The faint golden glow of morning embers flickered against the damp stone walls of the forest shelter.
Su Yan blinked her ruby eyes open, her gaze immediately drifting across the small clearing. Sitting cross-legged against the trunk of an ancient pine, his arms rested casually over his knees, was Gu Chen. He looked entirely peaceful in his sleep, his jet-black hair tied loosely, his pale, sharp face framed by the morning shadows.
Before she could pull her gaze away, Gu Chen’s long eyelashes lifted. His striking violet eyes locked onto hers with quiet, unnerving clarity.
"You're awake?" he asked, his voice smooth and devoid of morning drowsiness.
Su Yan flinched, a subtle flush touching her cheeks as she pulled her white cloak tighter around her shoulders. "Oh... you're awake too?"
"I was keeping watch," Gu Chen replied calmly, sitting up straight. "Even with a spatial array, entering a meditative trance in unknown woods is an invitation for death."
Su Yan swallowed her pride, nodding slightly at his practical logic. She stretched her arms, feeling the smooth flow of Qi coursing through her channels.
"How is your core recovering now that the fire curse is suppressed?" Gu Chen asked, his violet eyes narrowing with cold, analyzing scrutiny.
Su Yan took a deep breath, circulating her spiritual energy through her dantians. A faint, golden-red sheen radiated softly from her skin.
"My meridians are no longer tearing themselves apart," she revealed, a note of genuine awe in her voice. "My strength is finally returning. Right now, I can exert the power of an Early Foundation Establishment cultivator. Once my body fully absorbs the leftover essence, I will return to my true realm, the Body Refining Realm."
Gu Chen kept his face impassive, but inside his mind, he quietly evaluated the lower realm’s power structure based on her words.
So the path in this mundane world progresses from Qi Refining to Body Refining, then Core Formation, Golden Core, and finally Nirvana Soul... Gu Chen pondered. Nirvana Soul is likely the absolute ceiling of this lower plane. Once I reach the Golden Core Stage, conquering this entire kingdom will be as effortless as turning my palm.
"Tell me more about the Sun-Moon Sect," Gu Chen commanded smoothly, breaking his silence. "Where does it stand among the major factions?"
Su Yan straightened her posture, a flicker of natural pride returning to her tone. "The Sun-Moon Sect is one of the three dominant grand sects of the Eastern Azure Kingdom. We rule over seven major mountain peaks, boasting tens of thousands of disciples. Lotus-Phoenix Peak, where my master resides, was once the most revered of the seven..." She trailed off slightly, her expression darkening with a touch of grim resolve before she shook her head. "We will be passing through the Black-Spine Forest shortly to reach the nearest trade town."
By mid-afternoon, the silver flight shuttle hummed to a sudden halt deep within the northern borders, its rune arrays flickering and dying as unseen spiritual pressure pressed down from the sky.
Su Yan brought the vessel down near the edge of a jagged ravine, her brows furrowed in concentration.
"The flight-suppression boundary starts here," she explained, stepping off onto the damp carpet of pine needles. "The ancestral grand array of the Sun-Moon Sect extends fifty miles beyond the main mountains. No flying chariots or spirit mounts can breach this airspace without being brought down by gravity arrays."
Gu Chen stepped out behind her, his dark eyes scanning the glowing runes flickering along the perimeter. "You need approval by the sect to fly in these grounds? Why don't you have it?"
"Disciples who leave the mountain on experiential trials must surrender such privileges," Su Yan answered, patting the silver token at her sash. "We carry only our core identification tokens. My master insists that relying on high-tier flight assets in the wilderness breeds soft cultivators. The sect forces us to face the real world on foot."
Gu Chen nodded in silent agreement. While he held mundane sects in disdain, forcing disciples to walk through dangerous territory was one of the few pragmatic rules this lower world got right.
Gu Chen looked toward the ancient, towering trees of the Black-Spine Forest. The canopy was so dense that sunlight filtered through only as thin, grey ribbons of mist. The air smelled of damp earth and the distinct, acrid scent of lurking spirit beasts.
"We walk from here," Su Yan continued, her hand instinctively coming to rest on the golden hilt of her sword. "Stay close to me. The Black-Spine Forest is infested with dangerous spirit beasts. In your current state, a single ambush could"
ROAR!
A deafening guttural howl shattered the silence of the woods.
Before Su Yan could finish her sentence, the bushes twenty paces ahead exploded. A massive Iron-Claw Panther, its hide covered in dark metallic scales and its four-inch fangs dripping with green corrosive venom, leapt into the air. The beast was at the 7th Stage of Qi Refining, its claws whistling through the damp air as it lunged directly for Gu Chen’s throat.
Su Yan’s eyes dilated. "Watch out!"
Her hand blurred, drawing her sword halfway out of its scabbard to launch a fire-blade strike.
She was too slow.
Gu Chen didn't even break his stride. He didn't turn his body, nor did he draw a blade. With casual, unbothered indifference, he simply raised his right hand, flicking two fingers through the cold air.
Pfft!
A needle-thin beam of jet-black demonic Qi shot from his fingertips like dark lightning. It pierced the Iron-Claw Panther's armored skull right between its eyes, exiting out the back of its neck in a spray of dark blood.
The three-hundred-pound beast froze mid-air, its life force instantly extinguished before its claws could even graze Gu Chen’s robes. It hit the muddy ground with a heavy, wet thud, sliding to a halt at his feet.
