Fu Mei warily looked forward and forcefully suppressed her injuries.

"Xue Yueliang, don't push your luck! Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse, so I suggest you let us go."

It was nothing more than an empty threat, as both women knew there was only one possible outcome - Fu Mei's death.

"Is that so? By that logic, you wouldn't be able to commit patricide. That must be depressing."

"He's not my father!" Fu Mei yelled out, her injuries making her unable to maintain a stable mental realm.

"He's still your ancestor." Xue Yueliang said, "There isn't much difference there."

"Why're you still insisting on that narrative?" The weakened Fu Qing asked. He did not understand the point of continuing this verbal battle.

"You're right. It doesn't matter." Xue Yueliang laughed, charging toward them as her killing intent coiled around.

"Blood Moon Waves!" This time, the many waves of sword Qi that she unleased separated and acted as an area attack, landing on her two opponents.

Fu Mei formed a water shield around them, but this served only to make her laugh.

"Do you think I don't know your moves after watching you for so long?"

Wind Blades followed the Blood Moon Waves, merging with them. As soon as they landed on her barrier, the flame exploded, nullifying her defence. The duo were knocked back a step, and Fu Mei vomited a small mouthful of blood. She was having difficulties suppressing her injuries.

"Lady Mei!" Fu Qing cried, putting himself in front of her, ready to take the next attack for her.

"You're sacrificing your life for someone who wants to kill you," Xue Yueliang said disapprovingly.

"You don't know what you're talking about, demon!" He said with righteous indignation. "You're fated to burn in hell."

He unsteadily gripped onto his word, hoping to give Fu Mei a chance to recover.

"Fate is such a fun thing."

When her words landed, Fu Qing saw a black shadow from the corner of his eyes; it landed in front of him and opened its giant maw toward it. Unlike the usual beast, there was no flesh to be seen in the throat, only deep darkness. The being that attacked him was none other than the enlarged Hei Yu. After eating many different beasts and fully assimilating the strength of Fu Shen, he was already at the third level of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Let alone the heavily weakened Fu Qing, he was capable of fighting against the fully healed him. With this bite, Fu Qing felt a gave sense of danger, and his heart dropped, putting his all into defending himself.

"You're fated to die."

Like this, Xue Yueliang walked past him and appeared in front of Fu Mei, "How would you like to die?"

"I would rather not die." Fu Mei said bitterly, looking at the situation she was in. The chance of her death went from being high to being a certainty.

"Wouldn't we all?" Xue Yueliang smiled, "Isn't that why we cultivate?"

Xue Yueliang attacked her with her sword, slowly whittling her down but did not make a move to kill her. As the fight dragged on, Fu Mei's resistance grew weaker, and her will was destroyed by the time Fu Qing was eaten, causing her to collapse on the ground.

"You were right; this was a ploy to kill the patriarch. He was the one who wanted you dead. Please, just let me go. I will kill him." She pleaded, hoping for the impossible.

"Though I respect patricide, I don't like people hunting for me."

Looking at her dispirited state, Xue Yueliang smiled. "You know, this looks suits you."

Fu Mei did not look up and stared at the ground, prepared for the final attack that would end her life. Xue Yueliang's words ruined the final specs of hope in her heart.

"Tch," Xue Yueliang groaned. It was not fun if she remained silent.

She grabbed onto her hair and forced her to look up, "Do you know, you did me a great favour. Due to that alone, I should let you live."

"I've never helped a demon like you." Fu Mei shrieked, spitting blood at her.

Xue Yueliang frowned, dodging, "You know, in a situation like this, you should be bootlicking me. How else do you expect to survive."

Fu Mei became silent, showing her willingness to listen.

"This past half year, I have been suppressed and annoyed. I felt as if my fate was out of my hands. That I would die regardless of what I did. However, after watching you and the centipede fight, I realised, so what? If a beast and -" giving her a once over, she continued, "You, can fight regardless of certain death, then why am I backing down from an uncertain one? I should do what I enjoy, live my life how I want and destroy whatever gets in my way. Regardless of whether it's a concept or a person, it should be annihilated. A marvellous revelation, right?"

"T-then, will you let me live?" She asked, regretful that she had volunteered to chase after her.

"Well, doing whatever I want, I should kill you, but due to my gratefulness, I shouldn't. Do you understand my dilemma?"

Xue Yueliang was truly troubled by this point as her eyebrows knit in frustration. Fu Mei nodded repeatedly, and an oppressive quiet atmosphere filled the clearing as she waited for her fate to be decided.

"Just kill her." Li Hua's voice sounded slightly irritated by Xue Yueliang's delay.

"Sure," since she was split between this, she was more than happy to listen to her companion.

Her sword cut toward Fu Mei, but due to her overexcitement, her sword missed her neck. It instead sliced her face open, causing an ear-splitting roar as she tried to clamp the wound shut. Feeling the blood that wet her face and looking in the direction of the screaming Fu Mei, a small laugh escaped her mouth. She lifted her blade one more time and decapitated her head, letting it roll onto the ground. Xue Yueliang continued giggling at the sight, it was not exactly her death that made her happy but the sudden relief she felt.

Although her laughter was perfectly justified in her head, it could not be something creepier in the eyes of her companions.

However much they were used to her oddness, this was still something they could not easily accept. The giant full moon stood behind her, framing her delicate figure with its moonlight, the broken corpse at her feet as its blood dripped down her cheek, and her wide grin. Although this did not sit well with them, they agreed that this was an eerily beautiful sight.

"Hei Yu, eat." Xue Yueliang said when her emotions finally died down, dropping the other two cultivators' corpses she had stored next to Fu Mei's.

