Shrouding the Heavens: The Days I Became the Empress's Strictest Master

Li Qingjue gasped for breath, drenched from head to toe, unable to tell whether it was the rain from earlier or sweat.

"Ha! Ha..."

She stared at the fatal wound on the one-eyed man's throat, her expression complicated as her little hands trembled slightly.

She knew that man was probably beyond saving.

This counted as her first time... killing someone.

"What, are you going to let those two leave this place? Mercy toward enemies is cruelty toward yourself. Think about it—if the other one follows you after sunset and ambushes you, what will you do?"

The Bronze Ring shimmered with clear radiance, and Tan Lin's remnant soul manifested.

He drifted before his young disciple, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.

"Today, you let a tiger return to the mountains. When you find yourself in danger someday, will you truly not regret it..."

"No... that's not it..."

Li Qingjue was still panting. She was already somewhat exhausted; she truly could not even move a finger.

How could Tan Lin not know her condition?

Yet he continued.

"Follow him. Kill the other one if you can. If you truly cannot, keep your distance and trail him. It is far better for you to follow him than for him to follow you...

"When the time comes, he will surely abandon his companion's corpse. Search it and see whether there is anything useful."

Hearing this, Li Qingjue silently nodded.

After steadying her breathing, she hid the one-eyed man's machete and quietly followed after him.

The large blade was good, but it was far too cumbersome for her. It was nowhere near as useful as shards of porcelain, and carrying it while tracking him would only waste her strength.

The golden crow set in the west, and the jade rabbit rose in the east.

"Ah... you?!"

The lean man's shocked and furious cry abruptly cut off.

Li Qingjue had truly taken both their lives.

There had naturally been luck involved, as well as Tan Lin's guidance, but there was also the growing ruthlessness within her.

Under the cover of night, the girl searched the two corpses. In the end, she found a small firestarter, several pieces of dried rations, a few bits of silver, and a woman's torn and tattered bodice.

As she retraced her route, she was already utterly exhausted.

Before she could rest, Tan Lin's emotionless voice rang out again.

"Catch fish. Then find where those two were hiding and start a fire. You do not have much time."

In the blink of an eye, three or four months had passed.

Southern Region of Eastern Wasteland, north of Ancient Yan Kingdom.

A Vast Mountain Range stretching for thousands of miles lay between Ancient Yan Kingdom and Yellow Dragon Kingdom like a dragon of earth and wood, forming a natural border and barrier between the two nations.

Caw... caw...

At one corner of the mountain range, several dark crows resembling vultures seemed to have been startled by something. They beat their wings and soared into the sky, circling above the forest for a long while, unwilling to leave.

"You are quite fortunate. This person did not possess an ordinary mortal body. There is a faint trace of the Profound Dao Body bloodline within him. He was killed less than three days ago, and his origin source remains. It is meant to be of use to you..."

Within the forest, a Bronze Ring floated before the girl with pigtails. Strands of clear radiance coiled around it as Tan Lin's indifferent voice emerged.

"But before that, bring down those carrion crows."

Whoosh!

Whoosh... whoosh...

Caw!!

The moment Tan Lin finished speaking, Li Qingjue had already drawn a simple slingshot. Several pebbles tore through the air, and the carrion crows fell in response.

Over these past months, she had become thoroughly familiar with such things. Though she was not yet ten years old, she possessed a steadiness and maturity beyond her age, along with a trace of ruthlessness hidden deep in her bones.

Rustle...

Scritch, scritch...

After tying the five carrion crows together with vines and stringing them up, she finally had time to carefully inspect the corpse whose flesh had been pecked into an unrecognizable state.

There was a large hole in the corpse's lower abdomen. Its Sea of Suffering had shattered, while its intestines and organs had mostly been eaten away by the carrion crows, leaving it hollow.

If the carrion crows could so easily eat its organs, he should only have been a Sea of Suffering Realm cultivator. At thirty or forty years old, he could have been a cultivator from a minor faction or an unaffiliated cultivator...

There were no magical artifacts or valuables on him. There were signs of fighting nearby, so he was likely robbed and killed...

She analyzed the situation in silence.

Buzz...

It was early autumn, and revolting green-headed flies had been drawn by the blood and flesh from all around, enveloping the corpse like a net of insects.

Li Qingjue merely frowned slightly. Then, without even blinking, she sat cross-legged before the corpse, palms and soles facing upward, and began circulating the Devouring Source Scripture.

She had truly understood what her master had wanted to say that night at the relay station when she woke up the next day.

The cultivation world was this cruel. The path ahead of her would inevitably be filled with bloodshed and brutality.

Her master likely wanted to tell her that if others could, for their own benefit, relentlessly destroy and repeatedly make use of her brother's remains, then she might not be unable to dig graves, dissect corpses, devour origin sources, and strengthen herself in the future.

