Xuan Ye is still waiting for me at home

Saint Cai'er's ash-gray pupils narrowed slightly as she gripped the Dagger at her waist.

One of the assassins stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and spoke in a respectful tone.

"Saintess Your Highness, please stop being so willful."

"Come back with us."

Saint Cai'er did not speak; she merely grew increasingly vigilant, her aura sharpening.

Seeing this, the other assassin sighed and spoke slowly.

"Your Highness, do you truly believe that the peace of these past few days was a matter of course?"

"You have been here planning a home, roasting sweet potatoes, and enjoying these fleeting moments of warmth, but do you know what Long Xuanye has been doing... after you fell asleep?"

"The first night, two third-tier Devil Race squads, eighteen people in total—he wiped them all out. The cost was seven new wounds on his body."

"The second night, two squads led by fourth-tier members—he wiped them out again. The cost was the use of a secret technique, resulting in spiritual power exhaustion and internal organ damage."

"Last night, the enemy was even stronger. He fought almost entirely on sheer willpower, draining the life force of a fourth-tier Devil Race member to barely secure a victory. When we found the Battlefield, there was nothing left but severed limbs and broken remains."

"He changes into clean, long-sleeved shirts every day just to hide the new wounds he's added."

"The fact that he collapsed with a fever today is not some accidental cold, but the inevitable result of his body finally giving out after days of continuously overdrawing his life force and spiritual power."

"Saintess Your Highness, he has been using his life to protect... what you call 'home'."

There was a hint of admiration in the assassin's tone. If he were in the same position, he could not have done as well as Long Xuanye, nor could he have been as resilient.

But Cai'er... was stunned.

Those details she had ignored flooded into her mind, frantic and overwhelming.

Why did Xuan Ye always wake up later than her?

Why did he always lie down only after she had fallen into a deep sleep?

Why did he occasionally lose focus for a split second while eating?

Why did he always wear that out-of-place, long-sleeved shirt?

So that was... how it was.

While she was painting a picture of a beautiful future, he was bathing in blood and fighting in the darkness.

While she felt satisfied cooking porridge and changing his bandages, thinking she was taking care of him, he was enduring pain and pressure she couldn't even begin to imagine.

An unbearable heartache washed over her.

Crystal-clear teardrops could no longer be held back, rolling from her eyes, which were gradually losing their luster. They traced paths down her pale, small face, silent and soundless.

Saint Cai'er raised her hand and wiped the tearstains from her cheeks.

The sorrow and heartache that had occupied her pale face faded away, replaced by a firm resolve.

"I am going back."

The assassin trying to persuade her furrowed his brows.

"Saintess Your Highness, please calm down!"

"You have been hiding like this, living like cowards in this Border region just to evade the tracking of our Temple. But the situation is different now!"

The assassin's voice grew urgent.

"Because of that boy's awakening, the Devil Race has intensified their search efforts in the Border region. The outposts and patrol squads are ten times denser than before! The two of you won't be able to survive at all!"

He appealed to her with emotion and reason.

Saint Cai'er remained silent, lowering her head. Her long, slender eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were weighing something.

Seeing this, the assassin felt a sense of relief, thinking she had taken his words to heart.

After all, no matter how willful she might be, the Saintess should understand what a desperate situation was.

However.

The next instant, a gray light suddenly flared!

Fast!

It was fast to the extreme!

The assassin's pupils constricted, and the hair on his body stood on end. Without a second thought, he pushed off the ground and retreated violently!

Even so, a lock of his hair was quietly severed by that gray light, drifting down without a sound.

He steadied himself, still shaken, and only then did he see that Saint Cai'er had appeared before him at some point. She held that Gray Dagger in her hand, and the blade was shrouded in an aura of both extinction and rebirth that made one's heart tremble.

"Move aside."

Saint Cai'er raised her eyes. In those grayish-white pupils, there was no longer a trace of gentleness, only pure indifference.

"Xuan Ye is still waiting for me at home."

"Saintess, Your Highness!"

"Xuan Ye... is still waiting for me at home!"

The aura of the Reincarnation Sacred Sword caused the two assassins to catch their breath.

To be struck by this divine artifact was not as simple as merely sustaining an injury.

It was in this split-second opening.

Saint Cai'er's figure transformed into a blur, bypassing them and sprinting wildly back the way she came.

Her speed was astonishing; within a few breaths, she left only a vague silhouette on the forest path.

The two assassins stood frozen in place.

A moment later, one of them gave a bitter laugh: "What do we do?"

The other, the one who had been forced back earlier, remained silent for several seconds.

"Follow her."

"We cannot defy His Highness's orders, but at least... we must see with our own eyes that they survive."

Meanwhile.

In the clearing in front of the thatched cottage.

The scent of blood permeated the air.

Long Xuanye leaned on his short blade, half-kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath as sweat mixed with Blood Water trickled down his temples.

Surrounding him lay three corpses of the Devil Race, while even more devils circled him, their eyes gleaming with cruel light.

A particularly tall devil pushed his companions aside and stepped forward.

He was nearly three meters tall, his skin a rock-like grayish-brown covered in hideous cracks, his arms as thick as stone pillars.

He was a Fifth Tier war general under the command of the Seventh Pillar, the Rock Demon God Samikina: the Rock Demon, Gore.

"All of you, stand back."

Gore spoke in a muffled tone, his voice as coarse as grinding stones.

"This human brat is mine."

His pair of earthy-yellow eyes stared fixedly at the teetering youth on the ground, filled with greed and excitement.

A Devil Race subordinate asked in confusion: "Lord Gore, if we all attack together, we can tear him to shreds in an instant!"

Gore grinned wide, revealing a hideous smile.

"Idiots."

"Haven't you noticed? At such a young age, he possesses this level of strength, even capable of killing our kin while crossing cultivation realms. Aside from that legendary human genius who awakened the power of light, who else could it be?"

"Even if it isn't him, he is definitely one of the top rookies of the human race!"

Gore's voice was filled with excitement.

"Capturing him alive or killing him and bringing him back to the Demon God Pillar—either way, it is a monumental merit!"

He took a step forward, his heavy footfall causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Kid, state your name. Rock Demon Gore does not kill nameless nobodies."

Long Xuanye leaned on his blade and slowly straightened his body. The violent heaving of his chest agitated his wounds, causing his face to turn even paler.

He raised his head, and a faint, chaotic glimmer ignited within his pitch-black eyes.

"You want to know my name?"

The youth smiled, a hint of madness permeating his expression.

"Once you're dead, go ask Yama."

"Yama?"

Rock Demon Gore bared his massive mouth, emitting a laugh that sounded like grinding rocks.

"Interesting."

"It's been a long time since I've seen a human kid with such backbone."

This book will be officially published tomorrow, which means two chapters will be updated at midnight tonight. I am asking for your continued readership.

The mechanism of QQ Reading is such that if the data is too low at the beginning, it is very difficult to pick up later on.

The author is currently writing three books simultaneously. Aside from the Gu Yuena book, which is a lighthearted, daily-life sweet story, it is quite taxing.

Cai'er and the other book, Luo Sanpao, have truly consumed a lot of mental energy in terms of plotting and future planning.

It is not just a matter of randomly coming up with a "cool" point and knowing the plot only two hours before everyone else every day.

Firstly, there is the sunk cost of the existing outlines, and secondly, I have a perfectionist streak and hope to finish all three books properly.

If the stories are still to your liking, I humbly ask for your continued readership.