“L-... Ming, how many times did you fight today? the crowd was making so much noise I could hear it from all the way out, before we could lay eyes on the camp I was long able to hear them cheering... Ming, Ming!” Sun's tongue almost slipped and Lin noticed how Bo An slightly squinted her black eyes when she heard the winged-tiger speak. The boy was taking-off his dirty clothes before going to take a good soak in the tub... he calmly turned to look towards his buddy—who became fidgety under the calm gaze of his best-friend—and said : “Buddy. When we're alone, only then can you... call me by my true name. The name... Lin, not Ming. Bo An here has already accepted me the way I am, despite knowing absolutely nothing about my background, without attempting to invade my privacy. I say... she deserves to know—at least—that much,” The great-sage spoke casually while scrubbing his skin clean from the dirt however... he maintained looking straight at Bo An right at the pair of black eyes, “As for your first question, my dear Sun... I fought every single spirit-cultivator within this caravan. And I won every single one of my fights, even two spirit-tyrants ended-up losing to me.” After changing the water of the tub Lin gave his buddy the answer to his question while revealing a wide smile on his face—which caused the ears of this winged-tiger who’s currently in his kitten-form rise-up in attention—especially... when the boy saw how his best-friend licked his lips and swayed his fluffy-tail from side to side in excitement! the look on Sun’s face revealed the truth about what he’s thinking currently... this red-tiger must be imagining his owner giving every spirit-cultivator a thorough "beat-down" then posing on-top of a mountain that’s made from the beaten bodies of his vanquished foes like his father Tai used to do.

After waking-up from the "flood of emotions" that this boy "Lin" gave her before Lantian appeared... Bo An's "brain" and "heart" were actually going at one another in a never-ending argument! why? because... "the secret"... which is? the "mysterious identity" of the boy that her "heart" accepted without taking a single moment to "think". During the first couple of days—after both of them did "naked activities" together—the caravan was under attack from the beast-commanders and the kid was so focused on playing his part as "sentinel" and watching-over the lives of almost every spirit-cultivator on the battlefield so... the timing just wasn't appropriate enough for the young-girl to begin nagging and demand for answers! after the danger finally cleared Lin here needed to seclude himself and meditate which is to be expected from someone who drank the potion of thought-rebirth so... once again Bo An felt like the timing just isn't right... why? well maybe because... the young-lady of the Chentian clan was feeling... "hesitant" about whether or not she should be asking to begin with. Somehow she’s more afraid of not receiving any answer—which would sadden Bo An like... a lot! and allow for even more of these "conflicting emotions" to burden her heart inside her chest, and allow even more of the "unhealthy thoughts" to cram inside her brain and consume every memory inside her head—last night... while the young-girl took Fang Bo and Sun towards the direction south to look for a chance where Lin's beast-companion might be able to breakthrough to the next major-realm and become a devil-beast realm. Bo An never stopped getting torn-up from the inside by all the conflicting and opposing suggestions from both her heart and brain! her brain kept telling her that letting this "kid" do all these "intimate" activities to her "sacred body" is a big "mistake" and she should begin to treat it likewise from now-on and move-on with her life because... once she’s back in the clan there’s going to be much more "important" matters for her to handle! meanwhile her heart kept telling her that there’s nothing wrong in accepting Lin as her dao-companion and that she should trust her feelings and intuition because... this boy is the right partner for herself otherwise her own grandfather—which is the most protective person ever when it comes to Bo An—would’ve never allowed her to become close with the "kid" and the proof is that she’s able to spirit-cultivate much faster and much easier whenever she’s close to Lin.

The brain said : "This boy is hiding his identity, there must be a reason for all these secrecy... and Bo An should avoid having him nearby in the future because it might give her needless trouble."

The heart retorted by saying : "Every genius have his secrets, even Bo An herself have her own secrets... wasn’t she told over and over by her grandfather since a very early age to... always keep her natural-affinity an absolute secret! then... before we push for answers we might consider the feelings of the kid. Doesn’t he also deserve to know? doesn’t he deserve to know more about her and what is going to happen after she returns to the clan?"

That "emotional struggle" kept going on and on in the deepest parts of her being for days and days... actually it was almost won by the girl's brain just earlier! and quite "decisively" at that... when? when Lin began to speak and answer Sun. 'See! don’t you see that? he doesn’t even deny having lied to you about his identity, he even wants his winged-tiger to mention that name which begins with an "L" only when they're alone.' This was the thought which this young-girl’s brain sent... at once her heart became jumpy all of a sudden! when the boy began to reply the question of his beast-companion the young-lady of the Chentian clan wanted to stop him from saying anymore but... she felt weak and frail because her tongue wouldn’t move and her throat tasted the bitterness of despair. However... once Lin openly and directly without any hesitation said his true name and voiced some of the thoughts that has been troubling Bo An's thoughts and stifling the girl’s tender and loving-heart inside her chest! the young-lady of the Chentian clan instantly sensed how all of her brain's needless worries from previously just "melt-away" and "fade" into practically "nothing" while her own heart began to joyfully dance inside her chest and wildly beat the tunes of love while rejoicing at the feelings of "sweet triumph" over the "stupidly emotionless" and "practically feeless" cold-brain.

The black-eyes of Bo An instantly welled-up with tears of happiness and release... her smile was decorated with a pair of blushing and rosy cheeks when the young-girl noticed how the boy looked at her seriously with a pair of eyes who could melt hearts! The amount of happiness on the young-lady’s face did brighten the space inside the carriage especially when her smile could outshine daylight itself... while fluttering towards the kid her dress and underwear fell within the short distance she walked before Bo An stuffed herself into the tub with her "little-prince". Since she’s unable to contain all of her happiness after choosing the "right person" to entrust with her emotions... Bo An understood that no-matter what she says her words wouldn’t be enough to express what she wants to say! that’s why Lin was squeezed between her arms and hugged tightly towards her chest while being "showered" with kisses and more hugs instead... this method did convey her feelings more than any words and the young-girl never wants to let go of him... she even began to seriously think about taking him with her back to the clan.

“You still need to call me Ming in public, alright. The only ones who already know my true name are... Wei, Lai, Wang, and Zhang. However, they don’t know my true identity! Fang Bo over there doesn't worry me, because... he does seem to have this sort of character, where he’s extremely careful about every single one of his words. Unlike you buddy.” Lin pinched Bo An's cheek and asked her to keep his secret while informing her about things that his travelling-companions doesn’t even know... the young-girl just chuckled and nodded while gripping the boy’s little-butt and pinching it gently with both of her hands and returning his cute gesture with a bold gesture! turning to look at the silver-puppy and the orange-kitten the great-sage reminded both of them to keep his secrets as well... Fang Bo just gave Sun an arrogant side-glance with his green-eyes after hearing how this "Lin" just admitted that he’s superior in comparison-to this "talkative" winged-tiger before giving the boy a single nod then turning towards his corner to take a nap.

Sun ignored Fang's usual attitude of arrogance because... the time isn't "ripe" yet! when teaching that pup a lesson he needs to make it a thorough and unforgettable one... just earlier today he managed to reach the realm of devil-beast... meanwhile that mercury-colored... long-snouted... annoying "little shit" is... already at the pinnacle as a devil-beast and close to the next realm... the ancestral-beast. But... let’s not forget that he’s much older than Sun.

Maybe Frostine was the only one who’s still completely unaffected by this invasion from a pair of humans and a pair of demonic-beasts to the narrow space of this tight carriage... ever since he left her early in the morning the white-owl remained standing in the same place with both of her wings spread-out completely! she’s quietly digesting her inherited-memories and climbing higher towards the realm of ancestral-beast.

Of course the reason this little-owl is so at peace is because... from the moment they entered the carriage Lin covered her small and feathery white body with a layer of whatever he still have left remaining of his soul-force! the boy wanted to give her an environment that’s both quiet and suitable for meditation so that she could achieve her breakthrough if so is even possible.

“Bo An. What kind of relationship does your Chentian clan have with the seamless-sword sect?” Bo An snuggled with him and used his chest as pillow—exactly like how she's gotten used to do it during the past few months—once they entered the bed... while gently patting her head with one of his hands and caressing her damp hair down until reaching her lower back Lin smiled when he saw how the girl in his arms peacefully closed her eyes to enjoy this moment! however... once she heard this sudden and unexpected question Bo An raised her head from his chest and looked up towards the boy while revealing clear feelings of puzzlement within her pair of black-eyes.

“We’re very, very close. Their sect-master is like my uncle, uncle DaiLong is a very close-friend with grandpa Ao. Their saintess is my big-sister, me and big-sister Mia... we often got to spend time together whenever my grandpa is visiting her sect! or when some of her sect-members are visiting my clan. Some of my clansmen—the ones who’re talented in using the sword—they get the opportunity to join the seamless-sword sect without having to go through the normal procedure, the process of examination in big-sister Mia’s sect is really, really difficult. Do you wish to join the seamless-sword sect? Lin, are you a sword user too?” Bo An answered when she saw Lin calmly give her a tranquil gaze with his golden-eyes while waiting for her to answer... these pair of pupils made the girl’s heart melt and her belly feel fuzzy! The young-lady of the Chentian clan was readying herself to do practically everything within her power just to make the boy enter that sword-sect if he so wants however—much to her surprise—Bo An found the kid just smiling... what a "sad" and "heavy" smile that was—which made her feel like someone is squeezing her heart with a cold and frosty hand—before finally shaking his head from side to side slowly to answer her last question in silence.

Before the young-girl got to ask the kid anything else she heard Sun snorting behind her... once she turned her head to look back she found the orange-kitten glaring towards its owner and saying : “Humph. Next time I see that "annoying bitch" I promise you that she's going to receive—at least—one good bite on her "fat ass" that’s the least I can do to repay her after what she did, even if she's still way stronger than me? then... I wouldn't hesitate to do it at all.” Afterwards the winged-tiger ignored the hard and silent glare that his buddy gave him before snorting and closing his eyes to get some sleep while clearly being in a bad mood.

“Eh! y-you already know big-sister Mia? why's Sun so very angry at her? what happened?” Bo An received a nod to the first question from Lin which excited her slightly because only those from a certain "social-standard and ranking" within this spirit-world are even allowed to interact with her big-sister Mia... if so? then... she might still have some hope of being able to take the boy back with her to the clan without putting him to harm! especially... since the girl still doesn’t know the truth about his background just yet however... her next questions were just met with "awkward silence" from the kid who did seem hesitant about whether or not he should even give answer to these questions... at all. After all—according to her answers—the young-lady of the Chentian clan does seem to be really close with Mia... and the great-sage just doesn’t want to say anything that might make Bo An jump into formulating "premature" conclusions! since it would be fair to speak openly about what happened when the saintess is around to hear his part of the story... that way the young-woman can justify her actions—if she have anything to say to justify herself at all—in front of both Bo An and Lin.

“Bo An. When was the last time you saw Mia?” Lin pulled the head of this cute girl back towards his chest to relax her neck first before asking while gently and rhythmically patting her back.

“Almost three years ago. That time big-sister needed some advice from grandpa on how to help her beast-companion—Xiaoxi—breakthrough, that happened right before Mia was tasked with leading her sect-members towards the drowned-realm. Later afterwards I heard that big-sister got schemed-against by Katherine—the holy-daughter of the church of light—and had to spend more than two years within the forbidden-area! Mia spent them being chased by two assassins from the assassins-guild in the lands of forgetfulness. Then she managed to—somehow—return the seamless-sword sect a few months ago, I don't know the details of her adventure yet... and most of what I heard was some silly rumors. But! I’m going to know everything later once I get to meet her.” Bo An spoke with some sadness in her tone of voice especially when she remembered some of her fond-memories with her big-sister Mia... both of them used to sleep together on the same bed after spending hours talking about their childhood dreams and aspirations! both of them used to have so much fun walking together in the streets of every city they go and watch the store-fronts or... just go on a shopping-spree and buy a lot of completely useless items and things while laughing a lot at every one of the idiotic comments that Xiaoxi always make.

“I’m going to tell you everything about myself and how I met Mia however, Bo An. You really need to promise me this, always keep an "open mind" and try to understand my reasons for hesitating on whether to speak or not right now is because... I do feel like it would be me wronging Mia if you come to make a decision or judge her actions without personally hearing from her as well.” Lin sat-up and leaned his back on the pillows while gently supporting the back of the beauty in his arms within his gentle embrace with one of his arms and making her lean fully against his chest before using the other hand to caress her cheek slowly... the boy looked at the young-girl’s beautiful face and could see the reflection of his own face deep inside her black-eyes when he spoke and did notice how Bo An's heartbeats began to quicken from worry.

“En. I promise.” Feeling the seriousness within the words of the great-sage... the young-lady of the Chentian clan suddenly became a little concerned and her arms tightened around the kid’s waist out of pure reflex.

“We met a few days after I became six of age, that time was right when left my home to explore this world. Mia was being chased by two men, when I understood—which I later got to know their identities personally from Mia herself—that they’re assassins from the assassins-guild sent to kill her by one of her enemies... I felt sorry for her and decided to help her. Because my home—the land of forgetfulness— does have severe restrictions on spirit-cultivators, Mia wasn’t aware that she’s going straight towards a big nest of huge and scary vultures....” Lin began to speak and Bo An got the chance to learn about his background beginning from his birthplace until how he saved Mia from these "vultures" then how the boy helped her big-sister take some rest after spending these two years being relentlessly chased! then... how he assisted her in cornering the two assassins before avenging herself from the two men and demonic-beast who forced the saintess to spend two years’ worth of living under the shadow of death... how the great-sage and Mia spent some time together where she taught him the common-tongue of this spirit-world and many other things. How the young-woman taught him a few things about how spirit-cultivation works... how the boy witnessed the saintess when she materialize her sword-intent! how both of them shared bath and bed much like how the kid did with Bo An... how their feelings for one another kept escalating very quickly in a strange and unexpected—well, not so unexpected with lust being still within his system—way. How their promise of meeting again after five years was made... how the boy took Mia out of the land of forgetfulness and helped her fly through the great-space formation and beyond where the stormy-sky and tumultuous-ocean both extend to the end of sight! how they finally landed on some Island when almost all hope for a place to recover seemed like a dream within a dream... how Lin got to witness the saintess undergoing a breakthrough between major-realms and become a spirit-tyrant... how the great-sage ended-up being suffering from a blast from Mia's sword-intent when it’s fused with her time-energy once the young-woman broke-through! then... how the boy wanted the saintess to leave because Sun—to be completely honest—never liked her companionship... the kid just wanted Mia to go away because... she had to return to her sect anyway. So... after the tension fades along-with the long years between his winged-tiger and the young-woman... she can always say her reasons when they meet again later and explain what happened back then! alas—somehow—Lin found himself with a severed penis quickly afterwards and ended-up having to calm a very... very infuriated Sun after Mia suddenly and for no reason decided to castrate him... thankfully right afterwards—when the saintess panicked—she used her advanced-space talisman to leave.

