Blood drifted down onto Tang Qian'er's clothes, the droplets spreading like red plum blossoms in bloom, with faint white strands nestled among them like stamens.
A headless ape carcass fell through the air with its remaining momentum and landed in front of Tang Qian'er.
Su Qing, Lei Cheng, and the others had already entered the valley.
Most of the Fire Spirit Apes that should have been active here had been knocked out by the sleeping drugs Lei Cheng had brought.
But every troop had a few elite individuals, stronger and hardier than the rest, who could resist the drugs to some extent.
The ape that had hidden in the shadows just now, waiting for them to pass before springing out to ambush Tang Qian'er, the weakest member of their group, had been one such individual.
Another twenty or thirty stood guard over the Jade Spirit Fruit tree alongside the Fire Spirit Ape King at the end of the valley.
Yet even an elite like that had had its skull shattered in midair by a single kick from Su Qing.
A hand as fair as white jade reached toward Tang Qian'er's cheek and gently wiped a drop of blood from the tip of her nose. "Are you all right?" he asked soothingly.
"I'm fine."
Tang Qian'er shook her head slightly and steadied herself as she answered.
"As expected of the 'Green Bamboo Snake,'" Lei Cheng praised.
"If dealing with a beast like this took me any effort, I'd have died long ago." Su Qing ignored Lei Cheng's deliberate flattery and answered sarcastically.
Lei Cheng was not embarrassed. He brushed it off with a smile and turned toward the end of the valley. "The biggest problem is still that Fire Spirit Ape King in there. I'll leave him to you."
Though called a valley, this place was more like a fissure in the mountain, open on one side and enclosed by steep cliffs on the other three.
Beneath the cliff at its far end, a tree about ten feet tall, gleaming like jade, grew out of a crack in the rock face.
Between them and the tree, a figure far larger than an ordinary Fire Spirit Ape blocked the path.
"The other beasts are yours. Just hold them off. One minute." Su Qing walked toward the Fire Spirit Ape King, each step measured.
With every step, Su Qing's imposing aura climbed, and a glimmer of clear light shone in his eyes.
Step by step, he moved faster and faster, until he reached a critical point and broke into a run.
He became a blur, dodging the chunk of granite the enraged Fire Spirit Ape King hurled at him and appearing behind him.
A short sword slid from Su Qing's sleeve. He caught it in a reverse grip and drove it hard between the Fire Spirit Ape King's vertebrae.
Dense blood-red inscriptions emerged along the blade, drinking in the Fire Spirit Ape King's blood and making the short sword far sharper.
The blood-red inscriptions burrowed into the Fire Spirit Ape King's body through the wound, spreading along his spine, blood vessels, and meridians, instantly slowing his movements.
Su Qing left the sword where it was. Planting his left foot on its exposed hilt, he sprang upward to the level of the Fire Spirit Ape King's head.
Three Senluo Death Seals appeared in Su Qing's left palm, while lightning cracked in his right, blue-green thunderbolts gathering in his hand.
Double Peaks Pierce the Ears!
The Fire Spirit Ape King's head burst like a watermelon, spraying red and white everywhere.
Lei Cheng and the others stared, eyes wide and mouths agape, even their movements against their enemies slowing.
Fortunately, the remaining conscious Fire Spirit Apes were terrified by their king's death. They scratched their ears and heads, at a loss for what to do, so no one suffered casualties because of that lapse.
Su Qing swiftly shifted to their battlefield and helped them slaughter the remaining Fire Spirit Apes.
Afterward, Su Qing and Lei Cheng picked the Jade Spirit Fruit from the Jade Spirit Tree, while Tang Qian'er collected the soul essences of the Fire Spirit Ape King and the twenty-odd Fire Spirit Apes.
Mu Chen joined Lei Cheng's team in killing the sleeping Fire Spirit Apes in their dreams and collecting their soul essences as well.
"The Fire Spirit Ape King's soul essence is mine. The rest is still a thirty-seventy split." Su Qing sheathed his cleaned short sword, tucked it into his sleeve, and looked at Lei Cheng.
"No problem. We barely did anything this whole trip. It's only right." Lei Cheng smiled wryly.
"Besides, our team was in the wrong first. I owe you a favor for this."
"Good, as long as there are no objections."
Su Qing said no more. Once the Jade Spirit Fruit and soul essences had been divided, he took Tang Qian'er and the others and parted ways with them.
When they reached the valley entrance, Su Qing hesitated before saying, "A Jade Spirit Tree only bears fruit once. After that, it won't bear any more, but the tree itself still has its uses."
