Forest of Ten Thousand Demons
It was still about two days' journey from Sanli City, but they had only just reached the outer and middle sections of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons.
The two of them walked along a muddy forest path—a trail cleared by humans deep within the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons.
Terrifying as the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons might be, it was hardly devoid of visitors. After all, rare treasures and natural herbs could be found everywhere, tempting people to brave mortal danger in search of them. A single Tier 1 Dharma Demon spiritual pill was enough to massively boost a cultivator's strength. If the spiritual pill happened to match the awakened beast soul of a Boxing Master, the amplifying effect would be nothing short of terrifying.
Ancient trees, as thick as a waist, lined both sides in an interlocking array. Occasionally, a gust of wind rustled the leaves, accompanied by the cries of avian demon beasts high above.
Ever since they parted ways with Shu Xiong in the morning, the two had been pressing forward without rest. As dusk approached, the air filled with a biting chill that made Ling Yu involuntarily shiver.
"Miss Mu, shall we find a place to rest here?"
Ling Yu spoke from behind. It wasn't that he was unwilling to walk any further, but rather that his legs simply could no longer carry him. Setting aside the fact that they hadn't eaten a single thing since the journey began over a day ago, just carrying this enormous pack gave him a persistent headache.
Mu Qingxue turned to look at Ling Yu, whose face was etched with exhaustion, and gave a faint nod.
The two walked over to a large tree, intending to rest there. However, because it had just rained, the soil beneath the tree was extremely soft. The moment Ling Yu stepped onto the ground, his foot sank halfway into the earth, and he had to hurriedly pull it back out.
"This won't do, Miss Mu! There isn't a single dry spot on the ground—it's completely soaked!"
Mu Qingxue looked at his feet, then at the footprints pressed into the mud, and said, "Indeed. It just rained, and although the branches and leaves of this big tree are lush, yesterday's heavy downpour managed to slip through the gaps and soak the ground."
"Then what do we do? Are we supposed to keep walking? I'm exhausted to death!"
Ling Yu complained. Mu Qingxue gave him a speechless side-long glance, turned to look at the massive tree, and after a brief thought, she already had a solution.
Mu Qingxue walked over to a relatively open patch of ground, with Ling Yu following closely behind her, unsure of what she was planning to do.
Mu Qingxue extended her right hand and slowly closed her eyes. In an instant, her body was gradually enveloped in a faint greenish-blue glow. When she opened her eyes again, her originally dark pupils had turned a pale cyan.
Then, a fiery red flower grew at a visible speed right in front of Mu Qingxue, stopping when it reached her waist. The slender stem also grew to a thickness of half a meter, and the blossom expanded to a diameter of one meter.
Mu Qingxue lowered her right hand, her pupils returning to their dark shade, and stepped onto the center of the flower via its stem leaves. She turned to look at Ling Yu, who stood rooted to the spot, staring in dazed astonishment at the sight.
As if anticipating this, Mu Qingxue bent down, extended a hand toward Ling Yu, and said with a sweet smile:
"Come up!"
That smile seemed to hook right into the latter's soul, leaving him standing foolishly in place, his gaze blankly fixed on the hand she extended to him.
Seeing this, Mu Qingxue helplessly straightened up, turned her palm upward, and gave a slight lift with her hand.
No sooner had she made the gesture than Ling Yu felt a tremor beneath his feet. Regaining his senses, he looked down and was astonished to find that a cluster of flowers was rising from the ground beneath him—and these were no ordinary flowers, for they were extraordinarily sturdy.
Standing atop the blossoms, Ling Yu was lifted to the exact same height as Mu Qingxue. She reached out a hand to him, signaling him to step across onto her giant fiery red flower.
This time, he didn't hesitate. He decisively placed his hand into Mu Qingxue's outstretched palm and leaped across onto the flower.
Once he had steadied his footing, Mu Qingxue's pupils turned pale cyan once more. With her hands wreathed in a faint greenish-blue spiritual energy and a gentle upward lift of her palm, Ling Yu felt himself ascending at a dizzying speed.
They didn't stop rising until they reached a height of about fifty meters.
A height of fifty meters was considerable indeed—towering a full head above the ancient trees of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons.
The stem was still half a meter thick, but the petals of the flower had grown to two meters. Now, the entire floral platform was exceptionally spacious, reaching a diameter of five meters.
Standing upon it, Ling Yu looked up at the sky. The moon had already climbed out from the eastern mountains. Although night hadn't fully fallen, it was close enough, and specks of brilliant stars were already twinkling across the firmament.
Mu Qingxue sat down and removed the hair tie holding her tresses. In an instant, her glossy, dark hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, the ends trailing too long and spilling across the surface of the flower.
Noticing her movement, Ling Yu turned his head to look.
"Ling Yu."
At that moment, Mu Qingxue suddenly spoke.
Ling Yu sat down about two fists away from her, turned his head, and asked in confusion, "What is it, Miss Mu?"
