Shen Xuanyue had used a technique—the substitute of a peach tree for a dead plum.
She must have known what would happen if she altered his destiny. Otherwise, given her identity as a sword cultivator, why would she lower herself to be with him and trap herself in her own web?
These memories should belong to that Lin Feng in the Huayue Grotto-heaven, yet he could not tell Turandot about any of this.
Based simply on the few books left behind by Shen Xuanyue, Lin Feng was no longer an ignorant novice. He had a vague suspicion that Shen Xuanyue kept him from showing his face in public to protect him, and it felt rather strange to him.
They were so alike—could there really be another self of his in this world?
What felt even stranger to him was what Turandot said next.
"With the two of you looking so alike, do you really think there is no connection?"
He had already become someone else's substitute—how could he say there was no connection?
Chapter 11: The First Conquest
"Perhaps there is some connection, Duoduo. But to pin your hopes on me based solely on this—isn't that a bit too childish?"
"Do you and I still have a choice?"
With her extraordinary intelligence, Turandot squatted by the water's edge, watching the various brightly colored jellyfish, resembling fireflies, drift out of the water, making the entire ruin look breathtakingly beautiful.
Indeed, they had no choice left!"I know that to leave, you would agree to all of that senior's conditions, just as my people, in order to survive, pin their hopes on illusory gods. It is all just grasping at straws in a panic!"
She stood up slowly. The stars blinked, insects chirped softly, and butterflies of various colors fluttered out from between the vines, their wings interweaving with the radiance of the jellyfish.
"Therefore, I still have to try!"
Her robe slipped from her shoulders, and she displayed her beauty with grace. Lin Feng opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
It wasn't that he intended to take advantage of her; it was just that the reckless determination in her eyes made him unable to refuse. In truth, he did not understand why that mysterious person had made such a request, but his intentions were pure.
"Don't you want to know what that senior said to me?"
He didn't know, and he didn't want to know. Lin Feng was not the type of person to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position, so he simply closed his eyes.
"He wants me to take you to the Heavenly Demon Palace and find a way for you to stay there yourself. As for anything else, I don't know!"
She spoke to herself, and wherever her palm brushed, the injuries on Lin Feng's face healed visibly to the naked eye.
"Hehe, you aren't ugly. I suppose I'm not at a loss!"
Having never met anyone as intriguing as her, Lin Feng couldn't help but open his eyes."I don't know what you are doing, or why you are being hunted, and I don't want you to tell me. But you must remember: within the Demon Race, do not trust anyone."
At this moment, she was no longer that innocent, carefree girl; she was more like a queen bravely facing death for the fate of her people.
"I will become a flower in your memory, but you must never think of me!"
What was all this about?
"Stop talking nonsense."
There were kind races among the demons; not all of them bore malice toward humanity.
"I am letting you explore my true secret!"
Her tone shifted unpredictably, burdened by immense pressure. Lin Feng understood, yet he could only watch helplessly as he was knocked unconscious.
The surroundings were as quiet and resplendent as before. When Lin Feng woke up, the first thing he did was check himself. Finding no issues, he hurried to the water's edge.
The reflection showed a familiar face. He could only pray silently that nothing had happened.
"Are you ready? We need to start running for our lives!"
Turandot was now dressed in tight-fitting gear, looking indescribably heroic and spirited!
"Did you... do anything to me?"
"Take a guess!"
She turned back with a flourish, looking toward a spot in the forest and leaving a trail of fragrance behind for Lin Feng.
"Are you ready?"
She asked again. Lin Feng quickly examined himself, but before he could react, shouts of slaughter erupted all around them.
"Saintess, hurry! People from Fengxing Continent have arrived!"
"Ah!"
Cries of agony rang out one after another. In the shadows, Lin Feng saw Tulong nodding at them.
"Go!"
The entire group of Merfolk Clan members in the ruins dove into the water together, and countless torches appeared in the forest.
"Hmph! The Merfolk Clan has trespassed on ancestral land and is fleeing in guilt. Pass the order down: all hundred clans are to hunt down the Merfolk. If they resist, execute them on the spot!"
