Chapter 32 - 47-55

Chapter 47

Qin Ran was woken up by the "hee hee ha ha" sounds of Li Shiyin's voice. He crawled out of bed and went out to the hallway, and as expected, Li Shiyin was sword dancing in the mud pit again.

It was around five o'clock in the afternoon now. The sunlight was starting to soften, but the sun had not set yet. Today was sunny again after the rain, and the whole world was clean, fresh, gentle and beautiful.

It was as if last night's rainy escape was just something from a dream.

The silly apprentice was making a ruckus over there, and he should have stopped her, but right now he didn't want to stop her. He just felt it was very beautiful.

He went downstairs and poured himself a glass of boiled water, then slowly stepped to the edge of the mud pit, cup in hand.

When he arrived here, he realized there was not only Li Shiyin at the bottom of the pit, but Chasing the Wind was there too. This cat, originally black and white, was now waving its paws vigorously, clawing at the mud. It was also meowing, kicking up mud and dirt, turning itself into an all black cat.

Li Shiyin had been digging this pit for almost twenty days now. It had reached a considerable size. As she danced her sword within it, twisting and turning, she was no longer affected by the terrain.

The silly apprentice's talent for martial arts was no joke. Qin Ran watched for a while and realized the silly apprentice's sword already vaguely contained sword energy.

Once sword energy appeared, it signified formally entering into the path of the sword. As for Qin Ran himself, he looked like a blind man swinging around a lantern when holding a sword.

"It's just that her alertness is too low," Qin Ran shook his head. He had been standing here for quite a while already, yet the silly apprentice had not noticed him at all. If she went out adventuring like this, she'd likely be dead before even reaching Linxian City.

"Looks like I'll have to strengthen education in this area from now on..." he thought.

Just then, Li Shiyin shouted lightly: "Master, watch my sword!"

"Hmm?"

Qin Ran looked closely. Li Shiyin in the pit was already facing towards him. She placed the tips of her feet on the ground, borrowed a bit of force, and her whole body sprang up into the air as she thrusted a sword strike at him.

Good heavens, he had just been dissatisfied with the silly apprentice's alertness, and the next second he was about to be backstabbed by the silly apprentice. Fortunately his skin was thick enough.

Seeing this, Qin Ran moved his right hand fingers, guiding the boiled water in his left hand cup to fly out in a strip, swirling forward to wrap around the silly apprentice's sword. With a tug to the side, her strike deviated to the side.

"Go pour the water!"

Qin Ran threw the cup to Li Shiyin and went to sit in the chair at the edge of the pit.

"Aw!" Li Shiyin sighed regretfully, caught the cup, and trotted off to the cabin with a "du du du".

Chasing the Wind, who had been working hard at the bottom of the pit, also noticed Qin Ran at this time. With a "meow", it became excited. It leapt from the over three meter deep pit in one go, landed right on the edge, then pounced towards Qin Ran's embrace.

Qin Ran had just sat down and was caught unprepared. Chasing the Wind crashed into his arms, knocking over his recliner and forcing the air out of his chest.

Even after knocking him down, Chasing the Wind was still excited. The ten-plus kilo body stomped around on his chest, letting him experience the unbearable weight of love.

Covered in mud, Qin Ran gasped for air, beginning to worry. Chasing the Wind was not a cat but a tiger. If it never figured out its size as it grew up and kept pouncing on him like this, it could kill someone.

He reached out to hug Chasing the Wind, intending to teach it a lesson, but at that moment, he suddenly heard Chasing the Wind make a sound: "Hug... dad... dad... bow..."

"Hmm?" He froze in shock, looking at Chasing the Wind in disbelief. "You, what are you saying?"

Chasing the Wind opened its cute three-lobed mouth, revealing two adorable sharp fangs, and clearly shouted: "Dad...dad..."

"I...I...damn!" Qin Ran blurted out a curse, completely dumbfounded, unable to move for half the day.

Li Shiyin came running over with the water. Chasing the Wind tilted its head towards her and shouted: "Mom... mom... moo..."

"Hey hey hey! Stop! Don't make random sounds!" Qin Ran woke up with a jolt and sat up, hurriedly holding Chasing the Wind down to stop it from shouting randomly.

"What's wrong with Chasing the Wind?" Li Shiyin handed the water to Qin Ran. "Haha, Master, Chasing the Wind is so dirty, and got you dirty too!"

"Cough..." Qin Ran didn't dare look at Li Shiyin. He felt guilty for some reason, and took the water from the side, replying: "No... nothing!"

"I feel like I heard Chasing the Wind talking!" Li Shiyin said.

"Oh? Really?" Only then did Qin Ran react, recalling that he had forgotten to show off. He said to Chasing the Wind: "Come, Chasing the Wind, Chasing the Wind, come, call me!"

"Dad..." Chasing the Wind mumbled.

"Wow!" Li Shiyin was shocked. "Chasing the Wind can really talk now?!" Although unclear.

Amazing. She hugged Chasing the Wind and happily spun circles. After a while, she put Chasing the Wind down and said to it: "Chasing the Wind, call me!"

Chasing the Wind was still dizzy from the spinning. It blinked its cute big eyes and blurted out: "Mom mu~!"

"Pfft!" Qin Ran spit out a mouthful of boiled water, his hair standing on end in fright.

"No, no, call me big sister!" Fortunately the silly apprentice didn't notice anything wrong. She kept correcting Chasing the Wind.

"Meow meow?" Chasing the Wind was puzzled.

"No, big sister!" Li Shiyin persisted.

"Eld... er..." Chasing the Wind was confused.

"Hehe..." Qin Ran calmly drank his water at the side and chuckled: "Teaching Chasing the Wind to speak, is that something normal people can do?"

"Oh!" Li Shiyin sighed. "Chasing the Wind is just too stupid!"

Qin Ran's gaze slanted at her over his cup. He didn't know who was more stupid.

"Master... what does dad mean?" Li Shiyin asked again. "Chasing the Wind calls you dad?"

"It means father, dad, that kind of meaning." Qin Ran's tone carried no small amount of pride.

"Oh..." Li Shiyin nodded, then quietly mumbled: "Then calling me big sister is no good."

"What?" Qin Ran asked.

"Nothing!" Li Shiyin hurriedly replied, then hastily changed the topic: "Master, where did you go this morning? Why did you come back like that? And slept the whole day too."

Qin Ran glanced at her. "Adult matters, children shouldn't ask!"

"I'm not a child!" Li Shiyin pouted.

"How is your Guiding Starlight Art practice coming along?" Qin Ran asked.

"Mas...ter..." Li Shiyin dragged out, helplessly saying: "You're getting muddled. I haven't even started practicing yet! How could I practice these days? It was raining last night, let's see if it rains again today. I can't practice tonight if it does."

That was right, Qin Ran nodded. The night before last night they were at the Hengduan Mountains range. It rained last night too. The Guiding Starlight Art guided starlight. It was the same as when building the foundation. For the first practice, it was best at night when the power of the stars was most abundant.

But he would not admit his mistake, only saying: "Then practice tonight."

"Oh..." Li Shiyin sighed. "Why the hurry, Master?"

"When I tell you to practice, you should obediently practice. Why so much talking?" Qin Ran said.

He didn't know when the demon beasts would officially revolt. If he didn't finish the lifebound sword before the revolt, there would be many variables afterwards.

But once the lifebound sword was done, there would be many more options...

Chapter 48

After dinner, Qin Ran jumped upstairs and took out the homemade flute he made, blowing into it with a "woo woo woo" sound.

The flute was something he had randomly put together himself, so the pitch was very inaccurate. He didn't actually know how to play the flute either, just blowing randomly into it. After blowing into it for so many days, he had finally managed to get some semblance of a tune out of it.

Li Shiyin finished her meal, then took her sword out for a stroll, circling around Dan Peak before coming back with the dusk. Seeing Qin Ran blowing his flute on the roof, she flew right up.

"Master, your flute is out of tune," said Li Shiyin. She put away her sword and sat down next to Qin Ran, hugging the scabbard.

Qin Ran glanced at her, not wanting to pay her any mind. That his flute sounded out of tune was something he knew perfectly well himself!

She had no eye for subtlety!

As the song came to an end, he held the flute in his hand and said slowly to Li Shiyin, "I think you should really learn how to cook... I'm always the one cooking meals and washing dishes. How does that look? It's like I'm serving you. Who's the master and who's the disciple here?"

"Mas...Master, it's not that bad!" Li Shiyin said somewhat embarrassedly, "It doesn't feel right to always have you cook, esteemed elder. But I...you saw what happened last time."

"Sigh..." Qin Ran sighed as he recalled the disastrous state of the kitchen that time, then picked up his flute to play again.

At that moment, imbued with emotion, although it was still not in tune, the sound of the flute at least carried a melancholy, sorrowful flavor.

Chasing the Wind had spent the entire day with Li Shiyin digging a pond, getting completely covered in mud and filth. When he had time, Qin Ran gave him a bath. The cat was washed clean, but his fur was all fluffed up. Now he was squatting nearby, diligently licking himself clean.

Seeing this, Li Shiyin placed her sword horizontally across her lap and pulled Chasing the Wind over into her arms, rubbing his head. Then she cleared her throat and started singing to the dusk falling over Dan Peak:

"Of what splendid grace is his remarkable form, standing alone above the world in his elegance;

His beauty could topple cities, his virtues become known through word of mouth.

Jade pendants adorn his collar in a display of purity, vying in fragrance with secluded orchids;

Gently nurturing his affections away from worldly vulgarity, upholding noble aspirations towards the high clouds..."

