Chapter 334

Chapter 334: Departed Friend

Lin Xi glanced at Yao Wu and the others in the main hall, and said calmly: "Yao Wu, my sister, you just returned. I’ve already had the servants clean the rooms. Please go down first."

Everyone knew the two were going to discuss important matters, and they all bowed and took their leave.

When only the two were left in the main hall, Lin Xi slowly spoke up, her tone somewhat heavy: "Lin Lan has died."

"Lin Lan?"

Zhou Luo hesitated, unable to recall the name for a moment.

After a while, he finally remembered her.

It was her, the maidservant of Lin Qing Han, from when he first married into the Lin Family.

That somewhat arrogant woman who accidentally saw him naked.

Later, she became his concubine and gave birth to a daughter.

Afterward, during the period of his Closed-Door Training, because she was an ordinary person, Zhou Luo arranged for her and his other children to go to Jiang City.

Now, more than forty years had passed, and the once blooming young woman was almost seventy years old.

If she were a cultivator, seventy years old wouldn’t be too old.

But after all, Lin Lan was just an ordinary person. Although helped by potions, she ultimately did not live past a hundred years. In a quiet afternoon, she passed away silently.

Lin Xi said that when her daughter found the mother, the mother was still smiling.

At the same time, Lin Lan was holding a jade pendant in her hand, carved with the character "Luo".

This was given by Zhou Luo many years ago when he married Lin Jin Xuan, as compensation for not holding weddings for his wives and concubines.

Hearing this news, Zhou Luo was silent and just sat there quietly.

This was the first of his women to pass away. Although the feelings weren’t as deep as with his eldest son, it still stirred waves in his heart.

He had a long lifespan and didn’t need to worry about life and death, but his wives, concubines, and children could not.

Now he was only sixty years old, and his wives, concubines, and children by his side were no more than seventy years old, so he couldn’t yet feel life and death separations.

But in a hundred years? Two hundred years?

Especially for concubines and children like Lin Qing Han with inferior spiritual roots, he would eventually have to face their departures.

Time was the most heartless; it took away everyone you didn’t want to lose.

Facing this situation, Zhou Luo was helpless.

He could only calmly accept it and watch helplessly as his loved ones left.

Previously, he hadn’t felt much, but this time Lin Lan’s death deeply affected him.

Even though the feelings between them weren’t that profound, but upon hearing of her death, and that she had thought of him even before she passed,

Zhou Luo felt suffocated inside.

However, this feeling didn’t last long.

With the help of the Water Spirit Heart Method, he gradually calmed his emotions, and his turbulent heart slowly eased.

He would eventually have to face death himself.

There was no way to avoid it no matter what.

Since that was the case, it would be better to face it squarely.

Lin Xi beside him looked at him with concern.

"How was her funeral?" Zhou Luo asked.

Lin Xi pursed her lips and replied, "I sent specialists to handle it. It was very grand. Do you plan to attend?"

Lin Lan had died some time ago, and it was in Jiang City. She hadn’t even had the chance to send Zhou Luo a message.

After thinking it over, Zhou Luo shook his head. "Death cannot be avoided. We must always learn to let go."

It wasn’t that he was cold-hearted, but he recognized that such things were meaningless.

She was merely a passerby in his life—one who had stayed a little longer.

Perhaps he had been very important to her, but what did that matter?

In the face of the river of time, all emotions are incredibly trivial. What he could do was cherish every loved one by his side and ensure they could leave this world in peace.

Perhaps in tens of thousands of years, after bidding farewell to one group of loved ones after another, his emotions would grow increasingly distant.

Hearing this, a trace of sadness flashed through Lin Xi’s eyes.

Naturally, she understood the reasoning. But at the thought that one day she might be separated from him for eternity, she couldn’t help but feel slightly shaken.

Sensing his wife’s troubled mood, Zhou Luo reached out and took her slender hand, speaking with deep sincerity, "With your talent, we can walk this long path of cultivation together."

Lin Xi had fifth-grade spiritual roots. Though they weren’t top-tier spiritual roots, thanks to the dual cultivation technique over the years, she had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

At her age, reaching Foundation Establishment was only a matter of time.

What’s more, Zhou Luo had already prepared Foundation Establishment Dan for her.

Hearing this, Lin Xi’s heart warmed. She gazed at his handsome face, her expression filled with tenderness.

Still, she sighed, "It’s just that I can no longer practice dual cultivation with you."

Having practiced dual cultivation, Lin Xi understood well the power of The Fusion of Dragon and Phoenix Technique.

She also knew very clearly that while her husband’s rapid success in Foundation Establishment might have some relation to luck, the main reason was that he had forcefully achieved a spiritual root breakthrough to the ninth level of Qi Refinement with the help of the dual cultivation technique, despite possessing only eighth-grade spiritual roots.

If this were to become known, it wouldn’t just shock the entire Qinyuan Domain—it would likely stir waves across several other domains as well.

If that happened, the Lin Family might face utter catastrophe.

So Lin Xi would absolutely never speak of it to anyone.

By saying this now, she meant to convey that even if she could build her foundation, given her potential as a fifth-grade spiritual root cultivator, she could at most reach peak Foundation Establishment in this lifetime—breaking through into the Golden Core stage would remain an impossibility.

In the world of cultivation, aside from rare exceptions, ninety-nine percent of those who could enter the Golden Core stage had depended entirely on their spiritual root potential.

Only top-grade spiritual roots possessed the hope of touching the realm of Golden Core before one’s life span ran out.

With the dual cultivation technique, Zhou Luo stood a high probability of entering the Golden Core stage. But she could not.

So despite Zhou Luo’s words, deep down, she retained little confidence.

Zhou Luo smiled and shook his head. "The dual cultivation method of this world is not limited to one. The Fusion of Dragon and Phoenix Technique is one of the three great secret arts of the ancient Hehuan Path. If I can find the remaining two arts, then wouldn’t the problem of your inability to engage in dual cultivation be solved?"

"Really?" Lin Xi’s eyes lit up, revealing her happy surprise.

This was unknown to her.

"Don’t worry about it. Just focus on your cultivation. Once you are ready for Foundation Establishment, I will help you," Zhou Luo said softly.

Having practiced dual cultivation with Lin Xi for more than twenty years, the bond between them far surpassed that with his other women. They were truly soulmates.

Many things were understood without need of words. Each truly knew the depth of the other’s feelings.

He simply could not bear to watch Lin Xi live an unremarkable life and see her fade away in obscurity.

He wanted her to stay by his side always—until they walked together into the immortal Dao itself.

"Mmm, I will do my utmost, husband," Lin Xi earnestly promised.

Her faith in Zhou Luo had always been absolute.

It had long since become instinctive; a second nature.

If he told her to leap off a cliff now, she would do so without hesitation.

This trust stemmed from years of companionship. It arose from deeply knowing one another.