White robes with fire patterns, red hair flowing wildly.
Yu Yan’s long hair cascaded like a waterfall as he stood before the Thousand-Li Spying Magic Tool, observing the miniature Abyssal Chasm.
This was one of Taixu Sect’s renowned artifacts. It could encompass a certain terrain within its range for monitoring and surveillance.
Right now, the Thousand-Li Spying Magic Tool hovered in the void. Below were the indistinct mountains amidst the clouds, while black clouds churned menacingly above, fraught with peril.
“Heavenly signs are off…”
Yu Yan’s brows furrowed slightly.
Gu Monian stood before the sand table with one hand behind his back, frowning. “The Abyssal Chasm is already unfathomable and treacherous. These heavenly signs are inauspicious.”
Yu Yan gave a cold snort. “Since when did you become like that old man Zang, dabbling in astrology?”
Gu Monian’s voice was devoid of warmth. “Yu Yan, stop the trial.”
“Are you mad? Since Taixu Sect began conducting trials, there’s no precedent for stopping one halfway through.”
The wind brushed past, making Yu Yan’s red hair dance. “I think our Head Seat is overly concerned about Xuan Yao, to the point of losing his composure, no?”
Gu Monian had heard these words too many times already.
He froze for a moment, then remained silent.
Stillness fell between the two of them.
Yu Yan’s tone softened slightly. “I know. Because of… her, you’re now especially afraid of losing her daughter. But in the end, she is just your disciple, not her. It’s right to look after a friend’s daughter, but sometimes, you need to let the disciples do things on their own.”
Yu Yan had always been hot-tempered. This time, going to the trouble of saying these things patiently was already out of respect for their years of friendship, a genuine attempt to advise his junior brother.
Gu Monian’s fingers, hidden within his sleeves, clenched tightly.
He closed his eyes slightly, concealing the black flames within.
A long moment later, when he opened his eyes again, he spoke calmly. “You’re right.”
…
A vast expanse of distant mountains, all white. The leaves on the trees were weighed down heavily by the accumulated snow.
A gust of cold wind blew, and the snow piled on the branches overhead rustled down, smashing into the pristine snow below with a splashy crunch.
Crunch, crunch. Amidst the boundless white landscape, a single figure in dark-colored clothing trudged through the thick snow, leaving a line of sunken footprints.
She wore a black blanket, wrapped tightly around herself, revealing only a pale face as she walked through the valley.
Yu Yan and the others had escorted the trial participants to an entrance in the central Abyssal Chasm. Everyone entered in order, and Yu Yan’s group left immediately afterwards.
The trial began from the moment of entry, randomly teleporting participants anywhere within the trial range. This uncertainty prevented cheating and other possibilities, the premise for forming alliances being that they could actually find each other.
Xie Bing was the second-to-last to enter. Just as she was about to step into the entrance, Su Caiyi was still eagerly speaking to her. Xie Bing ignored him and directly entered the Abyssal Chasm.
The moment she stepped into the entrance, the scene before her eyes shifted. After a moment of slight dizziness, she found herself in a vast, snowy canyon. She checked her surroundings. There were no other cultivators within at least two kilometers.
The maximum trial duration was half a month. If someone didn’t come out by then, either an accident had occurred, or the person was gone.
Xie Bing never fought an unprepared battle. She had a Storage Brocade Pouch and, when coming here, prepared as if going on a trip, bringing everything she needed.
Wrapped in a thick blanket, Xie Bing rested for a while inside a cave before continuing through the mountains.
Yu Yan’s objective for passing was to find the artifacts he had placed. Xie Bing had done her homework beforehand. Generally, these were hidden in perilous locations. To pass, one had to brave dangerous or unusual places. The Abyssal Chasm had buried countless bones, which was why members of the Foundation Establishment Class pre-formed alliances.
Xie Bing thought back to her past life. She really had no impression of this trial. In the past life, this was Xuan Yao’s storyline, unrelated to a mortal like her who couldn’t cultivate. She didn’t know where the artifacts were, but Xuan Yao was bound to find the most powerful one.
Xie Bing didn’t aspire to find the most powerful artifact. She just needed to pass.
Completing the task the boss assigned was enough; one hundred percent completion wasn’t necessary.
A corporate slave’s wish was just that simple.
It wasn’t until midday of the third day that Xie Bing finally encountered someone.
Someone familiar.
…
“Don’t follow me.”
Xie Bing’s face was full of rejection.
She should have anticipated this. Xuan Yao’s group definitely had pre-arranged ways to link up. When gathered, their presence would certainly be grand, and she could detect and avoid them early. But those who were alone were hard to spot!
One slip of attention, and a young man had appeared before her without a sound.
It was Su Zhao.
The moment Xie Bing saw Su Zhao, she turned to leave. Su Zhao didn’t say anything, just followed, his large, fluffy tail swaying.
The crunch, crunch of footsteps in the snow became a duet, starkly clear on the small mountain path.
Xie Bing couldn’t take it anymore. “I already refused you. Why are you still following me? Had enough?”
Su Zhao was clearly expressing some goodwill towards her. She had no intention of getting involved with him; she needed to preserve her own life.