As he ran, his memories began to return. Lin Feng didn't know what Turandot had discussed with that senior, but she had actually taken the initiative to do *that* with him.
The reality of being husband and wife—why did it have to be that?
Utterly bewildered, Lin Feng nearly cried out in shock.
"You've discovered it, haven't you?"
"Wait, what kind of cultivation technique is this?"
The sensation of Qi in his Dantian flowed like a clear, bubbling spring, endless and inexhaustible. Lin Feng slightly circulated the Shen Xuanyue Heart-Clearing Technique. Inside his Consciousness Sea, the chaos felt like a gentle drizzle, and he discovered the residual power of the deeply hidden Jade Emperor Sutra mark.
The drizzling rain nourished the earth, and the two rotating bagua spun in silent stillness.
Follow my lead!With a thought from Lin Feng, the drifting fine drizzle began to stir and slowly rotate. Inside his dantian, the Heart-Clearing Mantra began to circulate, easily forming a faint surge of power that rapidly coursed through his entire body.
Boom!
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth absorbed into his body combined with the power of the divine soul carried in the misty drizzle, and in an instant, Lin Feng possessed cultivation.
Shen Xuanyue, you big liar! You must have known I would remember the Heart-Clearing Mantra. You must have known that if water-based arts entered the body, it would easily draw upon the Heart-Clearing Mantra. You big liar!
Though he did not know whether encountering the mysterious person was part of Shen Xuanyue's plan, Lin Feng was entirely certain that Shen Xuanyue definitely had a way to make him cultivate; she merely needed him to discover the path himself.
Right, could it be that by doing this, she was reducing the karmic entanglement of altering a mortal's destiny?
The power of Daoist Wuji combined with the power of the Little Dragon King—only then was I able to achieve introspection and cultivation. What kind of involvement do they have with me, then?
Whether Shen Xuanyue intended for him to cultivate, and whether she intentionally sent him near the ancestral grounds of the Demon Race, Lin Feng felt completely lost, and he subconsciously touched his back.
"You can cultivate? You big liar!"
At that moment, Turandot's excitement and shock, grievance and regret, all erupted at once.
There was simply no way to explain all of this. Lin Feng held her shoulders, letting her slowly calm down.
"You lied to me! Why did you lie to me!"
She beat at him continuously, crying bitterly as rain washed her face, while a silver vortex lit up across Lin Feng's abdomen!
"You can cultivate! Give me back my power, give it back!"
Her temperament truly changed by the moment; joy, anger, sorrow, and delight were all written across her face. Lin Feng could also sense that the mermaid pearl inside her was resonating with his own, an arcane aura connecting their abdomens.
This line, like a silver flash of lightning, stretched and shifted, and Lin Feng looked at her in astonishment.
"This is the power of our entire clan, you liar!"
She cried and laughed at the same time.
"Duoduo, I really couldn't cultivate. If not for you, I truly wouldn't have been able to!"
"I don't believe it!"
This is terrible. I can't possibly expel all the water spiritual energy now, and I really have no way to prove my innocence.
"Enough. You only need to know that it was precisely because you gave me the mermaid pearl that I was able to cultivate. If you don't believe me, I—"
His words cut off as the two of them watched the silver lightning twist and shift. Weak water spiritual energy poured endlessly from Lin Feng's body, and combining with the power of Turandot's mermaid pearl, it swiftly formed a thin Yin-Yang diagram.
Clang!
Their meager reserves of power were quickly drained. Inside Lin Feng's Consciousness Sea, a few specks of bright yellow Emperor of Heaven Scripture aura also plunged into the Yin-Yang diagram.
Clang, clang, clang!
Unaware of what was happening, the Yin-Yang diagram floated above Lin Feng's head, spinning, slowly shrinking, and with a gentle shudder, it vanished.
A mournful cry, lingering and plaintive, sounded as Turandot's mermaid pearl was drained of its power, leaving her unable to even use her innate divine abilities. The surging power of the water pressed inward, throwing Lin Feng into a panic, when suddenly a change occurred within his Consciousness Sea.
