Lei Xiuyuan stepped forward and patted her head, noticing the bedding spread messily on the floor. He paused in surprise, "You've already slept?"
Li Fei poured him a cup of tea, "No, just enjoying the view. Master and I came here before—we swindled quite a bit of money back then."
Lei Xiuyuan joined her by the window, gazing at the town shrouded in night. A half-moon hung in the sky, and scattered lanterns flickered across the city. The night was still young, and the streets bustled with people, surprisingly lively. Li Fei glanced toward the inn's entrance—Lan Ya Junzhu and Ji Tongzhou were no longer there, likely having found another place to catch up.
She was considering whether to mention her earlier encounter with Ji Tongzhou and Lan Ya when Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke, "Do you still remember what your master looked like?"
Of course she did! She’d never forget, even in death!
"He was a grubby old man, his clothes always dirty and full of patches." Li Fei leaned against his shoulder, laughing as she reminisced. "Remember how I looked when you first met me? I was practically his spitting image—though he was older, all disheveled, carrying a wine gourd with hair like tangled straw."
Lei Xiuyuan twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and murmured, "That sounds rather... unflattering."
Li Fei whipped her head around to glare at him. Lei Xiuyuan suppressed a laugh, "At first, I was told you were a girl. But when I went to Lu Gongzhen, you looked just like a boy. I thought Zhen Yunzi had made a mistake."
Li Fei punched his shoulder hard, "And yet you still praised me for being dashing and heroic! You’ve been a liar since you were little!"
"Wouldn’t dare, Big Sis Xiao Bangchui."
Hearing him use her childhood nickname, Li Fei nearly toppled over laughing. She playfully pinched his cheek, "Not just a liar, but a lecher too! The moment I got prettier, you started clinging to me. You scoundrel."
Lei Xiuyuan caught her hand and shook his head. "No."
She had only been teasing, but his sudden seriousness made her chuckle. "No, what?"
"It wasn’t because of your looks."
Li Fei smiled. "Yeah, I know."
She rested her head on his shoulder again, and the two whispered freely, talking about anything that came to mind. She completely forgot about Ji Tongzhou and Lan Ya Junzhu until Qingle Zhenren returned, prompting Lei Xiuyuan to bow and take his leave.
Noticing the faint blush on her face, Qingle Zhenren smiled warmly. "The two of you could become cultivation partners, advancing side by side, spending every moment together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?"
Li Fei hesitated, a little embarrassed. "Um… Qing Yue Elder, how does one become cultivation partners?"
Her innocent question made Qingle Zhenren chuckle. "Mortals have weddings, but we cultivators don’t follow such customs. If two are willing, they simply stay together and inform their respective masters. The masters will then teach them the methods of dual cultivation. From then on, others will know you are partners."
After a long pause, Li Fei couldn’t help but ask, "Um… what’s dual cultivation?"
Qingle Zhenren laughed even harder, patting her head. "Silly child, let that clever boy Lei Xiuyuan worry about explaining that to you."Li Fei couldn't bring herself to ask further and could only bury herself under the covers to sleep. Last time when Zhao Min Shijie mentioned Dual Cultivation, her face had flushed with embarrassment too. Now Qing Yue Elder was also avoiding the topic. After pondering for a long while, a sudden realization struck her. She nearly groaned aloud, curling into a ball under the blankets—she finally understood!
The candle had burned out, plunging the guest room into darkness. The pale moonlight wasn't bright enough, casting a hazy, ambiguous glow. After tossing and turning restlessly for what felt like ages, Li Fei finally drifted into a fitful sleep. In the middle of the night, she was roused by the mournful howling of the wind outside, now shrill, now gentle. Blinking groggily, she saw Qingle Zhenren standing by the window, frowning at the night sky. The pale moonlight seemed obscured by dark clouds, leaving the surroundings pitch black, with only the intermittent gusts of wind growing louder and softer.
Noticing Li Fei was awake, Qingle Zhenren shook her head, signaling silence. Li Fei tiptoed to the window and looked up, nearly crying out in shock. She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, staring in horror at the endless hordes of Demonic Beasts filling the night sky. They surged like tidal waves from all directions, blotting out the entire heavens as they raced toward the heart of the Central Land.
A shadow of worry crossed Qingle Zhenren's face. Seeing Li Fei's confusion and shock, she quietly closed the window and whispered, "These are Demonic Beasts from near the Four Seas. As disaster approaches, they sense it far more keenly than we do and have begun fleeing toward the heart of the Central Land to escape calamity. This is only the beginning, alas..."
Li Fei was stunned for a long moment before murmuring, "...Is it Sea Fall?"
Qing Yue Elder replied, "Did Chongyi Zhanglao tell you? In truth, young disciples like you need not know of this. The more you know, the more unsettled your minds may become, hindering your cultivation. Though the increasing numbers of Demonic Beasts in the Central Land present an opportunity to harvest them for Mystical Treasures, I disapprove of bringing you two here. With so many Demonic Beasts, even if the elders wish to protect you, mishaps are inevitable. Every young disciple is a precious resource to their sect—how can they be treated so carelessly?"