Her voice was like a clear spring flowing by, her mood distant and lingering. As it rang out in the dusk, it welcomed the impending night.

Qin Ran's blurting and blaring on the flute stopped unconsciously. Outside the hut, on the grass, in the woods, on Dan Peak, only Li Shiyin's clear and captivating singing voice echoed back.

She sang for quite a while until the dusk had deepened into night, with the skies sprinkling down starlight before she finally stopped.

The air was still for a good while. Li Shiyin giggled and turned to look at Qin Ran, asking, "Master, how was my singing?"

He hadn't expected his foolish disciple to be so talented. Qin Ran was silent for a while, but really couldn't bring himself to go against his conscience and say she sang poorly. He nodded. "It sounded nice."

"Hmph, no one in Danyang City can compare to my singing," Li Shiyin said proudly as she raised her chin.

This, Qin Ran didn't believe. He retorted, "Anyone who sings better than you got beaten up by you, right?"

"Hehe!" Li Shiyin lowered her head, embarrassed.

"Hm?" Qin Ran was surprised. Was that really what happened?

"How do you know how to sing?" he asked Li Shiyin.

"My name is Li Shiyin. Shiyin, shiyin! Of course I'd know how to sing!" Li Shiyin said.

"Can you write poetry then?"

"No!"

Qin Ran rolled his eyes. Yet she was still so brazen about it.

"What song was that you sang?" he continued asking.

"'Chu Songs'!" Li Shiyin replied. "What North Chu person doesn't know how to sing the 'Chu Songs'?"

Qin Ran looked at her without saying anything more... There was a North Chu person right here who didn't know how to sing them.

"So..." He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you know how to play the flute then?"

"No," Li Shiyin shook her head.

Qin Ran breathed a sigh of relief. At least that wasn't too embarrassing.

"But I can play the guzheng!" Li Shiyin said with a laugh.

Qin Ran fell silent again. It didn't seem much better.

"Don't feel ashamed, Master. When you first start learning an instrument, it always sounds bad. My guzheng playing wasn't good at first either," Li Shiyin consoled. "Besides, your flute is out of tune. Can't blame you. I'll find time later to bring Gao Yunshan here. He can make you a flute and teach you how to play."

That was actually quite consoling...

Qin Ran's heart was pockmarked into little pieces. Finally, struggling, he asked, "So when did you start learning the guzheng?"

"Hmm..." Li Shiyin thought back for a moment. "Five years old I think! I can't remember if it was five or six."

Qin Ran sighed. It didn't seem it could get much better.

Abruptly shifting the topic, he scolded, "Look how late it is already. Why haven't you started cultivation yet?!"

But Li Shiyin was already long used to his empty yelling. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. Facing his scolding, she just stuck her tongue out at him.

The stars had indeed already carpeted the night sky. The starry sky above the mountain peak in summer felt especially close, as if you could reach out and touch them.

Li Shiyin sat down cross-legged on the rooftop, the starry sky right above her head. She didn't need to set up a formation like when she was building her foundation. Her affinity with the stellar forces was already high enough now that she could directly draw them down.

In particular, her divine sense had taken shape.

Li Shiyin closed her eyes. In the vast sea of perception, an image of herself appeared - the embodied form of her soul.

This embodied soul raised its hand, stirring the sole drop of "seawater" in the sea of perception - her divine sense - making it flow and disappear from the void, reappearing in physical space.

The embodied soul standing in the sea of perception looked up to see the stars in the sky raining down dots of light - the stellar forces. She made the "seawater" rise up to gather all the falling specks of light, then brought them back and instilled them into her body.

The stellar forces circulating within her body began absorbing these dots of light.

With this primer, a strange attracting force emanated from Li Shiyin's body, gathering all the specks of light falling from the starry sky.

Using her mystical powers, she levitated the Qingxing Sword in front of her and slowly found its balance point, channeling in the stellar forces.

Qin Ran stood watch nearby. From his perspective as an onlooker, Li Shiyin's entire body was covered in specks of light, as if there were many fireflies lighting up her clothes. She was shining as the Qingxing Sword floated before her, with a band of stellar light connecting her palm to the sword. The originally pitch-black sword, from hilt to tip, was being eroded by the light bit by bit until the entire blade was illuminated.

With the stellar forces completely instilled into the Qingxing Sword, Li Shiyin opened her eyes. Still speckled with light, she stood up and grasped the hilt of the sword before her, unsheathing it and somersaulting down from the rooftop.

Her swordplay began.

Empowered by the stellar forces, each of Li Shiyin's moves felt exceptionally mighty. After a few sets of moves, she took a step forward, gathering all the stellar light on the Qingxing Sword towards its tip, concentrating it into a single beam that shot out towards the grasslands ahead, blasting out a small crater.

"A inferior substitution for sword qi..." Qin Ran evaluated with a shake of his head, dissatisfied.

This move expended all the stellar light on the sword, yet only caused minimal damage. It would be fine if she hadn't comprehended sword qi yet, but once she did, this move would become completely useless. And with Li Shiyin's talent for the sword, her sword qi was nearly ready to emerge.

"What a mediocre move," he concluded.

Li Shiyin channeled stellar forces back into the Qingxing Sword as Qin Ran roughly estimated - there was a half-minute gap after firing off all the starlight before she could recharge it.

"Try the attack range," he called out to Li Shiyin.

Li Shiyin obeyed, firing off the stellar forces she had just gathered towards the furthest point she could aim at.

In the end, Qin Ran approximated about 50 meters at most, the same as the effective range of a handgun.

"Slightly longer attack range than sword qi...not too mediocre," he reconsidered.

Li Shiyin brandished her sword for a while more before jumping back onto the rooftop.

"What are the specifics of the boosts it provides?" Qin Ran asked. That was the main effect of this move.

"A bit faster speed, a bit less power," Li Shiyin recalled. "About four or five times my usual speed, and around double my usual power."

"Does it only consume stellar forces? Or does it damage the body too?" Qin Ran continued asking.

"Just consumes stellar forces..." Li Shiyin replied. "Also, once I activate the Stellar Convergence skill, it forms a connection to the stellar forces between heaven and earth. At night when stellar forces are abundant, the consumption balances out with what I absorb, so I can keep it up indefinitely. But stellar forces are sparse during the day so I'd have to supplement it with my own mystic power, and can't maintain it for long."

"Hmm!" Qin Ran nodded. As long as he was certain this move would not harm himself, he felt at ease. He gave his final evaluation, "It seems this move is pretty good. Next, practice well and try to get it to where you can use it freely."

"Yes, Master!" Li Shiyin obediently responded.

Chapter 49

After practicing the Guide the Starlight Technique for a while, it was getting late, so Li Shiyin went back to her room to take her medicinal bath... No matter how powerful the techniques, they were still no match for her own cultivation level.

After Qin Ran had prepared the medicinal bath for her, he went straight to the study.

This time he carefully closed the doors and windows of the study, then went to the desk, took off his Universe Bag that was like a sachet, and placed it on the desk.

He was going to tidy up the gains and losses from last night's outing.

First he sat down, took paper and pen, and transcribed the pill formulas he had memorized.

The pill formulas were from the storage bags of those two men. Qin Ran had forcibly and quickly memorized the four most useful pill formulas from those pill formulas, relying on his memory and understanding of pills.

They were the Spirit Wind Pill that could make spiritual power go berserk, the Dragon Elephant Pill that could make qi and blood go berserk, the Ice Heart Pill that could protect the mind, and the Feed Beast Pill used to feed spirit beasts.

Of these pill formulas, the most useful was undoubtedly the Feed Beast Pill.

Ever since Chasing the Wind was picked up, he had been fed with spirit beast milk and meat, no different than what people ate. This was barely enough to keep him from starving and let him grow up, but it didn't help his growth and cultivation at all.

The appearance of the Feed Beast Pill could be said to make Chasing the Wind the biggest winner of Qin Ran's trip this time.

After writing down the pill formulas, Qin Ran began taking things out of his Universe Bag,

The first thing taken out, taking up most of the space in the Universe Bag, were spirit stones.

The spirit stones of those two men, and the spirit stones Qin Ran got from selling pills in the end.

Qin Ran examined the spirit stones carefully once more with his spiritual sense, and after making sure there were no problems, he opened the drawer under the desk and put these spirit stones in... A total of four thousand five hundred and twenty-one low-grade spirit stones, three hundred and two mid-grade spirit stones, and one high-grade spirit stone.

The spirit stones in the drawer were almost depleted originally. Now that these spirit stones were put in, the drawer, which had a space formation, almost overflowed.

Next taken out was the most important target of this trip, the Starlight Stone!

The spirit mineral that would be used as the core of the Lifebound Flying Sword he would forge for Li Shiyin.

Although the Starlight Stone was imprinted with a tracking mark by that emaciated man, the Starlight Stone itself had no problems.

Last night, after Qin Ran discovered the mark on the Starlight Stone, he did not rashly act, but instead turned the tables and transferred the tracking mark on the Starlight Stone to his clone with his spiritual sense...

This was why that emaciated man unhesitatingly chased after that clone.

Holding the Starlight Stone, Qin Ran examined it carefully once more, and found no more anomalies before putting it aside.

What was taken out next was the sword manual—Guide of the Shadow Sword—that he had bought at the auction, also prepared for Li Shiyin.

Actually those two men had some other techniques on them, but Qin Ran didn't dare take them, worried that there might be problems with the techniques themselves, and worried that practicing their techniques would make it easy for people from the "Karmic Organization" to recognize him.

After examining the sword manual as well and making sure there were no issues, Qin Ran finally took out the Tribulation Thunder Pill, the greatest consumable of this trip.