Gu Chen casually stepped right over the dead monster, stepping on its neck to brush a stray leaf off his dark sleeve.
Su Yan stood frozen on the path, her sword half-drawn, her mouth slightly open in absolute shock.
No stance? No martial manual technique? Just a casual flick of two fingers to instant-kill a 7th-Stage spirit beast?!
Her mind reeled. Even an inner court disciple would need several exchanged blows or a high-tier sword manual to penetrate the scales of an Iron-Claw Panther. Yet Gu Chen had handled it as if he were flicking away a harmless housefly.
"If you're going to stand there gawking all day, we won't reach your town by nightfall," Gu Chen said coldly, not even glancing back at her as he continued strolling down the trail.
Su Yan swallowed hard, slamming her sword back into its sheath. Her heart pounded in her chest, a strange mix of deep suspicion and involuntary awe tightening her throat as she hurried to catch up.
As the afternoon progressed, the Black-Spine Forest proved relentless.
An hour later, a pair of Blood-Horned Serpents dropped from the canopy above. Gu Chen didn't even pause his steps; two casual backhand strikes infused with compressed dark Qi shattered the serpents' spinal cores, sending their dead bodies limp onto the dirt. Shortly before dusk, an 8th-Stage Shadow Bear charged them from a rocky cave. Gu Chen stepped forward, caught the monster’s razor-sharp claw bare-handed, twisted its forearm until the joints shattered, and drove his fist straight into the beast’s chest, crushing its heart in a single breath.
By the time twilight settled, Su Yan was completely speechless. She watched in quiet disbelief as Gu Chen used a small knife to extract the glowing spirit core from the Shadow Bear with surgical precision, tossing the core into his travel bag without showing an ounce of fatigue.
Two days of continuous travel through the wilderness finally brought them to the edge of the forest.
Emerging from the tree line, they arrived at Border-Rest Town , a bustling, walled trade settlement nestled at the foot of the Great Mist Mountains. The town was crowded with traveling merchants, rogue cultivators, and outer sect messengers stocking up on supplies before venturing deeper into the kingdom.
"We will rest here for the night," Su Yan said as they walked down the stone-paved main street toward a prominent two-story inn. "The Sun-Moon Sect is still a three-day journey from here. I need to replenish our rations, and you should rest."
As they entered the wooden lobby of the inn, Su Yan stepped up to the counter, pulling out a few silver coins.
"Two separate rooms for the night," Su Yan requested firmly, her cheeks tinting slightly pink as she avoided looking directly at Gu Chen.
The innkeeper handed over two heavy brass keys. Su Yan turned to Gu Chen, expecting him to protest or offer a dark, sarcastic comment.
"Alright," Gu Chen replied casually, taking his key without the slightest hesitation.
Su Yan blinked, momentarily surprised by his quick agreement, before clearing her throat and turning toward the wooden staircase. "My room is at the end of the hall on the second floor. Do not wander off."
Late into the night, the trade town quieted down.
Inside his room, Gu Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, adjusting the Qi flow in his freshly opened 9th-Stage meridians. After completing a cycle, he stood up, deciding to visit Su Yan's room to ask for more specific details regarding her master, Supreme Elder Meng Yue, and the exact layout of Lotus-Phoenix Peak.
Stepping silently into the dimly lit hallway, Gu Chen walked down toward the room at the far end.
As he approached her wooden door, his sharp, sensory perception picked up faint, erratic sounds coming from inside the room.
Gu Chen stopped right outside her door, his violet eyes gleaming in the dark.
Inside the room, soft, breathless whimpers echoed softly against the thin walls.
"Nnn... Ah... damn it..." Su Yan’s voice trembled, heavy with frustration, embarrassment, and intense, feverish heat.
Through his heightened senses, Gu Chen could hear the rustle of silk bedsheets and the sound of her frantic, irregular breathing. Without the icy, soothing presence of Gu Chen beside her, the residual Yang energy left in her meridians from the Dual Refining method had stirred slightly in her sleep, overwhelming her senses with a phantom wave of burning warmth.
"Why... why won't my body stop?!" Su Yan whispered tearfully to herself inside the dark room, clutching her pillow tightly against her chest as her body writhed in restless, flustered desperation beneath the thin covers. "I hate him... I hate that arrogant, smirk-faced demon! Why is my core screaming for his touch...?"
She let out a soft, helpless moan of frustration, cursing Gu Chen under her breath while her rebellious biology craved the very icy energy only he could provide.
Outside the door, a slow, smirk carved across Gu Chen’s handsome face.
Instead of walking away, Gu Chen raised his hand, curling his long fingers into a light fist, and raked his knuckles firmly against the dark wood.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Inside the pitch-black room, Su Yan flinched violently!
Her body froze mid-motion, her eyes snapping wide open in pure, unadulterated horror. Her hands instantly yanked the silk blanket up to her chin, her breath catching in her throat as a wave of intense, burning shame rushed from her neck to the tips of her ears.
"Su Yan?" Gu Chen’s smooth, deep voice echoed casually through the thin wooden panel. "Are you awake? I came to discuss your master."
Su Yan’s heart hammered against her ribs so hard she thought it would burst. She clutched the sheets with trembling fingers, her cheeks flushed an agonizing crimson in the dark.
"Y-Yes?.." she choked out, her voice shaky, breathless, and hopelessly flustered.