“Hah…!”
Yun Hao jolted awake abruptly.
The iron sword leaning against the wall slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground with a loud clang.
He gasped heavily for breath, cold sweat trickling down his handsome face drop by drop, soaking the ground beneath him.
The suffocating sensation of being dragged into infinite darkness felt incredibly real.
Each time it happened, the fear was overwhelming, and his breathing would stop on its own.
It’s happening again…
Yun Hao felt somewhat downcast.
This dream was not new to him.
Ever since he learned that Luo Shuiling had thrown away the osmanthus cakes he made for her, he would experience this nightmare every few days.
Sometimes he woke in the middle of the night, other times at dawn.
Without exception, he was always drenched in cold sweat…
He was truly afraid of being abandoned by his senior sister…
She was the one who had saved his life, guided him onto the immortal path, given him a purpose to live for, and granted him a new life…
He could not be without her…
Or rather, she was truly all he had left now.
Yun Hao hugged his knees once more, his clear gaze turning dazed.
In the two months since arriving at Proud Sword Sect, his originally frail and thin body had slowly become slender and healthy.
Yet he had barely grown taller and remained around 1.6 meters.
Sitting like this made him appear small and frail again.
After every such nightmare, he would habitually sit alone in a daze for a while.
Yun Hao, oh Yun Hao, stop overthinking things. Senior Sister simply doesn’t like eating osmanthus cakes and felt too embarrassed to tell you directly. That’s why she threw them away in such a hidden spot.
Besides, hasn’t she continued to treat you well afterward? She even gave you the Cloud Abyss Sword. You should think positively.
Yun Hao reached out and retrieved his token.
With a thought, the cyan-white glowing Cloud Abyss Sword appeared before him.
He picked it up with the gentlest of motions, as if it were not a sword but a cherished token filled with emotion.
He gently stroked the Cloud Abyss Sword, feeling its cool touch.
His heart gradually warmed.
The Cloud Abyss Sword was not merely a weapon Senior Sister had given him for self-defense.
It was proof of her care for him.
Don’t overthink it. Senior Sister does care about me!
Yun Hao shook his head, his eyes regaining their clarity.
He patted his cheeks to rouse his spirits.
His training in the mountains was complete, and today he was due to return to the sect.
He glanced at his bloodstained clothes, which had already hardened, feeling a touch of helplessness.
It was all his fault for going too wild yesterday.
He’d been so focused on slaying demon beasts that his entire body was covered in blood, which had now completely congealed.
The priority now was to find a water source and wash himself thoroughly.
Yun Hao looked at the faintly brightening sky outside and carefully stored the Cloud Abyss Sword away before standing up and exiting the cave.
He followed the tracks from yesterday and continued searching the area.
Today his main task was to find water to clean himself, so whenever he spotted demon beasts from afar, Yun Hao chose to avoid them rather than engage in combat.
One hour later, after slicing through layers of vines and pushing aside a patch of bushes, a clean, small lake appeared before him.
Found it!
Yun Hao looked at the pristine water source with delight.
He observed his surroundings carefully.
There were no demon beasts nearby, only some ordinary wild animals.
He found it somewhat strange that he hadn’t encountered any demon beasts in the past half hour, which had allowed him to travel much faster.
After confirming it was safe, he stopped dwelling on it.
Yesterday he had no choice but to sleep in those sticky, blood-soaked clothes.
Being able to sleep didn’t mean it was comfortable.
He normally liked to stay clean, so seeing this clean water source intensified his discomfort.
He gently removed his clothes and pants, then leaped lightly into the water.
Yun Hao felt the refreshing coolness enveloping him from all sides.
Though it felt a bit cold at first, he quickly adapted and began swimming.
A love for water was human nature, even for cultivators.
Even alone, Yun Hao soon started splashing around playfully.
After a while, Yun Hao had played enough.
His swimming had incidentally washed his body clean.
Being alone was still somewhat boring.
He floated on his back, staring dazedly at the sky as his body drifted with the current.
It would be nice if Senior Sister were here… We could play together.
Yun Hao imagined the scene in his mind, but suddenly felt something was wrong.
He and Senior Sister were of opposite genders, after all!
How could they…
He didn’t dare continue that train of thought.
His earlobes, which had paled from the cold water, slowly flushed pink…
But… I really want to…
Gurgle gurgle!
Yun Hao plunged his head underwater to stop his wandering thoughts.
After calming the improper ideas in his mind, he hurriedly stood up and used his spiritual power to evaporate the moisture from his body.
He retrieved a set of clean clothes from his token and quickly put them on.
Only then did he truly relax.
Looking at yesterday’s blood-crusted garments, he hesitated.
Storing them in the token might contaminate the Cloud Abyss Sword, which was unacceptable.
After a moment’s thought, Yun Hao buried the clothes in a nearby spot.
If he remembered later, he could come back for them.
If not, he would treat it as a memento.
A moment later, he nodded in satisfaction at the freshly disturbed soil and turned to leave.
However, a flash of azure-purple light in his peripheral vision stopped him in his tracks.
He quickly turned back for a closer look.
After confirming it carefully, he grew excited.
This unique azure-purple glow appeared only when the Clear Mist Flower was illuminated by sunlight.
