“That was nice!” Xiao Wu exclaimed. She was wearing a pair of fresh robes and had a towel wrapped around her head, as means to dry her hair. Beside her, Te Rin and Iris also wore a change of clothes.

Curiously enough, Te Rin’s hair was surprisingly even longer than Xiao Wu’s, reaching below the waist. As for Iris, her ginger hair barely reached her shoulders, so she was no ‘threat’ to the two longer haired women.

They had just come back from the bath. Having just enjoyed the experience, the young girl with green eyes had to admit that, while Lu Fang might have been an annoying, and somewhat fanatical when it came to Cheng Hao, old man, he really did come from a wealthy family.

Not only was the bathhouse luxurious, it was big and comfortable as well!

As expected from the head of a wealthy Clan such as the Lu Clan…

Xiao Wu walked forward, her slippers barey making any noise as she stepped on the ground. Behind her, the two older women were conversing quite enthusiastically:

“Te Rin, my disciple, I see you have not neglected your training! The way you fooled that old looking guy was so skillful I almost cried from the laughter! As for the look on his face? Absolutely priceless!” The ginger woman was grinning happily. After all, what teacher wouldn’t be happy that her student had excelled in what he had taught?

“Master, you are exaggerating! In that last match, even I had been helpless against those two, forcing me to give up before we even started!”

“Oh yeah, I remember the fatty’s reaction… you have such talent in making people go all ‘what the fuck’ that even I am envious!”

“Teacher, please don’t be humble! After all, speaking of that last match, that ability you used to teleport us here was shocking to say the least! I’ve decided! I shall follow the path of illusions and mind trickery just like you, master!”

“Well said, Little Rin! We shall show those annoying brats exactly who’s the boss here! You have powerful arms? Now you are even weaker than a newborn! You think of yourself as the happiest man in the world? Go cry in a corner from depression! Tricking the mind is the path to greatness!”

“Yeah!”

“Now, my disciple, let me teach you the secret bewitching illusion I have created…”

“My eyes have never been any more open before master! Please, teach me!”

“That’s my disciple! Here, let me show you…”

Xiao Wu ignored the racket and the lights flashing behind her as she pondered deeply:

Fu Yin has been acting strange lately… I mean, he has always been a bit eccentric, however it is as if his character has changed since we have ever met. The way they act and the way they talk are just like two different people! Brother, what exactly has happened to you? Why have you not told me anything?

Xiao Wu sighed as she kept going forward, unhindered despite her stray thoughts. Lu Fang, in those few weeks he had been sent there, had built this whole place with the aid of the mysterious golden blood he had been given by Cheng Hao.

Actually, they were not too far below the surface as the lack of windows in the whole mansion might have suggested. Instead, they were located just a few feet beneath a layer of some sort of crystal-like substance.

According to Goldy and Uncle Black, this material was able to reflect some amount of spiritual energy, thus allowing them to be concealed even amongst the most prying of eyes. At least, that would be without counting the ambassadors from the Nine Heavens. They couldn’t possibly hope to evade the sight of a beast at the peak of Martial Cultivation with their measly Mortal Realm bases, could they?

However, in the meantime, they would live as they wished. Underground, that was. Thus, Goldy had put Lu Fang in charge of designing and building a place for them to escape to and live for a while in.

Creak.

Hearing the creaking sound of a door sliding open, Xiao Wu was shaken awake from her pondering. She looked up and smiled bitterly:

Speak of the devil…

Fu Yin stepped out and grinned as soon as she saw the three girls heading over. He waved and then spoke:

“Hey! Sis Wu, Bun Sis, Ginger Brute!”

Iris smirked: “Really? Ginger brute? You lack any naming sense, Zombie Pie!”

“Why Zombie Pie master?”

“Oh, those nails and the scars make up Zombie. As for Pie, he is a cutie pie, and I like pies, so he became Zombie Pie!”

“…”

“…”

“Hey sis, I found a rival in the bad naming sense league!” Fu Yin replied, his eyes flaring up, sparks appearing as the youth and the woman glared at each other. Xiao Wu rolled her eyes and ignored the two as she saw another person sneaking out of the room.

Fang Lu had a dark expression on his face. It was an expression full of both wariness and fear, as if he had just found out something horrible that he wasn’t supposed to uncover…

However, Xiao Wu felt no pity as she looked at the chubby youth. Instead, she smirked knowingly as she headed over and asked, smiling stupidly and giving the impression of a child:

“Why is big bro Lu so sad? If you want you can tell me… Little Wu will hear to anything you’ve got to say!”

