As they walked through the inner sect gardens, Lin Yuan tilted his head curiously.
"Mom,ask 4th mother ,can we sell her poison?" he asked.
Lady Mingyan gave a answer after sometime. "Of course. It might reduce her cultivation a little, but we need resources, and the Heaven-Swallowing Python's venom is rare. Just don't let disciples drink it directly—unless they want to start seeing stars in broad daylight."
Lin Yuan chuckled. Just as he reached the Sect Leader's residence, Lady Mingyan suddenly spoke again.
"We need a lot of meet.She need to eat a lot now to recover," she said, patting her flat stomach with a frown. "And I think you should buy a rat-killing order."
"Huh?"
"There's a rat infestation in the rice fields.With that's ordere you can take some fields.After harvest everything is yours.No girls out there. You'll be fine."
"Mom… are you talking like I'm scared of girls?"
She smirked. "Aren't you?"
"If I were scared of girls, I wouldn't be in this sect."
"Then look behind you."
He blinked, turned—
—and jumped three steps back.
A beautiful girl stood behind him with calm, curious eyes and a serious expression.
"D-Don't come near me!" Lin Yuan shouted.
"Hello. I am Rena," she said coolly. "I have a King Body and a Spiritual Lunar Body… though the lunar one is damaged. I came here to become your follower."
Lin Yuan blinked twice. "Follower? What? I'm not a princess."
"I think you misunderstood," she said. "In cultivation terms, a 'follower' is a personal disciple—bound not to the sect, but to a person. If I swear to you, I can't take orders from any elder. I'll do what you ask in exchange for cultivation resources. It's a fair deal."
"That sounds like a big commitment. Shouldn't you talk to the Sect Leader first?"
"I planned to."
"…Alright. Come with me."
He led her into the grand inner hall. Lady Yuexian, the Sect Leader, sat near a spirit tree, feeding Tearlume a slice of spirit fruit.
"Sect Leader, she wants to talk to you."
He handed over Tearlume, who chirped happily and curled up in the Sect Leader's lap.
Then Lin Yuan pulled out a heavy bottle and placed it on a stone table. "Here's some of the Heaven-Swallowing Python's poison. You can sell it to the disciples. It purifies qi if used properly."
Lady Yuexian swirled the poison gently in the bottle. "Mmm. Good stuff. I'll prepare the wards."
Lin Yuan glanced toward the beast pens. "I'll go feed the armadillo."
By the time he returned, Lady Yuexian had finished speaking with Rena.
"Well?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you want a follower?"
Lin Yuan scratched his cheek. "I… don't know."
Lady Yuexian gave a rare smile. "Then accept her. You need someone like her. This will be a formal pact. The whole sect will witness it. Let's go ceremony hall."She give a scroll and say,"You have to say like this. "
A silver spirit array lit up under their feet, activating a wide-area transmission.
📜 Official Vow of Follower Bonding
*As broadcast across the Taiyin Sect*
Sect Leader Yuexian stood tall in the moonlit ceremony hall. Lin Yuan and Rena knelt across from one another, separated by a glowing silver lotus mark.
The spirit formation pulsed to life. All across the sect, disciples turned their gazes to the sky as moonlight screens shimmered into view.
Lady Yuexian's voice echoed gently:
> "In the name of the Taiyin Moon and the eternal path of cultivation, we witness a vow—between the one who guides, and the one who follows."
She turned to Lin Yuan.
> "Lin Yuan, do you accept the loyalty of one who offers her service—not as slave or servant—but as a companion upon your path?"
He bowed his head.
> "I do. I accept her vow—not to control, but to guide. Not to bind, but to uplift. May we walk together through ice and flame."
Then she turned to Rena.
> "Rena, possessor of the King Body and broken moonlight, do you offer yourself freely, trusting in this path and this person—forsaking all other masters in this life?"
Rena's voice was steady.
> "I do. From now on, my hands serve her cause, my blade guards her name, and my heart trusts her decisions. I ask not for rank—only a place beside her."
Lady Yuexian raised her hand, and the silver lotus bloomed between them.
> "Then by the sky above and the earth below, this bond is sealed. Let the Moonlight Pact be written upon the soul."