"Transplant it somewhere shady in your courtyard. Tea brewed from its leaves can nourish your meridians and gradually clear some of the blockages in them."
"Don't waste it."
Then Su Qing and his companions left the valley.
"How come I never noticed how good you were at putting on airs, big brother?" Mu Chen teased, making a few funny faces as he imitated Su Qing's earlier demeanor.
"Hey! What do you mean, putting on airs? Your big brother earned that illustrious reputation back in the day. Don't you go getting jealous." Su Qing raised an eyebrow.
Mu Chen smiled without answering. He knew roughly what Su Qing had done during that wild period of his life.
As the two brothers joked around, neither noticed Tang Qian'er walking silently beside them, biting her lip, her expression downcast as though she were pondering something.
When they were almost back at camp, Su Qing finally noticed Tang Qian'er's subdued manner. He approached her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just thinking." Tang Qian'er shook her head.
Su Qing did not press her. After checking on her, he left. The surge of spiritual energy during the earlier fight had aggravated the old injuries in his internal organs, and he had been forcibly holding back a mouthful of stagnant blood in front of the two of them.
Su Qing found an excuse to leave and tend to his old injuries. Tang Qian'er stared at his retreating back and sighed.
Her sigh was for Su Qing's health, for his wooden head, and for the ever-widening gap between them.
I want to keep up with you.
"Cough!"
He spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood.
Sitting cross-legged on a tree branch, Su Qing stopped his breathing exercise and took out a sheet of white paper to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes in thought.
He had already given some of the Jade Spirit Fruit they had obtained to Tang Qian'er and Mu Chen. Once he consumed and absorbed the rest using his medicinal ingestion method, his foundation would be more or less fully honed.
In a little while, he would be able to break through to the Spirit Wheel Realm.
Unfortunately, it did nothing for his injuries. Even now, any fight would aggravate them.
Su Qing sighed softly, raised a hand to smooth his furrowed brow, and jumped down from the tree to head toward camp.
On his way back, he vaguely made out people from the Liu Domain scattered around the camp. Su Qing paid them no mind. Both instructors were there; unless the head of the Liu Family came himself, they could not stir up any real waves.
Su Qing went around them and headed straight to his tent to rest. The night passed without incident.
The next day, as the brilliant sun shone through the morning mist into camp, the boys and girls shook off their fatigue and brimmed with energy once more.
The people from the Liu Domain had left at first light, and the boys and girls were glad of it.
After all, having a group so utterly out of place among them had made the camp feel rather oppressive.
"Teach me!"
The girl's ringing voice completely shattered the last remnants of Su Qing's drowsiness.
"Teach you what?" Su Qing asked, looking at her in bewilderment.
They had only just met up when the girl resolutely shouted those words in her clear voice, charging ahead without a thought of retreat.
"Cultivation, fighting, and... killing." Tang Qian'er looked firmly at Su Qing.
"You really want to learn?" Hearing the seriousness in Tang Qian'er's tone, Su Qing asked solemnly.
"Yes."
"Heh, what am I supposed to do with this?" Su Qing clicked his tongue. "Fine. If you want to learn, I'll teach you. But you'll have to call me Master. That's the rule, and it can't be broken."
"Hey, don't just go quiet on me." Seeing Tang Qian'er clutch the hem of her clothes without a word, Su Qing spoke again.
Silence, and more silence. Su Qing caught the hesitation and struggle in Tang Qian'er's eyes and sighed.
"Forget it if you don't want to." After waiting a long while without an answer, Su Qing finally lost patience and waved his sleeve. "Fine, you win. I'll teach you what I can."
"Let me make this clear first: I can only teach you some practical tricks."
"All right!" the girl answered brightly.
After the two of them made a few simple preparations, they set off into the Northern Spirit Plains once more.
Along the way, Su Qing broke down everything he had learned during his years in the Northern Spirit Plains and explained it to Tang Qian'er little by little, supplementing his lessons with practice against the Spirit Beasts they encountered.
It was not that Su Qing was heartless. He intended to teach Tang Qian'er the dangerous spirit arts he had sought out in the Spirit Art Chamber, along with some miscellaneous Daoist School arts, later on.
But for core Daoist School arts and divine abilities like the Golden Palace Jade Record and Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, you have to call me Master.
That's the rule.
What a pity.
Watching Tang Qian'er fight a Spirit Beast while he stood nearby to cover her, Su Qing sighed inwardly. He really did want to hear that girl call him Master.
Just then, a fierce gust shot toward Tang Qian'er.