“…”

A moment of absolute silence passed. Fang Lu’s eyes scanned the young girl’s figure as he smiled bitterly.

Little Wu your grandfather! Big bro Lu? Bitch, you were trying to skewer this big bro Lu just a few hours ago, don’t expect me to actually think of you as anything else than a coldblooded, bloodthirsty motherfucker for anything less than a few months!

Iris looked over and noticed the gigantic scroll hanging from Fang Lu’s back. She smiled and spoke: “Oh, I see you got your scroll back, fatt-!”

Before she could utter another sound, a cold presence spread across the room. Iris’ expression fell, Te Rin gritted her teeth and immediately blocked the older woman’s mouth with her hand. Lastly, Xiao Wu immediately spoke on the ginger girl’s behalf:

“She, she was going to say fa-fa-fantastic! Not the F word, definitely not the F word!”

Fang Lu’s mouth was twitching as he turned around and spat out:

“Fu Yin, I’d like to have a bath, let’s go.”

“Uh, sure!”

The three women stared astonished as the two youths walked away… together.

“Oh?” Te Rin smiled, her gaze growing soft:

“Ever since when did those two get along well together? Last time I checked they were at each other’s throats…”

Xiao Wu was also shocked:

Brother… did not mock Fang Lu? No “Oh? The fatty is taking a bath? The water’s gonna cause a flood!” joke? What world is this? Ever since those two met, they have been like water and fire! Yet, right now those two are walking away… together? Are they perhaps finding some place where they can beat each other up without anybody interfering?

Xiao Wu shook her head:

No. Knowing them, any place is fine. This is so weird… now that I think about it, wasn’t Fang Lu also acting strange? Could it be related to this unlikely situation?

Turning around, she noticed that the door to their room was still open, or at least, it was not locked: Fang Lu had forgot to close it!

She immediately walked up to the door, her heart rate rising as she placed her hand on the doorknob. She grabbed it and opened the door, her eyes widening as she saw what was inside…

This, this is…

…

Fang Lu removed his robes and put them on a small desk together with his scroll. Both him and the white haired youth were at the bathhouse of the underground hideout. After all, who wouldn’t want to take a relaxing bath after everything that had happened?

“Oh, I forgot to lock the door!” Fang Lu exclaimed as he remembered. Fu Yin, shrugged his shoulders:

“Meh, no big deal. It’s not like a person would actually leave compromising stuff in their rooms when they can just bring it all along, wouldn’t they?” He eyed the Heaven&Earth Pouch hanging from his belt and shook his head in disapproval:

“That kind of stuff happens only to the villains in a book. Man, I could probably rant about the stupidity of those villains for days and still not get tired.”

…

Xiao Wu pouted as she glanced at the almost completely empty room. Except for the bed and a few desks and stools here and there, there was nothing else.

Damn it.

“Little Wu, what’s wrong?” Iris sent an inquiring glance in her way.

Xiao Wu sighed and closed the door. She turned around and shook her head:

“Uh, it’s nothing, really! Let’s go!”

…

Fu Yin and Fang Lu sighed with feeling as they relaxed in the steamy pool. They looked at each other and then burst out laughing:

“Man, it sure does feel good!”

“Yeah. Didn’t have the chance to try one of these, however it indeed is not bad at all!”

Fu Yin and Fang Lu once again exchanged glances. The older man looked around and blushed as he muttered:

“This setting… the author, he isn’t planning to have anything weird happen between us, is he?”

Fu Yin shrugged and yawned: “Bathhouse, naked, laughing together, sharing secrets… meh, might very well be. However…” his eyes glinted: “I’d put my bets on those two!”

Fang Lu frowned: “Those two? You mean…”

“Yep. The colors gold and black do look nice together after all…”

“…”

“…”

Fang Lu shook his head: “That’s… peculiar, I guess? Whatever, let’s change subject. How you do still retain such useless information like that, but not the name of your very comrades is something I’ll probably never be able to get accustomed to.”

Fu Yin glanced at him with surprise and replied, his eyes filled with powerlessness as he looked upwards:

“Ahahah… so you noticed? Man, what was that girl’s name again?”

Fang Lu followed suit and also looked up and relaxed, sighing as he felt the hot water washing away the fatigues of such a difficult day.

