Ever since Shi Xia learned to channel qi into her body, she had already entered a state of fasting and rarely ate anything. Scout, being a spirit beast, naturally didn’t need food either. Among the three of them, the only one who still needed to eat was Long Aotian. But for some reason, Scout refused to give the half-starved Long Aotian the chicken leg he was fiddling with in his hand. He had been quite obedient the past couple of days, doing whatever he was told—why was he suddenly throwing a tantrum now?
After resting in the woods for a while longer, the injuries of the two had mostly healed. Shi Xia figured it was time to move on and called for them to get up.
"Why not fly by sword?" Scout suddenly asked.
Shi Xia stiffened—she hadn’t gotten her "license" for that yet. Patting his shoulder, she said, "Scout, you’re a spirit beast, so you wouldn’t know. Magical artifacts are expensive." She wasn’t about to admit the embarrassing truth that she couldn’t even fly on a sword.
"I have one!" Scout flicked his wrist, and a flying sword appeared in his hand.
"Uh…" Shi Xia’s lips twitched. "Well, there are three of us, and this one sword…"
Before she could finish, Scout pulled out three more identical swords.
"Heh heh… Actually, it’s windy up there."
He immediately produced a white magical robe.
"Uh… And we’d be too visible in the sky. What if other demonic beasts spot us…?"
He pulled out a handful of invisibility talismans.
"…" Damn it, are you a spirit beast or Doraemon? How do you have everything? I didn’t take you in just so you could show me up!
"I can’t fly on a sword!" Fine, she’d admit it—through gritted teeth.
Scout froze, his eyes widening slightly as if shocked by this answer. He stared at Shi Xia for a long moment.
Her lips twitched again. Yep, your master’s just this weak. What are you gonna do, bite me?
"No matter." Scout suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand, his expression serious. "I’ll teach you." With a wave of his hand, he lifted them both onto the sword.
Shi Xia yelped, instinctively clutching his clothes for dear life—she had a fear of heights, damn it!
"Don’t be afraid." His arm tightened around her waist, steadying her. His deep voice murmured by her ear, "Focus your spirit, sense the sword with your qi. Become one with the blade."
Shi Xia blinked, then followed his instructions, channeling her qi into the sword beneath her feet. With a thought, she and the sword shot forward like an arrow, the scenery blurring past.
She—she did it!
But in her daze, the sword suddenly wobbled. Scout immediately took control, pushing her qi back and stabilizing the flight.
"Take your time," his voice was even deeper now, still cool but laced with encouragement and a hint of… guilt? Huh, must be her imagination. She steadied herself again, practicing sword flight as they headed toward their destination.
Wait… did they forget something?
"Benefactor…" Left behind on the ground, Long Aotian wept silently.
At least leave me the chicken leg!
With flying swords as their mode of transport, their journey sped up dramatically. What would have taken months on foot took only three days by air. Soon, a small town came into view, bustling with cultivators flying in and out on their swords.
Shi Xia checked the map on her phone. This was the right place—but the city gate clearly read "Changmi City," not "Muxuan Immortal Manor." Had they taken a wrong turn?
"Changmi City is the only cultivator settlement outside Changmi Forest," Scout said abruptly. "Shall we enter?"
Shi Xia hesitated. To go in or not—that was the question.
After a moment, she decided to check it out. Whether it was their destination or not, they’d been trekking through mountains for days—they deserved a break.
Just as they were about to enter, a sharp crack echoed in her ears. She looked down—holy crap, the ground was splitting open!
"Shi Xia!" Scout yanked her back as they leaped several steps away.
The fissure widened instantly into a meter-wide chasm. Shi Xia’s heart pounded—this place had some shaky foundations.
"Look at the city!" Long Aotian pointed ahead in shock.
Raising her head, Shi Xia saw the once-sturdy buildings of the cultivator city collapsing one after another. Dust and debris filled the air as thunderous crashes rang out. Many cultivators had already taken to the skies on their swords.
"An… earthquake?!" Shi Xia and her companions were stunned. They just wanted to enter the city—was self-destruction really necessary to keep them out?
"I’ll go save people!" Long Aotian’s expression hardened as he charged toward the chaos.
"Wait—" Shi Xia didn’t even have time to stop him before he vanished.
Damn it, did his hero complex have to kick in now? At least let me finish!
Less than a minute later, he rushed back out, supporting a dust-covered woman in green robes.
