I want to do one good act for every person, even if it means sacrificing my own life — this was the female protagonist from the original novel, fought over by the world’s two most powerful figures. Her short life was dedicated to fulfilling this promise. She devoted herself tirelessly to achieving true peace among the Three Realms, but unfortunately, she died under a sinister conspiracy orchestrated by the Demon Race, becoming the final catalyst that ultimately led to the devastating battle between the Dao Venerable and the Devil Venerable.
Wen Zixing sighed inwardly. The plot had gone so awry that not even the author could recognize it anymore, but despite all the changes, was it possible that they were still moving towards the original ending? However, Muxue was not His Venerable’s disciple now, nor did they share a close relationship that had gradually developed through constant companionship like the one described in the original plot. His Venerable hadn’t shown any special attention to Muxue, so there was little chance that she would become the catalyst for the final battle, but he did seem very fond of Yaoyao.
At this thought, Wen Zixing glanced at Lu Yaoyao, the light from the night pearl casting a soft glow on her plump, snow-white face.
When Lu Yaoyao heard Chao Muxue’s words, she was surprised by her friend’s resolve. “Muxue, no matter what, your own life is the most important.”
Chao Muxue shook her head with a gentle smile, “There are some things more important than life.”
Lu Yaoyao pondered seriously. Indeed, in her heart, her Father and Daddy were more important than her own life. If something happened to them, she would rather sacrifice herself to save them.
But her Father and Daddy were the most powerful cultivators in the world—she simply couldn’t imagine anything that could even threaten them.
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t realize it was already late at night. Lu Yaoyao, used to a regular sleep schedule, started to nod off, eventually falling asleep next to Chao Muxue. Wen Zixing also forgot his fear of the dark and slept soundly. Du Qianshan, however, stayed awake, meditating and keeping watch.
At dawn, the chirping bird calls in the forest aroused them. Lu Yaoyao woke up feeling refreshed. She rubbed her eyes with her small hands and heard Wen Zixing say, “The sky looks a bit overcast today. Do you think it will rain?”
Lu Yaoyao raised her sleepy head and looked up through the branches at the gray sky. “Xingxing, don’t jinx it.” If it rained, it’d be much harder be hard to search for the spiritual mink, and they’d also lose their current shelter.
“It’s still early; maybe it’s just cloudy and won’t rain.” Chao Muxue said.
Du Qianshan agreed, “The temperature is so low in Cold Mountain Forest. If anything, it should snow, not rain, right?”
“…” Lu Yaoyao and Chao Muxue exchanged glances. Should they give these two jinxes a good smack in the head?
In the end, no beating happened. The group jumped down from the tree, and Du Qianshan had already collected the talismans and defensive artifacts they placed around last night. Thanks to these precautions, they had stayed safe overnight. Some of the outermost talismans were damaged, but the intact ones were recovered for reuse. They then went to the gorge where they had dinner the night before, washed up, and had breakfast.
They proceeded their search today, splitting into pairs just like the day before. By now, the clouds had somewhat gone lighter, leaving only a faint layer of overcast. Though the sun was not visible, it was indeed a cloudy day.
Wen Zixing followed Lu Yaoyao, looking a bit dejected. “Yaoyao, let’s never take on missions like these again. This isn’t the kind of exciting cultivation adventure I imagined. It’s so dull and boring.”
Lu Yaoyao replied honestly, “You picked these missions yourself!” She had wanted to choose slightly more challenging ones!
“…” Wen Zixing was sullen. Right, he had regretted it. He had regretted it very much!
“I think it’s okay,” Seeing Wen Zixing looking so dejected, Lu Yaoyao tried to comfort him. “It’s our first time taking on missions, so we lack experience. We’ll know better next time.”
Wen Zixing felt a bit better but still muttered, “No wonder no one takes these missions.” He figured the low rewards were because the missions weren’t dangerous but were time-consuming. The clients didn’t want to spend their own time, so they outsourced them to the mission hall.
“We can still take on similar missions in the future, but we can choose more challenging ones, like searching for something in a certain secret realm.”
Wen Zixing imagined it and nodded in agreement. That sounded more like a proper cultivation adventure.
Perhaps Lu Yaoyao’s luck had returned today. After searching for nearly an hour, she and Wen Zixing finally spotted their target, a spiritual mink. Wen Zixing spotted a fast-moving, snow-white figure and eagerly pursued it. “It’s the spiritual mink!”
Lu Yaoyao quickly followed, thrilled at the prospect of completing the task and returning to the sect soon. However, the spiritual mink seemed very clever, moving swiftly and evasively through the snowy forest, darting between the trees and snowbanks. Even Lu Yaoyao couldn’t catch up right away.
Lu Yaoyao kept her eyes on the spiritual mink, trailing it from a distance and managing not to lose sight of it. Wen Zixing, however, began to slow down. His cultivation level wasn’t as high as Lu Yaoyao’s. After barely following for a while, he soon struggled to keep up. Before long, he lost sight of both Lu Yaoyao and the spiritual mink.
Despite this, Wen Zixing didn’t stop. He still wanted to help. As he ran, he suddenly caught a glimpse of another white shadow darting to the left.
His eyes lit up, and he quickly gave chase. This one looked similar to the first spiritual mink but wasn’t as fast. Maybe he had a good chance of catching it!
So Wen Zixing eagerly followed the spiritual mink, unknowingly heading in the opposite direction from Lu Yaoyao.
…
Lu Yaoyao’s sharp eyes saw the spiritual mink diving into what looked like a burrow and quickly lost sight of it. She searched around for a moment before finding a hole. “Xingxing, I found the spiritual mink’s nest!” she called out.
Turning around, she realized Wen Zixing was nowhere to be seen. She had run too fast and left him behind!
Lu Yaoyao’s spiritual senses caught the presence of the spiritual mink inside the burrow; she could hear it moving around, the sounds gradually fading away, and yet Wen Zixing still hadn’t caught up. Knowing that the burrow’s entrance was small and Wen Zixing wouldn’t fit anyway, she decided to go in and catch the mink first before reuniting with him.
So Lu Yaoyao marked the entrance and began squeezing inside. The tunnel was dry, and after a short distance, it soon turned dim. Lu Yaoyao took out a luminous pearl for light. The space eventually became wide enough for her to stand and run, but she soon realized that the tunnel she had just passed through was just one of many others that constantly twisted and turned endlessly. Here, even the slightest sound echoed everywhere, making it difficult to pinpoint the mink’s location. The clever mink, clearly aware of her pursuit, kept changing its position, as if playing hide-and-seek. Lu Yaoyao’s competitive spirit was aroused, and she was even more determined to catch this naughty little mink.
First, she calmed herself, then started utilizing her spiritual sense to scan the passages. Finally, she pinpointed the location of the spiritual mink and hurriedly ran deeper into the burrow. She carefully concealed her aura, silently approaching, and finally spotted the mink she had been chasing.
The mink obviously didn’t think its pursuer would find it. Eyes widened with shock, it quickly jumped up and darted into a nearby passage. But Lu Yaoyao had come prepared; now their distance was close, she didn’t allow the mink to escape again and quickly used an artifact to trap it.
“Squeak! Squeak!” The spiritual mink angrily scratched at the artifact that trapped it, but its claws left no marks.
Lu Yaoyao used a spell to shrink the artifact around the mink’s neck, binding it. Now she had a good look at this little one, she noticed that the mink was very thin, with white fur that wasn’t healthy-looking. Furthermore, it clearly looked thin and bony. It appeared that the living conditions in Cold Mountain Forest were poor.
As she approached, the mink lowered its body and hissed aggressively, trying to intimidate her.
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