67: I will keep you by my side forever.

Su Lin said nothing.

He flickered and instantly appeared behind Ye You, his sword finger striking out again.

This time, his target was the back of her neck.

"Clink."

It was still the same result.

That thin film of Demonic Qi didn't even tremble in the slightest.

"What's wrong, Revered Master? Trying to grab my nape? I'm not a kitten."

Su Lin's figure moved back and forth rapidly across the field; his speed was such that to onlookers, he seemed to have multiple Clones.

But all his attacks stopped outside that invisible film of Demonic Qi, producing crisp "clink, clink" sounds.

"Revered Master, you're like this..." She tilted her head slightly, her eyes following Su Lin's constantly shifting figure, "...it's like you're tickling me."

"Or perhaps, Revered Master actually wants to take this opportunity to thoroughly examine your disciple's current body? After all, it's been a hundred years; the changes must be significant, right?"

Su Lin stopped his futile rapid movements and retreated several zhang.

Several probing attacks had already proven that pure speed and skill were meaningless in the face of Ye You's absolute power.

He stood still, his gaze calmly fixed on his good disciple before him.

Ye You's tail swayed leisurely from side to side.

"Is that it? Revered Master's stamina seems not as good as before."

"It seems your disciple has grown up. Perhaps to discipline her, I'll need a few more things in hand," Su Lin said indifferently.

He slowly raised his right hand, and a sword shadow condensed in his palm.

The sword body was a few shades dimmer than it had been back then, but the moment it appeared, the surrounding Spiritual Qi rapidly gathered towards it.

This sword was none other than [destiny], one of his Lifebound Weapons he had retrieved not long ago.

"Revered Master's Lifebound Weapon!"

Mu Qingxue exclaimed from afar.

Luo Ximei's expression also grew more serious.

Gu Qiuyue, on the other hand, was calculating whether Revered Master, with his current cultivation, could get close to Ye You by using this sword.

The smile on Ye You's face disappeared for the first time.

She looked at the sword, her eyes somewhat unfocused, as if lost in memory.

"Is this... [destiny]?"

She murmured softly, "I thought... it had long since... shattered along with Revered Master."

She licked her lips, her eyes staring somewhat dazed at the ancient sword.

Then her gaze slowly shifted back to Su Lin's face.

"What a pity, what a pity. Though a Divine Artifact is sharp, it requires sufficient cultivation to wield.

Revered Master, you are only at the Late Nascent Soul Stage now. If you could advance two more major Realms, wielding this sword might truly make me take you a little seriously, but now..."

Her words carried undisguised regret, "Just summoning [destiny] must be quite a burden for you now, mustn't it?"

Su Lin ignored her verbal interference. He gripped the hilt tightly, and the Nascent Soul Qi in his body slowly infused into it.

[destiny] let out a low sword cry, and a faint glimmer began to condense on its blade.

Ye You watched his serious demeanor, and the corners of her mouth curved up again.

"Revered Master is Revered Master. When he's serious, he looks even better than before."

"But right now, just looking good isn't enough."

"Then let's try it! Let me see how much you've grown in a hundred years!"

Su Lin's wrist flicked, and a ray of azure sword light shot out from the sword tip, like a crescent moon, attacking Ye You.

The sword light struck the invisible Demonic Qi shield, producing a louder sound than before.

The shield visibly rippled, like a calm water surface hit by a pebble, but that was all; not even a single crack appeared.

"Hmm, that has a bit of a feeling now."

Ye You raised her hand and gently tapped the spot where the sword light had just struck with one finger.

Su Lin took a deep breath, suppressing the churning Qi and blood within him.

[destiny] consumed an immense amount of Spiritual Qi; that single sword strike had already made him feel strained.

She looked at Su Lin's slightly panting appearance, her smile deepening: "Too much effort? Tired? Why don't you rest for a bit? Your disciple can hold you while you rest."

"There's no need for that. To discipline an unruly disciple, one naturally needs to be serious."

Upon hearing this, Ye You's tail wagged happily.

"Revered Master, please come. I'm waiting."

Su Lin said no more, his figure moved, and he advanced with his sword once again.

This time, his speed seemed even faster than before, the sword tip cutting through the air, striking towards the shield in front of Ye You.

"Clink!"

The collision sound was louder than any previous one, yet it ultimately did not break.

A powerful recoil force traveled up the sword body. Su Lin felt a dull ache in his chest, and a sharp pain shot through his sword-wielding wrist. [destiny] nearly flew out of his hand.

"Revered Master!"

From afar, Mu Qingxue, Luo Ximei, and Gu Qiuyue, seeing Su Lin injured by the recoil force, their expressions drastically changed, and they simultaneously flew forward with exclamations, trying to catch him.

Ye You casually waved her left hand, and an invisible wall blocked the three Junior Sisters.

They were fast, but Ye You was faster.

At the same time, Ye You's tail swiftly wrapped around Su Lin's waist, and just as he was about to lose his balance, she pulled him forward sharply.

Su Lin felt a huge force coming from his waist, and he involuntarily crashed into Ye You's embrace.

The tail was wrapped extremely tightly, as if afraid he would fall.

"See how dangerous? If your disciple hadn't caught you, wouldn't Revered Master have fallen?"

"This is far enough. If we keep fighting, Revered Master will truly overdraw himself."

As Ye You finished speaking, Su Lin seemed to feel that the tail wrapped around him was slowly injecting Spiritual Qi into his body.

A gentle force was repairing his Nascent Soul, which had been damaged by forcibly activating [destiny].

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm? What did Revered Master say?"

Ye You pretended not to hear clearly, pulling Su Lin further into her embrace.

"Is Revered Master saying I'm holding him too tightly? Then I'll loosen up a bit."

She said this, but the coiled tail did not move an inch.

Su Lin looked at her: "Your Spiritual Qi."

Ye You blinked her golden eyes, finally no longer pretending.

"So you noticed."

She admitted it very straightforwardly, "Revered Master is still the same as before, always acting recklessly. It was like this a hundred years ago, and it's the same now."

Her finger lightly tapped Su Lin's chest.

"With just Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, you dare to forcibly activate [destiny]. Does Revered Master want to die again to show me?"

"Are you still not going to let go of me?" Su Lin asked.

"No."

Ye You answered even faster, "Revered Master is my trophy now."

She lowered her head, her nose almost touching Su Lin's forehead.

"I realized that if I had just added a little more force, the recoil would have been greater, and Revered Master might have been more seriously injured.

In that case... wouldn't you have stayed in my arms for a little longer?"

"So, I have a little regret now."

Her voice dropped even lower.

"If I crippled you, abolished your cultivation, broke your limbs...

"In that case, wouldn't I be able to... keep you by my side forever, forever?"