Chu Mo gazed mournfully at the towering, majestic mountain in the distance, his eyes filled with a reluctance to let go.
Considering his master's previous condition, he was even more worried.
"What if the master collapses and faints again, and I am not by his side? What then?"
"No, I must bid farewell to my master in person!"
"I have to remind him to stay strong, do not give up!"
"You have to seek out the Primordial Beasts, use their blood to prolong your life!"
"That way, I will have time to find the primordial medicine you need!"
"As long as I'm alive, I won't let you die easily"
"I'll do my best to save you!"
"I know, your heart is filled with too many unresolved matters."
With these thoughts in mind, Chu Mo starts running toward that mountain.
After breaking through the Primordial Pass, his primordial force is constantly regenerating. Even though he cannot fly in the air like the Demon Lord, walking within this mountain feels like walking on flat ground, not difficult at all.
Covering a distance of a hundred miles, Chu Mo reached the base of the peak in a little more than an hour.
"Master!"
"I have come back!"
Chu Mo shouted out loud as he began climbing this steep mountain.
The mountain was incredibly steep with cliffs and precipices everywhere.
The sound of Chu Mo echoed between the mountains, startling some birds and animals, which fled in all directions.
Chu Mo ignored this, using both hands and feet, he kept climbing towards the summit.
When he finally reached the top after so much hard work, he was dumbfounded. The top was completely empty.
The familiar wooden hut was gone.
Outside of the wooden hut, the various training equipment made by the Demon Lord for him were also gone.
All that remained was a desolate space.
"Master…"
Chu Mo's eyes turned slightly red as he said softly: "I know you don't like overly emotional goodbyes, but this…"
"This is too…"
Chu Mo wanted to say that it was too heartless, but he couldn't voice the words, because he knew that the Demon Lord wasn't really a heartless person.
One could only say that his master was a person who was extremely proud to the core.
Even a bit of sentimentality, he would not allow to be seen.
Chu Mo stood there for a long time, feeling somewhat lost, recalling every day he spent here, every scene.
In the end, a touch of determination surfaced on Chu Mo's face.
"Master, I know your expectations of me are high. I will never let you down!"
Saying this, Chu Mo knelt on the ground, facing the desolate land, and bowed three times.
He got up, turned, and started descending the mountain.
This time, Chu Mo did not look back.
On his way home, Chu Mo only remembered the general direction.
The journey ahead of him, spanning tens of thousands of miles, was likely to be long and full of hardships.
But Chu Mo was not afraid. He had managed to survive with the Demon Lord, so there was no reason for him not to conquer this journey home.
That day, Chu Mo didn't get very far because he had left the Demon Lord rather late and had returned once, which wasted quite a bit of time.
So, Chu Mo only covered about a hundred miles when night fell.
Chu Mo decided to rest for the night and continue his journey the next day.
After finding a giant ancient tree, he climbed up, sat on a branch that was over a foot wide with his back against the trunk, and started cultivating quietly.
The night sky was ablaze with stars, and the world was silent.
With the operation of the cultivation technique, a large amount of primordial energy started to pour in Chu Mo's body like a tide.
Meanwhile, as he continuously ran the cultivation technique and the primordial energy kept flooding into his body, Chu Mo could clearly feel himself getting stronger!
"No wonder the master said this cultivation technique is the best in the world."
"It really is amazing!"
"It seems that I might have a chance to break through to the fourth level if I cultivate this way on my way back to Great Xia…"
"If so…"
A cold glint formed in Chu Mo's eyes.
A name and a face, which he despised to the extreme, floated into his mind.
"Xia Jie!"
"Wash your neck and wait!"
At that moment, Chu Mo suddenly felt an itch on his skin, and at the same time, an odd smell started to invade his nostrils.
After completing a small cycle, Chu Mo couldn't help but open his eyes, frowning as he inspected his body.
Under the faint starlight, he subconsciously rolled up his sleeve and saw his arm.
On his originally white arm there was now a layer of sticky, inky black stuff.
That odd smell was coming from this stuff.
"Ugh…"
Even though it came from him, Chu Mo still found it disgusting.
"What is this stuff?"
Chu Mo frowned, grimacing as he looked at the black stuff on his arm.
Then, subconsciously, he took off his clothes for a look.
Almost his entire body was covered with this black stuff...
"Ahh!"
This scream traveled far in the quiet night of the forest, scaring off many animals.
Some of the more timid ones were probably left with psychological traumas, never daring to return to that area again.
Chu Mo climbed down from the ancient tree and made a beeline for the stream he remembered.
Arriving at the stream, he quickly stripped and threw his clothes on the bank, then gave a big splash as he jumped in.
"Ahhh!"
Another round of howling from Chu Mo.
He leapt out from the water.
The waist-deep stream was way too chilly!
Even his current constitution, coming into the Primordial Pass, struggled to cope.
But when he lowered his gaze to his body, it was covered in grime.
Chu Mo couldn't help but feel disgusted. He loved cleanliness. If he did not wash off the dirt on his body today, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.
"No, I'd rather freeze than stay dirty!"
With a grit of his teeth, he made a splashing sound as he plunged back into the water.
