Chapter 014 - She's Prettier than Yao Qingqian!

The place was eerily silent. Yun Xiao rose hastily, eyes darting around in search. Where was that black-scaled beast from just moments ago?

"Hey hey, watch it! You're stepping on me!" The feeble voice of Blue Star rose from beneath his foot.

"Huh?" Yun Xiao moved his foot immediately, squatting down. From the dirt, he pinched out a tiny tail. "No wonder my foot felt weirdly soft..." With that, he pulled out what seemed to be a creature covered in black fuzz. Blue Star, quite comically, looked like a flattened cartoon—eyes wide, tongue lolling out. Beside him, Red Moon fainted with stars circling its head.

"You guys okay?" Yun Xiao asked, holding the fuzzy tail and giving it a gentle shake.

"Easy, easy! I'm feeling dizzy," Blue Star grumbled, pointing urgently at a woman nearby. "Quick, check if she has any Spirit Stones..."

Without hesitation, Yun Xiao reached into the woman's embrace, pulling out a pouch shimmering with a faint light. It felt full. "A Pouch of Holding?" Yun Xiao had heard tales of such pouches in the mundane world, a treasure that only the top cultivators possessed. It was said that the wealth inside could rival that of the entire Cloud Nation. He loosened the colorful drawstring and peeked inside. Sure enough, the space within the pouch was filled with an Immortal Aura. "There's quite a lot here!" Apart from some feminine clothes and daily necessities, there were countless Spirit Stones.

"How many?" Blue Star sniffed, obviously sensing something.

"Thousands!" Yun Xiao exclaimed in surprise. With a Pouch of Holding and thousands of Spirit Stones, this woman must've been incredibly wealthy. Ye Guao only had thirty Spirit Stones, after all!

"How did she get so many?" Blue Star's eyes sparkled.

"She might be the mistress of the Sword Venerable," Yun Xiao speculated.

"Well, then move quickly... I don't want to hibernate for another three months!" Blue Star's urgency was palpable.

Yun Xiao stretched his hand into the pouch, grabbing a large handful of Spirit Stones and moving them towards Blue Star's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Blue Star glared.

"Feeding you?" Yun Xiao replied cheekily.

"Feed your sister! Look down here," Blue Star pointed to a gaping mouth on his chest, "This is where you feed me. I use the one on my face to talk!"

"You've got to be joking. You have a specific job for each mouth?" Yun Xiao snorted but didn’t waste any more time. If they fell into hibernation for three months, it would be quite a hassle. He worried about how to feed the unconscious Red Moon, but as he brought the Spirit Stones closer, its eyes lit up, and its massive mouth swung open...

"Yikes!" Yun Xiao's hand was nearly bitten off by the voracious creature. "Hey, slow down there!" he exclaimed.

Red Moon consumed the Spirit Stones like they were peanuts, Yun Xiao feeding it handful by handful. Suddenly, a crunch echoed. He'd accidentally fed it a lady's shoe and some lingerie, which Red Moon consumed without hesitation. Cold sweat dripped from his brow.

After around a thousand or so Spirit Stones, the once-dim blue eyes of Blue Star began to regain their luster.

"Feeling better?" Yun Xiao asked, genuinely concerned.

"Good thing this woman had enough Spirit Stones, or else I'd have been drained entirely," Blue Star remarked with a slight smirk.

"So, with all these Spirit Stones, you'll be fully recharged?" Yun Xiao continued to feed him.

"More or less," Blue Star replied.

"Which means you can back me up once more." Yun Xiao grinned.

"Seriously? You're exploiting child labor here!" Blue Star shot him an accusatory glance. "Just be cautious. We need a long recovery. Plus, it's not like every victim will have this many Spirit Stones."

"Understood." Yun Xiao nodded.

"And another thing," Blue Star interjected. "Our form earlier might be mistaken for a Taotie."

"Taotie? Is it another beast with a face on its chest?" Yun Xiao asked.

"More or less! It's a kind of ancient demon beast. If seen, it would cause a panic and might bring serious consequences. So, it's probably not the best idea if we fight in public," Blue Star explained gravely.

