Mystic Dao Assembly

After their eyes met for an instant, Qi Qingyun shifted her gaze away and did not look toward Xiao Feng again.

Xiao Feng stood there in a daze. After several years, she had become even more beautiful, and her cultivation had already reached the peak of the God King Realm. Meanwhile, he was only at the God Tribulation Realm. The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

A peak God King Realm cultivator at eighteen—no wonder she had already become an attendant knight. With her talent, becoming an Abyssal Knight was only a matter of time.

If a tiny place like Flowing Wind City produced an "Abyssal Knight," what immense glory would that bring? Even calling it "bringing honor to one's ancestors" would be an understatement. That was why so many people had come to "welcome" her arrival.

"Hey, Qing Yun only glanced at you once and then stopped looking. Don't tell me she doesn't have feelings for you anymore?"

"..." Qi Panjian's words echoed beside Xiao Feng's ear. Xiao Feng snapped out of his daze but did not answer. He simply turned and left.

"Hey, aren't you coming with me to the Qi Family to see Qing Yun?"

"No need. Since I've already seen her, I have no regrets left. I'm a little tired, so I'll head back first." Xiao Feng answered in a relaxed tone.

"Do you have to be this weak?"

Hearing that, Xiao Feng nearly stumbled and fell to the ground.

He did not respond and silently slipped away from the crowd.

"When Qi Qingyun was young, her situation in the family was not good. She was often bullied, because although her nominal father was Qi Yunlong, the head of the Qi Family, she was not actually Qi Yunlong's daughter."

According to Qi Qingyun, her parents had been killed by enemies. To escape their pursuit, her adoptive mother—her mother's maid—had brought her alone to Flowing Wind City and married the current head of the Qi Family, Qi Yunlong.

"Because of that, she was not welcomed in the family. In particular, after an accident caused her arm to be eroded by Abyssal Dust, countless physicians declared it beyond saving and said it had to be amputated. In the end, it was Xiao Feng who saved her arm. Because of that, their Medical Clinic's reputation soared."

That was how he and she had become connected. Having been neglected since childhood, she found a friendship with Xiao Feng that she had never experienced before, and their relationship gradually deepened...

Their talents and appearances made them a match made in heaven, but everything shattered when he was unable to break through the God Tribulation Realm. During the first few years, Xiao Feng could still find excuses to comfort himself, but as time passed, even he began to feel utterly exhausted.

In the end, once her cultivation reached the point where she could travel outside for experience, she chose to leave. In the blink of an eye, several years had passed. Her Mystic Dao cultivation had advanced rapidly, and she had even become an attendant knight—far beyond anything Xiao Feng could compare to.

"..."

Dragon's Roar Mountain Range, east of Flowing Wind City.

The Dragon's Roar Mountain Range was named because, when viewed from afar, it resembled an ancient dragon roaring. The mountain range was vast, with uneven terrain, yet it was also exceedingly desolate. Flowing Wind City had been built against the mountains.

"..."

At this moment, Xiao Feng was cultivating in an open clearing within the mountain range.

His eyes were closed. Suddenly, his brows twitched, and the Mystic Force that had been stable around him instantly fell into disorder...

Pfft!

A stream of blood shot from Xiao Feng's mouth.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his upper body bent over, one hand bracing himself against the barren ground. "Why... did I fail again..."

He had lost count of how many times he had failed. He should have long since accepted it and should not have come so close to losing control of his Mystic Energy as he had now.

But when he saw Qi Qingyun surrounded like the moon among stars today, his heart was inexplicably stirred.

He tried to forcefully break through his realm, but it was futile. Instead, he nearly suffered a cultivation deviation.

"Damn it!" Xiao Feng let out an unwilling growl.

Boom!

He clenched his hand into a fist and smashed it heavily into the gray-white stone stele beside him. Yet the stele only showed a shallow dent, while the recoil shook his internal organs.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

But he paid it no heed and continued striking it. It was as though he were using this self-destructive act to vent his dissatisfaction with himself...

"Whoosh~"

This time, the sound was no longer dull, and the sensation was no longer cold...

Instead, it was soft, warm skin...

Xiao Feng sensed a familiar aura suddenly appear within his Spiritual Sense, and he abruptly froze...

Several breaths later, he discreetly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, stood up, and positioned himself in front of the blood he had spat out moments ago.

"You... why are you here?" Xiao Feng asked in surprise.

He had not told anyone when he came here.

"I was afraid I might cause you trouble, so I planned to visit you at the Medical Clinic later. But Sister Ling'er said you had not returned, so I guessed you might be here." The visitor wore white robes and carried a cold, elegant aura. It was Qi Qingyun, whom Xiao Feng had just met.

"I see... Haha, I was cultivating just now. Sorry you had to see that." Xiao Feng explained with his right hand behind his neck.

Yet his smile was inevitably somewhat stiff.

"This stone stele is still so hard. It hasn't changed at all. Why don't you try it too?"

"..." After a long pause, Qi Qingyun said, "Mm, I saw it."

Xiao Feng: "..."

Before Xiao Feng could answer, Qi Qingyun changed the subject first and said softly, "I have already told the knight about your inability to break through, but even she is puzzled by your condition..."

"But don't worry. She has promised me that she will personally meet with the divine official when the time comes. With the divine official's experience, she will certainly know how to resolve your situation."

"Thank you..." Xiao Feng's voice lingered. The gratitude in his expression was undisguised, though desolation remained hidden in his eyes.