Bo An gasped from shock then immediately afterwards the young-girl personally "double checked" with one of her hands before deciding to use both to get a feel on Lin's intact penis... the young-lady of the Chentian clan even pulled at it with a bit of force a few times just to confirm that... it wouldn't come-off or anything of the sort! “Big-sister Mia was that ruthless? say Lin... do you hate big sister Mia?” Bo An sighed in relief when the boy's penis remained in its position... then blushed fiercely once she noticed how Lin looked at her while raising one of his eyebrows and revealing a bemused smile at one corner of his lips! while burying her face in his chest the young-girl asked with a bit of worry in her tone of voice... after all... the young-lady of the Chentian clan loves and appreciates both this kid and her big-sister Mia... certainly she doesn't wish to be in the middle of the two of them! especially when they’re going at the throats of one another... being a "well-informed" girl who’s aware of how this spirit-world works... Bo An knows since long ago and is certain that male organs are no different for males in value than how a female would appreciate and treasure her face! according to this logic... if someone disfigured her beautiful face? then... Bo An would spend the rest of her life hating their seven-ancestors.

“Hate! no... I don't think that I even have it in me to hate someone at all, I'm just... hurt after what she did to me back then because... I don't think that anybody deserves this sort of treatment. Mia certainly crossed a line back then, and I can't forgive her or forget about what she did—at least not—without hearing what she have to say about it. What about you Bo An? do you feel wronged because I didn't tell you about what happened between me and Mia before we... you know?” Lin lowered his head to kiss Bo An's cheek then spoke his mind... the boy did seem to be more interested in listening to know more about the hidden feelings and thoughts of this young-girl—especially the ones directed towards himself—than talking about the matters between himself and Mia! right now the great-sage wants to give the young-lady of the Chentian clan all the attention she deserves.

“Of course! I feel very, very wronged... tsk, it’s making me really sad too. Lin and Mia did naughty things behind my back. Oh no! what should I do?” Bo An gave Lin a very cunning and sly look when she felt his extreme care for her... despite acting like she’s in a loss for what action to take... the young-girl pushed his body below hers before straddling his waist and leaned over to make her developing-chest dangle more prominently! The young-lady of the Chentian clan spoke while giving the boy a glimpse of her naughty and mischievous personality... despite reverting to her natural—pranking-loving—attitude Bo An was really feelings intense "warmth" filling her chest with emotions of adoration towards this kid who stole her heart in a matter of days and came to be the true "center" of her attention lately. The young-girl lowered her head slowly which caused her hair to block the sight of her kissing the great-sage from the two demonic-beasts within the carriage... a short while later... the young-lady of the Chentian clan was moaning loudly and gasping for breath while squeezing Lin's head between her soft thighs! while running the tips of her fingers through his long hair Bo An thought to herself : 'Big-sister Mia. The secret promise of our childhood is going to happen, you and I actually choose the same man! did Lin do these same things to you? did it feel really good too?' The young-girl imagined herself and her big-sister Mia holding hands just before a condition of "shivering-pleasure" overtook her body... of course the young-lady of the Chentian clan learned about a lot of secrets on the background of her "cute-hero Ming" from the boy's previous story. Yet... some of the things he said earlier still need some "additional-details" for clarity however... the timing just wasn't appropriate for her to be asking questions about his past! the mood was just right for them to have some intimacy together... and Bo An did enjoy this "session" much more than the one they underwent previously. Maybe... just maybe... someday the young-girl can join her big-sister and "gang-up" on this little-brat who does have really "magical" moves and a set of incredibly "dexterous" fingers! on the other hand Lin just rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes to sleep after satisfying the young-lady of the Chentian clan... while feeling the softness of her body on top of his chest the boy felt some joy and release because his complicated relationship with Mia didn't affect this cute and pure Bo An whose innocence got snatched from her after accepting her was forced upon him by five of the "rebelling" deadly-sins.

........

Soon afterwards when these two delved deeper in their peaceful sleep within the carriage.

Frostine folded her pair of spread wings and opened her beautiful eyes. The demonic and beastly-pressure that naturally revealed itself from her small body once the white-owl exited the small area—which Lin used the remaining of his soul-force to give the white-owl a zone of comfortable seclusion—was a very rude gesture... that gesture forced both Fang Bo and Sun—who weren't interested in watching Lin and Bo An wrestle in bed and decided to take advantage of this time and hibernate instead—to immediately awaken from their sleep and warily look towards this "strutting" small white bird! the silver-puppy and the orange-kitten next to it both held their breath and watched in silence while this tiny owl walked slowly towards them.

“What do you want?” Sun growled at the white-owl who’s fresh to attain the realm of ancestral-beast which Lin received from that formidable talking-raccoon... it’s true that this winged-tiger only met that "small fellow" in-person just once in his life! however... the red-tiger didn’t dare to breathe any more than "enough" to keep himself alive while being in the presence of that senior. But... even before getting to meet Kai back then when Lin forgot himself after drinking some wine on the ship... Sun was once frightened almost to death by the raccoon’s pressure alone! ever since it happened the winged-tiger never forgot about that dreadful-experience back then when he and his buddy arrived at the second island after leaving their home however... that doesn’t mean that he would let this "newcomer" bully him just because that formidable-raccoon gave it to Lin. Only Lin himself might be allowed to bully this red-tiger and be tolerated... anyone else? would get the same answer from Sun and that answer would be roaring : "Hell no!" that’s why the orange-kitten refused to budge or soften its attitude in-front of this small white-bird.

“Fang Bo greets senior.” Unlike Sun who revealed some rudeness towards someone who’s stronger... the silver-puppy spoke with a gruff and deep voice and revealed a gesture that’s full of politeness while lowering its head slightly.

“Hoot.” Nodding once towards Fang Bo then blinking her beautiful wide blue eyes a few times while waiting for Sun to correct that cocky attitude of his... Frostine walked towards Sun then slapped him flying outside the carriage through the only open window with one of her wings while lazily hooting! then the white-owl flew outside quickly like a swift shadow before pinning the orange-kitten's small body with her small and sharp talons and pushed it towards the ground... before Sun got any chance to use his bat-wings to escape he found himself restrained underneath Frostine who gazed at him from above with a pair of frosty blue eyes.

“Grrr... get off me!” While snaring at Frostine and revealing his set of small and sharp fangs... Sun warned the white-owl to let go before opening his mouth wide open then biting on one of her long and feathery legs when she refused to let go of him! since the red-tiger is naturally quick to anger... maybe that trait of his should be attributed to his natural-affinity towards the element of fire or... how the smell of this Frostine has never been to his liking. He’s been holding himself back ever since she appeared... now after this act of clear-violence from this stupid white bird... of course he would retaliate! “Crack!...” However... Sun felt like he's chewing on solid steel or one of his buddy's sturdy concrete formulas instead of the thin leg of a small bird! why? because... a thin layer of white-blue ice was stopping his fangs from reaching Frostine’s feathers.

“Hoot!” Frostine tilted her head to the side while staring down with a hard gaze at Sun who’s still stubbornly trying to fight back even though he's much weaker than herself... the rules within the place that she grew-up in were : "The weak must politely greet the strong, while the strong are always allowed to teach the weak a painful lesson! especially... when the weak forget their place in the presence of the strong" After hooting one last time and waiting for Sun to repent and submit... the white-owl turned the orange-kitten who’s refusing to submit into a cube of ice of the white-blue color! Frostine only left Sun with the freedom to move his head from the neck upwards before spreading her wings to fly towards the sky... the white-owl gave the restrained "dummy" one final lazy and disinterested-look before flying away to check the surrounding area while ignoring the winged-tiger’s shouts and calls for her to free him.

“Release me you... "bag of white feathers"... this isn't over between us you "bitch" fire!... why isn’t my fire working? come-on melt it already... work damn-it.” The orange-kitten tried to use its fire-energy to melt this white-blue ice and became very shocked and slightly afraid when his fire-skills appeared to be—almost completely—useless and thought : 'How could this be? I just ascended to a higher major-realm! my power is more than ten-times stronger after I became a devil-beast... is my only advantage within this new realm is that I can run my mouth freely!' The winged-tiger shook his head from side to side to deny these awful thought before shouting towards the sky while looking in the direction where Frostine just left : “Frostine. This isn't funny! release me right now or... Ming would hear of this, I’m warning you... you really wouldn’t like my buddy when he’s reprimanding you!” Finally after waiting for a few seconds Sun felt unwillingness to say anymore to this "shitty" white-owl after telling her to release him more than once, “Buddy. Help!” The orange-kitten had to shamelessly call Lin to assist it since it can’t melt the white-blue ice with its fire and couldn’t break it by transforming into its tiger-form however... it was then that Sun saw Fang Bo sticking his head out from the carriage’s window before giving him a wickedly-evil grin before using his cute paw to pull the window shut! “Well. Fuck you too! both of you are bullies I say, bullies!” The winged-tiger grinded its fangs after cursing the silver-puppy who never answered... while glaring around and fuming from pure rage Sun finally noticed how everyone around him are looking towards him with amusement in their eyes and stifling their laughter. Snapping at these mortals the orange-kitten said : “What? Never seen a talking tom before?” Seeing everyone give him the same gesture and shaking their heads in denial which meant :  "No, we haven't seen a talking cat before." made the red-tiger snort before continuing to say : “Humph. Figured as much... now hurry-up and do something about it! help me break this annoying ice you... bunch of idiots, the chill is seeping through my fur and I’m feeling colder by the second. My paws! I can’t move them anymore.” While puckering his lips and submerging himself in these thoughts : 'Damn-it. I’m still weak, I need to become stronger... much, much more! like that short fellow.' Sun thought while glaring towards the white-owl that was circling the sky around the convoy... meanwhile these mortals used their tools to raise the cube of white-blue ice that’s surrounding the talking-cat's body towards a nearby table then slowly began to chip-away at this sturdy ice-cube very carefully! layer by layer that white-blue ice got removed with the use of their tools however... it took them all night to do it while suffering from the endless complaints of the orange-kitten who suffered from extreme embarrassment while being under these annoying smirks from the "amused" cultivators in his surroundings.

.....

Waking-up in the next morning while feeling blessed after feeling Lin's strong arms surrounding her waist firmly.

Bo An found herself obliged to solve this ongoing dispute between the winged-tiger and the white-owl since Lin is still asleep.

Meanwhile Fang Bo kept himself silent and watched the ongoing drama unfold within the carriage with a sly gaze.

Hooting and growling sounds could be heard all the way outside the carriage while from time to time Bo An's irritated voice calling for a timeout... in the second day after the caravan made camp that’s all the kids who’re waiting outside the carriage could hear! they’re waiting to see the talking-cat which their parents told them about how they helped it last night... all night they spent it breaking the ice around its body. These kids became so excited after seeing the evidence on the arm of one uncle... that man’s arm is missing a huge piece of skin because he became careless and touched that white-blue ice! even after it broke these ice-fragments are being used to cool the water... there’s no sign of them melting anytime soon. However... the main reason these kids waited with all the patience in the world anyway is because... that talking-cat is said to be young-hero Ming's beast-companion! and the reason it was in that situation is because... it got into some argument with a small white-owl and that bird is also one of young-hero Ming’s beast-companions.

.....

With the arrival of the second daylight after Lin slept like a log... Wei's caravan began to move once again and within it.

Liao Lai was just a single step away from completely integrating the hypnotic-abilities of his martial-spirit with his fighting-style.

Zhang Wang gained a huge amount of valuable experience after his fight with Lin and managed to successfully consolidate his spirit-cultivation within the eighth-stage of the grandmaster-realm.

Much to Lai's frustration... Tang Wei is just like him and sharing the last and final stage of the major-realm as spirit-grandmasters! the only difference between them is the quality of their "foundation" in spirit-cultivation which is safe to be considered the complete opposite from one another yet... this simple piece of detail wouldn’t prevent the fatty from taking steps ahead of the blade-user if he’s... fortunate enough.

Mercenary-leader Li Yang is firmly within the fourth-stage of the tyrant-realm now after successfully breaking through his previous bottle-neck... his offensive and very explosive fighting-style got upgraded after the lightning-cultivator spent some time meditating and recollecting his memories on the sparring-match he lost to Ming! which made the spirit-tyrant feel very excited and impatient for an opportunity where he gets to know and interact with the boy again.

Mercenary-leader Chen Fu appeared with his wife Ning Xue only when the caravan was about to proceed its movement once again... to everyone’s surprise both husband and wife are... in the same major-realm! a pair of spirit-tyrants walking hand-in-hand where Chen Fu is in the third-stage and his dao-companion Ning Xue did indeed look a lot younger compared to a few days earlier—when the famous spanking-incident happened—and much more charming, seductive, and beautiful... when she appeared in front of the people of the caravan while flaunting her spirit-cultivation in the tyrant-realm the "pressure" of her "devilish" smile did indeed seem much harder to withstand when compared to her spirit-pressure. However... the eyes of both husband and wife kept stealing glances towards the boy's carriage and the two of them did seem like they’re anxious to see Ming again... after spending their first "wild" day in bed these two talked for a long time afterwards about their "issues" together! how they should be more careful not to cause any embarrassment to one another—especially in public—and mind each other's feelings... Ning Xue ended-up admitting that she was really neglectful of her husband’s feelings lately then promised to work on controlling her impulsive-behavior in the future. Then the beauty told her man about what she thinks is the reason that caused this "glaring" difference and sudden improvement in their private affairs however... the pair became so disappointed once they learned that Ming returned to bed after competing against all of them and is yet to wake-up after spending more than a day and half being asleep! Chen Fu and Ning Xue wondered to themselves if the boy is going to spend three more months sleeping without a care for the world like he did before.

Wang Zhang returned to his usual routine of training his physique after overseeing his young-master Wei's breakthrough to the ninth-stage... even the handsome-man—who’s usually used to seeing his best-friend’s maniacal regime—became so scared when he discovered how serious the simple man is taking his training this time! 'Has he finally lost it? why’s Zhang using these high-grade spirit-crystals in his spirit-cultivation? when did he become such a "wasteful" bull? that thing in his hand is worth ten—freaking—thousand low-grade spirit-crystals!' The ice-cultivator thought once he witnessed how Zhang stopped training his physique and went towards his carriage to continue with the next phase of his training... and spirit-cultivate! despite that being somewhat unexpected to see his best-friend sitting there cross-legged without revealing some impatience or discomfort on his face... seeing him actually doing it with every bit of peacefulness on his face while holding one of the ten high-grade spirit-crystals—which Lin somehow convinced Wei to give to each one of them—in a "rare" almost "miraculous" occasion of true generosity from the money-grubbing merchant. After sighing silently to himself Wang returned to Wei's carriage and sat to the side in some corned in listlessness like a mummy while a dark and gloomy aura of annoyance and despair surrounded the air him! why? because... each and every marriageable-female within the caravan was rejected by the stubborn ox-like friend of his... the handsome-man is feeling like he doesn’t have any more options to present right now to the strong man.