The pills for trading, the materials for the formations, all added up, were still not as expensive as the one Tribulation Thunder Pill that was detonated last night.

First, what was the Tribulation Thunder Pill?

Simply put, it was a crude pill created by sealing tribulation lightning with a certain pill concoction method, to be released against enemies when needed.

Second, how could there be such a bizarre thing as the Tribulation Thunder Pill?

The idea was provided by Qin Ran, and the method was perfected by his master, Wang Yuanyi.

Finally, how was the Tribulation Thunder Pill refined?

Obviously, Qin Ran couldn't refine it, only Wang Yuanyi could.

During Wang Yuanyi's final tribulation, he left three Tribulation Thunder Pills for Qin Ran.

The main job of pill masters was to refine pills, and pill refining had an extremely weak boost to combat power. Therefore, pill masters themselves had outstanding weakness in terms of strength and combat power.

Although due to the bizarre changes in the martial world, pill masters and cultivators of other occupations had run into each other in reality, and who would win was still a matter of probability, when it came to crossing tribulations, where one had to face the lightning tribulation head-on, the shortcomings of pill masters were exposed too obviously.

This was also an important reason why few people wanted to learn pill refining.

Pills were very important, and pill masters were highly respected, but... pill masters were very likely unable to withstand even the lightning tribulation at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Crossing tribulations was the calamity that pill masters could never escape, the curse of pill masters.

Eighty percent of pill masters died under the lightning tribulation, another 19.9% would rather die of old age than be struck to death by tribulation lightning, and only a very tiny 0.1% would die due to other circumstances.

Wang Yuanyi was a pill master, so he couldn't escape this calamity.

His chances of successfully crossing the tribulation were low to begin with, and he went to cross it pushing his limit. So before he even started crossing, he already knew that he would certainly die.

It didn't matter if he couldn't form his Nascent Soul, it was just hard on Qin Ran, his disciple. After his death, there would be no one to teach Qin Ran pill refining, no one to protect Qin Ran, and no one to keep this Foundation Establishment stage cultivator company in this dangerous world of cultivation.

In the end, under the heavenly tribulation, he refined three Tribulation Thunder Pills for Qin Ran.

The Tribulation Thunder Pill, the lightning tribulation at the Golden Core stage, was currently Qin Ran's strongest trump card. Used well, it was enough to kill Nascent Soul stage cultivators whose cultivation was unstable.

Looking at the Tribulation Thunder Pill in his hand, memories slowly came back to Qin Ran. After a long time, he let out a sigh, held back the tears at the corners of his eyes, and put away the remaining two Tribulation Thunder Pills properly.

Spending one Tribulation Thunder Pill to exchange for these things, Qin Ran truly felt it wasn't worth it.

After putting everything away properly, he opened the window and sat in the study for half the night. He looked at the Spiritual Pagoda Tree outside the window, and thought to himself, this was probably the passing down of knowledge and inheritance of the master's enterprise to the disciple!

Only that, if judged by the standards of the Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety, he, Qin Ran, would belong to the unfilial category...

After practicing sword flying for another two days, Li Shiyin could basically control the Guide the Starlight Technique freely. Plus she had been diligently practicing flying on her sword these past two days, and was very proficient at it now.

Thus, Qin Ran planned to go down the mountain to forge a sword.

On the morning before leaving, Qin Ran brought Li Shiyin to the study.

"After going down the mountain, the treacherous and dangerous rivers and lakes outside the sect gate are prone to accidents. Every time you go out, you need to be fully prepared," Qin Ran said to Li Shiyin.

He took out a red embroidered brocade bag and handed it to Li Shiyin, saying, "This is a Universe Bag, refined by myself, there will be no problems. The inner space is about the size of this study, you can use it first."

Li Shiyin took it and couldn't help but complain, "It's so ugly!"

Qin Ran looked at her silently.

He also took out some porcelain bottles and placed them on the table, introducing them one by one to Li Shiyin: "This is a top-grade Origin Recovery Pill that restores spiritual power. This is a top-grade Great Redemption Pill that treats external injuries. This is a Grain Pill that replenishes strength. This is a Spirit Wind Pill that makes spiritual power go berserk, temporarily gaining formidable combat power. This is a Bloodthirsty Pill that drives the mind berserk..."

To prevent his silly disciple from forgetting or mixing them up, he had also pasted labels on the outside.

After Li Shiyin had put away all the pills, Qin Ran took out some more strange pills and said to Li Shiyin, "These are pills to be used when confronting enemies. This Murdering Pill will confuse the mind and make one go into devil cultivation. This Earth Flame Pill has sealed earth fire within, its power is enormous. This Clear Water Pill contains heavy water..."

"Keep them all away, I'll teach you the unsealing method later."

Li Shiyin put them all away. Qin Ran also gave her some talismans: "This is a Divine Travel Talisman, for moving quickly. This is a Divine Thunder Talisman..."

He admonished, "Use talismans prudently, as their quality can't be guaranteed since they were bought. If in danger, prioritize using the confrontation pills, the pills were refined by myself."

After some hesitation, Qin Ran took out a pill and handed it to Li Shiyin, solemnly saying, "This is a Tribulation Thunder Pill, the only one in the world. Its power is enormous, try not to use it... If you must use it, also use it from a safe distance."

Li Shiyin looked at Qin Ran, feeling her master was too exaggerated, but still put away the Tribulation Thunder Pill.

"Master, we're just going out for a bit, is there a need for this?" she asked.

Qin Ran's expression became serious as he admonished,

"I have emphasized to you many times that there are extreme differences in strength within the cultivation world. Powerful cultivators can make the entire North Chu Country disappear with a snap of their fingers, while weak cultivators may not even be able to defeat ordinary martial artists. In such a chaotic world with fickle hearts, it is extremely dangerous. You must maintain an attitude of treading on thin ice and walking along the edge of an abyss at all times..."

Chapter 50

Qin Ran and his disciple went out, coming to the grassy area outside, and only then suddenly realized a very important problem...

"Master, as we go to forge a sword, should we fly there or walk there?" Li Shiyin asked.

This question stumped Qin Ran immediately, and he stood still, not knowing how to answer.

In order to forge a good enough sword of mastery for Li Shiyin, he had made many plans, but... he seemed to have not thought about this matter yet.

He was afraid of heights, did not dare to fly too high, and preferred to use the godly steps to run on the ground, but his silly disciple did not know the godly steps yet, she could only fly.

Imagining that scene, he running on the ground, the silly disciple flying in the sky, he was like a sheep, the silly disciple was the sheepdog, heavens, that scene would be too beautiful.

After thinking about it for a while, although he felt embarrassed, Qin Ran still said: "Let's go down the mountain first, at the mountain gate there are people selling immortal spirit horses, we can ride horses there."

"Okay!" Li Shiyin nodded, and asked again, "Then how do we get down the mountain?"

Qin Ran opened his mouth and said, "I will use the godly steps, you can fly down with your sword."

Thus, Li Shiyin summoned the Qingxing Sword and nimbly jumped on it, circulating inner power within her body.

Standing on the sword, she turned back and smiled at Qin Ran, "Master, then I'll go first! Wait for you at the mountain gate..."

After saying that, without waiting for Qin Ran to respond, she yelled "Wuhu!", flew up into the sky, the light of stellar power around her body flashed brightly, she drew an arc, like a shooting star flying down the mountain.

"Be caref..." The word "ful" had not left Qin Ran's mouth when Li Shiyin had already disappeared from sight. He sighed, such a wild child, his heart felt so tired.

He turned back and called into the house: "Chasing the Wind, watch the house, we'll be back in a few days."

He didn't know why, but Chasing the Wind didn't even come out to see them off. Now that Qin Ran had called out, Chasing the Wind only responded with a "Meow", the voice vague, as if its mouth was full of something.

Another one hard to watch over, Qin Ran was suspicious, for this family, might the most dangerous one be Chasing the Wind...

But now leaving, he didn't want to go back and check again.

"My heart is tired!!"

Qin Ran looked up to the sky and sighed deeply, then immediately used the godly steps, going down the mountain along the stone path.

The Dao Sword Sect had five mountain peaks, all surrounded by a great protective array. In front of these five mountain peaks, the protective array revealed a small hole as the gate of the Dao Sword Sect.

Although for high level cultivators, the mountain gate was just a formality, they liked flying high up and down, always entering and exiting from some place in the sky using their identity tokens, or some people like Qin Ran who sneakily entered and exited from some unnoticed place. It seemed the gate of the immortal sect was like pants for farting, not very necessary, but in fact, high level cultivators and sneaky people were very few in number. For a large sect like the Dao Sword Sect, most were ordinary disciples, entering and exiting through the mountain gate was the daily routine.

The Dao Sword Sect's mountain gate always had people coming in and out at all times, with many people gathered and lingering inside and outside the mountain gate.

Disciples might be chatting together leisurely, or hurrying back and forth, or arguing over grudges and grievances, or going in and out the mountain gate. Anyway, inside and outside the mountain gate was a lively scene.

Outer disciple Wang Ren had just gone through the trials last month and was accepted into the Dao Sword Sect, fortunate to be able to embark on the immortal path.

At this time, he was discussing with his fellow disciples about how to get around that damned bird and steal that spiritual medicine plant. As he spoke, he happened to glance up and suddenly saw a stream of light flying swiftly from inside the mountain gate towards this direction.

"Flying on a sword! Inner disciple senior brother?" Wang Ren's eyes were quite envious.

To be able to fly on a sword required cultivation level, skills, and a treasure sword, lacking any one of them would not work.

