The stout woman abruptly stopped crying and stood straight up. Glaring at the hunter, she threatened, “If you dare to send Xiao Xiao back to her, I’ll break your legs!”
Saying so, she turned around and shuffled towards her room.
When she brushed past the hunter, she landed a kick on the bench that he was seated on.
In an instant, the bench broke apart with a crack. The hunter lost his balance and fell to the ground. Gazing at the broken bench, he gulped.
Although he knew that his wife was strong, he hadn’t expected her to be this strong.
Undoubtedly, his leg was not as robust as the bench. As he recalled what she had told him before she left, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
…..
There was a simple-looking house at the bottom of the mountain. Despite that, it was jointly built by the villagers and was sturdy enough to fend off rain and wind.
This was the residence of the scholar who happened to visit this place four years ago. It also served as a school in the village. Other than the kids in the village, the hunters from the neighbouring villages would also send their children to this school when they learned that there was a scholar who could teach children how to read and write.
Therefore, more than 10 kids would frequently gather together in this small school for lessons.
The kids from the mountain villages were reckless and naughty. Initially, the hunters were worried that this frail-looking teacher wouldn’t be able to discipline them. They wouldn’t want to see their kids causing any trouble.
However, they were surprised to learn that regardless of how mischievous the kids were, they would become obedient and studious the moment they stepped into this school.
The teacher didn’t seem to have any special ways of disciplining the kids. He simply taught them how to read and write. This strange revelation amazed the hunters.
At this moment, the teacher, who was giving the kids a lesson, cracked a smile all of a sudden, as though he had discovered something funny.
The students were puzzled, but none of them dared to ask him about it because he always had this strange sense of authority about him. With that said, there was still a kid who raised her hand and asked in a clear voice, “Sir, why are you smiling all of a sudden?”
The person who asked this question was none other than Xiao Xiao, who looked smaller than the other children.
Instead of feeling afraid, the kids all respected the teacher. He had never punished them in any way; however, as soon as they stepped into this school, they would become obedient.
Nevertheless, Xiao Xiao was the only one who didn’t seem to revere the teacher and she was the only one who had the audacity to interrupt the teacher when he was giving a lesson.
Upon hearing that, the teacher lifted his head and revealed a stalwart-looking face. He replied with a smile, “Nothing. I just thought of something funny.”
With a tilted head, Xiao Xiao appeared puzzled.
The teacher continued with the lesson.
The reason he put on a smile was that he had detected what happened in the hunter’s home. The way the stout wife reacted was hilarious.
In fact, he was aware that there was a wealthy woman in the log house on the mountain. Strictly speaking, she indeed resembled Xiao Xiao in a way; however, one wouldn’t have thought so if he didn’t have such a preconceived idea.
He knew that the wealthy woman had nothing to do with Xiao Xiao; after all, Xiao Xiao was a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor while the wealthy woman was just one of the many living beings in his Small Universe.
It was just a coincidence and the couple was being too sensitive.
When the hunter brought the Old Ancestor back to his home, Yang Kai followed behind them. Despite realising that there was something wrong with the Old Ancestor, he didn’t have a way to deal with it; therefore, he could only pretend to be a poor wandering scholar and settle down in this village so that he could keep in contact with the Old Ancestor and observe her.
Over the past four years, he had noticed some things that concerned him.
First of all, the Old Ancestor was terribly injured; otherwise, she would have grown in size after such a long time. Her injury was so deep though that even Yang Kai was unable to detect it.
When the Old Ancestor started growing, it would mean that she was on the road to recovery.
It was the second point that especially puzzled him though.
It seemed that the Old Ancestor had indeed lost her memory. It had been four years since he started approaching the Old Ancestor, but she always regarded him to be the teacher in the village. She didn’t remember anything that had happened in the past.
Yang Kai had a feeling that the Old Ancestor had sealed her memory voluntarily, but he had no idea why she had done so.
Now, he could only cooperate with the Old Ancestor by giving her the best environment to recuperate and hope that she would recover soon.
After the lesson ended, the kids returned to their homes.
Yang Kai remained seated in the classroom. A moment later, a petite figure stuck her head out from the door and flashed a smile at him.
A helpless Yang Kai shook his head with a smile. Although the Old Ancestor’s memory had been sealed off, it seemed being a foodie was innate to her.
He beckoned to Xiao Xiao, who then skipped towards him and obediently stood there.
Then, he turned his palm over and revealed a skewer of candied hawthorns before passing it to her.
An elated Xiao Xiao said sweetly, “Thank you, Sir!”
…..
In the middle of the night, Xiao Xiao realised that something was off. She extended her hand and discovered that her Mother, who was hugging her, was crying.
Puzzled, she asked, “Why are you crying, Mother? Did Father bully you?”
The stout woman shook her head repeatedly, “No. I was just having a nightmare.”
“Oh.” Believing her statement to be true, Xiao Xiao turned over and snuggled up to the stout woman. As she patted the stout woman’s back, she placated her by saying, “Don’t worry, Mother. I’m here for you.”
Whenever she had a nightmare in the past, her Mother would always pat her back, and she would fall asleep again soon.
“I’m not afraid because I know you’re here for me,” the stout woman replied and hugged the little girl even tighter.
The next day, the stout woman dressed Xiao Xiao up and helped her put on the clothes she was wearing four years ago when they picked her up.
As Xiao Xiao hadn’t grown over the last four years, she could still fit into those clothes. It wasn’t certain what the clothes were made of, but they still looked brand new even after four years.
The stout woman was on the brink of breaking into tears as she dressed Xiao Xiao up.
On the other hand, the hunter squatted outside the house in silence.
The couple had not talked about this, but the hunter knew what his Wife’s intention was the moment he saw what she was doing.
Xiao Xiao still remained joyful.
After the stout woman was done with it, she looked at the sweet and innocent smile in the mirror and let out a sigh.
Xiao Xiao said, “Mother, it’ll be hard for me to go hunting in such clothes.”
The stout woman forced a smile, “You’re not going to go hunting today.”
With her head tilted, Xiao Xiao asked curiously, “Am I not? I’ll look for the teacher, then.”
“You’re not looking for the teacher either.” The stout woman took Xiao Xiao’s hand and rose from the chair, “Your Father will bring you to a place. Just follow him.”
“En,” despite feeling perplexed, Xiao Xiao nodded.
The hunter stepped into the house and exchanged glances with his Wife before looking away. He beckoned to Xiao Xiao, “Let’s go.”
“Yes!” Xiao Xiao skipped forward, and the hunter followed behind her.
All of a sudden, the stout woman shouted from behind, “Xiao Xiao!”
By the time Xiao Xiao turned around, the stout woman had approached her and pulled her into her arms. Trying her best to stop her tears from sliding down her face, the stout woman said, “You must stay safe no matter what.”
“I know, Mother. Wait for me, I’ll bring you something delicious.” Xiao Xiao nodded repeatedly.
“Go now,” The stout woman forced herself to release Xiao Xiao and turned around. She didn’t dare to take another glance at her, for she was worried that she wouldn’t have the heart to let her go.
Behind her, Xiao Xiao’s laugh faded into the distance.
A while later, the stout woman whirled around, but Xiao Xiao was no longer in sight. She raced forward, but the next instant, she stopped in her tracks and grasped the door frame as she fell into a dazed state.
A long time later, she fished out a skewer of candied hawthorns from her clothes and carefully unwrapped the paper before taking a bite. She swallowed it along with her tears.
[It’s sweet…]
The hunter had walked along the rugged mountain paths countless times, but this time, it was the most difficult walk in his life.
They took a break from time to time, and it wasn’t until the afternoon that they arrived at the log house.
Initially, he hoped that the wealthy woman would have left by now so that he no longer had to feel conflicted; however, he came just as the woman was about to leave.
The woman was surprised to see the hunter, but what surprised her even further was that he had brought a young child, who was wearing expensive clothes, with him.
While the servants were vigilant, the woman let the hunter get closer to her.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” The woman asked. She had a feeling that the hunter had come all the way here to look for her. As she spoke, she took a glance at the child beside him. At that instant, she couldn’t move her eyes away.
That was because the young child was truly adorable. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was beautiful. The woman came from a well-to-do family, and she had seen many young children from wealthy families, but none of them was comparable to the little girl before her eyes.
If the child before her eyes was like a skylark, the ones she had seen in the past were no different from the mud on the ground.
She couldn’t believe that such a child lived in this remote mountain.
The hunter felt heartbroken when he realised that the woman was staring fixedly at Xiao Xiao. [I suppose she can recognise Xiao Xiao. After all, Xiao Xiao hadn’t changed one bit over the past four years. If this woman is her relative, it was expected that she could recognise her.]
He parted his lips in an attempt to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in the end.
Xiao Xiao was a friendly and outgoing young girl, so she flashed a sweet smile at the woman and asked, “How are you, Madame?”
The woman put on a smile as well, “Such a good child.”
She beckoned to a servant, who then came forward with a lunch box. The woman bent her back and passed the lunch box to Xiao Xiao, “I made this. It’s delicious. Give it a try.”
Xiao Xiao turned to look at the hunter as though she was asking for his permission. Her gaze suggested that she badly wanted the food. This couldn’t be helped, as she could never resist good food.
However, the hunter had fallen into a dazed state.
This was different from what he had imagined. Although the woman seemed to be fond of Xiao Xiao, it didn’t look like she had identified the latter to be her relative.
[Could it be…]
Agitated, the hunter asked, “Madame, you told me that you’d lost something the day before. Have you found it yet?”
The woman shook her head, “I lost it several years ago, and I don’t remember where I lost it. I just feel that this place looks familiar to me, so I thought I’d lost it around here. Unfortunately, it seems I was mistaken. In any case, it’s not something so important, so I’ve decided to give up looking for it.”
The hunter, whose figure was stiff, became at ease in an instant.
Inside the house, the stout woman was seated on a chair as she embraced Xiao Xiao with a bright smile. She was so ecstatic that it was as though she had retrieved something irreplaceable she had lost.
Xiao Xiao felt that her Mother was strange on this day, but she was too young to understand the myriad of things in the world; therefore, she couldn’t specify what was odd.
Presently, there was a lunch box in front of her. It was given to her by the wealthy woman on the mountain. The food inside the lunch box wasn’t expensive, just some osmanthus cakes she had apparently made.
Villagers like them had never seen such delicate cakes before, let alone eaten them.
Half of the osmanthus cakes inside the lunch box were gone, most of them having disappeared into Xiao Xiao’s stomach.
“Have another piece, Mother,” Xiao Xiao picked up an osmanthus cake and held it out for the stout woman.
With a smile, the stout woman replied, “I’m not having anymore. It’s too sweet. Go on and eat it.”
“Alright,” Xiao Xiao replied and munched on the osmanthus cake.
It was so delicious that she had the urge to swallow her own tongue as well.
The hunter was getting ready for the hunting session the next day by sharpening his arrowheads. When he saw the heart-warming scene in the house, he wore a sincere smile.
…..
The North-South Army’s forward base was located on an asteroid that would take a person two days to reach from Great Evolution Pass.
One year ago, the North-South Army clashed with the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Pass. Although they had killed a lot of their enemies, they had suffered some losses as well.
The defeated Black Ink Clansmen fled back to Great Evolution Pass and received help from their companions. Since then, they had not left Great Evolution Pass.
One year had passed, and the North-South Army was now locked in a staring contest with the Black Ink Clan stationed at Great Evolution Pass. They were like two beasts that bared their fangs at each other from a distance, but neither could kill the other party, so they didn’t attack.
After suffering a setback previously, the Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to make a rash move again. They were worried that there would be no turning back once they launched an attack.
On the other hand, the North-South Army didn’t have a way to deal with the Black Ink Clansmen who refused to leave Great Evolution Pass.
It wasn’t until the Humans became the attackers that they realised just how difficult dealing with a Great Pass was. Great Evolution Pass provided the best defence for the Black Ink Clansmen, so if the North-South Army rashly launched an attack, many of their soldiers would lose their lives. Given the collective power of the North-South Army now, it would be hard for them to retrieve Great Evolution Pass in short order, and once they launched an attack and failed, they would lose their advantageous position.
The Army Commander of the Southern Army, Ou Yang Lie, was an irascible person, so the deadlock they were faced with was giving him a headache. Therefore, he urged Mi Jing Lun on a daily basis to come up with a way to lure the Black Ink Clan out of Great Evolution Pass so that they could meet them in battle.
Of course, Mi Jing Lun didn’t have a solution to this problem or he would have used it already. As long as the Black Ink Clan refused to leave Great Evolution Pass, there was little he could do.