Without looking at him, she gazed at the sky—half dark and half pale—and asked, "Do you know the meaning of cultivation?"
At this, Ling Yu fell into deep contemplation.
People in this world constantly pursued power, hungering for it. Some even bitterly toiled away for decades, only to end up with empty cultivation while their prime years slipped quietly by, ultimately spending the remainder of their lives in loneliness.
"Perhaps it's to avoid being bullied, perhaps to pursue ultimate power, or perhaps for wealth and glory."
Ling Yu replied after a brief silence. He had awakened his Sword Soul as early as age six. Back then, he too had immersed himself in cultivation every day. But three years passed, and his realm had only advanced by two tiers—a reality he found impossible to accept. Afterward, he began to abandon himself to despair, practicing whenever the mood struck and dropping it whenever it didn't.
Ten years had passed, and he was still merely a Level 3 Swordsman. In his early childhood, he had often watched his father cultivate. He thought that when his father practiced, the spiritual energy swirling around his body, and the way his longsword danced like something alive in his hands as he practiced swordsmanship, looked incredibly cool.
When he was six, he imitated his father's posture during practice and accidentally awakened his Sword Soul. Amidst the astonished and jaw-dropping gazes of his family, he embarked on the path of cultivation.
In the past, the meaning of his cultivation was perhaps just because it looked cool, but now, he had a new goal that made him pick up cultivation once more and cast off his decadence.
And this new goal was none other than "revenge."
Some said that when a person wanted to grow stronger out of hatred, that person would eventually go mad and suffer a deviation in their cultivation.
Yet who had ever considered that becoming stronger was simply for the sake of better protection? Whether protecting oneself or protecting others, only when you possessed sufficient strength could you truly protect. Otherwise, when the moment genuinely arrived where you needed power and found yourself lacking, any subsequent regret or desire to become strong would be entirely meaningless.
Mu Qingxue gave a faint shake of her head, gently stroked her own hair, and spoke with a trace of bitterness: "There are many meanings to cultivation; it all depends on how you choose. When you are destitute, you will want to use power to gain wealth.
When you encounter a formidable enemy, you will want power to strike them down.
When you sink into the abyss, you will want power to climb out of it..."
Before Ling Yu could fully process these words, Mu Qingxue spoke again: "I once watched with my own eyes as my parents perished together with the enemy in order to save me. But they didn't know that without them, I would have nothing left at all.
Rather than letting myself linger on in this world in wretched survival, it would be far easier to perish along with them.
If I had possessed greater power back then, I could have protected them..."
As she spoke, Mu Qingxue's voice grew softer and softer, her gaze sinking into deeper gloom.
"Miss Mu..."
Ling Yu opened his mouth to offer comfort, but she leaned in his direction. Ling Yu hurriedly reached out and caught her falling, delicate body.
He silently shuffled away in the opposite direction until her head could rest comfortably on his lap, and only then did he stop moving.
Having successfully achieved her scheme, Mu Qingxue smiled without leaving a trace. With Ling Yu right beside her, she had tacitly designated him as her pillow.
For a long time, the night completely swallowed the landscape, and stars twinkled incessantly across the firmament.
Feeling the steady breathing of the person resting on his lap, Ling Yu couldn't help reaching out to stroke her silky hair. He glanced at her face, then back at the stars in the night sky, a faint smile blooming on his face as he whispered softly:
"Fool, didn't your mother ever tell you? Deceased loved ones turn into the brightest star you can see in the sky to watch over you, and they only hope that you will live on well. So... you mustn't let them down!"
With that, he gently stroked her ice-crystal, jade-like face. But the moment his fingertips touched her skin, he instantly began to regret it.
He remembered the reaction at Tianling Spring when he had instinctively touched her cheek—her furious response had made the soft flesh at his waist twitch in phantom pain. The hand that had just grazed her cheek snatched itself back with lightning speed.
Yet Mu Qingxue, resting on his lap, appeared sound asleep, showing not the slightest reaction to having her face touched.
A wave of smug relief washed over him, mingled with mounting confusion: could it be that due to her exertion of spiritual energy earlier, she had fallen into a deep slumber so quickly today?
Putting aside further thought, Ling Yu entered his Spiritual Realm. Ever since enduring the pressure from Shu Xiong yesterday, he had felt as though something inside his body was straining to break free.
He calmed his mind and slowly sensed the flow of spiritual energy within him. He discovered that the spiritual energy, which had previously flowed sluggishly, was now coursing through his body at a manifold pace, rapidly rushing along his meridians to every part of his frame.
Everything seemed different, yet everything seemed the same.
It seemed different because in ten years of cultivation, his internal spiritual energy had never surged at such a velocity; a torrent of spiritual energy like this was something he had never witnessed before.
And it seemed the same because only the speed of the spiritual energy had increased; every other aspect appeared entirely unchanged.
Suddenly, he noticed that the spiritual Qi within him was also flowing into a meridian he had never seen before.
This meridian was one he had never encountered in any books on human meridian distribution, nor had he ever even heard of it...