"Got it," Yun Xiao smirked, pinching Blue Star's face playfully. "Relax, buddy. I've got it all figured out." This path they were on, crucially depended on him. While Blue Star and Red Moon could support him, he shouldn't solely rely on their strength.

"Quit pinching me like I'm some cutesy animal! I'm an ancient demon beast!" Blue Star protested, teeth bared.

"Yeah, yeah," Yun Xiao teased, continuing to pinch, making Blue Star's protests sound like cute squeaks.

Blue Star simply shot him a withering glare.

Suddenly, a trembling gaze caught their attention. Under the dim candlelight, Cai Maomao stood at the courtyard entrance, nervously scratching his head.

"Senior Brother Cai," Yun Xiao offered a shadowy smile in the darkness, "You handle the blood. I'll handle the bodies, okay?"

Cai Maomao quickly nodded. "Alright."

Without another word, Yun Xiao began binding the eleven bodies together, preparing to depart. But just as he was about to leave, Cai Maomao's trembling voice called out, "Junior Brother!!"

Yun Xiao turned back, "Yes?"

Cai Maomao bit his lip, hesitating for a moment, "Never mind..." Whatever words he held back remained a mystery, lingering in the silent night.

Yun Xiao turned to Cai Maomao and asked a question outright, “Senior Brother Cai, let me ask you something.”

“Go ahead,” Cai Maomao replied.

“Considering we just met, why did you go to such lengths to protect me?” Yun Xiao stared intently at him.

Cai Maomao paused, a little caught off guard. He offered a sheepish grin, replying with some discomfort, “Well, it's been a while since the Sword Pavilion had a new disciple. I imagined everyone would be eager to meet you tomorrow. As your Senior Brother, how could I let them bully you? That would be quite the blow to my pride...”

“Got it,” Yun Xiao interjected, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

Taking a deep breath, Cai Maomao mustered his courage, finally voicing his lingering thoughts, “Yun Xiao... I heard you're an orphan. I just wanted to let you know, once you’re in the Sword Pavilion, we’re all family.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Yun Xiao chuckled. “That’s good to hear.”

Hesitantly, Cai Maomao ventured, “And if you ever felt... the lack of a father figure, I could... you know...”

“...Scram!” Yun Xiao swiftly turned his back. He didn’t drag the bodies far. All that mattered was that Cai Maomao couldn’t witness the scene that was about to unfold. Again, he summoned the Heaven Burial Sword Soul. His eyes, normally filled with warmth and mischief, now appeared cold and indifferent.

“Wang Hu’s Sword Soul was shattered by me. Ten remain.” Yun Xiao methodically impaled their bones with his Sword Soul, absorbing each one in turn. These souls seemed to descend into an abyss, for the Heaven Burial Sword Soul was an abyss. An azure, thriving abyss at that.

Among them, the Sword Souls of Wang Feng and Yao Qingqian stood out. Wang Feng's was Low Comet grade with five layers of Sword Aura. Among the disciples in the sect, this was fairly above average! Yao Qingqian's Sword Soul was High Meteor grade, but possessed eight layers of Sword Aura. Despite the lower rarity, due to the denser Sword Aura, Yao Qingqian's sword was more potent than Wang Feng’s. This illustrated the importance of Sword Aura.

But all these nuances mattered little now. The Heaven Burial Sword Soul consumed all ten of them. Their death essence, transformed into the purest of energies, merged with the Heaven Burial Sword Soul. In the end, four more layers of Sword Aura solidified onto Yun Xiao's sword.

“A total of nine layers of Sword Aura!” Yun Xiao had started with none before embarking on the Heavenly Path. Now, he boasted nine.

“The more layers of Sword Aura, the harder it is to accumulate more,” Yun Xiao mused. “So, these ten only added four layers. It's understandable.” Subsequently, he looted all the Spirit Stones from their bodies.

