In the blink of an eye, the green leaves inside the trial realm turned red ten times.
With a one-to-ten time dilation, a year had likely passed in the outside world.
“Master, my spiritual root is now a Mutated Ice Spiritual Root, and my cultivation has broken through to Early-Stage Foundation Establishment. When will you and Xie Tinglan finally wake up?”
A slender, graceful young woman sat quietly before the barrier, raising her hand to gaze through two layers of barriers at the two people who had gone into closed-door seclusion to heal their severe injuries ten years ago. The sorrow and longing in her eyes shimmered into tears.
Unable to contain her anger at the barrier, Yao Dai stood up and ran over to kick the remains on the ground a couple of times.
“It’s all your fault! You kept Master and me separated for ten years, and you injured Master and Xie Xiao’er!” She stomped on Yin Fengcong’s remains until nothing but bone ash remained.
Clearly, she had vented her frustration on them quite a bit over the years.
After venting her anger, Yao Dai pulled out food from her storage bag, eating while flipping through a stack of books. She couldn’t let her studies fall by the wayside. Fortunately, among the books Master had given her, there were instructions on how to establish a foundation; otherwise, she might have suffered qi deviation.
Sigh, Master, please hurry up and wake up.
[Ding! +4. Villain Salvation Progress Bar for Yao Dai: 41%]
Time passed silently as the world shifted through the seasons.
“Master, this blood vine is truly incredible! If I’d known it could break Yin Fengcong’s barrier like this, I would have acted sooner.”
A young girl walked arm in arm with a woman in green robes, her face beaming with excitement, while a four-year-old child followed behind them.
Xie Tinglan wanted to kick Yin Fengcong’s bone remains a few times as well, but unfortunately, even the bone ash was gone. If not for that bastard’s strike, he wouldn’t have been stuck in the body of a four-year-old child.
“This blood vine can even kill an Early-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator, but once bound through blood ownership, its power becomes limited by your cultivation level. You must hurry and cultivate. Otherwise, if a Grand Cultivator notices how peculiar this blood vine is, they might be tempted to kill you and claim the treasure for themselves. Use it sparingly in your daily life.”
Wen Li glanced at the whip in her hand. After Yao Dai absorbed the Soul-Severing White Mi Fruit, the blood vine followed her wherever she went. Once she realized it obeyed her commands, she claimed it as her weapon.
Thinking a single vine looked unsightly, Yao Dai had braided it into a five-strand whip, which proved exceptionally handy to use.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried using the Blood Vine Whip to break Yin Fengcong’s leftover barrier before, but she didn’t know how to unleash its true power. She could only swing it wildly, leaving at most a few shallow marks on the barrier.
It was only after Wen Li woke up and instructed her in a technique that she struck the barrier several hundred times, finally breaking through.
Yao Dai nodded. “Mhm, I understand.”
The three of them arrived at a grove in the forest and looked at the patch of swaying man-eating flowers before them.
“...Master, do we really have to go out like this? Is there no other way?” Yao Dai asked with a look of utter disgust.
Although Wan Yinxun had mentioned back then that he arrived in this underwater world after being swallowed by a man-eating flower, what if there was another passage?
Wen Li cast a spell, placing a protective shield over each of the three of them.
“Stop talking nonsense. Let’s go.”
She grabbed the two of them and tossed them into the man-eating flower.
The man-eating flower, taller than a person, instantly engulfed and swallowed the three of them with its bloated, drooling maw.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Above Cangxian Lake, a man-eating flower acted as though it had eaten something revolting, dry-heaving immediately and spitting out three blobs.
Fortunately, they had the protective shields; otherwise, they would have literally thrown up from the stench of rotting demon beast flesh inside.
“Master, I feel like I’m about to die... I mean my nose!”
Looking completely devoid of the will to live, Yao Dai immediately ran to the lake’s edge to wash herself clean.
Xie Tinglan also walked over, reverting to his true form to take a swim in the lake.
