White-clothed Girl

They traveled in silence. Ever since boarding Little Jin to continue their journey, Lian Chenghao had not spoken to Qin Shaofeng again, merely sitting cross-legged.

Qin Shaofeng did not make a nuisance of himself either. He sat behind Lian Chenghao without saying a word.

However, although he appeared to be sitting cross-legged in cultivation, he had actually fallen asleep.

Although Little Jin flew at incredible speed, Lian Chenghao had deliberately created a barrier during the flight, so they could not feel the fierce wind generated by that rapid pace while on Little Jin's back.

Moreover, Little Jin's flight was extremely steady. With nothing to do, Qin Shaofeng gradually drifted off to sleep.

Who knew how much time had passed when Qin Shaofeng suddenly felt the Golden Feather Eagle jolt violently. Startled, he opened his eyes.

Before Qin Shaofeng lay a lush green mountain forest. As far as the eye could see, it was an utterly uninhabited region.

Where was this?

Qin Shaofeng was full of doubt, but Lian Chenghao stood up at that moment and gazed into the distance, seemingly waiting for something.

Could it be another examinee?

With a thought, Qin Shaofeng recalled that Lian Chenghao had told him before that, aside from himself, there were two others who needed to be picked up.

Of course, Lian Chenghao had only mentioned that much. Qin Shaofeng had no idea who they were.

But given the situation before him, Qin Shaofeng could not help guessing that this was where Lian Chenghao would pick up the second person.

But...

Wasn't this place far too remote and desolate?

Did anyone really live in a place like this?

Why did it feel like some scene from a mountain ravine? Could someone like that truly warrant Lianyang Academy sending people to pick them up?

Qin Shaofeng was somewhat uncertain.

But what happened next gave Qin Shaofeng a fright.

"Screech—!"

A sharp cry that pierced the clouds and shot straight into the ninth heaven suddenly rang out. Then Qin Shaofeng saw the shadow of some enormous creature rapidly closing in on them.

When he looked closely, his heart leaped.

What black shadow was this supposed to be?

The enormous creature before him was clearly a giant eagle!

Leaving aside everything else, its fully spread wings alone spanned a hundred meters. The overwhelming aura it gave off made Qin Shaofeng tremble in fear.

Strong!

This was a demonic beast so powerful it was monstrous!

That was Qin Shaofeng's first impression of the giant eagle. He could even sense that the Golden Feather Eagle beneath his feet, Little Jin, shuddered slightly and grew fearful when the giant eagle appeared.

And that was when the giant eagle bore no hostility. If it truly showed even a trace of hostility, this High-level Third Layer Golden Feather Eagle would likely have no will to fight at all and would have fled with its tail between its legs.

Though perhaps by then, it would not even be able to flee. It would have already been scared flat onto the ground.

Qin Shaofeng was not trying to frighten himself. After sensing the giant eagle's aura, that was his genuine thought.

Although Fiery Golden Eyes could not currently investigate the giant eagle's exact information, perhaps because of Fiery Golden Eyes, Qin Shaofeng's senses were somewhat sharper.

This giant eagle was likely the strongest existence Qin Shaofeng had ever encountered. Its aura was more than a hundred times stronger than that of Lian Chenghao, whose strength seemed mysterious in Qin Shaofeng's eyes.

It was only a feeling, but Qin Shaofeng believed it.

"Junior Lian Chenghao has come on my master's orders to bring Junior Sister to Lianyang Academy."

As soon as the giant eagle stopped before Little Jin, Lian Chenghao cupped his hands in salute and spoke respectfully.

The instant Lian Chenghao spoke, Qin Shaofeng understood that the giant eagle had an owner.

The giant eagle was already so terrifying. Wouldn't its owner be even more terrifying?

Even Lian Chenghao was this respectful. The other party had to be an incomparably powerful expert.

Seeing this, Qin Shaofeng did not dare be careless. He straightened himself and stood behind Lian Chenghao.

"Oh, so it's Little Hao. It's been years since I last saw you. You little brat have grown up, but your cultivation is just so-so. You've somewhat let down your master's prestigious name!"

A somewhat indifferent voice came from atop the giant eagle. Yet from those words, it was clear that the giant eagle's owner was rather familiar with Lian Chenghao.

Lian Chenghao looked somewhat awkward, but upon hearing that voice, he relaxed.

"So it's Senior Aunt Qing!"

Lian Chenghao seemed extremely familiar with the owner of that indifferent voice, and their relationship appeared good. He sounded more relaxed now, with a trace of the familiarity a junior had toward an elder.

"Enough, I won't say more. I'll leave Miss in your care. I'm heading back!"

The giant eagle's owner apparently did not wish to linger. After exchanging a sentence or two with Lian Chenghao, she intended to leave.

But before departing, she added one more sentence.

"I hope that the next time I see you, you'll have at least half of Xiao Kun's ability!"

That single sentence made Lian Chenghao's face turn bitter.

Half of Eldest Senior Brother's ability? Isn't that asking for my life?

Boom!

With a tremor, the giant eagle lightly flapped its wings and vanished in an instant.

From beginning to end, Qin Shaofeng had not seen when or where the giant eagle had appeared. Even now, as it departed, it was the same.

However, though the giant eagle had disappeared, a streak of white remained where it had been.

Taking a closer look, Qin Shaofeng discovered that it was a white crane, like some immortal crane.

Although the white crane was only half of Little Jin's size, the aura it gave off made Qin Shaofeng feel that it was no weaker than Lian Chenghao.