“Please calm down, Brother Ou Yang. We’re faced with a stalemate here. Since the Black Ink Clan won’t leave the Pass, it’s hard for us to launch an attack. We have no other choice but to maintain the status quo.” Mi Jing Lun appeased Ou Yang Lie, who had repeatedly looked for him to discuss the plan to deal with the enemy.
Undoubtedly, Ou Yang Lie could understand what the other man was talking about. He was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as well as an Army Commander after all, so even if he was a hotheaded person, he wouldn’t have attained such achievements without being able to understand the bigger strategic picture.
Despite that, he could never change his irritable temperament.
“How long will the confrontation last? For eternity?” Ou Yang Lie said furiously. He thought that the Black Ink Clansmen were too timid. Despite their vast Army, they didn’t have the courage to launch an attack and only knew how to hide. It was expected that he was annoyed.
Mi Jing Lun comforted, “We certainly can’t let the confrontation go on for eternity, but the breakthrough we need can’t be achieved here by us. For now, we’ll have to depend on the East-West Army.”
Ou Yang Lie darted his gaze around and gave it a thought. He then said, “Brother Mi, you mean…”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “If the East-West Army can deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan at the Royal City, the Royal Lord will surely become flustered. When that happens, the Black Ink Clan occupying Great Evolution Pass won’t be able to keep hiding. They certainly have to head to the Royal City upon receiving the Royal Lord’s order, and we’ll be able to take action.”
Upon hearing that, Ou Yang Lie nodded repeatedly, “You have a point. Brother Mi, when do you think the breakthrough will be achieved?”
Mi Jing Lun replied, “That will depend on how long those from the Royal City can persevere; however, I don’t think it’ll happen in a short time. The number of soldiers in the East-West Army is roughly the same as ours. Although they have the Old Ancestor with them, the Black Ink Clan over there have a Royal Lord. It won’t be easy to achieve a breakthrough. Now, what we should do is find a way to contact the East-West Army. It would be best if we could communicate instantly so that it would be easier for us to carry out any following plans.”
Ou Yang Lie shook his head, “That will be difficult. This place is too far away from the Royal City. It’s not hard to contact them, but the exchange of information will be sluggish. We can’t make it instantaneous.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “It would be best if we could let Martial Nephew Yang build several Universe Arrays between Great Evolution Pass and the Royal City; however, I’m afraid he’s busy right now as he has to help with the Old Ancestor’s healing. Otherwise, given Xiang Shan’s far-sightedness, he would have told Yang Kai to do so already. Still, sluggish or not, being able to share information is essential.”
Ou Yang Lie said, “In that case, we should send someone to the East-West Army.”
Mi Jing Lun put on a smile, “I’ve already done so. He should have arrived by now.”
Upon hearing that, Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help but roll his eyes. [This guy only told me about it after he’d done it. It makes me look ignorant. It’s taxing to work with such a scheming person.]
Mi Jing Lun looked at the depths of the void. There were two reasons why he had sent someone to the East-West Army. First of all, he really did need to exchange information with them. Secondly, he wanted to find out how the East-West Army was planning to attack the Royal City.
The Royal City was protected by a large number of Black Ink Clansmen, and the Royal Lord was around, so it wouldn’t be easy for the East-West Army to attack given their current strength. Mi Jing Lun had put himself in the shoes of the Army Commanders in the East-West Army and pondered on what he could do. He had come up with some possible solutions, but he didn’t think they would be very effective; therefore, he wanted to find out how Xiang Shan would act.
Meanwhile, the East-West Army was mobilizing at their forward base. The Warships, which were initially docked on the Universe World, rose into the sky and soared towards the void.
When the Eighth-Order Division Commander Cha Pu, who was standing on a mountain, saw that, he appeared surprised and asked the person beside him, “Are you going to attack the Royal City?”
Cha Pu was the Division Commander of Northern Army’s 4th Division. He was also the person Mi Jing Lun had sent to this place to contact the East-West Army. Just like Mi Jing Lun had expected, Cha Pu had arrived at this place three days ago. He came at a time when the East-West Army was about to carry out a grand plan, so he decided to stay and observe so that he could bring more details back to Mi Jing Lun.
The reason an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was asked to come to this place was that it was a long journey that was paved with danger. If a Seventh-Order Master was told to come here, he might not make it. Therefore, Mi Jing Lun could only send an Eighth-Order Division Commander.
It had been peaceful on the North-South Army’s side recently, so it would be fine even though Cha Pu wasn’t around.
Additionally, he was the one who came to Yang Kai’s rescue after the latter killed an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
Presently, the person standing beside him was Xiang Shan’s adjutant, Li Xing.
Xiang Shan had ordered him to keep Cha Pu company and answer his questions.
Now, the soldiers of the East-West Army had been mobilised as though they were going to attack the Royal City. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that.
This made Cha Pu feel worried. He had seen the defensive formation around the Royal City. Given the East-West Army’s current power, it would be unwise to directly attack the Royal City. Once the two parties clashed, the East-West Army would suffer immense losses.
Although he knew Xiang Shan wouldn’t do something so foolish, he couldn’t help but feel worried.
To the side, Li Xing replied, “Don’t worry about it, Martial Uncle Cha. Sir Xiang has said that you just have to keep watching.”
Cha Pu turned to look at him with a smile, “Oh? Did Senior Brother Xiang say that? It seems that the mobilisation of soldiers is just a pretence.”
Li Xing lowered his gaze, “I wouldn’t dare to reveal details about ongoing military operations.”
He knew everything about the Army as he was Xiang Shan’s adjutant, but without his permission, he wouldn’t break secrecy.
Cha Pu didn’t intend to make things difficult for him, so after a nod, he said, “Since you’ve said so, I’ll be looking forward to it then. Let’s see how Senior Brother Xiang is going to deal with the Black Ink Clan.”
They fell silent after that.
The mobilisation of the East-West Army was swift. Upon receiving the order, the soldiers from different Divisions, who had been resting and building up their strength for the past year boarded their Warships and soon formed into a fleet. There were over 2,000 Warships setting sail, giving off a menacing air.
Certainly, what they were doing couldn’t be hidden from the Black Ink Clan, so those from the Royal City instantly detected the anomaly.
Che Kong was standing on the deck of his great ship. With a solemn expression, he stared intently towards the front.
He had no idea why the Humans had suddenly assumed a Battle Formation, but regardless of the reason, it seemed that a fight was inevitable.
Before the Royal Lord fell asleep, he had ordered that they should defend the Royal City at all costs. They could ignore the Humans if the latter didn’t try to invade the Royal City; however, if there was movement, they had to do their best to stop the Humans.
Therefore, the moment Che Kong noticed the mobilisation of the Human Army, he passed down an order. Soon, a million Black Ink Clansmen were ready for the war.
However, Che Kong found something odd a moment later.
The Humans didn’t directly come at the Royal City. Instead, they were heading towards the left side of the Royal City and circling around it.
This made Che Kong feel puzzled.
[What are the Humans trying to achieve? Are they trying to launch an attack on the back of the Royal City by circling around it right in front of me? That’s ridiculous, do they think I’m blind?]
If the Humans had the audacity to do such a thing, Che Kong swore that he would destroy them for their insolence.
Cha Pu, who was watching from the forward base, was equally puzzled. He shared Che Kong’s sentiment. By circling around the Royal City without any cover, they couldn’t achieve anything other than wasting their time.
However, he didn’t ask any questions. The leaders of the East-West Army must have their reason for acting this way, so he just kept watching.
Mi Jing Lun wanted to find out how the East-West Army was going to achieve a breakthrough, so perhaps this battle would be the key.
It would only take a person half a day to reach the Royal City from the East-West Army’s forward base, so by circling around the Royal City, the East-West Army’s fleet arrived at its left side a bit more than half a day later.
They stopped moving forward at this point and with a Battalion-Class Warship leading the way, the fleet charged towards the Royal City in a domineering manner.
The East-West Army’s fleet was rapidly getting closer to the Royal City.
Certainly, the Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t sit back and do nothing. Che Kong ordered half of the one million Black Ink soldiers to head to the left side of the city and prepare to intercept the enemy.
This was the right move as well as the only solution.
With that said, Che Kong wasn’t a fool, so he didn’t send all his soldiers to the left side of the city. He had to be wary of a potential sneak attack from the Humans.
The Humans’ fleet was indeed coming at them from the left, but it was just a fleet of Warships after all, no one could guarantee that all the Humans were on those Warships. If all the Black Ink Clan soldiers gathered together on the left flank, they would be powerless to deal with the Humans if the latter launched an attack from the right.
Che Kong was confident that the fleet was only meant to harass them while the Humans’ target was the right side of the Royal City; otherwise, they wouldn’t have openly circled around the Royal City to attract their attention.
Therefore, while sending some Black Ink Clan soldiers to the left, Che Kong also told the remaining Black Ink Clansmen to keep an eye on any anomaly on the right side.
As time passed, an austere atmosphere pervaded the void.
Half a day later, the two groups were only 5 million kilometres away from each other. At such a distance, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Territory Lords could start exchanging moves; however, both parties restrained themselves as none of them decided to make a move first.
At this point, what was going on with the Human Warships could clearly be seen.
What surprised Che Kong was that the Warships were indeed full of Human cultivators.
This made him feel perplexed. He initially thought that the fleet only served as a pretence to attract their attention while a massive amount of Human soldiers would secretly gather together on the right side of the Royal City and launch a sneak attack on them.
However, that didn’t seem to be the case now.
The Warships were full of Humans. In other words, all the Humans had gathered together in this fleet. There wasn’t another group of soldiers.
[Why did they intentionally make a detour? If they’re not trying to fool us, what’s the point of them circling around the Royal City? Could they be avoiding something? Wait, avoiding…]
All of a sudden, Che Kong’s expression changed drastically as he stared off into the depths of the void, recalling the events from one year ago.
The three Universe Worlds that flew in a straight line had come at them from that direction back then.
The Human fleet had perfectly avoided that direction by making a detour.
In the meantime, Yang Kai, who was giving a lesson in the classroom in his Small Universe, looked up all of a sudden. He saw through the barrier of his Small Universe and gazed at the depths of the void.
He was in a position where he could detect the anomalies coming from a certain region of the void before the Black Ink Clan could do so.
[They’re coming again!]
Yang Kai had seen the same scene a year ago. There were some Universe Worlds coming over from the depths of the void at the speed of lightning as they hurtled towards the Royal City.
The last time he saw such a sight, the Universe Worlds radiated a dazzling glow as the arrays around them operated at full capacity.
The Universe Worlds were not so eye-catching this time; in fact, they were rather furtive. Apparently, the Array Masters had restricted the light from the arrays so that the Universe Worlds could remain hidden.
They were trying to catch the Black Ink Clan off guard; however, the three Universe Worlds were unable to harm the Black Ink Clan previously, so what about this time?
“What are you looking at, Sir?” Xiao Xiao asked curiously. She followed Yang Kai’s gaze and saw that there was an insect that was trying to struggle out of the spider web on the ceiling.
“Nothing,” Yang Kai lowered his head with a smile and continued with the lesson.
Meanwhile, the Universe Worlds, which were equipped with various arrays, skirted past the forward base and flew towards the Royal City.
Cha Pu, who was watching everything from the mountain, widened his eyes in disbelief and exclaimed, “Is that the trump card all of you have prepared?”
Li Xing, who was beside him, replied, “Yes.”
As Cha Pu gazed at the Universe Worlds and the place where the East-West Army was located, he gasped, “The soldiers and the Universe Worlds are flanking the enemy. The Black Ink Clan can’t possibly deal with both sides at the same time. That’s indeed an ingenious plan.”
It was no wonder that Mi Jing Lun regarded Xiang Shan highly. It seemed that the man indeed lived up to his fame.
The Universe Worlds were equipped with various arrays, so even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Cha Pu could feel the dangerous auras exuding from them. It could be expected that if these things smashed into the Black Ink Clan’s lines, many of them would lose their lives.
The only way to deal with these Universe Worlds was to destroy them before they could get close, which required the powerful Masters from the Black Ink Clan to make a move. But when they did so, the East-West Army could launch an attack and hit the Black Ink Clan’s exposed flank.
However, faced with this situation, could the Masters from the Black Ink Clan sit back and do nothing? That was impossible.
Furthermore, the timing was immaculate. The East-West Army was only 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City, so they could launch an attack at any moment, and there was no way the Black Ink Clan could ignore them.
They would have their hands full as they had to deal with an attack from two sides.
