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

It's time to put this hound of the Human Emperor's Palace to good use after keeping it for so long...

…………

Inside the ring, in nothingness and chaos.

Once it was confirmed that the crisis had passed, Tan Lin deactivated the [Reverse·All Causes Vision] state.

In an instant, the crimson-gray mist that had enveloped his remnant soul spread out, and on the barrier of the Soul Pearl of All Causes, lines of cause and effect reappeared.

At this time.

Outside, the little girl with pigtails seemed to recall something, and then cautiously asked the location of the bronze ring:

"Are you... are you still there?"

Upon hearing this, Tan Lin did not respond immediately. His main focus was still on the copper plate, and he painfully fiddled with the dark crimson dot in his palm that had obviously dimmed considerably.

It is worth mentioning that in the [Reverse Causes Perspective] state, those causal lines do not actually disappear.

This is merely a concealment ability of the Soul Pearl after its transformation, which can temporarily and flawlessly hide its existence from the "experiences" of the selected causal object.

As the host of the Soul Pearl, he could still see those invisible lines in this state, which allowed him to keep track of the gray-robed Taoist's movements and avoid danger.

However, the cost is that maintaining this state results in twice the rate of loss of the deep scarlet light points compared to the normal [All Causes Vision] state!

Furthermore, if there are too many causal objects involved, or if their cultivation levels are too high, the losses will also increase.

After such a long time, even without careful observation, Tan Lin's remnant soul could easily see that the deep crimson light had dimmed considerably.

But compared to dealing with this crisis in the past, it was all worth it.

The causal light points that are generated and accumulated are meant to be used in crucial moments, aren't they?

What's giving him a bit of a headache now is that even with enough power from the Soul Pearl, a broken True Soul cannot be reincarnated!

The true soul of the previous life was affected by the primordial spirit and was shattered by the Undying Heavenly Blade. Only this wisp of the original soul that carried the soul pearl escaped the calamity by disintegrating.

The remaining fragments of the true soul were scattered in all directions. Apart from a very few, most of them either merged into objects and gave birth to deities, or they merged with plants, fish, insects, and other creatures, giving them sentience and making them spirits or monsters...

Previously, I connected my thoughts with the Dao traces in the outside world, and combined them with the perception of the Soul Pearl.

He has discovered the distribution of many fragmented souls scattered outside, but the largest fragment of true soul is within the lineage of the Human Emperor's Palace in Zhongzhou, and he does not know its condition.

Finding it back, repairing it, and integrating it into his true self is probably as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The Emperor's Palace was a trap; his former enemy was waiting for him to jump in, but he had no other choice.

"This can only be our final goal; first, we must gather up the other broken fragments of souls scattered throughout the world..."

As his thoughts raced, Tan Lin gradually came up with a solution.

Of course, this process wouldn't have been possible without the help of the young empress.

"You...you're not gone?"

Outside, after calling out to no avail for a long time, Nannan's tone was filled with a faint sense of disappointment.

In fact, when she first learned that the source of that mysterious voice was inside the bronze ring, she inexplicably felt a sense of kinship with it.

After all, this was the only memento her brother left her...

However, the necessary vigilance she had developed over the years prevented her from easily trusting the other party.

However, when the spirit of the ring stopped responding, she felt inexplicably lost.

She was terrified that all of this was just a mirage, a dream in the end.

The conversation she had with the other person on the way to the abandoned brick kiln still seemed to echo in her mind:

"Little girl, do you want revenge?"

"Who? Who's speaking?"

"Hehe, you're so smart, you should have already guessed that your brother didn't die in battle, right?"

"Who are you? Are you really inside the ring?!"

"Who I am is not important, what's important is..."

……

tick...

The desolation of the empty brick kiln permeated her, and she couldn't help but think of her brother, with whom she had once depended on each other for survival.

Although life was hard when her brother was alive, she lived a truly carefree life.

In the years since her brother was taken away, she has been forced to live independently, which has made her life even harder. She has experienced a lot and witnessed the filth of the world, and her mind has been forced to mature rapidly in these few short years.

I've begged for food, I've worked as a beggar...

On several winter days, if someone in the village hadn't given her two meals, she might not have survived to hear the devastating news of her brother's "death in battle."

If that's the case, perhaps... that would be nice?

Thinking this, and then remembering that her brother was already dead and she hadn't even seen him one last time, she couldn't help but weep silently.

pat...

Tears streamed down her thin cheeks, shattering on the ground.

Even if she's precocious, isn't she still just an eight or nine-year-old child?

"It's been so long, why hasn't the whip mark on your back been treated yet? What were you yelling at just now? Was it fun?"

Suddenly, the indifferent voice of the Ring Spirit rang in her ears again:

"Didn't I make it clear to you earlier?"

"Heh, with your constitution, if you get an infection after being caught in the rain, a serious illness could kill you. If you die, you won't expect me to avenge your brother, will you?"

At this moment, Tan Lin seemed like a person without compassion or emotion, his words full of barbs.

The other party is the opportunity for him to repair his remnant soul, and he must urge him to grow up as soon as possible; he cannot be soft-hearted.

The "spirit of the ring" was the identity he revealed to the other party when they were still in the mud at the post station, but in that environment, the other party thought they were hallucinating.