But that was not what concerned Qin Shaofeng most. What caught his attention now was the girl sitting upright on the white crane's back.

The girl was around Qin Shaofeng's age, looking fourteen or fifteen. Dressed all in white, with raven hair draped over her shoulders, she was still somewhat young, and her exquisite face retained a touch of childishness. Yet she was exceptionally beautiful.

Qin Shaofeng was entranced at first sight.

Originally, Qin Shaofeng had believed that a young girl like Little Yue'er, with her looks, was already exceptionally outstanding among girls of fourteen or fifteen.

But compared to the girl before him, Little Yue'er fell far short.

It was not some enormous difference in appearance, but in temperament!

Yes, temperament!

This girl his own age gave Qin Shaofeng the feeling that he was looking at a little fairy who had fallen into the mortal world.

She made one yearn for her, yet dare not profane her!

So beautiful!

Though his heart held ten thousand words of praise, Qin Shaofeng ultimately realized that he did not know how to describe the girl's beauty.

In the end, only the words so beautiful remained in his heart!

Lian Chenghao did not notice Qin Shaofeng's expression. When he saw the girl, he smiled faintly and said, "Junior Sister, I hope you've been well!"

"Mhm, greetings, Fifth Senior Brother!"

The girl gave a slight nod in reply, her face showing no other expression.

Lian Chenghao did not seem to mind and instead looked accustomed to it. Then, as though feeling emotional, he said, "I didn't expect that after three years apart, Junior Sister's cultivation would actually surpass mine, her senior brother's. No wonder Aunt Qing rebuked me just now. It seems I really have grown slack!"

This time, the girl did not reply. She merely guided the white crane over beside Little Jin.

From beginning to end, the girl had only given Qin Shaofeng a brief glance at the very start and had not paid him any further attention.

And judging from Lian Chenghao's attitude, he seemed to have no intention of introducing the girl to Qin Shaofeng either.

But Qin Shaofeng did not care about any of that. What concerned him was Lian Chenghao's statement that his Junior Sister's cultivation had actually surpassed his own.

Her cultivation surpassed Lian Chenghao's?

Qin Shaofeng did not dare continue thinking about it.

In Qin Shaofeng's mind, Lian Chenghao's cultivation was at least at the Xiantian Fifth Layer, perhaps even higher.

Yet such a person said that the girl before him, whose age was not much different from his own, was even stronger than he was.

Qin Shaofeng felt as though his brain was not enough to process it.

After meeting Lian Chenghao, Qin Shaofeng had thought that he had already seen a true genius of this world.

But the White-clothed girl's appearance made Qin Shaofeng understand the truth that beyond one mountain lay another, and beyond lofty mountains were still heavens beyond the heavens.

He had always underestimated this world too much.

Qin Shaofeng fell silent.

Little Jin once again sped onward. As for the White-clothed girl, her white crane could easily keep pace with Little Jin, following neither too fast nor too slow.

After remaining silent for some time, a gleam flashed through Qin Shaofeng's eyes, and he pulled himself together once more.

Perhaps he truly was not a genius, unable to be mentioned in the same breath as those favored children of heaven.

But he had the system's help. I, Qin Shaofeng, refuse to believe that I am truly inferior to those so-called favored children of heaven!

Though the enormous gap between himself and those geniuses had dealt him a blow, Qin Shaofeng recovered quickly.

The current gap did not represent the future.

What did I, Qin Shaofeng, have to fear?

"Whimper—!"

As though sensing the turbulence in Qin Shaofeng's heart, the sleeping little fellow Bai Xue stirred in his arms, poked out her little head, and gave Qin Shaofeng a soft whimper, seemingly encouraging him.

"This little fellow!"

Qin Shaofeng smiled softly and could not help stroking the little fellow's head.

This little fellow really slept soundly. Even what happened earlier had not woken her up. She truly was both a sleepyhead and a lazybones!

As if she had noticed her master speaking ill of her, the little fellow gave several protesting cries, crawled out of Qin Shaofeng's arms, and wore an expression that said she was very displeased.

"Eh!"

When the little fellow crawled out, the White-clothed girl suddenly gave a soft cry. As she looked at Bai Xue, surprise first flashed through her eyes, followed by a measure of confusion.

Whoosh!

Just as Qin Shaofeng was about to say something to Bai Xue, he suddenly felt the space to his right tremble lightly, and a white figure appeared.

Turning to look, Qin Shaofeng discovered that the White-clothed girl had somehow guided her white crane to Little Jin's right side and was now looking at him.

More precisely, she was looking at Bai Xue on Qin Shaofeng's person.

"What is her name?"

This was the first time the White-clothed girl had spoken to Qin Shaofeng since appearing, though it was because of the little fellow Bai Xue.

Qin Shaofeng was slightly startled, but he quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Oh, this little fellow? Her name is Bai Xue!"

"Bai Xue?" the White-clothed girl softly repeated, then suddenly smiled.

"It's a lovely name. Like her, it's very beautiful!"

Uh...

The White-clothed girl's smile instantly left Qin Shaofeng stunned.

That smile was too enchanting. Qin Shaofeng could not resist it at all.

She was already so enchanting at such a young age. If she grew a little older, would she not become even more frightening?

By then, phrases like fish sinking and geese falling, moon eclipsing and flowers shaming themselves would not be enough to describe her beauty, would they?

Lost in his fascination, Qin Shaofeng did not notice at all that the two instances of "her" the White-clothed girl had used for Bai Xue were not "it."

But the White-clothed girl's next sentence instantly woke Qin Shaofeng up.

"Can you give her to me?"