"Grandpa, anything you set your sights on is as good as yours. Why didn't you take him with us and let him be my sword target?"
Over Yue Kingdom, amid the misty clouds, two figures floated in the air.
The little girl who had left the ruined temple gazed at the distant mountains, her face full of displeasure.
She thought she had lost far too unfairly.
She hadn't lost to swordsmanship at all. She had lost because the spiritual energy reserves in her Dantian were greater.
The Cloth-Clad Elder said calmly, "He's only reached the third level of Qi Refining at his age. Do you know why?"
"No idea."
The little girl shook her head. She liked things simple and direct, and didn't like guessing.
"He has a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, the worst aptitude in the world. Every step forward is exceedingly difficult for him. In the entire history of cultivation, there has never been anyone with this kind of aptitude who reached Foundation Establishment..."
The Cloth-Clad Elder affectionately stroked the top of his granddaughter's head and smiled gently. "Xiu'er, you're about to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. The spiritual energy in your Dantian will increase greatly, and by then you'll far surpass him."
"Then I'll find him and fight him again!"
The little girl said indignantly.
"There's no point. Something has happened in our household, so we have to go back. By the time you return here, you'll already be a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He'll still be a little Qi Refining cultivator. When you see him, he'll be like an ant to you, and you won't be interested in him anymore."
The Cloth-Clad Elder patiently explained.
"Foundation Establishment..."
The little girl froze, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes.
Her hometown was extremely far from this remote little place, and making the journey back and forth was quite a hassle.
"But Grandpa will bring you here again."
The Cloth-Clad Elder suddenly said mysteriously.
"Why?"
The little girl looked up at her grandfather.
"He has a Spirit-Devouring Insect on him. It's still young and has probably only just recognized him as its master."
The Cloth-Clad Elder smiled meaningfully. "If I'd forcibly taken it today, this spirit insect, ranked ninth on the Strange Insect Ranking, would have suffered serious damage. It wouldn't be easy for you to raise it, either. Better to wait a while, let the Spirit-Devouring Insect grow stronger, and take it then. The impact won't be as great..."
"As expected of you, Grandpa—you really know how to plan ahead!"
The little girl laughed happily.
The Cloth-Clad Elder smiled faintly and gazed at the distant mountains, his expression cold and merciless.
He had lived a long life and seen much of the world. Even after scanning the young man with his spiritual sense dozens of times, he still couldn't figure out why the spiritual energy in the boy's Dantian was so abundant.
This was the first time he had encountered a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, after all.
In the place where he lived, this kind of trash spirit root was never seen. So his understanding of the Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root was limited to the descriptions in a few ancient texts.
Could the reason this boy has struggled to break through be that, after accumulating so much, the spiritual energy in his Dantian is now so abundant?
A thought occurred to him.
After turning it over in his mind, the Cloth-Clad Elder decided this explanation was probably closest to the truth. As for the Spirit-Devouring Insect, it was still young and too weak to help the boy much in his cultivation.
The little girl blinked, then asked worriedly, "Grandpa, aren't you afraid he'll die before then?"
"Not at all."
The Cloth-Clad Elder smiled. "Grandpa observed him carefully. He's extremely cautious, far more clearheaded than most people, and careful in everything he does. If I hadn't pressed him, he wouldn't have given his all when sparring with you. How could someone like that die so easily?"
"All right. I'll wait, then. One day, I'll take back the Spirit-Devouring Insect."
The little girl looked determined.
A bank of clouds drifted over, and the two figures vanished into it.
No one knew where they had gone.
Inside the ruined temple.
After standing there in a daze for the time it took an incense stick to burn, the young man's stiff body finally recovered. He slowly reached out and took the Storage Bag from the air.
The Storage Bag wasn't hot, but it felt scorching to him.
By instinct, the young man felt that the Cloth-Clad Elder had been using him all along.
But caught in the surging tide of events, he was powerless to defy fate. All he could do was endure it in silence.