An idea suddenly sprang into Cha Pu’s mind. Since the East-West Army could use such a method to deal with the Black Ink Clan here, could the North-South Army imitate them?
However, he soon dismissed the idea and let out a sigh.
The North-South Army couldn’t do the same because Great Evolution Pass was different from the Royal City. Although the Royal City was the most important place for the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre, it didn’t have powerful defences or fortifications set up. Therefore, faced with the Universe Worlds, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t ignore them.
Great Evolution Pass was different as it was extremely sturdy. If the North-South Army wanted to do the same by leveraging Universe Worlds to attack the enemy, the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass could simply ignore them. Even if the Universe Worlds smashed into Great Evolution Pass, it was questionable if it would suffer any damage at all.
To the side, Li Xing explained, “In fact, we sent three Universe Worlds over one year ago.”
“Oh?” Cha Pu arched his brow, “What was the outcome?”
Li Xing replied, “It wasn’t effective. There are many Masters on the Black Ink Clan’s side. Before the Universe Worlds could get close to the Royal City, they were shattered.”
Upon hearing that, Cha Pu said, “Ineffectiveness was the outcome you all wanted to see, right?”
Li Xing nodded, “You’re indeed intelligent, Martial Uncle Cha.”
Cha Pu chuckled, “I’m afraid I don’t deserve your compliment. It seems that Senior Brother Xiang is indeed a far-sighted person.”
As they spoke, the Black Ink Clansmen from the Royal City had descended into chaos.
Although the lights and outward traces of the arrays were concealed, the Territory Lords could certainly detect the dangerous auras that were rapidly approaching.
They looked over intently and saw a number of Universe Worlds flying right at the Royal City.
Unlike the previous time, these Universe Worlds were not positioned in a straight line so they could already see three Universe Worlds with their bare eyes, and they believed there were even more would appear soon.
Che Kong gnashed his teeth, but after giving it a quick thought, he passed down a new order.
The next instant, more than 10 Territory Lords and over 20 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples shot into the sky and charged towards the Universe Worlds.
They had gone through the same incident one year ago, so they knew how to deal with these Universe Worlds; after all, they already had some experiences.
As long as they could shatter these Universe Worlds before they could get close, the Royal City wouldn’t be impacted one bit; however, back then, all the Masters from the Black Ink Clan had joined forces to easily ward off the three Universe Worlds.
This time, they could only utilise 30% of the manpower they previously had.
This couldn’t be helped, as the Humans’ fleet was too close to the Royal City and they appeared determined to launch an attack. There was no way Che Kong could ignore this threat. He had to keep 60% to 70% of his forces to deal with the Humans to ensure that they could keep the Royal City safe.
Violent energy fluctuations burst forth as different Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities burst forth. The moment these Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples made a move, they easily shattered the surrounding space.
None of them were fools, so they did not disperse their powers and instead focused on the Universe World at the front to destroy it first.
Based on their previous experience, they could easily turn a Universe World into dust by joining forces.
Nevertheless, after they made a move, they realised that this Universe World was different from the ones they had dealt with back then. It was far sturdier. Apparently, the Array Masters had reinforced the Universe World with arrays.
Therefore, after the first round of attacks, even though the Universe had broken into pieces, it didn’t explode into dust as they had expected.
Furthermore, the moment the Universe World came apart, rays of horrifying light were shot from the universe fragments towards the Royal City.
This was obviously a prearranged effect of these Spirit Arrays. Once the Universe World was attacked, the arrays would start running on their own.
It was very unlike what had happened previously.
The Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were caught off-guard, and although they had promptly made a move, they still couldn’t stop the universe fragments from raining down on the Royal City.
What’s more, there were still two complete Universe Worlds behind these fragments.
The Territory Lords roared and fully activated their powers. The Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples wouldn’t dare to hold back either and cast all the Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques they could use.
Seeing that, the Feudal Lords, who were the second layer of defence, quickly rose into the sky to assist them.
In just a cup of tea’s time, the Universe Worlds coming from the depths of the void were all shattered. What astonished the Black Ink Clan was that there were 10 Universe Worlds this time, which was more than three times as many Universe Worlds as a year ago.
Although they had destroyed all 10 Universe Worlds, they still couldn’t rest easy, for after every Universe World was shattered, the pre-set arrays on it would explode.
In order to fend off the powers of those arrays and falling universe fragments, several Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples became wounded while many Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples and Feudal Lords lost their lives. As for the High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, the losses there were even more significant. Upon receiving the order, they had to do their best to intercept the universe fragments that were falling towards the Royal City.
More and more of them lost their lives as their auras continuously withered.
Despite the Black Ink Clan’s best efforts though, they couldn’t possibly block or deflect all the universe fragments. Finally, there came a moment when a universe fragment crashed into the Universe World where the Royal City was located. The moment of impact, all the remaining Spirit Arrays on the universe fragment detonated and turned into a dazzling light that engulfed all the Black Ink Clansmen around it.
The moment the universe fragment crashed into the Universe World where the Royal City was located, all the Black Ink Clansmen froze.
Che Kong, who had remained in the centre of the Army as he had to prevent the Humans from invading the city, felt his face twitching.
All the Black Ink Clansmen appeared horrified.
They were not afraid that the Universe World where the Royal City was located would be destroyed. Although the universe fragment that crashed was huge, the Black Ink Clan had launched a series of attacks on it; hence, it wouldn’t cause tremendous damage to the Royal City.
They were also not concerned that the arrays on the universe fragment would explode and kill thousands of Black Ink Clansmen.
What they were afraid of was the impact that the crash would bring.
While all the Black Ink Clansmen were terrified, the dormant Will in the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest awakened.
It was the Royal Lord.
In the end, the Royal Lord, who had been recuperating, was alerted.
The Will scanned the entire Universe World and all the Black Ink Clansmen as though he was trying to find out what was going on. Soon after, burning fury exuded from his Will.
A million Black Ink Clansmen trembled like quails without a home in the winter.
The Royal Lord’s fury was obviously targeted at them, blaming them for their uselessness in allowing him to be disturbed when he was in a state of deep sleep.
All the Black Ink Clansmen knew what would happen when a person was interrupted when he was recuperating in a Black Ink Nest. All the progress the Royal Lord had in healing over the last year would now go to waste. That was why the Royal Lord was infuriated.
However, he didn’t give any orders; instead, he quickly slumbered off again.
In fact, he didn’t have time to give them instructions. To him, nothing was more important than his recovery. As long as he could make use of the Black Ink Nest’s power and restore his strength before the Human Old Ancestor did, he would gain the upper hand.
All the Black Ink Clansmen knew that such a thing could never happen again; otherwise, many people would lose their heads when the Royal Lord was done healing.
While they were still ill at ease, energy fluctuations could be felt coming from the Human Army on the left side of the Royal City as countless Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities were launched at them.
At that instant, lights of different colours illuminated the entire void as the horrifying bombardment flew towards the Royal City like a storm.
Every attack was equivalent to a move made by a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
The arrays and artifacts on the Warships were meant to maximize the Humans’ combat power; therefore, every attack sent out from a Warship was at least on par with what a Seventh-Order Master could produce.
Simultaneously, a massive number of the Divine Abilities cast by the Eighth-Order Division Commanders.
Che Kong roared as the 600,000 or so Black Ink Clansmen on the left of the Royal City intercepted those attacks.
Although the number of Black Ink Clan outnumbered the Humans 20 to 1, and they had fully activated their powers, they still couldn’t intercept all the attacks.
The rays of light clashed with the Black Ink Clan soldiers, and as the powers within the rays of light exploded, many lost their lives.
The Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, who were positioned on the right side of the Royal City to destroy the Universe Worlds, hurried over to provide assistance.
Since all the Universe Worlds had been shattered, the Humans no longer had a trump card; therefore, they wouldn’t have to keep an eye on the right flank any longer.
As the Humans had decided to launch an attack on the Royal City from the left flank, the Black Ink Clansmen were forced to engage in a life-and-death battle with them; however, the moment these Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples arrived, they were dumbfounded by what they saw.
As the lights of the Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities subsided, the Humans, who were supposed to be just 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City, had actually retreated under the cover of the explosions.
Moreover, they didn’t seem to have the intention of coming back as they were leaving in a hurry.
The Territory Lords were astounded.
Che Kong felt his fury burning in his chest like a volcano that was about to erupt. He was so vexed that he almost coughed up blood. Although he was unresigned, he didn’t dare to order a pursuit and was forced to watch the Human soldiers swagger away.
“Hahaha!” On the mountaintop, Cha Pu, who had witnessed everything, guffawed. He was so ecstatic that he almost cried tears of joy, “What a brilliant move! You all have deceived the Black Ink Clan. It’s indeed terrifying to deal with someone like Brother Xiang.”
He gave such a remark from the Black Ink Clan’s perspective.
Like the Black Ink Clan, he too believed that the East-West Army would make use of the Universe Worlds attack to launch an offensive against the Royal City; after all, it was indeed a good opportunity. Faced with such an emergency, about 30% of the Black Ink Clan’s forces had been forced to move to the right flank to deal with the incoming Universe Worlds. If the Humans had initiated an attack at that point, they would surely have gained the upper hand.
Furthermore, the Human soldiers on the Warships seemed ready to engage in an all-out battle with the Black Ink Clan then and there.
However, none of them could have expected that the East-West Army’s move was just a pretence. Although they appeared menacing by stopping just 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City, they only launched one salvo before running away.
They actually ran away, just like that!
Cha Pu wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.
It was like the Humans had arrived at the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep and slapped them in the face; then, before they could react, the Humans had scampered off. The Black Ink Clan was not even able to counterattack. Anyone would have felt extremely vexed if such an incident happened to them.
It was expected that the Territory Lords were not too happy at this moment.
With that said, such a surprising move was the best decision.
The Humans wouldn’t have suffered a setback if they had launched an attack on the Royal City at that point and could even deal a heavy blow to the enemy in a short time before withdrawing.
However, the Humans would inevitably suffer some losses that way. Moreover, the battlefield could be unpredictable. If the fight dragged on, the advantage they had gained by attacking the enemies with the Universe Worlds would gradually diminish. When that happened, they might not be able to retreat so easily.
There were a million Black Ink Clan soldiers, some 30 or so Territory Lords, and 2 to 3 times that amount of Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. That was more than the East-West Army could handle.
By launching one round of attacks and retreating, the Humans could still achieve their objective while preventing any losses.
This time, the Humans only pretended to have the intention of attacking the Royal City, their only goal was to strike the Black Ink Clan with the Universe Worlds, but what about next time, and the time after that?
With enough time and resources, the Humans could repeatedly use this tactic. On the other hand, as long as the Black Ink Clan couldn’t leave the Royal City, they could only passively defend.
Cha Pu was certain that if the Black Ink Clan diverted too many soldiers to intercept the Universe Worlds next time, the East-West Army wouldn’t mind launching an attack on the Royal City and catching them off guard.
The Black Ink Clan were aware of this as well, so as long as the East-West Army made a move, the majority of the Black Ink Clan would stay back to prevent any potential incursion.
However, with only 30% of their Army available to be mobilised, the Black Ink Clan might not be able to protect the Royal City from the Universe Worlds without suffering from any damage, as proven by what had happened earlier.
The Humans had only mobilised 10 Universe Worlds this time, but that wasn’t necessarily their limit.
Perhaps the Black Ink Clan would be greeted with 15 or even 20 Universe Worlds next time.
The East-West Army had devised a solid plan, and as long as they continued implementing it, it was just a matter of time before they could deal a crippling blow to the Royal City, if not destroy it outright.
Upon learning everything that he needed to know, Cha Pu said, “Martial Nephew, since the battle has ended, I’ll head back and report to Army Commander Mi.”
Li Xing was slightly surprised and asked, “Don’t you want to wait for Sir Xiang’s return, Martial Uncle?”
Cha Pu shook his head, “There’s no need for that. Please tell Senior Brother Xiang that the North-South Army will not let the efforts of all of you go to waste, nor will we allow the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass to come to this place.”
With a solemn expression, Li Xing nodded, “I’ll definitely pass on your words.”
The next instant, Cha Pu turned into a beam of light and shot off into the void.
Half a day later, all of the East-West Army had returned to the forward base.
On this day, the East-West Army had only launched one round of attacks and did nothing else. Without suffering any losses, they managed to kill some Black Ink Clansmen with the 10 Universe Worlds they had prepared.
Although they couldn’t get an exact count, the Commanders believed that in the end, they must have killed 50,000 to 60,000 Black Ink Clansmen.
