In the stillness of the night, a gentle breeze swept across the lake, sending ripples across its surface. The dense branches of the green plum trees rustled softly in response.
Bathed in the pale moonlight, Song Changsheng sat by the lakeside, quietly gazing at the countless stars in the sky. Like glittering jewels scattered across the dark canopy, they shone with brilliant light.
He often wondered, among all these stars, could there be one called the "Sun"?
If there was, he truly wanted to see it for himself.
After all, in a certain sense, that was his home too.
Though he'd never been particularly fond of it, after being away for so long, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of longing…
Suddenly, he felt something stir in his arms. Looking down, he saw that the girl nestled against him had shifted to a more comfortable position in her sleep.
Tear tracks still lingered on her small face, but at this moment, she wore a peaceful smile like someone lost in a beautiful dream.
"Let's get you all home first. And if I get the chance… I'd like to go home too."
A gentle smile appeared on Song Changsheng's face, and his gaze toward the sky grew more resolute.
Pursuing strength wasn't only for immortality sometimes; it was just so one could return home in glory.
The two of them, one big, one small, passed a long and quiet night together. When the red sun finally crested the horizon, Song Qingxing, drenched from head to toe, returned with his sword in hand.
Seeing Song Qingxi still sleeping soundly, a subtle ripple stirred in his eyes. After a pause, he awkwardly muttered,
"Sleeping like that… she might catch a cold."
"Hmm?"
Song Changsheng gave him a surprised look, as if seeing him for the first time.
Perhaps realizing the oddity of what he'd just said, Song Qingxing quickly changed the subject.
"When do we set out?"
Song Changsheng glanced at Song Qingxi, who was still "sleeping in," and replied,
"We'll leave when Xi'er wakes up. Also…"
He suddenly shifted the topic and looked at Song Qingxing's still-dripping clothes. With a teasing smile, he added,
"You should probably change first, or you'll catch a cold."
Song Qingxing's face instantly stiffened, though, thanks to his usual stoic expression, it wasn't too obvious.
With a calm nod, he said, "Alright."
As he watched him walk into the thatched hut, Song Changsheng's lips curled slightly.
This guy... seems different now.
Could it be… enlightenment?
It wasn't until the sun had climbed high in the sky that Song Qingxi finally woke up, stretching lazily like a cat.
Realizing she had spent the night curled up in Song Changsheng's arms, she quickly became aware of her behavior.
"Awake now? You're not a child anymore, you know," Song Changsheng said with light teasing.
Song Qingxi's cheeks flushed pink, and she hurriedly stood up.
"I'll go pack."
Watching her scramble off, Song Changsheng smiled.
She is growing up; she knows how to be embarrassed now.
He stood up slowly, stretched his limbs with a satisfying crack of his joints, and let out a relaxed sigh.
Feeling refreshed, he reached down and tapped the surface of the lake.
Ripples spread outward, and then, a fish head broke the surface, its eyes staring straight at him.
"I'm leaving soon. These two little ones are coming with me, and chances are we won't be back.
The elders at the foot of the mountain are all getting on in years, so I'll leave Mirror Lake and this hut in your care.
You might be a bit weak, but you're still a Grade Two, Lower Tier Spirit Fish King. That should be enough to scare off most predators."
As he spoke, Song Changsheng gently patted the fish's smooth head.
In the Spirit Fish King's large eyes was a trace of confusion, as if wondering Why won't you be coming back?
"It's not that I'll never return," Song Changsheng chuckled, "that's why I'm leaving you in charge. Don't worry, there's something in it for you."
He took out a small white porcelain bottle from his storage pouch.
"There are ten Essence Condensation Pills in here. They'll help with your cultivation. Consider it your payment."
With that, he tossed the bottle into the lake.
Excitement flashed in the Spirit Fish King's eyes. It quickly spat out a bubble that wrapped around the bottle and swallowed it whole.
"One at a time," Song Changsheng warned seriously. "Take too many and you'll drop dead."
The scene looked almost comical, someone making a serious deal with a fish.
And oddly enough… the fish seemed to understand him.
But this wasn't idle amusement. Song Changsheng had observed that this Spirit Fish King had potential for further evolution.
In this world, there were countless types of spirit beasts.
But their achievements were usually fixed from birth, determined by the power of their bloodlines.
And yet this one still had room to grow.
