One heavenly tribulation after another struck Qhianqhian violently. Her clothes had already turned to dust and vanished in the wind. Her originally fair and tender skin became a bloodied mess, unbearable to look at, with old scabs not yet healed and new wounds forming.

Layer upon layer of blood wrapped around Qhianqhian entirely, disguising her true appearance. Her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes had been rendered fragile by the heavenly tribulation. While her unclothed body should have been full of allure to the onlookers, it only evoked their pity.

As the tribulation clouds dispersed, Luo Shufan also fell to his knees, his face full of guilt, with his sword discarded to the side.

He had always believed that men shouldn’t cry easily, but at this moment, he finally understood the rest of the saying: only when deeply hurt. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Now, he was willing to trade his life to ensure his sister’s lifetime of peace, but... he didn’t dare to approach her, fearing the charcoal-like figure would erase the last hope in his heart.

"Truly strong." Yan, who was closest, crouched beside Qhianqhian as the tribulation clouds dissipated, checking her condition. But soon, his serious expression relaxed considerably: "It’s okay, just a bit weak, and Shiqi’s body refining realm has also improved."

Finishing his assessment, he naturally took out a long robe and covered Qhianqhian, hiding the body that, even when exposed, no one could bear to look at. He sighed softly, turning towards the direction of the Blazing Flame Fierce Tiger: "Let’s deal with the danger first."

Everyone nodded, turning towards the direction of the Blazing Flame Fierce Tiger, only to be surprised when they found that the tiger, which had been feigning death, was nowhere to be seen. The same went for the Golden-winged Eagle, both vanished without a trace, leaving everyone stunned.

"Stay alert," Mo slightly frowned, having felt something strange earlier. It was clear that the Golden-winged Eagle dared not attack them.

Meanwhile, Luo Shufan stumbled and crawled to Qhianqhian’s side, cradling the frail figure in his arms, his face full of heartache: "Qhianqhian, my Qhianqhian..." Tears dripped down, and if it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of her chest and her faint breaths, he almost would have thought Qhianqhian was gone. Thankfully... it wasn’t that bad...

After he pulled Qhianqhian into his embrace, he watched helplessly as her cherished long hair broke without mercy with his movements, turning long hair into short hair, leaving not a trace of hair on Qhianqhian’s head.

"Qhianqhian..." Watching the now-missing hair, Luo Shufan was momentarily stunned but hugged Qhianqhian tightly, utterly unbothered: "As long as you’re okay, brother will never mind. You need to get better quickly."

At this moment, Qhianqhian floated quietly in the sky, glaring at the white-clothed elder on the side: "What are you looking at? That’s my brother. If you hadn’t pulled my soul away, I wouldn’t have been completely unguarded and struck into this state!"

Angrily looking at the ground full of hair, she couldn’t help but shout: "Speaking of which, your grandson nearly turned me into a human bomb, and you almost turned me into charcoal. Am I destined to clash with you? Why is it that nothing good happens when I meet you?"

The elder’s face was full of embarrassment, having only appeared earlier due to his grandson’s excitement, completely unaware that the girl was undergoing a tribulation... But if he carelessly returned Qhianqhian’s soul during the tribulation, its intensity would double, matching the presence of two people. Even with his grandson as a protector, it would be hard to escape disaster.

"Young girl, you can’t view it that way. Look at the wealth of male companions around you. Without testing, how can you tell who your true love is? ..."

The elder justified himself with a lengthy admonishment.

Qhianqhian only felt her head aching, wondering if the elder wasn’t the reincarnation of Monk Tang, given how much he could babble on.

Most importantly, of the five people below, one is an elder brother and the others are sworn brothers. How could they be true love?

Bringing her up here without any benefit, just to make her carry a little white snake—no, a dragon that, reportedly, wouldn’t grow horns until adulthood.

"Stop." Qhianqhian extended a hand to halt the elder’s rambling, rolling her eyes: "So what’s in it for me? You should know that only the Black Tortoise remains in the cultivation world. At most, I can only take your grandson to find him. As for becoming an apprentice of the Azure Dragon... don’t treat me like the Azure Dragon’s mother, okay? Why would they listen to me?"

Even if one were the Azure Dragon’s mother, it wouldn’t mean they could force their son to take on an apprentice, right? Isn’t that all based on fate?

The point is that kid nearly killed her, and then his grandfather almost finished the job. Why should she help them? Put in effort without any benefits? They truly think of her as a volunteer doing free work? She didn’t find raising an undeveloped dragon particularly honorable.

She’d rather nurture the sixth child of the Gourd Brothers.

"With the dragon clan’s authority, traversing the forest, no one would dare mess with you."

"Get out of here, given that little thing, everyone probably thinks it’s an expression of respect for you, elder. Besides, my cat is injured, and so is my wolf. Shouldn’t you, the boss of this forest, be responsible for medical expenses? What if they get disfigured and my wolf can’t find a mate? How heartbroken would my brother and I be?"

Qhianqhian’s endless complaints left the elder quite overwhelmed: "And my clothes are ruined, shouldn’t you compensate for that too? And my hair, don’t I deserve some thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum? Plus, the emotional damages. I suffered so much, and you expect me to help this kid for nothing? For what?"

The elder’s mouth twitched violently, taking quite a while to calm down.

Are people outside so money-minded now? Wasn’t it said that the greediest beings under heaven are dragons, who sleep soundly atop treasures and life love hoarding gold and jewels?

But this little girl seems even greedier, actually snatching from a dragon’s hoard? Unheard of.

If not for the fact that the item in her hand couldn’t be forged, he’d really suspect if she was the person from the message received earlier...

Your wolf’s issue is simple, and your cat merely depleted its energy using a forbidden technique. There’s no serious problem, but I will compensate," the elder agreed begrudgingly, his face pained, but upon glancing at his grandson, he accepted his fate.

Within this forest, he might be the king, but the world was vast, and his grandson should not be confined to such a place.

"Send me back for a face-to-face talk," Qhianqhian raised an eyebrow, not very concerned about the elder’s potential tricks since if she perished, darkness would engulf the forest.

Even if she couldn’t do anything to the forest now, she believed that her brother would one day flatten this forest.

The elder, exasperated, tapped Qhianqhian’s head, and she was instantly returned to her body.

Gradually opening her eyes, she saw Luo Shufan shedding tears and tugged at the corner of her mouth: "Brother, you look really ugly when you cry."