Of course, such a number was insignificant compared to the million Black Ink Clansmen they were facing; furthermore, those who lost their lives were weaker Black Ink Clansmen. None of the Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were killed, while only a small number of Feudal Lords and Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, a few dozen at most, had perished. This kind of loss was negligible to the Black Ink Clan. It was nothing more than a flesh wound.
With that said, the casualties of the Black Ink Clan were not their biggest victory. They had achieved their main goal for launching the attack, which was to interrupt the Royal Lord’s recuperation.
After the last Universe World was shattered, a fragment crashed into the Universe World where the Royal City was located. Apparently, the Royal Lord had awakened upon impact. Although the Humans were millions of kilometres away from the Royal City, they could still detect the menacing Will.
The main goal of the East-West Army this time was to disturb the Royal Lord, killing Black Ink Clansmen came second.
Presently, both the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor were recuperating. The Royal Lord made use of the Black Ink Nest’s power while the Old Ancestor had Yang Kai’s Small Universe. It could be said that both of them had external aids.
Therefore, the person who could recover quicker would gain the upper hand.
Those from the East-West Army couldn’t help the Old Ancestor recover, so they could only set their eyes on the Royal Lord, who could never have thought that the Humans would harass him while he was recuperating inside the Black Ink Nest.
Although they didn’t kill many Black Ink Clansmen, they had attained significant achievements this time.
Presently, the East-West Army couldn’t attack the Royal City because there was a huge gap between their collective powers. By using such tactics, the Humans could gradually shorten the gap and wait for a suitable chance before they launched a real strike on the Royal City. The Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be able to deal with them by then.
This was a long process that couldn’t be rushed.
Better yet, even faced with this provocation, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t dare to make a move despite technically having superior forces.
They had to protect the Royal City, for once they moved out of position, the East-West Army would have a chance to invade the Royal City and destroy the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Therefore, even though they had figured out the Humans’ plan, they still didn’t have a way to deal with it.
The Royal City was like a rope that tied all these Black Ink Clan soldiers to the spot, rendering them immovable. Faced with the Humans’ moves, they couldn’t take the initiative to launch an attack as they could only passively defend the city. It seemed it was fated that they would be led by the nose in this war.
This long-term plan that the leaders of the East-West Army had devised would require a lot of resources.
Besides the fact that all 30,000 Humans needed resources to cultivate, they would also need a massive amount of resources to build the arrays on the Universe Worlds.
Without sufficient resources, those arrays wouldn’t be useful.
There was no doubt that Xiang Shan, as the Army Commander, was an expert in military affairs. This was proven after he was put in charge of the East-West Army; however, Liu Zhi Ping soon realised that he was a spendthrift who didn’t seem to be aware that resources were hard to come by.
In the initial stage of the East-West Army, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders from different Great Passes had brought with them a large amount of resources to provision the campaign.
It could be said that when the East-West Army was being built in Wind and Cloud Pass back then, they had an enormous amount of resources. The higher-ups had made a calculation and concluded that the resources were more than enough for all 30,000 cultivators in the East-West Army to use for 300 years, and there would still be something left over.
300 years was thought to be sufficient for them to retake Great Evolution Pass. As long as Great Evolution Pass was retaken, they wouldn’t have to worry about a lack of resources any longer.
But in fact, resources that were supposed to be enough for 30,000 people to use for 100 years were squandered away by Xiang Shan in just two to three years.
Upon learning that, Liu Zhi Ping was so frustrated that she almost passed out. After giving it a thought, it was obvious where the resources had gone.
A while ago, Xiang Shan told the Artifact Refiners to craft several tens of thousands of puppets to be sent to Great Evolution Pass in order to attract the Black Ink Clan’s attention. Those puppets were all destroyed by the Black Ink Clan.
Now, they had to arrange tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand arrays on each of the 13 Universe Worlds that were thrown at the Royal City.
All of those projects required a lot of resources.
Regardless of how many resources they brought with them, it wouldn’t last long given Xiang Shan’s wanton spending.
Xiang Shan was the epitome of a man who had no qualms about killing or spending money like water.
This man, who had been dormant for 3,000 years and eventually returned to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, had both qualities.
Liu Zhi Ping was no match for Xiang Shan when it came to her aptitude in warfare; therefore, since the East-West Army departed from Wind and Cloud Pass, Xiang Shan had been the one who made all the decisions. Liu Zhi Ping only assisted him from the side by analysing the pros and cons of each plan.
But this Army Commander of the Western Army was a woman at the end of the day, so she was naturally an expert in doing accounts and keeping a house in order, which was shown in how delicious the steamed stuffed buns that she made in the Marketplace back in Yin-Yang Pass were.
Therefore, she directly decided to take control of the East-West Army’s finances.
Now, all 30,000 soldiers in the East-West Army faced a conundrum.
At the rate they were using them, the resources they had could only last them 10 years.
None of them could have expected that the first problem they faced in their mission to retake Great Evolution Pass would be about resources; after all, the resources sent to them from various Great Passes were supposedly enough to last them 300 years. They had speculated on what sorts of problems they might face except for the lack of resources.
Without resources, they wouldn’t be able to cultivate, and the damaged Warships couldn’t be repaired, not to mention that their plan to attack the Royal City with Universe Worlds would have to be stopped.
Therefore, the first thing Liu Zhi Ping did after she took control of resource management was to order the soldiers to begin mining the nearby Universe Worlds.
It seemed that the Black Ink Clan was determined to defend the Royal City, so they wouldn’t initiate an attack; therefore, those in the East-West Army would have enough time and energy to do such a thing.
It wasn’t hard for the Humans to extract resources.
They just had to look for suitable Universe Worlds in the void and use the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors to move those Universe Worlds back to somewhere near the forward base. That way, they could extract resources easily without spreading their manpower over too wide an area.
There were 30,000 soldiers in the East-West Army. Even if they took turns, they could mobilise about 10,000 people at any given time. Hence, resource extraction would be very efficient. It would only take them 10 days to half a month to mine out a Universe World.
The teams responsible for searching for suitable Universe Worlds to mine could also look out for Universe Worlds that could be kept and turned into weapons to attack the Royal City with. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
Therefore, when Yang Kai looked out of his Small Universe, he soon saw shattered Universe Worlds in the void after they were fully mined as well as the people busy mining new Universe Worlds.
10 years had passed since he arrived at this village at the bottom of the mountain.
Of course, that was the amount of time that had gone by in his Small Universe. In fact, only two and a half years had passed in the outside world.
To a successful cultivator, 10 years was a very short time, but to an ordinary mortal, 10 years was an appreciable amount of their lifetime.
The World Energy in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was ample, with rich vitality and a peaceful environment. Even ordinary mortals could live up to 100 years without too many problems. Some mortals lived up to 150 years old.
However, to the hunter and his wife, they had reached the middle stage of their lives.
The arrival of Xiao Xiao let them enjoy the happiness of raising a child as they didn’t have one of their own. They had thus given all their love and attention to this Daughter of theirs.
There was no doubt that Xiao Xiao was intelligent as she could learn anything fast. At school, she would always be praised by the teacher.
She was also a filial child who would always help her Mother do some household chores and follow her Father to go hunting.
The couple had no more regrets in life as they already had such a wonderful Daughter.
However, what concerned them was that Xiao Xiao hadn’t grown one bit due to the illness she had since she was younger.
When the hunter picked her up from the log house on the mountain, she looked like she was only three to four years old; now, 10 years had passed, but Xiao Xiao hadn’t changed one bit. She didn’t look like the other kids her age who were now in their teens.
While the hunter was grateful to the Heavens that they were blessed with a child, he and his Wife also prayed for mercy and hoped that they would be punished in Xiao Xiao’s stead as long as she could grow up to be a healthy person.
However, their prayers were unanswered.
To be precise, it wasn’t the right time yet.
Others had no idea what was wrong with Xiao Xiao’s body, but Yang Kai had somewhat figured it out.
The Old Ancestor’s recovery this time was quite odd. Not only did she seal off her own memory, but she also instinctively stopped Yang Kai from concealing her whereabouts.
It seemed that she had the intention of truly becoming a part of this Bustling World, with a local identity and all.
The couple’s child was her identity.
Yang Kai speculated that the reason she hadn’t changed one bit after 10 years was that it had something to do with her injury. Before she recovered, her body would not change; in other words, when she started growing, that would mean that she was on the mend.
Yang Kai felt that it was such a shame. He had secretly examined the Old Ancestor’s body, but he couldn’t discover any kind of injury. Perhaps the Old Ancestor had concealed her wounds using a Secret Technique.
This couldn’t be rushed. The Old Ancestor must have gone all out to deal with the Royal Lord, so she must be terribly injured. It was expected that it would take her quite some time to recover.
It was a small village with only a dozen or so families living here. They were all kind-hearted hunters, and the neighbours would always help each other out; however, in this Bustling World, it was expected that there were devious people out there.
The anomaly with Xiao Xiao’s body eventually caused trouble for her.
Yang Kai had already detected it, but he decided to ignore it. Since the Old Ancestor had to experience life in this Bustling World to recuperate, it would be beneficial to her if she could go through some of the things ordinary mortals would experience.
There were still a little more than 10 kids in the small classroom. The first batch of children had grown up and stopped studying here. They had returned to their homes to help their families earn a living. These kids were the new batch of students.
Xiao Xiao was still one of the students and her appearance didn’t look different from those of the other kids. Nevertheless, after all these years, she was now just as capable and intelligent as the other teenagers.
Therefore, she was like the teacher’s assistant now. Whenever the teacher became dazed and stared off into space, she would be the one who taught the kids how to read and write.
Every morning, she would come over to help him out for two hours, then she would follow her Father to go hunting.
With the book in her hand, she told the kids to repeat after her. Then, she took a glance at the teacher, who was asleep on a chair with a book covering his face, and sighed in a way as though she was a mature person.
The teacher was too indolent. She revered him when she was a child because he would always give her some delicious food; however, as time passed, she eventually discovered the teacher’s true colours.
The light was shaded at the door all of a sudden, and the kids stopped reading out loud. Xiao Xiao turned her head and saw two people standing at the door.
One of them prompted her to frown as a look of disgust appeared on her face.
This couldn’t be helped, as the person was a hunter who lived in a village that was 30 kilometres away. She and her Father came across this person on the mountain on multiple occasions. The last time they ran into him was several days ago. They were chasing after the same prey at the same time; in the end, Xiao Xiao was agile enough to kill it first with an arrow. However, that person insisted that he was the one who discovered the prey. Left with no choice, Xiao Xiao’s Father had to share half of the prey with him, and the matter was settled.
It wasn’t the first time such a thing happened. The other hunters in the village had also experienced this before.
The hunters wouldn’t have given in if that person were just any other commoner; however, Xiao Xiao heard from her Father that this hunter had a relative who cultivated in Water Moon Pavilion. He held a pretty important position, so the average person wouldn’t dare to offend him.
Therefore, the hunters could only hold their fury down and let this person throw his weight around.
It wasn’t certain what this person was in the school for, and the man beside him looked a little unusual. He was unlike the other hunters who had rough and tan skin from working under the sun all day. Instead, he was somewhat similar to the teacher. They both gave off a strange feeling.
Xiao Xiao couldn’t tell what this feeling was; however, the first time she saw the teacher, she had a feeling that he was different from others.
“It’s her!” The hunter pointed at Xiao Xiao, “Look, Uncle Wen Yuan. This girl must be a Spirit!”
The word ‘Spirit’ made Xiao Xiao feel furious.
In the past, the kids in the village would secretly call her Spirit because she never grew up, but she was unusually strong. Despite the fact that she only looked like she was three or four years old, she could follow the adults to go hunting. Sometimes, she could get even more prey than the adults.
However, after the adults disciplined them, the village kids never dared to call her that again.
Although the kids had stopped calling her that, the name had spread to other places.
The hunters in the neighbouring villages were aware that there was a girl who never grew in size here. Despite her petite figure, she was skilful in hunting and could always get more prey than many of the experienced hunters.
When Xiao Xiao and her Father came across other hunters from the other villages, they would look at her with curious glances; however, only this deplorable guy would call her a Spirit right to her face.
The person, whom the hunter called Uncle Wen Yuan, was a fair-skinned and tall young man. He was clad in a green robe, and standing beside the young man, the rough-looking hunter looked like a chicken beside a swan.
From the looks alone, the hunter appeared to be the older one, but in reality, the young man was his Elder.
As a cultivator, the young-looking man was constantly nurtured by World Energy, so he didn’t age at the same rate as a mortal would.
