Chen Wentian and Jasmine ran for three days and three nights before stopping to rest. They crossed through whole forests, several mountain ranges, and countless rivers. He could have kept going but she finally revolted.
"I'm done! I'm about to starve to death!" She exclaimed, refusing to take another step up the latest mountain pass, "You promised me a feast and I want it now!"
The sun was setting and the incessant wind gusts at this elevation were like razor-sharp needles. Even for a pair of Spirit Lords, it was a difficult hike.
"Alright, alright, fine! But we're already above the tree line. We'll have to go back down and find somewhere secluded." He said.
"Don't be dumb. Watch this!"
She transformed into her fox form and began to dig into the side of the mountain. Her natural-born talent for digging was equally as fearsome as her combat power. Her paws, clad in moonlight energy, annihilated soil and stone at a mere touch. In a few short breaths, she managed to create a sizable hole that was large enough to fit him.
"Are you part groundhog or maybe mole? You're pretty good at this." He asked as he followed behind her.
She kicked a pile of dirt in his face, "Shut up, all foxes dig fox dens and this is a fox den."
He laughed. The Legacy of Moonlight was quite handy at digging holes, perhaps rivaling that of his Giant Mole Worm. He didn't say it out loud but perhaps this was what her divine Dao had been originally developed for!
After the bedchamber of the fox den was finished, Jasmine produced a fluffy bed from her spatial bag and curled up to take a nap. Chen Wentian was in charge of making dinner which he gladly obliged.
As he started a fire and prepared the ingredients, he wondered if something was bothering her. She shouldn't have been so tired since he had been carrying her most of the day. She also usually didn't sleep during mealtime as she liked to watch him cook and smell the aromas. Even the spicy and sweet fragrances of roasting meat couldn't make her stir.
On the menu was a Jade Boar, a beast at the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. Its meat was tender and succulent, with color like mutton fat jade. She loved to eat beast meat and he had bought it especially for her from the Beast God Sanctum. His spy, He Xingping, was still the Executive Elder in charge of hunting wild beasts. This allowed him to buy the best quality meat whenever they showed up on the open market.
Chen Wentian woke Jasmine with a tap on the shoulder when the roast was done.
"Mmm…" She groaned and opened one eye.
She caught sight of the glazed roast pig and squealed. She licked his face joyfully and transformed back into her human form.
"Waaa! So huge! It smells amazing!" She gushed.
She circled the mountain of meat that was as tall as her. She chose the rib section and dug in. She ripped meat from the bone and inhaled entire mouthfuls. Her hands moved at alarming speed to shovel more into her mouth whenever there was space. Whole sections of the Jade Boar disappeared into her tiny stomach as if it was a bottomless pit.
He wisely chose not to compete with her. He nibbled on the bits and pieces she ignored while watching her eat. Her joy was contagious and he couldn't stop smiling. Her messy table manners didn't matter to him. She was adorable even if her face was covered in grease and her mouth was stuffed full.
"Hey, Jasmine."
"Hmm?"
"I noticed that you've been sleeping a lot the last few days, far more than normal. Are you feeling alright?"
She pulled her face out of a section of rump meat and pondered the issue, "I don't know. Maybe that battle took a lot more out of me than I realized. I feel fine but I'll ask mother about it when we get back."
She shrugged and returned to her meal.
Chen Wentian accepted her answer and let her be. He didn't understand divine beasts. He didn't even fully understand the blue dragon soul within him as its memory was still spotty. Divine beasts were legendary existences. Finding her was one of the luckiest things that could have ever happened. He had no other desire than to see her happy. He was her mate and she was his. He would do anything, including helping her get revenge.
Their battle against the Beast God Sanctum was inevitable. She would be a Spirit King then and he had to reach that realm as well. Jasmine's mother assured them that Jasmine would be able to reach the Spirit King Realm in a year. He didn't truly believe it then but now he didn't know what to think. Jasmine had indeed gone from the first stage of spiritual strengthening to the seventh stage in less than six months. All she did was eat and sleep while he had to utilize all of his power to slay a Spirit King.
He had to keep up. He had to stay by her side. He had to reach the Spirit King Realm as quickly as possible. The soul of the Spirit Lord wangliang demon would help him along but he needed much more. He didn't know the exact number. Going from the Spirit Lord Realm to Spirit King Realm was more akin to going for the Body Refinement Realm to the Mind Focusing Realm than crossing the gap between the mortal and immortal realms.
With the Anatta Soul Nirvana Art, it had taken him ten or so souls at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm to reach the Mind Focusing Realm. For the Spirit Initiate Realm, he needed a similar number of souls at the peak of the Mind Focusing Realm. As for the immortal barrier, it had taken a bloodbath, over a thousand souls at various levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm as well as a few dead Spirit Lord souls that he melded with his own soul.
Chen Wentian shook his head and put down his plate of food. As the memories of the past came back, whatever appetite he had disappeared. Those were dark days with battles one after another and endless deaths.
He didn't seek to kill but he had no other choice. This was his cultivation path, his Dao.
For all of the souls except a select few, he did not meld them with himself. He simply dissolved their souls to improve his own cultivation. He wiped those souls from existence, ripped them out of the cycle of Samara. The number was over a thousand at the moment but it would only grow as he continued down this path. He would keep taking souls, destroying them, and going against the laws of the heavens.
His Dao was one that defied reality and he didn't know what its limit was. He only hoped that he didn't have to kill a thousand Spirit Lords to reach the Spirit King Realm. Because if that was the case, he wouldn't be able to catch Jasmine even if he wiped out every Spirit Lord in the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent.
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