Lai and Wei "tactfully" ignored Wang and his troubling—silly—issues because... one of them is anxious to reach the next major-realm in spirit-cultivation before the fat merchant beats him to it! while the other has been practically daydreaming day and night for months now about the great amount of wealth that he's going to acquire from mercenary-city in the near future... despite his anxiousness and extreme longing for the time it actually happens... Wei diligently reviewed the spirit-jade in his hand which contains some information about the trading accounts the Cheng clan completed in his absence and tried to estimate the amount of benefits the five-clans are going to make from this long journey.

.....

During the first day after the convoy resumed its journey forward.

Lin slept like a baby and didn’t wake-up until it was dusk. Habitually—even before opening his eyes—Lin extended his ability of soul-sense to see how far it would expand this time... even the boy—despite all his patience, stoical, composed, and imperturbable personality—released a deep sigh inwardly once he discovered how his soul-force couldn’t supplement the ability of soul-sense like it normally does and see its maximum-range halting after his senses crossed a few kilometers beyond fifty-kilometers! that range is practically just one-fifth of what his soul-sense should be able to reach.

“Hoot...”

“What did you call me?”

“Hoot.”

“Just earlier, I dare you to say it again to my face you little... wide-eyed peeper!”

“E’hoot!...”

“Fuck. You calling me an idiot? y-y-you're the idiot alright! your whole family is a... bunch of feathery-idiots. Grrrr...”

“Ho’ot!...”

Lin opened his eyes to look towards Bo An who’s sitting by the window and letting fresh air scatter her hair into a mess without care... while looking outside the young-girl did seem bored at least a dozen-times over because of the ongoing clash between Frostine and Sun.

Fang Bo did seem like he’s the only one who’s enjoying this argument while acting like he's asleep on the lap of his owner.

“Enough. You two stop shouting at each other already, even little kids wouldn't picker for a whole day and night! don't you ever feel tire-” The young-lady of the Chentian clan spoke in a sad and exhausted tone of voice then noticed how the boy is watching this sight of her from the side... the look on her face while supporting her head on one of her palms and absentmindedly looking outside towards the eternal-forest is a picture that he captured and preserved in his memories! after abruptly stopping whatever she’s about to say... Bo An smiled widely and brightly like a rising-sun then jumped towards Lin and gave him an enormous hug.

Poor Fang Bo was really enjoying this "theatrical" argument between kitten versus owl while faking being asleep however... in the next second and before he knew it the silver-puppy was free-falling then hit his snout hard against the floor which caused him to yelp slightly from pain.

During her moment of true delight after noticing that her little lover is available for her once again... the young-girl forgot all about her beast-companion and forgot all about the bickering-duo... the young-lady of the Chentian clan even forgot all about whatever she’s been thinking about just earlier because she wants to do nothing except to throw herself into his embrace right now and feel his warmth against her body! why? simply because... Bo An really missed Lin a bit too much even though it’s just a bit more than a day since they last spoke and the boy has always been within an arms’ reach from her... just spending a single day without talking and interacting with the kid felt wrong to the young-girl. It’s an addictive feeling to spend time with him... it really is strange how Lin quickly grew within her heart and how he seized almost all of her thoughts to himself! while taking her into his arms Lin gently asked : “Bo An. Did these two give you troubles?” While patting her back his words did seem like the sweet whispers of extreme love when they entered her ears... even the young-girl didn’t notice how much she changes whenever this this boy is naturally acting with her. However—despite how calm the great-sage sounded when he asked this question—Sun became the first one to shiver under the gaze Lin gave him and Frostine... the white-owl was a bit slow in noticing the unease within the orange-kitten's yellow-eyes and attitude! but... even after she did Frostine only gave the boy curious and silent looks while tilting her head from side to side and blinking her blue-eyes. “Frostine bullied Sun and is refusing to apologize because he’s weaker than herself, they never fought afterward but... they began to use this new method of exchanging insults! it really gave me a "never-ending" headache.” Bo An did find her "much-awaited" feelings of true peace within this hug and kept rubbing cheeks with Lin while purring like a lazy little kitten being embraced by her mother! while telling him about what happened between his beast-companions the young-girl felt something tugging at the hem of her dress... looking down she found Fang Bo giving her the famous "puppy look" with a pair of tearful green-eyes. Catching him by the scruff of his neck the young-lady of the Chentian clan and his best—human—friend raised him up from the ground then left him at the edge of the bed... before coldly ignoring the silver-puppy and returning to the "fun" action of rubbing cheeks with the boy who welcomed her to his embrace once again! Fang Bo looked at this unexpected situation in confusion while gaping his mouth... this "move" has never failed to grab Bo An’s attention before yet... here he’s being neglected because the young-girl is too busy cuddling with the little-brat.

“Kakakaka... serves you right! you... sneaky bastard. Humph. Dares to close my only open window right in my face, I’ve never forgotten about that time where you didn't hesitate to kick me when I was down on the ground.” Sun licked his paw while gloating at the sight of watching this puppy being all too heart-broken.

“Shut-up... pipsqueak!” Fang Bo glared at the orange-kitten with his green-eyes then Lin heard him talk for the first time... this demonic-beast sounded like a person who’s suffering from a condition of a sore-throat! or... an extreme-alcoholic who damaged his vocal-cords after spending years drinking only the strongest of liquors.

“Hoot!...” Frostine became very excited after seeing this new development in this situation... the white-owl seemed to enjoy fanning the flames between Sun and Fang Bo! that glow within her blue-eyes and how her feathery-ears kept changing shape and angle... seeing her current attitude Lin understood awfully a lot about how much this bird likes her role right now.

“You're enjoying this, don’t you!” Lin suddenly spoke while looking Frostine right in the eyes... these "hypnotizing" pair of blue-eyes are really capable of affecting those with weak soul-force! “Hoot!...” Frostine reflexively nodded and became surprised after discovering how easily and naturally she gave away her true intentions—which isn’t a normal thing for her—quick to respond... the white-owl began to shake her head from left to right and backwards like a rattle-drum while hooting to deny her previous answer! “Heh. You're a rare little bird, smart Frostine isn’t so smart after all. Unfortunately I don't have any knowledge about Frostine's true-species... maybe she's a descendant of the frost-owls or the snow-owls! or... probably she’s a variant-species—like Lantian—and is a mixture bloodline between the two families.” Bo An snickered when she witnessed how quick Lin was in exposing the aims of his bird and teased the little cute owl before shrugging then telling the boy that she doesn't know the bloodline of this troublemaking-bird.

“You better stop causing trouble for me or my friends.”

“Hoot!...”

“Frostine. I know about the days when you were just a little hatchling, I don't want to expose that shameful and embarrassing little detail because... some secretive details should stay just like that as a... secret! especially when it’s your secret... you do seem like a smart little fellow with a good set of brain-cells so... I’ll let you figure what’s what on your own. What do you say? would you behave yourself from now-on and peacefully accept my rules, or... should my intervention be needed in this case? and all the cases that follow.” Lin noticed the challenging gaze that Frostine gave him and everyone in the beginning and her answer which felt like she’s saying : "Exactly." When the boy began to speak again he noticed some fleeting-arrogance inside her blue-eyes however... when the great-sage began by mentioning her hatchling days the slight rippling-effect at Frostine's dark-pupils and her ears slightly shaking beyond her control gave-away her current shock and surprise! the white-owl thought : 'How did he know? is it senior Kai? no! such a mighty and formidable-creature wouldn't waste a single moment of his time watching how and in what position I used to sleep during the first few months after I broke-free from my egg... he really isn't bluffing, this boy actually knows! but... he doesn’t seem like he knows about my ancestry, which means that he never met anyone like me before.' Despite all her shock Frostine believed what the boy just said after taking a single look at his confident gold-eyes. “Hoot!...” After immediately dropping the arrogant behavior... the white-owl lowered her stubborn head and her blue-eyes looked down towards her talons! the attitude of the ancestral-bird made her seem a lot like a little kid who just received a gentle reprimanding from his parent after committing mischief.

“Cute! cute, cute...” Bo An felt like her heart just melted after seeing this sight... before Frostine even got to react the young-girl was holding her small body gently between her hands and hugging the white-owl strongly towards her chest and giving its soft and feathery body endless cheek rubs! meanwhile Sun tried to take advantage of this situation and use this opportunity as his chance to sneak-out from the carriage and escape getting his own share of reproach from his buddy—especially if it’s going to happen in-front of that sly and mercury-like little shit—however... when the orange-kitten stole a glance backwards it found Lin's pair of gold-pupils staring directly at him.

“Ehehe... hehehehe!...” Stopping in place and scratching his neck with his hind-limb... the winged-tiger laughed awkwardly like a silly little thing before puckering his lips and whistling softly... Sun was mimicking his buddy’s favorite tunes which Lin always used to make whenever the boy got absorbed in the moment while creating something.

“whistle~”

The great-sage smiled when he heard that familiar tune and remembered the old days where he used to work with Tai and taught the man how to operate the small and primitive forge outside their cave... during these days Lin didn't know anything about any system of cultivation and didn’t have any "worries" burdening his small shoulders! worries like helping old Jin create a fleshly-vessel or... unloading the six remaining deadly-sins from inside his body... not mentioning the greatest burden currently on his shoulders which is... helping senior Kai in "whatever" he's going to order him to do.

.....

Inside the ring of origin.

Kai heard the conversation and became stunned after seeing what Lin just made Frostine do with a few words... the talking-raccoon moved a finger at thin-air and time moved backwards everywhere around him within the ring! seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, decades, and centuries’ worth of time reversed... gigantic-trees and beasts within the forest shrunk in size instead of growing bigger... birds flew backwards instead of going forward and tree-leaves returned back to their branches... the decayed corpses resurrected after re-growing skin and muscles while the broken fragments of their bones reattached themselves to create intact skeletons! the seasons themselves changed their natural-sequence while the sun began to rise from the opposite direction... everything within the ring was confusingly flipped backwards while Kai became the only abnormality because none of what’s happening around him affected the talking-raccoon at all until he smirked widely and said : “Hahahahaha... kakakaka... what a brat! he never ceases to amuse me.” Finally Kai moved his finger again and the scene around him shattered into fragments before disappearing into nothing... time regained its natural flow. This time the talking-raccoon wasn't standing in the same place before he caused that miraculous phenomenon earlier... he’s standing on a very thick branch of a tree deep inside the great-forest which both Lin and Sun saw before... that forest has been Frostine’s only home before Kai sent her away because she’s been a bit too annoying around him! in front of the formidable awakened-soul is a huge-nest where a couple meters tall female-owl with completely black-feathers is watching her intact-eggs... there’s only one almost completely naked hatchling next to her mother and cutely snuggling its small body in the wing-feathers of her mother. With a gentle move of his finger time moved again and the talking-raccoon suddenly laughed after seeing the sight where young Frostine is unable to sleep while perching like her mom because of her weak talons... seeing the tiny and nacked owl slumping down face-first towards the straws of the nest after finally failing to resist sleep anymore! the comical sight of young-Frostine sleeping naked with no feathers to cover her ass really tickled Kai’s sensitive-vein and his roaring laughter made every beast within the forest shake from fear and confusion.

“Heh. When I gave him that revolting little-bird with the bloodline of the silent-owl of eternity, I was aware that the "accursed" bloodline coursing through her veins would make the little thing seek to wreak havoc and cause chaos around her... making troubles for the fun of it after every major-breakthrough—especially after reaching the ancestral-realm and unlocking a good piece of her inherited-memories—who would've anticipated that such a little piece of detail would in-fact turn a descendant of the wise-harbingers of doom into yielding without any intellectual-struggle despite being very small! this is getting interesting... now the second glaring flaw of this species of owls is going to expose itself to the brat. Bowing their heads doesn't mean that they're really under control just yet... otherwise they—wise-harbingers of doom—wouldn't be said to rival dragons, phoenixes, celestial-tigers, and immortal-turtles. When these birds submit they seek to learn from their owners and boy oh boy... these silent-owls can do just that better than anything and everything... I know how the elven-queen suffered to death from the companionship of a similar bird. Heh. Let's see how long can you hold without coming to beg me for help. But before that let me see how he deals with the little cockroach.” Kai was having so much fun with how things has developed so far... Lin managed to evade this hurdle by containing the chaos that Frostine would've caused if left for too long unattended however... in his opinion Kai did see no hope whatsoever for the boy to avoid the "perfectly disguised" hole behind the visible hurdle—which is the following tendencies of hunger for information when the silent-owls of eternity awaken their inherited-memories—and he’s going to knock on his doors very soon.

....

Lin noticed the signs of awkwardness inside Frostine's pair of beautiful blue-eyes and how the white-owl would would panic slightly whenever their eyes met... despite being held by Bo An the boy could feel the extreme unease emitting from Frostine! the great-sage patted the owl's head to calm her down while beckoning for Sun to come closer.

“You two can't be willful anymore, everyone here is a friend and there shouldn't be any in-fighting at all. Frostine. Apologize to Sun, bullying him was wrong... being stronger doesn’t mean that your actions are justified. Buddy. You know what you have to do, right!” After taking the white-owl from the hands of the unwilling young-girl... Lin brought the orange-kitten and Frostine closer and gave them a gentle push while saying his verdict.

“Hoot!...” The white-owl lowered her head again seemingly ashamed before moving a bit closer to Sun and nudging him a few times to comply with Lin's order.

The orange-kitten visibly shivered while being underneath the boy's intense gaze then sighed in surrender while saying : “Geez! alright, alright... I forgive her. Here's your kiss girl. Moah! happy now?” Then the winged-tiger pushed Frostine away from his body with one of his front paws before continuing to say : “You messed-up my whiskers Frostine, I don't like it when it happens.” Then Sun naturally worked on grooming his whiskers with his paws under the confused eyes of the white-owl.

“Bffft... I'm surrounded by cuteness! come here all of you.” Bo An felt tickled to dizziness after seeing this scene and hugged the three demonic-beasts and the great-sage all at once... the smile on the young-girl’s face was brimming with extreme satisfaction.

“How long do you think it will take to reach mercenary city?” Lin asked after the three demonic-beasts fled the stifling pressure of getting stuffed together within Bo An's emotional hug.

After all... Sun isn't comfortable at all in being stuck closely to Frostine! her natural-affinity for ice did indeed counter his natural-affinity for fire... whenever they’re close it made the winged-tiger feel extremely suffocated... the orange-kitten kept wondering why’s that because Wang does have natural-affinity for the element of ice similar to the white-owl yet... he never felt threatened by that man’s ice at all! in-fact... it always felt weak and pathetic compared to Sun’s fire.

Fang Bo honestly doesn't like Sun, Frostine, or... Lin to be completely frank! the grey-wolf is only enduring the pack of idiots because.. Bo An likes the boy that's all. If it was up to him? the silver-puppy would prefer staying inside the space of his beast-medallion to hibernate in peace... after witnessing this white-owl reach the next realm and remembering the advice from his matriarch... the thoughts of Fang Bo mostly focused on doing the same.

