Ji Rui was definitely someone very important for him to make his past self take that step.
If he tried to remember her while thinking about her name, he might be able to create more stress on the seal. And the day he was able to remember Ji Rui would also mean that he had broken the seal completely.
It was worth a try, he had nothing to lose doing so anyway.
After walking for a while, he came back to his cave and pondered on the name Ji Rui while thinking about who she was, nothing came out of his pondering, but he wasn't disappointed, he would continue to do so every day.
Someday, he would definitely be able to achieve what he wanted, and it would definitely be earlier than the time it would have taken without doing anything.
Lin Feng sighed and closed his eyes for cultivating.
Time passed by, and in the blink of an eye, 6 months passed quietly.
...
Lin Feng was standing in front of the cliff, looking at the sunrise, in these 6 months, nothing much had happened, he wasn't able to reach the Core Formation realm as Elder Gao only came once to meet him.
She just gave him a lot of resources, which even consisted of some yang resources too. She had told him to cultivate at his own pace for these 6 months and try to find a partner for the time being.
After that, she left, she even looked in a hurry somehow, it was definitely related to the war.
He had increased his cultivation realm slowly and reached the Late Stage of the Foundation Establishment realm with 9 meridians already fortified.
His reputation in the sect had increased tremendously, after knowing that the effect of his pills was at least 30 percent better than pills of the same grade, it was enough for every single disciple to prefer him.
Some disciples especially came with pill recipes to create their own pills they needed now, he didn't decline them, and this had increased his overall reputation even more thoroughly.
His initial goals were achieved now, but he still hadn't met any core sect disciples of the sect, nor was he able to figure out who had gone on the previous mission.
But now that he had enough foothold with a good reputation, he wouldn't mind taking some risks, also since 6 months had passed, he would finally be able to go out of the sect.
The only thing he was wondering was whether he would be allowed to go out on a mission alone or not, well, he could throw some tantrums like a child if they made someone follow him, or maybe choose someone he would like to go with.
Going on a mission was important as it would create a routine of him going out, in the future, if he needed to send some information, then he could exploit this routine to do so.
Suddenly, he sensed something and looked back, a girl was coming towards him, she was none other than Huo Meiling. In the first month, he had slept with her multiple times, but afterward, he didn't do so much, only two times in the second month, and in the third month, only one time.
Now, it had been 3 months since he had touched her, he did it out of pity, because she might have turned into someone who wouldn't be able to go back to Fu Zhen at all.
He never had any intention to separate them, how she handled her emotions from this day onwards was up to her, today she was going to meet Fu Zhen in the outer sect as he wasn't able to become an inner disciple in 4 months.
"You look beautiful, sister Huo, junior brother Fu Zhen will be delighted to meet you." He had decided to treat her exactly like when they had met.
Huo Meiling nodded, "What are you looking at?"
She knew that Lin Feng had avoided sleeping with her for her sake, and she was grateful for it because if he had decided to sleep with her, then she wouldn't have been able to refuse him.
No doubt, sometimes she felt a need for his warmth, his way of handling her and his manhood wasn't something she could ever forget, but she was never able to gather the courage to ask him to do so herself.
She might have lost all her morality, but she was clinging to one fact that she never invited him to do those things with her herself.
Lin Feng looked at the rising sun, "Looking at the rising sun, sister Huo, this day we are free in some sense, freedom is the desire which easily surpasses anything."
His words weren't false, cultivators cultivate to gain freedom, they want to get strong enough to break the chains binding them.
Every breakthrough grants you a shred of freedom, until you become strong enough to be not restrained by anyone.
Huo Meiling nodded, "Then I will be going, brother Lin."
Lin Feng nodded without much thought, he was thinking about something else, in six months, he didn't get any result while pondering on the name of Ji Rui in the form of memory, but there was something special that happened every time he thought of that name, he became a little emotional.
It was a feeling of slight sadness which he could describe easily, it was very mild, but for someone like him who could perfectly control his emotions out of just sheer will, it's a very big deal.
Well, this at least proved that he was on the right path, his pondering really affected the seal, because of this, he had begun thinking about Ji Rui whenever he got time to do so.
He sighed and turned around, Huo Meiling had already gone away, he decided to see if he could leave the sect or not.
He had already seen all the pavilions in the inner sect, so he knew where to visit. He came down to the location where the abode of Xie Ruyue was, their relationship was still the same, that of friends.
He didn't try to make a move on her to become her partner, he would let her decide about it herself. Although, he really needed a partner, this would make him part of the sect in truest sense, not to mention Xie Ruyue would become a core sect disciple.