A massive creature?

Lin Hui took the hair and rubbed it carefully. It was very soft.

He grabbed it with both hands and pulled hard from both ends.

CREAK...

The hair stretched taut, but it wouldn’t break.

’Too bad the Blood Seal is evolving, otherwise I could just appraise it and know what it is.’

He lamented this internally for a moment before putting the black hair away.

Then he looked at Xia Si.

"Right, you mentioned something huge. How huge was it?"

"Um... well, when it took a step, the footprint it left behind was about the size of our village." Xia Si gestured with her hands. "The other creatures that pass by are big too, but not as big as this one. They’re usually just the size of a mountain."

"...Do you often have massive creatures passing through here?" Lin Hui asked, feeling a bit numb.

"Not often, maybe about once a month," Xia Si replied after a moment of thought.

’That’s not often...?’

Lin Hui was now starting to understand what life was like for the people in the public Fog Area.

He said no more and led his new little apprentice out of the burrow.

Before leaving, Xia Si was very reluctant to part with her food reserves. It was only after Lin Hui told her she would have plenty more in the future that she reluctantly and carefully concealed the burrow entrance before getting up to leave.

"Right. You said earlier that you learned a movement technique by imitating how the monsters move. Can you show me?" Lin Hui suddenly recalled, looking at Xia Si after they had left the burrow.

"Sure," Xia Si nodded.

She glanced at the surrounding fog and crouched slightly.

SWOOSH!

The next moment, she vanished from her spot, leaving only a small, round crater in the ground.

She reappeared a meter behind Lin Hui, half-crouching on the ground and breathing a little heavily.

"!?!?" Even Lin Hui, who had experienced many shocks, couldn’t help but be stunned once again as he carefully perceived the entire process.

In that instant, to his perception, Xia Si had vanished like a soap bubble, only to reappear behind him.

That wasn’t ordinary physical movement, but a bizarre Dharma Gate akin to a short-distance jump!

This child, Xia Si, must be hiding a much deeper secret!

He had never asked how an eight-year-old child like Xia Si could survive in such a dangerous environment. How she could endure the daily intimidation of the strange faces on the wall, or how she could stack so many heavy wooden barrels so neatly all by herself. She had done all this even without the help of someone like Ning Xiang, who could create cavities in the fog...

There were just too many abnormalities.

No matter how you looked at it, Xia Si couldn’t possibly be as normal as she appeared on the surface.

And that bizarre movement technique had just offered a small glimpse of what she was hiding.

"What Dharma Gate is this?" Lin Hui asked in a low voice, standing within the fog-free cavity and looking at Xia Si, who stood completely unaffected in the fog.

"I don’t know. I just watched how the monsters breathe and tried to copy them. I found that my head could enter a very comfortable state. In that state, all I have to do is leap forward while thinking of my destination, and I can do it," Xia Si explained simply.

"...Good..." Lin Hui felt that this exploratory trip was truly worth it.

After all, if Tao Xuehai’s present state was any indication, he himself would likely never master any Martial Arts beyond Gale Swordsmanship. The more advanced, top-tier Swordsmanship techniques would need a truly gifted disciple to inherit them.

Of course, he didn’t really care about passing down the lineage, but if he could cultivate a powerful subordinate, it would make many things much more convenient. It would also be a safeguard for his own future.

"Master, was that good enough?" Xia Si asked, noticing Lin Hui was lost in thought.

"Very good. Based on your performance, you are a genius. However, my Martial Arts cannot be mastered by anyone less than a peerless genius. Therefore, being a genius is merely the minimum requirement to learn my Swordsmanship. Remember to guard against pride and impatience," Lin Hui said calmly.

"Yes!"

"Alright, let’s head back for now. I’ll get you settled first, then we’ll continue our journey." Lin Hui still planned to explore further, as he hadn’t yet found the best area to set up a safe point.

He had gathered so much information from just one small village. It was clear that the difference between the Fog Area outside the Boundary Wall and the world within it was truly immense.

"How about I lead the way for you, Master? You don’t have to worry about my safety. I was born with great strength and a tough body. I’m hard to kill," Xia Si said seriously, patting her chest.

"Your body is tough? Just how tough?" Lin Hui looked at her, amused.

THUD!

The next moment, Xia Si rammed her head into a nearby stone wall.

CRACK! The stone wall broke, sending stone dust and debris exploding from the already fractured surface and scattering onto the ground.

Yet Xia Si’s forehead only had a faint white mark, completely unharmed.

"I am impervious to blades and spears. When I was five, I fought a monster to a standstill in hand-to-hand combat. That’s why my parents used to say I wasn’t their real child, that they found me outside. But I know they were just teasing me," Xia Si said in a deep voice.

’...’ Lin Hui really wanted to say, ’You probably really aren’t their biological child.’ No one could fight a monster from the Fog Area outside the Boundary Wall at age five and not die... oh no, fight it to a standstill.

The more he looked at her, the more he felt that this second apprentice of his... might... possibly... truly... not be human...

But rather the young of a monster that just looked human.

"Alright... you can lead the way then..." Seeing the eager and expectant look on Xia Si’s face, Lin Hui could only nod.

"Great! So where are we going, Master?" Xia Si’s spirits lifted, ready to show off her skills.