“Probably a week, maybe a couple of days beyond that nothing more. Actually... once we reach mercenary-city I... I’d be leaving for my clan, I really wish to stay but, if I could've done so? then... I would’ve certainly stayed with you a bit longer. But... sigh! grandpa Ao kept saying that "this part of the southern-continent isn't safe for me to stay any longer" it just doesn’t make any sense, you know! he even left mine and Fang Bo’s grandma with me to make sure that I do as he says, you could’ve stayed unconscious until I reached the tyrant-real-.... cough! what about you Lin? where are you planning to go next after mercenary-city?” The young-lady of the Chentian clan suddenly stopped talking and blushed because she almost said something that she should never say... looking outside the window Bo An seemed to stare at absolutely nothing and asked the boy that while imagining her upcoming days without him beside her.

“I'm not exactly sure really. Tang Wei and the rest are going back to their clan, I’m probably going to tag-along with them for a while. There's also some materials that I’m searching for and I need to collect for a friend of mine but, don't you worry about anything girl... I can take care of myself just fine. I’m also going to come visit your clan whenever I’m able, not to mention that... I’m coming to take you before we go to see Mia together! would you be the judge between us?” Lin didn’t tell anyone about Jin Bao except for his twin-sister Lily and he isn’t planning to tell anybody about the unfortunate soul-cultivator anyway! however... seeing Bo An being overcome with troubling thoughts the boy decided to give her a "goal" to look-up for in the future... having a goal should be sufficient to distract the young-girl from thinking about their inevitable separation.

“Heh. You're not giving me an easy job here... what if? I took big-sister Mia's side, what would you do then?” Bo An spoke with a mischievous tone of voice while squinting her eyes and charged her satisfaction back to the maximum with a second fierce hug.

“Being impartial can be a really tough thing to do, believe me... I know. But, I trust that you'd do the right thing in the end... oh! by the way, Mia kept mentioning the position of the first wife over and over. Maybe you can use this chance to snatch it away.” The great-sage smiled when he noticed how the young-lady of the Chentian clan is being "overly clingy" while thinking how both girls doesn’t have any idea about the weirdness and possessiveness of his twin-sister Lily and their yet to be born sister! like he anticipated... the eyes of Bo An glittered from excitement when she heard Lin say these words in the end... deep inside this competitive young-girl was planning to compete with her big-sister for the highest rank which only one woman can get after bonding with this boy. The rest of the day was spent peacefully where the young-lady of the Chentian clan kept talking with the great-sage and asked him about the things that she wanted to know... specifically the things related to Lin’s background! except for the "unbelievable" secrets like... his rebirth, the ring of origin, the seven-deadly sins and the six of them currently still stuck inside his body, senior Kai, and old Jin Bao. The boy practically told Bo An everything else without hiding a single detail from her... the young-girl already knew about the Tang-clan and their previous history of glory and fall and she was slightly shocked when she got to know about Tang Wei and the other's true identities! however... Lin's true age and shocking accomplishments in spirit, soul, body, and intent... that was a severe blow to this princess of the Chentian clan. Not to mention... he does have a twin-sister who’s still back within the land of forgetfulness! after feeling better in knowing the history behind Lin and his simple yet amazing background... Bo An suddenly became fearful for her future with the boy—who turned-out to become the greatest genius she ever heard of—and she sat to the side to spirit-cultivate inside an advanced spirit-gathering formation for the first time in months. The young-girl is hoping to reach the eighth-stage of the grandmaster-realm before they’re separate from one another.

......

Inside one of the carriages of this moving caravan.

One muscular young-man who’s wearing the outfit that belongs to the guards of the Cheng clan and does look to be between sixteen or eighteen of age sat alone to the side on his bed in silence... unlike the majority of his team-members who would directly go to sleep soundly during their time of rest or... the few diligent ones who would sit to spirit-cultivate and meditate until they’re woken-up soon after for their next shift and do their job of guarding the caravan! this young-man—who’s covered in hideous crisscrossing scars all-over his face and body despite his young age—didn't get a wink's worth of sleep after his shift ended... sat in silence on his bed and kept staring downwards at the thin necklace that’s hanging from his rough and thick thumb. That necklace dangled from his open palm and kept swaying gently by the effect from the caravan being in motion... a tiny ruby-red rock is the only stone decorating that necklace in his hand which is the only material item this young-man currently have on him to remind him of the only relative he knows in this spirit-world! that relative would be his dead mother... other than this necklace all this young-man have is a few—mostly vague—memories within his head.

“Live. Live! live, and take what's yours by right. Remember! little...”

The shoulders of the young-man shook from extreme sorrow when his mother's final words rang inside his head... the young-guard squeezed his eyelids completely shut while trying to hold-on to that old memory with all his power! this young-man is mostly afraid of forgetting that memory... hot tears fell from the eyes of the young-guard and splashed on the floor of the carriage as he wept in silence while gritting his teeth as his heart wept bloody-tears of grief in the same time. The images of the only clear memory—and the last living memory—of his mother replayed in his head like he always does so that he wouldn’t forget... everyday this young-man would squeeze his brain and refine that precious memory! otherwise? he might forget that memory if he doesn’t. It was snowing very harshly during that day where he was around five years of age and almost reaching six years old... shivering from the extreme cold the boy was squeezed underneath his mother's body for some faint warmth! she tried shielding his body next to some rock outside the city-walls of some city... the guards of that city refused to allow them inside their walls. Why? because... mother and child didn’t have any coins and couldn’t pay the entrance-fees! but... during that cold night and despite feeling slightly warm the boy couldn’t sleep at all... his pure and innocent young-eyes witnessed color gradually fade-away from his mother's skin—which was usually pale and sickly—until her face became completely blue in color and her pair of open and lifeless-eyes accumulated a thick layer of frost yet they kept staring down directly at him... boy and mother shared this silence where only the kid could hear the whistling wind and feel the freezing cold until he was discovered later by some people visiting that city. For as long as the young-guard could remember... he and his mother were always on the move! as if they were running from something or... someone. The woman would beg for food or a place to stay even if it was just for the night before they’re on the move again... going where? Always towards somewhere else! that lifestyle felt normal to the boy and begging from others gradually became a usual thing to do every day however... seeing his mother selling her body in-exchange for some food just to ensure that he's always well-fed or... seeing her doing it in-exchange for some used and extremely worn-out rags just to keep him warm and alive during the cold nights of winter... always felt wrong to the young-boy and it made him feel bad and guilty deep inside. Once... the tried to convince his mother that he's no longer a weak-baby and mentioned that he can find something to do or some work to help her... they deserve a home for their own and she deserves to have some rest after spending years constantly travelling! she only smiled and hugged him tight however... her eyes were full of tears and her heart did seem like it’s enduring a lot of sadness. Until that damned night which robbed him of his loving mother... for months before that night nobody wanted her flesh anymore! after spending years begging the streets and living in fear for the safety of her only child... that woman lost her beauty and withered like a lily-flower suffering from the burden of winter’s frost. Even now... the young-guard still can’t remember the last words that his mother said but he can remember quite clearly the last look his mother gave him... these eyes were filled with gushing emotions of both love and unwillingness to separate with her only child! he remembers how the people who found him outside the city after the storm passed and the layer of snow that covered him and his mother melted... the young-man remembers how these people struggled to release his young-body from the death grip of her completely frozen body and how he never wanted to be released.

“Wake-up. Everyon-... eh! Qiang Chi. You're awake already, good spirit young-man. Tell the others that their shift is about to begin.” The man who opened the door of the carriage made the young-guard hide the necklace within his level-one space-ring and look away to hide the tears in his eyes before quickly wiping his face then nodding once to the man at the door... Qiang Chi got-up after the man left and began to roughly nudge his sleeping partners and gently touch the shoulders of his partners who meditated to wake them up! while walking outside with his team the thoughts of Qiang Chi never stopped and he kept recollecting the years of his childhood after his mother passed away... he remembered how his martial-spirit awakened while digging a grave for his mother. After burying his mother the boy happened to hear from some people about how much the army of that kingdom is paying its soldiers especially if they’re "cultivators" which means that anyone who’s able to awaken their martial-spirit is welcome within their ranks... as it turned-out the kingdom that his mother died inside its borders is at war with another kingdom! because he hates this kingdom and its citizens for causing him to lose his only relative... little Qiang Chi didn't hesitate to travel for days and months while risking having to face great danger just to join the army of the other kingdom. Why? just because... he wanted to bury that kingdom and its people with his beloved mother and force them all to share the same soil with her! the boy did indeed blame every soul within that kingdom for the death of his mother... from the age of six his only home became the battlefield... all of the hideous-scars all-over his body were his own method of quenching his endless rage after losing his mother. As if the boy was punishing himself for being weak that time... punishing himself with each scar he receives! because... he wasn’t able to protect his sickly mother from the cold of winter... little Qiang Chi hated warmth and discarded his emotions while being promoted in ranks... from a soldier to captain and from a captain to commander of a small detachment within the army... until he became a full-fledged general of a complete army that numbers in the tens of thousands. The boy never rested for a single day and kept pushing himself and his men until he accomplished his only wish... which is doing his best to erase that entire kingdom—and anyone he could catch from it—from existence... after personally and emotionlessly killing his fair share of the royal family from that unfortunate kingdom with his bare two hands and overseeing the rest who got to live from that royal family being sent to resume the rest of their lives as lowly slaves! Qiang Chi watched the territory of that fallen-kingdom get divided between the surrounding kingdoms before going to visit the grave of his mother for the first time after years... how he wept like a child at the grave-site of his mother for days and nights. Not only because he’s still sad and grieving her loss but also because after undergoing this phase of endless carnage and experiencing countless battlefields then causing the destruction of that whole kingdom... these extreme actions never helped to erase the sorrow within his chest! they wouldn’t bring his mother back to life... the "void" that has always remained inside his chest only grew bigger each day and Qiang Chi felt empty and lost because he truly is... without any true "purpose" in life. After spending eight years burning with pure rage and causing a never-ending cycle of killing both in and out of the battlefield or... demolishing and destroying whatever that stood in the way of his goal... after eight years of facing death countless times and rarely taking a slight breather before diving once again into the mindless-killing and obtuse-wrath! it seems like the young-guard just had enough of this life because... while growing-up Qiang Chi understood that he’s venting all of his anger and frustration on helpless and innocent people... the death of his mother has nothing to do with those whom he is currently fighting. Yet here he's... standing next to the grave that he once dug after accomplishing what his younger-self once thought it would be the "right thing" to do however... after growing-up the young-guard became certain that he wasted all these years being just a "pawn" within the palm of the royal family of that kingdom—which hired him and its members always greeting him as their mighty and courageous general—and that he’s been fooled by their fake smiles and pretentious-courtesies! after living in the battlefield for years Qiang Chi’s only gain is his intuition and his extremely developed instincts towards danger—which never failed him and made him survive and elude death by the skin of his teeth many times—and nothing else.

“Live. Live! live, and regain what's yours by right. Remember. little Chi...”

While standing there weeping like a little kid who lost his family next to the grave of his mother... Qiang Chi heard his mother's final words—which he forgot during his years of rage—and decisively the young-general left the ranks of that kingdom that very day... the years of aimlessly wondering underneath the sky brought him to pearl-city where he joined the Cheng clan and assumed the duty of a simple guard! since he has no other profession to do and gain income... plus how Qiang Chi just couldn't find any sort of lead on "what's his by right" after spending four years trying to remember the words of his mother while keeping his ears open for any news. His spirit-cultivation isn't anything great for someone of his age... the young-guard is almost eighteen years old yet he’s still at the seventh-stage of the spirit-apprentice realm! if it wasn't for the physical-nature of his special martial-spirit? which is extremely... extremely rare then... Qiang Chi would've died long... long ago and many times over. 'Ever since I saw that boy Ming, my intuition has been telling me to quickly latch-onto him, is it because he's an orphan just like me? no, that isn't it. But... how can I get acquainted with the boy if he's always in the company of the fat merchant and his men or the princess of the Chentian clan? even when we sparred I didn't get a chance to speak since everyone is watching, I really feel like that if I miss this chance... then there won't be another.' Qiang Chi was furrowing his brow while trying to figure-out a way to befriend the boy without giving the wrong impression while doing so.

......

Inside another carriage, one man with a fit body who looks to be in his forties and wearing a blue-green robe and have a medium-sized beard is sitting next to a slightly thin yet lovely woman who looks to be of a similar age to the man and is completely draped-in a simple black-colored dress... both of them sat in silence and watched while a cute-looking little-girl in an adorably-cute and small white-colored dress and a fake princess-crown stuffed her mouth full of sweets greedily and enthusiastically! the three of them are wearing a similarly-matching bracelet on their left hands—which altered their auras and effectively managed to hide their true identities—even Lin's soul-sense didn't discover that they're in-fact spirit-cultivators not mortals... when the spread his strongest-version of soul-force to scan the area while the convoy escaped the beast-commanders he never noticed the difference. These old couple are much stronger than Li Yang... even the cute little-girl who have smudges of sweets on her bulging cheeks and white-dress does have higher spirit-cultivation than Lin despite being so clumsy! she’s exactly five years old this very day and that’s why she’s currently "annihilating" her birthday cake like a feral-ghoul... this girl is a second-stage spirit-apprentice. If it wasn't for the little-glutton having to spend more than three months without spirit-cultivating? not even once to hide their identities as spirit-cultivators from the people within this caravan and disguise themselves as a small family of mortals during their journey then... she could've most certainly at least reached the third-stage as a spirit-apprentice already! Lin actually spoke briefly with this little-girl before the event of the sparring-matches began and answered her question—which wasn't bad for a child of her age—of course the boy noticed the matching bracelets on the left arm of the members of this family and took it as a "family thing" or some "tradition" and didn’t ask about it... especially when the great-sage felt the parents becoming slightly uneasy when they noticed him looking at these bracelets.

The couple sitting with the little-girl in the same carriage didn't speak at all... they held the hands of one another and simply communicated through writing with their forefinger on the palm of the other party! 'Zan Shui. Do you think the information that lady Yanmei gave us is actually wrong?' The thin woman in black looked at the man next to her while writing on his palm... after taking a second to think the man finally shook his head then wrote his answer on the woman’s soft palm : 'Fourth-concubine Yanmei does indeed have a faint and distant blood-connection with the clairvoyant-witches of the moon-temple, she mentioned that she had a vision where danger is all-around princess Mei when the emperor falls from his throne. The first part came to be true and happened six months ago when her father the emperor got held within his chamber and forbidden from leaving his sickness-bed by the throne’s most trusted and personal alchemist, then... her siblings from the royal family began to scheme on how to pull their youngest-sister to support their self-justified claim for the throne! soon afterwards their attitude changed to open hostility and brazen threats when princess Mei’s martial-spirit awakened at such a startlingly young age, her mother's decision of secretly sending her daughter to join the same sect like the number one genius of all history is the right thing to do... we did our best acting like a normal family of mortals so far and safely left the territories of the Ling empire, crossed a huge deal of distance on the western-ocean and are almost done crossing this pearl-road. Despite the danger we met in this journey we’re all safe, from mercenary-city we can directly use a transportation-formation and arrive at the doors of the heart-seeking sect,' The man could still see some hesitation within the eyes of the woman in black after he wrote that long message on her palm and he hugged her towards him while continuing to write on her palm : 'Meiyin. Don't worry, even if there's any danger waiting for us in this journey you and I would protect the princess... there's still these two mercenary-leaders and that new female-tyrant to assist us if anything did happen! plus that orphan boy—young-hero Ming—who proved that he's much, much more capable than I could've ever imagined, not to mention that there’s that young-girl from the Chentian clan here with us and she’s also close to the boy.' Zan Shui noticed how the frown on Su Meiyin's forehead did ease-up when he reminded her of how their safety is looking to be assured and how their mission of escorting princess Ling Mei to the heart-seeking sect is almost over already.