He, Wang Ren, had joined the Dao Sword Sect for over a month now, and had not even found his qi sensation... This trip to gather medicine was to ingratiate himself with his master, so that his master could teach him more of the dao, and allow him to find his qi sensation sooner.

As for flying on a sword, when could he accomplish that?

"It would probably take decades of time..." Wang Ren thought, "That sword flying person is just someone who joined the sect decades earlier than me."

The light in the distant sky drew an arc and landed on the nearby ground. The dreamy stellar power dispersed, revealing the tall figure of a woman.

The woman had long white hair, a tall and graceful figure, a cold temperament like a lotus, standing on the stars, backed by the Milky Way, truly a fairy-like beauty.

She raised her hand and the long sword flew back into her hand like a fish. With the sword returned to its sheath, she stood still, like a lonely green lotus, waiting for something.

What was she waiting for? Wang Ren wondered, subconsciously feeling that there was probably nothing in this world that was worth her waiting for.

He secretly sized up her face:

That cold and charming face...

Wait!

Wang Ren was suddenly stunned. Looking closely at that face again, he felt it was familiar. That... that was, that seemed to be, that was Li Shiyin who attended the disciple acceptance ceremony with him last month!

"Ah... ya!" He let out a meaningless moan, his gaze retracted as if pricked by a needle.

He recalled that at the disciple acceptance ceremony, when he was certain he had been accepted by the Dao Sword Sect, he thought his future would be bright, and he would soon become immortal and attain the dao.

Among those who came to apprentice at the same time, Li Shiyin and Tian Wenjin were the most beautiful. He had thought about whether to take Li Shiyin or Tian Wenjin as his dao companion, or perhaps, if they begged him, he could reluctantly accept both.

But now...

"What's wrong with you?" His senior fellow disciple asked him.

"Nothing." He shook his head.

"Do you know that inner disciple senior sister?"

"Don't know her!"

"I see..." his senior disciple said, "How could you possibly know such a figure, she's probably not an inner disciple, but a direct disciple."

"Direct disciple?" Wang Ren was completely stunned.

Li Shiyin landed, put away her sword, swept her eyes through the passing crowd, didn't recognize anyone, felt bored, and sighed inwardly: "Master is too slow!"

Her master was clearly very strong, yet couldn't fly. She had to think of a way to cure his fear of heights.

She was scheming inwardly when Qin Ran finally ran over. She waved eagerly to indicate her position and called out: "Master!"

Qin Ran slowly walked towards her.

"Master, you're so slow!" She complained.

Qin Ran gave her a look, but did not answer.

Wang Ren was not far away, still secretly paying attention to Li Shiyin. When he saw Li Shiyin's cold image instantly turn eager, and looked at Qin Ran's youthful appearance, he couldn't help but curse inwardly: "No wonder able to fly the sword so quickly, turns out to be a cheap flatterer fawning over inner disciple senior brother! Disgusting!!"

However, no one in the crowd noticed him.

Qin Ran brought Li Shiyin through the crowd, out of the mountain gate, and bought two immortal spirit horses at the small market outside the mountain gate.

Where there were people, there was the jianghu. Where there was demand, there was supply. Where there was trade, there was exploitation.

Places like outside the mountain gate, with many people coming and going, there would be specialized vendors selling travel tools, pills, artifacts, talismans and such that people needed when going out.

When people came back, there would be specialized buyers purchasing demon beast cores, refining materials, skills, herbs and more that people wanted to sell.

Some sects cared about face and kept such places far away, some sects didn't care and had such places right at the mountain gate. But there would always be such places.

The two immortal spirit horses cost over a hundred spirit stones. Qin Ran and Li Shiyin each led one horse, passed through the market, and came onto the main road outside, where Li Shiyin stroked the snowy white fur of the immortal spirit horse and laughed: "So pretty!"

As she spoke and laughed, she nimbly leapt onto the horse.

Seeing Li Shiyin get on her horse, Qin Ran suddenly realized something else, and casually asked Li Shiyin: "Do you know how to ride a horse?"

"Hehe! Master, I grew up on horseback, adept in archery and horsemanship..." Li Shiyin was rather proud, "Just in horsemanship, even Li Shiwen may not be as good as me!"

Of course the young miss of a prominent clan would know how to ride a horse! Qin Ran was panicking a bit immediately.

After Li Shiyin finished speaking, she also reacted. She looked at Qin Ran and her big eyes curved into crescent moons as she laughed and asked: "Master, could it be you don't know how to ride a horse?!"

"Cough!" Qin Ran didn't answer, imitating Li Shiyin's posture earlier to nimbly leap onto the horse. He thought to himself, with his physical fitness, a small immortal spirit horse would be easy to control. How could riding a horse possibly be difficult for him!

He steadied himself and said: "What's so hard about riding a horse? How could I not know how?"

"Master, there are many techniques to riding a horse..." Li Shiyin blinked her big eyes, kindly reminding him. However, with her look, it seemed anything but well-intentioned, and more mischievous.

"Hmph!" Qin Ran scoffed coldly.

"Master..." Li Shiyin skillfully rode her horse around Qin Ran in circles, seemingly showing off. She grinned wickedly, "Do you want me to teach you?"

"Hmph! No need!"

I, Qin Ran, have dignity. Even if I never learn to ride a horse in my life, fall off and die in the wilderness, I don't need my apprentice to teach me how to ride a horse...

Chapter 51

The Immortal Spirit Horse was originally a kind of docile mystical beast of the second rank that was captured and bred by beast trainers to serve as a higher grade replacement for horses in the mortal realm. Its experiences were also quite similar to those of horses.

Many cultivators who did not know how to fly or needed to travel far away used the Immortal Spirit Horse to get around...or eccentrics like Qin Ran who were afraid of heights...

If an Immortal Spirit Horse was raised well and its quality rose to third rank, it would awaken its bloodline talent and be able to ride upon the clouds and fly.

Ordinary Immortal Spirit Horses could not fly, but they were extremely fast and could traverse all kinds of terrain, already displaying the precursors to riding upon clouds.

If one were to boast that the Immortal Spirit Horse could travel a thousand miles a day, it would have to go find a slab of tofu to smash its head upon and die.

Therefore, although the Immortal Spirit Horse was very docile, because of its great speed, it also had tremendous danger.

For example, after travelling just a few hundred miles, it left a certain person surnamed Qin with a battered and swollen face.

Fortunately, he had a strong body and clear mind. After falling off several times, under the guidance of the horse riding grandmaster Li Shiyin, he finally learned how to ride a horse.

"Master..." The two rode their horses, galloping along the road out of the Hengduan Mountains. Li Shiyin glanced at Qin Ran's swollen face and asked with a suppressed laugh, "We're going to be travelling for many days. Will Windchaser starve to death?"

Although his body ached all over and his face was swollen, Qin Ran still replied with utmost seriousness:

"I concocted some beast nurturing pills that are very beneficial for him, and left them all for him. There's also still a lot of mystical beast milk and meat in the kitchen refrigerator. Windchaser is not an ordinary animal, he's very clever and won't starve to death."

"But..." Li Shiyin judged others by her own standards, "Won't Windchaser lose control of himself and eat everything up in the past few days, leaving nothing to eat in the later days?"

This situation seemed very likely. Qin Ran couldn't help but fall silent, it seemed he had miscalculated again.

Why were there so many miscalculations today? With so many mishaps occurring as they set out on this trip, could something be about to happen? He felt somewhat uneasy.

As the Immortal Spirit Horses picked up speed, galloping faster and faster, they had exited the Hengduan Mountains before noon, arriving at the plains outside. They went from the narrow forest trails to the grasslands of the flatlands.

At this time, Li Shiyin finally remembered that she still didn't know their destination, so she asked, "Master, where does that artisan blacksmith live?"

"Xuanqin Country," Qin Ran replied. After galloping half a day, he had basically learned to ride a horse. Sitting atop the horse now felt relaxed.

"Xuanqin?" Li Shiyin exclaimed in surprise, "We still have to go to Xuanqin?!"

"It's not far. That artisan blacksmith also lives outside the Hengduan Mountains, just happening to be within Xuanqin Country," Qin Ran said. "We'll head west, following along the outskirts of the Hengduan Mountains. With the speed of the Immortal Spirit Horses, we shouldn't need more than two days."

"Outside the Hengduan Mountains, could it be Anlu City?" Li Shiyin suddenly asked.

"?" Qin Ran was somewhat puzzled. "Why ask that?"

"Li Shiwen is stationed outside the Hengduan Mountains, partly to prevent mystical beasts from harming people, and partly to deter Xuanqin," Li Shiyin said. Ever since she had given Li Shiwen a brutal beating last time, she no longer called him brother, but addressed him directly by name, and was increasingly brazen about it. "I used to go there to play with Li Shiwen, and he would bring me to fight with Xuanqin troops."

As expected of you! Qin Ran silently ridiculed to himself. He said, "It's not in Anlu City, but outside Anlu City. There's a small town near Anlu bordering the Hengduan Mountains called Sword Forging Town."

"What a pity!" Li Shiyin lamented. "In the past when fighting, I would always lose. It would've been great if we went to Anlu, then we could take the opportunity to beat them up."

Qin Ran ignored her words as if he hadn't heard them.

Although the Immortal Spirit Horses could not fly, they could basically traverse mountains as if they were flat ground. With a skilled rider, they could even glide across water. Therefore, although the terrain outside the Hengduan Mountains was mostly untamed with winding mountain paths, it did not impede the master and disciple's journey at all.

