Chapter Eighty-Eight: Great Gratitude

Those words were breathtakingly fierce, and absurdly brash.

So many young warriors had longed, almost desperate, for a single thread of fortune at the Scripture Hall Square, and yet had never managed to secure even the slightest trace of it. Why was it so effortless for you?

In truth, after witnessing so many strange things in Song Yue with their own eyes, several heirs of the Lin family chose to stay silent. They followed him quietly and wisely.

On the Scripture Hall Square, a whole crowd of young fighters no longer sat with troubled faces or furrowed brows. Instead, their faces were bright with excitement as they clustered together, animatedly discussing the recent clash of “hunting” and “counter-hunting.”

“It was a shame none of us got to see it. It was jaw-dropping!”

“Unprecedented! Truly once-in-a-lifetime! I’ve never seen any young grandmaster who hadn’t even reached the Grandmaster realm fight like that. Unheard of!”

“What do you think happened to Song Yue in the end?”

The men and women who had just witnessed the battle wore expressions both elated and afraid. They had seen history unfold, but the fear came from the terrifying strength that had exceeded their imagination.

Those who lingered there after the melee, looking baffled, asked, “Song Yue’s end? Of course they know—he had just used forbidden arts, then he must have been drained to the point of collapse. Surely the O clan surrounded him in force and killed him. He’s probably in pieces by now.”

“Maybe he’s still alive. Those people wanted to force him into revealing high-order forbidden techniques!” one offered.

“No way. He used forbidden techniques only moments ago—how could he not be weak? So many of them hunting a weakened grandmaster? Nothing could have gone wrong. As for being killed back? That’s a joke.”

“And the O family gathered so many people, then he turns and slaughters them? What on earth happened?”

The one who had seen it all then spoke in vivid detail. His account stunned everyone listening into silence. They were among the finest talents of the martial world, and yet none of them could even imagine what it had looked like.

Those who had missed it all felt they had missed a battle worthy of being written into legend.

While they were still talking noisily, Song Yue and Ling Xiaohan’s group walked in from the side.

Someone spotted them and shouted, “Song Yue is coming!”

The crowd froze for a second or two, and then—

Boom.

Like birds flushed from a startled flock, everyone scattered in an instant. In the blink of an eye the once-thriving square was empty.

Ling Xiaohan and the others looked at Song Yue with open disbelief.
He merely shrugged and said innocently, “Why do they all seem so scared of me?”

Qin Qi smiled lightly. “After today, we may not become very famous, and as the stories about you spread, we might be forgotten piece by piece until only you remain, the lone hero who single-handedly turned the tables on the dozens gathered by the O clan.”

She looked at him steadily and added, “You’re going to become famous, that’s certain.”

Song Yue gave a wry smile. He did not want fame of that kind, yet what she said might very well become true. People like to believe what they wish to believe.

But at that moment, Ling Xiaohan suddenly looked at him with hesitation and said, “I have this sudden feeling…”

“What is it?”

Song Yue, still calm, looked at the celestial-looking girl before him as if she had just spoken nonsense.

“The aura you had in battle—I felt I recognized it.”

“Was it because of the heroic might pouring out from me, did it daunt you?” he asked seriously.

“Whatever,” she snapped.

Ling Xiaohan rolled her eyes and banished the little doubt lingering in her heart. She only felt Song Yue resembled, just a little, that arrogant “martial saint” she had encountered in a virtual world—though not exactly. Besides, Song Yue was from Earth. She had been there once. Though Earth had advanced greatly under the aid of high-tech planets like Tianyue, it still lagged far behind.

In a world like Tianyue, virtual-reality arcades are commonplace; on Earth, they’re probably still rare curiosities.

As for mechs… there cannot be many there, likely very few at all.

So no, it couldn’t possibly be one person.

When several of them entered the Scripture Hall, they easily let their spiritual bodies slip out and cross through the gateway.

