Unexpectedly—Jian Yu’s black boot was quick, barely touching the man’s robe. With that single nudge, the cloaked figure flew across the ground in a rolling tumble. Regardless, the person simply allowed themselves to turn over against the soft grass. Soon, they were back on their feet. Not once did the cultivator’s veil flap open.

The mysterious stranger tried to bolt out of the area—Jian Yu flashed near them—and they hopped back. Behind the figure was Bing Wen, with his newly emanated spear pointed at him. In a blink, Jian Yu lunged forward and snatched hold of the suspicious cultivator’s white collars, closing the gap between them. A blazing glare flashed through the young man’s eyes. His knuckles went deathly white.

Then, all at once, a rupture of iron-black feathers flurried everywhere. Ultimately, the suspicious person was nowhere to be seen!

In Mei Ying’s clutch was a bright talisman, covered by a vermilion magical script. If needed, she was ready to use it. However, since the person managed to escape, the huntress returned the scroll into one of her inner robe’s secret pockets.

As she glanced up, the maiden caught Xiao Li staring at her. His neck was red, and the flush only continued to creep up his youthful face. Ah, so shameless.

Casting his eyes away, the young man coughed and shuffled away. “I…didn’t see anything.” The servant fidgeted with the end of his braided ponytail and, as though it were a dream, began to walk on ahead.

“Jian Yu.” The warrior flicked off some dirt from his pine-green robe with one hand. Bing Wen lowered his eyes. In the other grasp was his divine spear. “From that brief interaction…”

Turning around, the red-robed cultivator beamed at the huntress. “Are you alright?”

Mei Ying hesitantly nodded. Honestly, she was reeling over how fast Jian Yu had reacted. Everything had happened in a minute, and the stranger escaped once Jian Yu caught him in his grasp. Was her friend that scary--or was he always that amazing?

Gnashing his teeth together, Bing Wen brought the pole of his spear down. It struck the ground. “JIAN YU!"

The young man’s eyes flickered over to the older person. A rather impish smirk formed into his red lips. “...Does the big brother need us, after all?”

❁❁❁

Judging from the thick green foliage and abundant flowers, the season in the secret realm was spring. Masses of red flowering crabapples dangled from branches. From the ground, baby-soft bamboo shoots had sprouted out, fresh for the harvest.

It is widely known to cultivators everywhere that the time flow of special worlds that exist apart from the Three Realms--are vastly different. While spring had arrived in the Jin Sword sect’s secret realm, it was early autumn in the Mortal realm.

In the late rank of cultivation, Soul Transformation, cultivators would be more than halfway in their path toward Immortality. They may either hide or share their knowledge, techniques, treasures, and spiritual herb gardens through the formation of a secret realm. If there is apportion, these are often preparations of gifts before the people ascend and leave the Mortal realm behind.

Despite the descendants being obnoxious with their wealth, the Jin Sword sect ancestors were compassionate enough to part with innumerous treasures, medicine, and food to the secret realm. For hundreds of years, many ancestors had pooled all these items into one secret realm, making the place an extremely valuable domain in terms of wealth and quality. It was designed for future Jin Sword sect disciples to spend at least a month or two in searching for treasures and learning new cultivation techniques.

Leaving a wooden spoon in the slightly bubbling pot, Mei Ying checked on the three young men. They were seated across from her and the dancing campfire. Their shoulders were hunched over as they sat on a couple of logs that Bing Wen had cut down. For a while, the young cultivators were cracking the tough, hairy outer shells of bamboo shoots opened.

All four people had removed their outer robes, left them on make-shift laundry lines, and started dinner preparations. Earlier, they had gathered some edible garnishes and roots in the forest. Several fish were also caught from the nearby river.

The huntress wore a white inner robe. Had Mei Ying known that she and the other competitors would be dumped into a secret realm, she would have donned a color that was easier to keep clean.

On a thick slab of wood, the young woman grabbed a silver fish from the bowl next her, de-gutted and cleaned of scales. She set it down and centered the poor fish. With her unsheathed sword…Mei Ying easily sliced it into three equal chops.

“Y-You…!” With large eyes, the warrior dropped the conical stalk on the ground. Trembling, Bing Wen sucked in a breath and closed his eyes shut. “With that gorgeous sword…”

Using such a weapon to cut fish only hurts the huntress, not Bing Wen. As a god, why did he not manifest a kitchen knife from thin air? The person clearly saw that all Mei Ying had was Fa Guang.

