The first time Li Fei saw Ji Tongzhou in Lugong Town, he was an overbearing little prince, surrounded by a group of sycophants, causing trouble everywhere. He held his nose so high it almost touched the sky and was as detestable as one could be.
Later, after experiencing many things together at the academy, Li Fei slowly discovered that this straightforward young man, who liked to put on princely airs, simply wore his likes and dislikes on his sleeve. When he disliked someone, he would mercilessly pick at their flaws. When he liked someone, he would unreservedly engage with them in his way.
Even later, she watched helplessly as the once sunny little prince became shrouded in gloom. Beneath his bright and careless personality, he harbored so many unresolvable inner demons.
In subsequent correspondence, Ye Ye would mention Ji Tongzhou, feeling that he had changed a lot. But now she knew that this person hadn’t changed at all.
He had always been this straightforward and willful, from childhood to adulthood. He would suddenly turn on people, and suddenly do all sorts of inconceivable things, without any consideration for others’ feelings. Because of his delusions, she had to suffer humiliation in public. And because of his unresolved issues, she had to watch him blow hot and cold, his moods unpredictable.
Many years had passed, but Ji Tongzhou was still that little prince from Lugong Town, accustomed to doing whatever he pleased, arrogant and domineering, pouring out both his good and bad sides completely in front of others, utterly unconcerned with their opinions.
As Li Fei pondered this, her brows gradually furrowed.
Not everyone in the world would indulge his fragile willfulness. At least she wouldn’t, not ever.
Suddenly, a hand smoothed the wrinkles between her brows. Li Fei was slightly startled to see that Lei Xiuyuan had somehow flown up beside her and was now reaching out to soothe her furrowed brow.
“What are you thinking about?” His tone was so indifferent that these three words sounded more like a command than a question.
Li Fei suddenly smiled. Compared to willfulness, this man was no less than Ji Tongzhou. He just hid it better, and most of the time, he was only willful with her. She shook her head without speaking, merely grasping his hand and squeezing it twice.
The next moment, he squeezed back even harder. Li Fei almost jumped from the pain and exclaimed urgently, “What are you doing?!”
Lei Xiuyuan also smiled and said softly, “If it hurts, you won’t overthink things.”
Li Fei frowned, “You’re always like this! Next time, let’s see how you like it when I make you hurt!”
“Alright,” he agreed without hesitation. “When I’m intently thinking about other young ladies, you can hurt me as much as you want.”
Thinking about other young ladies? Li Fei suddenly felt a dull ache in her heart, instantly understanding his feelings. After a long silence, she said softly, “I’m sorry.”
Lei Xiuyuan never showed favor to any woman. Unless necessary, he didn’t show a good face to anyone. She was the only exception. Because of this unique exception, he did everything he could for her, and in return, he demanded the same. He wanted her to belong to him alone, from head to toe, inside and out. At the slightest sense of unfairness, he would immediately express his dissatisfaction.
When he was gentle, it was terrifying, and when he was violent, it was equally frightening. Being with him meant her heart could never rest easy. One moment he would lift her to the heavens, the next he would slam her to the ground. She had given all her intense emotions to him alone, sometimes loving him to the extreme, sometimes hating him so much she wanted to trample him underfoot.
These intense and extreme emotions sometimes even made her feel a hint of panic. She couldn’t lose him, not even for a moment.
Lei Xiuyuan squeezed her hand again, this time without using force. He was about to speak when the elders flying ahead suddenly stopped. Li Fei instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but after several attempts, she couldn’t free herself. She could only blush and avoid looking at the expressions of the other elders.
Elder Cuixuan closed his eyes in concentration for a while, then said softly, “The migration of demonic creatures has alarmed countless immortals. It’s not convenient for us two to appear. Guangwei, you come forward.”
True Person Guangwei immediately stepped forward and bowed, awaiting instructions. Elder Cuixuan put his palms together, and soon, a strange crack slowly opened between his palms, as if another world was hidden between them.
Li Fei suddenly felt an extremely familiar and intimate aura emanating from that crack. Without even thinking, she instantly knew that the Yimin Tomb that had been troubling her mind was hidden in this crack. She instinctively wanted to step forward, but Lei Xiuyuan’s hand was still tightly gripping hers. He was also staring intently at the crack, his expression indescribably strange. The hand holding hers gradually began to tighten, and Li Fei felt as if her hand bones were about to be crushed. She pulled hard but to no avail.
“Xiuyuan!” she called out softly. Lei Xiuyuan slowly released her hand, his eyes still fixed on the crack, unmoving.
The crack grew larger and larger as if this world had been suddenly cut open by an invisible knife. Inside, it was dazzlingly bright, with myriad things faintly visible, but unclear.
Elder Shouzhong laughed ruefully and turned back, saying, “We two old fellows will have to hide for a while. Fortunately, the demonic creatures along this path are all ignorant beings, posing no real threat. You should be able to handle them. When we reach White Edge Cliff, we’ll take over the sealing matter.”
With that, he flew directly into the small world within the crack. Elder Cuixuan followed closely behind. As soon as they entered, the crack closed instantly, turning into a bronze mirror, which True Person Guangwei respectfully held with both hands and placed in his bosom.
Lei Xiuyuan looked for a moment, then quickly averted his gaze. He smiled slightly and said softly, “So this is the legendary small world. It’s my first time seeing it.”