Besides, all she’d done was toss Su Zhao a bottle of medicine. Who in the entire cultivation world didn’t keep several boxes of medicine on hand? What was so special about that stuff? Was it worth Su Zhao cozying up to her? Shouldn’t he be following behind Xuan Yao?
Su Zhao fell silent for a brief moment, then spoke. “I want to protect you.”
Xie Bing: ???
One worthless loser saying “protect” to another worthless loser? Wasn’t this a joke?
She stopped. The crunching footsteps behind her also ceased.
Xie Bing took a deep breath, turning her head to look at Su Zhao. She felt she needed to have a talk with him.
“What will it take for you to stop following me?”
Su Zhao: “We team up.”
“The Foundation Establishment Class is divided into several groups. There are also three Confucian Cultivators, the most amiable of all. They make friends widely and will certainly help you. They have plenty of people on their side. Why don’t you join them?”
Su Zhao looked somewhat proud, his slender waist straightening. “Fierce beasts always walk alone; only flocks of sheep travel in herds.”
Xie Bing: ???
It seemed that even though he was a waste of a wolf, he was still a wolf at heart. Some wildness was unavoidable.
Xie Bing: “Then the two of us teaming up isn’t walking alone either!”
She was truly afraid of those young men who didn’t know their limits. One Su Caiyi had already left her covered in scars; she didn’t want to get involved with another reckless youth. So, she tried her best to avoid Su Zhao.
A flicker of amusement passed through Su Zhao’s eyes. “Two useless wastes don’t count as walking alone.”
Xie Bing almost got caught up in his logic. Had Su Zhao trained his glib tongue with a crosstalk comedian?
She didn’t want to waste words with him. Her cold-stiffened fingers spread open, and an icy-blue Frost Spirit Sword materialized abruptly in her hand.
Bang!
The Frost Spirit Sword sliced a shallow trench cleanly between the two of them!
Xie Bing sniffled. “If you follow me again, your fate will be like this trench!”
The smile on Su Zhao’s face gradually faded.
He lowered his head, silent for a long while. When he looked up again, the space before him was an empty expanse of white. Xie Bing was gone.
By nighttime, Xie Bing returned to her temporary campsite.
The Abyssal Chasm’s terrain varied greatly. She had deliberately chosen a clean, dry cave. However, this cave stretched and twisted, and she didn’t know where it led. Not daring to let her guard down, she had placed a few small trinkets and artifacts around to detect anomalies.
Firewood, a pot, and stone slabs were things Xie Bing had prepared long ago, taking them out to use directly. She contentedly cooked herself some millet porridge, made a few dishes, and ate until she was full.
Just as she took out a soft couch from her Storage Brocade Pouch and made the bed, she suddenly heard faint, booming laughter coming from within the cave.
Xie Bing instantly became alert.
It was the sound of people clamoring.
She listened carefully; the voices were vaguely familiar. It should be people from the Foundation Establishment Class.
She silently extinguished the firewood. Her Frost Hair Ribbon noiselessly transformed into a spirit sword in her hand. Gently pressing against the cave wall, she crept away in the opposite direction.
She, a solo player, wasn’t going to hang out with that group.
Just a few steps later, a loud laugh echoed faintly:
“Su Zhao, let’s see who comes to save you this time!”
“Call me Daddy!”
“Kneel down and call me Daddy, and Daddy will spare you!”
Xie Bing’s footsteps faltered.
The cultivators of Crimson Flame Peak were fire-attributed and completely unfazed by this heavy snow weather. Normally arrogant and looking down on everyone in Taixu Sect, they disdained teaming up with other peaks.
Su Zhao was a sorry sight, mud smeared on his face from the ground.
He was held by two Crimson Flame Peak cultivators, his arms pinned, unable to move. He raised his head and stared straight at Jin Huo, his eyes still filled with ferocity.
Jin Huo stood before Su Zhao, flaunting his power arrogantly. “Look at this, look at this demon cultivator who wormed his way into Taixu Peak. Weren’t you pretty tough? So, what happened? You ended up alone now?”
Su Zhao clenched his lips tightly, refusing to make a sound.
“Oh—” Jin Huo laughed boisterously. “I heard you tried to team up with Xie Bing, but she completely ignored you. Yeah, Xie Bing is just like us; she won’t pay any attention to a worthless waste like you.”
For the first time, Su Zhao spoke, enunciating each word. “Xie Bing is not like you.”
“Yeah, yeah, not like us. Then call her over to protect you! She can barely fend for herself in the sect, and you expect her to come save you?”
Jin Huo sneered, stepping closer to Su Zhao, attempting to grab his tail.
But Su Zhao acted as if deeply stung, immediately curling his tail up and away, dodging Jin Huo’s hand.
Jin Huo’s fingers grasped at empty air. He looked at Su Zhao again and suddenly smiled.
“Treasure your tail that much, do you?”
A hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes. “I hear demon cultivators value their tails most of all. How about we just chop it off?”
Su Zhao’s pupils constricted. His gaze was nearly murderous. “Jin Huo, you dare!”
