At noon, the sunlight was extremely abundant, and the music exclusive to summer perhaps belonged to the cicadas perched and chirping in the ancient trees.
In the sea of ancient spirit flowers, a delicate-featured young man and young woman, their clothes slightly disheveled, lay head-to-head among the blossoms. The scene was tender and harmonious, resembling a pair of companions.
Who could have guessed that these two currently harmonious individuals had just been arguing fiercely.
Ling Yu rested his head on his palms, one hand spread out to block the blinding sunlight.
At this moment, he wondered: if he could no longer step back onto the path of cultivation, what else could he do?
Work as a laborer for others in exchange for a chance at survival? With a fragile frame like his, brittle as paper.
Go into business? He indeed possessed the head for it, but right now he was penniless—how could he speak of business?
Linger here in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons and live together with Mu Qingxue? The thought of the soft flesh at Mu Qingxue's waist brought a dull ache; this method was completely unfeasible, otherwise that soft flesh at his waist would be pinched right off!
At this moment he felt lost. In his sixteen years of life, he had awakened his Sword Soul and entered the ranks of cultivators at age six, already stepping into the realm of a Swordsman by age ten.
Among the ranks of cultivators, this was an explosive existence; many people only awakened in their teens, and simply breaking through to become a Sword Guest took several years. Nowadays, the spiritual energy of this world was far too thin, and cultivation was even harder than ascending to the heavens.
Although he had already stepped into the Sword Master realm at age ten, after six years of hard cultivation, his realm had only advanced to Level 2 Swordsman.
Those who awakened in their teens had, within six years, seen some of their more talented peers already enter the Level 3 ranks, while he remained stuck at Level 2, unable to move forward.
This left Ling Yu extremely distressed.
"Ling Yu."
Mu Qingxue suddenly called out to him out of the blue. Ling Yu placed his other hand behind the back of his head and said listlessly, "What is it, Miss Mu?"
She sat up, turned around, crossed her slender legs, and looking down at Ling Yu, said, "It's so hot, shall we go play in the water at that pool?"
She used to play in the water there as well, but back then she was all by herself, able only to cup water and splash it at the little rabbits passing by. Now that there was one more person, she naturally wanted to take Ling Yu to play in the water to her heart's content!
After these days of solitude, the two had become very familiar with each other, like old friends who had known each other for a long time.
After all, sharing the same bed and sleeping under the same covers every day—you'd say they weren't close? Who would believe that.
"Where to?"
Ling Yu lay on the ground, playing with a flower he had plucked at an unknown moment, and asked.
"Right where I usually fetch water... in your hand—"
When she saw clearly what Ling Yu was holding in his hand, her head was practically fuming with anger.
"Ling Yu! You're picking my flowers again!"
Without waiting for Ling Yu to offer an explanation, Mu Qingxue flipped over to straddle him, cupped his face with both hands, lifted his head forcefully, and shook it up and down.
A few minutes later, Ling Yu sat up and shook his head, feeling as though the world was spinning before his eyes, and then collapsed to pillow his head on Mu Qingxue's lap, closing his eyes.
"Miss Mu, could you please go a bit lighter next time! My... my brains are about to be rattled out by you!"
Seeing Ling Yu resting on her lap, Mu Qingxue didn't mind too much and pinched his cheek, saying, "Served you right, that'll teach you to keep ruining my flowers!"
***
Tianling Spring.
"Look, this is where this young lady fetches her water. The spring water here is so sweet!"
Mu Qingxue pointed to a spring fifty meters in diameter and said, puffing out her chest.
Ling Yu, however, was dumbfounded. The spiritual energy emitted from this spring was visible to the naked eye; its spiritual energy was countless times denser than anywhere else in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, and the surrounding area was brimming with countless heavenly treasures and earthly rarities.
Wasn't this Tianling Spring?! He had seen a picture of Tianling Spring in a book within the Scripture Pavilion. Although it was a hand-drawn illustration, it was extremely detailed. This place couldn't just be said to be identical to the book—it was simply the exact same place.
Yet he suddenly recalled how Mu Qingxue had told him that this was the edge of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons—what was that all about?
"Miss Mu."
"Ah? What is it?"
Mu Qingxue turned around, suddenly remembering something.
"This... this, um... well."
"Where on earth is this?"
Ling Yu's tone underwent a 180-degree transformation, completely devoid of its usual playful and foolish elements, replaced by an expression of unusual iciness.
Seeing the person before her act this way, Mu Qingxue's heart twitched inexplicably.
"Ling Yu, listen to me."
