"What do you think," he asked, his eye roll more exaggerated than usual. "My soul will dissipate before you even reach the Ocean of Lost Souls, but knowing that you will avenge me, I can at least rest easy."

Xue Yueliang felt a suffocating feeling in her chest. It seems people who care about me will always die. She thought, angry at her fate.

"Is there really no way?"

"There's nothing you can achieve that can save me in the short term." He sighed, glad that she at least cared.

"How about postponing it?" She probed.

"You would need a rare soul treasure to seal my soul long enough until you become powerful. Ignoring how rare such things are, I would not be able to save you if you were ever in danger. The moment you unseal me would be either the day I die or the day I'm reborn but considering you, I doubt you could survive for long."

"I do not need you to save me again. I can handle myself."

A confident smile appeared on her face, as although two years was a bit tight, she had confidence in her luck. Besides, regions inhabited by beasts and demonic cultivators were renowned for their abundance of treasures. She would have to be powerful or crafty enough to save him. She put Lei Jian down and walked out to the balcony, but her gaze landed on Li Hua. She had completely forgotten she was here.

Thankfully she's a heavy sleeper.

When she reached the balcony, she retrieved a small vial from her storage ring containing a small amount of blood. It was Fu Qian's blood. She had not spared his life out of the kindness in her heart, nor was it for some weird reason as him not being worthy. It was not hard to see that an arrogant fool with a high cultivation base had a good background. After all, rogue cultivators suffered to reach their current level; they would not throw it all away by courting death randomly.

She picked up his blood and dropped it into her left eye, causing the shimmering red in her pupils to overtake her iris, creating an eerie sight.

"Blood Moon Contaminates All." She whispered, and a crimson Qi escaped her body, heading toward Fu Qian.

Soon after finding Fu Qian, it was absorbed into his body, leading to faint red light appearing in his pupil. It was not noticeable unless someone was carefully looking into his eyes, and even then, it would be inconspicuous.

From the Qi that had entered him, she could see his surroundings. He was in a giant hall with only one seat at the top centre, and all the other seating areas the place had were just cultivation mats. A man with greying hair, a skinny build, who appeared halfway toward his grave, in the only seat. Although he looked feeble, like a light breeze could blow him away, he had a powerful aura, startling Xue Yueliang. She could not tell his exact cultivation base, but her being unable to tell could only mean he was much more powerful than her.

It seems like I can't pay them a visit, she thought, feeling slightly crestfallen.

She did not retrieve her Qi and waited to see what they could be having a meeting about in the middle of the night.

"What is that I heard?" The seated elder said calmly, but the Qi around him was filled with rage, pushing Fu Qian onto the ground.

"You were defeated by a young girl and cried in fear when you went to get revenge against her? Is the honour of the Fu Clan something that can be so easily tarnished by you?"

His raging Qi slammed down the Fu Qian that had gotten up to kneel, causing him to vomit out a mouthful of blood.

"Patriarch, please believe me. That girl isn't a person who belongs to this realm. She is a demon! She should be in hell!"

Well, he isn't wrong. She thought. She was impressed by the strength shown by the corpse-like man.

Seeing how incapable Fu Qian was of resisting and the dents left on the ground, she deduced he was at least at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Of course, him having a cultivation base higher than that was not impossible, but what she was sure of was that if he continued like this, Fu Qian would die.

"Patriarch! Please, that's my son." A woman cried out. She was a pretty, stout woman, looking about the same age as Fu Qian, but her gaze carried the love of a mother toward her son.

Due to the increased lifespan of cultivators, in the cultivation world, it was not rare to see three generations looking like they were all the same age. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators had the ability to live up to millennia, so this scene was not considered to be strange. She quickly dashed over to her son's side, protecting him from the patriarch's aura.

As Xue Yueliang could clearly feel that she was in the mid-levels, it increased her faith in her initial assessment of the patriarch.

"What's the point of keeping such a useless son," the patriarch scolded, angry at her for interrupting his disciplining.

"Please, patriarch. We'll do anything, have mercy." She cried as the bloody Fu Qian rested in her embrace. At this point, Xue Yueliang could not see anything and could barely hear the words being said. Fu Qian was losing consciousness.

"If you bring me her head, you would have reclaimed our face, and Fu Qian will be spared." He coldly stated as Xue Yueliang worried that this would end before she could hear the verdict.

So, they will come after me. She coldly smiled and faintly looked forward to it. She would be hunting beings other than beasts in the Misty Mountains.

"You really do enjoy this." Her master laughed.

Before she could reply, she heard footsteps behind her. Li Hua stood there lightly dazed but was scared awake by Xue Yueliang's red iris.

The red faded from her iris and hid back into her pupils as she comforted, "Don't be scared. I was just practising a cultivation art."

"Who is scared of you?' She grumbled but was fully awake at this point, shaking off the remnant fear in her heart.

"Why are we all in the same room?"

She had seen Lei Jian sleeping on the floor and noticed Xue Yueliang's presence on the balcony.

"Do you always so easily trust others?" Xue Yueliang returned her question, bewildered by her character. "If Lei Jian wished to take advantage of you, where would you go to cry?"

"I trust my judgement," she smiled. In Xue Yueliang's eyes, that smile was incredibly foolish. Trusting your judgement was one thing, but gambling with your life was an entirely different matter.

"There were no other rooms in the inn, and you are much too heavy to carry around." She sighed, "And you shouldn't blindly follow your intuition."

"Why not? I was right, wasn't I? You two didn't harm me."

"Maybe we just didn't have the chance yet," she laughed, grabbing Li Hua's arm and pinning her to the wall. Li Hua only smiled in response, leading the two to burst out in laughter.

"If you like courting death, then go for it. I'm going to cultivate."

"If death is as pretty as you, I wouldn't mind."

