Little Lecher

The spirit masters standing near the center of the black pool brought out their spiritual weapons one after another. Spiritual energy in a dazzling array of colors converged into a blood-red net that sealed heaven and earth over the swamp, trying to ensnare the three-headed snake shooting up from underground.

Dongfang Minghui trembled at the sight of the three-headed snake's heads, each as thick as a pillar holding up the heavens. When its fist-sized eyes glared at the crowd, her legs went weak.

"That's the Blood Baleful Alliance's blood net," the Damn-Reliable Little Partner suddenly said in her mind.

The Blood Baleful Alliance was an assassination organization lurking in the darkness. Its vast influence extended throughout the Seven-Colored Continent, seeping into practically every crack.

She swallowed. "Are you sure you can snatch the Purple Cloud Fruit from them?" Two of them, at that.

Had she not known who they were, it would have been one thing. Once she knew, however, she began to think of retreating. Snatching something from the Blood Baleful Alliance was like pulling a tooth from a tiger's mouth-courting death.

Dongfang Minghui heard no reply from her partner for a long while, but the situation in the black pool below suddenly changed. One of the three-headed snake's heads burst apart after taking the blood net's attack head-on. To the snake, its three heads were its three lives. Losing a head meant losing a life.

These humans were despicable!

With only two heads left, the three-headed snake went mad. Its tail, over ten meters long, slammed savagely against the swamp's walls, again and again. Finally, the earth split and the mountains crumbled. The swamp collapsed, and all the creatures living below surged out. After the black spiders came a great swarm of man-eating ants.

The blood net was a hallmark of the Blood Baleful Alliance. Once it appeared, whatever it trapped-magic beast or human-would turn into a puddle of blood when its time was up.

The blood net was an exceptionally ruthless sacrificial ritual invented by the Blood Baleful Alliance: inflict a thousand wounds on the enemy and suffer eight hundred yourself. Once the blood net harvested lives, all the spirit masters making the sacrifice would become powerless wrecks, stripped of their spiritual energy.

Unless they had no other choice, the Blood Baleful Alliance would never use such a sacrifice-not unless they were determined to obtain the Purple Cloud Fruit at any cost.

Dongfang Minghui racked her brains but could not figure out what the Blood Baleful Alliance wanted with the Purple Cloud Fruit. The book had mentioned that the alliance's young master once had a younger brother, but he had died for unknown reasons.

"Could the Purple Cloud Fruit actually bring the dead back to life?" she murmured.

"Yes."

The Damn-Reliable Little Partner said mournfully, "If my true body weren't injured, dealing with them would be child's play. Unfortunately..." Most of its spiritual energy was sealed inside this good-for-nothing, and it had regressed to its juvenile stage.

In other words, it could not do it. She understood that much.

But Dongfang Minghui could not resign herself to going back empty-handed. She could practically picture the heroine's scornful, contemptuous gaze.

Chaos reigned below. After smashing open the swamp's walls, the three-headed snake slipped out of the blood net. Just as the group had planned earlier, some of them drew the snake away from the swamp while the others seized the opportunity to retrieve the Purple Cloud Fruit. They split up to carry out their tasks.

Sitting in the tree, she watched the three-headed snake flee in another direction and peeled off a piece of bark. "If you took me along while fleeing, how far could you get at top speed?" she asked her partner.

At the mention of speed, the Damn-Reliable Little Partner raised its head, puffed out its chest, and thumped it in assurance. "In this forest, I'm king."

"Good. When I tell you to snatch it, do it immediately, then take me and run." Dongfang Minghui had already thought of a plan, but whether it would succeed depended on how well they worked together. Of course, she was also taking an enormous gamble.

"Young master, look! Purple Cloud Fruit." Even the grand elder found it incredible when he brought out the fruit. This single parent plant had actually borne two Purple Cloud Fruits. It was truly astonishing.

The man addressed as the young master curled his lips into a smile that could bewitch all living beings. "We haven't disappointed everyone. We finally have it."

Just as the grand elder handed him the two fruits, a slender twig suddenly sprouted between their palms. It curled lightly around both fruits and whisked them away.

Both men froze for a moment before belatedly realizing that someone hiding in the shadows had stolen what they had worked so hard to obtain.

"Impudent brat! Where do you think you're going?" The grand elder's eyes reddened with fury.

This was Dongfang Minghui's first time seeing Purple Cloud Fruit. Its outer green rind was covered in bumps, like the warty skin of a toad. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she leaned forward to sniff it and discovered that its scent was quite rich. It gave off an enticing fragrance unlike any fruit she had encountered before, something truly distinctive.

"Quick, put the Purple Cloud Fruit in your spatial ring!" Otherwise, its fragrance would attract a horde of magic beasts, never mind the crafty bunch chasing them.

"B-but I don't have one." She usually threw her weight around at home, arrogant and overbearing. Everyone in the Dongfang household knew she never cultivated, and maids attended to her daily needs. Why would she ever need a spatial ring?

The Damn-Reliable Little Partner stumbled and nearly became intimately acquainted with the ground.

"You! Are! Unbelievable!"