He opened the Storage Bag.
A rich medicinal fragrance wafted into his nose.
Chen Changming swayed, dazed, and nearly fainted from the aroma.
Inside the Storage Bag lay over a hundred pills, a treasured sword, and a slip of paper.
"Last night, warm porridge in the storm touched my heart. I'll borrow flowers to offer to the Buddha and give you a hundred High-grade Spirit Gathering Pills and one Purple Lightning Sword."
There was no name at the bottom, only the words "Xuanyang Mountain."
After reading the note, the young man was stunned.
"So these are High-grade Spirit Gathering Pills. No wonder the fragrance is so rich!" he murmured, his expression complicated.
Last night, when the little girl had said, "I'm sick of even the finest Spirit Rice," he had thought she was joking. He hadn't expected it to be true.
The old man had casually given him High-grade Spirit Gathering Pills. The sheer extravagance was hard to imagine.
Taking out the sword, Chen Changming gently ran his fingers along its blade. His entire arm trembled.
The sword actually contained the power of lightning.
He drew it and gave it a gentle swing. A streak of sword light mixed with purple lightning shot out of the ruined temple and struck a huge boulder in the distance.
Boom!
With a peal of thunder, the several-zhang-tall blue-gray boulder shattered into pieces.
"What a fine sword!"
The young man was thrilled. Just then, a faint groan came from behind him, and he hurriedly put the sword back into the Storage Bag.
"It's broad daylight. Why is there still thunder?"
Luo Lan opened her eyes and gazed sleepily at the familiar figure, complaining.
She'd been having a wonderful dream, only to be woken by the thunder.
"Senior Sister, you're finally awake."
The young man rushed over and crouched beside his Senior Sister, his face full of excitement.
Thank goodness, Senior Sister was safe and sound.
He had raced a thousand li, and all the hardship of the night had finally paid off.
"Junior Brother, I... why am I in this ruined temple?"
Once she took in her surroundings, Luo Lan was stunned, too. She remembered that deep in Cloud Mist Mountain, she had seemed to be touched by the purple mist, and then she'd lost consciousness.
"Senior Sister, it's a long story..."
Chen Changming was in high spirits. With a smile, he glossed over the details as he recounted what had happened.
By "glossing over the details," he only mentioned that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had come to their rescue and that, thanks to their excellent luck, he had brought Senior Sister out of Cloud Mist Mountain. They had spent the night resting in the ruined temple.
He left out the Silver Insect curing her poison, as well as the mysterious grandfather and granddaughter.
"So many Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their clothes were unfamiliar..."
After hearing her junior brother's account, Luo Lan grew serious, too. Her instincts told her something major was going on.
Those Foundation Establishment cultivators hadn't come from any cultivation sect in Yue Kingdom. There had been quite a few of them, and they had entered Cloud Mist Mountain to deal with the Man-Eating Flower Demon. What was their true purpose?
Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Luo Lan said solemnly, "Junior Brother, let me recover a little. Then we'll head back to the sect..."
"All right."
The young man nodded.
Luo Lan swallowed a pill and sat cross-legged to cultivate... Two hours later, they left on a Spirit Boat.
After returning to Lingxiao Sect,
Luo Lan hurried off to find her grandfather, while Chen Changming returned to his cave abode.
The young man didn't cultivate.
Even after obtaining the High-grade Spirit Gathering Pills and the Purple Lightning Sword, he showed no sign of joy.
Chen Changming would never forget how Qin Changtian had ignored his cries for help in Cloud Mist Mountain, practically wishing for him to die in the jaws of a Beast.
And encountering several Blood Demon Sect disciples during the beast tide in Cloud Mist Mountain had made him realize that Leng Shankui had a powerful background. This time, the assassination had failed, but the Blood Demon Sect would come back to kill him again.
Now, he was beset on all sides.
There were people inside the sect who wanted him dead, and outside the sect, there were people who wanted to kill him to vent their anger.