He swept a glance over Xiao Xiao and shook his head.
Although the young girl in front of him was adorable, she didn’t exude any Evil Qi. It was obvious that she wasn’t a Spirit. He was confident in his ability to make such a judgement; after all, he was fairly powerful now after years of cultivating.
Seeing that the young man shook his head, the hunter said anxiously, “Uncle Wen Yuan, don’t be fooled by her appearance. Although she looks like she’s three years old, she already looked like this 10 years ago. No one knows how old she really is! Perhaps she’s a very old Spirit. It’s said that powerful Spirits are able to assume Human forms.”
Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but bare her teeth at the hunter. The moment she was called an old Spirit, she was furious for some reason. She had the urge to tear his mouth apart. It wasn’t certain why, but she seemed sensitive to the word ‘old’.
“Oh?” Wen Yuan arched his brow, “She already looked like this 10 years ago?”
“It’s true.” The hunter nodded repeatedly, “Everyone around this area knows this. You can ask around.”
Wen Yuan stroked his chin, “That’s interesting.”
When he heard his Nephew say that there was a Spirit in this place, he decided to come over to have a look as he had a duty to kill off harmful beings that might disrupt the world. If there was really a Spirit, he could just kill her with his sword; however, the moment he saw the little girl, he knew that she wasn’t a Spirit.
Even the most successful Spirit couldn’t perfectly conceal their Evil Qi, unless their power vastly exceeded his own.
He was now an Origin King, so a Spirit would need to be in the Dao Source Realm, at the very least, to deceive him.
Such Spirits were incredibly rare across the entire Void Continent, so how was it possible that there was one in this remote village?
With that said, when he learned that the little girl had remained the same for the past 10 years, he grew curious.
Just when he was about to ask the little girl if he could examine her, he felt a shadow engulfing him from behind.
When he turned around, he saw a stout woman with a chubby face who was glaring at him.
Behind the stout woman stood over 10 hunters and their Wives with bows and farm tools in their hands. They didn’t look very friendly.
It was a small village, so they could easily see that a hunter from another village had brought a young man with him as they stood in front of the classroom door. It was apparent that they were up to no good.
No one had to shout to inform everyone about it. The moment the adults from this village saw it, they came over in a hurry.
The hunter from the other village felt timid when he saw so many people glaring at him, but as he recalled that he had a powerful backer with him, he straightened up and stared back provocatively at them.
“Is something the matter, Madam?” Wen Yuan asked curiously as he gazed at the furious stout woman.
With a grim expression, the stout woman landed a slap on his shoulder and replied, “Nothing is wrong. I just want to know what you’re doing here.”
Although she had exerted a lot of force with her hand, she realised that the thin-looking young man was completely unfazed. There wasn’t even a look of pain on his face.
She was confident that she could have broken a piece of wood with such strength.
Suddenly realising something, she glanced at the young man with a solemn expression as she decided to push him away instead. The young man played along by stepping aside.
The stout woman stepped into the classroom and turned around. Her burly figure was like a tower that fended off all the rain and wind from her Daughter.
Behind her, Xiao Xiao stuck out her head and pointed at the hunter, “Mother, that guy called me a Spirit.”
The stout woman glowered at the hunter and snapped, “You’re a bastard, Zhang Gen! Are you sick of living? What right do you have to call my Daughter a Spirit? I think you and your family members are the actual Spirits instead!”
The hunter named Zhang Gen said smugly, “How dare a peasant like you make a scene in front of a senior expert from Water Moon Pavilion! My Uncle will find out if she’s a Spirit.”
“He’s from Water Moon Pavilion?” The stout woman turned to look at Wen Yuan. Earlier, she had speculated that the person was a cultivator, and now it seemed to be the case. Regardless, she couldn’t appear to be weak as she said grimly, “So what if he’s a senior expert from Water Moon Pavilion? That doesn’t mean you can defame my daughter.”
Cultivation wasn’t a secret to the common man on the Void Continent, and although no one in this village had cultivated before, they had at least heard about it.
Therefore, the stout woman wasn’t afraid even though someone from Water Moon Pavilion was right in front of her.
Wen Yuan put on a helpless smile, “Please calm down, Madam. I’ve never said that this child is a Spirit.”
The stout woman glared at him, “What are you doing here, then?”
Wen Yuan was rendered speechless. The reason he was here was that he had to be cautious by ascertaining if the girl was a Spirit. Now, it was hard for him to explain himself.
After giving it a thought, he replied, “Madam, I’m sure that your Daughter has drawn a lot of criticism over the years because she’s thought to be a Spirit; otherwise, you wouldn’t have become so angered today. I am a Deacon from Water Moon Pavilion, and although I’m not among the most powerful cultivators in my Sect, I’m confident in my vision and judgement. I hope that you’ll allow me to examine this child’s body. I’m sure that it will have a positive impact on this child if I can confirm that she’s not a Spirit, and others will stop calling her that. What do you think?”
Initially, the stout woman was displeased with Wen Yuan, but after what he said, her expression turned milder.
Regardless of anything else, this cultivator didn’t try to oppress them with his strength. Instead, he looked like a kind-hearted and reasonable person by offering to help.
She wouldn’t have given in if this person were mannerless; however, since he had spoken politely, she couldn’t just rebuff him.
With that said, she shook her head, “Xiao Xiao is not a Spirit. I’ve been raising her for 10 years, so I’m fully aware of that. She needs no examination.”
[Even if she was a Spirit, who cares? She’s my beloved Daughter, and no one can humiliate her.]
Surprisingly, the moment she finished speaking, Xiao Xiao pulled the stout woman’s clothes and lifted her face, “Mother, I’d like to be examined.”
The stout woman looked down at her and crouched down. With a benevolent expression, she asked, “Why do you want to be examined? You’re the best child in the world.”
Xiao Xiao turned to look at Wen Yuan, “What if anyone still calls me a Spirit after you examine me and confirm that I’m not?”
With a solemn expression, Wen Yuan replied, “I’m sure my judgment will trump all the rumours.”
As an Origin King, he had full confidence in his authority.
Xiao Xiao nodded, “Go ahead, then.”
With a smile, Wen Yuan said, “Show me your hand.”
Xiao Xiao obediently extended her hand. Wen Yuan stuck out two fingers and felt her pulse before circulating his Saint Qi to examine her.
A moment later, a myriad of expressions came over his face.
The stout woman was extremely nervous as she was worried that the young man would say something that might harm her Daughter’s reputation. She secretly decided that if this guy dared to say something unpleasant, she would give him a punch in the face and break his teeth.
It only took Wen Yuan a little effort to examine the little girl, but his expression was somewhat awkward.
With her head lifted, Xiao Xiao asked, “Am I a Spirit?”
Wen Yuan shook his head, “No.”
In an instant, Xiao Xiao stared at the hunter named Zhang Gen, who was standing at the door, “Did you hear that? If you dare call me that again, I’ll shoot you with my arrows!”
An anxious Zhang Gen said, “Uncle, please look carefully. There must be something off about this girl.”
Upon hearing that, Wen Yuan, who was busy with his own thoughts, turned to look at Zhang Gen with a solemn expression and declared, “I have determined she is not a Spirit, so stop slandering her like this from now on.”
Zhang Gen had never expected the helper he had found would clear the annoying little girl’s name instead. At that instant, he could only remain silent in embarrassment. Wen Yuan was his Elder as well as a cultivator, so he couldn’t disobey him.
The stout woman and the hunter outside the classroom breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
“What’s your name, little girl?” Wen Yuan gazed at Xiao Xiao with an amiable expression.
Xiao Xiao replied, “Mother named me Xiao Xiao.”
“Xiao Xiao…” Wen Yuan nodded gently.
Just then, the stout woman said sheepishly, “Sir, since you’re a cultivator, can you tell what’s wrong with Xiao Xiao’s body? Why hasn’t she grown over the years?”
She had asked Doctor Cai about it, but the latter only said that it was due to the illness Xiao Xiao had suffered from when she was younger, so it was incurable. Since Wen Yuan was a powerful cultivator though, perhaps he had a solution.
After pondering on it for a moment, Wen Yuan replied, “There’s nothing wrong with her body. As for why she has never grown in size, I have no idea. However, she might have the aptitude to cultivate.”
“Huh?” The stout woman was astounded.
The hunter outside the classroom appeared agitated.
He had a dream of becoming a cultivator when he was young, and he had taken part in the Disciple Recruitment of Water Moon Pavilion; however, he was eliminated quite early on in the process as he didn’t have the necessary aptitude.
After his dream was crushed, he returned to his hometown and became a hunter.
Upon learning from Wen Yuan that Xiao Xiao might have the aptitude to cultivate, he was naturally excited.
The reason Wen Yuan insisted on examining Xiao Xiao after already confirming that she wasn’t a Spirit was that he felt she might have an extraordinary aptitude.
Nevertheless, he wouldn’t dare to make a quick judgement when it came to this matter, so it required further examination.
Although he had already checked, he still couldn’t confirm if Xiao Xiao had an extraordinary aptitude or not. That was why he said she ‘might’ have the aptitude to become a cultivator. It was because after the examination, he realised that Xiao Xiao’s aptitude was somewhat odd. It seemed that she had an excellent aptitude, but it also felt as if she had a terrible aptitude. He had never come across such a strange situation before.
“Xiao Xiao might have the aptitude to cultivate?” The stout woman was dumbfounded.
Wen Yuan said cautiously, “I can’t make a judgement yet. Perhaps I don’t have good enough insight when it comes to such matters. En, how about I return to my Sect now and ask an Elder to come over and look into it. That way, we’ll be able to come to a conclusion.”
The next instant, he turned around and left the classroom before disappearing into the sky.
He was certainly an efficient and decisive person.
1,000 years ago, the Void Dao Temple appeared out of nowhere and sent a shockwave across all cultivators on the continent.
Before the appearance of the Void Dao Temple, the cultivators on the continent believed that the Emperor Realm was the peak of the Martial Dao. Any Sect with an Emperor Realm Master assuming command could be considered First Class. If there were two Emperor Realm Masters in charge, it could be considered a top Sect.
However, there were not a lot of Emperor Realm Masters at the time, perhaps 20 or so public figures, while those known as Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters were even rarer.
Therefore, in the past, cultivators believed that the Emperor Realm was the end of the Martial Dao, and it became every cultivator’s dream to reach this highest Realm.
Nevertheless, only those Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters had a feeling that there was an even higher Realm above the Emperor Realm. Unfortunately, regardless of how hard they tried, they were unable to spy upon the secrets above the Emperor Realm.
Suddenly, there came a day when the World Energy on the Void Continent changed drastically. No one knew why such a change took place, but all the cultivators benefited from it.
More and more people gained the aptitude to cultivate, and many more talents and geniuses were born. At the same time, there was a dramatic increase in the number of Emperor Realm Masters.
Even the cultivators who had low aptitude before seemed able to reach higher heights now.
It was a few hundred years later that the Void Dao Temple appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t until then that the cultivators on the Void Continent realised that the Emperor Realm wasn’t the end of the Martial Dao. After reaching the peak of an Emperor Realm, one could condense a Dao Seal from their own Grand Dao, then refine the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements and split Heaven and Earth apart within their body to create their own Small Universe.
Doing so allowed one to reach the Open Heaven Realm!
Upon that revelation, the people who had been stuck in the Emperor Realm for a long time became excited as they yearned to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm one day.
The secret to splitting Heaven and Earth apart and creating a Small Universe in a cultivator’s body was inside the Void Dao Temple, so as long as they could step into it, they would have a chance to reach a greater height in the Martial Dao.
However, not everyone had the right to enter the Void Dao Temple. To all the cultivators on the continent, the Dao Temple was like a Holy Land, and it was very selective when it came to a cultivator’s aptitude, caring nothing for one’s Realm.
Perhaps a little girl in the Initial Element Stage, who was considered a mere newborn in cultivation, would be accepted into the Dao Temple to continue cultivating.
On the other hand, a grey-haired Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, who had been stuck in the same Realm for countless years, might not have a chance to get close to the Dao Temple regardless of how hard he tried.
Time and location didn’t matter when the Dao Temple selected cultivators. This Holy Land seemed like a self-contained world with a mind of its own, so as long as a cultivator was talented enough, he or she would be accepted into the Dao Temple by a mysterious force.
Therefore, in the early days after the Void Dao Temple appeared, the people on the continent could frequently see some cultivators being invited to the Dao Temple.
These cultivators who were accepted came from various Sects across the continent.