“Ah!.. I did it again, I ate it all too fast. Sigh... but, it tasted too good so it doesn’t matter anymore. Yay! I'm five years old now. Teheheh...” While these two seniors sank deeper into their daydreams... the girl woke-up from her "eating-frenzy" when the small-mountain of sweets that was previously on the table no longer exists! now there’s only crumbs, morsels, bits, and pieces of the bygone cake decorating the table in the shape of smears made by colorful sweets... these stains on the table’s surface are the only evidence left to confirm how much this little-princess Mei just ate earlier. While patting her bulging stomach with one of her hands and revealing slight feelings of unwillingness within her eyes because there's no more for her to enjoy... Ling Mei finally got-over her emotions of greed then shrugged and celebrated while jumping in joy! because... she's no longer four... she’s five now... a step closer to six.

“Ah Da. Your hands left a stain on your dress, you’re five already! you can't be this careless anymore. Otherwise mommy is going to have to do extra chores later you know.” Zan Shui noticed how the princess’s white-dress received a more than a single stain after the little-girl ate all of her cake and spoke very loudly in a reproachful tone of voice to make whoever is outside or near their carriage hear what he just said... from time to time the three of them would play this "game" to give the perfect-impression of being a normal family.

“I’m sorry father, I really won't do it again.” While smiling very cheerfully... Ling Mei acted her part and shouted her answer in an apologetic tone of voice then... licked her fingers clean despite seeing her personal-maid Su Meiyin glaring at her! the man in blue-green is her personal-guard while the thin woman in black is his wife and the princess's personal-maid... she’s responsible for teaching Ling Mei how to act like a "proper" princess.

“Come Ah Da... let's go change your dirty garments.” Su Meiyin removed herself from her the gentle hug of her husband then walked towards the princess who began to run between the furniture while giggling like a naughty little-girl... finally the woman pulled the princess towards the bathroom to help her change her clothes... while shaking his head Zan Shui got-up from his seat and began to clean the table in silence... the man knows the reason why his wife is really worried isn’t because the little-girl might be in danger! Meyin just likes the little-princess Ling Mei like a daughter of her own and doesn't want to be separated from her.

........

Inside a certain carriage of Wei's caravan.

When Lin woke up from his sleep and extended his ability of soul-sense... formation-runes and inscriptions plus some engravings immediately lit-up and moved to link and connect together and created a very complicated formation on the inner walls of this carriage! this formation could only be seen by the figure underneath the black cloak who’s sitting in the middle of this carriage... that "uncommon" formation tricked the boy’s soul-force and made the great-sage only see just another family of five mortals in this caravan... where the grown-ups are sitting together and chatting about common topics of interest while the youngsters are sitting to the side and enjoying playing one of their board games... that’s the scene Lin saw when he expanded his soul-sense at maximum-range.

The figure in black is sitting cross-legged in front of a blood-red cauldron and placing both of his scrawny hands on each of its handles and constantly sending a stream of his spirit-energy inside that cauldron... the five family members—which Lin saw in the "faulty image" that’s caused by this formation inside the carriage when he extended his soul-sense a bit earlier—are scattered around the figure in black on the floor and swimming in puddles made from their own blood! inside this blood-red cauldron is a seething, ghastly, and extremely thick black-colored liquid which kept bubbling while it boiled by the effect of that person’s unnatural spirit-energy... from time to time a thick cloud of green gas would escape that black liquid when a bubble of a certain size bursts... if these green clouds are given a much closer look? then... the face of one—or more—of these five unfortunate family-members could be seen inside these green-clouds! these faces does indeed seem to be screaming from extreme agony yet in complete silence because... no sound could be heard at all. Quick to swallow these clouds of green gas would be the finger-sized red snake which stood on the black figure's left shoulder! had Lin been able to look inside the carriage? then... the black cloak and the insignia of a maple-leaf being half-way cut by a dagger and decorated with stars above it would've made the name of a certain organization immediately pop-up within his head... assassins-guild. After all... the boy held these black cloaks—which once belonged to Weisheng and Xiangming—in his own hand once before... there's just no doubt at all that he could ever be confused when differentiating between any other black cloak and the ones belonging to the assassins-guild! not to mention... how the insignia itself is proof enough that this individual belongs to that very secretive and extremely dangerous organization—which isn't foreign to the great-sage especially after he absorbed a huge part of memories from Jin Bao—however... this time Lin didn’t notice that one of these dangerous guild-members is actually within the caravan... the boy doesn’t know that this person is planning some evil scheme right underneath his nose... the great-sage have no idea that one family of mortals—which he personally interacted with them a few days earlier—is no longer alive and that all of their open eyes are still staring at their murderer lifelessly as if to curse that person after murdering them despite these eyes being devoid of all signs of vitality.

“Gehehehe. So what if there's a soul-cultivator around who’s hiding himself from my senses, Blood-Demon is still going to finish the job before the little-princess manages to reach the safety of mercenary-city.” An evil voice resonated inside the carriage and the source is from underneath the extremely lowered hood of the black cloak! then... this figure dipped a pale and long finger after covering it with spirit-energy inside the disgusting concoction of black-colored liquid that’s bubbling inside the blood-red cauldron before bringing it closer towards the small finger-sized red-snake... that snake acted like it just discovered the most delicious meal there’s in life that and it extended its forked-tongue to lick all of that black liquid clean from the pale finger then entwined itself on the finger itself by treating it like it's some sort of a branch on a tree and gave its mysterious owner excited looks with its tiny eyes.

“Go-on... eat-up until you’re full, the reward from this mission is the primordial-source of a bog-python that got captured when the beast was in the realm of beast-lord. Maybe after refining it we'd reach the eighth-stage as spirit-tyrants while you... little one might just give me another strong ability.” The figure underneath the black cloak’s head raised slightly upwards while speaking which made two red lantern-like eyes appear within the darkness below the hood... somehow despite the voice of that person being both grating to the ears—which makes it a revolting sound almost to anyone who gets to hear it—when that figure spoke towards their martial-spirit the voice did seem a lot gentle and caring while there’s a very apparent touch of deep remorsefulness and slight guilt within these words! as if that small red-snake could feel what its owner is currently going through emotionally right now... it licked that figure’s fingertip in its own unique gesture of helping that person raise their morale before jumping inside that disgusting concoction of boiling black liquid without hesitation. After removing both arms from the blood-red cauldron... that mysterious assassin watched while the martial-spirit drank that disgusting concoction of black liquid and began to grow bigger in size! while feeling sorry for what state this little snake has come to be after the years... this martial-spirit was originally both transparent in color and extremely pure in its soul-nature like a very rare and incomparably precious diamond. Yet... their fate took a single severe turn... it happened just once and afterwards they practically have no chance of either living or cultivating normally anymore.

............

Lin began to meditate and cultivate his spirit-energy from the moment Bo An activated the advanced spirit-gathering formation until dawn... while Lin did his best in trying to familiarize himself with light-energy and his spirit-wings Gang was doing his job and fortifying the cleared meridian-tunnels... each time the deadly-sin of wrath brought more light-energy to sacrifice to the white and yellow meridian-walls of the major or meridian-branch the color of the meridian-walls refused to change but the width of the meridian-tunnels did change! expanding outwards and widening even further after each sacrifice of a gaseous-cloud of the dark-gold color... the meridian-tunnels expanded almost fifty-percent wider when daylight arrived.

Opening his eyes after this session of cultivation ended... the boy could clearly feel great disappointment from every strand of light-energy around him! why? because... these strands didn't get the chance to join the ones before them and enter the great-sage’s dantian-space. Smiling ruefully while watching how these strands of light-energy are acting like little kids throwing a tantrum and battering the skin of his body... the scene made Lin shake his head after seeing this quite strange and unexpected situation! “Don’t be impatient now everyone, there’s many more sessions of cultivation to come in the future.” The boy whispered while getting-up from his bed and to his surprise these strands really did calm-down a lot afterwards and resumed their normal style of chasing after one another around his body! quietly the great-sage left the carriage without making a sound because Bo An and the three beasts are either meditating or hibernating.

Lin is feeling slightly hungry right now since Tang Wei like himself has just woke-up from his sleep and the fatty is eagerly waiting for his servants to prepare his breakfast table... then the boy’s next destination is the luxurious carriage at the very front of the caravan. Spreading his four spirit-wings... the great-sage flew towards Wei's carriage at a low altitude with a very slow almost lazy-like speed.

“Good morning.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Ladies. Good day to you too.”

Each and every team of guards would raise their heads up and greet Lin with excitement on their expressions when they notice the boy flying over their heads... seeing them smiling widely from ear to ear like little kids after he politely answered their greetings made the boy quite happy since he’s able to effortlessly bring happiness to the hearts of these people! the great-sage began to blush slightly when he noticed how the majority of conversations began to become oriented on the gains these spirit-cultivators attained after sparring with this amazing young-hero Ming... leaving these guards who began to become "overexcited" and "over-exaggerate" the most simple facts behind him. Lin became quite confused when he found the young-man who’s covered in scars hand the reins of his mount—which is a strange black bear that has overly-sized boar tusks—to the guard next to him before jumping on the roof of the carriage at his left... after cupping his fist in a polite gesture that hideously-scarred young-man opened his mouth to say : “Young-hero Ming. Good day to you, this Qiang Chi would like a private word with you... only if it pleases you.” Then the young-guard politely waited for the boy to answer while looking at him with a pair of eyes which practically screamed the words : "Pretty please!" in a pleading tone of voice.

Seeing confusion, curiosity, and shock in the eyes of the team of this young guard... the great-sage flew right over this Qiang Chi without stopping after saying : “Good morning everyone.”

Seeing young-hero Ming ignoring his request... Qiang Chi sighed and did seem obviously disheartened yet no signs of anger or blame towards the boy appeared on the young-guard’s expression when the rest of his team gave him looks of contempt and sneered at him! 'If you have anything to say to me, then let's hear it.' When Lin sent Qiang Chi this short message with his ability of soul-link it caused the young-man—who’s body is full of crisscrossing scars—to shudder slightly when he heard these words ring within his head... while the members of his team misunderstood the young-man’s state of shivering-shock as Qiang Chi trying to stifle his anger because the kid ignored him just earlier... the young-guard jumped back towards his bear mount and lowered his head down to hide his excitement and replied : 'Young hero Ming. I wish to offer you my life-long service, earlier on I was already planning to terminate my contract with the Cheng clan after this mission because it isn't going to benefit my future if I stayed any longer however... after meeting you and witnessing young-hero Ming’s "down to earth" personality. I'm certain that I’d forever regret it if I don't join you in your upcoming journeys!' Lin smiled faintly while enjoying the feeling of fresh air against his face in the morning and answered : 'What makes you so sure?' The young-man's request is both sudden and quite unreasonable... if the boy accepted every request that’s similar to Qiang Chi's request here? then maybe... Tang Wei would struggle to find anyone to work as a guard in his caravan anymore! plus how the great-sage would find himself responsible for a whole army of spirit-cultivators.

“Ah Da! wake-up already, it's time for breakfast... hurry-up little girl.” The sound of a woman could be heard calling from one of the carriages ahead when Lin asked Qiang Chi.

“Hmmm!... this carriage below me... if I’m not mistaken, the last time I used my soul-sense the members of this family were doing the exact same things!” Out of pure curiosity... the boy extended his ability of soul-sense to take a look at the smart little-girl who’s called Ah Da because she actually gave the great-sage a really good question during the day Lin talked with the gathering of mortals and her great passion towards eating sweets did remind him of Lily! then Lin immediately stopped once he discovered this little yet very "contradictory-detail" within the carriage right behind the carriage where Ah Da and her parents are staying... muttering faintly to himself the boy kept his silence and just waited... the great-sage watched because he wanted to see for himself if these five family-members inside this carriage doing the exact same things is just a coincidence or not... certainly Lin isn’t experiencing some "deja vu" or anything.

'I just believe it deep down within my gut, I know that my spirit-cultivation isn't anything when compared to those others around my age or those from the generation after my generation however... I believe that I have much, much superior instincts and intuition! plus how fighting experience is leagues beyond theirs. The nature of my martial-spirit plus my natural-affinity... they make me the perfect candidate for the job, it would be my honor to serve as your personal-guard! if only young-hero Ming would allow it then... this great honor shall be mine for eternity and I’d be more than happy to immediately swear the perpetual pledge of both servitude and loyalty.' Qiang Chi's bamboozling-answer made the boy smile because... from the look within the eyes of this young-guard the great-sage could clearly notice that there has got to be some other reason which this young-man didn't include in this answer of his for some reason! 'Well. What would you do if you were in my shoes? no offense but, we don't really know one another after all! someone is approaching you with the exact similar request... right out of the blue that complete "stranger" asks you to appoint him as not one of your guards but, as your "personal-guard" you’re me and I’m you. Now what? why would you accept such a request?' Lin answered while squinting his eyes because... even though the family of five mortals within the carriage below him should be the adults talking while the minors are playing their board-games... they’re making absolutely no sound at all! something just... doesn't add up in this situation... had they been five spirit-cultivators? then... the boy would’ve translated the discrepancy in this situation as them preventing others from overhearing or spying on their private activities however... these are just mortals and shouldn’t be capable of doing such things.

..........

Meanwhile within the carriage where the assassin has been overseeing the martial-spirit growing larger in size all night whenever it ate some of that disgusting concoction of black-colored liquid... that figure below the black cloak is feeling much worry while watching the strange formation on the interior of the carriage working at its maximum capacity to confuse the intrusive soul-sense.

..........

“Is that... some kind of projection? going over and over in a repeated transmission, that of five family is a normal family of mortals. I’m sure it was like that the last time we met! were they disguising their identities? I better check it out myself and take a look inside first before telling Wei about it, that restriction is only able to stop my soul-sense because my soul-force is only at one-fifth of what it’s supposed to be. Soul-gaze!...”

'Watch-out! there's danger nearby, young-hero Ming quickly now! move away.'

“Crackle!...”

Lin muttered faintly to himself when he noticed the slight "inconsistencies" within the actions of these five family-members... after seeing mercenary-leaders Li Yang and Chen Fu coming towards him with Ning Xue, Liao Lai, Zhang Wang, and a few other mercenary-captains the boy wanted to check and confirm this situation with his ability of soul-gaze first to satisfy his curiosity! just to know how exactly is that small family of five mortals could be able to confuse his soul-sense or... if these five are not mortals at all and disguising themselves as mortals during this journey. Either way the great-sage is going to know how it’s done and learn something new... since he knows that when these guys arrive he’s certainly going to be distracted! probably Lin would lose the chance of getting to know how it’s done to begin with however... once the boy executed his ability of soul-gaze and the one-fifth of his soul-force got activated through the third and silver-eyes of both soul-bodies... the two fires within the glass-heart made a warning of a very loud crackling sound that made the great-sage unhesitatingly flap his four wings and change his position from directly above that carriage and fly towards the north. In a split-second Lin widened the distance between himself and that carriage however... just before the boy sensed that loud and clear warning from his fire-intent... the urgent and panicked words of Qiang Chi had already rang within his head through the ability of soul-link and rushed the great-sage to escape while expressing genuine care and fear for Lin’s safety.

