Seeing the woman’s clumsy fall that shad her cultivation base, Lin Mu sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You didn’t have to fall in."
She splashed the water in his direction, half out of indignation, half out of sheer shock. "You don’t understand what you’ve just said, do you?! That woman—"
Her words trailed off, her mind spiraling as she tried to process what she had just heard.
Lin Mu stood silently, waiting, his expression calm.
The night, once peaceful, had erupted once again into waves... not from conflict this ti, but from Cattaleya’s sheer disbelief.
Cattaleya floated in the lake for a mont, her eyes wide and unblinking, the shock of Lin Mu’s words reverberating through her very core.
The cold water hardly registered against her skin. Not that it could with her cultivation, but still... All she could think about was what he had so casually confessed... he had not only t one of the Four Seasons Monarchs, but had also been gifted Ichor Essence Wine by her.
"That... that’s impossible..." she muttered, her voice trembling. "You... you actually drank wine given by the Ever Spring Mistress herself?!"
Lin Mu stood at the edge of the water, looking down at her with a calm expression, though a faint hint of amusent tugged at his lips. "Yes. The Ever Spring Mistress is the Saintess’ friend. She ca to visit her once, and during that eting, she handed so of the wine. It was... certainly powerful."
Cattaleya struggled to process it, her mind racing faster than she could control.
Just a few drops of Ichor Essence Wine... those alone were treasures beyond reckoning. Worth at least a couple of Peak Grade Immortal Weapons, and that was being conservative.
With the right rchant or a desperate kingdom, a single vial could be bartered for dominion over entire lands. That Lin Mu had not only possessed it, but drank it casually, was the kind of tale that would send shockwaves through the Immortal World.
Her lips parted slightly, her voice weak. "Do you even understand...? That kind of treasure could rewrite the fortunes of entire sects. Wars have been fought for less..."
Lin Mu’s expression didn’t change much, but there was a calm weight in his eyes. "Perhaps. But for , it wasn’t about treasure. I drank it, and it did what it was ant to do."
Her curiosity burned now, overtaking her disbelief.
She pushed wet strands of hair from her face, her voice sharp despite her awe. "Then... what happened? What did it do to you? What does it an to drink sothing even celestials hesitate to part with?"
Lin Mu hesitated, his eyes narrowing as he searched his mories.
His voice ca softer, thoughtful. "I don’t fully rember all of it. But from what the Saintess described later... I entered so kind of drunken trance. I began to see Dao Traces, countless patterns and truths laid bare before . In that trance, I reached too far... I tore open a spatial rift that pierced into the Tribulation Dinsion itself."
Cattaleya’s jaw dropped again, her wine-flushed face paling.
Lin Mu continued, unbothered by the weight of his own words. "And because of that, I ended up triggering my third immortal tribulation."
The lake was silent for several long monts, save for the gentle ripple of water. Then Cattaleya burst out, muttering in disbelief. "A drunken tribulation... you... by the heavens, you survived a tribulation while drunk?"
Lin Mu gave a small shrug. "More or less."
She stared at him as though he were no longer human. "That... that beats anything I’ve ever done while drunk. And I thought fighting a Void Beast while half-delirious was impressive..."
Her voice trailed off, and for the first ti in a long ti, Cattaleya found herself feeling small. This wasn’t bravado or exaggeration. This was truth... and truth that shattered her sense of scale.
Her intoxication seed to burn away under the sheer gravity of what she had learned. She sat there in the water, breathing heavily, her heart pounding. And then another realization struck her, one that made her hesitate.
She still didn’t know who the Saintess truly was.
Her eyes flickered toward Lin Mu, nervous for the first ti since they’d t.
She swallowed hard, her voice quiet and uncertain. "Lin Mu... who exactly is the Saintess?"
Lin Mu regarded her calmly. "You might not know her personally. But you should know her sect."
Cattaleya’s throat tightened. "Her... sect?"
"The Serpent Moon Sect," Lin Mu said plainly.
The words hit her like a thunderbolt. Her vision blurred, her body swayed, and for a terrifying instant, she nearly lost all strength again. The na alone was enough to make her knees buckle, her instincts screaming at her to bow, to kneel, to flee.
This ti, however, Lin Mu was quicker. As she teetered dangerously close to falling back into the lake, he extended a hand and caught her wrist, steadying her before she could collapse again.
Cattaleya’s breathing was ragged, her eyes wide with sothing between terror and awe. Her lips trembled as she forced the words out. "T-the... Serpent Moon Sect? You an... she’s their Saintess?"
"Yes," Lin Mu answered simply, releasing her once she had regained her footing.
Cattaleya’s mind spun, trying to reconcile everything at once.
The Serpent Moon Sect was no ordinary sect... it was a Titan of the Celestial Realm, a colossus among the great powers. Its Saintess was soone feared and respected by countless celestials, soone whose words alone could topple dynasties.
And Lin Mu... Lin Mu called her intimately, his connection even deeper.
The mory of the Saintess’ warning returned to her now, sharp and clear: karmic link, karmic burden. At the ti, it had seed an obscure threat, but now she finally understood. To tangle herself with Lin Mu in such a way would not just be dangerous... it would be suicidal.
Cattaleya’s heart trembled. For perhaps the first ti in centuries, she silently prayed.
"Thank you... Saintess," she thought fiercely, clutching her chest. "Thank you for saving from doom. Thank you for warning before I ruined myself and my clan."
She lowered her gaze, trembling not with fear now, but with gratitude.
For once, her wild and reckless nature was subdued, tempered by the overwhelming realization of just how close she had co to destruction.
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