He shoved her toward Shi Xia. "Benefactor, please take care of her."
"Hold on, you overbearing—" Before she could finish, he turned and dashed back into the crumbling city.
A minute later, Long Aotian emerged again, this time with a red-robed woman, equally covered in dust.
"Benefactor…" He handed her off too.
Shi Xia’s eye twitched. "Listen—"
He was already gone again.
Two minutes later—a yellow-robed woman.
Five minutes—a white-robed woman.
Ten minutes—a blue-robed woman.
Fifteen minutes—a purple-robed woman.
Shi Xia: "…"
Was he trying to assemble a rainbow to summon a dragon? Where the hell did he keep finding these distressed damsels?
By now, the city was nearly flattened, nothing but ruins and swirling dust. Shi Xia grabbed Long Aotian before he could charge in again.
"Enough! After an earthquake, the ground’s unstable. You’ll get yourself killed."
"But… lives are at stake…" He glanced back uncertainly. "I think I can save one more!"
"Why don’t you just fly up to heaven?" Shi Xia rolled her eyes.
"I’m not an immortal cultivator!" He blinked. "I can’t fly."
"Good grief!" Shi Xia wanted to strangle him. Taking a deep breath, she pointed at the ruins. "They didn’t need saving in the first place."
"But the city’s full of helpless women, how could—huh?" He trailed off, looking behind her. The women he’d rescued were nowhere in sight. "Where’d they go?"
"They left."
"Just… like that?" As a man who believed in repaying life debts with generosity (or at least a good scam), he was baffled.
"What else?" Shi Xia smacked the back of his head. "This is a cultivator city—they’re all practitioners. Did you really think they needed rescuing?" They were probably just annoyed he’d interrupted their day.
Long Aotian finally noticed the sky filled with cultivators riding various magical artifacts, all dressed neatly and cleanly—nothing like refugees—except for the few he had rescued. He scratched his head sheepishly, grinning awkwardly.
"I told you not to act impulsively," Shi Xia sighed. "Why do you lose your head every time you see a pretty girl?"
"You're right, Benefactor. I’ve been in the mortal world too long, so I thought they were all weak... Huh? A girl?!"
"What girl? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going back to save someone?" If you keep meddling like this, you wouldn’t survive past three episodes in a drama.
"No, Benefactor, look!" Long Aotian urgently pointed toward a figure in green walking into the city. "It’s the woman who set us up in the forest."
Shi Xia turned and—holy crap, it really was that little witch. She glanced at Scout beside her, but his expression remained mostly unchanged, though his brows furrowed slightly.
"Let’s follow her." Without hesitating much longer, Shi Xia grabbed Scout and Long Aotian, rushing into the ruined city.
The dust inside was even thicker, with debris occasionally falling. Shi Xia quickly raised a protective barrier, barely covering the three of them. Though a Qi Condensation-level barrier offered negligible "magic defense," its "physical defense" was still effective. The woman’s cultivation was higher than hers, so they had to keep their distance.
The green-robed woman moved with clear purpose, heading straight for the city center. While everyone else was fleeing after the earthquake, she was walking deeper in—definitely suspicious. Shi Xia glanced at her phone and realized the woman’s path aligned perfectly with the red dot on the map.
"Junior Sister Lv Yi." A man’s voice cut through the dusty air as three figures emerged, dressed in similar green robes.
"We were waiting for you. We thought you weren’t coming," the man in the center said with a faint smile.
"Senior Brother Ji Han!" Lv Yi brightened and hurried over. "The array node was farther away, so I was delayed. Please don’t blame me."
"As long as you’re unharmed," the man on the left said, stepping forward and scanning their surroundings. "Were you followed?"
"Shouldn’t have been," Lv Yi shook her head. "When I entered the city, everyone was running out. No one noticed me."
"This matter is too important—we must be cautious," the man frowned. "We went through great lengths to find this entrance and drive all the cultivators out of the city. There can’t be any mistakes."
So the earthquake earlier was their doing?
"Senior Brother Ji," the man turned to Ji Han in the center. "You have the highest cultivation here. Could you use your divine sense to scan the area?"
Ji Han nodded, closing his eyes and forming a hand seal. A glowing array lit up in his palm, rapidly expanding outward.
Divine sense detection! That was a Golden Core-level technique. He was a Golden Core cultivator? Crap, we’re going to be exposed.