The vanished Yin-Yang diagram reappeared right in the dead center between the two Eight Trigrams diagrams. Although very weak, as it slowly rotated, it was able to draw wisps of power out from the Eight Trigrams. Even though it could not pull them into his own body, Lin Feng could see it clearly: every single time there was a reaction, power was simultaneously drawn from both the upper and lower Eight Trigrams.
What kind of power was this, so overwhelmingly tyrannical!
Choking heavily on a mouthful of water, Lin Feng finally remembered to regulate his internal breath. Unsure whether she would drown now that she had lost her power, he had no choice but to embrace and kiss her, exchanging breath with her.
Perhaps it was the calculation of someone with a hidden agenda, perhaps it truly was a match made in heaven, or perhaps Turandot's mermaid pearl was different from anyone else's; as their breath circulated, their auras became as one, and she snapped back to awareness at once.
Feeling that she had lost her power, she panicked, pushing and beating at him. Staring hard at her and letting her vent, Lin Feng was no longer that green and callow youth.
Rising through the water, they finally broke the surface and reached the shore.
"Let go of me! What are you doing!"
With a fierce shove, Turandot covered her mouth and turned her face away!
"From this day onward, you are my woman! I don't care whether you're a deity or not—we're running for our lives anyway, so let's just run together!"
He finally understood: regarding the mythological prophecies passed down within the Merfolk Clan, she would naturally act upon them without generating any extra psychological burden or change. This was the reason she acted like a shape-shifting enchantress when facing him.
Everything she did was solely for the Merfolk Clan!
Without expecting to change her mind right this instant, Lin Feng once again made the overreaching declaration of claiming her.
If she truly believed she had sacrificed everything for the Merfolk Clan, then when danger faced her, she would plunge into death without a moment's hesitation!
The illusions he had experienced within the Blood Fiend replayed scene by scene, and Lin Feng muttered to himself:
"To live—just to live is enough!"
"What did you say?"
The shift in Turandot's tone was instantly caught by him."We must both survive, recover quickly, and find a safe place. I have something very important to tell you!"
Without a word, Lin Feng scooped her up in his arms and strode into the dense forest. Far in the distance behind them, several elderly Merfolk clan members gathered around the glowing orb in the clearing, their expressions complicated.
"The Saintess has fallen in love, Tulong. Your protection duty has just gained another responsibility!"
The multicolored mermaid pearl was the size of a fist, far surpassing the inner core of an ordinary Merfolk clan member!
"No, impossible! The Merfolk clan can never have a future with the human race, not to mention that the Saintess has no cultivation, and that brat doesn't know how to cultivate either!"
Tulong found it utterly unacceptable and deeply baffling!
"This is the will of the gods!"
The elders were in a frenzy of excitement, causing Tulong to lower his mighty torso!
"What are you doing? Let me go! Ah!"
On the other side, Lin Feng furiously circulated the Qingxin Formula and pressed his lips hard against hers.
"Turandot!"
A low, stern shout interrupted her struggle, and Lin Feng motioned for her to look at his lower abdomen.
Bodily reactions do not lie; the power of the mermaid pearl was growing stronger through the exchange of internal breath.
"Shameless scoundrel, don't even think about it!"
I only want you to understand that I am not taking advantage of you for nothing!
Suddenly, Lin Feng lost the desire to explain and swept her up into his arms.
"Just feel it properly!"
With his currently feeble Divine Soul, projecting consciousness to engage in dual cultivation of the Divine Soul with another person was an extremely dangerous endeavor.
"Mm..."
Turandot offered a slight resistance, but unable to push him away, she was just about to resign herself to her fate when she suddenly sensed the Divine Xuan Qingxin Formula being transmitted through his thoughts.
"Didn't you want to follow me? Now, let's unlock this secret together!"
Pfft, who wants to follow you? It's utterly embarrassing!
"The Merfolk clan are maidens transformed from primordial water essence, born in communion with the Great Dao. Where on earth are there any gods? Remember this well, Turandot: from this moment on, I am your man!"
Domineering and overbearing, Lin Feng suddenly realized that he could not leave the initiative in her hands. She had already settled all her affairs and was ready to face things unburdened, but the Divine Xuan Qingxin Formula was still at play!