After travelling through the forest for some time, the view suddenly opened up ahead of them. They emerged from the woods into a flat area. Further ahead, there was a village.

"Wow...Master, there are houses over there!" Li Shiyin excitedly pointed and shouted, "Let's go over and find some food!"

Qin Ran shook his head. "We can't."

"Why not?" Li Shiyin asked, puzzled.

"Where is this place?" Qin Ran questioned.

"The Hengduan Mountains!" Li Shiyin replied.

"That's right, the Hengduan Mountains!" Qin Ran said. "This area lies at the borders between North Chu Country, Xuanqin Country and the Hengduan Mountains. How could ordinary villages possibly exist in such disputed territories? We cannot enter the village, and must be extremely cautious!"

Li Shiyin sighed. How could there be any danger? But the Master had spoken, so she could only obey.

Not only did Qin Ran not enter the village, he slowed down and kept his distance, bypassing the village from afar, fearing the villagers would discover them.

But while the villagers could not detect them, their keen senses allowed them to clearly hear the commotion coming from the village as they circumvented it. They could hear the villagers shouting:

"Block that side, don't let the beast escape!"

"Watch out for the children...keep the kids back!"

"Where are the knives? Those with knives come surround it!"

"The children, watch the children!"

"Heavens..."

"Dear heavens!"

Something seemed to have happened in the village, and it sounded like children had been harmed. Qin Ran's nose twitched as he faintly smelled traces of devilish qi.

"Hurry up..." He urgently called for Li Shiyin. With a demon beast harming people, they had to run!

But when he looked back, he only saw Li Shiyin jerk the reins, pulling Windchaser's head aside as she charged straight for the village!

"Shiyin!" Qin Ran angrily shouted. "Stop!"

But Li Shiyin did not listen to him. She rushed to the edge of the houses in the village, unsheathed her Qixing Sword hanging by her white horse, gripped the sword and leapt forward.

"Damnit!" Qin Ran cursed and clumsily pulled on the reins to follow after her.

In the open space amongst the scattered houses of the village, over a dozen brawny men wielding an assortment of weapons like spears, sabres, hoes and sickles had surrounded a gigantic snake, forming a large circle.

In the middle of this circle was an enormous serpent...

Its body was as thick as a water barrel, approximately thirteen to fourteen meters long. It had a dark red body covered in fine scales, a rounded head, and a blood-red forked tongue flicking out. Its golden vertical pupils stared straight at the villagers around it.

Its eyes contained some strange colors, vaguely conveying its emotions, telling the villagers that this was no ordinary snake, but a demonic beast.

In its coiled body it had trapped two unconscious children, a boy and a girl.

The giant serpent flicked its tongue, tightening and loosening its body. When the villagers approached, it would tighten its coils, and when they retreated, it would loosen up - clearly adopting a threatening posture!

The men surrounding it did not dare to move recklessly, neither daring to approach nor let the snake leave. They could only stand frozen in place. The cries of the women at the periphery also gradually died down, and for a moment an eerie silence descended upon the village.

It was precisely at this time that a clear and melodious shout rang out:

"Vile beast, release the children!"

The villagers looked towards the voice to see a female sword immortal astride a white horse and wielding a sword galloping forth.

She stopped her white horse at the edge of the crowd, then leapt up into the air, flying over the crowd. Her sword shot out a ray of sword qi straight towards the giant serpent's head.

"Watch out for the children!" The villagers shouted in chaos as they scattered.

This was no ordinary snake. It knew enough to evade the perilous sword light headed for it.

The female sword immortal closed in with her sword, slashing horizontally to cleave its body in two...

"Getting close to a demonic beast?" The giant serpent sneered coldly in its heart. Ignoring the sword swipe, it lashed its tail towards her.

Its tail was even bigger than the swordswoman's body. With this tail whip, the victor was decided!

But just as it began to whip its tail, in the next moment its eyes widened and its mouth gaped - it hurt!

The hard scales on its upper body had been sliced open by the sword!

It had no time to think further. The serpent swiftly lowered its head to bite, fast as lightning!

Then...

It staggered, having bitten empty air! Its tail had been grabbed!

The female sword immortal held her sword in her right hand while her left hand had clamped onto its tail. She turned and fled, dragging its massive body out of the village!!

"Such monstrous strength?!" The giant serpent was dumbfounded.

Qin Ran rode over on his horse to see Li Shiyin madly running while dragging the giant serpent whose coiled body still held the two children.

"Reckless!"

He quickly stretched out his hand, sending forth a watery hand-shaped projection that pulled the children from the serpent's coils and delivered them safely into the villagers' midst.

And after Li Shiyin's child was saved by Qin Ran, she became even more uninhibited. She dragged the snake out of the crowd, out of the village, to an open space outside the village, threw aside the Qixing Sword, grabbed the giant snake's tail with both hands, and swung the giant snake around!

This was no female sword immortal, this was clearly a female deity of great strength!

Chapter 52

Li Shiyin hugged the tail of the giant snake, swung the ten-meter long giant snake in the air for a few circles, then smashed it on the ground a few times. Feeling the struggling strength of the giant snake weakening, she then stopped and smashed the giant snake on the ground again with force.

After calling for the Qingxing Sword, she panted and flew onto the sword, heading towards the snake head's location to check on the situation of the giant snake.

Qin Ran flew over in a timely manner and stopped the silly goose-like Li Shiyin. He raised his hand and flew out a bubble, enveloping the entire giant snake in it.

"In this kind of situation, because the specific status of the enemy is uncertain, it is best to directly deliver the finishing blow. If you don't want to do that, then don't get too close to the enemy casually either, otherwise you are very likely to be ambushed by the enemy. This is still a snake. The speed of the snake head is extremely fast. If you just go and take a look like this, does it seem like you have lived far too long?" he admonished.

"Oh!" Li Shiyin panted and stuck out her tongue.

Qin Ran glared at her.

"I've seen the immortal!"

At this time, a group of villagers surrounded them. Among them, two couples each hugged their children and knelt down in front of Qin Ran and Li Shiyin, kowtowing,

"Thank you, immortal!"

"No need, no need..." Li Shiyin said, "It was just a small matter!"

A small matter - hugging a ten-meter long giant snake and playing with it like a toy.

The two couples knelt on the ground, looked up at Li Shiyin, with some fear in their eyes. The scene of Li Shiyin's wild abuse of the giant snake just now was really frightening. They actually felt that Qin Ran, who later saved the children, was more approachable and had the flavor of an immortal.

One of the husbands looked at Qin Ran and said, "Immortal, you subdued the evil monster and saved my son. I really don't know how to thank you..."

Before he finished speaking, Qin Ran raised his hand to stop him from continuing, and replied, "My disciple and I passed by here and helped incidentally. There is no need for thanks."

Qin Ran knew what was on the minds of these two couples who came over hugging their children. They just wanted him to save their children.

He didn't say much more, landed in front of them, squatted down, took the boy's wrist, and took his pulse. He found that the child's bones had become deformed, and his five viscera and six bowels were also squeezed to some extent. He frowned, also touched the girl's pulse, and found that the situation was not much better.

The power of the giant snake was not something children could withstand, not even a tiny bit. With the condition of these two children, if he didn't make a move, they probably wouldn't survive.

"Immortal, how is my child?" a woman asked. She was still kneeling on the ground.

"You get up first." Qin Ran said. "The child's problem is serious..."

Hearing his words, the two couples kowtowed again, anxiously saying, "The immortal is extremely compassionate and benevolent, righteous and kind. I beg you to save my child."

"Get up first." Qin Ran said. "The child's problem is serious, but it's not hopeless."

Only then did the two couples stop kowtowing, but they still did not stand up.

Qin Ran took out a Blood Activating Muscle Pill from the Universe Bag. He said to the villagers next to him, "Go and get a bowl of water."

Soon a villager brought water over.

Qin Ran put the Blood Activating Muscle Pill into the water and waited for it to dissolve. He squatted down and pressed his hand on the boy's chest, saying to the couple, "His bones and internal organs were all squeezed. I'll reshape his bones first."

"Immortal, do as you wish."

Qin Ran sent his divine sense into the boy's brain to hypnotize him, and slowly transferred power into the boy's limbs and bones. With his control over his power and the gentleness of his water-attributed power, he reshaped the boy's bones.

Then he fed the boy half of the water containing the dissolved Blood Activating Muscle Pill to help his injuries recover quickly.

After healing the boy, Qin Ran was about to reshape the bones for the girl, but at this time Li Shiyin suddenly walked over. She said to Qin Ran, "Master, for the girl, let me do it."

"Hmm?" Qin Ran looked at her doubtfully, then realized it would be inappropriate for him to do it for the girl. So he asked Li Shiyin, "Can you do it?"

"Master, please teach me."

"Immortal..." But the girl's parents did not trust Li Shiyin.

"Don't worry, she is also very capable." Qin Ran said.

"But..."

As the girl's parents hesitated, Li Shiyin pouted unhappily, squatted down, and pressed her hand on the girl's chest.

"Your power is too aggressive, so be more careful." Qin Ran nodded at the girl's parents and said to Li Shiyin, "Let your power slowly enter her body, protect her internal organs first..."

Li Shiyin did as instructed, but her power was not as gentle as Qin Ran's. Her control over her power was also far from Qin Ran's level. As soon as her power entered the body, the pain woke the girl up.

Qin Ran quickly sent out his divine sense to soothe the girl and put her back to sleep.

"Then reshape her bones, don't use too much force..."

Under Qin Ran's guidance, Li Shiyin also step-by-step reshaped the girl's bones. Qin Ran looked at her. His silly disciple's control over power was already quite skilled.

