moqing.
“Young master!” The maid hurried over to support him, concern written all over her face, but Lin Que raised a hand to stop her. The boy’s cold, steely eyes remained locked onto Jiang Moqing.
Jiang Moqing, however, simply lowered her gaze slightly, staring in silence at the nicks on her sword.
A moment later, she sheathed the blade, her eyes downcast.
“I lost.”
Upon hearing this, there was no particular surprise on An Xiaoyao’s face. She merely looked calmly at Jiang Moqing and asked, “Why?”
“I unconsciously used power beyond the current level of the duel. It can’t be counted as a win.”
Jiang Moqing answered softly.
As a bystander, Qin Wanyuan was completely stunned.
At the time, Lin Que had only been in the sect for three months. He hadn’t even formally received instruction from An Xiaoyao, and his cultivation was barely at the Qi Refining stage.
Jiang Moqing, on the other hand, was already at the peak of Foundation Establishment. She was a whole major realm above him.
Even though her cultivation was suppressed for the match, the difference in physical constitution remained. And yet, under those conditions, Lin Que had managed to push Jiang Moqing so hard that she unconsciously tapped into her full strength after just a few dozen exchanges.
Not only that…after she began using her true power, he still held his own for several dozen more moves, lasting all the way until An Xiaoyao called an end to the spar.
Watching all of this, Qin Wanyuan felt a mix of heartache, exasperation, and amusement.
Stupid Lin Lang… You scolded me before, but it turns out you’re even more stubborn than I am.
As she thought that, she suddenly remembered one of the character traits listed under Lin Que’s profile in the system’s attribute tab:
[The Sword is Everything (Past)]
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