...........

Within the ring of origin.

“Hmmm!...” Kai suddenly hummed when he noticed how the young-guard could sense the danger even before the boy.

...........

Inside the carriage of the five dead family-members.

That assassin was standing near the window and looking towards the approaching mercenary-leaders and their captains plus a few high-ranked commanders from the Cheng clan being followed by a small group of mercenaries and guards... the plan is in its most delicate phase right now! why’s now the most critical moment of the plan? because... right before the martial-spirit completely digested the secret formula of "demonic soul-ash" which can—for a very short-duration—strengthen that assassin’s soul-based spirit-abilities. Especially whenever that person is attacking... every single move would be on the lord-level of strength and speed! however... the soul-formation which has been placed on the inner-walls of this carriage to disguise the assassin until the plan is completed suddenly go burst and its runes and formation-inscriptions fade into nothing... without a single shred of hesitation the assassin immediately took action because waiting any longer to stubbornly try and complete the mission like it has been planned would cause his side to lose the advantage of the element of surprise. In the end the assassin might be surrounded by these enemies even if the mission is completed and get murdered when the opportunity of escaping is no longer available! “Evil-reign!” Calling back the many-times bigger martial-spirit from the blood-red cauldron the previously finger-sized red snake is now already a few meters long red-snake... it quickly entered the assassin’s left sleeve then vanished below the black cloak. That figure slammed the two handles of the blood-red cauldron with both palms and that person inserted almost a third of the spirit-energy within their dantian-space all at once! all of that evil and unorthodox spirit-energy was sent toward the core-formation within that blood-red cauldron to initiate the exploding-sequence of this evil-tool before jumping outside the carriage and single-mindedly fleeing towards south as fast as possible before the explosion of this level-six spirit-tool happens... despite being a high-stage spirit-tyrant that assassin can’t risk being caught within the range of that blood-red cauldron when it explodes.

.........

“Eh!” Lai was the first among the group of spirit-cultivators to feel the strangeness of the additional and foreign soul-force that suddenly appeared from within the carriage below the boy after Lin malfunctioned its soul-formation then... the blade-user squinted his eyes slightly while feeling suspicious when he noticed the figure in black cloak who left the caravan heading towards the south where the territories of beast-mountains are located! 'After him! that assassin killed the entire family of mortals inside that carriage.' Then group of spirit-cultivators heard these words from Lin and they awakened Lai and the rest from their surprise... then Li Yang, Chen Fu, Ning Xue, and Liao Lai sensed it clearly when the boy used his soul-force to raise the carriage—which that "killer" just left in a hurry—and toss it towards the black figure who’s fleeing south! this assassin is obviously an accomplished spirit-tyrant because... within these short moments—which they spent being surprised and wondering "why on earth would a spirit-tyrant disguise himself just to kill some mortals? and, why would he be so frightened after doing so?"—he’s already a few kilometers away from the caravan and is still going further however... the great-sage's soul-force is currently in a weakened-state! but... clearly it’s not that weak where it would fail him when he’s aiming to send the whole carriage—minus the beasts that pulled it—homing at the black assassin with a much faster speed... why? the answer is... light-energy! the strands which were previously throwing a tantrum decided to join in on the fun... why would these strands do so? because... the scent of that spirit-cultivator is just... disgusting to them.

“Booom!...” An explosion blasted that carriage into fragments just a few hundred meters before it could reach that hooded-figure and following that explosion a cloud of thick and evil-looking red-clouds began to spread from the location where that explosion happened.

“Fellow-cultivators stop! don't give chase and protect yourselves, I can clearly sense the aura of a devil-cultivator from this obnoxious red spirit-energy. Don't you ever lower your guard and allow some of this sin-energy to enter your bodies, sin-energy can corrode spirit-energy while affecting the minds! Cheng Wang, hurry and give the order for the caravan to move north. Otherwise the caravan’s tail is going to get caught within the range of this spreading sin-energy. Everyone else should stay behind the three of us, just be ready to link your spirit-energy and support us with everything you got. Fu you take care of the left-flank while it take care of the right, Xue... you're to remain between the two of us and give assistance whenever it’s needed. This is a lord-level threat! don't even blink and never overestimate yourselves, work as a team if you wish to survive.” Li Yang quickly stopped when he noticed the sin-energy spreading over the land like descending-mist and cover an entire mile in a matter of a couple of seconds... while from the moment this explosion happened it has only been a little bit over a couple of seconds! immediately activating his energy-armor of lightning-energy then taking out his weapon which is the insignia of the lightning-spear mercenaries—which is the brown-colored wooden-spear that has a palm-sized silver-colored spear-tip—before the spirit-tyrant began to throw orders to the men around him in an experienced-manner of someone who’s used to lead men and knows how to properly act whenever he needs to bring his men to order swiftly and quickly within the shortest amount of time... meanwhile Chen Fu took out an exaggerated hammer that’s entirely made from some sort of black-colored and seemingly very heavy metal... just its head is almost the size of Lin's entire body then activated his energy-armor of earth-energy before complying with Yang's orders without delay despite not being very pleased with taking order from his rival in front of his own men... especially not in front of his own woman. But... the situation is dire and not in their favor... that’s why the stocky man has to swallow his discomfort and frustrations if he wants to survive another day to hold his beautiful woman again.

Lin clearly felt the danger earlier before he moved then got to see the situation inside that carriage while moving away... once he saw the action of the hooded-figure in black then that person leaving the caravan seemingly in a hurry... the boy pulled-out the five dead bodies from inside the carriage while cutting the beast-reins before focusing all his soul-force into hurling the whole carriage towards the assassin! the badge on that person’s chest answered the first question for the great-sage and his inability of seeing the person below that black cloak confirmed the identity of this suspicious individual... since nothing good is going to come from any individual who belongs to that guild—which is hated by many especially Mia—then... it’s much better if Lin kept whatever that assassin did choose to leave behind as far away as possible from their caravan... the incident before where the assassin almost killed Sun by spitting a tiny needle is a good lesson that should never forgotten that's why the boy sent the whole thing towards the fleeing figure. Honestly... the great-sage never thought that his weakened soul-force would be able to do the job! but... the assistance from the strands of light-energy was just that... timely. The explosion made Lin sigh in relief since his judgment was correct but... the following cloud of red-mist—which blocked Lin's soul-sense and fed it with the screams of pure agony and torment of god knows how many souls—made the boy sigh inside while feeling both sorrow and slight anger! because... that would've been a really catastrophic event for all the mortals and majority of spirit-cultivators within this caravan. If they took the brunt of the first explosion from such close range? then... no need to mention what this cloud of red-mist can do to them because the great-sage have this feeling that this so-called sin-energy can do a lot more worse than what Li Yang just said... just the explosion that initiated this cloud of red-mist would’ve left this caravan with more than fifty-percent dead or at death’s door! hearing what Li Yang said about that fast-spreading cloud of red-mist... it made Lin anxiously watch while the caravan redirected itself towards the north however... things are going a bit slowly. Li Yang took a small detachment that’s made of the strongest spirit-grandmasters and his two friends before the three spirit-tyrants positioned themselves southwest to ensure that the caravan’s tail would always remain both protected and unaffected by this spreading evil-cloud of red mist... Wang activated the spirit-barrier around the convoy after redirecting it north and stayed next to Tang Wei with Zhang so that they would both act as his protectors in Lai’s absence. The blade-user is away with the mercenary-leaders protecting the caravan’s tail.

“If you're so worried about them, why don't you use your long-range attack?” Kai's voice made Lin look at the wings-symbol on the back of his right-hand. 'Would it even work?' The boy muttered to himself while remembering how large the aftereffect was when he used that ability against the beast-blockade. “Brat! are you doubting my judgment?” The talking-raccoon did sound really frustrated by the question. 'I’m not! it’s just that...' The great-sage panicked and hesitated because Kai doesn’t seem like the type who would care about... other’s safety! honestly... he doesn’t seem like the type who cares about others at all. “Go-on, spit it out already!” Now he’s becoming impatient which is pressuring Lin more than needed. 'The distance is too close, that ray of light-energy would remove the threat of that cloud of red-mist while the aftereffect of my attack would endanger the lives of everyone within the caravan!' The boy voiced his worries and wished if that talking-raccoon wouldn’t force him to do it. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. What an idiot you're! sin-energy is the most vulnerable to light-energy so you can scatter that fart of sin-energy just as easy as I can fart space-time, when would you ever start to use that brain of yours? huh! you can scatter that nasty fart of sin-energy while these little monkeys over there who overestimate themselves a bit too much can erect a spirit-barrier to block the aftereffects of your long-range attack, I doubt that they can do it by themselves but there’s something that you should learn from this experience. Now do it before I lose my interest.” Kai said what the great-sage was mostly afraid that he would say and it made Lin worry for the people within the caravan from the shockwaves... if he used that long-range attack at that red-mist right now? isn’t the distance between the caravan and the red-mist already too short! last time he used that ray of light from the wings-symbol to attack the beast-blockade these beasts were almost four-times the distance from the convoy compared to how close this sin-cloud of red-mist is right now yet... that time the energy-barrier seemed to be very strained while resisting the following shockwaves. Yes... that time the convoy was heading directly against the shockwaves while this time the caravan should be moving in the same direction of the shockwaves but... the distance is already four-times closer this time! if Lin used that long-range attack again right now? then... the caravan would be within the immediate-range of the main-attack of the ray of light-energy... almost within distance of suffering the impact from pointblank! after that ray of light hit the ground it expanded in a very large area before vanishing... unfortunately the boy just can't control his light-energy after it leaves his body... at least not just yet.

“Seniors. If I attack this cloud of sin-energy? can I rely on you to keep the people of the caravan—and yourselves—safe from the aftershocks?” After suddenly appearing next to them... the great-sage asked Li Yang and Chen Fu because they’re the leaders and the two strongest spirit-cultivators in this group of spirit-cultivators... Lin was watching the cloud of red-mist expand quickly and calculating the exact time before this sin-energy is going to completely cover the gap between it and the caravan’s tail! Lai squinted his eyes slightly because he noticed how the boy didn’t seem at a hurry to know the answer... while in fact the great-sage was buying time for the caravan to move some more away from the point that he’s planning to aim at next.

“We can do our best! not to mention how your light-energy plus some flying rubble and debris is going to be a lot less harmful to us than what this evil sin-energy would at least do to my men, every spirit-cultivator hear me out... you’re to join your spirit-energy and block towards the south! the strong ahead of the weak and the weakest behind the weaker. What are you waiting for? move your asses before you turn into evil-corpses! fend for dear life.” Li Yang immediately understood what this young-hero Ming meant... since he was amongst those who witnessed it happen and knows that such a quick and wide-range attack certainly would be something which he could only hope to block if he ever faces the boy in battle! otherwise... if the lightning-cultivator ever tries to parry or evade that ray? that would be almost an impossible feat for someone like himself despite being someone who’s always been famous for being fast. Yes... despite being one of the "fast few" within his major-realm and having the natural-affinity for the element of lightning—which is both quick and strong, much stronger than the element of light when comparing pure explosive power—Li Yang knows that Lin's long-range ability is just "fatal" to any spirit-tyrant after witnessing the damage that attack caused to the beast-blockade despite having to travel a few dozen kilometers towards its target! now that this kid is planning to use that long-range attack once again on a target "that close" then... they'd have to rely on themselves to survive it by creating the sturdiest shield from their spirit-energy behind the caravan's spirit-barrier while hoping to survive... not the actual attack but... just the aftershocks and shockwaves that follow that long-range ability from a kid who isn’t even on the second-stage as a spirit-apprentice... it’s just crazy to believe however... they’re currently living and experiencing that... craziness! quick to respond despite being slightly afraid of what to come... the spirit-tyrant ordered all of the spirit-cultivators within the caravan to help the two mercenary-groups by merging and fortifying their defense after giving Lin the green light.

“Young-hero Ming's attack might give you some bruises, be careful now lads... I say, it's much better to be sore and in pain than some devil-cultivator's evil sin-energy corroding my precious spirit-energy! or... confusing my mind. I say, break a leg or two young-hero Ming... because these brave mercenaries can take your worst shot and shout... "again!" they would beg if needed to tests their courage, and keep shouting... "give us one more" until you do. We’re the crushing-hammer mercenaries! our group doesn’t have cowards who fear taking a punch or two, am I right or what?” Chen Fu sensed how bad the situation is bad when he noticed the serious look inside the boy's golden-eyes... the mercenary-leader shouted while augmenting his voice with spirit-energy in an attempt to raise the morale of his men.

“Lightning-spear mercenaries... is that challenge I’m hearing?” One mercenary-captain from the lightning-spear mercenaries shouted after seeing the gesture from Li Yang.

“So what if it is?” Another mercenary-captain from the crushing-hammer mercenaries joined the task of riling-up the spirit-cultivators of the caravan.

“Then... I say we take it!”

“We don't fear to break a limb.”

“Show us your mighty long-range attack once again.”

“Young-hero Ming. Go for it.”

“Yes! last time I reflexively blinked when it happened.”

“I really do regret closing my eyes back then.”

“I could only see that big bowl-like dome of light-energy as it kept growing bigger and bigger.”

“Cheng clan guards, who’s going to protect our respected clients.”

“We are! we carry the honor of the Cheng clan on our shoulders, we can’t lose to these mercenaries. Men, show them your resolve.”

“I might be a loose-cultivator but I have my pride.”

“Me too!”

Lin didn't hesitate anymore after seeing a few hundred spirit-cultivators stand in rows and lines facing the direction southwest on-top of the carriages or on-top of their own mounts... they linked their spirit-energy into a single barrier of spirit-energy behind the three spirit-tyrants who stood on the first line behind the caravan's spirit-barrier... the boy raised his right-hand at shoulder-level and pointed his forefinger towards the center of that red-mist and willed the light-energy within the dantian-space to exit through the wings-symbol and leave his body.

.........

