The enormous cave contained nothing else but a small lake and a tiny stone platform above it. The spiritual energy inside was so dense it felt like viscous water—though it couldn't compare to immortal sects like the No Moon Court, it was still exceptionally rare.
This was the Sweet Splendor Realm. After six years, nothing here had changed.
Li Fei gently placed the withered corpse she had been carrying onto the stone platform. Along with it, she had also brought the jade-like arm bone of the previous Graftwood Seed from the Outlander Tomb.
She gazed silently at the mummified remains of the old man, whose features were long unrecognizable. After a long, long while, she suddenly reached out and traced his distorted outline with slow, lingering fingers.
Master.
She and Lei Xiuyuan had infiltrated the Outlander Tomb at White Edge Cliff. Deep within the grand hall, they found Qing Cheng Xian Ren, similarly sealed inside a crystal coffin. He wore the simplest blue robe, his bones protruding grotesquely from his emaciated frame—a sight both horrifying and pitiful. Beside him, like all the other crystal coffins, lay a bronze plaque inscribed with two words: Azure City.
He had been stored away like a displayed specimen of an Otherkin corpse, humiliated in such a manner.
She couldn’t remember how she had shattered the crystal coffin to retrieve him. Had she cried? Had she screamed? But weeping and wailing were meaningless in the face of this lonely, desolate corpse. The only one who found release was herself. In the end, she set the entire Outlander Tomb ablaze—yet it was still nothing more than a futile venting of helpless rage.
As she looked at him now, the image of that ragged, white-bearded old man, hidden deep in her heart, grew clearer and clearer. Despite his advanced age and formidable power, he had always been like a child—playful, unable to stay in one place, and incapable of holding onto the money he painstakingly earned. He never spared a thought for her being a girl; from childhood, he never bought her snacks or the little trinkets girls loved. Thanks to him, she had been raised as roughly as a boy. If not for Zhao Min Shijie’s scolding and guidance over the years, she might have remained coarse for who knew how long.
Yet by the time she turned seventeen, nearly all her principles and life lessons had been instilled in her by him, subtly and imperceptibly. The fact that Xiao Bangchui stood here now was proof enough of how vivid and important his existence had once been.
"Master, we’ve come home."
Li Fei carefully, joyfully lifted the terrifying mummy and buried her face in his withered embrace. Seven years—she had finally returned to these familiar arms.
Master was back. Lei Xiuyuan had come too. They had returned to Green Mound. Yet this long-awaited reunion was silent and desolate.
This place was the origin of everything for her. Let it also be her end in the Central Land.
Green Mound, the place she had yearned for day and night—the tender green mountains of spring, the fierce winds of summer, the golden stretches of autumn, the biting snow and ice of winter. A life of poverty and hardship, yet also the happiest, most carefree time of her life. She had dreamed so many beautiful dreams—introducing her beloved partner and friends to her master, the whole family reunited and living together in Green Mound. It didn’t matter if they didn’t cultivate. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t live a hundred years. As long as they were together, that was enough.
She was someone with no grand ambitions—no desire to be invincible, no wish to achieve earth-shattering feats. She would rather be a simple stroke in the background of an ordinary, warm painting, content as long as those she loved and those who loved her could live safe and happy lives.
Yet now, none of those dreams would ever come true.The bodies of cultivators do not return to dust. Li Fei gazed affectionately at her Master’s withered face as the glow of fire-attribute spiritual energy flickered in her palm. Just as she was about to release the parting flames to incinerate his remains, the aged voice of Ri Yan suddenly echoed sharply in her mind: "Little girl! Sit down, focus your spirit, and hold your breath! This old man is coming out!"
Had he already broken through the seal? What a coincidence! If he emerged now, he could still see Master one last time!
Li Fei immediately obeyed, sitting cross-legged and focusing her spirit while holding her breath. Only the spiritual energy continued to cycle within her body. Gradually, she felt a massive, whirlwind-like current of energy abruptly manifest, as if it were about to burst through the crown of her head. This energy was entirely unfamiliar—something she had never experienced before. As it spun faster and faster, the spiritual energy within her body involuntarily accelerated as well. Her scalp felt as if it were about to split open, the pain unbearable.
Suddenly, a deafening "boom" resounded in her mind. The sharp, spiraling energy finally erupted violently through the top of her head, stirring a fierce turbulence of spiritual energy throughout the entire Sweet Splendor Realm. The impact sent Li Fei tumbling uncontrollably, like a small boat tossed in a raging storm. She rolled several times across the ground, and had it not been for Lei Xiuyuan grabbing her firmly beside her, she might have been flung straight out of the realm.
The spiritual energy continued to tremble under the assault of the wild, rampaging currents. Covering her head and face with her sleeve, Li Fei squinted through the gaps to look ahead. Countless crimson streams of energy, blood-red in hue, converged within the vast cavern of the Sweet Splendor Realm. An utterly unfamiliar, blade-like chill instantly enveloped her, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.
Gradually, those blood-red currents coalesced into a massive cluster, growing unbearably bright. Li Fei could no longer keep her eyes open and hurriedly shut them.
After an indeterminable length of time, the chaos abruptly subsided into silence. A long-missed, familiar voice rang out sharply from ahead: "You little brat, you’ve even grown horns! Stay the hell away from her!"