"I want to find a place with a lot of monsters to see how dangerous it is out here. Can you give me some recommendations?" Lin Hui asked.

"That’s easy. I’ve spent the last two years wandering around looking for food. With our Miyin Village as the center, to the south is the Tu Yue Boundary Wall. To the north is the territory of the Corrupt God Sect. A day’s walk to the east will take you to a vast area of ancient ruins; it’s like a labyrinth inside, very hard to get out of once you go in. And to the west is the Jade Sea."

"The Corrupt God Sect? What kind of sect is that? I’ve only ever heard of the Wanhua Sect and the Good Heart Sect," Lin Hui asked.

"It’s a fringe sect that exists under the light of the Rotting Goddess’s corpse. My father had contact with them once. That area is very dangerous. The Rotting Goddess’s corpse is suspended in the sky by a giant net, and the green light it emits dispels the surrounding fog. So you don’t have the dangers of the fog, but the air, soil, and water in that land are all filled with the Rotting Goddess’s toxins. Without a special resistance potion, you’ll be corrupted within an hour of entering, turn into a member of the Corrupt God Sect, and wander around as a madman," Xia Si answered with clear logic.

"You’re saying the Corrupt God Sect’s territory is a No-Fog Zone?" Lin Hui’s interest was piqued.

"Yes, a very, very large No-Fog Zone, filled with all kinds of deadly poisons."

After some thought, Lin Hui glanced at the gray fog around them and decided to check out the labyrinthine ruins first.

Perhaps he could find a suitable No-Fog Zone ruin there.

*

*

*

「Tuyue, the Moon Tower.」

The upper levels of the Moon Tower, soaring into the clouds.

The 3,000th floor, exactly.

At the very top of the jade-white tower sat a large, circular hall shaped like the cap of a mushroom.

The hall was immense, over a hundred meters high and several kilometers in diameter. It was open on all four sides, allowing fierce winds to howl through it.

In the center, a cylindrical membrane of white light cordoned off a sealed space within the hall.

Inside this space, a huge, three-dimensional map of white light hovered in the air, displaying the entire Inner City of Tuyue City in true color and form.

It was like a giant sand table, presenting the current state of the entire Tuyue Inner City and its tens of millions of inhabitants.

Floating in the space around the three-dimensional map were a total of eight figures.

Each of the eight figures wore flowing robes that resembled long gowns, trailing more than ten meters below them.

Their faces were all exquisite and flawless, and at the center of each of their foreheads was a diamond-shaped, multicolored crystal that emitted a faint, colorful light.

This was Extreme Desire Heaven. Alongside the Taixu Origin Disc, it was one of the two top organizations with different functions, an upper-echelon organization that only those of the Original Blood Nobility who had reached the Blood Ancestor realm were qualified to enter.

Subordinate only to the Fog People, these two organizations ruled over every aspect of the tens of millions of people in Tuyue.

Far below, on the floor of the sealed space,

a member of the Original Blood Nobility in a white, gold-trimmed robe was being led by a Black Army guard toward the eight Elders.

From a distance, this Original Blood Noble looked up at the eight floating Elders in mid-air, a trace of awe flashing in her eyes.

She quietly tightened her grip on the roster in her hand. It was a document she had compiled, containing information on more than half of the Good Heart Sect’s high-ranking members in Tuyue. If she could deliver this information to Extreme Desire Heaven, her future would surely be blessed with a massive allocation of resources from the higher-ups. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

’At that time... breaking through to the Palace Master realm would be a certainty! My future is destined to reverse my family’s decline! I will restore the glory of my ancestors!’

"The Third Elder you wish to see is currently in a meeting. It will likely take about ten minutes. Please wait a moment," the Black Armor guard said gently.

"Of course, no problem." The Original Blood Noble nodded and, led by the guard, went to a corner by the wall to sit and rest in a row of wooden leather chairs.

As she sat in the leather chair, a maidservant brought her a glass of juice. Faint music, soft and serene, filled the air. A hazy, unknown incense made the Original Blood Noble’s mood relax unconsciously.

A few minutes later, she finished the apple and plum juice that had been served and raised her head to look again at the eight Elders in the distance.

Those eight figures were like a landmark, a sight clearly visible to everyone who entered this place.

It wasn’t over yet.

She let out a breath and was about to ask for another drink.

"You are... the child from the Bai family?" Suddenly, a magnetic male voice drifted over from her right.

The Original Blood Noble turned her head to look.

She saw a handsome man with short white hair, dressed in a simple, pure white form-fitting robe. The colored crystal at the center of his forehead shone as he walked toward her with a smile.

"Bai Mingwei greets you, Lord Elder!" The Original Blood Noble’s expression changed. She quickly rose and knelt on one knee, saluting him.

She didn’t recognize which Elder he was, but she recognized the mark on his forehead—a materialization of one’s Heart and Spirit. It was the external manifestation of a Blood Ancestor’s Blood Heart.

In other words, anyone in the Moon Tower with this mark was certain to be a Blood Ancestor. And Blood Ancestors were, by and large, Elders.

So, no matter what, it was best to salute first and ask questions later.

"Good girl. It’s been ten years, and you’ve gotten even more beautiful... Truly lovely." The man came closer and gently reached out to pinch Bai Mingwei’s cheek.