Chapter Sixty-Five: "I've come to see you."

A biting wind howled past, carrying a ruthless intent as if to tear a person apart, relentlessly robbing them of their body heat. For a cultivator with profound cultivation, such cold should be nothing to worry about, especially since he possessed a fire-type spiritual root and was naturally full of yang energy. Yet, for some reason, the wind made him feel cold, and he even had the urge to retreat.

Of course, retreating was out of the question. Ye Chi forced himself to regain his composure, banishing all thoughts from his mind. He stood among the crowd, glancing around. The disciples who had risen from the first stage to the second stage looked much more orderly. The vast majority of them were the pampered prodigies of major sects or families, exuding arrogance just by standing there. They probably didn't believe they could be defeated by any of them. Ye Chi wasn't particularly interested. He leaned against a corner out of the sunlight, quietly waiting for the hunting grounds to open.

Suddenly, a gaze fell upon him. Ye Chi looked up as if sensing something, and Ya Feiyu had somehow already entered the crowd.

"Master?" Upon seeing Ya Feiyu, Ye Chi immediately straightened his posture and bowed obediently. Seeing that Ya Feiyu had come alone again, he couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Why has Master come here?"

Elders of major sects have their own reserved viewing seats, so there's no need for Ye Chi to specifically find a seat close to them. Ye Chi was wondering about this. Ya Feiyu's eyes seemed to flicker slightly, her long eyelashes drooping slightly, and she said, "I've come to see you."

These three words seemed particularly difficult to pronounce. After saying them, Ya Feiyu fell silent. His expression remained unchanged, but his ears had already turned bright red. Ye Chi pretended not to notice, thinking that his master was just used to being awkward and not very good at expressing concern to others. He didn't take Ya Feiyu's behavior to heart: "Master came to see your disciple specially, and your disciple is very happy."

“…Hmm.” Ya Feiyu responded softly.

Ya Feiyu seemed to want to say something more, his silver eyes shimmering gently, reflecting the desolate snowscape. But before he could gather his words, he heard the sound of a horn from ahead, shaking some of the snow accumulated on the branches. Ye Chi snapped out of his reverie and forced an apologetic smile: "Master, your disciple must go now."

Her gaze lingered briefly on Ye Chi's face before quickly averting itself. Ya Feiyu lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes concealing the flickering thoughts in them: "Hmm."

The order of entry into the hunting grounds was determined by drawing lots. Qinglian Sect's ranking was neither high nor low. Shi Bai somehow managed to bring a horse, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group went their separate ways once they entered the hunting grounds. The competition after the second stage no longer involved grouping by sect, but rather relied entirely on individual strength. In other words, from this point onward, he, Shi Bai, and Xu Miaomiao became direct competitors.

The horse Shi Bai brought was well-trained and handled the bumpy snow with ease. Ye Chi deliberately chose a less traveled path; while it wasn't as safe as the main road, the chances of encountering rare spirit beasts were higher, and there were fewer competitors. He held his bow and arrow, spurring his horse forward, and for a moment, the biting cold wind seemed to be completely forgotten.

"Ye Chi of the Qinglian Immortal Sect, hunted a mortal-grade spirit beast, one point recorded!"

"Xu Miaomiao of Qinglian Immortal Sect, hunted a mortal-grade spirit beast, one point recorded!"

"Xu Qi of the Sword Intent Sect has hunted a Xuan-grade spirit beast, earning two points!"

"Qing Shen Pavilion's Tantai Wushuang, hunts mortal-grade spirit beasts, one point recorded!"

Fireworks occasionally rose and exploded in the leaden sky. Ya Feiyu watched silently. Mo Huanchen, standing beside him, frowned slightly and murmured, almost to himself, "Why..."

Ya Feiyu's attention wasn't on the competition to begin with, so this murmur naturally didn't escape his ears. He lifted his eyelids at the sound, looked over indifferently, propped his cheek up with one hand, and said in a bored manner, "What?"

Mo Huanchen's dark eyes narrowed for a moment before he came to his senses. However, he did not respond immediately. Instead, he furtively looked around for a while, as if deliberately trying to convey something to Ya Feiyu. His gaze lingered on a certain corner for a few seconds longer before looking at Ya Feiyu again. His eyes seemed to be as dark as water, and something obvious was flowing within them. Yet, he pretended that nothing had happened, slowly shaking his head and speaking in a slow, meaningful tone: "Nothing."

If his former subordinate, Ya Feiyu, couldn't grasp the deeper meaning behind this, then he wouldn't deserve to be called his master. He understood perfectly, immediately feigning indifference, though his gaze occasionally swept across the room. What could possibly elicit such a reaction from Mo Huanchen?

Suddenly, a faint purple aura spread through the crowd.