Now that the crisis is over, it's time to guide the other party to establish a deeper causal relationship with him.

"I... Waaah, I thought you... you weren't here anymore. I remembered some things... and that's why I forgot. Please... please don't be angry, I'll take care of it right away..."

Nannan had not yet recovered from the grief of missing her brother, and for a while she choked up and couldn't stop sobbing.

She stood up from the campfire, choking back tears, then quickly took off her tattered clothes and used a clean piece of cloth to soak up the boiling water in the earthenware pot to treat her wounds.

……

Chapter Five: Bestowing the Name Qingjue (4.3K)

rustling...

Before long, Nannan had treated her whip wounds, changed into the clothes that were drying by the campfire, and then picked up the "True Scripture of Devouring Origin" that she had obtained from the gray-robed Taoist priest, and began to read it by the light of the fire.

The abandoned brick kiln was deserted, with only the sound of rain, crackling firewood, and her turning the pages of a booklet.

The Ring Spirit has fallen silent again for some reason.

She was very self-aware and did not make a sound to disturb them, given that neither of them were very familiar with each other.

However, the other party's silence prevented her from taking the opportunity to ask more questions about cultivation.

Splash...

As she turned the pages, she had never felt so eager to embark on the path of cultivation.

The sense of helplessness she felt when her brother was taken away by the Feathered Divine Dynasty marked the beginning of her understanding of the importance of cultivation.

In this world, personal strength and power are the only true principles; otherwise, you will only become a lamb to the slaughter!

If you want to cultivate yourself, you must at least be able to read, understand the structure of the human body, the direction of the meridians, and the location of acupoints, right?

Therefore, in the years since she started begging, she has begun to eavesdrop on some private schools and bask in the light of education.

But at that time, she still harbored the hope that her brother would one day recall her and she would be released. Although she tried hard to move closer to the path of cultivation, she was troubled by her mortal body and lack of "fate to immortality". The cultivators who came to the village to select immortal seedlings all looked down on her.

No matter how much she pleaded, everyone gave the same answer.

She was not destined for spiritual cultivation and would hardly achieve anything in her life.

Later, due to the pressure of making a living, he missed many lessons in the private school, which resulted in him not being able to recognize most of the characters to this day. His learning was intermittent, and he gradually became discouraged. He would often stay under the tree where his brother was taken away for most of the day.

crackling sounds...

The firewood in the campfire kept crackling, but the sound of pages turning in the book never rang out again.

So much time has passed, and that booklet is still stuck on the first page.

"Are you there? I...can I become your disciple?"

After a short while, the girl's timid and hesitant voice finally came through:

"Could you teach me to recognize these characters?"

Her face was rosy after washing. Although she was thin and somewhat malnourished, it was easy to see that she was a beauty. No wonder she had to use charcoal ash and mud to cover herself up when she was out, making her look dirty.

"Oh? You want to become my disciple? Just to learn these few characters? Do you know what it means to become a disciple?"

Within the ring, Tan Lin's lips curled slightly.

The reason he was unhurried at first was that he was certain the other party would take the initiative to contact him, and that would establish a deeper causal relationship, which would be different.

He will benefit more and will also take the lead.

"Do you...do you know that a teacher for a day is a father for life?"

Nannan mustered her courage and spoke slowly towards the location of the ring.

"Hehe, those are mortal teachers. Now that you are about to embark on the path of cultivation, the teachers of cultivation will be different..."

Tan Lin spoke softly, but seeing that the girl seemed to understand but not quite, he didn't elaborate further and instead asked:

"When you were at the teahouse, you wanted to become that Taoist priest's disciple and ask him to teach you cultivation. How did he do it?"

Upon hearing this, Nannan paused, taken aback:

"That old man said he never took on disciples, so he accepted my divine source and gave me this booklet?"

"Does his method seem familiar? For example, in a city teeming with merchants, vendors hawking their wares..."

Tan Lin proceeded step by step.

Nannan listened silently until he finished speaking, then said thoughtfully:

"Is it buying and selling... no, is it a transaction?"

"Good."

Seeing that he had finally realized the key point, Tan Lin clapped his hands and laughed inside the ring.

But before he could finish speaking, the girl misunderstood, bit her lip, and lowered her head in frustration.

"You don't want to take me as your apprentice either? But I have nothing left now..."

Tan Lin was speechless at this, and then said:

“You’re wrong. What I’m trying to say is that since your dealings with that Taoist priest were a transaction, you don’t owe him anything. Besides, this cultivation technique harbors malicious intent…”

"Nannan knows that the old man is not a good person, but he made Nannan feel for the first time that the door to cultivation might not really be closed to her..."

The little girl's thin face flickered in the firelight, her little face full of longing for spiritual practice.

She spoke very seriously.

The crisp sound echoed gently in the cave, causing Tan Lin's remnant soul within the ring to fall silent for a moment.

The child's temperament was more obsessive and insightful than he had anticipated.

Just as the gray-robed Taoist said, she was indeed born with discerning eyes and a sharp mind, far surpassing her peers.

"It's always a good thing to have hope."

Tan Lin's voice was flat and indifferent at this moment, without the slightest hint of praise, as if he were stating an objective fact:

"But if this hope itself is poisoned bait, and one still blindly swallows it, then there is no way out."

The little girl tilted her head back, her little hands unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes.