Leng Ruoxue put Baby down and picked up the palm-sized flame lion. She caressed him before reentering the bracelet and handing him over to Qing Jue. She then returned to her room.
"Grandpa, I plan to leave home for some time to gain experience," Leng Ruoxue said to her grandfather the next day. Her knowledge of this world was currently limited to only what she had read. In fact, she had no idea what this world was really like, and this was very disadvantageous for her cultivation.
"Xue'er, aren't you going to the academy to study?" Leng Qingtian was puzzled. Although it would be beneficial for his granddaughter to go out and experience the world, he couldn't bear to part with her.
"Not for now. Let's talk about it later!" She wanted to study at the academy before but not anymore. Nevertheless, if she had time in the future, she wanted to visit the library of the Heavenly Phoenix Academy. After all, it boasted having the most number of books on the Ling Feng Continent.
Leng Ruoxue knew that if she couldn't reassure her grandfather, he would definitely worry about her leaving home alone. She didn't want to have a bunch of people following her to protect her when she traveled. The thought of it scared her. So she decided to tell her grandfather about the bracelet after much deliberation yesterday.
"Where is this…" Leng Qingtian looked around in surprise.
"Grandpa, this is the space inside the bracelet I told you about," Leng Ruoxue explained.
"The spiritual energy here is so dense…" Leng Qingtian was at a loss for words. What Xue'er had just told him was out of this world. If he hadn't seen this place with his own eyes, he would have never believed it. Xue'er is really blessed!
"Xue'er, don't let anyone else know about this place," Leng Qingtian warned her. After recovering from his initial shock, he immediately realized that if anyone knew about this place, his precious granddaughter would be in danger.
"Yes. If you weren't my dearest grandpa, I wouldn't have told you," Leng Ruoxue said playfully.
"Grandpa, this is the heavenly essence pill my master concocted to help you break through to Spiritual Supremacy. And it won't affect your future cultivation progress." She passed him a jade vial.
"Unexpectedly, there's a pill that can help break through to Spiritual Supremacy!" Leng Qingtian couldn't help but be excited. He had been stuck at peak Spiritual Sovereign for many years and had been unable to break through. Now he finally had a chance.
"And this is for Big Brother." Leng Ruoxue handed her grandfather an emerald green fruit.
After settling everything, Leng Ruoxue left Phoenix City with Baby and Blaze.
The Illusionary Forest was the largest forest on the Ling Feng Continent, and it had countless spirit beasts and all sorts of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. But at the same time, it was extremely dangerous. However, as the saying went, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained'. Most mercenary teams would choose the Illusionary Forest as their hunting ground. Moreover, many top families and academies favored it as the training ground for their descendants and students.
Leng Ruoxue was sitting on the falcon, with Baby on her lap, as they flew toward the Illusionary Forest. For her first stop, she chose this forest that was full of opportunities and perils.
She rolled open her map. The Illusionary Forest was within the borders of the Eastern Lagoon Empire, and the entrance was near Willow City, a medium-sized city in the east of the empire. Willow City was thousands of kilometers away from Phoenix City. At the speed her falcon was flying at, it would take about half a month to get there. This really dampened her spirits, but she didn't have a flying spirit beast of her own, and falcons were the most commonly used flying spirit beasts. Furthermore, you didn't even need a contract to use a falcon, so it was her best option. Nevertheless, she decided that she had to find a good flying spirit beast to contract with in the Illusionary Forest.
At dusk, Leng Ruoxue got the falcon to land in Gain City. It was a very small city, and there were few pedestrians on the streets at night. She picked a random inn and booked a room to spend the night. The main reason was actually to let the falcon rest. As a low-level spirit beast, a day of flight had already depleted its stamina. Moreover, falcons had poor eyesight at night and couldn't navigate in the darkness.
Upon entering the room, Leng Ruoxue immediately entered the Heaven and Earth Bracelet. Seeing the falcon, which she had stored in the bracelet earlier, lying there quietly, she threw a pill to it. Because the ingredients were common, she had concocted this pill during her alchemy practice. Besides, the pill had no practical value, so she fed the falcon with it.
After consuming the pill, the falcon gently rubbed its head against her hand to show its affection.
Leng Ruoxue looked at the falcon and patted its head. Who said that low-level spirit beasts had no intelligence? If you treat them well, they know how to reciprocate, unlike some ungrateful humans.
After comforting the falcon, she entered the purple bamboo house with Baby in her arms. Blaze and Qing Jue were waiting for her here. Seeing her, they jumped into her arms and even squeezed Baby aside. Noticing tears welling up in Baby's aggrieved eyes, she couldn't help finding it amusing. With Qing Jue's support, Blaze was no longer as afraid of Baby as before.
"You three, don't be naughty. Big Sister is going to cultivate," Leng Ruoxue said.
After a night of cultivation, Leng Ruoxue exited the bracelet, checked out of her room, and went to the Mercenary Union, where she registered as a mercenary with martial artist as her profession.
Martial artist was the lowest among the four major professions. Those who chose to become martial artists were mostly those who couldn't awaken their spiritual power and become spiritualists but still wanted to change their lives and status. Therefore, martial artists were generally commoners. Usually, martial artists would register at the Mercenary Union, and being a mercenary was their main source of income.
Martial artists had six stages. Only martial artists at the Martial Sovereign stage and above had the status to receive good treatment. Leng Ruoxue chose to become a martial artist to avoid unnecessary attention.
The Mercenary Union in Gain City was tiny and didn't have many people, so registering was smooth. Afterward, she hopped onto the falcon and left Gain City.