There were indeed innumerable cultivation manuals in that hall, and these people had high standards of perception. Ling Xiaohan and Qin Qi both practiced both arts and martial arts, while Bai Qi and Lei Ming followed pure martial cultivation.

Song Yue didn’t know much about the two young women’s background, but he saw them drift through the shelves like casual visitors, not picking up even one text before leaving. He suspected that their own cultivation level was already high enough that nothing there was of interest.

Bai Qi and Lei Ming chose a few books too, but made no move to take them. They looked, committed what mattered into their spiritual-recognition seas, and returned them.

Lei Ming explained to Song Yue, “You can take them out, but this is how we all do it. Talismans, weapons—anything attuned to one’s fate can be carried away. They’ll stand beside us on the battlefield and take down enemies. Scripture manuals and cultivation methods, unless one needs a physical original for repeated study, can simply be imprinted on the sea of consciousness.”

Song Yue nodded in understanding.

It was a way to leave opportunity for those who came later. Otherwise everyone would strip the place bare and newcomers would find only empty shelves and then complain bitterly about earlier generations.

He, too, searched the shelves carefully.

The Lin clan had many martial cultivators, and many practitioners of the Five Elements. Song Yue first selected several advanced martial cultivation methods suited to the Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster levels, some of which could be practiced all the way to the Huaying and Fenshen stages. That alone was enough for a mortal family: to hold even a few such methods was sufficient for inheritance.

Then he selected a few more that could also be pursued to Huaying and Fenshen, and like Bai Qi and Lei Ming, imprinted them into his spiritual-recognition sea so he could copy them later and send them to the Lin family.

Soon, his sea stirred lightly, and he looked up, feeling something above the nearest shelf tugging at his awareness.

He drifted to the highest shelf and found, in a corner, several ancient jade slips that looked as though someone had deliberately heaped them there. Curious, he reached for one and found his hand grasping nothing.

Intriguing.

What was this? The randomly stacked jade slips were sealed by a strange array. Visible, but untouchable.

Bai Qi and Lei Ming had copied a few methods and left.

As they departed, Bai Qi reminded Song Yue: “Don’t take too much. Martial cultivation warns against dabbling in too many things at once. The dream of mastering everything from everyone is noble but naive—one becomes a jack of all arts and master of none.”

Song Yue smiled and thanked him, saying he had made a small discovery and would be leaving soon.

Bai Qi and Lei Ming went off quietly. Alone now, Song Yue kept trying to find the array’s frequency and quickly managed to break that small sealing pattern.

When he opened one slip, he found it was itself array-sealed as well.

This was getting excessive.
What kind of jade slips required layer upon layer of seals?
For martial cultivators, this was hardly friendly.

In some other tomb-palaces he wouldn’t have found it strange, but in a place sealed off from all techniques like this, this arrangement was bewildering.

Unmoved, Song Yue kept trying to break the jade-seal patterns. He ran the Tiansun Mental Technique while applying the method his master, Master Fu, had taught him. Time flew. After nearly an hour, he finally broke the first seal.

“Great Gale Canon?”

He frowned slightly. On reading it he found this was an extremely obscure and deeply profound wind-class scripture.

Wind-class? That scripture seemed much more fitting for my brother Qian than for me.
He felt a flash of delight.

Then he decoded the seals on the others. They were all high-level manuals for advanced cultivators:
The Canon of Commanding Waters, the Great Taiyi Five-Thunder Method, the Elixir Canon, the Scripture of Boundless Fire Control, and the Alchemical Book.
With the Great Gale Canon already decoded, that made six scriptures in all.

To Song Yue, their teachings were all far too abstruse. Only the Great Taiyi Five-Thunder Method felt relatable; while studying it, he even found echoes with his Thunder Fist, making it seem as if he could push its power further.

The others—Great Gale, Commanding Waters—left him lost.

Still, these texts were certainly of extremely high level.

He planned to hand-copy a set for the Lin family.