Dongfang Minghui could practically hear its teeth grinding.

Sure enough, just as the magic plant had expected, the Purple Cloud Fruit's fragrance was like the most delicious food in the world, fatally alluring to magic beasts. Within moments, an enormous pack was hot on their heels, along with the relentlessly pursuing Blood Baleful Alliance.

Feeling as though its backside was about to catch fire, the Damn-Reliable Little Partner shot forward faster and faster.

"In a moment, throw one Purple Cloud Fruit into the winged beast's lair," Dongfang Minghui instructed. She had no wish to confront the Blood Baleful Alliance head-on, and with her strength, she could not withstand them anyway.

She simply diverted the flood of trouble eastward, splashing the dirty water onto the winged beast.

The Damn-Reliable Little Partner understood her plan too. Without another word, it threw the Purple Cloud Fruit straight into the lair. To an outsider, it looked as though the plant itself had entered the cave.

"Run!" The Damn-Reliable Little Partner did not forget to drag along Dongfang Wanyu, who had been keeping watch nearby.

Seeing the situation, how could Dongfang Wanyu fail to understand what had happened? She paced in a few circles, trying to calm herself, then asked coldly, "You just threw the Purple Cloud Fruit in there? What if-what if that whole pack of magic beasts kills the winged elephant calf too? What use would the Purple Cloud Fruit be to me then?"

Dongfang Minghui lowered her head. This was the best solution she had been able to come up with.

"There's something strange about your ninth sister," Qing Mo, who had never thought much of her, suddenly remarked. "And I seem to have seen that magic plant of hers somewhere before."

Dongfang Wanyu was furious. "Hurry and think of a way to take the calf away from that pack of magic beasts and the Blood Baleful Alliance without anyone noticing."

Even without Qing Mo saying anything, the Blood Baleful Alliance's young master was already sparing no effort in battling the horde of magic beasts to obtain the Purple Cloud Fruit.

The two women hid to the left of the winged elephant's lair, watching the chaos unfold.

"Wait here for me. I'll be right back," Dongfang Wanyu instructed Dongfang Minghui.

Dongfang Minghui tugged at the hem of Dongfang Wanyu's clothes, voicing her worry. "Seventh Sister, it's too dangerous for you to go in alone."

Dongfang Wanyu patted her hand to reassure her, then stealthily slipped inside. One or two foolish magic beasts occasionally attacked her, but she dispatched them with ease.

"This Purple Cloud Fruit is mine," the Damn-Reliable Little Partner declared in her mind.

"Yours. It's all yours." Having escaped with her life, Dongfang Minghui silently breathed a sigh of relief.

She watched the magic plant extend two tendrils through the Purple Cloud Fruit and absorb it little by little until it had devoured the whole thing.

"Delicious." Even after finishing, the damnable magic plant smacked its lips and said in a soft, sweet voice, "If you take good care of me, I can help you get rid of that useless constitution."

Useless she might have been, but the problem was not her constitution. It was her cultivation method. Humans had always had poor judgment. Luckily, it had found her.

"If my constitution were really as you said, how could you have formed a blood pact with me?" Dongfang Minghui rolled her eyes, her expression saying, Do you take me for an idiot? "You just want to trick me into finding you a cultivation partner, don't you? I won't help." Every word struck it where it hurt.

The damnable magic plant flailed its tendrils in her mind like a horde of demons dancing wildly, nearly driven mad with anger. "Do you want the cultivation method or not?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Dongfang Minghui said calmly. "Think about it. If I reach the Spirit King level someday, at least I won't be a burden to you, right?"

They were grasshoppers on the same boat now. She trusted that the Damn-Reliable Little Partner would recognize their situation.

"Such lofty ambitions! With me around, just you try stopping at Spirit King. You'll have to reach Saint King at the very least."

Dongfang Minghui thought her partner was far too fond of daydreaming. Spirit Saints and the like were far too lofty and grand.

Soon, a cultivation method appeared in her mind. After a brief look, she noticed several differences. "Are you sure cultivating this way really won't cause any problems?"

The Damn-Reliable Little Partner flicked its tendrils. "Of course. I found this on a Spirit Venerable. I've looked it over. It's suitable for human cultivation."

It was practically tailor-made for her.

"All right. Thanks." Dongfang Minghui was not petty either. Considering how much the Damn-Reliable Little Partner had done for her, she decided to forgive its earlier brutal treatment and the blood pact it had forced upon her against her will.

"We'll be living together from now on, so why don't I give you a name?" Dongfang Minghui went on talking to herself without waiting for a response. "You're a plant, yet you spend every day going on about finding a cultivation partner. I'll just call you Little Lecher."

"Hey, hey, hey!" the Damn-Reliable Little Partner protested. "Why can't a plant find a cultivation partner? Do you know what dual cultivation feels like? Do you know the bliss of joining soul and flesh? Of course you don't."

"Little Lecher, Little Lecher, something seems to be happening over there." Dongfang Minghui ignored what it was saying. She noticed that the winged elephant's lair seemed about to collapse.

Little Lecher extended its tendrils and quickly learned what was happening over there. "Damn, she's been spotted! Run!"