Mu Qingxue wanted to step forward and grab Ling Yu's sleeve, but the latter took a step backward to dodge her.
"Don't touch me."
He deeply detested being deceived by others, because deception represented betrayal, implied concealment, and proved that your standing in this person's heart was not very significant.
Seeing him like this, Mu Qingxue felt somewhat at a loss. In her twenty-odd years of life, she had never experienced a moment like this.
"This is the center of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons."
"Who on earth are you? To have lived in this Forest of Ten Thousand Demons for so many years safe and sound, you are definitely no ordinary person."
When Ling Yu asked the question, "Who on earth are you?", Mu Qingxue visibly froze. Right, who was she? Was she human? Or a demon?
Mu Qingxue's expression turned blank as she walked toward Tianling Spring on her own. Ling Yu followed behind her in silence.
He had just noticed Mu Qingxue's change and felt somewhat puzzled; he had merely asked who she was, so why would she wear such an expression?
Yun City, Bai Family.
In the courtyard, a man dressed in a light blue long robe with his hair bound in a gray crown held a handful of dried feed, standing on a stone bridge and tossing it into the pond below.
"Head of the family!"
A man in military attire jogged over, flustered and frantic, as if something urgent had happened.
Dropping to one knee and cupping his fists, he reported, "Reporting to the family head, this mission has been successfully completed. The eldest young master led the elders to successfully infiltrate the Bai Family—ah, the Ling Family. Aside from the Ling Family's eldest son and family head being outside the borders, and the Ling Family's matriarch escaping through a secret passage, everyone else was completely exterminated."
This person was none the way the head of the Bai Family, Bai Ming. His realm as a Level 5, Stage 1 Fist Master only allowed him to sit as the second-largest family in Yun City, while the first was the Ling Family.
The Ling Family had over a hundred more disciples than the Bai Family, and their strength was formidable.
Bai Ming had long coveted the Ling Family's estate; two hundred and seven spiritual stone mines, along with shops spread all across the country, made Bai Ming's heart itch with desire every single day.
Later, three years ago while meditating within his family estate, someone whose realm was no lower than his own used fluctuations of spiritual energy to tell Bai Ming a plan—that was, to raise demon beasts to counter the Ling Family. The plan to raid the Ling Family had been given to him by this high-level expert.
Bai Ming did not turn around. Gazing at the calm surface of the lake, he tossed in another handful of feed. The water remained undisturbed, without the slightest ripple or motion.
"Order someone to fish out the koi in this pond and purchase a fresh batch. Make sure they are obedient ones. Stew these up to nourish my son; he's worked hard."
"Understood, Family Head."
Bai Ming turned around and slowly asked, "How goes it over at the borders?"
"Reporting to the family head, this subordinate led the demon beasts to ambush them successfully. The Ling Family head suffered severe injuries and fled in panic, while Ling Yu took a direct palm strike from a Wind Demon Wolf. No doubt, he surely cannot survive."
Hearing this, Bai Ming burst into hearty laughter and muttered to himself, "Ling Feng, didn't you pride yourself on a high realm? Didn't you have a massive family? In the end, weren't you still cut down by my Bai Family, by me, Bai Ming!"
The man still kneeling on the ground hurriedly chimed in, "The Family Head is brilliant and mighty, to be able to pull off such a grand undertaking so perfectly."
Bai Ming looked at the man and suddenly smiled. "Well said. You played an indispensable role this time, and this family head will certainly reward you handsomely!"
Hearing that he was to be rewarded, the man blossomed with joy inside, yet still demurred with his mouth: "The Family Head need not do this. It is only right for a subordinate to work for the Bai Family, and to be able to work for a talented person like the Bai Family Head is already enough satisfaction for this subordinate!"
Listening to the endless flattery, the smile on Bai Ming's face grew increasingly intense. "Good, then this family head will reward you handsomely."
Hearing these words, the man was happy to the extreme, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.
"Men! Drag him off to feed my pet!"
The kneeling man was dumbfounded. Wasn't he going to be rewarded? Why was he suddenly going to be fed to a pet?!
At the command, two guards stepped forward, hoisted the kneeling man up by his arms, and carried him toward the doors.
"Even an ant dares to claim tiger merit. If not for my pet, who do you think you are?"
Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, Tianling Spring.
Ling Yu stood at the edge of Tianling Spring. He had to admit that the spiritual energy here was even more abundant than he had imagined; with every breath he drew, spiritual energy poured into his body.
He looked down from above at Mu Qingxue, who had her jade-white feet soaking in the spring. Neither of them spoke.
After a long while, Mu Qingxue spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Ling Yu, let me tell you a story."