Like a wisp of morning mist, light and ethereal, it seemed to envelop people in this non-existent haven of gentle comfort. The noise gradually subsided, and the crowd unanimously displayed expressions of exhaustion. Ya Feiyu held his breath warily, watching the pale purple aura grow stronger. He lowered his eyes and remained motionless. He quickly exchanged a glance with Mo Huanchen, and they both feigned exhaustion, their eyes scanning the entire scene warily, ready to strike at any moment.

Just then, a thick black mass merged into the purple mist.

Ya Feiyu was startled and stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

...

"Thirteen points..."

Ye Chi stood before his horse, secretly calculating with his fingers. He didn't have many arrows left. The props used in the competition had been specially treated and couldn't be reused. At most, these arrows would be enough for him to hunt another ten or so spirit beasts. The higher the level and the rarer the beast, the more difficult it was to deal with. If he wanted to stand out among the many disciples... he would probably have to be careful with his arrows.

He finished checking the remaining items, sighed, and looked up. During the hunt, he had unknowingly reached the edge of the hunting grounds; one more step and an invisible barrier would block his path, meaning there probably wouldn't be any spirit beasts hiding there. Thinking this, Ye Chi decided not to explore any further, mounted his horse, and tugged on the rope: "Let's go back. Although there aren't many people here, there aren't many spirit beasts either..."

The sound of fireworks exploding in the sky continued unabated. Ye Chi looked up casually and saw that almost all of them came from people in Qing Shen Pavilion.

Although Qing Shen Pavilion ranks last among the top ten sects, its strength should not be underestimated. Most of the mainstream sects in the cultivation world focus on martial arts, whether it's swords, spears, crossbows, or bows; they are all traditional martial arts sects. Qing Shen Pavilion, however, is completely different. They cultivate through musical instruments, so their sect's style and techniques are quite different from other sects. Despite ranking last, the leader of Qing Shen Pavilion has a very high degree of influence among all the sects.

The disciples of Qing Shen Pavilion have always been aloof and detached from the world, and have little interest in participating in major events held in the cultivation world. Their participation in the Ling Shan Sword Tournament this year was an unexpected surprise, since this tournament mainly tests martial prowess. It would be unfair to send musicians from Qing Shen Pavilion to participate.

This year's participant, Tantai Wushuang, has garnered significant attention since the very first stage. Despite being the son of the Qing Shen Pavilion's master, Tantai Wushuang isn't skilled in musical instruments. Instead, his exceptional swordsmanship has made him a unique and slowly blossoming talent within the Qing Shen Pavilion. Even the old master couldn't force him to learn the zither, so he adopted a semi-laissez-faire approach, allowing him to grow unchecked.

It was probably because Tantai Wushuang was born into such a family environment that she appeared exceptionally rebellious. In the original novel, her role could only be categorized as "cannon fodder." Ultimately, as the plot unfolded, because the male lead wanted to marry her sister, Tantai Wushuang fought back, refusing to let him take her sister away, and died in tears. The subsequent plot never mentioned her again. Tantai Wushuang's sister thus willingly became part of someone else's harem. Poor Tantai Wushuang became cannon fodder in someone else's love story, even more pathetic than a clown.

Thinking of this, Ye Chi couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

Just how charming is this male lead that he can make someone's sister love him so devotedly, without even caring about the death of her own brother?

Cherish life, stay away from being love-struck.

Ye Chi silently mourned for Tantai Wushuang in his heart.

Turning his gaze away, he saw that the horse had already brought him back to the main road. There were hardly any people or spirit beasts around, which Ye Chi guessed was because the area had already been explored. He wasn't in a hurry; he tugged on the reins, signaling the horse to slow down.

Something was strange. Ye Chi thought that the main road was much more open than the path he had just walked on. Although the trees on both sides were also tall, they were far from being able to block out the sky. Logically speaking, this place should not be so dark and quiet.

Not only him, but the horse also seemed to sense the strangeness of the situation, neighing uneasily and swishing its tail. If Ye Chi hadn't been holding the restless horse tightly, it might have turned tail and run away at any moment.

Even if there aren't many people here, it shouldn't be this gloomy.

He urged his horse forward, but no matter what he did, the horse refused to move an inch further. Stubborn as a donkey, it pawed the ground and brayed, exhaling puffs of white breath that dissolved into the cold air. Ye Chi had no choice. With the horse still, he dared not venture any further alone. Sometimes, an animal's instincts are more acute than a human's; never question an animal.

Ye Chi had no choice but to tense up, pushing his senses to their absolute limit to prevent a sneak attack. Just then, an extremely unpleasant aura entered his nostrils, like a strangely colored liquid dripping into clear water. Ye Chi's eyes widened in astonishment. In the instant he sensed the anomaly, an unusual chill instantly swept up his back, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

He suddenly thought of a fitting saying: "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

Goosebumps seemed to be crawling all over his body. Ye Chi swallowed hard, looked back, and was pondering the possibility of taking another route when, without warning, a vast white mist rose from the dense forest, concealing all paths ahead and behind under a thick fog.

It was as if he were the only person left in the world.