The courtyard had returned to tranquillity.
The disturbance from their previous conversation had faded, leaving only the faint rustling of leaves as a gentle breeze passed through the trees. Lin Sheng and the Empress Dowager sat facing one another across a small stone table, neither showing any intention of leaving.
Between them sat a simple teapot.
Lin Sheng lifted it with one hand, the clear tea within swirling gently as he poured it into a porcelain cup.
The tea was pale, almost translucent, yet an indescribably sweet fragrance slowly spread throughout the courtyard. It was not merely the fragrance of ordinary tea, there was a faint spiritual aura contained within it, subtle enough that an ordinary person would never notice, but to a Grandmaster-level existence whose spiritual perception had already undergone tremendous transformation, it was impossible to overlook.
Lin Sheng finished pouring and pushed the cup towards her.
"Have some."
The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes towards the tea.
For a moment, she simply stared at it.
There was naturally the question of poison.
But that thought lasted less than a breath.
At their level, ordinary poisons were practically meaningless. Even rare poisons capable of harming Astral Gang experts would have difficulty affecting a Grandmaster, and she was not merely a martial artist, she was a Daoist with profound attainments in supernatural arts.
If someone truly tried to poison her, she could detect and expel most toxins before they could spread through her body.
Therefore, she picked up the cup without hesitation.
The porcelain touched her lips.
She took a sip.
The instant the tea entered her mouth, her expression changed.
A warm current spread from her tongue into her entire body, yet the sensation was not one of cultivation energy surging through her meridians. Instead, her mind became clearer.
Her thoughts, which had always been sharp, suddenly seemed to become even sharper.
Memories that had once required deliberate recollection surfaced naturally.
The complicated structures of talismans that she had studied decades ago became vivid in her mind, every stroke appearing as clearly as if she were looking at the talisman itself.
Even the incantations she had once struggled to memorise could now be recalled effortlessly.
Her comprehension seemed to have become smoother.
Her divine sense seemed to have gained another layer of clarity.
The Empress Dowager's fingers tightened around the cup.
She took another sip.
The effect became even more obvious.
This was not ordinary tea.
Not even an ordinary spiritual tea.
Only tea leaves possessing the nature of Heaven and Earth treasures could produce such an extraordinary effect.
The Empress Dowager slowly lowered the cup.
For the first time since entering the courtyard, her composure showed a visible crack.
Her eyes stared at Lin Sheng.
"Where did you get this tea?"
Lin Sheng did not answer.
Instead, he calmly poured himself another cup.
"Why are you here?"
The Empress Dowager's lips twitched.
She had clearly been caught off guard.
She placed the cup down carefully and looked at him for several breaths, as though attempting to determine exactly what kind of person she was dealing with.
Eventually, she sighed inwardly.
"I came because of the merit the imperial court intends to grant you."
Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow.
Then he laughed softly.
"Soooo..."
He deliberately dragged out the word.
"It's got nothing to do with my Yang Flame technique?"
The Empress Dowager's expression twitched.
Only slightly. But Lin Sheng caught it.
His eyes immediately narrowed with amusement.
The Empress Dowager realised that her reaction had betrayed her.
The dignified composure she had maintained since entering the courtyard finally disappeared.
She leaned slightly forward.
"I want that technique."
Her voice was no longer filled with the detached calm of an Empress Dowager.
There was a hint of eagerness in it.
"If you're willing to teach it to me, I can exchange it for another technique."
Lin Sheng looked at her.
"You really want it that badly?"
"That flame..."
Her eyes flashed.
"I have never seen such pure Yang power."
The memory of the scene beneath Dongtai Prefecture City remained vivid in her mind.
When Lin Sheng had summoned that golden solar flame, the Yin Qi surrounding the Vicious Soul had burned as though it were ordinary oil. Even the fragments of the Vicious Soul had been unable to rely upon the surrounding Yin Qi to regenerate.
For a Daoist, especially one who regularly dealt with ghosts, Specters and Yin Qi, such a flame was almost irresistible.
"If I could possess such a flame, my ability to deal with Yin entities would increase considerably."
Lin Sheng smiled.
"Unfortunately, you can't have it."
The Empress Dowager's expression immediately fell.
Lin Sheng continued before she could speak.
"The flame isn't something I cultivated from a technique that can simply be passed to another person. It's innate to me."
He paused and took another sip of tea.