He handed Li Shiyin the remaining half bowl of Blood Activating Muscle Pill water and said, "Let her drink the water."

The treatment was successful. Li Shiyin was quite happy. She stood up and grinned at Qin Ran.

Qin Ran didn't really want to pay attention to her. He took out another book and handed it to one of the men, saying,

"The children's bones and five viscera were injured. Although we did our best, it was still artificial treatment after all, I dare not guarantee absolutely no problems. This is a practice method for nourishing the body. Teach them to practice diligently, it will benefit their bodies."

"Yes, immortal!" The man bowed to accept the practice method.

After handling this side, Qin Ran brought Li Shiyin to the giant snake and considered how to deal with it.

"We can't let it go, can't guarantee it won't come back for revenge; We also can't take it with us, we don't have the free time to look after it. So..." Qin Ran said, "Although a bit heartless, there is only killing it."

"Shiyin!" He gestured at Li Shiyin, "Use you Starlight Beam move to practice your skills."

"Master..." Li Shiyin grasped the hilt, but did not draw the sword for a long time, "Isn't it too cruel?"

"You were the one who made the first move, so you should also finish it. Take responsibility for your actions!" Qin Ran said expressionlessly. "Shiyin, remember, this is the immortal cultivation world. There is no room for the slightest soft-heartedness!"

Li Shiyin fell silent and said nothing. After a while, the Qingxing Sword was unsheathed, and starlight was accumulated...

Just as the starlight was about to shoot out, the giant snake's body inside the bubble suddenly started flickering, making her stop.

The huge body in the bubble shook a few times, and slowly shrank visibly. In a short while, it shrank from a gigantic state to the size of an ordinary person. It squirmed once more and became even smaller. Then it stretched out its hands, feet and head.

With another flicker, it turned into a five or six year old little girl, using snake skin to wrap her body. She tumbled and knelt inside the bubble, pitifully pleading, "I beg the immortal to spare my life. Consider this is my first offense, and I have not harmed anyone yet. Please spare me from death!"

"What's this?" Li Shiyin stopped, frowning.

"A demon?" Qin Ran was shocked, and a Earth Fire Pellet appeared in his palm.

"Who are you?" he asked the little girl.

"Replying to the immortal, little demon Long Qi Qi, the demon of the Hengduan Mountains here." The little girl replied.

"Snake demon Long Qi Qi?" Qin Ran felt strange.

"You heard our predicament earlier, this won't change just because you transformed." He said solemnly. "On the contrary, because you transformed, I must kill you even more."

"Immortal, I guarantee I won't offend again. I'll go back to the Hengduan Mountains immediately and never come out again forever." Long Qi Qi kowtowed desperately.

"You guarantee?" Qin Ran shook his head. "It's useless."

Actually Long Qi Qi didn't want to go back to the Hengduan Mountains either. She finally got out, how could she want to go back? Going back to the Hengduan Mountains now was the next worst option besides death.

Hearing Qin Ran's words, she immediately changed her tune: "Then the immortal can bring the little demon with you to supervise me at all times! The little demon can serve tea and water, wait on people, and doesn't eat much either. As long as you spare me from death."

"It would be inconvenient for us..." The strong will to survive made Qin Ran hesitate, but he still wanted to kill the snake demon and be done with it.

"Mas...Master, she's also a child." Li Shiyin suddenly whispered.

Qin Ran coldly looked at her with a frown on his face. His silly apprentice had many qualities of a general's manor, but this soft heart of kindness did not match a general at all.

Could this snake demon also be considered a child? She had already taken human form, her age could be older than her grandfather... No, she could be older than the Northern Chu Kingdom itself.

But in the end, they did not kill this snake demon. Instead, they took her away with them.

Chapter 53

"What is the difference between demons and demonic beasts?"

Qin Ran pondered for a moment, then explained to Li Shiyin, who had posed the question, "Let's take Chasing the Wind as an example. If Chasing the Wind grows normally, from a first-level demonic beast to a second-level demonic beast, all the way up to a seventh-level demonic beast, and maintains the appearance of a demonic beast throughout, then it is considered a demonic beast.

"But if one day, he sacrifices his demonic core and reshapes his physical body, transforming it into a human form, then he becomes a demon.

"Or... if he consumes a transformation pill."

"A transformation pill?" Li Shiyin asked.

"It's an advanced pill that can only be refined by cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage. It can seize the heavens' and earth's essence, directly transforming animals and birds into human form."

"Then, which is more powerful, demons or demonic beasts?" Li Shiyin asked again.

"This is actually difficult to determine because the situation is too complex. Even if we were to establish a separate discipline, it would still fall short," Qin Ran said.

"However, there is a simple way to judge. Generally speaking, the nobler the bloodline of a demonic beast, the stronger it will be. But demonic creatures with inferior bloodlines may have a chance to counterattack.

"When a demonic beast transforms into a demon, it gains a human form and can cultivate human arts, integrating into human society. However, the top-tier demonic arts are not inferior to the highest-level human arts. So those ancient great demons, divine birds, and sacred beasts disdain transforming into humans."

Li Shiyin nodded, finally gaining an understanding of demons and demonic beasts. She then pointed to Long Qiqi, the snake demon who was sitting in Qin Ran's arms, and asked, "What about her? What's her situation?"

Long Qiqi was now dressed in clothes that fit her well, which were obtained from a nearby village.

"I cannot determine whether her bloodline is high or low," Qin Ran's expression became somewhat strange as he looked down at the little girl in his arms.

"But at present, she has no cultivation and all her demonic power has transformed into this body. Based on this, her bloodline shouldn't be very high. She belongs to the kind of demonic beast that takes a desperate gamble, attempting to defy fate by transforming into a human."

Realizing that Qin Ran was looking at her, Long Qiqi quickly lifted her head and grinned at him.

However, because Li Shiyin was always seeing Long Qiqi's silly grin, Qin Ran was well aware that her smile wasn't genuine. It was a calculated smile.

Li Shiyin didn't appreciate seeing Long Qiqi, especially when she saw Long Qiqi smiling at her master. She glared at Long Qiqi and gritted her teeth as she asked Qin Ran, "She doesn't even have any cultivation! So why don't you let her accompany me?!"

Qin Ran had Long Qiqi ride with him not because he was truly a perverted weirdo, but because he was wary of Long Qiqi. After all, having Li Shiyin stay with this cunning snake demon...

Well, Qin Ran couldn't say for sure.

"Even if she has no cultivation, she is still a highly venomous snake!" he explained to Li Shiyin like this, then turned to Long Qiqi and asked, "What kind of snake are you?"

Long Qiqi secretly pursed her lips and replied, "According to the classification of you humans, I should be an Infernal Shadow Climber Snake."

An Infernal Shadow Climber Snake?!

As soon as Long Qiqi uttered these words, Qin Ran was startled. His knowledge of snakes was limited to books, and he had never encountered one in person. So he had no idea that the snake he had been fighting with for most of the day was actually a Yinsha Taipan Snake!

What is a Yinsha Taipan Snake? It is a snake that is born with a Yinsha constitution, nurtured in a Yinsha-infested place. It naturally possesses Yinsha poison, which is potent enough to kill a Golden Core cultivator.

An ordinary Taipan Snake is already highly venomous, but the Yinsha Taipan Snake is a fourth-level demonic beast. So, how terrifying would a transformed Yinsha Taipan Snake be?

Leaving aside its combat power, let's just talk about its poison...

Without much thought, Qin Ran quickly sealed the vital acupoints on Long Qiqi's body with lightning speed, rendering her completely immobilized. Fortunately, his foolish disciple hadn't been bitten during their fight. Qin Ran felt a shiver of fear.

Taking on human form was necessary to cultivate human cultivation techniques. To practice these techniques, one must have human meridians and acupoints. However, by acquiring human meridians and acupoints, one also inherits human weaknesses.

This is the nature of gain and loss.

Long Qiqi had transformed into human form, and Qin Ran sealed her using human methods. She had anticipated this situation and only responded with a mocking smile, choosing not to speak.

Seeing how nervous her master was, Li Shiyin realized that this Yinsha Taipan Snake must be formidable. But after glancing at Long Qiqi, who was now a defeated subordinate, she sneered and said, "According to human standards?"

How dare a defeated subordinate speak so arrogantly?

Long Qiqi's mouth was not sealed, allowing her to speak. She coldly chuckled and replied, "In this world, you humans are the dominant species, and you humans are the ones who define the classifications of other beings. But I don't acknowledge your classifications. I cannot create a new classification system for different species, but I can choose not to abide by your human classification.

"You call me a snake, a Taipan Snake, but I don't acknowledge it. I say I am a dragon, a Red Dragon without scales or horns. I'm not called Qiqi the Snake, I'm called Qiqi the Dragon."

Oh? Qin Ran became slightly interested after hearing Long Qiqi's words. She was indeed a fascinating snake.

"Such deceptive words!" Li Shiyin coldly snorted.

"I am not a demon. Demons are also defined by you humans..." Long Qiqi continued, "One day, when I become an Immortal Deity, I will transform the entire Lingnan Region into my world. Then, humans won't be called humans, but pigs; snakes won't be called snakes, but dragons; immortals won't be called immortals, but maggots..."

She was a snake with lofty ideals.

Listening to Long Qiqi, Qin Ran couldn't help but tease, "But even Immortal Deities are defined by humans, and the Lingnan Region is also named by humans. Human, pig, snake, dragon, immortal—they are all defined by humans."

"Ah?" Long Qiqi was speechless.

Qin Ran continued, "The language you are using right now to speak is the language of humans."

