They Are Hungry

"Uh... that's my fault." An Jing, conversely, didn't quite know what to say, so he could only apologize, receiving a soft "Mm" in response from Bai Qinghan.

Indeed, Bai Qinghan was not stupid; on the contrary, she was incredibly intelligent. One could even say that among the one hundred and eight people, she was the most gifted aside from An Jing. How could she possibly speak of these secrets?

If it weren't for An Jing, who also understood the true nature of the Demonic Cult, she wouldn't have uttered a single word.

The reason Bai Qinghan had thanked An Jing earlier was that she had sensed a certain ease and mastery in An Jing's movements and mindset.

--He had sufficient confidence that he could subdue me without harming me.

--A fight does not have to involve killing.

After being firmly pinned down by An Jing's three strikes, Bai Qinghan felt an unprecedented sense of relief—the reason she had instinctively used heavy blows before was precisely because she was afraid.

She was afraid that if she did not kill others, she would be killed by them.

This thought, which made her tremble all over, left Bai Qinghan completely unable to control herself.

Instead, after being knocked down by a peer like An Jing, she finally woke up from that dream of killing and being killed, allowing her to face everyone she sparred with using a normal mindset.

After that, Bai Qinghan often came to find An Jing to chat.

Most of the time, she came to ask about topics related to martial arts, as well as techniques for holding back and conserving strength.

She was extremely curious about this "non-lethal" martial art, much like someone who had eaten too much rice suddenly tasting a dumpling and immediately becoming interested in this different staple food.

Since only An Jing could keep Bai Qinghan in check, and no one else was willing to spar with her, the others weren't particularly curious about their interactions or sudden sparring sessions. They simply sighed that An Jing was worthy of being the "Senior Brother," truly possessing both skill and a sense of responsibility.

Except for Gu Yeqi.

"Be careful, Brother An, that person might have some bad intentions!"

She was quite wary of Bai Qinghan, always feeling that this dangerous, bad girl had designs on An Jing—in reality, this was the view most people held of Bai Qinghan. They always felt that the reason Bai Qinghan frequently pestered An Jing was to find an opportunity to avenge her defeat.

They were really overthinking it.

An Jing wouldn't lose!

Just like that, whenever she had time, Bai Qinghan would come to chat with An Jing and the others, and would even participate in training. Even though they weren't in the same group, they often acted together.

Later on, even Gu Yeqi tacitly accepted Bai Qinghan's presence.

Although she would still frequently complain that this "gloomy," "quiet," "porcelain doll-like," and "two-faced" girl definitely had ulterior motives, ever since Bai Qinghan became willing to let Gu Yeqi braid her long, black, straight hair for "fun," the relationship between the two had improved significantly.

The rare peaceful days passed by quickly.

During this process, An Jing had been constantly attempting to head to the Xuanming Valley to search for the second fragment of the Sword Spirit.

But unfortunately, for some reason, the guards at Xuanming Manor had become much stricter recently. Wandering around inside the manor was fine, but if one wanted to leave, it was absolutely impossible.

An Jing and the Sword Spirit speculated that there might be some turmoil in the outside world of Da Chen, because recently, the supply shipments to Xuanming Manor had decreased significantly. Even An Jing's food portions had been reduced; it wasn't that they weren't giving it to him, it was that there truly wasn't any left.

That might also be an opportunity, so An Jing continued to train.

He had to be prepared, accumulating strength, ready to erupt at the most critical moment.

An Jing knew very well that he could not save all the disciples who called him "Senior Brother."

Many of them had already stepped onto the demonic path, their bodies already infiltrated by evil spirits; the madness in their eyes was obvious.

If it were the version of himself before meeting the Sword Spirit, he probably could only protect himself. After meeting the Sword Spirit, perhaps he could save Cang Linzu and Gu Yeqi, or perhaps others.

But facing dozens of instructors at the Internal Breath realm and Vice Envoy Yao at the Internal Strengthening realm, he could not save everyone. That was not a question of how much power he had, but a question of whether a miracle could occur.

However... An Jing would do his utmost.

He would do his utmost to save anyone he could.

If he could save one, he would save one.

The final days arrived very quickly.

One day.

Bai Qinghan once again sought out An Jing, who was practicing combined attack techniques with his group members.

"Hey, Qinghan, didn't you see we were practicing? Are you trying to spy on our tactics?"

Gu Yeqi blocked An Jing with some dissatisfaction. This was the mindset of most of the boys and girls. Since Xuanming Manor taught them battle formations and combined attacks, they would certainly test their performance. Every squad, for the sake of potential future "duels," was now pushing themselves and intensifying their training.

Although the instructors knew these children were overthinking it, since it allowed them to train hard on their own without needing supervision, why bother explaining the truth?

Therefore, with the instructors' tacit approval, competition between the twelve groups had already quietly unfolded.

Bai Qinghan was the leader of the third group, "Zuozi." Unlike in combat, as a leader, she was quite reassuring to her group members; after all, who wouldn't want a captain who dared to fight and charge?

Gu Yeqi knew this, which was why she was somewhat annoyed to block Bai Qinghan—it was fine for everyone to hang out together usually, but the captain of the third group kept running over during training. She was definitely trying to spy on their group's tactics!

"Just looking for Senior Brother."

Bai Qinghan only shook her head slightly at Gu Yeqi, then stepped past the confused girl with braided hair and said calmly to the solemn-looking An Jing: "They are hungry."

"Senior Brother, they are all hungry."

"Right now?"

Unlike the confused members of the first group, upon hearing these words, An Jing frowned with a solemn expression and nodded at Bai Qinghan: "I understand."

After Bai Qinghan left, An Jing cautiously turned to the side and looked toward the pavilion on the edge of the training grounds.

"Keep practicing!" Exhaling a long breath, An Jing spoke in a deep voice, waving his hand to signal the other team members to follow his pace: "Do not slack off, get serious!"

Medicine Pavilion.

"The quality of this batch... is far better than the last."

On the top floor of the Medicine Pavilion, Vice Envoy Yao and Instructor Li looked down at the training grounds not far away.

This training ground appeared unremarkable, seemingly just a layer of rammed earth, but it was actually quite sophisticated. It consisted of five layers in total: a layer of earth, a layer of gravel, a layer of earth, a layer of sand, and another layer of earth, all compacted together to form what was known as Five-Fold Earth.

Such a surface was sturdy and durable, and it was not easy for beginners to get injured while falling. To carve out such an estate in the deep mountains and forests and build this training ground, the Tianyi Sect had put in a great deal of effort.

Watching the dozens of people in the training ground wearing cotton armor, shouting as they sparred, Vice Envoy Yao, who usually looked like a corpse, could not help but reveal a smile: "I wonder how many 'kin' will emerge from these materials."

"Gathering the one hundred and eight Tiangang and Disha, completing the Twelve Earthly Branches and the Nine Luminaries, is much better than the previous times when we only had Tiangang, Disha, or even just the Sixty Cycle. Furthermore, they are all survivors among the disaster victims, not the low-grade goods bought from those gangs."

The one-eyed Instructor Li stood behind him, sweeping his gaze across the entire field, and said with a firm tone: "Regardless of those miscellaneous or strange fates, this time we will at least produce a true 'Star Fate' or 'Sha Fate'."

"Add to that the five formal disciples who had already awakened their 'Fate Grid' when we found them... hehe, the Northern Patrol Envoy will surely be overjoyed!"