Xue Yueliang rolled her eyes and sat on the last remaining cultivation mat, about to start cultivating.

"Hey, isn't it curious that the only available room was designed for polyamorous lovers?" Li Hua asked.

Xue Yueliang looked around and saw that was actually the case. The bed was much too larger for just two people, there were at least six cabinets in the room, and the incense stick released a sweet scent. Taking a deep breath of the smell that was wafting around, she noticed that it was actually a mild aphrodisiac known to increase libido. Recalling the odd behaviour of the innkeeper, she realised what had happened, causing her nose to scrunch up. She had been schemed against.

"Yeah, that's very strange." She replied, instantly focussing on her cultivation as she did not wish to continue thinking about this.

The night passed on, with no more events happening until the sun rose.

The first to get up was Lei Jian, and he did not recall anything that had occurred after they had entered the inn. He noticed Li Hua, who was cultivating on the bed and Xue Yueliang, who was cultivating on the other end of the room.

I promised myself I would no longer be weak but spent precious time sleeping instead of cultivating. He bitterly thought and noticed that his long hair had turned into a bird's nest.

He retrieved a comb from his ring and began brushing his hair out. He felt much better than he had the day before and looked toward Xue Yueliang. He felt a new reason for increasing his strength other than protecting her. It was to stand by her side as her equal and lover.

The next to get up was Xue Yueliang. The first thing she saw was Lei Jian brushing his hair, with the morning sun behind him acting as a perfect backdrop, and her heart skipped a beat.

He really does look like a gentle scholar, but she did not show a thing on her face. "Good morning, Jian-Jian." She smiled the same way she had every morning, but that smile appeared slightly sweeter than usual.

Lei Jian felt a slight pang in his heart, thinking he had forgotten something important but could not recall no matter how hard he tried. "Good morning, Yueliang."

He greeted, and a sweet atmosphere pervaded the room.

"What are you two up to so early in the morning." Li Hua grumbled, but before either could reply, Hei Yu jumped out of her mind palace and snuggled up to Li Hua's neck cutely. He purred gently, seemingly agreeing with her words and shot a disdainful gaze toward Lei Jian. "Aww, Hei Yu seems to agree with my words."

Li Hua cooed delightedly at his snuggles, but this scene caused Lei Jian to feel a slight chill. He recalled how, using the same moves, Hei Yu had killed someone in front of the mystical realm. He felt dispirited, thinking that Hei Yu would not like him in his lifetime.

The trio checked out of the hotel, and as the innkeeper from last time noticed the happy Li Hua, silent Xue Yueliang and dispirited Lei Jian, crazy thoughts appeared in his mind. This time, he did not Lie Jian leave, holding him back.

"Little Brother, your good fortune from yesterday was thanks to my doing. Don't you think you should do me a little favour too?" He asked, dissatisfied at Lei Jian's lack of tact.

"Why, what did you do?" Lei Jian had asked doubtfully, as he did not recall this man doing anything for him. "I especially prepared that room for you, and the incense wasn't cheap either. It is something that increases your libido! And from your dispirited look, it's obvious you did not get enough rest last night. Who do you think you have to thank for that!" The innkeeper was angry by the end of his speech, wondering how long Lei Jian would deny his favour."

"The incense was what?" Panic filled Lei Jian's heart. If what this man said was true, that could explain the strange feeling from this morning and why he did not recall what had happened last night. He was afraid that he might have done something last night, and Xue Yueliang had no choice but to knock him out.

He angrily told off the innkeeper, "If no one had asked you for anything, then don't mess with their relationships. I had not asked you for anything, so I'm not going to pay you and next time you do something like this, prepare to lose your neck." He released a chilling aura that terrified the innkeeper, and Lei Jian quickly left.

He had absolute assurance in his character and did not believe he would ever take advantage of a woman. However, it was a different story when he was both drunk and drugged.

"Xue Yueliang, can I talk to you for a bit?" He asked, causing her heart to tense up. He had not called her by her full name for a while and was afraid he had recalled something from last night. It would be too awkward. After reaching a quiet corner, he bowed heavily to her.

"I'm sorry if I did something inappropriate last night. I wasn't in my right mind." He apologised sincerely.

He doesn't remember anything, she thought, relieved.

But then again, her master would not con her so soon. "What are you apologising for?" She looked at him puzzledly. "All you did last night was fall asleep."

Lei Jian felt relieved and said, "The innkeeper told me something worrying, so I was afraid I had wronged you."

"You're a real gentleman," she laughed. He did not even remember doing anything wrong but apologised anyway; he was too good of a person. She was about to add something but then turned to her right. Li Hua was standing in a corner, quietly peeking at them, and Hei Yu was sitting on her head, trying to act as small as possible. Seeing that Xue Yueliang had noticed him, he jumped down, sprinting toward her and landing in her arms.

"Hei Yu, you should not learn bad mannerisms from her." She chided then turned to Li Hua.

"I guess it's about time we separate. Goodbye." She said, trying to get rid of her.

"I, Li Hua, am not someone who eats others' food and abandons them. I'll head together with you to the Misty Mountains." She righteously declared, then smiled mischievously. "That is unless I'm interrupting your precious couple time."

Xue Yueliang was stunned by her words as it made it hard for her to reject Li Hua. She did not care what others thought, but she could not let these ideas enter Lei Jian's mind. "Are you sure you're from a righteous sect?" She did not believe those good people had any need for being this tricky.

"Of course, how do you expect us to win fights if we can't attack the other party?" She laughed.

Xue Yueliang helplessly let her travel with them but warned, "The Fu Clan will try to attack me in the Misty Mountains, and if you go with me, you will be putting yourself in danger. They will send mid-level Foundation Esablishmen experts, and I have no confidence in being able to take them head-on."