Chapter 32: Mistake // Paradise in the middle of the sea of clouds.

It was night time and Zed and co. were still flying through the skies.

They had travelled several hundred kilometers while Jingfei and Lan'er had fallen asleep. They were resting on Zed's chest, each occupying an arm while snuggling in comfort.

Meixiang watched this with a helpless smile before speaking after hours of silence.

"I understand why you did not tell my father about your abilities, but... if you wanted to keep it a secret, why did you show it to my subordinates?"

Zed gave her a side long glance before answering, "You see... I did an experiment without knowing the results. I only speculated that it would bring me benefits."

"There were benefits and I grew stronger, but..." He trailed off while looking into the far distance.

Meixiang waited for him to continue.

Zed closed his eyes for a while and took a deep breath. His face softened as he turned to Meixiang once again.

He made a grim smile and asked, "Could I ask you for a favour? As my best friend?"

When Meixiang heard him call her a friend, she put her entire attention to him while listening for his next words.

Zed took her silence as a confirmation before confessing. "You see... I think I made a mistake... I shouldn't have done what I did, but the damage is done and it is now irreversible."

He continued, "I am now suffering from the side effects which make me act more impulsive than before."

"My body is sluggish and I can't control it properly."

Zed then looked at Meixiang in the eyes before making a grim smile. "What's worse is that I don't know how long I am going to be in this state... or will this be my state forever?"

He looked into the distance again before continuing in a low voice, "But I suppose... this is the price I have to pay for being greedy for more power."

Zed honestly regretted his decision as the side effects were far more disadvantageous than the advantages it brought to him.

"....What do you need me to do?" Meixiang asked.

Zed spoke to her, "I need you to... no- can I ask you to take care of me? I need you to beat the crap out of me when you realize that I am not acting like myself."

Meixiang would do it regardless of the favor so she asked teasingly, "Ho? But what if you acted on your impulse and attacked me? You know... in the bed?"

Zed chuckled slightly while shaking his head.

"I will swear it to both of us right now that if I ever harmed you, I will cut off my hands."

Meixiang's joking attitude halted as she realized that Zed was serious.

"Y-you don't have to do tha-"

Zed said in a solemn tone. "No, I have to. I can't bear to be the one to cause harm to you or to our little sisters." 

"I can't harm... my only family." He whispered.

Meixiang could feel the pain in his voice as she remembered that Zed only had his sister, but now, he considered them as his family too.

And Meixiang knew just how much Zed cared for his family. To the point where he would choose to bear any suffering just so his family wouldn't face any pain or struggles.

Thinking that Zed had wholeheartedly accepted them, Meixiang's heart felt warm as she subconsciously showed a sweet smile.

"Alright... I'll take care of you.." She answered.

Zed smiled and the two enjoyed the quiet scenery while flying underneath the night skies.

Meixiang glanced at Zed when an embarrassing thought went through her mind and made her blush slightly. She figured it would be funny to tease him about it, so she spoke her thoughts.

"I see that we have become a family so... I suppose you're the father and I'm the mother?" She giggled a little and added, "And Fei'er and Lan'er are our children?"

Zed rolled his eyes. "No, I'm the eldest brother and you're the eldest sister. As for the flirtatious lines, why don't you wait until you're a little bit older before telling me those kinds of lines?"

Meixiang scoffed as she remarked, "We're both the same age, you know?"

"Yes, but I'm not the one who keeps on inviting the other person to bed so..."

"Bah! Who wants to invite you to their bed huh? On the other hand, could you even get it up yet? and after all that talk with my father..."

"?!" Zed was shocked and faced Meixiang. "Who told you about that, huh? How do you know about those things?"

Meixiang only stuck out her tongue before turning to the other direction.

"No seriously! You're too young to know about those things!" Zed was very worried since they had both just entered their teens, and yet, she knew some knowledge that should only be known to adults.

As for her invites, like "Attacking me in bed", or, "Sleeping with me" he had just thought that they were just innocent remarks from a clueless child who didn't know what they were talking about.

