When we returned to Falling Wood Valley, I had three beautiful women by my side. One was Yingyi, a convicted immortal from Immortal Mu Continent. The other went without saying—Lingzhao, who had followed us all the way from Star Soul Sect to Soul Wind City and then here. Under threats from her parents, I had no choice but to take her to Falling Wood Valley.
The last one was Fox Xia, whom Fox Xiao had stuffed on me when we passed through Raging Spirit Palace on our way back. He talked about how the greater one's abilities, the greater one's responsibility, but in reality, he simply wanted to hitch a free ride and have me raise his daughter to the peak of the Materialization Spirit Realm.
None of this mattered much to me, of course. The crucial point was that Lingzhao and Fox Xia were naturally at odds, just like their fathers. Along the way, they traded sarcastic barbs and glared at each other. If I hadn't been in a hurry, they probably would have come to blows. It seemed there really was truth in the saying that enemies were bound to cross paths.
But whatever the case, if I didn't bring them back, there would be no alliance to form. I had to pay this protection fee, or Falling Wood Valley probably wouldn't grow any larger. The righteous factions were counting on wiping out my granary. Still, it was said that the major sects had already sent their own Grand Elders at the Materialization Spirit Realm to guard my home. They should arrive soon. By then, even if the righteous factions wanted to destroy me, it wouldn't be so easy.
When I saw Fox Xia and Lingzhao quarreling again, I shook my head and said, "Ladies, don't say I