"Hmph!" Long Qiqi's cute face turned fierce. Her black pupils turned golden with vertical slits. Defiantly, she said, "Then I will create a language specifically for the demonic race!"

"Go for it!" Qin Ran clenched his fist.

Seeing Long Qiqi's defeat at the hands of her master, Li Shiyin became even more pleased. She hummed a tune, pulled the reins, and moved ahead.

Today, they were already unable to reach Anlu City, and they ended up wasting time on the road, failing to even reach the border of Xuanqin Country.

There was still some distance to the border, and it was getting dark. Once it was dark, they couldn't continue their journey.

Although Qin Ran and Li Shiyin had good eyesight, they hadn't studied any eye techniques, so they couldn't see in completely dark environments. They had no choice but to stop and rest.

They stopped in the wilderness.

Not to mention finding a place like Anlu or Xuanqin, they couldn't even find an inn. In the end, they had to spend the night in the wilderness, which was the worst-case scenario.

"Studying an eye technique is an urgent matter," Qin Ran said while helping Li Shiyin set up the tent. He sighed, "It seems like nothing is going smoothly. I hope things will get better in the future."

Soon, two tents were set up in the open field. A young couple and a chubby little girl sat in front of a campfire, talking and roasting spirit beast meat.

The crackling sound of the campfire, the cool breeze blowing through the mountains, the grass swaying—their two white horses were tied nearby, lowering their heads to eat grass.

Qin Ran sprinkled seasoning and honey on the roasted meat. He had anticipated the worst-case scenario of camping in the mountains and made ample preparations.

The aroma of the roasted meat filled the air. The chubby snake demon girl, Long Qiqi, hugged her legs and stared at the meat on the fire, salivating.

"Do you want some meat?" Qin Ran deliberately asked when he saw her.

"Meat! Meat!!" Long Qiqi exclaimed eagerly, with her drool spilling all over the ground.

Only then did Qin Ran cut a piece of meat for her.

Although the snake demon appeared young, her appetite was not small. As for Li Shiyin, she had a hearty appetite and was always the first one to eat.

So, this meal was quite a busy one for Qin Ran, and he only got to eat some meat at the end.

They roasted meat, stewed soup, and had vegetables and fruits. In this regard, Qin Ran had truly inherited the teachings of Confucius. He savored every bite and was meticulous in his eating. Even though they were in the wilderness, he managed to treat Li Shiyin to a delicious outdoor barbecue.

After eating their fill and feeding some Beast-feeding Pills to their celestial spirit horses, the two of them, along with the demon disciple, lay on the grass, enjoying the night breeze and gazing at the starry sky.

Despite the distant cries of ghosts and howls of wolves, there were also chirping crickets nearby.

The foolish disciple, who was full and content, happily spoke simple-minded words by the side. Qin Ran thought that occasionally going camping was still quite enjoyable.

Chapter 54

Originally, it was supposed to be a nice camping trip, until Qin Ran was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night.

The campfire outside the tent was still burning vigorously, casting flickering light into the tent that illuminated the furtive snake-like body.

Qin Ran sat up and saw Long Qiqi with her back facing him, sneaking out like a thief.

"Where are you going?" he asked aloud.

"Ah!" Long Qiqi did not notice the movement behind her and was startled by the sudden voice. She turned around, saw Qin Ran staring at her, and smiled ingratiatingly, "Oh, uh, I need to pee urgently so I'm going to the toilet!"

Qin Ran ignored her, got up and went over to Long Qiqi, touching her he found that the sealed acupoints had been opened.

After all Long Qiqi was a demon beast, although she had transformed into a human, the locations of her acupoints and meridian pathways still had subtle differences compared to humans.

Normal methods really could not seal her for too long.

Qin Ran looked at her for a moment, then sealed her acupoints again... Unfortunately he had not learned how to dislocate bones, otherwise taking apart her bones would be even better.

"Hey! You can't seal me here at this time!" Long Qiqi became anxious and said, "People will die!"

"You forgot, you're not human," Qin Ran retorted, and no longer bothered with her as he walked straight out of the tent.

The tents were pitched on a vast wilderness, and standing there one could see very far into the distance.

Qin Ran stood in front of the tent, gazing into the darkness in the distance, where there were torches, one after another, several hundred of them, connected into a large area.

There were also sounds of people shouting, horses neighing, and the clip-clop of hooves approaching.

The ground was shaking.

An army was coming, cavalry at that!

Qin Ran was shocked awake, not only because Long Qiqi wanted to escape, but also because he could feel the ground shaking from the cavalry trampling the earth.

"Shiyin!!"

He rushed to Li Shiyin's tent and yelled repeatedly.

The cavalry were pressing in, the "boom boom" of hooves becoming clearer, but there was no movement from inside the tent.

Qin Ran shouted again: "Shiyin, Shiyin!!"

Li Shiyin still did not respond.

Qin Ran became anxious, disregarding everything, ripped open the tent and rushed inside, only to see Li Shiyin sleeping spread-eagled inside, very sweetly asleep!

"Ah! You really make me give up!" Qin Ran suddenly felt despair.

Hurriedly he went over to pick up Li Shiyin and found a coat to wrap her in.

But before he had finished dressing Li Shiyin, the boom of hooves was already approaching. Then, someone outside the tent shouted: "Who's in the tent, come out quickly!"

Qin Ran continued dressing Li Shiyin.

Seeing no movement from the tent, someone outside drew a bow and shot a few arrows into the tent.

"Come out, or die!"

Qin Ran sighed, carried Li Shiyin who was only half dressed, and walked out of the tent.

Sure enough they were surrounded, looking out he could see over a thousand cavalry halted outside, a huge black mass, and another dozen or so had circled to the back, cutting off retreat from the tent.

The torches roared noisily in the wind, clear clinking sounds of armor colliding, horses milling around, the din from the army formation, the hypersensitive but socially anxious Qin Ran felt dizzy for a moment.

He was stunned for a bit before coming to his senses, then heard someone shouting at him:

"Hey! Hey!"

He looked up to see a soldier in black armor on horseback stopped in front of him, a saber pointed at him as the soldier barked: "Hey! Speak, who are you?"

"Qin Ran of the Dao Sword Sect," he replied.

"Dao Sword Sect?" The soldier sized up Qin Ran for a moment, "A cultivator?"

Then he shouted again: "What are you doing here?"

"Passing by, resting," Qin Ran said.

"Who's the one you're carrying?"

"My disciple."

"Your disciple?" The soldier seemed to think of something dirty and laughed.

After laughing for a while, he said, "Your disciple is like this?"

He was about to ask more when someone suddenly yelled from the side: "What did he say his name was?"

This voice sounded familiar to Qin Ran.

"Qin Ran!" the soldier shouted back loudly, "He's a cultivator."

Then someone rode over from that side, arriving beside Qin Ran, the horse circling around him, looking down and scrutinizing him.

Qin Ran looked up blankly at the horseman, this person was also wearing the same black armor, but he had a bright silver spear, and his face looked somewhat familiar...

He quickly recognized him, this was Li Shiwen!

"How about it? Recognize me now?" Li Shiwen asked coldly.

For some reason, Qin Ran suddenly felt guilty, as if in an instant he had become much shorter than Li Shiwen. He subconsciously lowered his head, not daring to look at Li Shiwen.

Why was this?

...Because he was holding the other's half naked sister!!!

"I didn't expect you to be such a beast!" Li Shiwen's eyes were shooting fire as he ground his teeth, seeming ready to devour someone.

As he spoke, he stabbed over with his spear.

Qin Ran freed a hand to grab Li Shiwen's steel spear, hesitated for a moment, then explained: "It's not what you think... This is an accident!"

"Then what the hell is it?!" Li Shiwen yelled explosively, jerking his spear but unable to pull it free, then said, "To think I thought you were a gentleman!"

His familiar explosive yelling finally woke up Li Shiyin.

In her groggy state, Li Shiyin heard her brother's voice and opened her eyes to look for him. Indeed there he was beside her.

Hmm? Warhorse, black armor, spear, torches, big wind, is this a battle? She must be dreaming right!?

Just as she was thinking this, Li Shiwen roared again: "Tear him apart for me!"

It really was her brother?!

Li Shiyin confirmed it and was very happy, yelling loudly: "Brother!"

Then she turned and jumped directly from Qin Ran's arms onto Li Shiwen's horse. Her tender white hand pressed on Li Shiwen's armor as she smiled and asked: "How did you get into my dream? This armor feels quite real."

Li Shiwen was taken aback, a question mark on his face.

"Did you come to fight me?" Li Shiyin was delighted, standing on the horse with hands on hips, taunting: "This time I'll let you use only one hand..."

"Shiyin..." Qin Ran called from the ground.

Li Shiyin looked back and saw Qin Ran on the ground, even more surprised: "Eh? Master!! You're in my dream too?"

Qin Ran slapped his forehead and pointed around them.

Li Shiyin followed his gesture and took a look around - the wilderness, tents, campfire - her mind gradually returned and it seemed...this was not a dream!

She lowered her head to look at Li Shiwen on the horse, very puzzled: "How did you get here?"

Li Shiwen's face was black as he asked back: "How did you get here?!"

"I went with Master to XuanQin to forge swords!" Li Shiyin replied.

"If you're forging swords then forge swords, what are you doing here? And...clothes in disarray, what's with that?!" Li Shiwen scolded.

Only then did Li Shiyin examine herself and find that her coat was only halfway on, the other half dangling crookedly.

"Eh? Who dressed me?" She couldn't remember.

"Ah!!" Li Shiwen and Qin Ran both looked up at the sky.