On one hand, the Lin clan had indeed been generous—without Lin Huan and the Lin family, he would never have traveled across the stars to Tianyue, let alone have this chance to explore this ancient tomb-palace. Their later conduct also proved the family’s character.

Gratitude demanded return.

On the other hand, such supreme texts were useless to most. Without the right aptitude, even if placed in your hands they are like divine script, unreadable and unassimilable.

Each character in those pages was ancient divine script, saturated with incomprehensible principles of the Great Way. A common cultivator could hardly benefit from them even if they had them.

He hoped the Lin family would produce a few brilliant geniuses in time and remember this gesture.

As for the Elixir Canon, the Scripture of Boundless Fire Control, and the Alchemical Book, they seemed clearly prepared for alchemists. Song Yue intended to give them to Wenyu later, to see if she had the talent and affinity for them.

He didn’t bother with courtesy. He simply took those jade slips with him.

When he emerged, the local law of time seemed to halt. The Lin family descendants who had entered with him had no awareness of passing moments; their memories were frozen at the instant they had arrived.

Song Yue turned to them. “Let’s go back.”

Lin Wenbo and the others looked utterly confused. They exchanged uncertain glances—didn’t he come only to fetch a few scriptures?
Why leave so soon?

Song Yue offered no explanation, only smiled at Ling Xiaohan and the others and headed for the city’s outskirts.

Only after they had completely vanished did some people dare to sneak back and breathe out in relief.

The terrible slayer was finally gone.

Outside, survivors from the O clan side had already fled from inside.
None of them dared to stay in the tomb complex.
Several Great Grandmasters had died in succession. Even O Qiang himself had fallen there. The rest had been broken and terrified by Song Yue. Their hatred was immense, and their fear had sunk to the bone.

They had once sought Song Yue for the family’s task, to claim tempting rewards.
Now they hated him deeply—and were afraid of him to the marrow.

So when they came out, they didn’t even linger near the altar. They quickly climbed aboard their family’s aircraft left in the area and left at once.

That was why when Song Yue’s party emerged, not a single O-clan member was to be seen.

At the edge of the grounds, Song Yue and Ling Xiaohan parted company with them.

“We’ve already exchanged contacts. When you go there, contact us first. We’ll come and fetch you,” Ling Xiaohan said, then boarded with Qin Qi and others an unmarked butterfly-shaped craft.

Song Yue watched it rise and vanish into emptiness—almost as if it had left Tianyue entirely.

“Let’s leave too,” Song Yue said to Lin Wenbo.

Once aboard the craft the Lin clan had prepared, Lin Wenbo cautiously asked, “Who were those people? They seemed very powerful—not like anyone I’d seen on Tianyue.”

Song Yue thought for a moment. “I suppose they were… net acquaintances? I’m not sure where they really come from, though I did see Lin Han with them once, in the food district.”

What the hell?
Lin Wenbo looked utterly unbelieving. To him, a single online acquaintance helping like that was impossible.
Yet Song Yue had mentioned Lin Han’s name without hesitation, and appeared sincere enough.
For an ordinary man, he could not fathom the logic of genius circles. He could only shrug at his own inability to understand.

Back at the Lin estate, Lin Tinan greeted Song Yue immediately.

Only the two men were in the reception hall. Lin Tinan’s face was solemn as he asked, “On the O side… they truly did act?”
“I heard their losses were heavy. On my way, I received word from their side. Their whole family is in uproar.”

Song Yue looked at him. “I’m sorry for bringing trouble to the Lin family.”

Lin Tinan waved it away. “That doesn’t matter. You are our guest. No matter what, the Lin family of Tianyue must protect you fully. The O clan has crossed too far this time. Settling by death for death and debt has its place, but between you and the O clan, there is no chain of evidence proving you did what they allege.”

“I did it.”

Lin Tinan looked at him sharply. “How can you be so straightforward? In a matter with no witnesses, why admit guilt? O Ping might still be alive and well in the Kunlun Secret Realm.”