"Grandpa, Xue'er went off training on her own?" As soon as he returned home, Leng Ruohan hurried to his grandfather's study upon hearing that Xue'er had left home to train.
"Yes!" Leng Qingtian answered.
"Grandpa, Xue'er has never left home since she was a child. How could you let her go alone?" Leng Ruohan said worriedly.
"Ruohan, Xue'er has already grown up. Since she wants to go, shouldn't I support her as her grandfather?" Leng Qingtian said helplessly. No wonder Xue'er didn't want Ruohan to know. If he knew, he would have definitely followed.
"But…"
"Ruohan, Xue'er can take care of herself," Leng Qingtian said firmly. To be honest, if he didn't know that she had that magical bracelet where she could seek refuge when in danger, he would also be quite worried.
"…" Xue'er, how can you be so cruel? I love you so much, but you didn't even tell me before you left? Leng Ruohan complained in his head.
"Anyways, it's good that you're back, Ruohan. I will be going into seclusion a few days later. Oh, right, Xue'er left this for you." Leng Qingtian took out the emerald green fruit and gave it to Ruohan.
"What rich spiritual energy! Where did Xue'er get this? Why didn't she eat it herself?" Leng Ruohan was both surprised and touched as he received the fruit.
"Xue'er's master gave it to her, and she still has more. She specially left one for you," Leng Qingtian explained.
"Xue'er's master? When did she have a master?" Leng Ruohan was puzzled.
"She acknowledged a master just before leaving. Her master is very powerful, or else I wouldn't have dared to let her go out alone. So you don't have to worry about her." Leng Qingtian knew that his grandson loved Xue'er even more than him, so he said this to reassure his grandson since he didn't want him to worry and have it affect his cultivation.
"Ruohan, tell the academy that you're going to join me in seclusion. Before Xue'er left, she said that she hopes to see you becoming a Spiritual Sovereign when she returns," Leng Qingtian suggested. His grandson was already at peak Spiritual Monarch. With the fruit, it would be a piece of cake for him to break through to Spiritual Sovereign.
"Alright." Since this is what Xue'er wants, how can I let her down!
…
Leng Ruoxue had been flying for nearly half a month on the falcon, and she was finally nearing the Illusionary Forest.
In the past half month, she had been flying during the day and resting at inns during the night. Although she always booked rooms, she rested and cultivated in the Heaven and Earth Bracelet.
Three days ago, she found an uninhabited valley to advance. After the baptism of heaven and earth laws, she was able to reach intermediate Spiritual Sovereign and unlock the first seal of the Heaven and Earth Bracelet. The Heaven and Earth Bracelet gained the ability to change into any shape at will, and the small flame lion advanced to level nine spirit beast. Even the falcon she fed with pills every day had promoted to intermediate spirit beast. But Baby still had no changes and was as weak as before.
Finally here! Leng Ruoxue was excited when she saw the giant trees that shielded the forest floor from the sun and the green that stretched infinitely into the horizon.
As soon as she entered Willow City, she saw the immense forest.
Although Willow City was only a medium-sized city in the Eastern Lagoon Empire, because of the Illusionary Forest, it was as bustling and prosperous as any major city of the empire.
But the prosperous city was not that attractive to her at this moment. She most wanted to enter the long-awaited Illusionary Forest currently. Now that she was here, how could she be willing to wait? After all, she was not here to sightsee.
Leng Ruoxue came to the entrance of the forest. The sun had set, so no one was around the area. To be precise, no one would choose to enter the forest at night because the Illusionary Forest would become even more perilous. But for Leng Ruoxue, it made no difference. She had the Heaven and Earth Bracelet, so she could get out of any dangerous situations.
It wasn't free to enter the Illusionary Forest; there was an entrance fee of five hundred gold coins per person. Leng Ruoxue paid the money and was about to enter when the guard suddenly stopped her. "Miss, please wait."
Leng Ruoxue frowned. What does he want? Why isn't he letting me in after I've paid?
"Miss, the Illusionary Forest is extremely dangerous at night. You should come back during the day," the young guard kindly reminded her. He didn't want such a beautiful young lady to be eaten by the spirit beasts in the forest.
"It's okay. I'm not afraid." Leng Ruoxue thanked the guard and headed in.
Although she knew that the Illusionary Forest was enormous, only when she was here, walking among the trees, could she truly feel the boundlessness.
…
She spent almost a month in the forest, but it wasn't very fruitful. She had only seen a few high-level spirit beasts. Moreover, it seemed as though she was still in the periphery of the forest. During this time, she encountered a small mercenary team of five, from whom she inquired some information. At first, she was still surprised because she had read that there were many mercenary groups in the forest. But after almost a month, she had only met this team. They told her that it wasn't strange for her not to come across anyone in the forest because it was simply too big. Many weaker mercenary groups did not dare to proceed too deep into the forest and wouldn't spend the night here. Afterward, Leng Ruoxue declined their invitation to join their group and parted ways with them.
Leng Ruoxue continued farther into the forest. She collected all the herbs she came across along the way, and she also hunted many delicious spirit beasts for food. She had already filled up several storage rings. Alas, she had too many gluttonous little spirit beasts to feed! And, well… she also liked to eat. Although some beasts were really cute, she clearly distinguished between food and pets.
Hmmm? There seems to be fighting? Her journey so far had been rather boring. She had only encountered that small mercenary team, and all the spirit beasts she encountered were weak and didn't take much effort to deal with. Now, with the sudden sounds of intense fighting, her curiosity was piqued. Thus, she walked toward the source of the commotion.