Mu Qingxue sat on the ground, supporting herself with both hands, her head tilted slightly up to gaze at the azure sky, her small feet swaying back and forth.
Ling Yu stood nearby with a blank expression on his face.
She patted the empty space beside her, motioning for him to sit down.
Ling Yu walked over to her and sat down cross-legged.
Turning her head to glance at him, she began, "Once upon a time, there was a swordsman. He was originally the eldest young master of a prominent family, but he favored martial arts, traveling far and wide with the ambition to make his name known throughout the martial world.
Back then, his cultivation base was very low, only at Stage 2 Swordsman, yet he was very brave. Whenever he saw people on the street relying on their status as cultivators to bully ordinary commoners, he would remember his father's teachings."
Hearing this, Ling Yu couldn't help interrupting to ask, "What did his father say?"
Mu Qingxue turned to look at Ling Yu, her eyes somewhat vacant. For so many years, she had always been alone, with no one to accompany her, no one to confide in, and no one to share with.
Until this young man whom she had accidentally "picked up" completely shattered all of this. Although he was mischievous, a chatterbox, and always managed to make her angry, she knew that Ling Yu always possessed a passionate heart and remained full of anticipation for the future, no matter what.
"His father told him that cultivation is a fortuitous opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, allowing cultivators to break through human limits to protect themselves and those they love.
And if you are fortunate enough to become a cultivator, you must use this power to uphold justice and aid the common people, rather than blindly living solely for yourself and disregarding the lives of others. That is selfish and intolerable to the Heavenly Dao."
*Uphold justice and aid the common people.*
This phrase echoed constantly in Ling Yu's mind.
Many people want to become cultivators because doing so allows them to protect the people they care about.
Yet the Heavenly Dao is unfair; it does not favor these people, instead granting opportunities for enlightenment to those harboring ulterior motives.
"That swordsman rushed forward without the slightest hesitation. Just as his sword was about to fall, someone else struck first, sending that bully flying.
The youth turned his head to look and discovered a young girl wearing a light green dress, slender in figure, with a thin veil concealing her exquisite face."
"And who was this woman?"
Ling Yu blurted out. Mu Qingxue didn't look at him, nor did she answer; she simply continued.
"The youth was captivated by the girl's beauty at just a single glance.
The youth was named Mu Yun, the eldest young master of the Mu family in Yun City. The girl was named Jiu Qing, originally a nine-tailed fox from Qingqu that had taken human form. She was already at the Stage 3 Demon King realm. However, several years passed without any loosening in her cultivation bottleneck, so she left seclusion to travel and seek fortuitous opportunities to break through.
Upon first arriving in this city, Jiu Qing felt somewhat dazed. She had never witnessed such a bustling scene; people came and went in a endless stream on the streets, the hawkers' cries blending with the shouts of tavern waiters drumming up business."
Mu Qingxue paused. These were all things her mother had told her; she herself had never stepped foot out of this Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, nor had she ever witnessed such scenes.
"From that day on, a Stage 2 Swordsman became a little follower trailing behind Jiu Qing."
"Over the span of eight years, the two of them traveled across every corner of this realm.
Through the trials of these eight years, Mu Yun's cultivation had reached the Level 2 Sword Saint realm, while Jiu Qing had long since broken through the Demon King realm, reaching the second stage of the Demon Emperor and successfully ascending to become a nine-tailed immortal fox of Qingqiu.
She finally understood why she had been unable to break through for so long before: she had never experienced the mortal world. Only after experiencing it firsthand did she comprehend the Dao within it."
At these words, Ling Yu could no longer sit still. Advancing from a swordsman to a sword saint in eight years was already exceedingly rare in this world. Furthermore, as a family ranked among the most prominent in the entire Tianri Empire, not a single ancient text recorded that Demon Beasts could evolve. Moreover, the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu had long since vanished, rarely seen for nearly a century—let alone the nine-tailed immortal fox of Qingqiu, a creature that only appeared in myths.
"This..."
Before Ling Yu could voice his question, Mu Qingxue anticipated his doubt and explained, "The ancestors of the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu were originally nine-tailed immortal foxes of Qingqiu. It's just that over the past thousand years, their bloodline gradually grew impure, degenerating into ordinary nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu. Once their cultivation reaches the Demon Emperor realm, their bodies undergo a transformation, becoming just like humans—absorbing only the purest spiritual energy of heaven and earth, rather than energy mixed with various impurities. That is why the cultivation of Demon Beasts is relatively slower."
"Then why did the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu gradually fade from people's vision?"
Ling Yu couldn't help asking. Since the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu were so powerful, why were they nearly extinct?