“In the Western Secret Realm, it was the O clan who first launched a strange assault on you. As for O Yong’s disappearance—who can say he didn’t escape with those great elixirs in hand?”

Lin Tinan spoke gravely: “So all this is the O clan fabricating blame against you, do you understand?”

Song Yue felt a deep warmth. Through this chain of events he had come to understand that the Lin family truly protected him in sincerity.
To lie before such an elder was uncouth.
Yet Lin Tinan’s reaction still warmed him all the same.

But he had one question.

“Lin-uncle…”
“Call me just Uncle Lin.”

“Uncle Lin, isn’t the Lin and O clans allies within the same faction? Why would your family go to such lengths to guard an outsider like me?”

Uncle Lin laughed. “I was wondering when you would ask. You’re right—you are indeed an outsider. Everyone is speculating about your relation to Lin Huan. I have wondered too, whether someday you might become Lin Huan’s son-in-law.”

“But that is not the main reason your family defended you.”

He went on more candidly, meeting Song Yue’s gaze.

“The Lin and O families belong to the same camp, and yes, we were once allies. But in recent years, the O clan’s moral standard has gradually declined. Their methods have grown increasingly forceful and domineering. In several fields the two families still cooperate, but there is competition, too.

If competition stays orderly, nothing terrible would happen. Sadly, in recent years their methods have turned ugly.
Since the current O patriarch took charge, their behavior is unlike what it used to be. The whole family has become full of rough temper.
In commercial dealings, they once solved matters with normal channels; now they employ off-the-record schemes, sometimes with no restraint.

The Lin family has suffered many losses and protested many times. They ignored us and continued as if we were nothing.

Even without your presence, a split between us and the O family was a question of time.”

Song Yue heard and understood. He saw the reasons clearly:
The Lin leaders did cherish him, and that was reason enough for their obvious support.
Yet beneath that, there was also a strategic struggle between two once-close great houses drifting apart.

“Don’t worry about anything,” said Lin Tinan.
“When you return, I’ll have it arranged for you to leave Tianyue secretly and go back to Earth. There, it is your own domain; their reach won’t stretch so far.”

Through it all, Lin Tinan had never asked about what Song Yue had gained from the tomb. They had clearly not put much hope in it.
Perhaps he had learned some details through Lin Wenbo and avoided the question to spare Song Yue embarrassment.
If they do not ask, Song Yue need not volunteer.

Song Yue asked for a room, paper, and writing tools.
“Preferably paper that does not rot. Digital devices may not be safe for this sort of record.”

“What? You really gained something in the tomb? Wenbo said you got nothing.”

Lin Tinan sounded puzzled, then more seriously: “Child, the Lin clan does not lack cultivation methods. You needn’t bring out your own.”

Song Yue smiled, realizing the misunderstanding. He had thought the old man believed he was gifting his own methods.
“Uncle Lin, I did obtain opportunities in that tomb. The process isn’t easy to explain in full. But not the way Wenbo saw it.”

Lin Tinan paused, then laughed softly. “So Lin Huan truly recognized you.”

Song Yue had no answer.

Lin Tinan ordered a quiet room prepared and sheets of pure-gold paper.
He also brought out a high-tech device and personally taught Song Yue how to activate and use it.
“It isn’t connected to any network. You can use it freely. Etch the texts into this gold, and they’ll last a long time.”

He left.

Song Yue stared at the stack of golden plates in silence. He had planned to copy everything by hand, and Uncle Lin had prepared this instead.
Utter extravagance.

Soon he engraved all the martial manuals and cultivation texts he had selected.
Then he engraved the Great Gale Canon, Commanding Waters, Great Taiyi Five-Thunder Method, Elixir Canon, Scripture of Boundless Fire Control, and the Alchemical Book as well.
How many members of the Lin family might one day receive true opportunity from this—he could not know. At least he left them here.

When Lin Tinan returned and saw the stack of densely engraved gold plates, he was stunned for a moment. Unless he truly knew Song Yue, he might think the boy had been carving them simply for amusement. The act of engraving beautiful strokes onto gold was indeed a satisfying pastime.

