"What? Master had said he could survive for two more years."

It had been slightly over a year since when her master had told her about his upcoming death, and then she recalled his exact words; he said it was before she could reach the Ocean of Lost souls. Not when.

"Hey, um-" Xue Yueliang stuttered, overwhelmed, "Can you unseal my Soul Palace?"

Ever since entering here, she could not access her soul palace, and her master could not leave his ring either, making it inconvenient for her if she wanted to talk to him. Leaving the Misty Mountains would be dangerous, so she wanted to complete her business here, but she did not know if Chen Shi would agree though, as she had been much less than polite to them.

Chen Shi smiled, looking at her suddenly demure behaviour, "Within your rewards, there is a talisman for an isolating barrier; it should protect you from the rules of this place."

He looked at her with gratification, "If this is your loyalty, I don't mind it."

Xue Yueliang knelt on the ground, "Thank you for your grace."

She knew most cultivators would want their prospective inheritors to be only bound to them, going as far as killing their previous masters, but Chen Shi did not do that and helped her instead. Her gratefulness was not fake, and she meant her thanks from the bottom of her heart.

"Farewell, junior. I hope to see you again soon."

Chen Shi's visage disappeared, leaving behind a howling wind that vanished soon after him.

Xue Yueliang stayed kneeling for a few more moments, and after making sure they were gone, she retrieved a pale golden talisman with ancient characters written on them, looking so fragile that a little force of strength could destroy it. She channelled her spiritual Qi into it, and the symbols on it brightened, expanding to form a barrier surrounding her. She could instantly feel her mental fluctuations increase, and the depressing haze that blocked her from her mind palace was gone, and she smiled as the ghostly figure of an elder appeared opposite her.

"Master." She kowtowed, showing the full respect of a disciple toward the person who guided them on their cultivation path. "I actually missed your nagging."

The ring she got from Chen Shi flashed, and a pale piece of jade appeared in her hand; it released faint soul energy fluctuations, reinvigorating both her mind and thickening the spectre figure of her master.

"Good disciple." Yao Ming exclaimed emotionally, receiving the Ethereal Soul Jade from her, and just by holding it, he could feel his form turning more corporeal.

Although it was only by a slight margin, he knew if he stayed within the Ethereal Soul Jade, there was even a chance of his soul returning to the time when he was still alive, strengthening his connection to the world and allowing him to retrieve about fifty to eighty per cent of his strength if he was lucky.

Watching her emotional master, Xue Yueliang took out a few items from the many storage rings she had, allowing him a moment to calm down while she busied herself.

Yao Ming was awoken from his bliss by the clattering sounds of items and a sweet fragrance, and he looked at the concentrating Xue Yueliang, asking, "What are you doing?" "It will be a long time until I see you again, master, so this disciple decided to make some tea for master, so I could properly say farewell."

Yao Ming scrunched his nose, seeing through her politeness, "You have questions you want to ask me?"

Xue Yueliang smiled, "Is it so hard to believe I have selfless intentions? I did get you the Ethereal Soul Jade, although it came at no benefit to me."

Yao Ming looked at her, suspicious of her words, but knew his disciple could not harm him, "I honestly thought you would trust me more by now." Xue Yueliang said, showing off her pearly teeth.

Her hands did not slow while she made the tea carefully, hoping to extract the maximum flavour from the tea leaves in front of her; although they were cheap, she knew preparing them well would improve their taste.

Next time I should get high-quality leaves.

She thought silently, making plans for the next tea time she would have with her master. Xue Yueliang chatted with him about trivial things, what had happened since she entered the trial, and her many battles, and ended up talking about the first battle she had with a fellow cultivator.

"Do you know what that was about, master? It seemed like he was targeting me."

Yao Ming stayed silent, receiving his cup of tea from Xue Yueliang, and he sighed, "It must be one of my old enemies, the Silent Killers Creed. I did not expect they would get to you this fast."

"So, you did not think of telling me?"

Looking at the guilty Yao Ming, Xue Yueliang sighed. "Master, I already know you have a lot of enemies, one of them being one of the most powerful forces on the entire continent; if you had just informed me of who they were, I could have avoided a near-death scenario."

"It slipped my mind; how am I supposed to remember everything with my old age?" He said, excusing his carelessness.

Looking at his coy behaviour, Xue Yueliang felt the urge to roll her eyes but suppressed it, "Could you tell me of all the people who would be after my life?" Yao Ming took a sip of his tea, closing his eyes in concentration, then fired name after name, "Other than the Silent Killers Creed, there's the Ghostly Hand Sect, the Impervious Fist Group, the Hidden Ocean Sect, the Poison Wart Fellowship... obviously the Immortal Mothe's Temple and the one hundred and thirty-four powers underneath them..." Yao Ming continued listing name after name for an incense stick's worth of time, and Xue Yueliang felt her scalp go numb, wondering what exactly she had agreed to.

Yao Ming finally stopped, taking another sip of his tea, only to see it had gone cold, so Xue Yueliang naturally refilled it for him, but her mind was still elsewhere, and the tea spilt on Yao Ming rather than the cup.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry," Xue Yueliang finally woke up from her stupor, realising what she had done, but was surprised to see that the tea had passed through him, staining the ground. "How do you even drink the tea?" She wondered aloud, changing the topic. She did not want to think of all the enemies she suddenly acquired.