Qi Qingyun noticed Xiao Feng's expression, and a doubtful glint appeared in her eyes. Upon hearing her words, he was not as excited as she had expected. His eyes held only gratitude toward her and an inexplicable emotion.

There was no anticipation at all that his "problem" would soon be resolved. He remained as indifferent as she remembered.

She had spoken of a divine official... a True God Realm cultivator, practically one person below and ten thousand above...

A true "god"!

What could there be that even a god did not understand...

Qi Qingyun knew that Xiao Feng possessed Bright Mystic Force, but she did not know that what he cultivated was the Creation God Art of one of the four great Creation Gods—the Life Creation God Li Suo!

Even he, who cultivated the Miracle of Life, could not explain what exactly was wrong with him. Could a divine official truly know?

Unless his current condition was not an illness.

Otherwise, perhaps he could only place his faith in an illusory miracle...

"Oh, right. I haven't congratulated you yet. Your goal is already within reach." Xiao Feng was sincerely happy for her. "Now that you have become an attendant knight, once your cultivation advances a little further, you should be heading to the Pure Land."

At the mention of the Pure Land, Qi Qingyun's eyes immediately became distant. The Pure Land had always been what she longed for. Since childhood, her dream had been to one day reach the Pure Land.

In a world without Abyssal Dust, no one would die with regrets after being afflicted by it...

"I heard that the sky there is blue, the clouds are white, the flowers come in all colors, and the grass is green... It must be beautiful." She spoke softly.

"Yes... It must be... it must be beautiful..." Xiao Feng also fell into reminiscence. Her words stirred his longing for his "homeland." Everything there had been so beautiful, peaceful, and harmonious...

Qi Qingyun looked at Xiao Feng and smiled. "Ever since we were children, I've always heard you talk about it. I always felt as if you had seen the Pure Land before. You do not have the same desperate longing for it as others do. It feels more like... nostalgia?"

"I feel as though I once had a magnificent dream, where I saw the eternal Pure Land..." Xiao Feng replied dreamily.

At that moment, wasn't that blue planet nothing more than an overly magnificent dream to him...

Qi Qingyun came back to herself and gazed at Xiao Feng with her beautiful eyes. "I returned here this time for two reasons. First, it was to repay my adoptive father's kindness."

"Second, I wanted to tell you this. Xiao Feng, believe me, all right... You must never 'give in.' I will definitely... definitely find a way to solve your problem."

"Okay." Xiao Feng nodded, his expression firm. "Don't worry. How could I possibly be someone who gives in?"

"Mm, good." Qi Qingyun smiled as she looked into Xiao Feng's deep eyes. "Three days from now, the Qi Family will hold a Mystic Dao Assembly. All the families of Flowing Wind City will attend."

When the major families of Flowing Wind City learned that I had become an "attendant knight," they came one after another to propose engagements. Although my adoptive father did not agree, he did not explicitly refuse them either.

Now, I have made it clear to my adoptive father that I will not agree to this, but the Qi Family accepted all the "congratulatory gifts" sent by the various families.

So they intend to hold a Mystic Dao Assembly and have me attend in person. The message they are sending is that I will decide then whether there is someone I "fancy."

"Nominally, it also gives an explanation for accepting those gifts."

"Okay, I understand..." Xiao Feng replied absentmindedly.

I am now a prospective knight. Once the Mystic Dao Assembly ends, I will leave directly with the knight...

"A prospective knight?" Xiao Feng exclaimed in shock. Though the difference was only two words, the meaning was completely different. An attendant knight could only be considered a "reserve" for an Abyssal Knight, while a prospective knight, so long as she made no mistakes, was certain to become an Abyssal Knight upon reaching the God Annihilation Realm.

"That's right. I have become a prospective knight. After the assembly ends, I will head to the Pure Land." After saying that, Qi Qingyun looked at Xiao Feng with her beautiful eyes, seemingly awaiting his response.

Xiao Feng was stunned for a long while before smiling. "Then it isn't merely within reach. It is a complete success. That is good as well. Your childhood wish can soon come true."

Qi Qingyun: "..."

--

Qi Qingyun watched Xiao Feng's departing figure for a long time without coming back to herself. After a while, her beautiful eyes turned to the stone stele beside her.

She was all too familiar with that stone stele, because this place carried too many memories of them. When they were children, they often came here together to cultivate.

Moreover, this stone stele was different from ordinary ones. It was extraordinarily hard. As children, they could not shake it in the slightest, and it was difficult for them even to leave a mark on it.

She looked at the dent, about 0.3 centimeters deep, and paused for a long time...

He said he had been "training"... But every punch he threw felt as if it had struck her heart, filling her with pain.

At that moment, her Mystic Force suddenly surged, and she threw a punch at the stone stele with her right hand...

Boom—!

The might of a God King was terrifying. Even though it was only a casual strike from her, violent gusts swept through the surroundings, sending dust soaring into the sky. When the dust settled, her soft lips parted slightly, and a strange light flashed through her eyes.

The spot she had struck had only been left with a small pit about 0.6 centimeters deep!

She looked again at the place Xiao Feng had struck moments earlier. A faint, heart-tugging smile appeared at the corner of her lips, unseen by anyone. She murmured softly, "As expected... you never gave up cultivating."

She had not deliberately held back just now...

And what Mystic practitioner at the God Tribulation Realm could strike a stone stele—one that even a God King Realm cultivator could only leave a 0.6-centimeter dent in—to a depth of 0.3 centimeters?

The difference was only twice as much.

But... just how many major realms separated the God Tribulation Realm from the God King Realm?