But now... now that he knew that she knew very well what her words meant...

Meixiang curved her brow and spoke in a matter of fact tone. "Of course I know the act of making a child. I'm the royal princess, you know? I never lack knowledge."

"So you do know that your remarks are called sexual harassment, right?" Zed spat back.

Meixiang rolled her eyes, "So what?" She smiled while giving him a foxy look. "I'll only sexually harass you..."

Zed trembled when he realized that she had the eyes of a predator.

He thought it was all fun and games until realizing that a thirteen-year old girl was aiming for him and in that direction as well.

His hundred year old soul wouldn't allow him to joke with those implications anymore as he felt that it would go against his morals.

As the older one, he needed to be the one to set her straight.

"Kuhum. That is... I appreciate your sentiments but I'd rather you save those words for someone you love."

Meixiang tilts her head innocently. "But I do love you?"

"No... I mean like- Like someone who you're going to take as your husband or dao companion. Either way, you shouldn't waste those words on me."

"I know what you meant" Meixiang rolled her eyes. "But I am serious, you know? What I said back at the banquet was true."

Zed recalled the events of the banquet and asked, "You mean the part where you would choose your own partner?"

Meixiang nodded and smiled sweetly "The partner I choose is you."

"Thank you, but we are too young, and I'm sure you will meet someone else who is far more superior than me."

Meixiang grumbled while muttering, "And after all that talk with my father... you have no balls at all!"

"That was just some man talk! You know, man talk! Besides, you ought to act more like a lady! Those vulgar words don't fit you."

Meixiang rolled her eyes, but when she recounted his words, her face slightly became down. "Does that mean you are rejecting me?"

Zed answered instantaneously. "Obviously! After all, we are way too young and there are so many things we haven't seen or experienced in the world."

"Whatever you're feeling for me right now might be temporary, and you might meet someone else in the future. One that will make your heart skip a beat and have your face blushing whenever you imagine the two of you together."

Meixiang became quiet before asking in a low voice. "Too young huh... then what if after many years and my feelings still didn't change?"

Zed met her eyes and spoke. "Only then will I think about us seriously."

Meixiang smiled as she thought that her chance wasn't completely gone.

She had to worry about her competitors though, since she knew that her number one rival would be Lan'er.

But she held the advantage since she was his best friend while he considered Lan'er as his sister.

Her entire night was spent thinking about such silly thoughts while Zed thought that she was satisfied with his answer, so he dropped the subject and remained silent.

-

After spending the entire night flying, Zed looked at a practicular landmark that was drawn on the map.

At the end of the Kingdom's border, there was a huge eagle-beak looking mountain that represented the edge of the Xia Kingdom's territory.

No one had ever climbed it before, so no one knew what laid at the top of it. The peak of the mountain was always hidden by clouds and the only distinctive description of the mountain was its beak-like shape that was similar to an eagle's.

Another reason was that the mountain reached over six thousand meters tall and it had a range of over two thousand meters long.

That was Zed's estimation while flying on top of the said mountain. Zed and co. were observing it with curious eyes.

There was no other information about this mountain except that it signified the border of the Xia Kingdom.

Contrary to their thoughts, the peak of the mountain didn't have a cold climate. Instead, it looked like a tropical island in the middle of the sea of clouds.

Zed figured that the top of the mountain was about three thousand meters wide, and it was enough to support an entire ecosystem that was separated from the forest on the ground.

The peak was full of lush, green trees, several bodies of water, and the most distinctive feature of the peak was a lone tall mountain in the middle.

It had a running river that connected to the edge of the lone mountain, making a long and large waterfall.

Zed estimated that the height of the waterfall was about three hundred meters while the river below the waterfall which was also located at the foot of the said lone mountain was an extremely large lake, sizing to about 1/4 of the entire peak of the Eagle-Beak Mountain.

What was marvelous about this place was the lone mountain and the giant river was located precisely in the middle of the peak, appearing as a perfect paradise of nature.

They were all mesmerized by this wonderful view of nature that seemed to be untainted by any civilization.