“The fish needs to be chopped.” The maiden told him, slicing up a couple more. “I always carry all these dishes with me on the road in a magical storage bag—but if I bring a knife, it’ll cut a hole in them.”

“That’s why you should carry a spatial ring!” retorted the young man, opening his golden eyes. It was an easy solution.

Her cheeks instantly became warm. Though it was an obvious substitute, the problem with these precious rings and their near bottomless dimensions was price. For a poor cultivator like Mei Ying, the cheapest option would be storage bags.

Narrowing her eyebrows, the huntress responded, “Spatial rings must be nice...if you have the spirit stones for them.”

Bing Wen blinked. When was the last time…someone argued with him?

A high-pitched whistle was blown, dipping in tune.

“Ah, the Young Miss is right, you know!” It was Jian Yu, passing Bing Wen a benign smile. If one looks deeper though, there was a daring taunt in his dark eyes. “As a privileged person, you are being rather inconsiderate of her situation. You can say that because thousands of worshippers burn merits for you, which can then be changed into spirit stones during your Mortal realm visits."

The young man's words were blunt. For Bing Wen, they brought a flush across his face.

“...Why am I doing this then?” grumbled the warrior. Though he complained, the person carefully placed a shoot into the huge wooden bowl. His long silver sleeves had been repeatedly folded up to his elbows. His long locks had been tied into a low ponytail for convenience. “I am a god…not a servant.”

Hearing this, Xiao Li stopped stripping bamboo and stared at the person. As though he had said nothing, the other refused to meet his eye. Scraps had already fallen into the folds and creases of the servant’s black inner robe. Since Bing Wen was silent, Xiao Li continued to break away the brown shells.

“Bing Wen, if you are my servant, the others and I would not be doing the work alongside with you.” Mei Ying sighed, noting the tension. “There is a saying. Many hands make light work.” At the end, she gently assured the young man with a bright smile. “You are doing a good job. Thank you, ah.”

To boost his morale, the maiden made sure to emphasize her genuine gratitude.

The warrior only bowed his crown of dark hair. However, if one were to see his slightly perplexed expression, it was rather comical.

“But if you try to strike me again with a thunderbolt, Jian Yu will be even more favorable in my eyes.” joked the huntress, patting the warrior’s pauldron. She then removed her hand and picked up another silver fish with the other one.

Bing Wen nearly stopped peeling the tapered stalk. “I…only received one from the Thunder God. It was given to me a long time ago…” The god knitted his brows together, not knowing why he was defending himself.

“Please, do try again!” Jian Yu laughed, adding a clean conical shoot into the bowl. Like what Xiao Li, he too donned a black inner robe.

To Mei Ying’s surprise, her devilish friend quickly shelled through many roots within seconds. To prevent a potential fight, the huntress asked, “Jian Jian...have you peeled bamboo shoots before? You’re really fast at this.”

For a moment, Jian Yu raised his eyebrows at the young woman.

“In the past…I used to harvest bamboos with my family.” replied the cheerful person. “We would gather them up in the spring and winter seasons. Then, we’d sell them in the market.” Looking down at his dirty hands, Jian Yu forced a light laugh. “Though...it was a hard life, the memories…are irreplaceable.”

At this, Bing Wen scanned his eyes over the young cultivator. The golden orbs flickered between soft waves and turbulences of emotions. Steadily, the warrior resumed in opening the shells.

“Did you also farm back then?” inquired Mei Ying, cutting up another fish.

The huntress’ parents did not have gifts for cultivation, despite the late mother having been a disciple shortly in her youth. Still, they were respected farmers and merchants of rare herbs, which were excellent for replenishing one's spiritual energy. Whenever Shifu and the tiger were away for hunting or explorations, the little disciple had stayed with the family and helped her parents in the fields. At night, Ai Guo—her younger brother—often came home from cultivation practices with other disciples and talked to his sister about his day. Before, her life was simpler…

Returning her focus to Jian Yu, Mei Ying waited. Due to the young man’s striking appearance and pearl-white skin, it was almost unimaginable of him working under a broiling sun.

Jian Yu flashed a warm smile at the huntress. He averted his attention to the last bamboo stalk on the ground and broke the hard skin open with his hands.

Without glancing up, her friend’s voice softened. “Yes, I used to help with farming. We did not have a garden, but when I worked for other people, they sometimes gave me some vegetables here and there. I usually brought those home for dinner.”

Mei Ying listened. The cultivator had sounded a bit sad there. Moving onto a hopefully better direction, she asked, “Who introduced you to cultivation then?”