The stronger the bloodline, the greater the potential achievements of a demon beast in the future, and the weaker the bloodline, the more limited its growth.
This Spiritfish King was a Silver Thread Fish, a species with one of the lowest-tier bloodlines. Typically, reaching the second tier was already their limit.
Moreover, due to their inferior bloodline, even if they managed to break through to the second tier, their strength would still be very weak, so weak that even a slightly stronger Qi Refining cultivator could kill them.
That's why Silver Thread Fish were usually raised as low-grade ingredients.
Even if this particular one had reached the second tier, at best, it would only be considered a high-end delicacy.
However, the one in Mirror Lake was different. For one thing, its intelligence was remarkably high, far beyond what was normal for a second-tier beast. In addition, it had also developed some strange and unusual abilities.
Put simply, it had mutated. In the world of demon beasts, there was a technical term for this phenomenon: atavism, a reversion to ancestral traits.
This was undoubtedly a good sign. But the problem was… Silver Thread Fish were simply too weak. So weak that even Song Changsheng couldn't recall if they ever had any powerful ancestors.
Still, that didn't matter. What he saw in the fish was its potential, the potential to break through to the third tier.
No matter the species, once a demon beast advanced to the third tier, its strength would undergo a complete transformation. At that point, the Song Clan would finally have a true guardian spirit beast of its own.
It was a very long-term investment and one that might never pay off.
Just then, Song Qingxi and the others had already finished packing. The Mistveil Trees in the spirit fields had been dug up, and the mature spirit herbs harvested.
Even the green plum tree, which had recently advanced into a spiritual plant, hadn't been spared; it was dug up and placed into a storage pouch.
"All done packing?" Song Changsheng asked with a smile.
Song Qingxi glanced back at the thatched cottage, a trace of reluctance in her eyes. She gave a light nod and said, "Yes, we're ready."
"Then let's depart," Song Changsheng said, snapping his fingers.
A massive flying boat, over ten zhang long, suddenly appeared on the island.
"Whoa, what a big flying boat! Is this yours?" Song Qingxi asked in amazement. Compared to this, her little paper kite looked downright childish.
Song Changsheng shamelessly nodded.
He had pestered Fourth Elder Song Luhuai for ages to get this when he went down the mountain. Technically, it was only "borrowed," but since he never said when he'd return it… by that logic, wasn't it his?
Once everyone was aboard, Song Changsheng reluctantly embedded over a dozen mid-grade spirit stones into the flying boat's core. With a hum, the massive vessel sprang to life and soared toward the direction of Heaven Sword Sect...
...
At the same time, in a mortal village at the foot of a large mountain in Bian Prefecture, a chubby, fair-skinned man was packing his bags with a bitter expression. He looked like he was preparing for a long trip.
But unlike most travelers who packed clothes, food, and daily necessities...
This fat man was stuffing bottles and jars into his bag, each faintly labeled with words like "Cumin" and "Clove."
"Sigh… Old man, do we have to go? There's a war going on over there. What if we go and never come back?" the chubby man complained as he sat on the edge of his bed after finishing his packing.
At the doorway stood an old man with a lean frame, white hair, and a childlike face. He wore a patched-up gray robe, his hair was a mess, and he lazily leaned against the doorframe while hugging an ancient, rustic longsword.
Hearing the fat man's complaint, he casually picked his nose and replied, "What does their war have to do with us? We're just going to Heaven Sword Sect to pick something up. Once we're done, we'll leave the Qi Cultivation Realm of Great Qi.
You're always whining about wanting to visit your sect. Well, now I'm granting your wish, taking you back to pay respects to your ancestral master."
The chubby man's eyes instantly lit up like twin glowing pearls when he heard the words "visit the sect."
He eagerly shouted, "Then let's go straight back! Why bother going to Heaven Sword Sect? I already said that when I joined the sect, I wouldn't practice swordsmanship! So stop dreaming about that stone tablet!"
The old man's face curled into a cold smirk. "That's not your choice to make. If Mo Zhexian's disciple doesn't use a sword, people will laugh their heads off."
"Oh, please, I wouldn't dare say I'm your disciple out loud. I still want to live for a few more hundred or thousand years.
And besides, if it's swordsmanship you want, go find Yun He. Didn't you say you admired him? Why not take him as your new disciple and make him my junior?"
The old man shook his head. "Xu Yunhe is a fine lad, but he's too upright. He's not affiliated with our sect."