Knowing the two had been cooped up for far too long over these years, Wen Li let them play around while she strolled off slowly with her hands behind her back to find the exit.
Where had it been back then? Oh, right, over at that valley or whatever.
Getting old really messed with her memory.
If she had known, she should have set up an eye-catching sign to remind herself.
For instance: “Missing you at the exit.”
Nice. Classy.
...
“Sigh, when will this war between Cangling Kingdom and Yanlin Kingdom finally end? It’s already been a year. We common folk have no choice but to pack up and head toward Xuanbing Kingdom.”
“Who knows? Just a few days ago, I saw a Zhaixing Sect cultivator besieged and beaten to death by several other cultivators. Everyone says immortal cultivation defies the heavens and grants the power to ride the clouds, but from where I sit, they face birth, old age, sickness, and death just like us common folk—they just get a little more time, that’s all.”
“Let’s go. I heard another city in Cangling Kingdom has been conquered, and the disciples of the three sects have already retreated to this area. I fear this place will be the next battlefield.”
Three ordinary-looking people gorged themselves on the food at their table, ignoring the sighs and groans of the people around them.
After eating their fill, the three returned to the inn.
“Master, are we leaving this place soon?”
Gazing at the snow falling from the sky, Wen Li said with a serene expression, “You want to see Li Yangtian one last time.”
Singled out, Yao Dai spoke up hesitantly, “He’s my first friend. Before leaving, I’d like to see him once.”
Wen Li turned her head to look at Xie Tinglan. “And you?”
Xie Tinglan paused, saying nothing, but simply nodded.
“Very well, go see him. It will likely be the last time.” Seeing this, Wen Li’s expression grew enigmatic.
In a war between two kingdoms, those pushed to the front lines were bound to be disciples like Li Yangtian—possessing some cultivation, but lacking talent.
Disguising their faces and altering their voices, the three also wore breath-concealing talismans. Instead of heading straight for the Zhaixing Sect, they went to the courtyard where Li Yangtian had taken them to dine before entering the trial realm, hoping to try their luck.
Yao Dai went and knocked on the door, and someone actually opened it.
“Who are you?” The person who answered was none other than Li Yudi, Li Yangtian’s younger sister.
Her eyes were wary and tense, her face pale and lifeless.
Disguised as a man, Wen Li spoke with a deep, magnetic voice.
“Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be nervous. We are Ziyang Sect disciples whom Li Yangtian saved in the past. After inquiring at the Zhaixing Sect and learning he might be here, we came to express our gratitude.”
However, Li Yudi did not let go of the door. She merely said, “He’s not here. You’ve got the wrong place.”
With that, she made to shut the door.
After checking the surroundings and sensing no spiritual energy fluctuations from other cultivators, Wen Li stepped forward and pushed the door open. Xie Tinglan and Yao Dai immediately sprung into action—one covering Li Yudi’s mouth, the other shutting the door behind them.
The three snuck inside like thieves.
“Mmmgh!” Li Yudi’s face overflowed with terror.
Fortunately, Wen Li and the other two removed their disguises.
“Y-You... didn’t you die inside the trial realm?!” Li Yudi’s eyes widened in utter terror.
The three, having been declared dead, exchanged glances, knowing this was merely a cover-up by the three sects to hide the truth. Wen Li cast a barrier and refrained from discussing the details of the trial realm, simply saying, “The three of us are tough. We managed to survive the catastrophe.”
Li Yudi also understood that some things were better left unasked.
Yao Dai asked, “Where is Li Yangtian? Did he go to the battlefield?”
At those words, Li Yudi’s eyes instantly turned red, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
“Hey, hey, why are you crying?” Yao Dai asked, not yet picking up on the problem.
Wen Li and Xie Tinglan were already frowning.
Suppressing her tears in silence, Li Yudi led the three of them into a room. The first things they saw were three memorial tablets—which surprisingly belonged to Wen Li and her two disciples.
Beside them was another one:
“Eldest Brother Li Yangtian”
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