Hearing this, Mu Qingxue clenched her fists, an expression of fury surfacing on her pretty face. "If humans hadn't discovered that the spiritual cores of the nine-tailed foxes of Qingqiu could aid cultivation, and thus begun a massive slaughter out of selfish desires—desperately wanting to wipe out every single nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu—how could the Qingqiu nine-tailed fox clan have been reduced to the state they are in today!"
With that, she turned and raised her fist as if to beat Ling Yu, but ultimately collapsed limply into his arms, sobbing.
"Actually... actually, as long as one forms a dao companionship with a transformed nine-tailed fox of Qingqiu, it can aid in cultivation. Yet they... they still chose slaughter! They weren't even willing to believe that they wouldn't harm people, that they could coexist peacefully with them!"
Feeling the sobbing beauty in his arms, Ling Yu raised both hands, wanting to embrace Mu Qingxue, but ultimately lowered them again.
This lasted for a long time before Mu Qingxue finally sat up from Ling Yu's arms. Her milk-white, smooth cheeks bore two faint tear tracks, her dark eyes flickered with lingering tears, and her hair was stuck to her face by the moisture. It was a sight that made anyone's heart ache, and Ling Yu felt as though his heart had been given a painful tug.
"Humans are simply unwilling to believe they can coexist peacefully with Demon Beasts. In their minds, Demon Beasts are the embodiment of cruelty."
Perhaps because she had just been crying, Mu Qingxue's voice was slightly hoarse.
She wiped away her tears, wiggled her small feet in the Heavenly Spirit Pool, and continued her story.
"The two of them traveled through 380 towns and cities. Whenever they heard of bullies abusing their power, they would step in to stop them. Their reputation gradually echoed throughout the martial world. Because the two of them always wore azure robes and never left their names behind when doing good deeds, people commonly referred to them as the Azure-Robed Heroic Couple."
"Just as the two of them were at the height of their fame, their figures vanished from the martial world."
"Why is that?"
He was somewhat puzzled. Retiring at the height of their fame was hardly a wise move.
"Over the course of eight years, the two of them had long since developed mutual affections. After passing through the last town, they talked for a long time, and finally Mu Yun mustered the courage to confess his feelings to Jiu Qing. At first, the human-demon relationship had no precedent in this world, but she had also fallen in love with Mu Yun—it was the first time in her life she had ever been moved, and she didn't want to miss out, so she accepted Mu Yun's confession."
"Not long after, the two of them retired to the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, no longer involving themselves in secular disputes. Because the king of the Tianri Empire took notice of them and learned that Jiu Qing was a demon, a human-demon romance was something unheard of since ancient times. The king was furious; this was a matter concerning national dignity, and if other nations found out, the Tianri Empire would be utterly disgraced."
"Yet because the two of them were far too powerful, there was nothing he could do against them. Therefore, he issued an imperial decree offering a nationwide bounty for the two—not pursued by soldiers or nobles, but by the ordinary commoners. He calculated that the two of them would never harm commoners. He spread rumors claiming that the pair had committed countless evils, exploiting their kindness and the foolishness of the citizens to drive them into the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons."
"The two never offered excessive explanations to others; they knew explaining was useless, so they simply settled in the depths of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons and cultivated in peace..."
Mu Qingxue seemed to have exhausted all her strength telling this, or perhaps she simply was unwilling to recall her parents' tragic experiences. "Ling Yu."
Ling Yu, who had been lost in shock, snapped back to his senses and hurriedly replied, "Ah! What is it, Miss Mu?"
"Can I rest my head on your lap for a moment?"
Mu Qingxue was somewhat tired; she inherently loathed recalling these things because she dared not imagine how her mother and father had managed to persevere back then without their mental defenses collapsing. Day after day, they upheld justice and aided the needy, yet those ignorant people still chose to believe the rumors and drive them away!
Before Ling Yu could respond, she lay down on her side, resting her head on Ling Yu's lap. Her delicate legs were still soaking in the water, unlifted.
Seeing that things had reached this point, Ling Yu said nothing more. He was still caught in shock, unable to recover. How could two such upright and open people be slandered in such a manner? And the crucial point was that most people actually believed it! What on earth was wrong with this world? Did those in power simply dictate whatever they pleased? Could humans and demons really never be together?
Mu Qingxue closed her eyes, resting her head on Ling Yu's lap. Looking at her flawless complexion, which seemed as though a breath could break it, Ling Yu couldn't help wanting to reach out and pinch her cheek. Even as his mind was still processing his thoughts, his hand had already moved into action...