Though he knew Song Yue was not that type.
Still, seeing so much he thought to himself, the Lin head of household felt a strange weight.
He was no prodigy, despite his rank as clan master.
He had spent so little time training that he had only reached early Penetration Realm after so many years.

Yet his discernment of martial scriptures was sharp. He could sense quality in one glance.

At first he looked at the manuals suitable for the Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster stages; his expression quickly grew serious.
Then he studied the cultivation methods and became even more so.
When he finally looked up at Song Yue, it was not as before.
If earlier he had found Song Yue merely an excellent-looking junior, now his eyes were filled with gratitude.

He rose and, with full seriousness, knelt and saluted Song Yue.

Song Yue stepped aside. “Uncle Lin, you don’t need to do that. Not necessary.”

“It is necessary.”

His tone was firm. “Any one of these manuals or methods could establish the Lin lineage for generations.”

Song Yue nodded.

Lin Tinan continued: “I earlier called you blunt and too honest. Do you realize by giving out this much at once, their value may seem diminished?”

Song Yue smiled. “Uncle Lin won’t think that, will he?”

Lin Tinan exhaled, troubled. “I am already worrying about how the Lin family can repay you.”

Song Yue said, “I had asked Lin Huan whether she could get us the most advanced mechs.”

At that, Lin Tinan’s eyes brightened. “How many units?”

Song Yue almost laughed at himself. “Would one full battle unit and its full set of parts be too much?”

“One only?” he asked.

Song Yue smiled. “One is enough.”

Lin Tinan shook his head. “No. One mech, even the most advanced, is not worth one-hundredth of a single manual from this pile.”

He instinctively picked up one of the gold plates etched with the Great Gale Canon, looked at it for a moment, then froze. His brows knit deeply. After a while he put it down.

“What is written here?” he asked, frowning. “I can’t read the characters. I can’t even access them through spirit force.”

“Probably ancient script,” Song Yue replied.

Lin Tinan thought a moment. “May I ask one of our elder elders to take a look?”

“These are now the Lin family’s,” Song Yue said. “You may decide as you wish.”

Uncle Lin felt instinctively these were worth far beyond what he had just examined.

He quickly sent a summons. At first the other side seemed reluctant, insisting they could not casually disturb ancestral cultivators in deep retreat. Their tone was brusque, even toward the clan head.

Yet once Lin Tinan explained the matter, though still unwilling, they agreed to pass along the request.

As they waited, Lin Tinan explained with a half-smile, “Great cultivators deep in high realms avoid worldly affairs. Even their attendants are difficult, and their tempers are terrible. We can’t afford to offend them.”

Then a voice interrupted:
“Is that brat back there bad-mouthing elders, too?”
It sounded as though from afar, but in moments a figure appeared and entered unannounced.

What came into view was a youth of strikingly tall build.
A youth? Yet his voice sounded old, and with that pretty face the contrast felt eerie.

He looked at Song Yue:
“Liu, if you don’t bring out something new today, I’ll smack you flat!”

Then he added to Song Yue with equal bluntness:
“Is this one of our Lin descendants too? He already looks near my level in appearance!”

Song Yue merely smiled inwardly. Insolent to the core—I look better than you.

Lin Tinan hurriedly introduced him. This was the guest invited by the Lin family, the one who had brought out so many manuals and methods from the tomb; among them were some he could not read and wished the patriarch’s elder to examine.

The youth-like patriarch of the Lin lineage spoke without restraint, “This young man has a good disposition and strong fortune. He even took out this much? But he is too straightforward. Bringing so much makes it feel as though it is all worth less.”

Song Yue said, “Returning favor with favor. The Lin family has treated me well.”

A faint smile crossed the elder’s clear face. He nodded slightly, then picked up the plainer manuals and methods and reviewed them quickly.

“They are excellent. Truly excellent. A hundred times better than what the Lin family currently transmits.”