To the Sects that had nurtured such cultivators, the Dao Temple would reward them. The rewards were good news to the experienced Emperor Realm Masters who were unable to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
That was because the rewards given by the Dao Temple included the way to condense a Dao Seal and refine the Powers of the Seven Elements into them. There were also a lot of common cultivation resources that could be used by the disciples of those Sects.
1,000 years had passed, so the Sects on the continent had gotten used to the existence of the Void Dao Temple, and they had acknowledged that it was the most important place in this World.
It was every Sect’s goal to nurture a disciple who would have the right to be accepted into the Dao Temple; therefore, these Sects were fervent when it came to recruiting talented young disciples. If they could get a disciple with an extraordinary aptitude, that would be wonderful news for the entire Sect.
That was the reason Wen Yuan returned to his Sect in a hurry.
Despite being an Origin King, he was unable to identify whether Xiao Xiao had an excellent aptitude or not; therefore, he had to invite an Elder to come over and have a look.
If they could get a disciple who would be accepted by the Dao Temple, Water Moon Pavilion’s status on the continent would be greatly enhanced.
Water Moon Pavilion wasn’t a major Sect. The Sect Master, who was the most powerful among them, was only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, and the Elders were only in the Dao Source Realm.
Such a Sect would have been considered outstanding 1,000 years ago, but it was too mediocre these days.
It was 800 years ago when the last disciple from Water Moon Pavilion was invited to the Void Dao Temple, and the massive amount of cultivation resources given to them as a reward hugely benefited the disciples of Water Moon Pavilion. The leaders of the Sect still couldn’t forget about that time.
Over the years, they had been trying to take on disciples with amazing aptitude, but their attempts so far had been futile.
After Wen Yuan was gone, the hunter named Zhang Gen wouldn’t dare to stick around. Embarrassed, he ran away as the stout woman cursed at him. The stout woman’s Husband wanted to humiliate Zhang Gen, so he shot an arrow at the latter as he was running away. The arrow skirted past Zhang Gen, which caused him to scream and tumble to the ground.
The people behind him laughed at him.
It wasn’t until this moment that the teacher, who had been lying on the chair with a book covering his eyes, awakened. When he saw so many people outside the classroom, he asked Xiao Xiao in puzzlement, “What are they doing here? What happened?”
An exasperated Xiao Xiao glowered at the teacher, “You should just keep sleeping, sir.”
The teacher scratched his head while appearing perplexed.
The cultivators from Water Moon Pavilion were quick, probably because taking on disciples was an important matter to them. Wen Yuan soon returned to Water Moon Pavilion and found the Elder closest to him. Upon learning what was going on, the Elder rushed over to the village.
Only one hour had passed since Wen Yuan left the village; therefore, when Xiao Xiao was done having her breakfast and was ready to follow her Father to go hunting, two figures descended from the sky and landed in front of their door.
One of them was Wen Yuan, and the other was an amiable-looking elderly man whose face radiated a healthy glow.
“Is it this child?” The old man saw Xiao Xiao the moment he landed on the ground.
Wen Yuan nodded, “Yes, it’s her.”
With a curious look, the Elder said, “Even you were unable to see through her aptitude, so there might be something special about this girl. I’ll have a look.”
Wen Yuan glanced at the hunter and the stout woman, then said, “This is an Elder from Water Moon Pavilion. I invited him to come over and take a look at Xiao Xiao’s aptitude. Please rest assured that she won’t be harmed in any way.”
The hunter nodded gently, “Many thanks for the effort.”
Upon getting the hunter’s permission, the Elder said to Xiao Xiao, “Little girl, show me your hand.”
Wen Yuan had done the same thing to her before, so Xiao Xiao directly extended her hand.
The old man stuck out two fingers and felt her pulse. As he ran his fingers through his beard, he focused on examining her.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and gazed at Xiao Xiao, “Little girl, are you willing to join Water Moon Pavilion?”
Xiao Xiao directly shook her head, “No.”
The old man was surprised. He initially thought that since he had said so, the little girl would readily accept his invitation; after all, most mortals yearned to be cultivators.
It never crossed his mind that the young girl would directly turn him down.
This had never happened to him before.
Nevertheless, she was just a young child who didn’t know the benefits of becoming a cultivator, so after giving it a thought, he asked, “Why don’t you want to join our Sect?”
Xiao Xiao turned to look at the couple, “I want to be with my Father and Mother. I don’t want to leave them.”
Upon hearing that, the couple felt warmth in their hearts.
The Elder nodded gently, “I see. However, you’ll grow up one day. It’s not possible that you can stay with your parents forever.”
Xiao Xiao tilted her head, “I don’t want to grow up, then. That way, I won’t be separated from my Father and Mother.”
The couple felt their hearts melting, thinking that they had no more regrets in life by having such a Daughter.
The Elder broke into laughter and thought that this child was indeed innocent.
Regardless, he kept persuading her by saying, “How are you going to provide for your parents when they grow old if you don’t want to grow up?”
“I can go hunting!” Xiao Xiao lifted the petite bow in her hand. It was specifically made for her by the hunter.
The old man shook his head, “You might fall into danger one day by frequently wandering around on the mountain; moreover, the amount of prey on the mountain is not infinite. However, if you can cultivate, you won’t have to hunt with a bow and arrows. You can easily capture prey by using a Secret Technique. When you’re able to fly, you can go around the continent and take in different views. You’ll have a brighter future that way. Isn’t that better than if you stay in this village?”
There was no doubt that his reasons were sound, but Xiao Xiao still shook her head.
The Elder wasn’t in a rush. Although he was speaking to Xiao Xiao, he knew that her parents would be the ones who would make a decision. Despite the little girl’s lack of interest in cultivation, it was apparent that her parents were tempted.
As parents, they certainly wanted the best for their child’s future. The right to cultivate was the best gift anyone on the Void Continent could have.
Therefore, he wasn’t only reasoning with Xiao Xiao but also her parents. He believed that the couple would make the right choice.
He decided to stop persuading her and passed her something, “Take this. When you decide to start cultivating one day, you can burn it. Someone will come over to pick you up.”
Upon finishing his words, he turned around and left.
Wen Yuan cupped his fist at the couple, then left with the Elder.
After leaving the village, Wen Yuan asked, “Elder, does the child really have an extraordinary aptitude?”
The Elder shook his head, “It’s embarrassing to admit, but I can’t see through her either.”
Wen Yuan was astounded, “You can’t see through her aptitude?” Then, he asked in puzzlement, “In that case, why did you decide to take her on?”
The Elder chuckled, “That’s exactly the reason I have to recruit her. Since we can’t see it through, we can only let her prove her worth. If her aptitude is truly excellent, we’ll gain a gifted disciple. However, if her aptitude is terrible, we won’t lose anything but a few resources.”
Upon hearing his reason, Wen Yuan replied, “You’re indeed intelligent, Elder.”
He was still in a dilemma over the little girl’s aptitude, but the Elder had already come up with a solution. Regardless of whether the young girl had an amazing aptitude or not, they just had to accept her into their Sect. They would find out the truth in the future.
As long as she was a part of Water Moon Pavilion, her aptitude would no longer matter.
After the Elder and Wen Yuan were gone, Xiao Xiao looked down at the thing in her hand. It was an incense stick that didn’t look special at all, but it was significantly shorter than the commonly seen incense sticks as it was only as long as an adult’s finger. Moreover, it seemed that half of it had been burned.
[Only half of it is left. That old man is stingy. How could he give me something that someone else had used before?]
Xiao Xiao eventually decided to join Water Moon Pavilion.
She wasn’t willing to part ways with her parents, but a conversation with her Father changed her mind.
When she became a successful cultivator who could fly freely through the sky, not only could she take in all the different sights of the continent, but she would also be able to enjoy all kinds of rare delicacies from all over the world.
Her Father had explored different parts of the world when he was young, and his descriptions of the food that Xiao Xiao had never heard of before were very tempting to her.
She was unable to resist enjoying delicious food.
Therefore, she decided to become a part of Water Moon Pavilion in the end. Her thinking was simple; she just had to cultivate in the Sect for several years and come back. By then, she wouldn’t have to be separated from her parents again. Furthermore, when she became a successful cultivator, she could bring her parents to different places and buy them delicious food.
Despite being reluctant to part ways with Xiao Xiao, the couple kept their emotions to themselves as they wanted the best for their child’s future.
The incense stick, with only half of it left, was lit, and soon, Wen Yuan rushed over from Water Moon Pavilion and picked Xiao Xiao up.
Watching the petite figure, who had stayed with them for the past 10 years, leave, the stout woman squatted and broke into tears. The hunter came over to console her, but his eyes had reddened as well.
Standing in front of the school, Yang Kai felt somewhat speechless as he looked up.
If Xiao Xiao wanted to cultivate, he could have taught her; however, considering the fact that the Old Ancestor was here to recuperate, it would be good to let her live freely to experience the Bustling World as a mortal would. Therefore, Yang Kai had never thought about teaching Xiao Xiao how to cultivate.
It never crossed his mind that those from Water Moon Pavilion would have a hand in this.
He didn’t find it appropriate to interfere though, so he decided to watch in silence.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was certain that Xiao Xiao’s future performance would shock those from Water Moon Pavilion.
She was an Old Ancestor, after all. Although she had sealed off her memory, her aptitude in cultivation could never be concealed. Wen Yuan and the Elder couldn’t see it through because their vision was simply too limited to understand what they were seeing.
The secrets within the Old Ancestor’s body were far beyond what they could comprehend.
Those from Water Moon Pavilion were unable to judge if Xiao Xiao had an extraordinary aptitude; therefore, even though Wen Yuan had invited her to the Sect, he just let her cultivate along with the other new disciples with no special treatment for her.
These new disciples ranged from 7 to 10 years old, so Xiao Xiao seemed to be the youngest as she looked like she was only 3 years old.
Xiao Xiao suffered a huge setback at the start of her cultivation journey, but it had nothing to do with her aptitude.
Since she was a child, she had never been separated from her parents; therefore, she wasn’t used to it as her parents were no longer by her side. Water Moon Pavilion was far away from her village, so whenever she thought about her parents at night, she would secretly weep.
This kind of melancholy stayed with her for an entire month.
Although Yang Kai could easily settle this issue, he decided to sit back and watch.
That was because he had discovered something interesting. Xiao Xiao, who had never grown in size for the past 10 years, grew a little three days after she arrived at Water Moon Pavilion.
The growth was so negligible that even her parents wouldn’t have noticed it, but it wasn’t hard for Yang Kai to.
The revelation allowed him to relax.
Based on his previous observation, the reason the Old Ancestor hadn’t changed one bit over the years was that her injury was too severe. Her body was currently using all its power to treat her wounds, which was the reason she never grew bigger.
Once she started growing, that would mean that she was truly starting to recover.
Therefore, the moment Yang Kai noticed this, he knew that the Old Ancestor was fine and it was just a matter of time before she would fully recover.
This kind of change couldn’t just be a coincidence; otherwise, it wouldn’t have happened at this exact moment.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that it was because the Old Ancestor had been living in the village for far too long, but after an investigation, he realised it wasn’t the case.
This kind of change had nothing to do with where she lived, be it the village or Water Moon Pavilion, it had to do with her emotions.
After leaving her parents and the village she had lived in for the past 10 years, she was overwhelmed by a myriad of new emotions. That was the reason that prompted her to start growing.
Parting with one’s loved ones was something everyone in the Bustling World had to experience.
Yang Kai had never expected that such a change would take place after Xiao Xiao joined Water Moon Pavilion, but it seemed that he was right to refrain from interfering in this matter.
Now, it seemed that it would be useful to the Old Ancestor’s recuperation to let her experience more of life.
Xiao Xiao went on to be dejected for a month, but at the same time, she started showing her remarkable aptitude in cultivation.
In just half a month, she had successfully sensed World Energy and drawn it into her body. Since then, she had set off on the Martial Dao and was now a budding cultivator.
Wen Yuan, who had been secretly observing her, was thrilled and promptly told the Elder about it.
The Elder was a much calmer person and simply told Wen Yuan to keep observing Xiao Xiao. They would only make a decision based on her future performance.
Two months later, Xiao Xiao successfully achieved a breakthrough and ascended to the Initial Element Stage.
After another two months, she made it to the Qi Transformation Stage.
Another two months later, she ascended to the Separation and Reunion Stage.
In just one year, she had broken through several Great Realms. Her cultivation grew from zero to the Immortal Ascension Boundary at an unimaginable speed.
