Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

Tan Lin stroked the cool jade slip.

In the end, he flipped his hand and put it away, sealing it along with the original essence of the primordial spirit body before absorbing it into his body's sacral sea.

He slowly turned around, looked up at the boundless starry sky, his gaze becoming deep and calm again, all his emotions completely suppressed.

hum...

And at this moment,

Ripples spread across the void before the cliff, from which emerged a peerless beauty in a jade-green gauze dress.

Da...da...

Chi Yao stood on the edge of the cliff, her green skirt fluttering in the wind, like a quietly blooming lotus.

She didn't look at Tan Lin, but instead cast her gaze into the depths of the sea of ​​clouds where her sister had disappeared. Her clear, bright eyes were now as calm as a deep pool, without a ripple.

Tan Lin stopped in his tracks and looked at her.

Chi Yao then slowly turned her gaze back to him and met his eyes.

The two were only a few steps apart, yet it felt as if they were separated by hundreds of years and an indescribable complex entanglement.

The last time they were alone like this at Hedao Cliff was on a rainy night. She came with an umbrella, and in the end, she gave the umbrella to him.

But it's unknown whether the other party still has it.

So many years have passed, perhaps it has already been destroyed by some accident?

Splash...

The cliff top was silent for a moment, with only the mournful sound of the wind.

Chi Yao's gaze was calm, so calm that it was almost indifferent.

She looked Tan Lin up and down for a moment, her gaze finally settling on his hand that had been holding the Origin and had not yet retracted.

"She gave it to me."

Chi Yao spoke, her voice clear and melodious, devoid of any discernible emotion; it was a statement, not a question.

Tan Lin nodded:

"Correct."

Chi Yao paused for a moment, then asked:

"You spent a month with her?"

"Yes."

"Is she... still happy?"

Chi Yao asked the question knowing the answer already.

Standing there, Tan Lin looked into the depths of her seemingly calm eyes, where a fleeting hint of sisterly tenderness and helplessness lingered, and whispered:

"All I know is that she laughed a lot this month."

Upon hearing this, Chi Yao's lips twitched slightly, as if she wanted to laugh, but it ultimately turned into a faint bitterness.

She shifted her gaze and looked at the sea of ​​clouds again, her profile appearing somewhat lonely in the sunlight above the cliff.

“She has always been like this since she was a child. Once she has decided on something or someone, she will go all in and never turn back, even if she hits a wall.”

Chi Yao spoke softly, as if talking to herself:

"She may seem lively and carefree, but she's actually incredibly stubborn. I advised her that the path to enlightenment is long and the world is full of words, but the word 'love' is the most hurtful. It would be better to focus on spiritual cultivation."

But as she gained more experience and matured, she said, "If one cultivates the Tao until one's heart is as hard as stone, seeing all the splendor yet having no close friends to accompany one, what is the point of achieving immortality?"

She paused, turned back, and her gaze returned to Tan Lin's face, sharpening and scrutinizing him.

"Brother, do you think what she said is correct?"

Tan Lin met her gaze without looking away, and instead repeated what he had said to Chi Xuan earlier:

"Walking the path alone is the norm, but it is fortunate to find one or two kindred spirits to walk alongside you. However, life is unpredictable."

However, my dear sister Xuan'er... has a sincere nature, and there's a reason for it, a connection that leads to her..."

"A fortunate thing..."

Chi Yao pondered these two words, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes. It was unclear whether she was mocking him, the world, or the unclear "fortune" itself.

She changed the subject, saying instead:

"Since she has already given it to you, then I have no objection to it either."

As soon as he finished speaking,

She said no more, pointing her fingers like a sword, her fingertips also swirling with the hazy radiance unique to the innate Dao embryo.

Her cultivation was above Chi Xuan's, and her divine radiance at this moment was even more solid and profound than what Chi Xuan had just displayed, carrying a serene and ocean-like innate Daoist charm.

Without the slightest hesitation, she lightly touched the altar between her eyebrows with her jade-like fingers.

laugh……

A soft sound, even more noticeable than when Chi Xuan was peeled away.

A small, dove-egg-sized, radiant, and spiritually powerful primordial light cluster was slowly drawn out from the depths of the Sendai.

The moment of peeling,

Chi Yao's delicate body trembled slightly, her beautiful face instantly losing all color, turning as pale as paper, and her breath visibly weakened.

His cultivation level, which was originally at the late stage of Quasi-Emperor, showed signs of decline.

But her expression remained calm, without even a furrowed brow. She simply used her other hand to quickly retrieve the jade bottle Tan Lin had given her a month ago, the one containing a portion of the essence of the ancient tea tree from the Enlightenment Tea Tree.

Without hesitation, he shattered the seal and absorbed the hazy, chaotic essence of the divine medicine, imbued with the Daoist principles, into his body.