Yun Xiao tallied the stones, "Two hundred in total!" Compared to what Yao Qingqian had, it was merely a tenth. This further confirmed that Yao Qingqian was indeed a little heiress of the Azure Spirit Sword Sect. Sadly for Yun Xiao, her treasures had been devoured by the little black beast to replenish its energy.

"These two hundred Spirit Stones, can they be transformed into a Heavenly Dao Sarira?" Yun Xiao asked, turning to his companions.

"Absolutely!" Red Moon's eyes sparkled at the proposal.

"Don't you dare skim off the top and hog them all to yourself," Yun Xiao warned.

Red Moon grinned, revealing a row of sharp teeth. "Don't worry, I'll produce a Heavenly Dao Sarira with the essence of...a shoe. Heehee!"

Yun Xiao rolled his eyes. "Fantastic." He then made one last sweep of the area, murmuring, "Time for a send-off." With a swish of his Heaven Burial Sword Soul, all the traces of the Sword Venerable disciples and Yao Qingqian vanished into smoky wisps, blending back into the universe. Whatever remained that Yun Xiao couldn't manage was casually discarded into the swirling river below. It was as if they had never been at the Azure Spirit Sword Sect. No trace of them was left.

Just as Yun Xiao prepared to leave, an eerie sensation tingled down his spine.

WHOOSH!

He spun around. In the woods behind him stood a woman, staring intently at him. Her eyes were bloodshot.

"Huh...?" Yun Xiao felt a shiver run down his back. If Jiang Yue knew his real identity, she'd probably be looking at him the same way. But as it turned out, he had misread the situation. The woman remained motionless.

BURP!

Suddenly, she let out a drunk hiccup.

Yun Xiao's eyebrows shot up. He slowly approached her, and upon a closer look, he almost laughed out loud. She wasn’t possessed or menacing. She was just drunk. Her face wasn't bloodshot. It was flushed from intoxication.

Yun Xiao took a moment to size her up. The woman had a tall and slender figure, draped in a form-fitting black gown that accentuated her curves. Her snow-white legs peeked out from under the hem, looking enticingly alluring. Add to that her almond eyes, red lips, and oval face; she was naturally seductive.

"She's even more beautiful than Yao Qingqian," Yun Xiao thought. In fact, she was far more beautiful than Yao Qingqian.

Yao Qingqian, though stunning, had a hint of gaudiness about her, trying too hard to exude an icy elegance, and she was a tad on the older side. But this woman? She was in the prime of her youth. Her raven-black hair shimmered like moonlit waves, her vast eyes twinkled like distant stars, and her delicate eyelashes fluttered like a lark's wingtips. She held an innocence, reminiscent of fresh pear blossoms after a spring rain.

She looked like a fairy-tale heroine from the Immortal world, her ethereal charm transcending the mundane. Yet, there was one oddity. She'd been drinking. And not just a sip or two, but enough to paint her cheeks the hue of ripe peaches and to veil her gaze with a seductive mist. The corners of her lips lifted in a playful, slightly mischievous grin, and her slender figure wobbled endearingly.

However, all Yun Xiao could think about was, did she see him disposing of the bodies? He approached her. The rich aroma of wine mingled with her intoxicating fragrance, filling the sultry autumn night.

"You..." Yun Xiao began.

But she simply giggled, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons. "Shush," she whispered, placing a delicate finger against her lips. "Take me home." And with those words, she swayed and collapsed into Yun Xiao's arms, pointing weakly in one direction before her energy seemed to vanish. She soon fell into a peaceful slumber.

Yun Xiao glanced in the direction she'd indicated. Atop a distant hill, a solitary dim lantern burned. He sighed, resigning himself.

Well, I guess I'm taking her home.

"Milk..." Red Moon's excited voice was promptly cut off when Blue Star covered its eyes with a large paw. "Careful, we might be walking into the lion's den!" Blue Star warned.

"Do I look like a sheep to you?" Red Moon scoffed.

"I wasn't talking about you!" Blue Star retorted, exasperated.

"Then who are you talking about?" Two pairs of eyes simultaneously shot upwards to Yun Xiao.

Yun Xiao rolled his eyes. "Both of you, absolute nincompoops!"