Watching him eat his feast, Xue Yueliang felt her body calm down and relax, she noticed the boundary between her and the fourth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm loosen, exciting her. She quickly sat down on the ground, uncaring for the blood surrounding her, and focussed on her breakthrough.

She channelled her cultivation sutra, causing the spiritual Qi around her to be absorbed into her body in considerable amounts. The Qi surged into her dantian, appearing above her third platform. The energy that rushed into her body was first purified by her spiritual Qi and then by the lightning residing in her body. Her platforms were now the colour of light orchids but still not purple. She looked forward to the day she had a supreme grade foundation. The spiritual Qi steadily entered her body. Soon the illusory platform turned solid, marking her as having entered the mid-level stage, the fourth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"It seems like I caught up to my seniors." Xue Yueliang smiled, looking up to the two who were still on the tree.

"I don't dare be called senior by you." Li Hua said, jumping down to the ground. "People would misunderstand my morals if you were my junior."

"I told you not to trust strangers you haven't known before. I'm not the person you thought I was."

"It's hard to get to know people if we don't take chances." Lei Jian said, defending her.

They had all grown close-knit due to their shared experiences, and because their ideologies were similar. They always put her at a disadvantage when it came to arguments.

"She's just lucky."

"Luck is a part of my ability." Li Hua said confidently.

"You're right." Xue Yueliang got up, storing the fast asleep Hei Yu and pointed at the centipede carcass.

"How do you want to split this?" She had kept the Fu Clan's spiritual rings as she was the one who killed them, but they had all fought against that centipede. She could not keep it all to herself.

"Its outer body is interesting and would make for a great armour." Li Hua began, clearly indicating what she wanted.

"The beast core is useful for me." Lei Jian said, "Of course, if you want it, you should keep it."

"What did I say about being direct?" Xue Yueliang said, rolling her eyes. "Take whatever you want. I already benefited greatly from today."

Beast corpses were no longer beneficial to her, so she did not care much about that. The flesh would be enough for Hei Yu.

"Anyone interested in raising bugs?" She asked, looking over to the hole in the ground.

"Don't be disgusting." Li Hua commented, her dislike for bugs evident on her face. Though they were all bound to be powerful beasts that would - at the very least - reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, their appearance made them less than desirable.

Well, she thought. They really would die.

"By the way, what type of beast is Hei Yu?" His characteristics were different from any species of rabbits she had seen, and none of its abilities matched any description she knew of. Remembering its cold teeth that had touched her neck, she felt a slight chill. At that moment, he was more like a weapon than a beast, cold without the slightest hint of warmth.

Xue Yueliang smiled, "I don't know. I just know he's a yin creature. He joined me when I had just begun my cultivation journey."

"He must be really dear to you."

"Yeah, he's the closest to my heart."

"Closest?" Lei Jian asked.

"Don't tell me you're jealous of a beast," Li Hua teased, but Lei Jian didn't react.

"Yeah?"

Xue Yueliang did not understand his reaction. Wouldn't someone connected to your soul and heavily interlinked with your life naturally be the closest to you? Anything other than that would be a lie.

Ignoring the weirdness she felt, she continued, "The Fu Clan members are no longer chasing us, so I think it's about time we separate. There's a lot of things we disagree on, and I think it would be better." She cupped her hands toward them, bowing slightly, "It was fun to travel with you two." She was preparing to leave, but two questions simultaneously sounded.

"Why don't you stay until sunrise?"

"Have you ever eaten a centipede before?"

"I thought you would stop being such a foodie?" She replied strangely.

"One last time," Li Hua smiled.

"I can accompany you two for a bit longer."

She took out the centipede flesh, and surprisingly, Lei Jiang volunteered to cook this time, and the trio enjoyed their meal. The meat tasted like shrimp and was surprisingly decent. They chatted about random things underneath the heaven, and a peaceful atmosphere enveloped them.

But it was interrupted by Li Hua's question, "What do you mean by your fated to die?" Afraid that Xue Yueliang would leave before she could get an answer.

Lei Jian turned toward her shocked, and said, "There's no need to answer if you don't wish to."

"It's okay," Xue Yueliang smiled. "It was a future seen by my master. Of course, things like fate are not set in stone, so there's no need to worry. Can I ask you a question now?"

Li Hua nodded, but her thoughts were on what Xue Yueliang had said. "Why did you want me to kill Fu Mei?" There was no reason she had to die, so her cold-heartedness was a surprise to her.

"Someone who's willing to betray their patriarch and lead their comrades to their death doesn't deserve to live."

"Well, I guess it's lucky I didn't betray anyone," Xue Yueliang laughed.

"But do you know why she did that?" Li Hua shook her head, indicating for Xue Yueliang to continue.

"He killed her father and was intent on killing her son too. It was just revenge." This was the most interesting thing she had seen in Fu Shen's memories.

"He killed one of his own? Why?" "He was afraid of being suppressed, so he killed the only person who could threaten him."

"How could he?!" Li Hua was infuriated by these words, unable to understand how someone could kill someone who was like a child to them.

"I have no plans of being a good person, so I didn't care. But since you are, I think you should look beyond the surface."

Li Hua clenched her teeth but did not say anything.

Xue Yueliang looked at the brightening sky and smiled, "That's my cue. Jian-Jian, Sister Hua, good luck on your future journeys. Until we see each other next time!"

"I look forward to that day." Lei Jian smiled.

"Stay safe, Liang'er." Li Hua replied, her feelings complicated.

Their gaze followed Xue Yueliang as she headed toward the horizon, her petite figure swallowed by the bright light. Though she appeared small, she released confidence showing that she believed she could one day destroy the very sun, and they did not doubt it.