After looking through them one by one, his eyes shifted toward Song Yue again, different from before.
Then he turned to Lin Tinan and said, “Does our house have a girl close to his age? Pick the finest-looking one and marry him. This young man is formidable. More importantly, he is sound in both character and disposition. We must keep him. Do not let him slip away.”

Song Yue felt a wave of private horror. He stood there like a live statue. Was this really being said with him right in front of it?
Lin Tinan, however, seemed to take it as advice and answered, “He was invited by Lin Huan.”

“Who is Lin Huan?” the young-looking patriarch frowned. Then he waved it off. “That matters little. Whatever he asks, prepare it. These manuals and methods alone are enough to keep the Lin family flourishing for generations. We owe him too much.”

Lin Tinan nodded. “We called you mainly so you could inspect these…” He pointed to the gold plates engraved with the Great Gale Canon, Commanding Waters, and the rest.

The patriarch took up the Great Gale Canon. His expression turned grave at once.
For several long minutes he stood still like a statue, saying nothing, unmoving.

Song Yue thought, Is it really that difficult?
Though he had found the text nearly impenetrable, he could still sense, in its symbols and principles, its immense level.

After twenty minutes, he finally let out a long breath. Red streaks showed in the clear eyes.
He turned to Song Yue.

“You… do you know what this is?”

“The wind-class scripture,” Song Yue answered. “It is highly obscure. Hard to understand. I’m just a fighter; I am not suited to practicing this.”

The elder stared at him in silence.

He was almost tempted to strike him.
This youngster knows exactly what this is!
And he even calls himself a fighter.
Could a fighter imprint such a sacred thing into the spiritual sea and transcribe it cleanly? No.

He had lived through long years of cultivation; he had never even heard rumors of such a deviant warrior.

“It is incredibly precious.”

After a long hesitation, the old elder sighed and said it plainly.

Song Yue had known what it was and yet handed it over without hesitation. Such character and breadth are rare beyond words.

Lin Tinan looked confused.

The elder gave a bitter smile: “For just this one scripture, the Lin family cannot be bought.”

Lin Tinan drew a sharp breath. He could barely believe his kin.
The Lin clan was a truly sprawling trillion-tier family.
Could such a lineage fail to buy this?
Yet the elder ignored his disbelief.

“I see no point in arguing. The Lin family cannot properly practice this now. Forced attempts at comprehension would only waste decades and years.”

He looked at the others with a look of regret, then turned and skimmed the rest.

This time he was done more quickly, but the look he gave Song Yue then was like someone staring at a beast.

He asked, almost against his will, “Do you truly understand their value?”

Song Yue shrugged. “Elder, I think you underestimated me.”

The elder was briefly taken aback by Song Yue’s composure.

Song Yue then said with unusual frankness:
“No matter how powerful a method is, no matter how grand a transmission is, it still needs someone to learn it. I may be insignificant, but I too have been observing the Lin family.
I truly believe this family can deserve such inheritance. Even if none of you can read them now, one day, sooner or later, someone will.”

The elder inhaled deeply and looked at Song Yue. “Dao-companion, you are right. I was mistaken.
Your kindness will not be forgotten. From now on, for anything you may need, and whenever it is needed, you may call upon the Lin family resources without restraint.”

Turning to Lin Tinan, he added, “Xiao Nanzi, I may have overstepped.”

Lin Tinan was thrilled. To make such a detached, worldly-detached ancestor respond this way showed just how important these texts were.
He said, “Elder, you are, after all, the true master of this clan. The Lin family’s brilliance was all built by you once.”

The elder gave a small shake of the head. “Brilliant? It is but a drop in the sea.”

Then he looked at Song Yue again. “Great favors need no thanks. My words earlier were too rash and reckless. I hope you do not mind.”

Song Yue replied, “You overpraise me.
I am only a young latecomer. By chance I obtained these blessings and left them for the Lin family to show my gratitude for your protection and care.”

