"Leave. You don't need to concern yourself with what happens next."
The silver-haired girl had an ethereal air about her, and her voice was cold, utterly devoid of warmth.
She closed her bright eyes again and dismissed him on the spot.
"That's no way to treat the person who saved your life."
"Come on, be good and open your mouth~"
Mu Chen smiled, unbothered, and took something from his Mustard Seed Bracelet.
As the saying went, being tsundere was fun for a while, but pursuing your wife afterward was like walking through a funeral pyre.
Back then, his father had won over his mother, Qing Yanjing, through sheer shameless persistence. Being tsundere was out of the question; he'd never once been tsundere in his life.
In this regard, Mu Chen had truly inherited the Hundred Spirits King's wisdom.
"What is that?"
The silver-haired girl caught the fragrance of pills and opened her eyes despite herself.
Her reserves of pills had been exhausted long ago during that drawn-out chase.
"The Heavenly Spirit Recovery Pill, a fourth-grade pill, made in the Endless Fire Domain."
"It can rapidly heal physical injuries and replenish depleted spiritual energy."
"But with the plane's rules suppressing your spiritual energy, you can forget about replenishing that."
"Still, it'll be more than enough to heal the hidden injuries left by the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast."
Mu Chen tipped a plump, perfectly round pill out of the Rouge Jade Bottle.
The art of alchemy flourished in the Great Thousand World.
Powerful beings who pursued this path were known to the world as Spirit Alchemists.
There had always been three great holy lands of alchemy: the Endless Fire Domain, the Pill God Clan, and the Ancient Myriad Grass Plains. Each had a legendary Saint Grade Grandmaster of Spirit Medicines in residence.
Pills were divided into nine grades, corresponding to the nine realms from Spiritual Sensing to Earth Sovereign.
Above the Ninth Grade was the Emperor Grade, corresponding to the Heavenly Sovereign realm.
Fourth-grade pills, meanwhile, were suited to beings in the Divine Soul Realm.
"The Endless Fire Domain?"
Luo Li murmured the name, her expression unreadable.
The ruler of the Endless Fire Domain was the Flame Emperor, famed for commanding all the fires beneath heaven.
This peerless prodigy had come soaring from a Lower Plane. Like a swiftly rising comet, he had streaked across the sky and descended upon the Great Thousand World. In just a few short decades, he had ascended to Saint Grade.
In the path of spiritual energy, he was a Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign.
In the path of alchemy, he was a Saint Grade Grandmaster of Spirit Medicines.
He was a Saint Grade master in two fields—a truly formidable achievement.
Across the Great Thousand World, the only one who could perhaps rival him was the Martial Ancestor of the Martial Border, who presided over the Extreme Southern Land. They had arrived in the same era and were hailed as the Great Thousand Twin Heroes.
The Martial Ancestor was also a Saint Grade master in two fields: a Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign and a Saint Grade Grand Spirit Artifact Master.
One in the north, one in the south; one an emperor, one an ancestor. Their fame resounded throughout the Great Thousand World!
As it happened, His Majesty the Flame Emperor had some ties to her Luo God Clan.
Mu Chen nodded. "Mm, the Endless Fire Domain."
The Flame Emperor, a Saint Grade Grandmaster of Spirit Medicines, was the reason the Endless Fire Domain could rank among the Great Thousand World's three great holy lands of alchemy. He had countless outstanding Spirit Alchemists under his command.
The chief Spirit Alchemist of the Hundred Spirit Continent was a Spirit Medicine Master of mid Human Grade, corresponding to the Second Grade Sovereign realm. He hailed from the Endless Fire Domain and had later been recruited by Mu Feng.
This bottle of Heavenly Spirit Recovery Pills had been made by that Spirit Medicine Master.
Mu Chen had brought only a few with him when he set out for the Spirit Road, but he'd taken one out without hesitation.
If it came from the Endless Fire Domain, it was sure to be top quality.
"If you don't leave now, I'll kill you once my injuries have healed."
Luo Li lowered her eyelids and gazed at the ground, unwilling to say more.
"Fine, fine. Kill me if you like. Heal your injuries first."
