"Yes," Jing Wei confirmed. "The young man did not treat me as a slave. He released me from the contract immediately."

Lin Mu felt some of the tension in his chest ease.

"What did he want in return?" he asked.

"Service," Jing Wei replied. "Not ownership."

He set his mug down gently.

"He belonged to a small but rising noble clan," he explained. "They lacked a proper weapon forger. They needed someone skilled to elevate their standing."

"And you agreed," Lin Mu said.

"I did," Jing Wei replied. "It was a fair exchange. I had my freedom. They had my skill."

Lin Mu nodded.

"How long did you stay with them?" he asked.

"Five more years," Jing Wei said.

"That long?" Lin Mu said.

Jing Wei gave a small shrug.

"It was beneficial," he explained. "They had access to better materials. Better techniques. More resources."

His eyes held a faint gleam.

"My understanding deepened further," he said. "I was no longer just refining what I knew. I was expanding it."

Lin Mu could see it clearly.

Each stage of Jing Wei’s journey had pushed him forward.

Relentlessly.

"And you were free to leave?" Lin Mu asked.

"Yes," Jing Wei said. "At any time."

Lin Mu tilted his head slightly.

"But you did not," he said.

Jing Wei smiled faintly.

"You already know why," he said.

Lin Mu nodded.

"You had nowhere to go," he said.

"Exactly," Jing Wei replied.

He leaned back, looking up toward the ceiling for a moment.

"It was not as if I could return to the Xiaofan World," he said. "That path was closed."

Lin Mu remained silent.

"At first, I thought I could simply wait," Jing Wei continued. "Wait for others to ascend. For familiar faces to appear."

He let out a quiet breath.

"But I soon learned the truth."

Lin Mu already knew what he was going to say.

"They would not appear in the same place," he said.

Jing Wei nodded.

"Rarely," he said. "Very rarely."

He looked at Lin Mu.

"The Northern Immortal Court governs many worlds," he explained. "Those who ascend are scattered across them."

Lin Mu’s gaze lowered slightly.

"That makes finding someone..." he began.

"Nearly impossible," Jing Wei finished.

A brief silence followed.

"I realized then," Jing Wei said, "that survival was the priority."

He clenched his fist lightly.

"I needed time," he said. "Time to grow. Time to endure. Time to eventually find someone... or be found."

Lin Mu nodded slowly.

"So you left a trail," he said.

Jing Wei smiled.

"I did," he said.

He leaned forward slightly.

"I began marking my work," he explained. "Every weapon I forged carried the symbol of the Jing Clan."

Lin Mu’s eyes sharpened.

"That is how I found you," he said.

Jing Wei nodded.

"That was the idea," he said. "Anyone who knew me would recognize it."

He paused.

"But for a long time... no one came."

Lin Mu said nothing.

"Years passed," Jing Wei continued. "I improved. I refined my craft. I built a reputation."

Then his expression shifted slightly.

"And then," he said, "someone did come."

Lin Mu’s attention sharpened.

"You thought it was someone from home," he said.

"I did," Jing Wei admitted.

"What happened?" Lin Mu asked.

"They were interested in my skill," Jing Wei said simply. "Nothing more."

Lin Mu exhaled softly.

Jing Wei continued.

"That person introduced me to someone else," he said.

Lin Mu raised a brow.

"Who?" he asked.

"A dwarf," Jing Wei replied.

Lin Mu’s eyes widened slightly.

"A dwarf?" he repeated.

Jing Wei nodded.

"My first time seeing one," he said. "I was surprised as well."

Lin Mu leaned forward.

"What did he want?" he asked.

"He wanted to test me," Jing Wei said.

"How?" Lin Mu asked.

"He gave me instructions," Jing Wei explained. "Specific ones. Precise. Demanding."

"And you followed them," Lin Mu said.

"I did," Jing Wei replied. "To the best of my ability."

He smiled faintly.

"And he was pleased," he added.

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"That must have meant something," he said.

"It did," Jing Wei replied. "He offered to teach me."

Lin Mu blinked once.

"You accepted," he said.

"I did," Jing Wei confirmed. "After seeing his craft, there was no reason to refuse."

His tone carried genuine respect.

"It was on another level," he said. "The precision. The understanding. The integration of materials and energy... it was far beyond what I had known."

Lin Mu nodded slowly.

"Did you take him as your master?" Lin Mu wondered.

Jing Wei chuckled quietly.

"I did," he admitted. "Though I did not expect to take a master at my age."

Lin Mu laughed.

"For an immortal, you are still young," he said.

Jing Wei raised a brow.

"And what does that make you?" he asked. "You are what... ninety something years old?"

Lin Mu shrugged lightly.

"Less than a hundred," he said.

"And already a Fifth Tribulation Immortal," Jing Wei added, shaking his head slightly. "That is not normal."

Lin Mu smiled faintly.

"I had some opportunities," he said.

Jing Wei laughed.

"If that is not talent, then I do not know what is," he said. "For an immortal... you are practically an infant."

Lin Mu laughed as well.

The tension that had once filled their conversation had eased.

In the entire Immortal realm, other than Xukong, the Saintess and Lin Mu’s beasts, there was no one who knew Lin Mu’s real age. Lin Mu didn’t know why he had not explicitly told his real age to others, though it was simply because the matter was not of importance and had never come up.

But now there was one. Jing Wei was the only one who knew how young he was, and what his talent really meant.

But he did not care about that. He did not care that Lin Mu was leagues above him. To him, he was the same youth who had stumbled into his old emporium and had used his sword to chop wood.

For a moment...

They were simply two old friends.

Sharing stories.

Catching up.

In a place neither of them had ever expected to meet again.