“Which? Iris or Te Rin?”

“I actually… needed both. Oh well, thanks for telling me!”

“… I feel these are going to be a long twelve months…”

“Indeed.”

“Well… at least I have a comrade by my side now. Thanks… for everything. And good luck. You are going to need it.”

Hearing those words, Fang Lu smiled as he felt warmth spreading throughout his chest. He sighed and shook his head:

“The one who’s going to have to be lucky here is you, bastard.”

…

Nighttime.

Most probably, few people were sleeping. Most were unable to fall asleep due to the events of that day haunting them, others simply were not tired or did not need to sleep thanks to their powerful bodies.

Finally, were those who wanted to sleep but chose not to.

Slash! Smash! Slash! Smash! Slash! Smash!

Xiao Wu’s Martial Ways were both out and tearing through the air nonstop. The Purple Moon floated there, peacefully. After her fight with Fang Lu and having blown up her Pseudo-Core, she did not need to be stingy with her Martial Ways. She could use them for however long and however many she wanted! As for the reconstruction of the Pseudo Core, she would wait patiently for Cheng Hao to return!

With each slash, the sound emitted as the Black Dragon Sword pierced through the air would get compressed to a string, only bursting out at the end of the slash once it broke through the sound barrier.

With each attack from the shield, the air would tremble as deep craters formed on the wall of the large room despite the White Tree Shield actually stopping before hitting the battered surface.

Sweat poured down nonstop, the purple hair danced around madly as the girl fiercely gritted her teeth and attacked with both Martial Ways. She held the black sword in one hand and controlled the shield with the other. It could be said that her control over her Martial Ways had reached the highest level possible for her current cultivation.

However, as the White Tree Shield suddenly retreated backwards, instead of attacking, Xiao Wu twisted her body and a grabbed the Black Dragon Sword with two hands! The blade chopped down with such might the very space trembled! At one point… the edge of the blade seemed to split into two as it turned into the twin fangs of a fierce dragon!

Slash! Slash!

Two vertical cracks, more than a dozen feet long each, appeared on the floor, wall and then all the way up to the ceiling. Just like the white shield, these imposing tears had been achieved by using air pressure alone! If anybody could see such a thing, he would be shocked to say the least!

Xiao WU paused and looked up:

“This attack… still isn’t enough! With just this… with just this…” The girl gritted her teeth so hard a creaking sound was heard. In her mind was the figure of the chubby youth, trapping her Martial Way into an encirclement and then proceeding to apply the golden marks, one by one, on her body.

Then, the figure of the eight lines lighting up on the scroll appeared, burning like fire in her consciousness. She clearly remembered what she had felt back then. It had been… powerlessness.

Slash!

A third tear, this time horizontal, appeared on the wall. This time, the tear was more than fifteen feet long! Xiao Wu was panting as she examined the once majestic wall, now reduced to nothing more than battered rubble. She ran her gaze on the three foot deep and more than a dozen feet long cracks and she clicked her tongue in disapproval.

Xiao Wu closed her green eyes: “With just this…”

Eight marks lit up in her subconscious, haunting her like demons!

SLASH!

The violet orbs glowed like two suns in the darkness of the room as another crack appeared: ten feet deep and a hundred feet long, the horizontal line ran across the whole room! However, in her mind, those eight symbols were still whole, without a single crack showing up on top of them!

Xiao Wu simply looked down at her hand, holding the Black Dragon Sword: a faint white gauntlet had appeared, bearing the design of a white tree. Pieces of full body armor also appeared faintly before disappearing soon thereafter. Such power, it even made her surroundings darker! However, she was not satisfied in the least!

“With just this, I would still lose against him!”

“I have to get strong!”

“I want to get strong!”

Xiao Wu narrowed her violet, flaring eyes and tightened her grip on the Black Dragon Sword: “I Will get Strong! I Shall get Strong, Stronger!””

She lifted the sword and stepped forward, the shield relentlessly bearing forward with all its might!

No stance!

No technique!

There was no need for either, as her blade was simply too fast and the strikes of her shield too overbearing!

A flash, lighting up the darkness. A flash, billowing out the light of life.

With her blade in one hand and the shield in the other, Xiao Wu slashed and slashed, in the pursuit of strength.

Only the future would show whether such efforts would be rewarded or turn out being all in vain. Until then however…

SLASH!

With an unbreakable will, she would slash with all her might!