Li Fei snapped her eyes open to see an enormous, snow-white Nine-tailed Fox standing imposingly within the cavern. Its nine long tails swayed dreamily through the air, while the once blood-red seal on its back had now completely vanished. His eerie, ghost-fire-green eyes glared murderously at Lei Xiuyuan.
"Ri Yan!" she cried, lunging forward. This time, she didn’t pass through empty air—her face and body collided hard with his thick, fragrant fur. Clinging to him desperately, her voice nearly broke with emotion: "You’re finally out! You’ve finally recovered! This is wonderful!"
One of Ri Yan’s massive tails gave her a heavy pat, nearly cracking her bones. His hoarse voice growled right by her ear: "Who wants to hug and cuddle with you?! Let go! You’re about to die, and you’re still acting like a fool here?! Don’t you see what this brat is?! He’s grown horns—why aren’t you running?!"
Before Li Fei could respond, Lei Xiuyuan’s calm voice sounded from behind: "Elder Ri Yan, congratulations on regaining your freedom."
"Pah! Who needs your congratulations?!" Ri Yan’s nine tails suddenly bristled in fury. "I’ll count to ten. If you don’t scram by then, don’t blame me for being ruthless!"
Lei Xiuyuan remained unfazed, instead smiling gently. "I never expected those books bearing Qing Cheng Xian Ren’s handwriting to be so well-preserved here. Thank you, Elder Ri Yan, for your assistance."Ri Yan said grimly, "Stop changing the subject! Save your sweet talk for fooling that idiot—it won't work on me! Get out! One, two..."
He really began counting. Li Fei suddenly sighed and whispered, "Ri Yan, even if he leaves, it wouldn't take much effort for him to come back."
No barrier or seal was of any use against a Yaksa. From White Edge Cliff to the Sweet Splendor Realm, she had already witnessed it firsthand.
Ri Yan glared at her with exasperation. "You know all this, yet you still stick with him?! What am I supposed to say to you?!"
Li Fei smiled faintly. "Don't be angry. The decision is mine. You've said it yourself—I've grown up, and my life is my own. Stop treating me like a clueless child."
Ri Yan was still furious. "Fine words! What if he suddenly goes berserk one day, imprisons you, or even kills you? What could you do then? Would you regret it?"
Li Fei shrugged. "Killing me isn't that easy! Have you forgotten I can absorb spiritual energy? I killed Zhen Yunzi all by myself!"
"Bah! Fool! With you around, his power increases a thousandfold! You think you can kill him? Dream on!"
"Eh? Didn't you say I could become invincible? Were you lying?"
"Idiot! I meant in the Central Land! Didn't you say you wanted to stay there?! You—"
Li Fei quietly watched his furious outburst. She knew this fox, despite his harsh words, genuinely wanted to protect her. She interrupted him solemnly, "Ri Yan, I trust Xiu Yuan just as I trust you and Master. I won't always need your protection. Even if I don't aim to be invincible, I have the ability to defend myself. Thank you for always worrying about me."
Ri Yan roared, "Who's worrying about you?! You—"
"I brought Master back. Don't you want to see him?"
The roar cut off abruptly. Ri Yan froze. After a long pause, he suddenly sighed deeply. "What's the point? He's already dead. What remains is just a pile of rotting flesh. Better to burn it sooner rather than later. Don't you cultivators believe the body shouldn't return to dust?"
Despite his words, he turned his head. His massive form gradually shrank until he was about the size of an ordinary fox. He leaped onto the stone platform and sat opposite Qing Cheng Xian Ren's corpse, lowering his head to gaze at him quietly.
A black stone pagoda made of soul-preserving rock was placed beside him, its sealing technique shimmering brilliantly. Ri Yan stared at it in astonishment. Li Fei smiled. "This is the demon qi you were sealed with in the Academy's restricted area. A promise fulfilled—mission accomplished."
The fox's eerie green eyes fixed on the pagoda, then turned to glare at her. After a long silence, he stammered uncharacteristically, "H-how did you... get this... idiot! You haven't even shed your shell yet! What if those Celestials had discovered you?!"
Li Fei kept smiling. "If they had, I wouldn't be standing here unharmed. Remember that Golden Lion? It's even bigger now. It must have eaten all those Demon Vermilion Fruits I dropped years ago—it looked so grateful when it saw me. If not for fear of being discovered, it might have followed me out.""Hmph! That fool got off easy!" Ri Yan opened his mouth and clamped down on the stone tower. Without using any demonic arts, there was just a loud "crack"—the stone tower reinforced with an extremely powerful Seal was actually bitten apart by brute force. The glow of the Seal instantly vanished, and the tower shattered into fragments, which he blew away with a single breath, scattering them into the lake.
"Damn satisfying! Those turtle bastards actually stole so much of my Demon Qi back then!" It was unclear whether he was angry or pleased. Previously, he had referred to the founders of the Academy as "powerful Celestials," but now they were "turtle bastards" in his mouth.
Li Fei burst into laughter. She turned and walked toward Lei Xiuyuan, taking his hand as she said, "If you have anything you want to say to Master, we'll step aside for now. Speak your mind freely."
"Say what? There's nothing to say!" Ri Yan snapped irritably as he jumped off the stone platform. "The man's already dead. I don't have any of your fancy sentimental nonsense! You—stop right there. So you're dead set on not leaving this brat, huh?"
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