"That bastard! He left and didn't even tell me that he had become an Inner Disciple! I had to find out from others, and now I can't even go there to meet him!" Sui Ru let out as anger clouded her face.

"I'll definitely become an Inner sect disciple and then no one can stop me from meeting you!" she muttered before she entered the Skill Hall. ​ ​

She went to take a mission as she hadn't completed her compulsory mission and she was near the deadline.

She came out with a scroll in her hand after 20 minutes.

"Going to the Profound Beast Valley, huh. It's a good thing that the mission doesn't need me to enter the Profound Beast Valley. I can get the Green Sun Leaves that grow outside the Profound Beast Valley and come back. It sucks that the mission rewards low contribution points though," she muttered.

****

"Can I get a map? I don't have a map to navigate my way there and back," Xu Ming asked the Elder of the Skill Hall. The only map he had was the false map that was given to him by Wu.

"Here, this map can help you," the Elder said as he gave him a map.

"Thanks for the help," Xu Ming thanked him before he left.

He left the Skill Pavilion of the Inner Sect. He brought the Wild Eagle Beast out of his storage ring and got on it as he left the sect.

Although he had the Profound Crane of the person he killed, he didn't use it.

Coincidentally, he left the sect around 20 minutes after Sui Ru, who also used a Wild Eagle Beast. Both their destinations were the same, but Xu Ming didn't see her because of the 20 minutes difference. Both their beasts had the same speed.

Sui Ru landed near the Profound Beast Valley first and started looking around for the leaves. Not much later, she found the leaves. The mission was so much easier than she thought that she was stunned.

'Even though it's the lowest grade mission, it shouldn't be so easy. Or maybe I lucked out," she said smilingly before she took the leaves and got ready to leave. That's when she noticed another Profound Eagle Beast coming towards her.

She could see a person sitting on it, which brought a surprised smile to her face. She couldn't help but laugh lightly.

Xu Ming landed near the Profound Beast Valley and couldn't help but sigh as he saw Sui Ru. He was cursing his luck.

"Did you come to help me? How did you find out that I was here? I guess you're finally ready to accept me as your wife, right?" she chuckled as she stepped towards him.

"I'm not getting married. The faster you understand that, the better it would be," he told her in full seriousness.

"I'm here for a mission," he added before he started walking towards the Profound Beast Valley.

"Wait a minute. Your mission is to enter the Profound Beast Valley?" she exclaimed in shock.

Xu Ming nodded his head.

"No, you can't! It's too dangerous inside. You will die if you meet a powerful beast. You should abandon the mission!" she warned Xu Ming, but he didn't stop.

Xu Ming entered the Profound Beast Valley.

"Why are you coming inside with me?" he asked without looking back.

"Of course I can't let you die," Sui Ru replied as she continued following him.

"You know I'm stronger than you right? If anyone should be worried, it's you!" he said as he stopped and turned back.

Sui Ru hadn't expected that he would turn back, and as she was following him so closely, her body collided with Xu Ming.

"I don't care if you're stronger. My mother said that it is a wife's duty to protect her husband just like it's her husband's duty to protect her," she said in full seriousness.

"You've gone crazy. We are not husband and wife. So please don't chase after death. I'm not going to save you if you're in trouble, so leave right now before you're killed unnecessarily," Xu Ming said before he turned away and continued walking deeper into the valley.

He kept looking at his surroundings to look for the fruit he was here for.

Sui Ru didn't stop following him even after he warned her so many times. Ultimately, he gave up talking to her and started ignoring her as he put all his focus into his search.

"What are you looking for?" Sui Ru asked.

"I need 20 dark seed fruits," Xu Ming answered her.

"Wait, I've seen Dark Seed fruits before. Aren't the fruits right there, the dark seed fruits?" She asked as she pointed towards a certain direction.

Xu Ming looked towards the tree where she was pointing at and noticed a few Dark Seed Fruits. The Fruits were as small as a strawberry from Earth and they were green in color.

Xu Ming walked towards the tree and picked the Fruits. He found 10 Dark Seed fruits in the tree and kept them in his storage ring.

"See? I helped you. Aren't I a good wife?" Sui Ru chuckled.

Xu Ming looked towards her and brought his sword out as he started walking towards her. Sui Ru was shocked as she saw Xu Ming coming towards her.

"W-what are you..." Before she could finish her words, she saw Xu Ming increase his speed as he moved past her and thrust his sword towards the beast that was behind her.

The Sword penetrated the skull of the beast that gave a loud roar before he died.

"As a cultivator, you can't even look at your back! If I was a little late, you would be dead! Don't play with your life if you can't look out for yourself!" Xu Ming scolded her as he kept his sword.

Instead of feeling bad, Sui Ru started laughing out loud.

"Why are you laughing? Is your life a joke?" Xu Ming asked her with a frown.

"I'm just happy. You did your job of a husband really well," she said as she controlled her laughter.

"What do you mean?" Xu Ming asked.

"I told you before that my mother said that it is a wife's duty to protect her husband just like it's her husband's duty to protect her. You said that you wouldn't protect me, but you still did. Even though you haven't accepted it out loud, you do accept me as your wife inside as well," Sui Ru said.

"You're really crazy. I don't understand why I'm still surprised. I didn't save you because I care for you. I just did it because you helped me find the Dark Seed Fruit and I didn't want to have you die so fast after helping me. Think of it as me settling our scores," Xu Ming said before he continued walking ahead. He had found 10 Dark Seed Fruits and he needed to find 10 more before completing the mission.

They looked around for quite some time but didn't find more fruits. They did meet a few initial Spirit Grade Beasts that Xu Ming managed to kill pretty easily.

They kept moving deeper into the forest before they noticed another tree that had Dark Seed Fruits.

Xu Ming walked up to the tree and took the Dark Seed Fruits and kept them in his storage ring, but that's when he sensed danger.

He looked back and found a Giant Golden Realm Beast.

It was an Earth Trampling Bull that was the size of an elephant. It had gray skin and two long horns coming out of its forehead.

It was a 2nd stage Gold Realm Beast.

"T-that's too strong. Are we going to die right now?" Sui Ru let out as she stared at the Earth Trampling Bull in fear.

"It's time for me to protect my husband. You run away, I'll delay the beast for you," She said to Xu Ming as she gripped her sword firmly, ready to give it her all.

"I'm not going. You run. I'll also leave the forest after dealing with the beast. We can meet outside," Xu Ming said to her as he placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her behind him.

"I'm not going to leave you behind!" she said with full determination.

"Sigh, You're really stubborn. At Least stay back. I can handle the beast," Xu Ming said again.

"N..." she opened her mouth to say something.

Before she could even say something, Xu Ming said to her, " If you don't move back, we will both die. Don't disturb me and move back!"

Sui Ru could see the seriousness on Xu Ming's face as she stepped back.

"Sigh, it's going to be my first time battling a strong beast. Let's see how strong I have become," Xu Ming muttered as he glanced at the Earth Trampling Bull that was glaring at him with its blood-red eyes.