Gang was already inside the dantian-space and keeping a close eye on the golden-hall... specifically on exit of the meridian-branch where the other wings-symbol is located... why? to collect data... his big-brother just loves these sorts of moments where he can take a deeper look into the unknown and explore mysteries! when Lin willed that light-ray to be released the deadly-sin of wrath looked upwards at the huge vortex that suddenly appeared at the entrance of the major-meridian high above their martial-spirit then... watched how the dark-gold gaseous-clouds from the two armies got forcefully sucked towards the center of that vortex by the "heaps" even when the two cloud-generals panicked and desperately attempted to force their minions into staying under their command... the gaseous-grade light-energy of the strongest, purest, and highest quality within their dantian-space couldn't resist that suction-force and stood helplessly and watched while the vortex stole their underlings. All of that light-energy—which that vortex stole—instantly travelled through the meridian-tunnels of the major-meridian and meridian-branch towards the exit in the golden-hall however... that light-energy didn't take the normal exit—which previously caused the ability of energy-armor to be activated and for the light-energy to stick to the great-sage’s body in a protective layer of spirit-energy—the light-energy fused with the wings-symbol itself this time! right before the ray of light-energy exited his right forefinger for the second time in his life Gang clearly saw what happened even if it took a millionth of a second to appear very quickly then disappear... a circle of light-energy covered his gold-colored wings-symbol then vanished before the deadly-sin of wrath could get a clear look however... the shape and form of some details on that circle didn’t escape his intensely-focused eyes! especially... his third eye... the silver-colored eye.

.........

“Om!...”

“Boom!...”

Almost every spirit-cultivator within these rows and lines was already prepared and a layer of their own spirit-energy was protecting their eyes... when the ray of light-energy appeared this time they weren’t blinded by it to the degree of not being able to see anything at all still... everything still happened so fast that they all felt like they still missed it because... before they even got to comprehend what’s going-on... the dome of light-energy was already expanding towards them and upwards towards the sky like a massive golden-wave of light-energy that’s going to engulf all of them! thankfully that golden-wave of light-energy bypassed their caravan without affecting either of the two spirit-barriers however... before any of them even got to sigh in relief since the dome of light-energy didn’t damage their defenses and just cause the caravan’s spirit-barrier to fluctuate slightly... these spirit-cultivators heard the deafening sound of the explosion then felt the ground beneath their feet shake strongly as if there’s an extremely strong earthquake coming towards them. “This is the moment of truth, hold fast now boys!” Chen Fu shouted once again to awaken the shocked group of spirit-cultivators who stared in absolute shock at the thick layer of earth that’s moving towards them like a second wave behind the first wave... this time this wave isn’t some golden-colored light-energy! this second-wave is completely formed from soil, rocks, plants, and whatever that’s below or above the surface of earth itself! looking towards his two companions—which are the only spirit-tyrants currently available to assist him—the stocky man gave his woman a fast and fleeting side-glance because... from the look of it this caravan’s energy-barrier can never withstand this second-wave when it hits. Now it all comes down to this question : "Is the combined and united spirit-energy able to withstand an attack of that magnitude?"

Lin witnessed how his light-energy practically evaporated the evil cloud of red-mist just like how intense light is capable of scattering darkness whenever they meet... from the white vapor that followed the disappearance of this evil cloud of red-mist the boy sensed and practically could faintly hear countless words of thanks from the countless grateful-souls who just escaped the previous torment of that red-mist and the golden-eyes of the great-sage did seem like they’re burning because Lin was really... really angry at that assassin who clearly caused all this suffering!

.........

“Heh. Just how much more faith is the brat going to accumulate before he reach the next stage? but, he's still so stupid sometimes it just makes me so frustrated! maybe... it would be better if I took the brat here every once in a while, however... to teach him myself? maybe I should do just that, otherwise... he'd reach the pinnacle of cultivation long after I figure a way to reach "divinity" on my own. Sigh. Me and my soft heart, it's the fortune of his seven ancestors to be personally taught the right way of cultivation and how to best harness the buried quality of the guiding-light physique from the one and only... Kai himself. Kekekeke.” Kai dangled a grapefruit into his mouth while lazily reclining on the extremely thick and soft fur of a gigantic-sized demonic-beast... the talking-raccoon was talking to himself and seemed to hesitate slightly about whether or not should he interfere with the boy’s life while using the huge body of the poor fellow underneath him as some sort of ladder! just to reach the fruits of this tree which is practically  as tall as a mountain... then Kai decided to just waited there on-top of him in that very comfortable position to watch the action outside while completely disregarding the demonic-beast below him—which is so frightened that it began to shiver from fear—and after hearing the loud string of evil-like laughter in the end made the demonic-beast shiver even more from fear while its eyes began to reveal its white because it began to feel like its soul is going to leave its body any time now since this "little-ancestor" on-top of its head can instantly end its life many times over with a single snap of his fingers.

While the demonic-beast shivered from trepidation... Kai was really commending its good work and enjoying the massage to his back! “Still wouldn't act huh, what a cautious girl! that one is indeed extremely careful, it reminds me of days before... heh. Things are getting interesting now, one more "bee" has come sniffing after the brat’s "nectar" kekeke.” Kai muttered while squeezing the juice from a grape into his open jaw before cackling like a heartless demon. “Still, these two better make a move already or I’d make that little brat of theirs the boy’s newest and youngest toy.” Then the talking-raccoon looked towards a certain carriage while having a dangerous and merciless glint fleet within his eyes.

..........

“Go help them, you have to! this is all because of me... they're all going to suffer because of me, you two are much stronger than all of them, so go help already!” Ah Da looked in shock at the unbelievable sight of the second-wave that’s coming towards her while carrying complete destruction for a short while before waking-up from the momentary daze then looked towards her fake mother and father then began to plead... the two of them were evidently hesitating whether or not should they take the princess and leave the caravan right now before it’s too late, “If you're not going to help young-hero Ming and the rest? Then... I promise to slack in my spirit-cultivation after I enter the heart-seeking sect! you two can't enter the sect with me anyway. Humph.” Seeing them still hesitating... Ling Mei puckered her lips and said so while looking away towards the brave spirit-cultivators who began to tighten their ranks and nervously prepared themselves mentally to face this gigantic and deadly "earth-wave" after the caravan's spirit-barrier failed to resist it even for a few seconds before bursting! however... the eyes of the Ling empire's youngest-princess had this sly and mischievous glint fleetingly pass within them before she quickly hid it.

“Sigh. We should go Meiyin.” Zan Shui immediately understood how fourth-concubine Yanmei’s prophecy—Ling Mei’s mother—is... on-point! especially when the personal-guard sensed the sudden movement behind their carriage and felt the extremely lethal threat to all of their lives and how helpless they all were against it... when the spirit-tyrant felt that little-boy young-hero Ming intervene in the most delicate and critical timing and throw the whole carriage with his soul-force after the figure escaped and witnessed the explosion that followed... Zan Shui confirmed that fact about how princess-Mei was the target of this attempt where such a completely unexpected attack could've been far nastier than an open assault. Why? because... if she did manage to survive? then... after seeing that evil cloud of sin-energy spreading in the air in the form of thick red-mist and polluting it just like how ink would pollute clear water... the spirit-tyrant admitted that they’re "extremely lucky" this time around because the princess would've been delayed from—at least—a few precious years in her spirit-cultivation after falling inside the range of this red-mist and being affected by sin-energy! even if he and his wife—somehow—managed to block the first explosion from affecting their princess? then... their chances of extracting both themselves and Ling Mei from the range of that red-mist despite relying on all their trump-cards is practically... a big fat zero. The spirit-energy and martial-spirit of the youngest-princess being contaminated by sin-energy means that her chances of entering the heart-seeking sect are... also a big fat zero! hadn’t this young-hero Ming reacted earlier? then... these two high-stage spirit-tyrants would’ve failed their mission anyway... even if they managed to preserve the life of their youngest-princess. Seeing the look inside the eyes of her husband... Su Meiyin nodded obediently and both of them removed the "world's apart" bracelet from their arms then she went hand-in-hand with her husband to assist Li Yang, Chen Fu, and Ning Xue.

“Fellow-cultivators Yang, Fu, and Xue. Please allow us to give you a hand of assistance.” Zan Shui unleashed his spirit-pressure and revealed his spirit-cultivation as a spirit-tyrant of the seventh-stage... while Su Meiyin did the same as her husband and flaunted her superior attainments in spirit-cultivation to everyone within the caravan as a spirit-tyrant of the sixth-stage! the couple flew above the spirit-cultivators before standing in front of the two mercenary-leaders and allowed those behind them to supplement them by linking their spirit-energy with the spirit-barrier these spirit-cultivators erected earlier.

...........

Lin was never interested in using his soul-force to eavesdrop on anybody... especially not right now because the boy was wholeheartedly focusing on using all of it to scatter whatever he can of that dangerously catastrophic earth-wave! the great-sage’s current worry isn't directed towards the spirit-cultivators... well... not really. However... the fate of these completely helpless and innocent mortals within the caravan really troubled Lin because each and every one of them might suffer until the rest of their lives... that’s if the weakest shockwave managed to reach them and they happened to be lucky enough to survive it! that’s why when the boy heard that call that’s been augmented with spirit-energy from these two—who should've been mortals too!—it made the great-sage sigh in relief because... it doesn't matter why these husband and wife—if they’re even a married couple—were hiding their identities... and for whatever reason were they doing it to begin with... none of that matters right now. If they're willing to blow their cover just to help them? then... Lin would be grateful one-hundred percent! such questions could be asked later anyway however... the boy concluded some answers after confirming that both of these spirit-tyrants aren’t wearing that bracelet anymore while the little-girl Ah Da is still wearing hers.

Seeing the great-sage giving them a silent nod to answer their questioning gazes... the three spirit-tyrants and Liao Lai didn't say a single word before working with the additional two spirit-tyrants to push back against this mountain worth of earth! that earth-wave is not only moving towards them... its force is so strong that it would push them back while compressing the spirit-barrier with its massive mass from above... the caravan lost too much of its previous speed because the earth beneath the demonic-beasts is experiencing some serious earthquakes... it did seem like a race against time for these spirit-cultivators because... if they’re engulfed within the deepest point below that earth-wave? then... they’re just that... doomed! a spirit-energy attack after spirit-energy attack was thrown at this earth-wave from every spirit-cultivator who could spare some spirit-energy... all of them except for Lin who wouldn’t dare use that long-range ability after using it in the second time at such a close target... the boy is certainly afraid of making things worse for these spirit-cultivators. Honestly... the great-sage would rather use his spirit-wings to transport the mortals away but... there’s "a lot" of mortals in this caravan! even if Lin began by helping the young? then... before the boy gets to transport the women and elderlies... this earth-wave would claim the lives of the rest of these mortals and many more from these spirit-cultivators. Their chances of survival are much better when the great-sage is using his soul-force to manipulate the pathway of certain points within this earth-wave to weaken it and slow it down... with the help of Zan Shui and Su Meiyin... the caravan finally managed to reach the safety away from the dangerous-range of these shockwaves.

Tang Wei immediately felt like crying tears of blood when he discovered that Zhang Wang had actually dared to operate the wind-formations on a high "combustion-rate" where the formations would practically consume spirit-crystals plus spirit-energy from the surroundings while the wind-formations themselves would burn every rune and formation-inscription within their diagram for better performance until the formations are completely ruined.

“Senior Fu. Can I trouble you and your... "lovely" wife with helping merchant Wei and his men in taking care of assessing the casualties within the caravan, just give immediate help to those in need first.” Lin took a look beyond the aftermath of destruction... specifically towards the general-area where that assassin was fleeing earlier then the boy turned towards the spirit-tyrant and his wife and asked but in-fact his words did seem more like a direct order than asking... Ning Xue’s mouth twitched slightly when she heard what this brat just called her and was about to retort however her husband beat her into answering by saying : “Young-hero Ming. I'm on it, let's go Xue.” After cupping his fist politely... Chen Fu dragged his woman who looked to be very eager to drown the boy in her cynical-comments and questions right now! right now isn’t the time to do that... oh no... not at all.

“Seniors. I think one of you should go take care of "Ah Da" while the other one should join me, senior Yang, and Lai in chasing that wicked person. I confirmed the identity earlier, that’s an assassin from the assassins-guild! since we need to move quickly... I need you to decide right now, so... who’s staying and who’s leaving with us? we really have no time to waste here, otherwise the assassin is going to escape my senses. Right now the assassin is wounded which makes it our best chance to capture that person alive, that would allow us to interrogate and extract information about who’s behind this.” Lin looked at the two middle-aged couple and spoke in a tone of voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Li Yang noticed how Liao Lai has naturally positioned himself and stood behind this "supposedly" orphan-boy and follower of his own master Cheng Wei... silent like a pole the blade-user didn’t seem to be even aware that he’s currently acting like a "follower" to this young-hero Ming when he choose to keep his mouth shut when the kid spoke! then... the mercenary-leader looked towards these two fellow-cultivators to see how they're going to react after being ordered by a little-boy... there’s a shadow of a smile within the eyes of the lightning-cultivator. Of course... as a subtle-veteran and as a quick-witted mercenary—who’s leading an entire group of spirit-cultivators into doing dangerous tasks everywhere as a day-to-day job—the spirit-tyrant immediately caught the hint within the words of this young-hero Ming and instantly put two and two together! then Li Yang confirmed his conclusions once he witnessed clear shock and slight fear within the eyes of the female spirit-tyrant when she heard the boy stress the words "Ah Da".

“Shui. You go, I’m staying! you’re the strongest spirit-cultivator in the caravan but... be careful.” The woman in black squeezed the hand of her husband and spoke while clear worry could be heard from her voice... her man just nodded then took a step forward.

“Good, let’s go.” Lin immediately turned and flew towards the south while helping Lai fly with his soul-force... otherwise the spirit-grandmaster has no way of keeping up with these two spirit-tyrants in speed! “Senior Fu. Make sure to keep these guards in a state of high-alert all the time, who knows? there might be others lying in wait for the strong to leave the pack.” However... the boy’s following words made almost all of the mercenaries and guards within the caravan—who were just celebrating having prevailed against the aftereffects of young-hero Ming's mighty long-range ability—practically jump again but from fear this time after hearing this warning from the boy... these spirit-cultivators tightened their grip on their weapons and heightened their senses immediately afterwards! why? simply because... the strongest among them really left them under the protection of boss Fu and his wife.

“Y-young-hero Ming I wan-” The man who’s called Zan Shui tried to say something probably to explain the reasons behind them disguising their identities however... Lin stopped the spirit-tyrant by interrupting him with a bit of rudeness : “Senior "Shui" right! you and I we don’t share any enmity and there’s no grudge between us however, you and I agree that the lives of these helpless mortals back there has been endangered twice over just earlier. The first endangerment that assassin caused and it doesn’t burden me but thankfully I was able to prevent it, only at the cost of making these mortals face the consequences of my own actions! it was either these mortals get their pure souls contaminated by that evil cloud of red-mist and suffer the torment of sin-energy or... they get buried underneath the aftereffects of my own long-range technique, if we couldn't protect them? then it means that gambled their lives away and lost the bet. Because, I decided that it was much better to bet on these mortals getting buried alive instead of living another day after losing the only precious thing they do have. The "innocence" and "purity" of their souls.” Stopping to give the middle-aged man time to understand the immensity of the hidden struggle this boy has been facing all this time... the great-sage continued : “The price was indeed very, very heavy in-case of failure! yet... I would've carried it on my shoulders and moved on towards the future all the same, I just hope that it was worth it for you to endanger all these lives in exchange for just one. That’s a lesson for the next time because that "guild" isn’t famous for having quitters, it wouldn't hurt to be careful in the future. Maybe, be extra more careful and give us a heads-up beforehand! it wouldn't hurt at all to do so, at least—this time I’m speaking for myself—I'd be glad to help but... I don't want to help after making such a hard choice. Once more, this would be the first and last time I say this... talk to me if you’re troubled and in need however, don’t wait until my arm is twisted and we’re in the thick of things before pointing me into what is what.” Seeing the middle-aged man blush in shame... Lin stopped and said no more.