“Tsk, tsk,” Jin Huo clicked his tongue. “What wouldn’t I dare to do?”
The spirit sword in his hand was already raised, gesturing at the long white tail. “Should I cut it off in one swing? Or should I chop it into sections?”
Su Zhao sucked in a breath of cold air. He could feel the Fire Spirit Sword hovering just above his tailbone.
“Scared?”
Jin Huo mockingly patted Su Zhao’s face. A clear slap sounded.
“Actually, there’s another way. I told you before. Kneel down now, call me Daddy, and I’ll spare you.”
Su Zhao’s fingers clenched into fists, nearly exposing the white of his knuckles.
He suddenly understood. Jin Huo had no intention of letting him off at all.
No matter how he humbled himself, groveled and begged for mercy, even if he called him “Daddy,” tonight would still be his death.
Perfected Yu Yan’s trials always had a death quota. And Perfected Yu Yan was Jin Huo’s Shifu.
A trial, after all, it was normal for someone to die.
Conveniently, he could also provide some amusement.
The Abyssal Chasm—a perfect burial ground.
Deep within his divine consciousness, an ancient, primal restlessness and madness began to stir. Su Zhao hung his head low, his eyes slowly turning blood-red.
The flaming spirit sword was raised.
The last trace of white in Su Zhao’s eyes was about to be consumed by crimson.
Right at that moment.
In the damp, dim cave, a streak of emerald green suddenly appeared!
A luxuriant vine, branching and leafing, shot out like lightning, directly entangling Jin Huo’s sword-wielding wrist. In the blink of an eye, it flung him away!
Jin Huo: “!!!”
He flipped over, fury surging in his eyes. “Who’s stopping me now??”
What was clearly a single vine transformed in an instant into countless vines, locking firmly onto his wrist and hoisting him up into the air!
Jin Huo’s legs kicked wildly in the void. He was exploding with rage. “Who?! Get them, kill them!”
Several junior brothers surged forward to attack, then suddenly halted, hesitation on their faces:
—A familiar Little Yellow Book was held out before them.
Jin Huo: … Damn! Xie Bing!
Xie Bing walked over slowly. Seeing Xie Bing, Jin Huo’s martial brothers immediately stepped back, shrinking to Jin Huo’s side.
“Senior Brother, can you get down?”
“Let me use my spirit sword to cut these strange vines!”
Xie Bing paid them no mind and walked straight to Su Zhao.
“Can you still stand up?”
Su Zhao’s head was deeply bowed. In the shadows, only his unkempt bangs and a thin chin were visible. His expression was unreadable.
Yet his body trembled slightly, as if wrestling, in great pain.
Xie Bing’s brows furrowed. She had rushed over the moment she heard it was Su Zhao, but she hadn’t been in time. How had Su Zhao ended up like this? What kind of torment had he suffered?
Xie Bing’s eyes grew cold.
She walked up to Su Zhao and reached out her hand. “Su Zhao, stand up.”
The last trace of white in his eyes fought against the red.
A pair of fair, clean hands fell into Su Zhao’s lowered field of vision.
His divine consciousness trembled. The blood-red color receded like the tide, and his body finally returned to calm.
She was finally reaching her hand out to him.
He pursed his lips. With some nervousness, Su Zhao reached out and gently placed his hand in her palm.
Her hand exerted a slight force, pulling him up. “Are you alright?”
The cool and soft touch sent a jolt through him. Only then did he remember—his hands were too filthy…
Su Zhao anxiously pulled his hand back, wiping his dirty hand on the back of his robe.
“I’m fine.”
A pause, then Xie Bing’s voice came: “Let’s team up.”
“Ah?”
The young man suddenly lifted his head. His hair was disheveled, his face smeared with dirt, but his pair of eyes shone like bright stars.
After a long moment, he understood. An extremely soft sound: “Mm.”
He didn’t seem overly emotional, yet the large white tail behind him was wagging back and forth joyfully.
It simply wouldn’t stop.
Xie Bing smiled inwardly, then turned a stern face towards Jin Huo.
Jin Huo and his gang had incredibly ugly expressions. For some reason, this vine was freakishly weird; they just couldn’t break it.
Still hanging in the air, Jin Huo continued his bluster. “Xie Bing, what’s it to you? Don’t think I’m afraid of you just because you beat me senseless last time!”
“You bullied my teammate. I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine.”
Jin Huo: ???
Why didn’t you just say that teammate was only claimed moments ago?
“Xie Bing, what do you actually want?”
Jin Huo remained stubborn and defiant.
“Simple. What did you just do? You don’t know?”
Jin Huo even stopped kicking his legs, staring at Xie Bing in shock. “You’re shameless!”
Xie Bing: ??
How was she shameless?
A vine leaf lightly slapped Jin Huo’s face. Xie Bing said impatiently, “Hurry up.”
Hurry up and apologize. She was in a rush to get her beauty sleep. The dark circles under her eyes were getting worse lately, and Jin Huo wasn’t worth her staying up late.
Suddenly, tears streamed down Jin Huo’s face.
Closing his eyes in humiliation, he shouted:
“—Daddy!”
Xie Bing: ????