This kind of cultivation speed was unheard of on the entire Void Continent, let alone the small Water Moon Pavilion. No prodigy in history had ever achieved several breakthroughs in such a short period of time.
This was indeed unusual.
The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion were ecstatic. The Sect Master and the Elders pinned all their hopes on Xiao Xiao, thinking that she would be accepted by the Dao Temple and continue cultivating there soon; that way, Water Moon Pavilion’s reputation would soar.
However, Xiao Xiao seemed to have used up her potential after her first year.
For the next three years, her cultivation didn’t improve one bit.
The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion, who had high hopes for her, were naturally disappointed. Although they had done their best to solve this issue, their attempts were futile.
Four years after Xiao Xiao joined Water Moon Pavilion, she was allowed to visit her parents.
In the past four years, she was never allowed to leave Water Moon Pavilion.
This couldn’t be helped, as her initial performance was too astonishing. The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion made sure to hide her from public view as they were worried that the larger Sects would snatch her from them. Such incidents had happened before. Even though the smaller Sects could sometimes find talented disciples, they couldn’t always keep them.
Xiao Xiao’s initial performance was too Heaven-defying, so it was expected that the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion had to keep her a secret.
It wasn’t until they confirmed that her potential had been used up that they allowed her to return to her little village.
After leaving the Sect she had stayed for the past four years, Xiao Xiao rushed over to the village as she couldn’t wait to go home.
When she returned to the familiar village and pushed the door of her home open, she saw the stout woman, who was handling the prey in the yard.
In an instant, Xiao Xiao’s eyes were soaked in tears.
Noticing her presence, the stout woman looked up and saw her Daughter standing at the door. Pleasantly surprised, she turned her head and shouted, “Darling! Xiao Xiao is back!”
The next instant, Xiao Xiao crashed into the stout woman’s arms and hugged her tightly.
Upon hearing the noises, the hunter left the house and saw this heartwarming scene.
All three of them were celebrated that night. A pot of broth was made from the prey the hunter had caught that day, and they enjoyed their meal together. The hunter chugged down the wine that Xiao Xiao had brought back from Water Moon Pavilion and soon became intoxicated.
Since Xiao Xiao was now a disciple of Water Moon Pavilion, she would never get rid of this identity; however, she was no longer treasured by the leaders of the Sect. Moreover, she was currently just in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, so the leaders didn’t bother trying to restrain her. Furthermore, given the uniqueness of her appearance, they had never given her any missions for the Sect.
Although she had started growing in size since she became a part of Water Moon Pavilion, only four years had passed.
Presently, she only looked like she was seven or eight years old.
It wasn’t like they could expect such a child to carry out any important tasks; therefore, even though Xiao Xiao was still a disciple of Water Moon Pavilion on paper, she could stay in this village for as long as she wanted, and no one would criticize her for that.
This was exactly what she had always wanted.
The reason she even agreed to join Water Moon Pavilion back then was that she was a filial child. What she really yearned for was to stay by her parents’ side.
After helping her drunk parents to the bedroom that night, Xiao Xiao didn’t immediately think to rest.
Instead, she headed to the mountain and arrived at the log house where the hunter had picked her up in the past.
Although more than 10 years had passed, the log house had always remained there. Many hunters would rest here whenever they went hunting on the mountain.
Xiao Xiao set up a barrier around the log house before she entered it and started cultivating.
She had been hiding a secret from the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion; she wasn’t really in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, but instead the Origin King Realm!
Furthermore, her potential still hadn’t been used up.
The reason she was able to pretend to only be in the Immortal Ascension Boundary and have used up her potential in front of the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion was that she accidentally obtained a certain technique in the Scripture Pavilion of the Sect.
In the first year after she joined the Sect, her performance was astounding, and it was then she realised that the more astonishing her performance was, the more unlikely she could leave the Sect. Before Xiao Xiao was accepted into the Void Dao Temple, those from Water Moon Pavilion would never allow her to leave. Once she entered the legendary Void Dao Temple, she would never have a chance to return to the village.
Therefore, she thought that it would be wonderful if there was a Secret Art that could help her conceal her cultivation.
That was the reason she headed to the Scripture Pavilion, where she had really found such a Secret Art.
She secretly memorised the Secret Art and started cultivating it. What surprised her was that it was extremely effective.
Since she started cultivating that Secret Art, even the Sect Master and Elders of Water Moon Pavilion were unable to find out the truth. All of them thought that she was still in the Immortal Ascension Boundary when in fact, her cultivation had never stopped improving. Instead, it increased significantly day by day.
It never crossed Xiao Xiao’s mind that the Secret Art she had discovered would be so amazing.
She headed to the Scripture Pavilion again to look for it, but she could no longer find the Secret Art. It was as though the Secret Art had appeared at that point just to grant her wish, and then disappeared.
After concealing her cultivation for years, she finally achieved her goal and returned to the village.
Xiao Xiao decided that she would never leave her parents again.
Since her return, the couple had never asked her anything about cultivation. Four years of separation didn’t make them feel distant from each other; instead, their bond had become even stronger.
However, the couple could sense that Xiao Xiao was already different from the past.
The most noticeable change was that she would frequently disappear for one or two hours, and when she returned, she would bring back a lot of delicious food. Whenever they went hunting, she could always detect the prey before everyone else did.
And so, the days went by peacefully.
As time passed, Xiao Xiao grew into a young woman, and the homespun clothes she was usually seen wearing could never conceal her stunning beauty.
People from neighbouring villages would come over and propose marriage to her all the time; however, Xiao Xiao would always sweep them out of her house.
Initially, the hunter and his wife would watch it with pleasure, thinking that those rough brats didn’t deserve to marry their Daughter. It served them right that they were beaten up.
Nevertheless, as Xiao Xiao grew older, they couldn’t help but start worrying.
When they picked up Xiao Xiao from the log house on the mountain, they were already in their forties. In the first 10 years, Xiao Xiao never grew in size. It wasn’t until she became a disciple of Water Moon Pavilion that she started growing.
Now, she looked like she was in her early twenties, but it had been about 30 years since the hunter first picked her up back then.
Presently, the couple was already in their seventies.
There was no doubt that they were pretty old now. Although the mortals on the Void Continent who had never cultivated before could easily live up to 100 years old, there would inevitably come a time when the couple passed away.
After they were gone, Xiao Xiao would be left alone. Wouldn’t she feel lonely when she had no one else to rely on?
Therefore, despite their reluctance, the couple still hoped that their daughter would get married soon. They had talked to her about it on several occasions, but she would always dismiss it with a smile, stating that she didn’t intend to get married. She just wanted to keep her parents company until they passed away.
The couple was gratified, and they decided to stop bringing this up.
Although Xiao Xiao had never shown them any moves usually used by the cultivators, the couple knew that, since her return from Water Moon Pavilion, she was no longer a normal mortal. She was as exquisite as a phoenix now.
Certainly, those brats from neighbouring villages shouldn’t even dream about marrying her. Even if their Daughter wanted to look for a husband, only a successful cultivator would be worthy of her.
The students in the classroom came and went, but the teacher remained the same.
Xiao Xiao would frequently visit the teacher and bring him some delicious dishes she had acquired from who knows where. She never forgot that when she was younger, the teacher would always bring her delicious treats that she had never heard of out of nowhere and give them to her.
Now that she was a fairly powerful cultivator who could fly around freely, she decided to repay his favour.
However, there was one thing that made her feel puzzled.
Many years had passed, but the teacher didn’t seem to have changed at all. He was just as young as when he arrived at this village 30 years ago.
Xiao Xiao suspected that he was also a cultivator, but even after secretly inspecting him, she couldn’t discover anything. While feeling perplexed, she speculated that the teacher was just someone who aged slower than normal.
On the other hand, her parents had clearly grown old as time passed.
She had tried to collect some Spirit Herbs that could lengthen their lives; nevertheless, she knew that, as mortals, there would come a day when they passed away. Therefore, she valued the time she got to spend with her parents dearly and felt content with each passing day.
As Yang Kai watched everything, he couldn’t help but feel deeply moved.
Xiao Xiao, who was actually the Old Ancestor, had set off on her cultivation journey in this new life, but she had never forgotten about the hunter and his wife who had raised her. In fact, she did everything she could to break free from Water Moon Pavilion’s restraints and return to the couple.
Rarely would cultivators do this.
To cultivators, once they embarked on the Martial Dao, their biggest goal became walking further on it. Familial bonds, friendship, and love all came second.
However, Xiao Xiao was different. Family had always been of utmost importance to her, and everything she had been doing was intended to bring her closer to her family.
Naturally, it was Yang Kai who put the Secret Art that Xiao Xiao ‘accidentally’ discovered in Water Moon Pavilion. In truth, the Secret Art wasn’t really that effective. It was just that Yang Kai made a move in secret to ensure that those from Water Moon Pavilion wouldn’t notice the changes in Xiao Xiao’s cultivation. It wasn’t hard for him to achieve such a thing in his own Small Universe.
Usually, he wouldn’t have a hand in Xiao Xiao’s life experiences. However, since she had shown such an intention, he definitely had to satisfy her needs.
After she returned to the village, Xiao Xiao grew even faster, which showed that the Old Ancestor was truly recovering.
Now, Xiao Xiao was a young woman who didn’t look different from the Old Ancestor, it was just that her temperament was different.
The Xiao Xiao in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was innocent and inexperienced, unlike the Old Ancestor who had gone through the vicissitudes of life.
Yang Kai supposed it was the reason she had sealed off her memory.
This life was the catalyst in helping her recuperate.
While everything was going well for the Old Ancestor, the East-West Army in the outside world never gave up on attacking the Royal City.
Half a year ago, the East-West Army launched its third attack on the Royal City.
After several years of accumulation, the East-West Army had mined a lot of resources; however, before Liu Zhi Ping could put those resources to good use, they were all swiped by Xiang Shan and sent to the Artifact Refiners and Array Masters to arrange arrays.
This time, the East-West Army had set up more than 10 Universe Worlds, which consumed all of the resources they had accumulated over the years.
Liu Zhi Ping was speechless. She finally realised that Xiang Shan didn’t care whatsoever about numbers as all he saw was the Royal City. Regardless of how many resources there were, he would squander them away in a short time.
If she hadn’t intercepted some of the resources, the soldiers in the East-West Army wouldn’t have anything left to cultivate with after the battle ended.
Even without the portion she reserved though, the materials they had collected over the years were still enough for the East-West Army to prepare more than 10 Universe Worlds.
Things were not so different from when they launched an attack on the Royal City for the second time back then.
The East-West Army, which had remained dormant for several years, suddenly mobilized, their Warships rising into the air and inching closer to the Royal City.
Although the Territory Lords had experienced this before and expected it to happen again, they were still both shocked and furious when they saw it playing out just as before.
They were also astonished that the Humans could launch an attack again so soon. They knew that the Humans had been mining many Universe Worlds over the years, so it was apparent that the latter didn’t have sufficient resources. They initially thought that it would take at least 10 to 20 years for them to gather enough to launch another assault, so the Royal City would enjoy some peace for a while.
Nevertheless, it had only been 5 years since the last time the Humans attacked the Royal City.
They were furious because the Humans were so haughty that they didn’t even change their tactics at all. Things were going just like what had happened previously.
The Humans were basically telling them that they would attack the Royal City from the left side while the Universe Worlds would fly at them from the right side. Now, the ball was in the Black Ink Clan’s court.
But what else could the Black Ink Clan do? Just like what happened previously, they had to split their forces to defend both sides.
30% of them would form up on the right flank to ward off the incoming Universe Worlds while 70% of them would remain on the left to prevent the Humans from invading their city.
Nothing had changed. It was as though they had gone back to five years ago.
Since they were well prepared, the Territory Lords on the right side of the Royal City could detect the Universe Worlds sooner than the last time.
In the meantime, the East-West Army reached a place that was only 10 million kilometres away from the Royal City. The timing was precise as the Humans managed to make sure that the Black Ink Clan would be distracted.
The Black Ink Clansmen on the right flank started sending out attacks towards the Universe Worlds, which had travelled a great distance through the void and were coming right at the Royal City.
Black Ink Strength dyed the void dark as the lights of Secret Techniques cast by the Black Ink Disciples expanded.
The Universe Worlds were subsequently shattered, but every Universe World was full of arrays, and the universe fragments scattered around as the arrays were activated. At that instant, the void on the right side of the Royal City was filled with bright colours, as though fireworks had been set off.
Beneath the facade of this magnificent view, more and more Black Ink Clansmen, who did their best to intercept the Universe Worlds, lost their lives.
