Once her emotions settled, Jian Xiaolou left the monastery with Xiao Hei, heading north toward Mount Xujia. She flew from dawn until sunset when she suddenly remembered her promise to her master not to leave Jiaye Monastery.
Abruptly stopping midair, a chill ran down her spine.
She was halfway there—what now?
Hovering indecisively, she asked, "Xiao Hei, should we go back?"
"Squawk..."
"You disagree?"
"Squawk...?"
"You're right. If Ying Chuchu were lying in wait, she'd have shown herself by now," Jian Xiaolou reasoned, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. "As for Huai You, the injuries he sustained when I forced him out of his physical body last time won't heal in just a few years..."
Returning to Jiaye Monastery or continuing to Mount Xujia were now equidistant, and both seemed safe enough. A twelfth-tier Su He and a ninth-tier Night Wanderer made a formidable pair—strong enough to overthrow a demon king in the demon realm in no time.
Deciding cautiously, she resumed her journey, flying from sunset to the following noon.
After circling Mount Xujia and finding no one, she landed on the highest peak.
Knee-deep snow blanketed the summit. Standing in it, she gazed at the sky for three hours, waiting until the sun set, but there was no sign of the two she sought.
Jian Xiaolou began to find it strange.
Chixiao was just a small world, not vast. With Su He's terrifying flying speed, they should have arrived by now, no matter where they had landed.
Meanwhile, Su He and Night Wanderer had encountered a major problem.
To avoid attracting attention, they had put away their flying shuttle and entered Chixiao through a rift in the spiritual energy barrier. But no sooner had they entered than they were struck by spiritual pressure. Their magical powers vanished instantly, and they plummeted toward the ground.
In midair, Su He spat a mouthful of blood and instinctively prepared to shift into his demon form, but Night Wanderer stopped him. Their demon forms were too conspicuous, likely to cause unnecessary trouble. So they let themselves free-fall until they were just ten meters from the ground, where they both transformed into their humanoid forms and landed in a dense forest.
Back in human form, Su He stumbled, coughing up more blood. "Damn it! I almost became the first bird to die from a fall!"
Night Wanderer, whose spiritual mansion had also been gravely injured, tried to steady his breath.
Su He extended his spiritual sense, but it was so weakened that all he could detect were trees in every direction. "Hey, Scaly, this place has lousy spiritual energy! Are you sure this world can sustain Nascent Soul cultivators? It feels like even Foundation Establishment cultivators would struggle here!"
"Perhaps... our perception of spiritual energy is different?" Night Wanderer, equally baffled, sniffed the air and detected the scent of the sea. Following it for hours, they eventually arrived at a beach.
Facing the endless expanse of ocean, Night Wanderer frowned deeply. "Su He, did you get the location wrong?"
Although Su He was reluctant to admit his mistake, he had to concede, "It's possible..."
Then his spiritual sense picked up something, and he raised an eyebrow. "No, it's not wrong. Look at this."
Night Wanderer followed him to a massive boulder. On its face, eight large characters were engraved: "By the Eastern Sea, the Sighing Forest."
"The Sighing Forest?" Night Wanderer was taken aback. "The source of Chixiao's spiritual energy?"
"This is getting stranger," Su He murmured, rubbing his temples. "The Sighing Forest should be the most spiritually abundant place in Chixiao. So why do I feel nothing?"
"It's not entirely barren. The spiritual energy in the forest seems more concentrated," Night Wanderer said, pointing to the sea. "But this Eastern Sea... it's filled with filth instead of spiritual energy. And who knows how far the Sighing Forest is from the central continent? I doubt I could swim across."
As they deliberated, the six-star bone piece at Night Wanderer's waist trembled.
He picked it up. "Xiaolou?"
A voice crackled through: "Hey! What's the deal with you two? Are you messing with me? Do you know I'm freezing to death on this mountaintop?!"
Su He leaned closer to the bone piece and growled, "Liar! I should be asking you! Are you sure this Chixiao has Nascent Soul cultivators? It feels like even Foundation Establishment ones are scarce!"
"You're the one with issues," Jian Xiaolou retorted. "And for your information, I am a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"
"Oh," Su He blinked, caught off guard.
Night Wanderer glanced at the boulder. "Xiaolou, where is your Sighing Forest located?"
"Far east, at the very edge of the Eastern Sea," she replied.
Night Wanderer and Su He exchanged glances. "And how far is it from the central celestial domain?"
"I've never been there, so I'm not sure. But I heard from the clan leader that Nascent Soul cultivators take one to two years to fly from the Eastern Celestial Domain to the Sighing Forest—if the Eastern Sea's violent winds are calm and the high-level sea beasts remain dormant. Basically, it's not a place you can casually visit. Below Nascent Soul level, you'd need a team just to survive... Wait, don't tell me you two are that unlucky and ended up in the Sighing Forest?"
"You guessed it," Night Wanderer sighed bitterly. "And now we're stuck."
"What happened?"
"Chixiao exists in chaos. Its spiritual energy is not only thin but also unstable. We underestimated this and went all out when entering, so the backlash injured our meridians. We need time to recover."
"I told you Chixiao had thin spiritual energy! Even my master rarely dares to fly... Su He, this is on you!"
"How could I have known it was this bad? I still don't understand how anyone could cultivate to Nascent Soul level here—it's practically a miracle!" Su He protested.
"How are your injuries?" Jian Xiaolou asked.
"I'll be fine. Su He's cultivation is higher than mine, so the backlash hit him harder. He might need a few months to recover."
"Then rest up. I'll head back for now. Oh, right—be careful in the Sighing Forest. It's home to many strange creatures and bizarre races..."
Her voice trailed off as the bone piece lost its charge.
Shivering, lips turning purple, Jian Xiaolou couldn't seem to shake off the cold. An icy chill crept from her feet to her head, freezing her joints until they cracked when she moved.
She leaped southward, but after only a few meters, she collided with an invisible barrier and was bounced back.
Heart sinking, she realized she was trapped.
For someone to silently set up such a barrier, their cultivation had to be far beyond hers—it wasn't Ying Chuchu.
As she tried to figure out who it was, a familiar, sinister voice descended from above.
Looking up, she saw Huai You seated cross-legged on his konghou, descending slowly. His heavily made-up face betrayed nothing, but his upright posture and steely voice could not hide his serious injuries.
It seemed her master had underestimated Huai You's determination to rescue the evil spirit. He hadn't gone into seclusion to heal but had been lurking near Jiaye Monastery all along.
"You little brat, what are you scheming now?" Huai You sneered, his konghou hovering two meters above the ground. "You're right, I'm injured. But do you think you can beat me?"
"No," Jian Xiaolou replied with a shake of her head. Resistance was futile; she had no chance.
It was her own fault for being reckless.
Cursing herself internally, she realized she had to mature and stop making impulsive decisions.