Mu Chen spoke half in jest, half to reassure her. He held the Heavenly Spirit Recovery Pill to the young woman's lips, smiling at her, entirely unaffected.
A ripple stirred across the silver-haired girl's perfect face, usually so calm and emotionless. She gazed deeply at him, then swallowed the pill.
With this fourth-grade spirit pill, she would recover from her injuries at least five times faster!
Warmth flowed through her limbs and body, rapidly repairing her hidden injuries.
The Imperial Princess of the Luo God Clan closed her beautiful eyes and focused on healing.
Sitting a yard away, Mu Chen propped his chin on his hand and quietly studied the silver-haired girl, exquisite as an ancient spirit. His gaze never strayed; he silently kept watch over her.
The afternoon sunlight fell upon them both, bathing the scene in uncommon harmony.
Three days later.
As news of the Five Tigers of the Zhao Family's deaths slowly spread through the Spirit Road, deep in the Black Demon Forest, the black-dressed girl—her injuries completely healed—also announced the end of her seclusion.
When Luo Li opened her eyes, the first person she saw was the Hundred Spirits Youth, who had stayed by her side day and night without once leaving. At once, her cool gaze softened almost imperceptibly.
"You're awake."
The instant Mu Chen, who had been resting with his eyes closed, woke as well, the slight softness on her face swiftly vanished, and her expression returned to calm. One might have wondered whether it had ever been there at all.
"Mu Chen, you have the time it takes an incense stick to burn to escape."
"After that, I'll set out after you, and then I'll kill you with one sword."
The silver-haired girl in black didn't answer Mu Chen. Instead, she rose on her own and rested a hand on her sword. Her voice rang out like jade beads falling onto a silver plate, crisp and tranquil.
This was the first time she had called Mu Chen by name, yet her tone was ice-cold.
"The supreme art of the Luo God Clan? I've been wanting to learn it."
"Just one sword to kill me? That's an awfully arrogant claim."
Mu Chen planted his staff and rose to his feet.
An invincible air that looked down on all the heroes beneath heaven radiated from between his brows.
Was he supposed to agree with everything and be a yes-man without a mind of his own?
Sorry, woman. That wasn't how you pursued one!
The silver-haired girl spoke in a clear voice. "You'll know the result once the incense burns down."
A glimmer of Battle Will rose in those clear, glass-like eyes.
Though she was naturally quiet and serene, she wasn't without a competitive spirit.
Now that she had escaped her predicament, she, too, yearned to fight a peerless prodigy of her generation with all her might.
But stubborn as ever, she insisted they wait until the agreed time had passed.
Her milky-white face was full of earnest determination.
Her long, radiant silver hair, bright as the Milky Way, stirred in the breeze. Its fragrance drifted over, captivating to behold.
Mu Chen nodded in approval. "All right."
An incense stick's time passed in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
A faint, chilling glint flashed, accompanied by the pleasant ring of metal.
Without a word, the silver-haired girl in black drew the Luo God Sword from her back. Gripping its long, black divine weapon body, she flourished it through several elegant arcs before suddenly striking.
Mu Chen twisted at the waist, dropped his arm, and turned his staff, using Golden Rooster Nods.
This was a flicking technique. With a single strike, he knocked the black sword, swift as a shadow, back.
"Not enough. Your killing intent is nowhere near strong enough."
His gaze was icy as he gripped the ancient staff and swung without hesitation.
As he stepped forward, an aura of slaughter, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, erupted from his tall, lean frame, enveloping the world on every side.
In a daze, it seemed that endless corpses and rivers of blood were rising and falling, while countless resentful spirits wailed.
It was hard to imagine that such a devastating, world-shaking killing intent could come from a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy, handsome and gentle as a refined gentleman.
Press! Wrap! Thrust!
Mu Chen performed the three movements as smoothly as flowing clouds and running water. He put power into his waist and hips, swept the staff in an arc, wrapped its force toward the front right, then drove it forward with both arms.
The thrusting staff technique, Sharp Arrow Pierces Bone!
P.S. The Flame Emperor's Saint Ruins has ended. My youth is over.
Before you continue