Aiwa gazed intensely at the thin girl in the blue dress who was but meters away from him. Her small form bent over, reaching down to gingerly grab the stinger she had hacked off the scorpion's tail.

A surge of anger filled his heart.

How the hell had that stupid bitch defeated his thrall?

The Purple-cloud Scorpion he had dominated was in Foundation Establishment. It should have been many times stronger than her! Yet somehow, she had managed to kill it. Now he not only had to deal with the injuries he had sustained from the golden lion's attack but also the backlash from having his thrall killed!

Aiwa definitely had to kill her! Even ignoring the quest rewards, he needed vengeance!

However, considering his injuries, there was no way he would win a straight fight against the three. While at his peak he was half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm, currently he would have trouble defeating even someone at the peak of Foundation Establishment in a head-on fight.

If Aiwa wanted to kill them, he would have to be sneaky about things.

Cloaked in a half-dozen concealment skills, Aiwa's small body slithered out from under the scorpion's corpse. He slowly began to approach the black-haired 'Bing Meilu' who served as the quest target.

Meanwhile, plans flittered through his mind.

First, he would bite Bing Meilu, injecting his most lethal venom into her bloodstream. Once she died, he would receive the reward for killing her, the Crystal Heaven Dragon Bloodline. With that power, he would then kill the sickly-looking Core Formation cultivator and finally the second of the two young girls.

It was a foolproof plan, clearly.

Having closed in on Bing Meilu, Aiwa reared his head back, tightly coiling his body. His jaws opened wide, revealing his hollow, venom-filled fangs. Then... Aiwa lunged forward!

His head shot towards the girl's exposed leg as fast as an arrow fired from a bow. Instantly, he felt his fangs sink through soft skin and flesh, stabbing deep into Bing Meilu's leg. Muscles within his mouth contracted, squeezing down on his venom gland.

He felt the venom burst forward through his fangs, before suddenly ... halting in his mouth?

'...What going on?' Aiwa questioned, astonished.

The venom in his glands wasn't moving... It was frozen!?

As the realization struck Aiwa, blood-red ice exploded outwards from the girl's skin, wrapping around his body. The thick frost rapidly built up around him, forming a dense cocoon.

Panicked, Aiwa began to struggle, desperate to break free from his icy prison. Beastial Qi erupted from his Crystal Core, the energy flowing through his body. Yet, his very Qi began to suddenly thicken, sluggishly crawling to a halt.

The Qi within him had frozen.

'... You've got to be kidding me? Is that even possible?' Aiwa screamed internally.

Aiwa's eyes, the only part of him still able to move flicked upwards to peer at Bing Meilu. A cold, indifferent gaze stared back down at him.

---

Bing Meilu stared down at the black snake latched onto her calf. Its burning red eyes glared up at her furiously. Bing Meilu could see clear intelligence in its eyes, completely different from the mindless bloodlust usually shown by low-level demons.

"How strange," Bing Meilu commented. "I get the feeling you aren't an ordinary demon. Regardless, you must be pretty bold to actually dare attack me."

Zhang and Xia Xuefeng turned towards Bing Meilu upon hearing her speak. Immediately Xia Xuefeng let loose a shrill scream. Her eyes widened as she noticed the ice-covered snake hanging from Bing Meilu's leg.

"Aah?! What's in Heaven's name is that?"

At the same time, Zhang shot towards Bing Meilu, a worried expression covering his face.

"Are you alright? What happened!?"

"Well, as I was harvesting the Scorpion's venom vesicle, I noticed something hiding beneath its corpse using a pretty trash concealment art that I could see right through. I pretended not to notice it, at the same time preparing a powerful technique to defend myself. Of course, I also neglected to inform the two of you in light of what happened earlier," Bing Meilu replied.

At that, Xia Xuefeng looked down to the floor, blushing slightly. Then, she hardened her face and looked up. The shame of her earlier mistake would be hard to wash away, but Xia Xuefeng was determined to prove herself to Bing Meilu.