After a pause, Li Fei said softly, "But doesn't Sea Fall occur only once every five hundred years? If we're kept in the dark for fear of unsettling minds, even when we become Celestials and elders five hundred years later, we'll still be clueless when facing it all."
Qingle Zhenren sighed. "Human hearts are not as simple and composed as you imagine. When disaster looms, all the ugliness usually hidden beneath the surface emerges. You've never lived through those times of turmoil and madness. The Celestials and elders of the sects already have enough trouble to handle. If the disciples were added to the mix, how could order be maintained? How could the sects of the Central Land endure?"
She was about to continue when distant clamoring voices suddenly reached them. Qingle Zhenren swiftly reopened the window. To the north of the town, flames shot into the sky, accompanied by unending screams and wails. The swarming Demonic Beasts in the sky abruptly ceased their wingbeats, as if jolted from a trance, realizing this was a town teeming with plump, living humans to sate their ravenous hunger.
The townsfolk were roused by the noise. Chaos erupted as lanterns were lit one after another in the streets, and people poured out to investigate. But when they saw the sky filled with grotesque, snarling Monsters, they froze in terror, their voices dying in their throats.Qing Yue Elder shoved Li Fei into the room and shut the window, reinforcing it with an Immortal Technique. At that moment, the door was knocked upon urgently, and Dongyang Zhenren's voice, unusually anxious, called out, "Qing Yue!"
Already dressed in his outer robes, Qing Yue Elder swiftly pulled open the door. Outside, the corridor was packed with guests, all bewildered and not yet fully grasping what was happening. Pure terror had seized these mortals, rendering them eerily quiet and docile.
"A Demon has fallen into the northern residential area, alarming the mortals. The Monstrous creatures are also in chaos. We can't let them slaughter the city!" Dongyang Zhenren finished and then turned to Li Fei. "Your cultivation isn't sufficient. Stay in the room and don't take a single step outside!"
The door was slammed shut again. Li Fei rushed over and tugged at it, but it didn't budge—was she being locked in? How could she stay put when such a major incident had erupted out of nowhere? There were so many Demonic Beasts outside; everything had been fine just moments ago. Why had they suddenly gone berserk? What if the city was truly overrun by Monsters?!
Li Fei paced the room like an ant on a hot pan, unable to calm down. Why was she the only one locked inside? What about Lei Xiuyuan? Was he also trapped in his room, equally frantic? And where was Ri Yan? With such chaos in the city, where had he run off to?
Outside the window, it was unexpectedly quiet—no screams, no wails. The mortals, suddenly confronted with countless Monsters, hadn't even had time to react. Only the mournful wind howled, now urgent, now slow. Soon, the sounds of Immortal Techniques being unleashed began to ripple through the air. As if coordinated, the roars of the Monsters and the shrieks and cries of the people suddenly erupted in an unending assault. The distant glow of rampant fires drew nearer. Li Fei wanted to see what was happening, but the window was also reinforced with an Immortal Technique—she couldn't even touch the window frame.
Inside the inn, wails of terror soon filled the air. It seemed the people had finally realized what was happening. With no one to soothe their panic, they could only weep incessantly.
Li Fei circled the room like a headless fly for what felt like ages. With no other options, she sat on the bed, dazed, listening to the cacophony outside, her heart pounding.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek came from outside the window, followed by a thunderous crash—as if something had slammed into the window with tremendous force. The entire room shook, dust flying everywhere.
Li Fei stumbled back several steps. Another crash followed, and a heavy object smashed into the wall, making the floor tremble. The whole room seemed on the verge of collapsing. With such force, even the Immortal Technique on the window might not hold.
She could no longer heed the Elder's warning and raised her hands to summon an Earth Barrier. But before she could, another deafening crash shattered the window—along with the entire wall. A massive creature barreled into the room, hurtling straight toward Li Fei.
An Earth Barrier wouldn't stop this! Li Fei scrambled away just as the furniture in the room was smashed to splinters, flying in all directions. Even the walls connecting to other rooms were breached in multiple places. The screams and cries in the inn intensified tenfold—was the entire inn about to be torn apart?!Li Fei suddenly felt an intense heat beside her as two fiery serpents coiled and darted forward, wrapping around the massive creature and dragging it outward. Only then did she see that it was an enormous Ferocious Beast—a Tengu. Its grayish fur was splattered with black blood, its body covered in wounds. As the fiery serpents constricted it, the beast let out a series of agonized howls.
A white figure flashed into the shattered guest room like lightning. In his hand was an eerie blue flame blade, nearly ten feet long. The fiery serpents held the Tengu in a death grip, and without hesitation, he swung his sword with ruthless precision, cleanly severing the beast’s head. Black blood splattered, staining the hem of his white robes.
Li Fei opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end, no words came out.
Ji Tongzhou…
He seemed to sense someone in the room and glanced back, only to see a terrified village girl frozen in place. His voice was cold as he commanded, “Don’t stay here.”
Sheathing his sword, the impossibly long flame blade somehow fit into an ordinary scabbard. The eerie blue flames gradually faded, leaving behind what appeared to be just a normal Mystic Sword.
With a swift turn, Ji Tongzhou flung the sword into the air and leaped onto it, soaring away with Sword Flying.
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