Lin Tinan briefly summarized the chain of conflict with the O family for the elder.
In the end he said with a sour smile, “Wenbo told me everything afterward. Almost the entire ordeal was Song Yue handling alone.”

The elder frowned. “The O family’s conduct is truly disgraceful. I’ll make one visit.”

Before anyone could speak, he had vanished in a blur.

Lin Tinan and Song Yue stood there, speechless.

That day, a quake shook the O clan.
Someone had gone directly to their gate and stirred one of their elders from years of retreat. A violent clash erupted; an O elder was beaten until he vomited blood, while the other party left calmly.
The rumor spread across Tianyue in an instant. Everyone speculated about who that unbeatable figure had been.

Remarkable.
To ride alone into the O clan and blood an elder dry—so audacious it was absurd.

That night the Lin elder himself shared a meal with Song Yue, and they exchanged much more information.

Early the next day the O clan released a strange announcement:

- O Ping, a young member of the O clan, has remained in Earth’s Kunlun Secret Realm and not returned. This is a grave betrayal and an outrage. He is expelled from the family as a warning to all.
- O Yong, while collecting medicinal herbs for the elders on Earth, misappropriated the great elixirs and also remained in the Western Secret Realm without returning. This too is a grave betrayal. He is expelled from the family as a warning.
- O family elder O Yuanfu has unlawfully intimidated innocent Earth fighters, harming the O clan’s reputation. Considering his later repentance, and because he has already been exiled, he will not be further punished; however, he is never to be placed in office again.
- During the tomb incident, O family scion O Qiang rashly mobilized numerous fighters to maliciously target Song Yue, a young Earth martial practitioner. This harmed the O family’s honor. As O Qiang is dead, no further punishment will be imposed. The O clan as a whole apologizes to Song Yue and offers compensation for losses caused.

The notice spread rapidly and caused a storm.
Many asked: Who is Song Yue? And what is the relation between him and the one who rode alone into the O clan?

The Lin elder said to Song Yue, who had come to express thanks, “This is a small matter. It cost me little effort, nowhere near what you have done for this family. I have suppressed this for now, but I know some in the O clan act out of necessity, if not preference. They may revert in future. For the moment they will not target you again.”

Song Yue thanked him again.

After that he prepared to leave the Lin family and go to a resource-rich planet to visit his father and brother.
Lin Tinan even sent a starship with him.

Song Yue considered it far too costly. An interstellar vessel like that exists only in handfuls across Earth.
For an ordinary boy, to possess one is beyond gaudy—it is extravagant beyond reason.
Yet he could not refuse. Lin Tinan also told him there were one hundred newest mechs in it, with all matching equipment and spare parts.

“Anything you lack,” Lin Tinan said, “call Lin Huan. We can ship whatever you need at any time.”

As for Lin Huan and her sibling Lin Han, this few days of dizzying headlines had left them completely bewildered. They still did not know what Song Yue had truly given the Lin family—enough to wake an elder of decades-long seclusion and prompt such heavy repayment.

But one thing had changed: Lin Huan, once an unremarkable heiress, had suddenly become the center of attention. Those peers and cousins who once competed with her now greeted her with exaggerated courtesy.

On the verge of parting, Song Yue first thanked Lin Han—the one who had always tried to become his future uncle-in-law.
He quietly told him that the Lin family had obtained some excellent cultivation methods, and if he wanted to rise in the future, he should begin trying them early.
He also informed Lin Huan, feeling that if she could grasp it, the Scripture of Boundless Fire Control would suit her well.

At that time, Lin Huan still did not grasp how miraculous those texts truly were, but if they could move an entire clan to such gratitude, they could not be ordinary.
She smiled and readily agreed.

Finally, they promised to drink together some other day.

Song Yue boarded the starship. The fully autonomous vessel rose slowly from the base, like a gigantic city of cold steel, exhaling a chill aura before vanishing into deep space.

---

A very large chapter for today.

May the great motherland prosper, and happy National Day to all.

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