Yun Hao had learned about this rare spiritual herb while studying immortal world knowledge with Lin Xian.
Unlike other spiritual herbs that could save lives, it possessed beautifying and spirit-nourishing effects particularly for women, and it was beneficial for cultivators as well.
Clear Mist Flowers were extremely rare and had no fixed growing locations.
Encountering one today, there was no telling when he might see another.
Senior Sister hadn’t liked the osmanthus cakes he made last time, likely because she didn’t enjoy the taste.
Now that he’d found a Clear Mist Flower, he could bring one back for her.
Senior Sister was a woman too, so he believed she would like it.
Perhaps this time he could truly help her!
Yun Hao calmed his excitement, circulated his spiritual power, and gently approached the small mound in the lake where the Clear Mist Flower grew.
He carefully harvested it.
But before he could rejoice for long, a terrifying roar carrying an ominous aura echoed from deep within the mountain range.
Yun Hao sensed that the roar was directed straight at him.
Recalling the Clear Mist Flower he had just picked, he instantly understood.
This flower was probably guarded by a demon beast.
Judging from that powerful aura, its strength was not low.
The best option now would be to discard the flower.
Yun Hao gritted his teeth and refused to let go of the Clear Mist Flower.
Instead, he carried it with him and fled at full speed, pushing his spiritual power to the limit.
He was unwilling to give it up.
This flower could definitely help Senior Sister.
With his current Qi Refining cultivation, this was the only thing he could do for her right now.
He would not abandon it.
A spirit python exuding overwhelming malevolence charged out from the depths of the mountain range.
Relying on an inexplicable inner warning, Yun Hao dodged to the right just in time, narrowly avoiding the giant python’s lethal strike.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart pounded wildly.
Although he had barely escaped death moments ago, he now had to face the spirit python directly.
The spirit python coiled its massive body around Yun Hao, completely sealing off any escape routes.
Its scarlet tongue flicked in and out continuously.
It scrutinized the human who had dared to touch the spiritual flower it had meticulously tended for decades.
Seeing that he was only at the Qi Refining stage, its anger surged even more fiercely.
It had clashed with many powerful experts over this flower, sustaining injuries and shedding blood in the process.
To think that a mere Qi Refining human had plucked it due to a momentary oversight—it was unforgivable.
He would need to be tortured to death to vent even a fraction of its rage.
Yun Hao saw that all escape paths were blocked.
He could only confront this evil python brimming with murderous intent head-on.
Gulp…
Yun Hao swallowed nervously, his throat dry.
He quietly slipped the Hunyuan Pearls into a small cloth bag he carried on his person while drawing his iron sword, hoping to wound the evil python.
He attacked first, channeling all his power into the Shattered Star technique and slashing forward.
The iron sword, which had slain countless demon beasts over the past two days, shattered into several pieces…
The spirit python looked at the human before it with disdain.
It did not counterattack, waiting for the human to exhaust all his techniques before slowly tormenting him.
It wanted to drag him into despair little by little and hear his miserable cries firsthand.
Seeing his shattered iron sword, Yun Hao’s heart sank to rock bottom…
The evil python’s refusal to fight back was clearly just toying with him.
But that was fine.
It might allow the Hunyuan Pearls to display their maximum effect later.
He then drew the Cloud Abyss Sword.
This time, the spirit python sensed the spiritual weapon’s extraordinary quality and shifted its body slightly.
But then, recalling Yun Hao’s weak cultivation that prevented him from fully wielding its power, it relaxed once more.
Yun Hao again unleashed Shattered Star with full force.
This time it did strike the spirit python, but it only broke the skin slightly…
The spirit python seemed slightly surprised, then grew irritated.
It swept its tail tip toward Yun Hao.
Yun Hao felt as if he had been struck by a massive boulder.
He was sent flying dozens of meters and slammed heavily into the ground.
A sharp pain surged through him; it felt like his internal organs had been displaced.
His head buzzed, and he could barely see the evil python’s head clearly.
Yet he stubbornly forced himself to stand and continued attacking the giant python.
Yun Hao knew the chance for a decisive strike had not yet arrived.
He still needed to wait.
In this way, Yun Hao endured the giant python’s brutal assault for half an hour.
After one final powerless attack, he collapsed to the ground and lay motionless.
The spirit python saw that the human appeared to have stopped breathing and lost interest.
It lowered its head toward Yun Hao, intending to devour him in one bite.
At that moment, Yun Hao—who lay on the ground with his robes once more stained in blood—revealed a faint, nearly imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth.
Just as the evil python opened its jaws, mere inches away…
He sprang up explosively, hurling one Hunyuan Pearl while simultaneously crushing the other in his hand.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion and heat wave swept across the outskirts of the Black Beast Mountain Range.
Protected by the Hunyuan Pearl, Yun Hao rode the surging shockwave to rapidly distance himself from the giant python, flying toward the sect’s assembly point.
During the half hour he had spent maneuvering around the giant python earlier, he had already determined his bearings.
Even his final collapse had been precisely calculated.
This time… I should have won, right?
As the Hunyuan Pearl carried Yun Hao away at high speed, it also healed his injuries.
His mind gradually cleared.
Looking at the massive crater created by the explosion, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.