He could not be certain of what would happen next, but upon meeting Turandot, he had a strong premonition that this was the outcome Shen Xuanyue desired.
The fact that the flying sword could burrow into his spine to evade detection meant that Shen Xuanyue was not yet dead. Regardless of how evil she might be, he had to find Shen Xuanyue first.
By sheer coincidence, he had conquered Turandot in the most aggressive manner possible. Facing an intelligent woman like her who knew countless secrets, mere words and tactics would never move her—she would see right through them at a glance. But if he let her experience primal power while following the instructions of the gods, everything would fall naturally into place.
In the quiet, misty mountain forest, Tulong stood guard not far away, wearing a stern expression and saying nothing.
Chapter 12: Scoring a Massive Bargain
The benefits gained from their first dual cultivation were immense.
Feeling like he was dreaming, Lin Feng looked at his own hands, then turned his gaze to Turandot.
"Can we both cultivate now?"
"Haha, we can cultivate!"
He was as happy as a child, jumping on the spot to pump himself up. Turandot raised her hand and slapped him squarely across the face!
Without even dodging, he took the blow full-force, staring at her earnestly, his joy still entirely uncontained!
He had expected him to duck, yet he hadn't dodged at all. Turandot had no idea why she had thrown that slap!
At this moment, silence spoke louder than words. Radiant and glowing, mingled with a pang of guilt, she was infinitely alluring!
"From now on, let's cultivate diligently. I'll protect you, you'll protect me. Don't ever entertain thoughts of life and death so lightly again!"
He stretched out his hands to feel the not-so-cold rainwater, a broad smile plastered across his face.
"Ever since our flight began, we could only look out for ourselves. I have never felt this good!"
As the clouds scattered and the rain ceased, Lin Feng suddenly turned back, looking rather pleased.
Rainwater trickled down her strands of hair, which clung closely to her skin. It would not be an exaggeration to say she looked like a beauty emerging from a bath.
"Well? Can you cultivate now, and can you still use your divine abilities?"
While he acted as though nothing had happened, Turandot's inner thoughts were changing rapidly. For the first time, Lin Feng felt the freedom of taking his fate into his own hands—and so did she.
Without answering, she instantly evaporated the moisture from her body, drawing in the water droplets from the surrounding trees to condense them into a dignified set of robes.
Not far away, green gardenia flowers bloomed on a branch. She drifted toward them, snapped off a branch, and returned.
Casually twisting her hair into an updo, she handed the condensed robes over to him.
"How is this?"
"Help me put them on!"
His Adam's apple bobbed. How could a hot-blooded youth withstand such a stimulus?
"Alright!"
With a focused mind, Lin Feng helped her dress, took the green gardenia flower, and tucked it into her hair.
Cloud-water robes, dark hair, and bright flowers complemented each other perfectly.
Sensing the shift in her state of mind, Lin Feng was overjoyed. Unfortunately, tender moments always bring unexpected interruptions.
"Are you kidding me? Clear skies and it's still shrouded in clouds and mist!"
"This looks like a communion of heaven and earth. Senior Brother, maybe a rare heavenly treasure is gestating nearby!"
"Are you an idiot? Any rare heavenly treasures have already been looted clean by the seniors of the palace. It's strange!"
Several men in cyan robes cursed the spring rain as they shuttled through the forest. With a wave of Turandot's long sleeve, Lin Feng found himself entering a Water-Moon Illusion.
If that weren't enough, upon looking closer, he realized he was being clamped under her armpit.
Abominable! She was still being so playful at a time like this!
He exerted force in secret, and she exerted force in secret as well. Since she was stronger than him now, well, protection would just have to start right here.
They watched as the group of men walked past in puzzlement, and shortly after, Tulong arrived as well.
Compared to the previous men, he looked even more perplexed.
"Saintess? Saintess?"
He called out in a low voice, too cautious to use his Divine Soul for detection.
"What is Tulong's cultivation level?"
Lin Feng was burning with curiosity!