If others could do such things, why could she not?

When those people desecrated her brother's remains, had they felt even the slightest trace of pity?

Since that was the case, there was no need for her to bind herself with invisible shackles...

Thus, aside from the resistance and reluctance she felt when first devouring another person's origin source, she gradually became accustomed to it and crossed that hurdle in her heart.

And it was worth mentioning that, thanks to the conflict surrounding the rumored emergence of the Human Emperor's Legacy.

Now, throughout the Southern Region... especially north of Ancient Yan Kingdom, people died inexplicably and silently in corners every day, every moment.

Including the origin source contained within the corpse before her, over these past three months, she had acquired and refined seven origin sources from others. Her mortal body had also undergone a minor transformation once.

Her bitter sea was no longer dead and dim, but had gained some splendid color. Furthermore, cultivation had indeed become much easier than before.

Before long, she should be able to excavate the spring of divine power within her bitter sea and enter the Life Spring realm.

By then, once she possessed divine power, she too would be able to fly through the skies.

Splash!

After refining the origin source of the corpse, Li Qingjue's aura grew stronger once more.

At this moment, rumbling sounded overhead again, and the void rippled. One glance was enough for her to understand.

Another force from outside the Southern Region had entered...

Over the past few months, she had witnessed such scenes no fewer than dozens of times.

"Master, the news of that legacy has spread for so long. Why has it still not appeared?"

Her thoughts stirred slightly as she voiced the question in her heart.

Tan Lin did not answer from within the ring. Instead, he said to her.

"Look west."

Look at what?

Li Qingjue did not understand, but she still raised her head as instructed.

There, a familiar dark-purple warship that crushed through the void entered her sight.

The next instant.

It was as if she had forgotten how to breathe, her hands clenching tightly.

Hidden Pawn Emerges

Rustle... rustle...

Though it was only early autumn, far from the bleakness of late autumn, the occasional wind that swept through carried dead leaves from the mountains and forests, bearing a faint chill that was almost impossible to detect.

Beside the mangled corpse, Li Qingjue looked up.

Her gaze locked tightly onto the ancient dark-purple warship slowly sailing across the heavens overhead.

Rumble...

The hull of that warship bore the distinctive patterns of the nine great divine forms of Heaven's Tyrant Bloodline. The entire vessel radiated a domineering aura, causing the void to rumble like a sheet of torn paper.

Over the past few months, many warships had entered the Vast Mountain Range to the north, but she could never mistake this one!

That night at the relay station, her brother had been taken away by the people aboard this ship!

"Ha! Ha..."

As the thought arose, Li Qingjue's mind seemed to return to that helpless day.

In an instant, the calmness and resilience she had cultivated over the past months melted away from her like ice and snow.

The girl's body began to tremble violently. Her clear eyes, once like black gemstones, were instantly flooded with boundless hatred and overwhelming killing intent.

No matter what happened now, she could handle it calmly.

Her master had taught her to remain composed in the face of great matters!

But this involved her brother. She had completely lost her composure.

Drip...

Her tightly clenched little hands had nails buried deep into her palms. Blood seeped out, forming droplets that fell to the ground, yet she was utterly unaware.

"Calm down."

Suddenly, Tan Lin's cold voice rang through the depths of her mind like an icy spring.

His voice carried a faint trace of Dao resonance, like the tolling of great bells, steadying his young disciple's nearly uncontrollable emotions.

"Keep your hatred in your heart, not on your face. If you rush out now, how is that any different from throwing your life away?"

Tan Lin spoke indifferently.

"You are already this distraught merely from encountering those who traded your brother's remains. What will you do when you encounter the people of the Feathered Immortal Dynasty who killed your brother in the future?"

Splash!

Those words were like a basin of cold water poured over Li Qingjue's head, completely cooling her surging emotions.

She suddenly took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the churning blood and qi throughout her body.

Yet her gaze remained as sharp as the keenest blade, carving into the place where the warship had vanished, as though she wanted to engrave the appearances of everyone aboard into the depths of her soul.

Over the past few months, she had already questioned Tan Lin about the cause of her brother's death and the origins of these people.

She had learned that her brother had actually died on an azure planet of life.

"Why... did they return? Could it be... for that legacy as well?"

Li Qingjue's voice was slightly hoarse, but she was no longer agitated.

"Hehe, return? Perhaps these people never left in the first place?"

Within the ring, Tan Lin's remnant soul spoke blandly while using All-Cause Vision to observe several tangled karmic threads connecting him to those aboard the warship.

Yes, he had threads connecting him to this group as well.

Hearing this, Li Qingjue fell into thought.

It had to be said that she was truly intelligent. Though her master had not fully explained matters, clues from the past few months seemed to have allowed her to vaguely realize something.

Just then, another strange phenomenon arose in the distant heavens.