"What? A ghost can't enjoy the luxuries of life?" Yao Ming replied, rolling his eyes, "How do you feel about this?"

Referring to all the enemies he had just listed. Xue Yueliang felt embarrassed, knowing her reaction wasn't the best one.

"I'll be fine," She smiled, "I just didn't expect so many names."

Though they were all her enemies, she doubted they would team up against her. If one had the chance to kill their enemy, one would not want to share the treasure with anyone else. Well, that was only true if what they were after was her master's inheritance, "They are after your cultivation techniques, right?" Yao Ming smiled, silently affirming her guess, "As well as my life." He added.

"To have so many enemies," Xue Yueliang sighed, "And I thought I had a bad temper."

"For someone who attracted Heavenly tribulation, you really do have a good temper."

"So you think I'm being wronged too?" She pouted, acting childlike.

"Continue your story, he ordered, not wanting to engage in her childish antics.

Seeing his irritation, Xue Yueliang continued her tale, finally reaching the climax of the story, and described her battle with Mao Ya in great detail, but she saw that her master's expression turned strange, but he waited until she finished before saying anything.

"Hahaha," Yao Ming laughed, elated.

"You humiliated someone from the Hidden Ocean Sect that badly? I wish I could've seen his elders' faces."

"I doubt it was pleasant to look at," Xue Yueliang giggled, "He completely embarrassed himself this time." But her face turned bitter, "He doesn't matter, though. His companion Zhong Xi is my sister."

"That meek girl? I can see some resemblance," her master laughed after seeing the aggrieved face of his disciple.

"I'm only kidding; there's no need to be so upset."

"Do you think it's okay for me to continue ignoring her?"

"What is it that you want to do?"

Xue Yueliang's expression was complicated; in both lifetimes, the only family that cared for her was this lifetime's mother, and Zhong Xi being the only remnant of her, shouldn't she help her? But remembering Zhong Xi, she could not bring herself to like her and wanting to help her was too troublesome.

"Do you remember the regrets from your past life? Not avenging your sister resulted in heart demons forming; although you confronted and won against them, wouldn't it be better to do something now? To prevent them from haunting you again?" Yao Ming spoke softly, understanding that it may not come easily to her, "Shouldn't you help her this once? Think of it as a tribute to your mother."

She remembered Zhong Xi's frail nature, wondering, even if she got her away from the Hidden Ocean Sect, where would she take her? Zhong Xi had offended Qin Wen earlier, so returning to the Zhong Clan would put her in a different type of danger.

"I'll think about it." She sighed. Though the dead may not be worth avenging, doing better in their memory was still worth it.

"Well, if everything is done being talked about, I think this old man needs to rest."

"What, wait. I still have more questions for you." Yao Ming rolled his eyes, knowing he could not take his leave yet.

"What does my dear disciple need?"

Ignoring the sarcasm dripping from his voice, Xue Yueliang asked, "Back when I received your inheritance, I had to comprehend a meaning from the mural on the wall."

"Yes?" Yao Ming asked, not understanding why she brought that up now. "There was a drawing of a man, with red hair and amber eyes, holding a flute; who was he?"

Xue Yueliang desperately wanted to know but hid her overwhelming curiosity by taking a sip of the tea, ignoring that it was now cold. Yao Ming looked at her peculiarly, "Why? Does he mean something to you?"

Xue Yueliang shook her head; although she did not hide many secrets from her master, something primal within her told her this topic was not one to be discussed.

Yao Ming sighed, knowing his dear disciple was keeping a secret from him, but he did not pressure her to answer him; he was relying on her, and causing ill feelings between them was a fool's move, so he answered her with a tale.

"Long ago, there was a battle between Gods and Demons, and this plane was where the final battle occurred, leaving many dead and the world on the brink of destruction. Many details can not be discussed with you, yet, you're still too weak. "

Xue Yueliang pursed her lips but did not object, knowing things she wasn't meant would only get her killed.

"The red-robed man was one of the Gods that descended onto the mortal realm, killing the Demons that came here to feed and strengthen themselves by drinking mortal blood."

"Didn't cultivators exist then? Why didn't they protect the world?" The painting left a deep impression on her, and though they tried to help protect the mortals, they did not move to fight invaders.

"They had fought bravely, but however long they fought, their forces weakened. Meanwhile, the Demons had support from beings of other worlds, so they slowly whittled away until a higher took witness of our struggle and aided us."

Xue Yueliang contemplated the words she heard carefully. Why would a god help her? What did he need her, a weak mortal, for? The world he wanted her to reach the top of was saved by him in the past; the strength she would have by then should still be weak in his eyes. She felt uneasy thinking about it, but as she had made a deal already, she could not go back on it; in fact, she did not dare to do so.

"The red-haired man was one of the gods that had graced this world with their presence, eliminating the threat of outsiders and passing on improved cultivation techniques into this world." Yao Ming suddenly paused, shooting Xue Yueliang a deep gaze full of meaning, "One of the cultivation techniques he had passed on was named the Invincible Sword Arts, which he gave especially to us so we could lead at the forefront of every battle against the Demons."

A cold chill shot up against her spine; she thought her meeting with her master was nothing more than a fortuitous encounter, but if his techniques were passed on from the red-haired man, wouldn't this have been fated?

Her fingers lightly trembled, wondering how deep the net of fate surrounding her was. If everything that ever happened and every thought she had was all planned for, would she survive?

It's too early to be this philosophical.