"So what, you're saying I'm not upright?" the fat man shot back. "Back when you begged me to be your disciple, that's not what you said. And now look at you, it's only been a few years and"
As the chubby man continued to rant, the old man grew impatient. He grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up. "This isn't up for debate. We're going to Heaven Sword Sect!"
The fat man let out a tragic howl: "Old Song! Save me!"
...
"Achoo!"
Standing atop the flying boat, Song Changsheng suddenly sneezed twice for no apparent reason.
"What's going on? Am I catching a cold?" he murmured while rubbing his nose, his thoughts drifting aimlessly.
"So this is Yangzhou? I heard the Lieyang Sect's main base is located here," said Song Qingxi, her wide eyes filled with curiosity as she gazed at the crimson mountain range below. This was her first time traveling far from home.
"That's right. Their stronghold is in that direction. But they're too preoccupied right now to bother with us, which saves us some trouble."
"How much longer until we reach Heavenly Sword Sect?" she asked.
Song Changsheng did a quick calculation in his mind and replied, "Traveling by flying boat, it'll take at least another two to three months. We need to cross all of Yangzhou and Xiangzhou before we can reach Xuzhou."
"That long, huh..." Song Qingxi suddenly looked a little deflated. Her bright eyes lost some of their sparkle after all. There wasn't much room to move around on the boat, and there was nothing fun to do to pass the time. It was boring, to say the least.
"Just three months. It'll pass quickly if you focus on your cultivation. You've been slacking off a bit lately," Song Changsheng chuckled before heading into the cabin.
Ever since he discovered that Primordial Qi could be used as mana, Song Changsheng had been diligently practicing divine abilities.
Just as Song Xianming had said, mana was the key to cultivating minor divine powers. With the aid of Primordial Qi, his progress in learning the Mountain-Flipping Seal had finally made a breakthrough. He was advancing quickly, and at this rate, it wouldn't be long before he had another ace up his sleeve...
...
While the trio was making their way to Heavenly Sword Sect, the atmosphere at Luoxia City's Lord's Manor was tense. Elders Qianri and Qianyue both wore solemn expressions.
"Is the information reliable? This isn't something to joke about," Elder Qianri asked seriously as he looked at the disciple reporting the news.
The disciple nodded firmly. "There are indeed traces left behind by a Blood Demon six hundred li north of the city. Initial assessments indicate that both sides of the battle were Purple Mansion-stage cultivators. The battle was extremely intense."
Elder Qianri's brows furrowed deeply. Since the last attack on the auction house, Luoxia City hadn't seen any signs of Blood Demon activity. Why had one suddenly appeared again, and a Purple Mansion-stage one at that? What was their objective this time? Was Luoxia City in danger?
"Whatever the case, a Blood Demon of this level is beyond our ability to handle. Notify the Second City Lord," said Elder Qianyue, rising to his feet.
"We have no choice," Qianri nodded.
Just as he was about to assign someone to deliver the message, a middle-aged man hurried into the room, his face pale and flustered.
"Elders, something's wrong!" he blurted.
"Why the panic?" Elder Qianri snapped impatiently. "Where are your manners?"
Swallowing hard, the man said with difficulty, "Elders... there's unusual activity among the beasts in the Ten-Thousand Mountains."
"What did you say?" Elder Qianri's eyes sharpened instantly. Even upon hearing about the Blood Demon, he hadn't shown this much alarm.
"What happened? Speak clearly."
"The first report came from a rogue cultivator named Xu Yunhe. He said that while training on the outskirts of the Ten-Thousand Mountains, he saw beasts migrating inward in large numbers. He also heard angry roars from powerful demon beasts deep in the range. He suspects this may be a sign of an impending beast tide.
"After receiving the report, we immediately sent scouts deeper into the mountains. Three Foundation Establishment cultivators went in… but none of them came back. Not a single message," the man said urgently, his face filled with fear.
The two elders exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Elder Qianri made a swift decision. "I'll report this to the City Lord right away. Junior Brother, issue the order to recall all disciples currently outside the city."
"Understood."
...
Upon receiving the news, Zhan Tianxia immediately decided to personally venture into the Ten-Thousand Mountains to investigate.
After he left, Mu Guibai stood atop Tianyin Mountain, gazing silently at the endless stretch of mountain peaks.
A long time passed.
Finally, Zhuang Yuechan heard him softly whisper,
"The wind is rising..."
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