Li Shiwen suddenly realized he had made the same gesture as Qin Ran, and understood him in an instant - the misunderstanding was resolved...

Just then, there was a commotion in the distant formation, a soldier shouted towards them: "Demon beast!"

Li Shiwen immediately became serious. Soon a scout rode over and whispered in his ear: "General, wolf pack to the southeast!"

He nodded, then asked Qin Ran: "That white horse is yours?"

"Yes."

"Come with us!" said Li Shiwen.

Finally he withdrew his spear, raised it, and yelled loudly: "Everyone prepare to move out!"

Then he pulled the reins and headed southeast.

Li Shiyin jumped down from Li Shiwen's horse and put on her clothes properly on the ground. She asked Qin Ran: "Master, should we go with them?"

Qin Ran glanced at her and said: "Let's go!"

He went into the tent to drag out Long Qiqi, then rode out with Li Shiyin on their horses to follow the main force.

Chapter 55

Li Shiwen discovered Qin Ran and his apprentice, this was no coincidence.

Recently there have been frequent incidents of demon beasts going berserk and injuring people. He had a premonition that something was going on deep within the Hengduan Mountains. So these days, he had been patrolling the outskirts of the Hengduan Mountains.

Firstly to drive away the frenzied demon beasts, secondly to warn the foolish hunters and cultivators who did not know life from death, and thirdly to investigate the reason why the demon beasts were going berserk.

Tonight as he was patrolling this area, he saw a bonfire on the barren land from afar, and immediately brought his troops over to check exactly who was being so foolish as to not know life from death.

But as soon as he looked, he saw that it was actually his younger sister together with her master over there and...

"And what?" Li Shiyin's big eyes were a little confused as she asked Li Shiwen.

Li Shiwen did not know how to explain, so he rode forward on his horse.

Li Shiyin looked at Qin Ran doubtfully again. Qin Ran shook his head, also not knowing how to explain, and hurriedly rode forward to catch up with Li Shiwen.

Li Shiwen led the patrol troops, about all elites, wearing armor and carrying bows, spears and sabers, well-equipped for both close and long range combat.

Their armor was painted black, almost the same color as the darkness, like extinguished torches, they would blend into the darkness and become the grim reapers in the dark.

As they came and went, they moved uniformly and swiftly like gale force winds and lightning.

If Qin Ran had not been riding an Immortal Spirit Horse, he would not have even seen the tail end of this cavalry unit.

He rode a white horse, hugging the little lamia Long Qiqi, galloping to the front of the troop to catch up with Li Shiwen, and avoiding the confused Li Shiyin.

"Who is she?" Li Shiwen gestured at Long Qiqi in Qin Ran's arms and asked.

"Demon beast!" Qin Ran answered concisely.

"Demon beast?!"

Qin Ran hmmed and did not explain further.

Li Shiyin who was in the midst of asking the troops for bows, arrows and spears, glanced over and saw Li Shiwen's ignorant appearance. She curled her lips slightly with some contempt.

"Your general really has no experience. He has never even seen a demon beast snake before." She said to the soldier beside her.

"Ah yes yes yes." The soldiers nodded.

And seeing Qin Ran's expression, Li Shiwen knew he had overreacted. After all, this was an immortal expert, what was a small demon beast snake?

So he gave a little cough by himself and stopped talking, so as to avoid further exposing his own lack of knowledge.

The cavalry moved extremely fast, and in no time at all, they arrived at the place where the scout had reported seeing the demon beasts.

Qin Ran had good eyesight. Looking from afar, he could see amidst the darkness, pairs upon pairs of blood red eyes, and with the help of the torchlight from this side, he could also vaguely make out the sharp ears and long snouts in the dark undergrowth.

"Ready your bows!"

They were still quite a distance away that even Qin Ran could barely make out the details. Li Shiwen definitely could not see the specific situation over there, but without further thought, Li Shiwen already fired a rain of arrows over.

"Ao~~~~"

These wolf demon beasts were not very high level. This wave of arrows caused them heavy casualties. There was chaos amongst the wolf pack with intermittent howls here and there.

But the wolf pack was huge. Despite being injured, they did not flee, instead they charged towards them.

Qin Ran took another look. Amidst the darkness were countless pairs of bloodshot eyes, like a sea of blood, covering the entire mountain... this wolf pack had thousands of them!

As the cavalry charged and the wolf pack rushed over, the distance between them shortened rapidly. At that moment, Qin Ran could feel his own blood boiling as he drew out his sword.

But just then, Li Shiwen shouted, "Right turn!"

The entire cavalry unit turned neatly to the right in unison.

"Huh?" Qin Ran was dumbfounded and got thrown out of the formation. He looked left and saw the wolves right next to him. The stench overwhelmed him as the wolves brushed past the buttocks of his horse. He hurriedly spurred his Immortal Spirit Horse to catch up with higher performance.

Li Shiwen did not give him a heads up, he must have done that on purpose! Qin Ran gnashed his teeth.

Following behind the troop, Qin Ran could clearly see that with the cavalry's right turn, they had neatly avoided the wolf pack's charge. As the wolf pack rushed at them, the cavalry slid smoothly along the curve of their attack.

But Li Shiwen clearly could not see the details of the wolves' movements! How did he manage to do that?

Qin Ran suddenly recalled his silly apprentice's intuition during cultivation...

Li Shiwen led the cavalry to the side of the wolf pack, continuously firing arrows to whittle down their numbers.

They were like sheepdogs herding the wolves as sheep, keeping them in this grassland pasture.

Li Shiwen controlled the distance, encircling the wolf pack with attacks using only bows and arrows, avoiding close combat as much as possible. When wolves drew near, he would pull back. And when the wolf pack tried to flee, they would chase up to them.

A classic cavalry tactic of kiting.

However, Li Shiwen still could not see the details clearly. There were times he misjudged the distance and got into close quarter fights with the wolf pack, resulting in cavalry casualties.

"Level one demon beast, Dark Night Forest Wolf Pack." Qin Ran identified the specific type of wolf pack.

Seeing the fallen soldiers amidst the darkness, he sighed and took out some medicinal pills from his cosmic bag, conveying to Li Shiwen with sound transmission, "I'll throw, you shoot!"

Li Shiwen did not understand his intention but Qin Ran did not explain much. He directly threw a pill into the air and Li Shiwen frowned before drawing his bow to shoot an arrow accurately at the pill in midair.

In the next moment, the pill exploded with an eye piercing light in the air. Every single grain of the exploded pill lit up, dispelling the darkness in this area.

"There's actually something like this?" Li Shiwen was dazzled by the light and exclaimed joyfully.

Qin Ran threw a few more pills into the air and Li Shiwen shot them down one by one with his arrows. In a short while, it was as bright as daytime, with everything in clear sight.

With that, there would no longer be cases of Li Shiwen misjudging distances when leading the cavalry to kite.

The cavalry advanced bit by bit, pushing the wolf pack back towards the forest. The wolf pack retreated slowly, watching intently for any chance to counter attack. Both sides seemed highly organized.

It could be seen that Li Shiwen was no stranger to leading troops to drive away packs of demon beasts. It was also evident that the wolf king of this pack was not simple at all.

Qin Ran rode hard to keep up with the advancing and retreating tempo of the cavalry on his Immortal Spirit Horse.

While keeping up, he sent out his divine sense to search for something amongst the wolf pack until finally, after much effort, at a certain moment he found his target on that slightly bigger wolf hiding amongst the pack...

The Wolf King!

"Shiyin..." He called out urgently.

Unlike Qin Ran, Li Shiyin had grown up on horseback since young. Riding and shooting arrows was like eating and drinking to her. She had also experienced cavalry offense and defense before. At that moment, she was happily going with the flow of Li Shiwen's tempo.

Hearing Qin Ran calling for her, she took the chance to ask during the brief respite, "What's the matter?"

"The Wolf King!"

Qin Ran shared his line of sight via his divine sense to Li Shiyin, allowing her to also see the hiding Wolf King. She instantly became excited, spurring her horse out of formation to rush next to Li Shiwen and snatching his steel spear.

She stood up on her white horse, took a step forward to plant a foot on the horse's head and shouted, "From now on, I'm the older sister, Li Shiwen!"

The spear shot through the air in a parabolic trajectory. Its tip glinted in the bright light before accurately piercing the Wolf King's torso, nailing it directly to the ground.

It was as if there was some strange effect at play. The moment the Wolf King died, the wolf pack instantly lost all fighting spirit and began to scatter loosely.

The cavalry drew their bows and volleys of arrows rained down. The dead wolves died and the scattered ones fled. The pack quickly disappeared into the forest.

"Awesome..."

The cavalry cheered and their horses neighed along.

Suddenly someone shouted, "Shiyin". Qin Ran could clearly hear it was Li Shiwen shouting. Then some others followed shouting, they were trusted aides of the Li family.

Then wave after wave of cheers rang out:

"Shiyin!"

"Shiyin!"

"Shiyin..."

Li Shiyin stood on the horse's head with both hands raised, basking in the cheers, looking every bit like a...

Villainous demon lord!

As Qin Ran watched on, he felt that the cheers were a perfect match for his silly apprentice's performance. She was born to stand in the center of the stage, destined to be the brightest star in the night sky.

His heart suddenly felt itchy.

"What do you think?" Li Shiwen's voice suddenly sounded next to his ear and Qin Ran saw him riding over while watching Shiyin and asking him.

"Think of what?" Qin Ran did not know what Li Shiwen wanted to ask.

"What do you think of my sister?"

"Shiyin is great!" Qin Ran replied.

"Do you like her then?"