This time, maybe because he had adapted or was just playing it down in his mind, Chu Mo felt the stream wasn't as cold as before.
Next, came a desperate struggle to scrub away the grime. But it clung to him, forcibly demanding great efforts just to remove a little.
Chu Mo rolled his eyes as he dived underwater, grabbing a handful of sand to then... scrub.
After struggling in the cold water for over an hour, Chu Mo had finally managed to clean off the grime on his body.
Phew!
Chu Mo finally took a deep breath and muttered, "What the hell? Where did all this dirt on my body come from?"
Suddenly, a soft chuckle echoed from the forest.
"Hehe, so silly!"
"It's just the impurities being expelled from your body during cultivation, making your constitution better. This is called marrow washing!"
Scared, Chu Mo shivered, yelling, "Who's that? Show yourself!"
"Hiding in the dark. What are you up to, behaving so furtively?"
Following Chu Mo's angry shout, the forest fell silent momentarily.
But then…
"What are you shouting about?"
"Are you trying to show off how loud you can yell?"
"It's not like you own this forest, how can someone else be dodgy?"
From the forest, the angry voice of a girl echoed. Then, a girl in a blue dress emerged from the shadows, standing at the edge of the stream, looking down at Chu Mo in the water.
"I came out, what do you want?"
"You…" numb with cold, Chu Mo was about to faint in the water. To his disbelief, the girl seemed unashamed, as if the fact he was naked and bathing in the water didn't even occur to her.
"What are you... who would want to look at you? So skinny and it's so dark anyway… cough, cough." Realizing her mistake, the girl immediately stopped talking.
Chu Mo rolled his eyes, he'd heard of men peeping at women bathing, but never a woman peeping at a man.
"Alright, miss, I don't have anything interesting to look at. Can you please move further away so I can get out and dress?"
Too long in the water, Chu Mo was shivering. He didn't care about the girl's background, he just wanted her to leave quickly.
"Hmph, as if I care about looking at you!" The girl huffed, turned around, and walked away.
In the dark night, he couldn't see her face, but from her voice, it seemed she was a bit shy.
Chu Mo watched as the girl disappeared into the forest. After waiting a while, he tentatively said, "You're not allowed to peep at me!"
"Pah, you little brat, who cares about you? If you dare to spout nonsense again, this lady will kick your clothes into the river!"
"You'll freeze to death!"
To his surprise, the girl hadn't left; her voice carried over from afar.
Hurriedly, Chu Mo scrambled from the water, fearful she'd carry out her threat.
After quickly dressing, Chu Mo said nothing more and turned to leave.
Having grown up in the military camp since childhood, Chu Mo had learned much that boys his age wouldn't be exposed to.
He was much more mature than his peers.
In the middle of the night, in these vast, uninhabited mountains, a girl appearing with such boldness was enough to send a shiver of strangeness down his spine.
"An unknown entity like this..."
After dressing and calming down, only one thought remained in Chu Mo's mind: Stay away from her!
"Hey, where are your manners? You leave without even a good bye?"
To Chu Mo's surprise, the girl caught up to him, standing by his side with an angry look.
Under the faint starlight filtered through the trees, Chu Mo got a good look at the girl and couldn't help but marvel: So beautiful!
Her blue dress draped over her shoulders, and her eyebrows arched like slender willows. Her phoenix eyes, beautiful lips were like drops of vermilion.
Her skin was incredibly white, even in the dark, it still gave off an impression of being delicate and translucent. Her watery eyes sparkled, resembling the stars in the night sky above.
Her slender waist could seemingly be held by one hand, and her long, straight legs were faintly visible beneath her dress.
Though she appeared to be young, she was strikingly beautiful.
"What are you looking at?" The girl blushed as she scolded Chu Mo, feeling uncomfortable under his brazen gaze.
"You're so beautiful, are you a fairy from the mountain?" Chu Mo asked.
However, in his heart, he felt it was strange. This place was not far from where he and his master secluded for cultivation.
With the Demon Lord's abilities, if there were any top-tier Primordial Beasts capable of human transformation nearby, he wouldn't have been unaware.
So, why didn't he capture this girl?
Because she was too beautiful to hurt?
Don't be ridiculous!
In the eyes of the Demon Lord, no matter how beautiful the girl, if she were a Primordial Beast, he wouldn't hesitate.
Chu Mo couldn't believe that he and this girl were both human beings, for one reason alone: he didn't believe it!
"You're the fairy."
"Your whole family are fairies!"
"Which eye of yours sees me looking like those ugly Primordial Beasts?" The girl glared at Chu Mo.
"If it's not a demon transformed from a Primordial Beast, how could it appear here?" Chu Mo sneered.
"Pah, aren't you here too? Are you also a demon transformed from some beast?" The girl's words were unusually sharp.
Chu Mo scratched his head, feeling the girl might have a point. So, he asked, "Then, who are you?"
"Yes... who am I?"
The girl furrowed her eyebrows in thought, a look of pain and bewilderment crossed her stunning face.
"Who am I, indeed?"
"I vaguely remember my name…"
"Ah, you're so annoying!"
"What does it matter to you who I am?"