Chapter 209 | The Matriarch’s Care

Chapter 209: 209 | The Matriarch’s Care

Dusk settled over Sky-Pillar City in a wash of deep amber and violet.

Lin Tian stepped out of his secluded side chamber dressed in a clean set of dark robes. For the first time since boarding the ship, he had left the Profound Void-Yang Blade resting on its stand inside his room.

He walked up the quiet stone path beneath the red maple trees toward the Eastern Private Pavilion.

Two junior alchemists standing guard at the courtyard entrance straightened immediately as he approached. Neither of them showed the slightest surprise at his late arrival; Elder Liu had already announced in front of the entire delegation that Lin Tian would be assisting her with the tournament pill containers.

"Senior Brother Lin," the two disciples greeted, bowing low and stepping aside to open the courtyard gate. "Elder Liu is waiting inside the main hall."

Lin Tian gave a slight nod and stepped through.

The inner hall of the Eastern Pavilion was spacious and warm, scented with faint sandalwood and refined medicinal herbs. On a low spirit-wood table near the center of the room sat three sealed jade cases containing the sect’s tournament pills, alongside a porcelain warmer holding a pot of crimson spirit wine.

Elder Liu stood beside the table in her emerald robes.

The moment the wooden doors closed behind Lin Tian, she raised her jade authority token and flicked a strand of Core Formation Qi into the walls.

Hum.

A isolation barrier rippled across the windows and doors, sealing the pavilion completely from outside eyes and divine sense.

Lin Tian expected her to melt into his arms with the same breathless urgency she had shown inside the ship’s recovery station.

Instead, the instant the array locked, the composed mask on Elder Liu’s face gave way to a sharp, lingering worry. She crossed the room in three quick steps, stopped directly in front of him, and caught his right hand in both of hers before he could even speak.

Her soft, warm fingers pressed firmly against the pulse point of his wrist.

"Do not move," Elder Liu said quietly, her dark brows drawing together as she sent a careful, probing thread of her Middle Stage Core Formation sense into his meridians. "Let me check you properly."

Lin Tian looked down at her bowed head, keeping his breathing steady and allowing her spiritual sense to pass unimpeded through his arm.

"We were in the recovery station yesterday, Liu-er," Lin Tian said, a hint of amusement softening his low voice. "Didn’t you already feel how much strength I had left?"

"Yesterday on the ship was too rushed, and there were disciples standing right outside the door," Elder Liu replied, refusing to let go of his wrist as her sense traced the pathways along his shoulder, chest, and upper Dantian. "You fought a Core Formation blood-cultivator head-on, Lin Tian. Even if his foundation was impure, the realm gap between Foundation Establishment and Core Formation is a chasm."

Her voice dropped lower, carrying a faint tremor she rarely let anyone hear.

"When a Foundation cultivator forces out enough power to shatter a Core Formation strike, the recoil almost always leaves hidden fractures along the secondary meridians. All last night and throughout the docking this morning, I kept thinking... what if you were hiding internal backlash behind that calm face of yours just to keep the ship in order?"

Lin Tian’s gaze softened as he watched her focus intently on his pulse.

To the rest of the Crimson Nimbus Sect, Elder Liu was an icy, arrogant 4-Star Alchemist who cared only for her furnaces and her status. Yet here she was, ignoring the pill cases on the table, her fingers tight around his wrist as she searched every inch of her pathways like an anxious physician tending to the only person who mattered to her.

For ten full breaths, Elder Liu examined his internal state in silence.

What her divine sense found left her stunned all over again.

There were nothing.

Beneath his skin, his meridians were wider, tougher, and more resilient than tempered spirit-steel. And deep within his Dantian, the vast lake of golden Liquid Qi sat as calm and unfathomable as an ancient ocean—so dense that her own Core Formation sense felt a subtle, natural reverence just brushing against its surface.

Slowly, Elder Liu withdrew her spiritual sense and let out a long, unsteady breath. The tight knot between her brows finally smoothed away.

"Your body really is a monster..." she murmured, her thumb brushing lightly over the pulse of his wrist.

Lin Tian turned his hand over, lacing his fingers through hers, and pulled her a half-step closer until the warmth of his chest brushed against the front of her emerald robes.

"Satisfied now, Doctor Liu?" he teased gently.

