"That girl's got a lot of determination."
Liu Erlong smiled. She admired girls who refused to give up.
"Let her come. I'm not afraid of her."
Mo Li spoke with confidence.
His Nine Nether Fire was the perfect counter to Dugu Yan's poison. And once he broke through to the Soul Grandmaster realm, his strength would surely improve by leaps and bounds.
With another Soul Ring of at least two thousand five hundred years, dealing with little Dugu Yan would be a piece of cake.
"Sister Erlong, do you think I should stay at the academy after I graduate?" Mo Li asked curiously.
"Forget it. Don't even think about it."
Liu Erlong answered without hesitation.
"Why?"
Mo Li was rather surprised. Sister Erlong hadn't felt this way before.
At his question, Liu Erlong fell silent for a long while. Firelight danced in her eyes. She sighed, then smiled at Mo Li.
"Fledgling eagles always have to spread their wings and fly. You'll leave me eventually. I've been prepared for that for a long time."
"I just didn't think it would happen so soon."
The moonlight deepened, and the darkness in the forest seemed to recede. Firewood crackled as the flames devoured it.
The two sat facing each other around the bonfire. Then Liu Erlong beckoned Mo Li to sit beside her.
"What is it, Sister Erlong?"
Mo Li couldn't figure out what Liu Erlong had in mind, but he still sat down beside her.
Liu Erlong smiled, her eyes crinkling. She reached out and took his right hand. Before Mo Li could react, her slightly cool palm had clasped his hand tightly.
Mo Li turned to meet Liu Erlong's reddened eyes. Without hesitation, he clasped her hand just as tightly.
Feeling his response, Liu Erlong froze for a moment. Then she tightened her grip and asked softly, "Do you know how you got your name?"
Mo Li looked up. In the firelight, Liu Erlong's normally cold and beautiful features had softened.
Mo Li shook his head. He really didn't know.
But Liu Erlong didn't explain right away. She studied his face as though searching for a memory, then smiled.
"I found you outside Heaven Dou City. Someone had left you on a patch of grass, and I followed the sound of your crying to find you."
Although Liu Erlong had been unusually short-tempered and in foul spirits back then for certain reasons, when she saw Mo Li swaddled in his blankets, she instinctively hurried to pick him up.
She looked around, but there wasn't another soul in sight. She had no idea what kind of parents could be so cruel as to abandon their own child.
With no other choice, she took Mo Li back to her place.
"But I wasn't married. Taking care of a baby who needed constant attention was inconvenient, and it wasn't appropriate either. My father strongly opposed it, too."
Recalling something amusing, Liu Erlong chuckled softly.
"After giving it a lot of thought, I planned to take you to an orphanage I supported."
"And then?"
Mo Li was stunned. He was sitting here now, so clearly Liu Erlong had taken him back.
Liu Erlong smiled at him and continued.
She had finished making all the arrangements for Mo Li at the orphanage. But just as she turned to leave, her gaze fell on him, sleeping soundly.
Her heart softened. She couldn't help reaching out to touch his cheek.
The moment her fingertips brushed his cheek, Mo Li woke up. He grabbed her finger with his little hand and burst into tears.
Liu Erlong said that at that moment, it felt as if her heart had been struck hard. A wave of sorrow surged through her, and she burst into tears—not just for Mo Li, who had been abandoned, but for herself, too, as someone who had been cast aside again and again.
Suddenly, she couldn't bear to leave him.
When she returned from the orphanage, she defied her father's objections and resolutely took Mo Li in, raising him by her side to this day.
"After I brought you back, I named you Mo Li. You were so attached to me as a child, and I didn't want you to leave me when you grew up."
There was a hint of excitement in Liu Erlong's voice. The little hopes she'd tucked into the name she'd given Mo Li seemed to fill her with happiness.
Mo Li's heart stirred, and tears welled in his eyes.
Mo Li. Mo Li.
So that was what his name meant?
He could feel how much Liu Erlong cared about him.
Although Sister Erlong seemed cold and always kept people at arm's length, after spending so much time with her, Mo Li knew that Liu Erlong was naturally lively and straightforward.
She shouldn't have been so gloomy now.
"Sister Erlong, don't worry. No matter where I go in the future, you'll always be the most important person to me."
Mo Li looked into Liu Erlong's eyes and spoke earnestly.
"Li'er, you've grown up."
As Liu Erlong gazed at Mo Li's young but resolute face, a strange feeling washed over her.
She couldn't name it. Was it relief, or something else? She didn't want to think about it. She only wanted to cling to this fleeting moment.
In the warmth of that moment, time slipped by.
"Crack!"
At a faint sound, Liu Erlong immediately released Mo Li's hand and sprang to her feet, shifting into a fighting stance.
They exchanged a glance. An enemy was nearby!
They were in the core region of the Sunset Forest. It was perfectly normal for a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast to appear here.
Mo Li activated Peering at Heaven and Earth. The surrounding darkness receded from his eyes like a tide.
Now he could see what had come. The moment he did, he couldn't help feeling amused.
It was a gigantic scorpion, pale blue from head to tail. A fierce killing intent emanated from its jointed body as it crawled close to the ground at incredible speed.
Its tail, made up of nine fused vertebrae, arched high over its back, ending in a fiery-red hook.
It was an Earth King!
Liu Erlong stood in front of Mo Li, her expression cool as she watched the spot in the darkness where the sound had come from.
"Sister Erlong, it's an Earth King."
"Mm. You can see it, too?"
Liu Erlong asked in confusion without turning around.
Just as Mo Li was about to answer, a shrill cry rang out. A massive figure emerged in the firelight, casting a vast shadow over the two of them.
"So it really is an Earth King."
After making out its appearance, Liu Erlong looked toward the Earth King's tail.
From its pale-blue coloring, she could tell that this Earth King's cultivation had already surpassed ten thousand years!
An Earth King's tail gained an extra vertebra for every five hundred years of cultivation, and the one before them had more than ten vertebrae.
Its cultivation was probably close to fifteen thousand years.
Mo Li had also estimated its age. His brow furrowed. This Earth King was undoubtedly far more powerful than the one in the original story, which had only been a little over five thousand years old.