Chapter 6

Serpent vines crowded every direction.

It was a vast forest of them.

How could anyone fight a whole forest?

My junior sister’s sword hand trembled. For every vine she cut, ten more lunged to bite and tear.

The Black Dragon relied on his formidable physique. Unable to cast spells, he tore countless vines apart with his bare hands.

The Azure Phoenix used his ability to fly, barely dodging their attacks.

The White Qilin stayed behind my junior sister, never moving a step away.

They were trying hard.

But with their present cultivation, they couldn’t defeat the vines.

Just as they were about to be bound and strangled, a brilliant white light burst from deep within the forest.

A towering arc of sword energy shredded countless vines.

My junior sister stared at that slash, which seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth.

“One sword’s frost chills fourteen provinces… It’s Senior Sister!”

I crawled out of the nest, drenched in serpent-vine blood.

When our eyes met, I was startled too.

14

“Junior Sister?”

“Senior Sister!”

Wen Zhiyue shouted for me as she hacked at the vines.

“Save me!”

I wiped some blood from my face.

My battle had already used up seventy or eighty percent of my energy. I stood in a safe area to recover.

I had cut away half the forest. At its edge, serpent-vine corpses lay scattered under my feet.

The surviving half didn’t dare approach. My strength frightened it.

I was hard prey. With four easier targets nearby, why bother me?

High-level demon beasts had intelligence.

Especially serpent vines. They were exceptionally good at weighing gains against losses.

Watching the distant forest writhe and bare its fangs, I sighed inwardly.

The real Serpent-Vine King hid deep underground. It almost never surfaced, only extending its tendrils to hunt.

The vines above ground were merely parts of its body—and unimportant ones at that. Cutting them off did no serious harm.

Once it had devoured every living thing within a hundred miles and no new prey came, it slept underground, waiting for unsuspecting fools to enter its wasteland.

Fools like me. Like my junior sister and her beasts.

Unfortunately for it, however little I understood, I knew how to fight.

When it realized it couldn’t profit from attacking me, it turned toward easier prey.

My junior sister’s group struggled on, about to collapse.

Her voice grew hoarse. “Senior Sister! Save me! We’re fellow disciples! You can’t just watch us die!”

I lowered my head and pretended not to hear.

I knew Wen Zhiyue wasn’t wholly responsible for the three beasts changing sides in my past lives. They had already looked down on me. Even without her, they would have betrayed me.

Still, I couldn’t put aside my resentment.

Perhaps I couldn’t blame her for everything. But she had taken my opportunities.

Why wasn’t I allowed to hate her?

Frankly, not taking this chance to avenge myself was already generous.

I would never risk my life to save an old enemy while I was exhausted.

I wasn’t that selfless.

Wen Zhiyue seemed to read my thoughts.

“Mo Jinghong!” she shrieked. “My image-recording stone has captured all of this! If you don’t save me, I’ll send it back to the sect before I die. Let everyone see what kind of person their eldest disciple really is!”

At once, I changed from standing upright to “weakly” collapsing.

Such a gentle, graceful fall. Delicate as a flower reflected in water, frail as a willow in the wind. Her stone could record as much as it liked.

I had just cut down half a forest.

If I said my energy was exhausted and my body couldn’t hold out, who could contradict me?

My junior sister was furious.

“Stop pretending! You obviously still have strength! Come save me, Senior Sister!”

I lay flat and shut my eyes.

Why should I save someone who had just threatened me?

I wasn’t that pathetic.

She was out of options.

Seeing me lying “dead” on the ground, she knew I wouldn’t help.

She had to bring out her last treasure: a teleportation scroll.

But it could carry only two people.

A scroll that could take two people out of a sealed secret realm was priceless. Her master must have given it to her as a last means of survival.

I couldn’t resist opening one eye a crack.

Two people. One place was unquestionably hers.

Who would get the other?

She had three spirit beasts.

She treasured them all.

Sure enough, she couldn’t decide.

The Black Dragon had an injury and couldn’t cast spells, but he had the most impressive presence, strongest body, and the face she liked best.

The Azure Phoenix was a preening peacock, the smoothest talker, best at pleasing her.

The White Qilin was the quietest, but always protected her and made fewer demands than the other two.

Only one could go.

Whom would she choose?

She looked back and forth. Finally, she gritted her teeth, shut her eyes, and decided.

“Cang Han, come here!”

I raised an eyebrow.

Well, well.

She had chosen the Black Dragon.

I nearly hurt myself holding back laughter.

She was probably thinking that, injury aside, he surpassed the other two in every respect. An injury could be healed; inferior natural gifts could never be made up.

I couldn’t say she was wrong.

Only that she had no idea how hard his injury was to cure.

The Azure Phoenix and White Qilin went deathly pale.

The Black Dragon clasped her hand. “Zhiyue, I knew you cared most for me. I will never fail you.”

She said nothing.

Being forced to abandon the other two had left her miserable.

She glared at me with hatred and was about to tear the scroll open—

15

A tremendous rumbling shook the earth.

Something was hurtling toward us from afar. Wherever it passed, yellow earth and dust filled the sky, making it impossible to see what was happening.

A terrible suspicion stirred in me.

Like a hurricane sweeping through, it erased the towering forest in an instant.

The vines were brutally uprooted. Their blood sprayed through the sky like rain, drenching my junior sister’s group.

At last, everyone saw the newcomer.

White hair. Violet eyes. A face of extraordinary beauty—and eyes streaked with frightening red from hunger.

I immediately shut my peeking eye and continued playing dead.

Someone lifted me off the ground.