“Breakthrough? To the realm of True Essence?” Fu Chengyu was so shocked that he did not notice the injury on Ling Yichen’s chest. He never would have thought that Ling Yichen would breakthrough to the realm of True Essence so soon, and it had happened so quickly too.
“Yes.” Ling Yichen nodded. Since nobody had noticed it, he subtly pulled his shirt to cover the injury. He did not want to let Senior Brother and the rest worry, and did not want to drag him into this either.
“That’s fantastic, to actually breakthrough just like that.” Fu Chengyu thumped Ling Yichen’s shoulder affectionately, genuinely happy for him.
“Big Brother Fu, Baili, you both need to work hard. If you don’t, you won’t be able to catch up to these two monsters,” Lan Xinyu jokingly said to them.
“I always… work hard. Don’t worry… I will definitely… catch up… to them,” Baili Han said confidently.
“You only know how to tell others to improve, what about yourself?” Ling Chuxi whacked Lan Xinyu’s shoulder disapprovingly.
“Bullying people again. Do you really consider me your elder sister?” Lan Xinyu didn’t manage to avoid the hit and muttered aggrievedly.
“More like younger sister.” Ling Chuxi rolled her eyes.
“Hmph, I’m too lazy to correct you now. Wait till I’m promoted to the realm of True Essence, just see how I deal with you then,” Lan Xinyu declared. She was obviously slightly older than Ling Chuxi, but she could never beat her at verbal sparring.
“Since you’ve said that, shouldn’t I take advantage of this time before you’re promoted to properly deal with you? That way, when the time comes, I wouldn’t feel so bad even if I was being bullied,” Ling Chuxi said contemplatively, looking like she was deep in thought.
“Y-You’re joking, right?” Lan Xinyu asked uneasily when she saw Ling Chuxi’s serious face.
“When have I ever joked with you?” Ling Chuxi asked with a serene smile.
“Don’t—I was just kidding!” Lan Xinyu immediately turned around and started running.
“But I was serious!” Ling Chuxi lunged towards her.
Another wave of sand and stones were kicked up, and miserable wails rang out through the night.
The others watched this familiar scene and followed them, amused.
Seeing the two figures that were horsing around, Ling Yichen sighed softly. The words he had wanted to say were left unspoken.
However, very quickly, he raised his head again. The bit of regret that was left in his heart soon faded away. Maybe some words should just remain in his heart; Accompanying and protecting her was enough for him.
…
For the next few days, Ling Chuxi and the rest waited for news from Mo Kongyuan and the others. After a few days of recuperating, Ling Yichen’s injuries had already recovered.
Seeing Ling Yichen promoted to the realm of True Essence, Baili Han and the rest cultivated even harder. However, Baili Han was at the Great Fulfilment Advanced stage and Lan Xinyu was at the Great Fulfilment Primary stage, so to breakthrough within such a short period of time was clearly impossible.
Not long after, news of Ding Lin Country’s surrender spread throughout the countries. Ding Lin Country’s emperor abdicated, and all the descendants of the royal family were sent to various countries, conferred as dukes with different family names to live out the rest of their lives. As for Ding Lin Country’s territory, it was also divided among the five countries.
The Ding Lin Country that had once held the title of sovereign country for over a hundred years had dissolved just like that.
The raging and brutal war had ended.
The dust had finally settled.
When the news arrived at the capital, almost no one dared to believe it. Considering the strength of the country, its army, and the cultivation of Wu Feng Hall, Ding Lin Country possessed the capital to fight to the death with the other countries. How could it have been wiped out so quickly?
Only Ling Chuxi and the others knew the true reason. Under the joint forces of the few guardians, Ding Lin’s royal family wanted to keep the heritage of their bloodline, and thus were only left with this choice.