Tang Yuehua

Tang Yuehua did not emerge from her grief until evening.

Di Hong lit a bonfire and set up two tents. During the day, the worried Di Ming had sent Spirit Masters to look for him, but he had not left because he still needed to find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

So, he explained the situation to the Spirit Masters who had come for him and sent them away.

After adding more firewood to the bonfire, he began roasting meat.

Tang Yuehua sat on a rock nearby. Sunset Forest was rather cold in the evening, and when a gust of wind swept past, she could not help but huddle into herself, continuously rubbing her arms with both hands. Her dress was badly torn, and she had no spare clothes to change into.

"Here. I haven't worn this one. If you don't mind, use it to cover yourself for now." Di Hong took out a shirt from his Soul Tool and tossed it to Tang Yuehua.

"Thank you, Your Highness Prince." Tang Yuehua draped the garment over herself and immediately felt much warmer.

The two sat around the bonfire without speaking. They were unfamiliar with each other and did not know what to talk about. Although Di Hong knew that she was Tang Yuehua, the future founder of Moonlight Pavilion, they could only be considered strangers at present.

"Is this sachet yours?" After a long while, Di Hong took out the sachet he had picked up during the day and handed it to Tang Yuehua.

"It's mine." Tang Yuehua accepted the sachet.

"I bought this in Heaven Dou City. I dropped it while fleeing during the day."

Pointing at the sachet, Di Hong explained, "When you were surrounded by Spirit Beasts today, it may have been because of the scent coming from this sachet. It contains spices specifically used to lure Spirit Beasts."

"Spices that lure Spirit Beasts?"

At first, Tang Yuehua did not quite believe him. If it truly contained spices that lured Spirit Beasts, there was no way she would not have noticed.

She sniffed it closely and discovered that there really was a slightly different fragrance. That scent did indeed belong to the kind of spice used specifically to lure Spirit Beasts. If one did not smell it carefully, it was impossible to detect.

"How could this be?" Tang Yuehua found it utterly unbelievable. She had bought this sachet in Heaven Dou City; logically, the merchant should not have made such a basic mistake.

Nor had she added any other spices to it.

She thought of one possibility.

"That merchant deliberately sold this sachet to me."

Looking at the sachet in her hand, Tang Yuehua no longer felt that it was a sachet, but a deadly poison.

Overwhelmed by rage, she threw the sachet directly into the fire. If not for this sachet, Tang Yun, Tang Lin, and the others who had been with her would not have died.

After her anger subsided, she sank into deep self-reproach. If she had not bought the sachet, none of this would have happened, and their group could have returned safely to the sect.

"You don't need to blame yourself either," Di Hong comforted her.

"They were clearly targeting your group. Even without the sachet, they would have found another way to lure the Spirit Beasts over."

"Besides, think about it. Could a single sachet really lure that many Spirit Beasts?"

Tang Yuehua understood this as well. Over the years, Clear Sky Sect had become renowned as the number one sect in the World. Naturally, there were people who disliked them but could do nothing about it, since Clear Sky Sect was simply too powerful. They were displeased, yet did not dare provoke them.

Some people wanted to suppress Clear Sky Sect, but did not dare act openly.

No one wanted to provoke Tang Chen, that peerless powerhouse.

"Could it have been Spirit Hall?" Di Hong asked. Of all the factions on the continent, Spirit Hall was the one with the strongest motive to do this. Clear Sky Sect's strength had already threatened Spirit Hall's position.

They had the greatest reason to act.

Tang Yuehua shook her head. "I'm not sure."

She could not be completely certain whether it had been Spirit Hall's doing, or perhaps Qian Daoliu's. If nothing unexpected had happened, this should have been an unauthorized action by those beneath him.

From what she knew, Qian Daoliu was an upright and trustworthy man. He would never do something so underhanded.

Di Hong did not ask further. He had no interest in such matters. Whether it was Clear Sky Sect or Spirit Hall, neither was something he could afford to provoke right now, nor did he have any desire to provoke either of those two great factions.

To him, nothing was more important than growing stronger.

Especially the war that would break out several decades later—he would certainly be caught up in it. That was unavoidable.

Since it could not be avoided, he would find a way to become stronger, perhaps even achieve Becoming a God.

After a while, he handed the fragrant roasted meat to Tang Yuehua.

"Eat something. After dinner, get a good night's rest. Tomorrow, I'll take you back to Clear Sky Sect."

Now that Tang Yuehua was with him, he could only put the matter of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well aside for the moment. He could not exactly take her along to search for it. Setting aside the fact that they had only just met, even if they had been close acquaintances, he still would not bring her to look for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

First, Sunset Forest was dangerous, and Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts were not uncommon there.

Second, Tang Yuehua was not a Spirit Master. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was not a place an ordinary person could endure. If she went there, it would be no different from seeking death.

Third, he was not familiar with Tang Yuehua. Even though he knew of her, that was only because he had watched the anime in his previous life. Anyone who saw the Immortal Grade Herbs there would be tempted, so he could only go by himself.

Thus, he planned to send Tang Yuehua back first before returning to continue his search. In any case, Second Brother had already sent word back.

Tang Yuehua accepted the roasted meat and began to eat.

The moment she took a small bite, she froze, because she had never eaten roasted meat this delicious before.

She had not expected Di Hong, a prince, to possess such cooking skills.

Naturally, she knew of Di Hong. After all, his reputation had already spread far and wide—Innate Full Soul Power, a Spirit King at twelve years old—and now she also knew the configuration of Di Hong's Soul Rings.

His fourth Soul Ring was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. Even her two brothers did not possess such a Soul Ring configuration.

Her Second Brother had already been hailed as a once-in-a-century genius of the Clear Sky Sect, but compared to Di Hong, he was still somewhat inferior. Her Second Brother was twenty years old this year and only a Spirit King, his Soul Power Level merely three ranks higher than Di Hong's.

In the future, Di Hong would surely become a Titled Douluo.

After eating her fill, she went to the tent to rest. Di Hong's clothes were still draped over her, and she found herself a little reluctant to take them off.

Di Hong did not rest that night. He sat outside cross-legged, cultivating. They were close to the depths of Sunset Forest, so someone had to stand watch. Tang Yuehua was not a Spirit Master, so naturally, the task fell to him.

Tang Yuehua did not rest either. She sat inside the tent, but her gaze drifted outside to that figure from time to time. That figure now gave her an immense sense of security. Even in the dangerous Sunset Forest, she no longer felt the slightest bit afraid.

Because she felt that as long as Di Hong was there, there would be no danger, even though the two of them had met for the first time only today.

As Di Hong cultivated, fiery red soul power swirled around him. A trace of envy appeared in Tang Yuehua's eyes. Although she was a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect, her martial soul was not the Clear Sky Hammer. During her awakening, her martial soul had mutated.

As a result, she would never be able to break through to Level Ten.

The path of a Spirit Master was destined to have nothing to do with her.

If she could, she too wanted to become a Spirit Master.