Chapter 284: Cooperative Mission
"Young friend Tian, you're quite remarkable. It troubles me greatly that you got injured because of Xian'er. Here's some 'Creation Water' for you, which can help you recover from your injuries."
After speaking, he took out a Jade Purifying Bottle from his sleeve.
Though the Jade Purifying Bottle was not large, judging by the engravings on it, one could tell it was not an ordinary item.
And how could something stored in such a bottle be a cheap commodity?
Tian Lin did not refuse the courtesy and accepted the so-called Creation Water. He was not unfamiliar with Creation Water, as he had 'consumed' it once before in the sect on the Yulong Continent.
However, the 'Creation Water' he consumed at that time was in the form of words written by Nine-Life True Person, which transformed into Creation Water due to the nature of the words.
"Tian Lin, Creation Water is extremely rare; you should thank Elder Mei first."
Tian Lin quickly paid his respects and said respectfully to Old Man Mei, "Disciple thanks Elder Mei for the gift of medicine."
Old Man Mei chuckled, then turned to Mei Xiangu, admonishing her:
"You need to work on your temper, and do not underestimate your master here. His talent and character are both top-grade. If not for his outstanding talent, why would Elder Yu, at the Divinity Transformation Realm, accept him as a registered disciple?"
He spoke this right in front of Tian Lin, not fearing Tian Lin would misunderstand. The old man was envisioning his future, hoping his daughter could follow Tian Lin for a better position.
But this matter was rather mystical. Tian Lin speculated that Elder Mei allowed Mei Xiangu to follow him partly because Mei Xiangu had indeed lost a bet.
If she didn't uphold the bet, the Tang Family would have a reason to question why Mei Xiangu couldn't honor her commitments.
The Tang Family, apart from having a Nascent Soul ancestor, also had many descendants with decent cultivation, unlike Elder Mei and Mei Xiangu, who only had each other as grandfather and granddaughter.
Elder Mei might protect her for a while, but how could he protect her for a lifetime?
Fortunately, Tian Lin was talented and was Elder Yu's disciple. He believed Elder Yu's discernment surely saw that Tian Lin had a promising future—
This was also because Tian Lin hadn't told anyone that he became Elder Yu's disciple not because Elder Yu favored him, but due to Elder Yue's influence—
"Is his talent outstanding?"
Mei Xiangu didn't really harbor much resentment towards Tian Lin, but to make her willingly serve as Tian Lin's sword holder, with her pride, how could she be truly willing?
"His talent is outstanding, but I, Mei Xiangu, am absolutely not inferior to him."
Mei Xiangu clearly had some lingering resentment towards her grandfather, so after paying her respects to Elder Xue, she turned and left the great hall.
Elder Xue nodded at Tian Lin, after which Tian Lin paid his respects to Elder Xue and Old Man Mei, and took his leave.
The reason why Tian Lin wasn't in a hurry to consume the Creation Water Elder Mei gave him was not that it would be a waste now, but because according to the nature of the entry, it would definitely become something else.
He wasn't eager to open the bottle to inspect and instead, with Cui'er's help, headed towards the mountainside.
The sun was setting, and all the disciples from the academy had returned to their residences.
From afar, these people could see Mei Xiangu and Tian Lin. Though most of them didn't recognize Mei Xiangu, they had heard about what happened during the day.
Seeing their pitiful state, some couldn't help but talk.
Mei Xiangu, with Yu'er's support, returned to her cave mansion, but there were Zhou Family sisters she didn't recognize inside.
The Zhou Family sisters stood up and cupped their hands in salute to Mei Xiangu, but Mei Xiangu let out a cold snort and entered the third stone room.
Yu'er looked apologetically at Zhou Jin and Zhou Mengjiao and said, "Young Master Zhou, Miss Zhou, I'm terribly sorry—"
Halfway through her words, Tian Lin also entered the cave mansion with Cui'er's support.
Zhou Jin took two steps forward and said with a smile, "Brother Tian, I've heard all about what happened during the day. Your heroic act of saving the beauty has won the admiration of the senior and junior brothers of Class Bing Wu."
Tian Lin forced a smile, pointed at his still somewhat swollen throat, and said hoarsely, "Just don't laugh at my current state."
Zhou Jin helped Cui'er support Tian Lin into a seat and said, "Why would anyone laugh at you? That Senior Tang relied on being a Class A disciple to show off at our Gourd Peak, which means he didn't give any regard to the disciples of our Gourd Peak, right?"
Though Gourd Peak also had Class A disciples, it didn't have an academy for them.
In fact, Class A disciples don't have an academy but are distributed across different peaks, receiving the teachings of various Peak Masters.
Senior Tang from the Tang Family was not a disciple of Gourd Peak, although also a person of the sect, but the sect's mountains were divided into large and small peaks as well.
Because everyone belonged to different peaks and followed different masters, it was inevitable there would be differences in kinship and closeness.
"Brother Tian, I heard that because of this matter, Elder Wu has been put under house arrest."
Zhou Mengjiao reminded him, "That's why you shouldn't take it lightly."
Tian Lin nodded, knowing that the Tang Family was different from the Xue Family.
Elder Xue didn't have many descendants, but the Tang Family had quite a few.
In the entire sect, there were at least dozens of 'Senior Brother Tang' and 'Senior Sister Tang' from the Tang Family.
Although Elder Wu was put under house arrest, the younger generation of the Tang Family still enjoyed a lot of freedom within the sect.
And among these younger ones, several were Class A disciples, with one or two even being inner sect disciples.
"I will certainly heed sister Zhou's reminder. Thank you both for your concern."
After Tian Lin finished speaking, Zhou Mengjiao nodded and said to her brother, "Brother Tian needs to heal now, perhaps we should visit another day."
Zhou Jin glanced at the third stone room in the cave mansion and finally nodded.
Initially, he intended to match his sister with Tian Lin, but at first, Zhou Mengjiao looked down on Tian Lin.
Once Tian Lin entered Class B, his sister's interest warmed up significantly, but unfortunately, Tian Lin seemed to have no intentions in that regard.
He planned to continue pushing the two together, but now that Mei Xiangu became Tian Lin's sword holder.
Seeing that Tian Lin's 'great fortune' had already formed, he also felt that Zhou Mengjiao might not be suitable for Tian Lin.
Guessing that his sister felt the two were impossible, her interest waned too.
If he pushed for the union and failed, they wouldn't even manage to stay friends.
Especially as the brother and sister left, cupping their hands to Tian Lin and were sent off by Cui'er.
Once the siblings left, Yu'er finally spoke, "Master, about your injury?"
"My injury isn't serious; you should check on Miss Mei and see how she is doing."
Yu'er went to the third stone room, and by this time, Cui'er returned as well.
Tian Lin's injuries had improved significantly, though his clothes were still stained with blood, making him look quite disheveled.
She quickly fetched new clothes for Tian Lin to change into, then asked him, "Master, we've offended the Tang Family; it might be tough for us in the sect in the future."
"With many debts, one doesn't worry. Just be mindful and avoid Tang Family people. As for me, I don't think they can really do anything to me."
Tian Lin had already decided to break through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.