"And besides, I don't need anything from you."
The Empress Dowager's expression became somewhat complicated.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Then she slowly recovered her composure.
"Can't we find some middle ground?"
"No."
"Perhaps I can offer something you haven't considered."
"No."
"Even an extremely rare Daoist inheritance?"
"No."
"Ancient spiritual treasures?"
"No."
Lin Sheng shook his head.
"The flame isn't a technique."
He looked at her calmly.
"So I suppose the answer is still no."
The Empress Dowager was silent.
She had encountered many people in her life.
She had dealt with sect leaders, imperial ministers, martial Grandmasters and Celestial Daoists, but she had never encountered someone who could reject her so casually.
Yet she could not exactly force him.
Not only was Lin Sheng a Grandmaster, his strength had already been demonstrated before her own eyes.
More importantly, that terrifying Yang flame was simply too strange.
She eventually sighed.
"Forget it."
Lin Sheng smiled.
The matter was clearly over.
After another moment of silence, Lin Sheng suddenly turned his head slightly.
"There is something else I want to ask."
The Empress Dowager looked at him.
"About Shen Bing."
Her eyes immediately became slightly more attentive.
"You know about the relationship between our disciples, right?"
The Empress Dowager nodded.
"I do."
"Good."
Lin Sheng picked up the teapot and poured another cup.
"What do you think about it?"
The Empress Dowager's eyes contained a trace of amusement.
"Their relationship?"
"Yes."
"There's nothing wrong with it."
She calmly picked up her tea again.
"You're Su Yang's master, and I am Shen Bing's master. If the two of them genuinely care for each other, then there is naturally no reason for me to interfere."
Lin Sheng nodded.
Then the Empress Dowager added casually,
"Unless you intend to keep your relationship with Su Yang hidden."
Lin Sheng's hand stopped.
His eyes shifted towards her.
For the first time since their conversation began, his expression became slightly more serious.
He understood exactly what she meant.
She wasn't merely talking about Su Yang and Shen Bing.
She was talking about his identity.
At present, only a handful of people knew that Su Yang's mysterious master was Lin Sheng.
The Su Family Patriarch knew, the Su Family Ancestor knew. That was all.
Lin Sheng had no intention of changing that.
At least not yet.
Su Yang was different from ordinary people.
His encounters had repeatedly exceeded what could be explained by ordinary luck, and Lin Sheng had already begun to suspect that the young man possessed an extraordinary destiny.
Perhaps he was a child of luck.
Perhaps something even more complicated was involved.
Whatever the answer was, Lin Sheng wanted to continue watching.
He wanted to see what opportunities Su Yang would encounter, how he would respond to danger, how his cultivation would develop, and whether the strange chain of encounters surrounding him would continue.
Until Lin Sheng understood that, revealing his relationship with Su Yang would only create unnecessary complications.
The Empress Dowager looked at his expression and understood that he had no intention of answering.
She did not press him.
Instead, she placed down her teacup and slowly stood.
"I should leave."
Lin Sheng nodded.
The Empress Dowager turned around and walked towards the courtyard entrance.
She had taken only a few steps when Lin Sheng suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
She stopped.
Lin Sheng looked at her back.
"I don't actually know your name."
The Empress Dowager turned her head.
For a moment, she seemed surprised.
Indeed, throughout all their encounters, she had never actually introduced herself.
She had always been the Empress Dowager.
The ruler's mother.
The powerful Night Wandering Daoist who stood at the pinnacle of the Great Qian Dynasty.
But beneath all those titles was a name.
Her silver hair moved gently in the breeze as she looked back at Lin Sheng.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"You're right."
She turned around completely.
Her phoenix-red robes swayed lightly, while the tiny runes around her fingernails emitted a faint glow.
"You can just call me..."
She paused deliberately.
"Qingxue."
Lin Sheng looked at her.
"Qingxue?"
She nodded.
"Lan Qingxue."
The name fell softly into the quiet courtyard.
For some reason, Lin Sheng felt that the name suited her far more than the imposing title of Empress Dowager ever could.
Lan Qingxue smiled faintly.
"Now you know."
With those words, she turned and walked away.
Lin Sheng remained seated on the sedan chair, watching her disappearing figure.
After a moment, he picked up his teacup and took another sip.
"Lan Qingxue..."
He murmured the name once.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
This Empress Dowager was becoming increasingly interesting.