Earlier, Riyan had also mentioned the small world and had even rarely praised Elder Cuixuan. Li Fei couldn’t help but ask, “What’s a small world?”
“Some immortals, after reaching a certain level in their cultivation, can open up another world that belongs only to them. Mountains, rivers, sun, moon, thousands of clouds, and myriad seas, all the rules of the world are constrained and established by the immortal. No one can forcibly break into an immortal’s small world… Well, it’s considered the most powerful self-protection immortal technique.”
Li Fei snorted with laughter. For such a powerful thing to be described as a self-protection technique, it was something. Imagine during a battle, when you’re about to lose, you could just open your small world and hide inside. Your opponent would surely be furious.
Now she finally understood a little about why so many elders, including the two senior immortals, had come out together. Elder Cuixuan’s small world contained the real Yimin Tomb. They were going to White Edge Cliff – were they planning to seal it on the trial grounds?
She thought of the empty Yimin Tomb in Suli Valley. Unexpectedly, the Yimin Tomb was so highly regarded by the Wuyue Court. She had thought it was just a collection of corpses of Yimin killed in the sea calamity, but they were so cautious, traveling thousands of miles to bring the Yimin Tomb to White Edge Cliff in the center of the Central Plains after the anomaly appeared. They had other purposes.
What exactly was hidden in that Yimin Tomb? Oh right, Immortal Qingcheng had once cut off a Yaksha’s horn. Could it be stored in the tomb? Perhaps… they feared that Yaksha would come back to reclaim its horn.
Lei Xiuyuan seemed lost in thought again. Just as Li Fei was about to tell him about the Yimin Tomb being hidden in the small world, she heard an elder say softly, “There’s spiritual energy fluctuation in the forest below. It’s a group of disciples, and surprisingly, there’s no elder with them.”
With demonic creatures running rampant in this area, a group of disciples who had just broken through the second bottleneck wandering around without an elder to lead them could face who knows what kind of disaster. It was quite worrying.
“There should be trial grounds for other sects nearby. It’s not surprising to see disciples of immortal sects. We’re in a hurry, let’s not delay,” True Person Guangwei said cautiously, covering his chest. He was carrying Elder Cuixuan’s small world, which had transformed into a bronze mirror, in his bosom. At this moment, all the responsibility rested on him alone, and naturally, he didn’t want any complications.
Just as everyone was about to continue flying, they suddenly saw more than a dozen disciples rise from the forest. There were both males and females and judging by their attire, they seemed to be from the Lantian Sect. Their expressions were quite alarming. Upon seeing so many elders from the Wuyue Court, the disciples immediately came forward to pay their respects. The one in the lead said urgently, “Respected elder seniors, we are disciples of the Lantian Sect. This time, including two elders, a total of fifty people came for training. We were slightly delayed due to some matters and arrived a bit late. Before landing, we could still see the elders and disciples ahead of us, but just now, in the blink of an eye, they all disappeared! We disciples are of shallow cultivation and are fearful and at a loss. We implore the elders to help us!”
Elders and disciples disappearing together? This was unheard of! True Person Guangwei asked in surprise, “Could they have entered the trial grounds barrier first?”
The Lantian Sect disciple’s face turned pale with anxiety, “It’s not like that! The trial grounds are still several miles away. We disciples couldn’t have mistaken that. They just suddenly vanished!”
The immortal sects of the Central Plains always maintained a harmonious facade. Moreover, with the disciples pleading for help like this, the many elders of the Wuyue Court couldn’t just ignore them and leave. They had no choice but to descend from the clouds and help search for traces of the disappeared people.
“Respected elders, please look, they suddenly disappeared right here!”
The Lantian Sect disciples led the elders into a forest. It was just dawn, and mist permeated the forest, obscuring vision. True Person Chongyi looked around thoughtfully, “There’s no demonic aura nearby. I can still sense residual spiritual energy. Elders and disciples have indeed been here recently.”
Among the many elders, True Person Chongyi was the most skilled at sensing spiritual and demonic energy. Everyone watched as he carefully searched for residual spiritual energy. After walking forward a few steps, he mused, “The spiritual energy suddenly cuts off here, completely…”
He frowned in deep thought, then suddenly clasped his hands together and closed his eyes in concentration. The spiritual energy around his body rippled like waves. This was True Person Chongyi’s most skillful and renowned immortal technique, the “Spirit Light Net,” which released his spiritual energy to sense all the minutest demonic and spiritual energies within a ten-mile radius.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the released spiritual energy finally began to dissipate. True Person Chongyi suddenly opened his eyes, made a sound of surprise, and then quickly stepped forward. Suddenly, he stopped and exclaimed in shock, “Oh? So it turns out to be…”
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly vanished before everyone’s eyes.
The Lantian Sect disciples let out terrified cries. The elders of the Wuyue Court immediately formed a circle around the disciples, protecting them, and hastily retreated several steps. True Person Dongyang stepped on his large gourd, and immediately, countless pale green sands poured out from the gourd’s mouth, spreading a thin layer on the ground. He concentrated and formed seals for a long time, but eventually showed a hint of shock and bewilderment, “…No demonic or spiritual energy? What on earth is this?!”
Once again, as soon as he finished speaking, he too vanished before everyone’s eyes.