Elder Liu looked up at him. The worry in her dark eyes melted into a deep, shimmering warmth that made her mature features look breathtaking under the lantern light.

"Do not laugh at me," she whispered, raising her free hand to rest her palm flat over his heart, feeling its slow, powerful beat beneath his dark robes. "When that demonic filth spoke on the deck... I was prepared to burn my own Core essence if that was what it took to drag him down. I never expected you to tear off your concealment in front of the entire ship because of what he said about us."

She stepped closer and rested her forehead against his collarbone, her fingers curling into the fabric at his chest.

"At the sect, I came to you because you cured my toxicity and because my body craved your fire," Elder Liu confessed softly, her voice muffled against his robes. "Even the night before we boarded the ship, I told myself it was the bond between our foundations pulling me to your bed. But last night on the deck... when you stood in front of me and burned a Core Formation expert to ash simply because he insulted my name..."

She tilted her face up, her cheeks flushed a soft rose, her eyes completely unguarded.

"That was when I realized that even if my Verdant Flame never needed another drop of Yang to stay stable, I would still belong to you."

A quiet chime echoed softly at the edge of Lin Tian’s vision.

[Target 4 (Elder Liu) Obsession Level: 95% → 96% (Deepened Emotional Devotion)]

It was only a single percent increase, yet at this height, that single step carried the weight of a proud Matriarch surrendering the last private corner of her heart.

Lin Tian reached out, his calloused thumb tracing the smooth line of her jaw before he leaned down and pressed a slow, lingering kiss to her forehead.

"You are my woman, Liu-er," Lin Tian said, his voice low and steady. "Whether it is a stray dog on a ship or an entire sect in this city, no one gets to speak of you like that while I am standing."

A soft shiver ran through Elder Liu’s frame. Her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into his touch, savoring the grounded certainty in his voice.

After a long moment, she opened her eyes and gave him a gentle, devoted smile.

"Come sit," she whispered, tugging lightly at his hand to guide him toward the wide, cushioned divan beside the low table. "Tonight, Let me take care of you properly."

Lin Tian allowed her to lead him to the divan, sitting back comfortably as Elder Liu stood between his knees.

With slow, attentive movements, she reached for the fastenings at his collar. Her slender fingers undid the dark sash around his waist and slid his outer robe off his broad shoulders, folding it neatly before setting it aside.

She then turned to the porcelain warmer on the table and poured a cup of clear, crimson-amber liquid that filled the hall with a rich, soothing aroma of aged sun-ginseng and spirit honey.

"I refined this Sun-Marrow Spirit Wine myself before we left the peak," Elder Liu said softly, holding the jade cup between her hands. "It nourishes the blood and warms the meridians after heavy combat."

Lin Tian looked at the cup, then up at her flushed face, a faint smirk curving his lips.

"On the ship, you were too busy to serve me properly," he murmured, resting his hands lightly on the curves of her hips. "Are you going to make me use my own hands tonight?"

Elder Liu’s cheeks darkened a shade, her dark eyes turning glossy with affection and rising heat.

Without a word, she raised the jade cup to her own lips and took a slow, generous sip of the warm spirit wine.

Setting the cup back on the table, she sank gracefully onto her knees on the cushioned divan between his parted legs, placed her palms against his chest, and leaned in to seal her mouth over his.

Her soft lips parted against his, and she slowly pushed the sweet, fiery wine over his tongue.

Lin Tian’s hand rose to the back of her neck, holding her close as he swallowed the warm liquid and swept his tongue into her mouth to claim the rest. The rich taste of sun-ginseng mixed with the natural sweetness of her breath, sending a slow, pleasant heat curling through both of them.

A muffled moan scape from Elder Liu’s lips as she melted into the kiss, her fingers sliding up to loosening the front of his inner silk cloth.

When they finally parted for air, a thin glisten of crimson wine lingered on her swollen lower lip. Her breathing was soft and uneven, her gaze dark with devotion as she looked down at his bare, muscular chest.

Instead of rising, Elder Liu leaned forward and pressed her warm, wine-slicked lips directly against the center of his sternum.

Slowly, reverently, the Master of Alchemy Peak began trailing soft kisses across the hard planes of his chest and down the scarred lines of his abdomen—her hands reaching up to pull the jade pin from her own hair, letting her long black locks spill like silk over his thighs as the night truly began.