A surge of potent medicinal essence rushed in, barely stabilizing her rapidly declining health, and her complexion regained a slight rosy hue.

But since it wasn't the refining of the divine medicine itself, the weakness originating from the source couldn't be remedied in a short time.

…………

Chapter 267 Hoping Brother can give Xuan'er a result in the future (Please subscribe!)

wow...

At the top of Hedao Cliff,

Chi Yao held the ball of her own innate Dao embryo in her slender palm, her gaze calmly fixed on Tan Lin:

"With the Great Way before us, all external things can be relinquished."

Xuan'er is simple-minded; all she desires is a single thought. I am different. My heart lies in the Dao, in immortality, and in overlooking all the heavens and myriad realms…”

As she spoke, she gently pushed the source towards Tan Lin:

"Take it, I hope you will use it well and not let down... her... devotion."

Tan Lin reached out and took it.

Chi Yao's origin is more powerful than Chi Xuan's, and the spiritual principles contained within it are also more profound.

hum...

Perhaps it was some kind of pull from their shared mother, but the primordial spirit essence he had absorbed into his sea of ​​consciousness was slightly fluctuating.

He raised his hand, and instantly two primordial energies converged in his palm, swirling and trembling slightly, their radiance flowing and reflecting each other.

Holding these two clumps of essence, each carrying different sentiments yet equally weighty, Tan Lin was overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

If he had a choice, given the past grievances between Li Qingjue and Chi Xuan, he would never have come to Beidou to "trade" his essence with these two beauties.

Although he himself had no intention of humiliating anyone, the very fact of the matter was itself a form of humiliation for Chi Xuan.

Therefore, he, Tianbingxing, unearthed the essence of his indestructible golden body, but Li Qingjue resolutely refused to accept it...

Things in this world are always like this; it's difficult to please everyone in every aspect.

But in reality, even if he had no other choice, if he also harbored such deep feelings for Chi Xuan and Chi Yao, he probably wouldn't have come here.

From the very beginning, the two sides were not on equal footing.

Of course, what surprised and shocked him the most was Chi Xuan's choice to hand over her essence to him even after she saw through his transaction...

It's not just Chi Xuan,

At this moment, he looked at Chi Yaoyu's pale face, yet her back remained straight, and saw the clear and resolute Dao heart in her eyes.

He took a slow, deep breath and then said:

“My dear sister, I will remember this matter. If in the future…”

He wanted to say that if he needed anything in the future, he would not refuse to do so, as long as it was within his power.

This is almost a promise.

however,

Before he could finish speaking, Chi Yao gently shook her head, interrupting him:

"Brother, there's no need for promises. Today's matter serves two purposes: first, to fulfill our promise; second, to satisfy Xuan'er's wishes; and third... to settle a past obsession of mine."

From this day forward, we are even...

Her words were clear and calm, cutting off all possible follow-up at this moment.

Hearing this, Tan Lin remained silent.

He understood what Chi Yao meant.

Having witnessed Chi Xuan's deep love before, she felt profoundly moved, which led to the growth of a self-contradictory sense of alienation.

As the saying goes, hesitation only leads to trouble. After gaining clarity of mind and understanding of her true nature, she no longer wished to maintain those complex emotions and have any further entanglements with him.

Today, she chose to end it in this way.

At that moment, gazing upon the woman's beautiful and resolute eyes, Tan Lin swallowed back the words he was about to say, and then simply bowed respectfully:

“In that case, I, Tan, will take my leave. Take care, my dear sister.”

After saying this, he took one last look at Chi Yao, then turned around and prepared to leave.

however,

Just as he turned around, preparing to take a step and traverse the void to return,

clatter……

Behind me, a faint breeze, carrying the cool and delicate fragrance of plum blossoms, suddenly brushed closer.

Unbeknownst to Chi Yao, she had quietly stepped forward and come to his side.

Tan Lin's heart stirred slightly, and he turned to look.

What came into view was Chi Yao's eyes, so close yet seemingly containing a thousand stars within their calm gaze.

Right now,

She looked at him, and as the older sister, compared to Chi Xuan, her eyes didn't hold the same fervent and intense affection for Tan Lin as her younger sister's. Instead, there was something more complex and difficult to understand in them.

It's like the calm after hundreds of years of time settling down, or like a deep-seated, unspoken stirring in one's heart.

The next moment,

Under Tan Lin's slightly surprised gaze,

Chi Yao tiptoed slightly, then raised her stunningly beautiful face, closed her eyes, and gently pressed her cool, soft lips against his cheek.

Instantly separate.

It was so fast it felt like an illusion.

But that instantaneous icy touch, and that wisp of Chi Yao's unique, cool fragrance lingering around Tan Lin's nose, felt incredibly real.

clatter……

After the kiss, Chi Yao took a step back and distanced herself again.

Her face remained largely expressionless throughout, but a faint, captivating blush appeared visibly on the tips of her fair ears.