They landed on the peak of the lone mountain where they stood in wonder in front of a thick and large tree with numerous branches stretching to the skies.

The tree was over twenty meters in diameter and its roots were so thick and large that one could make a house inside it.

The trunk had a unique twisting pattern and the colour of its bark was ivory white, wherein the leaves of the tree were purplish-pink.

It was a very unique tree and one would immediately notice its uniqueness, since no mortal had ever seen such a tree before.

The entirety of the tree's branches stretched outward to the point where half of the lone mountain's peek was under the shade of the purplish-pink leaves.

While the girls were looking at the tree in awe, Zed was looking at their surroundings.

Not too far from the tree was the end of the upstream river where it led to the waterfalls.

The area of the peak of the lone mountain was plenty large and Zed could picture himself creating a retirement house in a place like this.

While Zed was busy planning the structure of their new home, Meixiang, Fei'er and Lan'er were busy discussing among themselves.

"Sister Mei! Lan! This place is so pretty! Will this be our new home?" Jingfei asked with sparkling eyes.

Meixiang nodded, "I think so, yes. This place is magnificent. I feel as if I've been put into a fairytale."

Meanwhile, Lan'er was looking at her master's dazed appearance.

"This... this is impossible..." Tang Xiurong mutters under her breath.

"Master? Is something wrong?"

"I... I..." She couldn't even form an answer due to how astounded she was.

To be honest, she didn't know what the tree was, but what she did feel was the rich Immortal Qi it was exuding!

Such a tree couldn't be found in the Immortal planes, and she, herself, had never seen one before.

Which puzzled her even more because how could a tree such as this live in the mortal realm?

Although it was invisible to others, the unique rainbow coloured aura that belonged to immortal materials were being emitted by the tree.

She could not even guess what rank the immortal tree was, but what she did know was that by staying here, her disciple would reach immortality before becoming an adult!

Imagine that! Reaching the Immortal realm when one wasn't even twenty years old! Such a shocking achievement would shake the entire Immortal Planes!

She grinned widely while looking at Meixiang. At this rate, Meixiang could reach the Nascent Soul Realm herself and unblock her disciple and Jingfei's meridians.

One look at Tang Xiurong's face was enough for Lan'er to understand that she was planning something for their benefit.

Staring back at the tree again, Tang Xiurong was thinking of making Meixiang reach the Nascent soul realm quickly.

If she were fast and steady, it would take about one and a half years, but if she were slower, she would take about two years.

If the cultivators of the mortal realm heard Tang Xiurong's thoughts, they would laugh and mock her because such a thing was impossible even for an offspring of an Immortal expert.

In the mortal realm, if one had enough talent, then he or she could reach the peak of Qi foundation realm at the age of 30-40, but could never reach the next realm in their entire lifetime.

If one was talented then the best they could reach was the peak of the Core formation realm at the age of 30-60s. The most influential experts of the mortal world were stuck in this realm.

There are very, very few cultivators who reach the Nascent soul realm and if they reach that realm before their 70s, In most cases, they would be invited to join sects and were given a chance to ascend to the immortal realm.

This showed how scarce cultivators were in the mortal realm, and how difficult it was to enter the Immortal realm.

That was why Meixiang's future was very bright, because she had not only unblocked her Qi meridians by herself, but also reached the peak of Qi foundation at the age of 13!

Average cultivators could only reach that realm at the age of 30-40, and would forever be stuck in that realm unless they were talented enough or had fruitful encounters.

And now... Tang Xiurong was saying that Meixiang could reach the Nascent Soul Realm at the age of 14-15?

Countless experts and cultivators from around the world would cough up blood due to how absurd that statement was.

Some might even kill themselves out of depression. After all, what was the point in continuing such a path if it were achieved by a girl who hadn't even reached her adulthood yet?

"The Heavens are unfair" is what they would all think.

And it was Tang Xiurong who became entertained by those thoughts and began planning for the future.

'Master?'

"..."

Edited By: WorthyAdversary