"What's your plan now?" Yun Yun asked. "The Amethyst Winged Lion King won't just let this go."
Ye Xiu shrugged. "It won't find us. The Magical Beast Mountain Range is huge. Where would it even look? Besides, it lost a horn and was badly hurt. It'll need at least a month to recover. By then, I'll be long gone."
Yun Yun nodded and glanced at Ye Xiu again with her beautiful eyes. The boy was surprisingly levelheaded, not at all like someone who was only fifteen or sixteen.
"Where are you planning to go after this?" she asked curiously.
Ye Xiu glanced at her. "The Tagor Desert."
Yun Yun was taken aback. "What for?"
"To look for something."
Yun Yun didn't press him further. She'd figured out that there was no point asking about anything the boy didn't want to talk about.
After she finished her fish, she tossed the branch into the fire. Watching the flames dance, she suddenly asked, "Would you be willing to join the Misty Cloud Sect?"
Ye Xiu turned to look at her.
"You're so talented," Yun Yun said. "It'd be a waste for you to wander around on your own. The Misty Cloud Sect is the largest sect in the Jia Ma Empire. We have no shortage of resources, cultivation methods, or Dou Techniques. If you were willing to join, I could guide you personally."
After hearing her out, Ye Xiu smiled and shook his head. "I appreciate Sect Master Yun's kindness. It's just that my way of cultivating is different from most people's. I'm afraid even your personal guidance wouldn't suit me."
"Besides," Ye Xiu continued, "it's not as if I have nowhere to go. Jia Nan Academy has already accepted me. Once I take care of things here, I'll go enroll."
Yun Yun was taken aback. "Jia Nan Academy?"
"Yeah."
She fell silent for a while and said no more.
Jia Nan Academy did have better resources than the Misty Cloud Sect. Talented young people from across the entire northwestern part of the continent gathered there, and it offered an excellent cultivation environment. It really was a good place to go.
Still, she couldn't help feeling a little regretful.
Such an extraordinary talent, going to Jia Nan Academy just like that.
The fire crackled, and moonlight spilled across the valley. It was perfectly quiet.
The two of them sat there without saying another word.
After a while, Ye Xiu stood and brushed the dust off his clothes.
"Get some rest. I'll keep watch."
Yun Yun watched him walk to the mouth of the valley and sit on a rock, his back to her as he gazed out into the night.
She lay back on the grass and stared up at the stars, her mind a muddle.
As she lay there thinking, she drifted off to sleep.
Three days later.
Dawn was just breaking.
Yun Yun slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked down at her shoulder. The patch of skin burned by the Purple Flame had scabbed over and peeled away, revealing fresh, tender skin beneath. The sealing power from the Amethyst Winged Lion King inside her had also been gradually worn away over the past three days. Now, only a thin final barrier remained.
She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, circulating the Dou Qi within her.
A moment later, her aura surged, and the might of a three-star Dou Emperor returned to her.
"Are you back to normal?" Ye Xiu's voice came from nearby.
Yun Yun turned and saw him standing by the stream, looking her way.
"Mm." She stood and stretched, then walked over to him. "Thank you for looking after me these past few days."
"Don't mention it," Ye Xiu said. "Ready to go?"
Yun Yun nodded. "It's time to return to the Misty Cloud Sect."
"The Misty Cloud Sect is to the east, right?" Ye Xiu said. "I'm heading east too, so I'll escort you part of the way."
"Alright." Yun Yun nodded.
They took to the sky, fiery and green wings unfolding as they flew out of the mountain range, one behind the other.
They flew east at astonishing speed. The forests below rushed past, and every so often they saw a few magical beasts look up. But sensing the auras of the two of them, the beasts shrank back.
After about an hour, the forest below began to thin, and the outline of a plain appeared in the distance.
Ye Xiu slowed down. "I'll leave you here. The edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range is just ahead."
Yun Yun nodded and stopped in midair as well.
They hovered a few paces apart, facing each other.
Yun Yun was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Will we meet again?"
Ye Xiu thought for a moment and smiled. "As long as we're still in the Jia Ma Empire, we'll run into each other eventually."
Yun Yun looked at him and smiled faintly.
"Good. Next time we meet, I'll treat you to grilled fish that I make myself."
"I'll take you up on the offer, but let's skip the part where you make it yourself..."
Yun Yun glared at Ye Xiu with her beautiful eyes. "In all these years, you're the first person who's dared to criticize my cooking!"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare!"
They exchanged a glance and couldn't help laughing. Then they turned and flew off in opposite directions.
After parting ways with Yun Yun, Ye Xiu didn't leave right away. He first wandered around the mountains.
After searching for a long time, he finally found a cave at the foot of a secluded cliff.
The entrance was small and hidden behind a clump of vines. It was practically impossible to spot unless you looked closely. Ye Xiu pushed the vines aside and went in. The inside was quite spacious, at least several dozen square meters. The ground was dry, and the ventilation was decent.
He looked around and found no sign of magical beasts, so he nodded in satisfaction.
Ye Xiu took a pile of Moon Stones from his Storage Ring and tossed them around the cave walls. The whole cave immediately lit up. Then he dragged a large rock over to block the entrance, making sure no light could be seen from outside.
After finishing all that, he plopped down on the ground and took out the bottle of Companion Amethyst Source.
Ye Xiu unscrewed the cap, and a searing heat rushed out.
The Companion Amethyst Source was an essence that formed alongside the Amethyst Winged Lion King when it was born. It was a tonic for the king, and even more valuable to humans. Swallowing and refining it could possibly condense Purple Flame inside the body.
Of course, the risks were considerable too.
When Xiao Yan swallowed this stuff in the original story, he went through a terrible ordeal and nearly burned himself to death.
Ye Xiu thought it over, then took a few bottles of healing pills from his Storage Ring and set them beside him. He also took out a bottle of Qi Recovery Pills, unscrewed the cap, and left it open, just in case.
He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and gulped down the Companion Amethyst Source.
The instant the liquid entered his mouth, a burning sensation swept over him!
Ye Xiu's face flushed red, and the veins on his forehead bulged.
He circulated the Dou Qi in his body, forcibly suppressing the Purple Flame. But the Purple Flame seemed alive, rampaging through him and burning his meridians wherever it went.
The Dou Qi inside him began to run wild, its circulation stumbling and faltering. He could barely keep the Purple Flame under control.
Ye Xiu gritted his teeth and held on.
Just then, something strange happened.
The Purple Flame rampaging through his body suddenly paused.
Right after that, he felt his blood growing hot.
No, not hot—scalding. The blood throughout his body seemed to have been activated by something and began surging wildly. It all flowed toward the Purple Flame.
The instant his blood touched the Purple Flame, it shuddered.
Then the Purple Flame began to retreat as if it had seen a ghost.
But his blood relentlessly chased it down and surrounded it. Ring after ring tightened around it, until the Purple Flame was completely wrapped up inside.
Ye Xiu's eyes widened.
What was going on?
Before he could react, something even more unbelievable happened.
The Purple Flame, trapped within his blood, began to shrink little by little.
Was it... being absorbed?
Before you continue