30% of the Black Ink Clansmen and their subordinates were on the right side, including more than 10 Territory Lords, twice that number of Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, and even more Feudal Lords. However, the moment they clashed with the Universe Worlds, they were unable to fully fend them off regardless of how hard they tried.
There were even more Universe Worlds this time than previously, and as the powers of those strange arrays exploded, the Black Ink Clansmen were caught off guard.
The most powerful Black Ink Clansmen were unable to stop the Universe Worlds alone, so they could only order the weaker Black Ink Clansmen to block them.
Previously, there was a universe fragment that struck the Royal City, which caused the Royal Lord’s healing to be disturbed. Faced with the latter’s burning fury, the Black Ink Clansmen were horrified.
None of them were willing to experience the Royal Lord’s wrath again, so they would rather sacrifice their lives than fail this time.
Countless Black Ink Clansmen charged forward like moths to a flame and somehow managed to intercept those universe fragments. The Territory Lords roared while the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples went all out.
Compared to their comrades on the right side, the Black Ink Clansmen on the left side were rather safe at this moment.
All of them were glaring at the Humans who were inching closer to the Royal City in their Warships. As they listened to their clansmen groan and shriek before their deaths, they felt truly vexed.
Undoubtedly, Che Kong was the most furious of them all.
He had suffered a setback previously. Initially, he thought that the Humans would seize the chance and launch an attack, but surprisingly, the Humans only launched one barrage from a safe distance and then ran away. The Black Ink Clansmen didn’t even manage to counterattack at all.
This was undoubtedly the most vexing situation on the battlefield when one was hit, but could not hit back.
Therefore, Che Kong decided that they would make a move before the Humans did this time.
As long as the Human Warships were close enough, the Black Ink Clan would launch a series of attacks and make them pay the price for what had happened previously.
Both parties were less than 10 million kilometres apart, so the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were already able to make a move, but that wasn’t enough. The Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were both the pillars of strength on their respective sides, but although they were powerful, there were not a lot of them.
Therefore, they had to wait for the Humans to come to a place that was only 5 million kilometres away so that the Feudal Lords could make a move as well and retaliate against the Humans.
[They’re getting closer!]
Che Kong’s order was on the tip of his tongue. As soon as the Humans moved forward for another million kilometres, he would teach them a lesson.
Just then though, the Human Warships abruptly stopped and started withdrawing. They were so swift that they had moved backwards a million kilometres in the blink of an eye, and the next instant, they were already 10 million kilometres away.
Che Kong widened his eyes in disbelief. He was so enraged that he almost spat blood, but he had no way to vent his fury.
He felt as if he had gotten ready by lifting a hammer, but his target had run away all of a sudden before he could swing it down.
“Bastards! I’ll kill all of you!”
Che Kong’s angry roar reverberated across the entire void.
Certainly, the Territory Lords were furious at the Humans’ despicable moves.
They couldn’t help but wonder if they had made the wrong decision by hunkering down in the Royal City and defending it at all costs.
The Black Ink Clan, who could do nothing but defend, were like beasts without fangs as they posed no threat to the Humans. Even though the Humans had set up a base right at their doorstep, they were unable to do anything.
If they were able to launch an attack, they wouldn’t allow the haughty Humans to come and go as they pleased; however, such an idea only remained in some of the Territory Lords’ heads as they wouldn’t dare to say it out loud. After all, it was the Royal Lord’s order that they should do their best to defend the Royal City before he fell into a state of deep sleep.
Regardless, the Territory Lords were relieved that the Humans didn’t manage to disturb the Royal Lord this time.
Although there were even more Universe Worlds this time than previously that came at the right side of the Royal City, they were all intercepted and shattered as the Black Ink Clansmen did their best to block them regardless of their losses.
Hence, no damage was caused to the Royal City.
Nevertheless, the price they had to pay was that there were even more casualties than the previous time.
This was unavoidable. Compared to disturbing the Royal Lord, the Territory Lords would rather let more of their subordinates die.
However, after the same thing happened twice, the Black Ink Clan finally figured out the Humans’ plan.
With the help of those Universe Worlds, the Humans could cause damage to the Black Ink Clan without suffering any losses on their side. After these two attacks in recent years, the Black Ink Clan had lost about 100,000 soldiers.
If the same thing kept on happening, there would come a day when all 1 million Black Ink Clan soldiers would be gone. By then, how were they going to ward off the Humans? Could the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples do it all on their own?
Although they were powerful, the Humans had Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of roughly the same number.
As this dragged on, the Black Ink Clan would be in an increasingly disadvantageous position.
Now, they could only pin their hopes on the Royal Lord, who was recuperating. As long as he could recover before the Human Old Ancestor did, they would be able to turn things around. It would be wonderful if those at Great Evolution Pass could come over and lend them a hand. By then, they could pincer the Humans and make sure the latter had nowhere to run.
After the third time the Humans made use of the Universe Worlds to attack the Royal City, they would do the same thing every few years.
However, generally speaking, the intervals were getting longer.
The third attack was five years apart from the second time, but the fourth attack was seven years after the third. As for the fifth, it was ten years after the fourth.
This situation was totally understandable.
Although there were countless Universe Worlds in the void, only a small number of them were suited to cover in arrays and attack the Royal City. After all, the size of the Universe Worlds mattered.
If they were too big, it would require too many resources to arrange the arrays, but if they were too small, they wouldn’t pose a threat to the Black Ink Clan.
An appropriate size was what the Humans were looking for in Universe Worlds.
While it took time to look for suitable Universe Worlds, it was equally time-consuming to extract enough materials to carry out such a resource-intensive plan. Since all the Universe Worlds nearby were already fully mined out, the Humans had to venture further afield.
That was why the intervals were getting longer.
Nevertheless, the leaders of the East-West Army were set on repeatedly using this tactic. Over the last 20 years since they established a forward base at the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep, they had launched four major attacks on the Royal City.
The East-West Army had never suffered from any losses as they had never directly engaged the Black Ink Clan. Following Xiang Shan’s order, their Warships would set sail and creep closer to the Royal City before rapidly retreating.
They would always gain a massive victory every time by using this tactic.
They had spent countless resources by attacking the Royal City with Universe Worlds five times, but for their troubles, they had managed to kill about 300,000 Black Ink Clansmen, including a significant number of Feudal Lords and Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples.
None of the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple were killed; however, they were exhausted from having to deal with the Universe Worlds that were meant to harass them.
Despite the losses, from the looks of it, there were still about 1 million Black Ink Clansmen around the Royal City, as though there hadn’t been a decrease in their number at all.
Nonetheless, their collective power had clearly been weakened.
Initially, the Black Ink Clan soldiers that had gathered together outside the Royal City were the best subordinates of the Territory Lords. After they were killed, they were replaced by the significantly weaker Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Such Black Ink Clansmen were basically of no use on the battlefield, though they could make the Army look intimidating to the enemy.
20 to 30 years had passed in the outside world, so as the four seasons alternated, some 100 years had passed in the Small Universe.
The mountain village remained the same, and although it had grown slightly larger, it was still considered a small village in a remote place.
Just like their ancestors, the hunters in the village earned a living by hunting. Before the old hunters passed away, they would give their bows to the next generation. Such inheritance was passed down over the generations.
In a certain yard, a family of three were having a good time together.
100 years had passed, so the hunter and his wife were old and frail now.
Both of them were about 150 years old. They enjoyed a pretty long life considering the fact that they were ordinary mortals who had never cultivated before.
In comparison to her youth, the stout woman had become debilitated. Perhaps she had worried too much about many things when she was young, so she was no longer as stocky as she used to be. Although she was still tall, she was extremely skinny. Her skin was dull, and her eyes were turbid.
On the other hand, the hunter was slightly more energetic, but his hair was all grey.
They were seated on a chair together as they basked in the afternoon sun, its warm light allowing them to feel at ease.
Xiao Xiao squatted in front of them as she took their hands and listened to the hunter talk about trivial things, keeping a smile on her face.
The hunter talked about a lot of things, including his experiences around the continent when he was younger and the dangers he faced on the mountain since his return to the village; however, most of the time, he reminisced about what happened after he picked up Xiao Xiao. He recalled the time when Xiao Xiao finally regained consciousness and the first time she called him ‘Father’. He also remembered the first time he went hunting with her on the mountain.
It was as though he was trying to recount all his encounters in his life. As he did that, he was filled with a sense of fulfilment.
Xiao Xiao just listened to him in silence, the smile on her face never fading.
The stout woman was initially in a dazed state, but she suddenly shook a little and landed a slap on the hunter’s thigh and yelled, “It’s getting late! Tell Xiao Xiao to come back and have dinner now!”
Upon impact, the hunter grimaced in pain. Although his Wife was no longer as strong as when she was young, her slap was still powerful. For all his life, he had been hit by his wife countless times.
Xiao Xiao turned to look at her, “I’m here, Mother.”
Upon hearing that, the stout woman lowered her head. After becoming startled for a moment, she asked with a smile, “Why are you all grown up all of a sudden, Xiao Xiao?”
Xiao Xiao replied, “I’ve grown up because I’ve eaten a lot of delicious food, Mother.”
The stout woman nodded, “You’re right. I’m glad that you’re all grown up. It’s not like you wouldn’t grow up forever. I’m really pleased.”
10 years ago, the stout woman started becoming confused. Perhaps this was a common illness that most old people would suffer from.
Despite that, she was still concerned that Xiao Xiao just wouldn’t grow bigger, though it was something that had happened over 100 years ago.
Perhaps this was the thing she was most concerned about and afraid of, so she had never forgotten about it.
After the stout woman muttered under her breath for a bit, her turbid eyes brightened all of a sudden. With her mind clearing up, she looked down at the woman before her eyes and called out gently, “Xiao Xiao?”
She would always call her Xiao Xiao when the latter was still a young child.
“Mother,” Xiao Xiao stuck her face close to the stout woman’s hand. As she rubbed her delicate face against her Mother’s rough hand, she felt heartbroken.
“You’re a grown woman now, Xiao Xiao,” the stout woman said gently.
Xiao Xiao nodded in response.
“You have to take good care of yourself,” the stout woman advised.
“Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll take good care of myself,” Xiao Xiao repeatedly nodded.
“If you find someone you love, don’t hesitate to marry him. A woman will never be complete without a family of her own.”
“I’ll remember.”
“I know you’re an obedient child,” the stout woman appeared gratified, “I’m a little tired, so I’ll get some rest now.”
Xiao Xiao lifted her head, “I’ll sing you a song.”
“Alright,” the stout woman bowed her head with a smile.
It was then Xiao Xiao started humming a song. It was a lullaby her Mother would always sing to her at night when she was a child.
By the time she was done humming the lullaby, the stout woman had closed her eyes as her head rested on the hunter’s shoulder. Although she was sound asleep, she kept a faint smile on her face.
The hunter let out a breath and said in a small voice, “Your Mother has told you everything you need to know. You’re a grown woman now, so there’s no more advice I can give you. However, there’s one thing I want you to do. This village is too small, so go out and have a look. We have held you up for far too long, so it’s time you leave this place and explore the world.”
Xiao Xiao repeatedly shook her head, “Nothing could make me happier other than being your child.”
The hunter put on a happy smile, “Since you’ve said so, I have no more worries.”
A moment later, he went on to say gently, “Although your Mother is strong, she’s most afraid of being alone. I’ll keep her company. Go do your own things.”
Then, he extended his hand and hugged his life-long partner tightly. After snuggling up to her, he closed his eyes as well.
Xiao Xiao stared fixedly at them. Although her heart ached terribly, there was nothing she could do.
She was now in the Emperor Realm. Others might not be able to notice it, but as an Emperor Realm Master, she could see that vitality was rapidly leaving her parents.
Although she had given them a lot of foods and tonics that could lengthen their lives over the years, they were still just ordinary mortals. There would come a day when they reached the end of their lives, and no one could change that.
It was thanks to her efforts that they managed to live up to 150 years old. If not for the fact that she had given them countless precious herbs and elixirs, they would have passed away when they were just past 100 years old.
A moment later, Xiao Xiao heard footsteps approaching her from behind.
She turned around as her tears slid down her face. While sobbing, she said to the person, “Sir, my parents are gone!”
Yang Kai nodded and walked up to her, “They’ve passed away peacefully. They have no more worries in life.”
The next instant, Xiao Xiao crashed into his arms and started bawling her eyes out, “I no longer have parents!”
Patting her back, Yang Kai placated her by saying, “You had your parents, and that’s enough.”