Chapter 127: First Encounter

Xiao Cheng’s state of mind was complex. He had to admit that upon realizing Liu Yiyi had become his woman, he felt a flicker of excitement. He was a man, after all, and this was an instinctive sense of possession.

Following the initial thrill, however, came a wave of concern. His cultivation level was still shallow, and he was faced with the behemoth that was the Fangtian Sect. He already had four sisters-in-law, Zhuo Qinglian, and his own family to worry about; now, the naive and innocent Liu Yiyi had been added to the mix.

Of course, this feeling was fleeting. As a man, this was a duty he could not shirk; he had to stand tall and bear it all.

Still, the question of where Liu Yiyi would go remained. If he wanted to take her with him, he would certainly need the consent of her master.

Xiao Cheng reached out to stroke Liu Yiyi’s flushed, delicate face, offering a faint smile before carefully drawing her dress over her body. Partly it was because the grotto was cold, and partly because, gazing at her captivating, smooth skin, he found his thoughts wandering in a way that was hard to suppress.

Once that was done, Xiao Cheng took the time to examine his own body. He discovered that his skin was covered in a layer of wrinkled, dead cells. As he peeled them away, a pale, wheat-colored complexion was revealed beneath.

Now that he had consumed the Creation Heaven Origin Fruit and his constitution had transformed into a Spirit Body, the next step was naturally to advance to the Condensation Realm. Once he reached that stage, everything would become simpler. Condensation was essentially a realm of accumulating True Qi, and since True Qi was no longer an issue for him, his cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds once he broke through.

However, this was not the place for such an advancement.

The spiritual energy in the grotto was too thin to meet his needs. Yet, leaving was difficult; without any True Qi in his body, he would have no means to resist the demon python outside.

Xiao Cheng approached the grotto entrance. A series of rumbles echoed from the lake. Releasing his divine sense, he realized the demon python was no longer within range. Tilting his head, he listened closely and heard the sound of combat mixed in with the crashing waves.

After a moment of contemplation, he guessed what had happened outside. Checking the time on his tablet, he saw it was already four in the afternoon—four or five hours since Liu Yiyi had fallen into the water. The Zhongling Sect must have been searching everywhere, eventually clashing with the enraged python.

Judging by the sounds, the party fighting the python seemed to have the upper hand. He had previously planned to use the Instant Beast-Taming Technique to subdue the python for his own use, but that was a task for after his advancement. For now, while the python was distracted, slipping away was the most sensible course of action.

***

Carrying the unconscious Liu Yiyi, Xiao Cheng broke the surface of the water. The previously calm lake was now churning with massive waves. The enormous demon python hissed incessantly, thrashing its colossal body as it lunged toward the shore, trying to attack the three figures standing there. Above Mirror Lake, a radiant flying sword struck at the python repeatedly, sending sparks flying whenever the beast poked its head out of the water.

A few massive waves hit, causing Xiao Cheng to stumble unsteadily.

Looking at the three figures on the shore from afar, he could not make out their faces clearly, but he could distinguish two young women and an old woman. Xiao Cheng guessed the latter must be Liu Yiyi’s master.

Watching the flying sword continue its assault on the python, Xiao Cheng shook his head to himself.

A flying sword was a formidable weapon for any cultivator, but it was of little use against this demon python. The creature’s scales provided excellent defense; even if the sword could pierce them, it was too small, and its ability to enlarge was limited, making it impossible to inflict any substantial damage.

If this continued, the old woman would eventually exhaust her True Qi and be defeated.

Xiao Cheng couldn't concern himself with that. He soon reached the shore and let out a sigh of relief. Without True Qi, he had no combat capability, and being on land felt significantly safer.

No sooner had he stepped onto the shore than the two women, standing five hundred meters away, spotted him.

"Master, look!" the woman in the red dress cried out excitedly, pointing toward Xiao Cheng. She had vaguely made out the figure of a girl in a green dress in his arms—it was undoubtedly Liu Yiyi.

The old woman, her hair white and holding a whisk in her left hand, looked exhausted. Hearing her disciple, she turned and saw the young man carrying Liu Yiyi.