"The enemy, a snake-demon slowly crept up behind me before attempting to bite my leg. I immediately froze its venom and captured it within my Frozen Blood Prison Art. "

"What would you have done if it was too strong for your forbidden art to capture?" Zhang asked, frowning.

"If it were weak enough to fail to hide from my senses, then there is no way it would be strong enough to escape from my forbidden technique," Bing Meilu replied calmly, confident in her own strength.

"Regardless of that, please be more careful from now on, Young Mistress," Zhang said, sighing. "You should never be carelessly placing your own life at risk."

Bing Meilu nodded, smart enough to read between the lines.

'You're the only one who can heal my meridians so you better not die!'

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind," Bing Meilu commented, turning to look back at the snake-demon.

She reached downwards, grabbing onto the blood-red ice. With a mighty tug, she tore the snake from her leg, a sharp pain running through her leg as the creature's fangs were torn out of her flesh.

"Alright, quickly kill the demon and let's get out of here," Zhang instructed.

At that, the furious rage in the snake demon's eyes seemed to disappear, replaced suddenly by fear. Bing Meilu's lips curled slightly in amusement.

"No, I think I'll keep it as a souvenir for now. Maybe I'll roast and cook it when we get back to the sect. Grilled snake is one of my favourite dishes."

Zhang nodded uncaringly, turning away and continuing to walk. As she also began to walk, Bing Meilu lifted the snake up to her face, staring into its terror-filled eyes.

It really was strange for such a weak demon to seem so intelligent. Usually, a demon would only gain the lowest level of consciousness at the Nascent Soul Realm. Yet this one seemed to be fully sentient despite being very weak.

'Oh well. If it really is some rare type of demon, I'll be able to sell it for a nice profit or something,' Bing Meilu thought as she walked beside Zhang.

---

As the group of three walked, hours and hours passed. They walked through deep valleys between mountains of blood and past massive forests of bone and sinew. Finally, they reached the edge of the Flesh Mountains.

"This is it," Zhang said. "Once we pass through the fog barrier, we'll be in the far south of the Bird Talon continent."

"Which prefecture?" Bing Meilu asked.

The southern land of the Bird Talon Continent(The only part of it that mattered) was divided into prefectures, each ruled by one of the Twelve branches of the Twelve Headed Avian Sect. The mortals within paid taxes to and gave obeisance to the sect above them, which also primary recruited from the area.

"Bluewing Prefecture," Zhang answered.

That was the territory of the Bluewing Alchemy Academy, the sixth-ranked branch of the Twelve Headed Avian Sect. If Bing Meilu wanted to reach Moon-Crying Prefecture, where her sect was, she still had a few days of travel left.

Bing Meilu stepped forward, her body passing through the thick outer layer of fog. Immediately, she could feel the hot rays of the southern sun beat down on her skin. The Qi in the air was dozens of times thicker than the Qi in the north.

Bing Meilu gaze swept across the land, examining it. To the west, she could see a massive, swirling ocean. Across the shore expanded a massive port-city that was bursting with Qi. Above it in the sky dozens of flying ships sat, docked above the city. Bing Meilu's mind flashed with images. She recognized this place.

"Blue Pearl City..." Bing Meilu commented nostalgically.

"You know of this place?" Zhang asked curiously.

"Yes... I've been here before," she answered, deep in thought.

Blue Pearl City was where the Ocean Slaying Grand Tournament was held every century. It was also the hometown of her close friend, Junior Sister Ruan Hua. Quickly going through numbers in her head, Bing Meilu realized that there were still several years until her companion would be born.

"I suddenly feel very old," Bing Meilu sighed.

"...What?" Zhang asked, a weird expression on his face as he stared at the pre-teen Bing Meilu.

"Oh, nothing," the girl sighed. "Let's enter the city and rest in a hotel for the night. We can head out for the Sect tomorrow."