Upon the young woman’s words, Jian Yu lifted his head. His eyes enlarged, with a gentle sheen. For a moment, he did not reply and glanced at the ground where it suddenly became interesting.

Ah, the huntress was too rude... She made a silent note about it for the future.

“I-I’m sorry if I asked you an uncomfortable question.” said the sheepish maiden, putting all the fish portions into her large bowl. “Forget that I asked! I was…just curious.”

Jian Yu raised his eyes. “Actually—"

“The water has been bubbling for some time!” Bing Wen broke in, tapping one finger on the huntress’ sword. Fa Guang was within his reach. Its blade was quickly cleaned, and though shocked, Mei Ying sheathed the weapon.

The god picked up the heavy bowl of stalks and rose to his feet. “I’ll help bring these to the river. You can carry the rest, Young Miss.”

In the huge pot of boiling water, the gold ginger slices bought up a medicinal and tangy aroma. Tonight’s dinner would be a traditional fish soup, but with the absence of tofu, sliced bamboo shoots should be fine. The young woman lifted a spoon of ginger pieces to judge the softness. She got up from her seat.

Carrying a bowl of scallions and wolfberries, Mei Ying briskly went over to the nearby river that was within everyone’s view and hearing distance. She squatted down, pushed back her folded sleeves to the elbows, and dunked a handful of the spring onions into the freezing shore water. Shortly, the huntress parted the thin and tubular green leaves from one another.

Bing Wen joined the young woman and quietly rinsed the springtime shoots in the river. His thick eyebrows furrowed. He was deeply engrossed by the mortal task of cleaning the bamboos.

As the shadows of surrounding high trees stretched over time, it was more strenuous for Mei Ying to see through the crystal-clear river currents. The environment has been peaceful. All weapon-fighting and spell incantations had ceased for the time being. Yet, the young woman felt uneasy about darkness overtaking the skies.

“Young Miss...” Bing Wen began, “Since you were the closest to that stranger earlier, did you get to see his face? What was his aura like?”

Mei Ying almost sighed from relief. She thought that the god was going to scold her once more. He was very much like her strict hunter-friend, Nian Zu.

“He...did not look entirely human.” The young woman recalled. A shiver slithered over her skin with crisp goosebumps. “He had one light brow, gold like the sun…and one steel eye while the rest of his face was hidden. His aura was also rather unstable as though…”

“…as though he has forcibly fused himself with yin miasma?” Bing Wen crossed his arms. The maiden nodded. "So, the bastard is hurrying to accommodate his body to yin energy." The young warrior stroke his chin. "What is he, crazy?”

“How he managed to enter the tournament is unclear... Still, we should be careful.” The huntress went on, “I’m at the early Nascent Soul rank. Even so, when the person almost brushed past me, I sensed a wicked presence from him.”

To be truthful, the overall aura almost reminded Mei Ying of her shifu’s. Wispy and rolling like a mountain stream. But the stranger’s seemed rather dense, swirling with a demonic and murderous cloud that stings. It was as though he was half-demon and half-celestial.

❁❁❁

“Tired and hungry soldiers would not perform well in the field.” Bing Wen tossed a few tree branches into the ravenous hot flames of their campfire. His long hair was kept in a low ponytail. “We should not mindlessly attack. Patience is a virtue when engaging in battles.”

Overhead, the skies had turned nearly pitch-black, with an enormous crescent moon and untold scattered stars. Crickets have long sung their tunes, but the work was not over yet.

“Here is the plan: three of us are going to have to sleep while one will keep watch in case of cultivators.” The warrior continued, “It would be best to rotate throughout the night, so we each can get some sleep. That means I will need to put out the campfire. Tomorrow, with at least a quarter or more of the contestants eliminated, we will have to fight the others remaining. It's inevitable, given that it will be a full day. They'll be the ones whom we need to watch for."

The other cultivators were seated around the warm fire as well, with Mei Ying by herself—and Jian Yu and Xiao Li sharing a log. Since it was nearly time to get some rest, they were all still wearing their inner robes. As a result, everyone slipped their outer robes into a magical storage bag or spatial ring. In the morning, they can take the clothes back out and put them on.

Stirring the wooden chopsticks into a small bowl of cloudy-white soup broth, the young woman was quiet. Her aura would provide ample light should she need it for anything due to her night blindness…

“Then, I can be the first night guard.”

Mei Ying tilted her head. Huh?

The unexpected person’s response caused Bing Wen’s eye to twitch.