"Late Divine Wandering Realm, the strongest expert in our clan!"
Come to think of it, the Merfolk clan was currently the most populous race among the Demons, second only to the Rat clan. Yet their strongest expert was merely at the Divine Wandering Realm—neither high nor low, easily handled by many smaller clans.
A being in the Taixu realm could claim kingship among the Demons. Lin Feng only knew that the Divine Wandering Realm sat right in the middle of the five cultivation realms, so he hadn't given it much thought.
Now that he had achieved Qi Condensation into the Body, he could also be considered an initiate of the Spirit Movement Realm. Looking at it, he was only two steps away from the Divine Wandering Realm!
After calling out for a moment and receiving no response, Tulong's expression suddenly shifted. He also cast a Water-Moon Illusion and hid within it.
"Merfolk clan members who cultivate to the Shanhai Realm can all cast the Water-Moon Illusion. As for me, this is an innate divine ability—they can't compare!"
She began to relax her tone as well. Before Lin Feng could ask further, the group of men from earlier returned, eying one another with mutual suspicion.
"What's going on? How could the people from the ancestral grounds be faster than us?"
"They were pursuing Turandot, so following closely behind is understandable. Could it be that Turandot has already reached the vicinity of the palace?"
"Qingfeng, go notify the others quickly. We'll stand guard here!"
One of them acknowledged the order and departed, leaving Lin Feng thoroughly baffled.
"The elders in our clan possess profound water arts, but they are easily tracked. Perhaps the people from the ancestral grounds tailed them here. I wonder how they are doing?"
Worry welled up alongside the thought. Turandot stood on tiptoe to peer out, but it was completely useless.
"Senior Brother, why don't we capture those old fogies from the Merfolk clan? Once we catch them, are we afraid Turandot won't surrender?"
"Shut up and keep a sharp eye!"
The people outside remained stationed in place, while the occupants of the illusionary realm were utterly astounded.
"How is this possible? How did they know we would pass through here?"
Even Turandot found it unbelievable. She formed strange hand seals and closed her eyes to divine the situation.
In the end, she merely looked at Lin Feng with a complex gaze and shook her head.
"Does your cultivation make you lose the Merfolk clan's divination power? Can you, can you no longer calculate it?"
"Not just the divination power; from now on, I probably won't dream anymore either. The current Merfolk Saintess is Duoduo!"
Lin Feng was completely at a loss regarding this bizarre Saintess inheritance.
Before long, people arrived from outside.
A group of people marched straight to the spot where Lin Feng and Turandot were hiding, and an elder began performing arts right on the spot.
Like a playback of time, the scene before him showed only a mass of clouds and mist, causing the man to fly into a rage.
"Good, very good! I told you to come and plead guilty, yet you chose to degenerate instead!"
"Sir, since she is no longer the Saintess, should we still pursue her?"
"Hmph, I'm afraid the Merfolk Saintess is already in hiding by now. Dammit!"
The elder paced back and forth, then suddenly raised his head to stare directly at the spot where Lin Feng and Turandot were concealed.
With a reflex reaction, Lin Feng moved to act, but Turandot clamped down on his head.
"He hasn't discovered us. Don't move!"
This exact scenario mirrored the time when the Little Dragon King had swept his gaze across them. Lin Feng braced himself to the limit, letting the elder look right past them.
"Which rats are hiding out there? Show yourselves!"
With an overbearing palm strike, those cyan-robed men stumbled out into the open.
"Cough, cough, cough! Senior, hold your hand! We are disciples of Little Dragon Pool, out on an experiential journey by order!"
Hastily revealing their identities, the group kept their guards up, clearly distrustful of the elder.
"What a coincidence? Out on an experiential journey?"
With a dangerous glint in his eyes, the elder approached with a grim smile.
"Reporting to Senior, my fellow apprentice brothers and I happened to pass by earlier and noticed the convergence of clouds and rain—it seemed like a phenomenon of heaven and earth communicating. We thought rare heavenly treasures were being nurtured by the mountains and waters, so we hid here to observe developments."
"Oh?" Pausing his steps, the elder maintained his skeptical scrutiny.