“Young-hero Ming. Your advice is much appreciated, this Zan Shui fully understands and admits his own mistake.” Zan Shui noticed how this boy is very different from what he once thought he would be like—despite having already witnessed how the kid treats others around him before—after speaking with him this time the spirit-tyrant didn’t believe what he’s feeling... it really felt like he’s speaking with some experienced-elder! not some few years old brat who should be still reeking of the smell of breast milk.

“Good. That assassin is thirteen kilometers in that direction and the traces of blood on his trail indicate that he must be wounded, you guys should handle the business of the grown-ups and apprehend that person. Meanwhile I’d be doing my best to support you guys from the rear, you know... like saving you if things got dangerous. Lai should play support too, in-case that assassin insisted on resisting the option of captivity despite being cornered between senior Yang and Shui? then Lai shouldn’t interfere with the fight from the very beginning, either support them or myself.” Lin nodded then pointed out the location of the assassin who’s in hiding... then the boy patted the shoulder of the blade-user in an encouraging gesture before transmitting a message with his ability of soul-link : 'Keep your calm and be patient.' Before giving Liao Lai a foothold on-top of thin by creating some sort of platform with his soul-force underneath the man’s feet! after all... the man is a powerhouse in the aspect of blade-intent and an experienced blade-master.

'Got it.' Lai answered before unsheathing his long and wide-blade while both of his eyes practically burned with fighting-spirit... every step of the way that he followed behind one mid and one peak-grade spirit-tyrant to face another opponent who’s much stronger—because that person is still able to survive despite being within the same close range of Lin’s previous attack—the blade-user’s excitement would increase more and more! why? because... right now Lai needed that valuable fighting-experience to reach the tyrant-realm... the benefit is much... much more than what secluded-meditation would give him. The ten high-grade spirit-crystals are more than enough already to give the blade-user the last push in spirit-cultivation so he’s quite prepared with sufficient spirit-resources... while his attainment are sufficient to take that step forward already the gold and earth-cultivator is aspiring for an "unblemished-foundation" to have this sort of dream the man has to integrate all of his capabilities into a single and perfectly combined ability.

..........

In a natural crack between the rocks of some mountain... Blood-Demon was gritting his teeth and hissing in-pain while struggling to remove light-energy from his body because that spirit-energy kept burning him from the inside-out! every few seconds his martial-spirit—red-snake—would enter the man’s body then come back out before spitting a red-colored globe of sin-energy that’s covering a golden-colored ball of light-energy... this light-energy—despite being smaller in size between these two vastly different energies—would ram the red-colored sin-energy and evaporate lots of it into white steam. Just doing so did seem like it’s the funniest and most pleasurable game ever for that light-energy! of course... after each time Blood-Demon's martial-spirit did that—helping it's owner expel the light-energy from within his body—the red-snake’s size would be affected and surprisingly its red-color would change! the redness of its scales began to fade... and its body began to shrink. However... the pain this Blood-Demon is currently feeling and going through... is an experience of pain that far surpasses the degree of pain which he once felt during that day when he got kidnapped by that old-man after having just finished the "urgent-mission" that he received from his sect back then! that incident feels like it happened to him when Blood-Demon lived another life... now that he has completely changed and his personality has become drastically different from what it once was. “Hiss!...” This hissing-warning from his martial-spirit awoke Blood-Demon up from his daydreams... the figure below the black cloak looked upwards and stared directly at the two strongest individuals of these four who seem like they know exactly where he's currently hiding! they’re just cautiously approaching his temporary hideout now but... sooner or later they’re going to tighten the noose around him. “They caught-up with us very fast, I should've taken your advice and left when the ability of evil-reign gave us the perfect cover to escape under the smoke screen of its sin-cloud! I got too greedy and bit more than I could chew this time... with that soul-cultivator marking us it seems like you and I have met the last enemies of our journey. What do you say little-one? want to make this a worthy last fight?” The words of this Blood-Demon didn’t seem burdened at all when the man spoke with his martial-spirit like it’s an intelligent-creature that can understand him... then that assassin retrieved a set of blood-red swords from his space-ring once that red-snake nodded then licked him with its forked-tongue! while holding one of the twin-swords in each one of his hands... Blood-Demon ignored the remaining light-energy that’s currently wreaking havoc within his body and fearlessly exited his place of hiding. Walking one step after another on air until he stood face to face with Li Yang and Zan Shui and said : “Blood-Demon... one-starred spirit-pearl assassin.” However—unlike the response that he expected from his opponents—silence just ruled the atmosphere after the assassin spoke... the person underneath the black cloak looked towards the two spirit-tyrants who kept giving him "strange" looks then looked behind them at the blade-user and the little-boy who’s just a first-stage spirit-apprentice then frowned! 'This kid must be that "young-hero Ming" who saved the Cheng clan’s caravan from the beasts, according to the rumors he’s quite an amazing talent who could use a few advanced abilities like energy-armor and long-range abilities plus the advantage of being able to fly at such a young and early age he’s blessed with an insanely strong physique... that earlier technique was his own making! I can sense the light-energy inside my body being overly active with every step I take closer to the boy.' Blood-Demon thought while mentally preparing himself for the incoming battle and to evade the boy’s attack when it comes.

“Their silence is because... they disdain exchanging words with someone like you. Soul-lock!” Lin said that to himself then initiated the ability which only have an incomplete inscription... the boy didn't aim for complete suppression of that man’s soul or anything extreme like that! but... the great-sage aimed for an opening which these three can take advantage of it and build upon it when the battle begins.

“Hiss!...” Lin felt a pain that’s like there’s a severe head-splitting headache aiming to split both of his soul-bodies when all of the soul-force within the soul-world gathered around the two silver third-eyes! then... the boy witnessed how that small red-snake on the assassin's shoulder revealed its tiny forked-tongue to taste the air before glaring at him and hissing loudly before the great-sage’s ability was activated! both of its two tiny reptilian-eyes glowed in an intense silver-light before Lin felt an extremely strong and explosive soul-force trying to resist the effect of his ability... clearly that little red-snake is struggling with all it got to prevent its owner from being affected while resisting on its own. However... that immediately removed it from the battle, now this assassin shouldn’t be able to use abilities related to his martial-spirit! while on the other hand... Lin wouldn’t be able to execute this ability once again because right now the great-majority of his soul-force is struggling against that soul-force... him being able to still carry Liao Lai with his soul-force and provide some surveillance with his soul-sense to the group is merely done through sheer will-power. “Ugh!... die, die, die.” Blood-Demon immediately realized that this young-hero Ming is in-fact the damned soul-cultivator who’s mainly responsible for foiling all of his plans earlier! he’s the person who drove him into this corner right now... while gritting his teeth and resisting the painful soul-pressure that escaped his martial-spirit’s capability to contain the assassin pushed against thin-air with his feet and dashed towards the boy while ignoring the two spirit-tyrants. Because... as long as this kid is able to restrict the little-snake then this unlucky hooded-figure should just forget about being able to fight these tyrants! 'Little-one! just hang-on, I’m going to get of this boy right now... even if it’s the last thing I do in this life.' With one of his red twin-swords coming from the right and the other coming towards his target from the left... the suicidal-thoughts of this Blood-Demon plus his entirely offensive-style of combat which leaves no room for himself to even defend is a very dangerous-combination! both to himself and more so to his enemies... it takes a very courageous person or a very foolish one to make such a decision. His pair of bloodshot-eyes is the only thing that could be seen from within that complete darkness below the hood of that man’s cloak.

“Currents of the deep.” Of course Zan Shui wouldn't just let that assassin completely ignore his existence and directly go through him towards his target which is clearly young-hero Ming... the boy that saved the princess has to be repaid this favor by the spirit-tyrant and this threat to Ling Mei’s life needs to be dealt-with! however... since the boy wants this assassin who calls himself Blood-Demon to be caught alive then... he can only do his best to achieve this result. But honestly... when the enemy just ignored him it riled some emotions of anger deep within this spirit-tyrant’s chest! next to Zan Shui a blue-green seahorse appeared which is surrounded by a cluster of blue-colored water-energy... that creature spat one water-bullet after another and every water-bullet travelled towards the back of that assassin. While absorbing the moisture from the air on their trajectory and the strands of water-energy from around them... each water-bullet expanded few times in size.

“Lightning-spike.” Li Yang twirled the spear in his right hand while quickly dashing towards young-hero Ming’s left aiming to move closer to the boy then fed almost one-tenth of the lightning-energy inside his body to the spirit-tool in his... that wooden-spear unleashed a thick bolt of purple-colored lightning from its silver-tip towards that assassin aiming to cut his path forward towards the kid! if that person still aims to continue his attack on young-hero Ming? then... he's going to receive both attacks from Shui and himself from behind and from his left flank long before he gets to deliver any cut with these two red-swords.

Lai just smiled when he discovered how this assassin is overestimating himself by going straight for the individual who’s by far both the fastest and hardest to land a strike on him without the person himself allowing himself to be caught or being hit on purpose... in this case? it’s unlikely for this freak of nature to allow himself to receive any of these swords with his body! while tightening his grip on the handle of his wide-blade the blade-user was genuinely feeling grateful for this thoughtful brat. 'At least he understands that during such a high-class and high-speed battle between mid and high-grade spirit-tyrants, someone like me would really struggle to keep-up with their movements and motions!' Liao Lai thought while charging his blade with blade-intent plus gold and earth-energy... that must be why Lin specifically made sure to send all of them—especially the blade-user—a live-feed of what he could see with his soul-sense through the ability of soul-link! Lai waited for the right moment to make his move while thinking : 'Wait, wait, wait... now!' The blade-user stoppered his eagerness while reminding himself of what the boy told him just a few minutes earlier... 'Luminous-credence.' Lai whispered these two words to himself while sending a slash forward in the shape of a golden-crescent towards the assassin who began to initiate his own attacks and aim his swords towards the kid.

“Kakakaka... die, die, die!” Blood-Demon activated one of his trump-cards at the boy... an extremely rare ancient-talisman—which he once found during a fortuitous-encounter—that talisman is a soul-creation purely targeting the soul-source of whatever opponent that confronts its user! this ancient-talisman is preciously-rare for this assassin because his own martial-spirit has a one-hundred percent compatibility with the soul-nature... he just used that ancient-talisman about one year ago to kill a spirit-lord who tried to rob him and the little-one was able to restore some power within that ancient-talisman after feeding it for months with its soul-source after feeding on his own sin-energy... that’s why the little-one wasn’t in its normal size before consuming that demonic soul-ash. “Hiss!... hiss...” However—like it always has been and always will be—no plan survives first contact with the enemy... the side who’s more prepared for the unlikely is the side who’s likely to win! Blood-demon just wasn’t prepared enough because... his martial-spirit lost just a split-second too early. Yes... the man managed to use that nameless ancient-talisman at the boy but... he's now faced with three spirit-abilities and one soul-ability! the visible spirit-attacks are coming from behind and from both of his flanks... while his martial-spirit’s weakened hiss clearly notified the assassin that his little-one is isolated from him within a cage of extremely strong and extremely intense soul-force. If that boy hadn't trapped his martial-spirit after forcing his hand from the very beginning into having this confrontation of soul-force? then... Blood-Demon is sure that he could've—at least—used one or two of the little-one’s soul-abilities to play with these three-opponents for a while! even if he’s currently injured and his body is riddled with some light-energy still within his meridian-system—which is hindering the flow of his sin-energy—and unable to use his full-power? this assassin is confident that he would’ve been able to escape all the same in the end after—at least—riddling these three with countless wounds. Only if... this boy wasn’t supporting this group.

“Don't kill him!” Before the three spirit-attacks hit his vitals... while Blood-Demon was relishing this small victory—since he managed to kill the most promising individual within this group—before perishing... despite the existence of two spirit-tyrants one is a mid-grade and the other is a high-grade plus the spirit-grandmaster who’s in the peak-perfection and is quite accomplished in blade-intent for someone of his age! while being injured this assassin could still achieve this goal of his and drag such a supreme-genius with him to hell. However—on the contrary to what he expected to happen in this situation—the figure below the black cloak became so shocked when he noticed how  both attacks of his two red-colored twin-swords got stopped by the blade-user on his right just at the moment where his two crisscrossing-slashing attacks were about to be unleashed forward towards the boy... then the lightning-bolt from the spirit-tyrant on his left met with the soul-force from the nameless talisman and managed to push it slightly to the side—which caused it to completely miss its intended-target—and pass the boy by a few meters! meanwhile Zan Shui's water-bullets—which is by far the slowest of the three spirit-abilities—was the last attack to arrive... these blue-globes of water-energy arrived exactly when Blood-Demon had no time to react and no sin-energy available within immediate reach because his meridian-system is clogged with many nodes of light-energy... the water-energy covered Blood-Demon's body in layers without a single drop falling-off his body. Like sticky glue this water-energy accumulated on-top of him and began to quickly harden like dry ice and imprisoned the stunned assassin within it.

Had Lin gave the death-sentence from the very beginning before this fight happened? then... these water-bullets wouldn't have just stopped at hardening and trapping this assassin! He certainly would’ve been smashed into fragments right afterwards by this water-cultivator or... filled with holes and left to bleed to death after what he dared to think of doing to the youngest-princess.

“Now that we're done here, let's quickly return or it’s going to be troublesome if Bo An began to worry about me.” While wiping his sweaty forehead... Lin gave the restrained assassin one last glance before taking Lai by the arm this time and hurrying back towards the caravan. His soul-force is really spent after using his soul-sense to scan more than once and his soul-gaze a couple of times—one to discover the abnormality within the carriage and the other time to locate the whereabouts of this Blood-Demon—then straining almost all of what remained of his soul-force in that single use of the half-complete ability of soul-lock.

“Are you alright?” Lai asked while worry could visibly be seen within his eyes when the blade-user noticed how the boy’s breath is hurried and how he’s sweating a bit too much.

“See!.. that’s what happens when you fight on an empty stomach, hehe” Lin gave Lai a side-glance then smiled while giving him that silly answer to tease him... then the boy enjoyed seeing the blade-user frown then roll his light-green eyes at him while regretting that he even cared to ask to begin with.

.........

Within the boy’s carriage.

“BoBo. He’s safe, now continue your cultivation in peace.” The elderly voice of a woman entered the ears of the anxious young-girl. “Phew!...” Immediately afterwards the young-lady of the Chentian clan released a heavy and long sigh before closing her eyes and resuming her meditation within the advanced spirit-gathering formation.

.........

Within the ring of origin.

Kai held an extremely old piece of brown-colored leather then began to unfold it... while looking at its silver words his smile widened further and further the more he read.