Once Lin Mu had finished reading the letter, he let out a long breath.
HUU
ng Bai, who had been waiting patiently, watched him with eager eyes, hoping to learn the contents.
"What did he say? Is he returning? When?" ng Bai shot off a flurry of questions.
"Looks like he still has a while before his return," Lin Mu replied, much to the boy's disappointnt.
"Awww, man." ng Bai frowned.
"His mission hasn't ended yet," Lin Mu added. 'Though it looks like we haven't been called to assist either. So that's good.' He hadn't forgotten what the envoy had told them.
There was a chance they might be summoned as well, but now it seed unlikely since the investigation had yielded few results.
"How long will it take them?" ng Bai couldn't help but ask.
"From what he said, they're going to look into a few more leads and see if they find anything. But that might take a year or two. Then, if we add the ti it'll take for him to return… perhaps another five years or so," Lin Mu estimated.
"Damn, that's long," ng Bai muttered. "I'll be twenty-five by then."
"It's not an issue for you anyway. You'll have a long life ahead of you," Lin Mu replied calmly.
"Ah, yeah! That reminds !" ng Bai suddenly rembered sothing. "When should I do my breakthrough?" he asked.
ng Bai was still at the peak of the Core Condensation realm and had been waiting for his body to mature a bit before breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. This was important because the appearance of a cultivator would be mostly fixed at that point. He didn't want to look like a teenager forever, after all.
Even if a few other cultivators preferred to look that way.
"I've already asked the elders to prepare the Tribulation Attenuation Platform for you," Lin Mu answered. "Though you probably won't need much help."
With the stable foundation ng Bai had built, Lin Mu would be surprised if he ended up with even a single scratch.
"Finally!" ng Bai said with excitent, pumping his fists.
"What's that?!" an excited voice rang out. "Our ng Bai is finally going to break through?!"
WHOOSH
A small black bird flew into the room, followed by two black-and-white ribbons—none other than the twin snakes.
"Did you hear that, big sister Yin?!" Ashy chirped.
"Yes, yes!" Xiao Yin nodded eagerly.
"Heard it well and clear," Xiao Yang agreed.
"Crap." ng Bai's expression darkened instantly.
"You know what that ans…" Ashy smirked as best a bird with a beak could.
"Our ng Bai will reach the Immortal Realm soon," Xiao Yin said.
"Which ans our ng Bai will be a lot more durable," Xiao Yang added.
"Then he'll be able to play more gas with us," Ashy chuckled ominously.
Lin Mu saw ng Bai's pleading expression—one that scread save —and sighed.
"Enough, you three," Lin Mu said firmly. "He still has a long way to go before becoming an immortal. No more of your dangerous gas."
Over the years, he had chided the trio enough tis that they had promised not to involve ng Bai in their gas. Instead, they vowed to wait until he was strong enough to play even longer.
Which, of course, did little to soothe ng Bai's unsettled heart.
"Thank you, Master," ng Bai said, relieved—for now.
"Go ask Monk Hushu when you can start," Lin Mu said.
"Yes!" ng Bai replied quickly and dashed away, afraid the naughty trio might hatch another plan on the spot.
"Wait for us!"
Unfortunately for him, the three weren't going to leave him alone anyti soon.
Lin Mu sighed once more and looked outside the door.
The serene, never-changing appearance of the Green Lotus Temple was a calming balm for his worries, and he quickly felt relaxed again.
He looked up at the sky and muttered,
"ng Bai's twenty already, and I'm over seventy. Ti sure does pass fast when you're an immortal…"
While seventy years of age might not an much to cultivators, it was still considered old by mortal standards—an age where one might already have several grandchildren, perhaps even great-grandchildren.
Lin Mu was now older than both his parents' ages combined when they were still alive.
He walked outside and approached the pond, where still water reflected the sky. Plum blossom petals and a few lotus flowers floated calmly on its surface.
"Hmm… Perhaps I should dress up for his breakthrough," Lin Mu muttered, gazing at his reflection.
He pinched his beard, which was trimd just enough to stay a few inches long.
While he didn't mind keeping it longer, he reckoned this length was more appropriate—especially for formal events like a disciple's breakthrough.
After all, this was going to be a major occasion, and they had planned quite a bit for it.
Age had been the only factor holding ng Bai back from advancing his cultivation quickly. But now that he was reaching the Nascent Soul realm, he would be able to surge forward through the remaining stages at full speed.
The only obstacle Lin Mu could foresee was the Dao Treading realm, but that was simply due to the complexity of forming a Dao Embryo.
ng Bai still hadn't decided whether to form a Formation Dao Embryo or a Water Dao Embryo first. They had also considered the possibility of a Spear Dao Embryo, but decided it could wait until ng Bai comprehended Spear Intent.
He had already reached the basic level at which he could begin comprehending it, but his current cultivation base limited further progress.
Once that limitation was gone, he could finally begin raising his spear skills even further.
'Looks like the coming few days are going to be quite hectic,' Lin Mu thought, as a gentle breeze made his long hair sway behind him.
As he continued to stare into the pond though, another person was staring at him from the sky. This was of course, none other than the Saintess.
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