A soft flash of silver marked Rena's wrist—the sigil of a follower. The array faded, and a gentle breeze swept across the sect.
Whispers rose from every peak.
"Who is that girl again?"
"I heard she is the personal disciple of sect leader."
"A new follower? Isn't he only at Qi Gathering?"
Lin Yuan sighed and looked at Rena.
"Alright. You're my follower now. But don't expect me to act like some master."
Rena bowed deeply. "I only expect one thing."
"What?"
"That you don't abandon me… like the last person I followed."
He blinked.
"…I won't."Certainly. The moon hung low over the quiet courtyard. A lantern flickered gently beside a plum tree, casting soft shadows on the cobblestones.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on the stone bench, feeding Tearlume pieces of sweet fruit. Rena stood nearby, silent for a long while. The usual quiet confidence in her posture seemed to waver.
He looked up.
"…You've been staring at the sky for a while."
Rena exhaled slowly. "I've been thinking. I should tell you something."
"You don't have to—"
"I want to," she interrupted gently. "You deserve to know what kind of person you're accepting as a follower."
Lin Yuan nodded, and gestured beside him. She sat, hands folded tightly in her lap.
Then, softly, she began.
> "I used to be someone important. In the Frostwater Moon Clan. I had a King Body… and a Spiritual Lunar Body. My cultivation soared like wind through a canyon. Everyone smiled at me. They said I was the future of the clan."
> "But… during a ceremony to awaken the full potential of my lunar body, something went wrong. The altar cracked. The moonlight backlash crushed my dantian. My spiritual core shattered."
Her voice didn't waver—but her fingers dug slightly into her robe.
> "My cultivation dropped instantly. From Core Formation… down to the early layers of Qi Gathering. Everything I was… vanished in one night."
> "My master blamed me. She said I entered the formation early, without asking permission. She said I was arrogant. Reckless."
Lin Yuan clenched his jaw. "That wasn't your fault."
Rena gave a faint smile—but it didn't reach her eyes.
> "Maybe not. But it didn't matter. She discarded me like I was never hers. The other disciples turned away. Even the Elders whispered that I was wasting the sect's resources."
She paused. Her voice dropped lower.
> "Only my brother stayed. Ren Li. He raised me since I was little. Gave up everything to help me. Even when everyone said I wasn't worth it anymore… he brought me food, defended me, worked twice as hard just to keep me safe."
> "But I could see it. He was tired. And I was dragging him down."
A bitter wind blew through the courtyard. Rena looked up at the moon, and for a moment, her eyes shimmered like cracked glass.
> "I wanted to end it. Not my life—just… the weight. So I left. No goodbye. Just a note.I join tai yin sect as a new disciple."
> "Then… I saw you."
Lin Yuan blinked.
> "You were giving food to slaves. Hugging children who'd been tortured. Buying blankets instead of pills. You looked ridiculous," she said with a soft chuckle. "A girl in beautiful makeup, smiling like the world wasn't broken."
Lin Yuan looked down, almost embarrassed.
> "But I saw you didn't care what people thought. You didn't hesitate. You didn't turn away from those who were weak. And I thought…"
She finally turned to face him.
> "*That's someone I want to follow.* Not because you're strong. But because you remind me of the person I wanted to be."
Silence fell between them.
Then Lin Yuan said quietly, "I'm… not as good as you think."
"I know," she said, smiling. "That's why I trust you."
He looked at her—really looked—and for the first time since she arrived, her walls were down.
"Alright," he whispered. "Your story is like novel. It will be good story if you recover your spiritual body slapping everyones face.Then join tai yin Holly land and become Holly maiden. Then found out your real family....." "I will never be some mc because I am a follower" " Ok , let's carry each other forward. No titles. No debts. Just…"
He trailed off.
She finished for him:
> "Just people trying not to fall apart."And she hug him.
And so, she packed the last of her pills, kissed her brother's hand while whwTo offer herself—not as a genius, not as a warrior—but as a **follower** to the one person who still believed bbeWould you like the moment where she vows loyalty to Lin Yuan rewritten next? Or perhaps a side story where Ren Li finds out and vv