She had been in closed-door meditation, a life-or-death retreat. Previously, whenever outsiders arrived, she would come down to chase them away, but this time she could not leave, so she had sent her disciples. She had not expected this young man to be so thick-skinned as to remain, and Liu Yiyi, being kind-hearted, had fallen into the lake while delivering food at noon.

Fearing for her young disciple’s life, she had been forced to break her seclusion early.

"I will go take a look; you two follow," the old woman said, her expression calm and devoid of emotion.

No sooner had she spoken than she began to drift forward without any visible exertion. Within two breaths, she had crossed the five hundred meters to stand before Xiao Cheng.

Seeing the old woman’s movement technique, Xiao Cheng nodded in silent admiration; it was indeed impressive and extremely fast.

The old woman’s hair was entirely white, and her face was lined with deep wrinkles. By a cultivator’s standards, she had to be at least ninety years old.

In the last decade, the Zhongling Sect had been weakening, and many sects had come to take advantage of them.

The old woman released her divine sense to probe Xiao Cheng. Finding him to be nothing more than an ordinary person, she sighed in relief, but her expression soon darkened. She cast a disdainful, wrinkled-eyed glance at him and said coldly, "Ignorant boy, I advised you to leave yesterday. Why did you not listen? If anything happens to Yiyi, I will never forgive you!"

As she spoke, she glared at him before changing her tone: "However, considering you saved Yiyi, I will not hold you accountable. Put her down and leave immediately. Surely you can see this is no place for an ordinary person like you!"

***

Xiao Cheng looked at the old woman, realizing she was indeed the master who had taught Liu Yiyi that all men were no good. As she probed his cultivation, he had used his own divine sense to gauge her level. It turned out she was only at the sixth stage of the Innate Realm, a cut below Xiao Fusheng.

Hearing her harsh words, Xiao Cheng remained noncommittal. He carefully set Liu Yiyi down. Although the old woman was her master, he could not accept being spoken to in such a condescending manner. He stood up, ready to retort, but as he saw the two women approaching from behind her, he froze in his tracks.

That morning, he had wondered if Liu Yiyi might have a twin sister. Being twins was one thing, but to learn they were triplets? This was a cruel joke.

There was a saying: "Do not marry twins, and do not wed a fickle man." There was wisdom in the warning against marrying twins—imagine having a woman who looked exactly like your own wife marry someone else and lie beneath another man. It was a chaotic thought.

In his heart, Liu Yiyi was already his woman, and discovering she had two triplet sisters left him at a loss.

Xiao Cheng suddenly recalled a catchphrase his childhood friend Shu Fu often used: "My mood at that moment was like watching ten billion 'grass mud horses' stampeding past my eyes."

The two women arrived before Xiao Cheng and glared at him coldly. Noticing his unsteady gait and pale complexion, they assumed he had been frightened out of his wits by the demon python and paid him no further mind. For a commoner, not wetting himself in fear was already quite an accomplishment.

They couldn't be bothered to waste words on him. In their eyes, they were practitioners, and this commoner would never cross paths with them again. The sisters hurriedly helped Liu Yiyi up, checked her over, and finding her unharmed, carried her further away from the lake.

Distracted by their intervention, Xiao Cheng no longer felt like arguing with the old woman. He turned to leave; his priority now was to advance to the Condensation Realm. Whether it was to tame the python or take Liu Yiyi with him, both would have to wait until after his breakthrough. As for the Zhongling Sect’s heart-method token, given the old woman’s attitude, he decided to keep it for now.

"Wait!" the old woman called out coldly.

Xiao Cheng turned back, extremely annoyed, only to see the old woman fish a jade pendant from her robes and toss it toward him.

"This is a protective jade pendant. I do not like owing favors. Take this as a token of gratitude for saving Yiyi. Keep it on you, and it will ensure you live a long life free from illness and pain. Also, remember: do not mention anything that happened here to anyone once you leave. Now, go!" With that, the old woman stopped looking at him and focused all her energy on fighting the python lunging from the water.