Goddess Yunxi's First Rain - Riding a Raft upon the Sea, Keeping Company with Idle Gulls amid the Waves

From Elder Xiongli's words, it was clear that he had long known Xing Yan was not a follower of the devil path. Xing Yan had already deduced as much, however; otherwise, he would not have spoken so frankly to the elder.

Now, with a smile on his face, the Heavenly Demon elder spoke quietly to the youth:

"When I saw how reluctant you were to watch me draw blood from the human trees, I knew you were not one of us, who hold life lightly and sever our ties without hesitation."

At this point, Xiongli did not press Xing Yan about his origins. Instead, he changed the subject and explained how to reach their lodgings:

"Follow this way. Walk along the glowing path until you reach the end, and you will find your lodgings."

Following the elder's instructions, Xing Yan and his companions stepped onto the enormous suspended rocks and carefully made their way along the endless sky road ahead. Fierce winds blew across them as they walked, making their clothes snap and flutter.

As they traveled along this sky road, the dragon maiden in her short green silk skirt quietly challenged Xing Yan again, asking why he had revealed that he was not of the Devil Race. Hearing her question, he glanced at the devil folk filing along ahead and behind them, then said only:

"A small concession to win the greater contest."

After murmuring this, he said no more and continued carefully forward.

After roughly the time it took half a cup of tea to cool, they reached the end of the suspended rocks, which descended one after another. There, the sky road of enormous stones joined solid ground.

Jumping down from the last great rock, Xing Yan planted his feet on firm earth and saw a hundred