Chapter 284 - 283: Someone’s Coming

Lin Yuan extended his hand, his deep purple eyes scanning the horizon of the area. He was ready to activate the Immortal Cloud Step once more, preparing to plunge them into the spatial slipstream toward the hidden coordinates of the Sacred Grounds.

But before his Qi could fully manifest, his Primordial Spirit violently pulsed.

Lin Yuan’s hand froze mid-air. The golden-purple light in his eyes flared, narrowing into sharp, predatory slits.

Bai Qingyue felt the instantaneous shift in his demeanor. The warm, sheltering aura of the husband vanished, replaced in a moment by the cold, calculating vigilance of the Early Soul Transformation Expert.

"Yuan?" she asked softly, her own divine sense sweeping outward, though her Core Formation perception found absolutely nothing but empty sky and howling wind.

"Spatial movements," Lin Yuan stated, his voice a low, lethal hum that vibrated against the snow. "Someone is coming."

He stepped in front of her, his True Elemental Body instantly cycling the absolute defensive power of the Qilin Secret Realm. He analyzed the incoming trajectory with his comprehension, and what he saw caused a rare, analytical frown to crease his flawless forehead.

The entity approaching them was not utilizing standard flight, nor were they riding an ordinary flying treasure. The spatial fabric of the Nine Provinces was actively bending, folding inward to pull the traveler forward at a terrifying velocity.

"Their cultivation registers only at the Nascent Soul realm," Lin Yuan murmured, his divine sense dissecting the incoming aura. "But the movement... it is saturated with traces of Immortal Qi. That is fundamentally impossible for a cultivator of that stage."

"Immortal Qi?" Bai Qingyue gasped, her hand tightening on his sleeve. "Could it be a cultivator from the Upper Division?"

"If it is hostile, running will be futile," Lin Yuan concluded with chilling pragmatism. "The spatial displacement is too fast. It is skipping across the dimensional fault lines. And the fact that my Primordial Spirit is only sensing it now means that it has not been tracking us for long. It manifested its trajectory suddenly, bridging a massive distance in mere breaths."

Lin Yuan did not intend to be caught flat-footed on a mountaintop. He reached back, wrapping his arm securely around Bai Qingyue’s waist.

"We meet them in the sky," Lin Yuan declared.

With a concussive boom that shattered the boulder beneath them, Lin Yuan and Bai Qingyue shot upward, transforming into a streak of golden-purple light. They broke through the heavy, grey cloud cover, emerging into the clear, freezing stratosphere, positioning themselves directly in the path of the incoming spatial distortion.

Lin Yuan raised his right hand, the Taiyi Divine Thunder already crackling at his fingertips, ready to obliterate whatever emerged from the spatial fold.

A hundred miles away, the sky rippled like a disturbed pond. A massive, blinding tear in the atmosphere opened, radiating a brilliant, majestic silver light that carried the unmistakable, haughty resonance of the ancient era.

Bai Qingyue could only see a blinding blur of silver and gold, but Lin Yuan’s Early Soul Transformation perception, vastly superior and operating at a higher frequency, instantly pierced the blinding glare.

He saw the source of the Immortal Qi. It was not an artifact, nor was it a weapon. It was a massive, majestic beast.

It possessed the sleek, muscular body of a celestial lion, covered entirely in shimmering, indestructible golden scales that reflected the ambient sunlight with blinding intensity. Flowing, ethereal silver manes trailed from its powerful limbs, and upon its broad, regal forehead grew a single, spiraling silver horn that actively pierced and folded the space in front of it.

"A Golden Immortal Beast," Lin Yuan identified, his thunder dissipating as he recognized the creature. "Rank 5. The silver horn dictates its maturity and its spatial affinity."

But his gaze did not linger on the beast. He looked at the figure sitting cross-legged upon the creature’s broad back.

It was a young man in immaculate, golden-yellow Daoist robes. His posture was respectful, his face flushed with the exertion of maintaining the spatial tether with the beast.

"Jin Rou," Lin Yuan said, lowering his hand completely.

The Rank 5 Golden Immortal Beast decelerated with terrifying grace, sliding to a halt in the air a mere thirty paces away from Lin Yuan and Bai Qingyue. The spatial ripples smoothed out, leaving the majestic creature hovering effortlessly on platforms of condensed silver light.

Jin Rou, the premier genius of the Golden Diting Province, immediately stood up upon the beast’s back. He ignored the dizzying altitude and the biting wind, immediately bringing his right fist over his heart and executing a profound bow toward Lin Yuan.

"Senior Lin!" Jin Rou called out, his voice echoing across the open sky, laced with an awe. He had clearly sensed the catastrophic, world-altering pressure of Lin Yuan’s newly forged Soul Transformation aura.

"Jin Rou," Lin Yuan replied calmly, hovering in the air with his arm still securely around his wife. "You track well for a Nascent Soul cultivator. To bend space with a Rank 5 beast requires a significant toll on your spiritual sea."

Jin Rou looked at Lin Yuan, his gaze briefly flickering to Bai Qingyue, noting her restored, flawless Golden Core aura with a respectful nod, before returning his attention to Lin Yuan.

"I heard the decree you made in the Grand Court," Jin Rou continued, his voice steadying. "You stated you were heading to the Sacred Grounds to consolidate your foundation with the other geniuses of the Nine Province, before facing the Hollow Beyond. I wished to follow you, to offer my blade in the vanguard... but I know my limits."

Jin Rou offered a self-deprecating, bitter smile. "With the ancient-era Dao laws within the Sacred Grounds, my Nascent Soul cultivation simply cannot sustain me. It would crush my meridians into dust within a day."

Jin Rou patted the thick, golden scales of his mount. The beast let out a low, rumbling purr that vibrated the ambient air.

"But I have not forgotten my promise," Jin Rou declared, his eyes burning. "In the Void Ascension Battlefield, when the corpse beetles were gnawing at my bones, you pulled me from the jaws of death. You preserved the secret of my province’s beasts. I promised you then that when the tournament concluded, you could have any Golden Immortal Beast of your choice."

Jin Rou gestured wide, offering the entire sky. "After what you did for me, and after what you have just done for the entire Nine Provinces by slaying those Demon Kings, this is the absolute least I can do for you. The Sacred Grounds are hidden, and reaching them requires traversing through heavily fractured spatial zones that have been destabilized by the cracking Ward. Do not waste your precious Origin Energy flying there."

Jin Rou bowed his head once more. "We are not too far from the borders of the Golden Diting Province. Please, Senior Lin, Lady Bai. Hop on my beast. Allow me to escort you to my family’s temple, where you may select a mount worthy of a sovereign, so you will not spend a single ounce of energy traveling to the Sacred Grounds."