“Whew… ha! I finally found you! Oh my god! How did she get hurt this badly?”
After an unknown amount of time, a fiery red phantom appeared on the desolate Snowy Plain.
She was crouching beside Yun Fei, carefully examining her injuries.
‘I have to get her out of here! The space here loosened not long ago, and the Mystic Realm Core seems a bit unstable. Although I don’t know what happened, I should be able to force a breakthrough with her.’
Hong Niang narrowed her eyes and looked into the distance, where the sky was slowly cracking outward from the Mystic Realm Core.
She hauled up Yun Fei, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, and used her fist to blast open a Space Collapse Point to leave the area.
Shortly after they departed, Skanloven’s figure appeared in the same spot.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the surge of space nearby, and then opened a Space Collapse Point with a similar punch.
“Istana… don’t think you can run! No matter where you flee, I will hunt you down!”
Skanloven’s raspy voice echoed through the shattered space as he resolutely leaped into the collapse point.
With the high-energy sources leaving the Secret Realm one after another, the space could no longer sustain itself and dissolved into nothingness.
***
Back in reality, Mu Lingxi had placed the unconscious Hong Niang on the bed.
She was currently sitting by the bedside with her eyes closed in prayer, hoping everything went well for Hong Niang.
A moment later, Mu Lingxi suddenly felt an itchy sensation coming from the markings on the back of her hand.
She raised her hand to look and discovered that the lines were gradually fading.
In the end, she could no longer sense anything on the back of her hand at all.
Seeing this, Mu Lingxi looked at Hong Niang on the bed with eyes full of expectation.
“Was it a success? Or…”
Just as she was pondering, she felt her arm grow heavy.
A human-shaped object covered in blood suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell into her arms, while Hong Niang quickly sat up on the bed.
While Mu Lingxi was still in a daze, Hong Niang rushed over and shoved a Living Spirit Pill into the mouth of the person in her arms.
“This… this is… Yun Fei? Why is she injured like this?”
Hong Niang shook her head.
“I don’t know. She was already like this when I found her, and she’s currently unconscious. You can ask her once she wakes up. I’m going to find the Dan Peak Master to check on her now. Take good care of her while I’m gone.”
“…Alright,” Mu Lingxi forced out a single word.
She looked at the motionless girl in her arms with a complicated expression, her eyes shimmering with tears.
‘…I’m sorry… I didn’t know that thing would react so suddenly and cause you such a disaster…’
Mu Lingxi lowered her head.
Ignoring the bloodstains on her hands and clothes, she gently stroked Yun Fei’s face with her fingers, intending to wipe away the blood, but only succeeded in smearing it further.
“Lingxi, you can’t blame yourself for this. Don’t take it to heart. You are the Saintess; if you don’t handle this well, it could result in an Inner Demon.”
Hong Niang left, leaving Mu Lingxi alone in the room to keep watch over the unconscious Yun Fei.
***
“Hua Li, how is she?”
Hong Niang stood to the side, looking worriedly at the Dan Peak Master, whose hand was resting on Yun Fei’s wrist.
Mu Lingxi, who had never left, was equally concerned.
Although she and Yun Fei usually didn’t get along, and Hong Niang had advised her to go back and rest, the situation had started because of her.
She had to see it through to the end.
“How is she? Well… let’s put it this way: five of her ribs are broken, all five of her internal organs are bleeding, and some have been displaced… If this injury happened to an ordinary Void Shattering Realm cultivator, they probably wouldn’t have lasted fifteen minutes. I must say, the bodies of the Demon Race are truly formidable. According to your description, she probably endured one or two hours in this state. It’s actually quite rare that she’s still alive.”
Hua Li marveled even as her hands never stopped moving.
Pale green Spiritual Power, guided by Hua Li, constantly circulated within Yun Fei’s body, repairing the internal damage.
“So… what now?”
“She’s fine now. Although the injuries were fatal, they were ultimately just physical trauma. It’s not hard to treat. Repairing broken bones and flesh is relatively simple, but it takes some time. You’ll have to wait a bit longer.”
As she spoke, Hua Li increased the flow of pale green Spiritual Power.
“Whew… that’s good.”
Hearing Hua Li’s confirmation, Hong Niang breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hong Niang~ Speaking of which, why does a heartless person like you care so much about her? You even made a special trip here for her. Because of you, I ruined an entire furnace of rare medicinal herbs!”
At this point, as the atmosphere relaxed, Hua Li shifted the topic.
Her intention was clear: she was seeking justice for her carefully prepared herbs and was determined to get some compensation.
“That… I’m sorry! I was in too much of a hurry. But she is the Demon Sovereign’s daughter. You know that the Demon Sovereign once saved my life.”
“Hmm… that’s true. But I only remember the Demon Sovereign having a son. Since when did he have a daughter?”
At the mention of this topic, Mu Lingxi, who was watching Yun Fei, suddenly felt her heart tighten.
This was followed by curiosity; she also wanted to know what the rumors about Yun Fei were like in the outside world.
“You’re asking about that? It was because of her bloodline that her gender characteristics were unstable. Since the Demon Sovereign wasn’t sure what gender she was, he announced to the world that she was his son. But just a few days ago, she obtained a Congenital Treasure here that helped her resolve the issue. Our little Saintess knows about this too, since that Congenital Treasure was snatched from her.”
As she spoke, Hong Niang pointed at Mu Lingxi.
Seeing the conversation turn toward her, Mu Lingxi scratched her head and laughed awkwardly out of guilt.
“Haha… yes, that’s exactly what happened.”
“Is that true? It feels a bit bizarre…”
Seeing that Hua Li was still somewhat skeptical, Hong Niang added more.
“You don’t believe it? I have proof! A few years ago, when the Demon Race’s political situation was in turmoil and the Demon Sovereign intended to purge the Old Nobles, he sent Yun Fei to infiltrate their banquet as a woman. I even have a photo from that night! The person in the photo looks exactly like Yun Fei!”
Cross-dressing?
A banquet?
Mu Lingxi’s eyes lit up.
This was something she didn’t know about.
She hadn’t expected Yun Fei to have dressed as a woman before this; it was truly astonishing.
If she hadn’t known the truth beforehand, she might have believed it.
Mu Lingxi looked at the light screen Hong Niang pulled out, which showed an image of Yun Fei walking through a crowd while holding a wine glass.
It had to be said that Yun Fei’s elegant noble attire on the light screen—a black floor-length dress adorned with tiny, shimmering white gems—was striking.
The slightly tight clothing perfectly showcased her nascent curves.
‘Hiss… How are those two mounds on her chest so realistic? Was she really a man before?’
After Mu Lingxi carefully studied the light screen, such doubts couldn’t help but flash through her mind.
But there was no point in thinking about it now.
It didn’t change the fact that Yun Fei was currently a girl.
*Clap clap!* Hua Li clapped her hands and retracted her Spiritual Power.
“Alright, her injuries have completely healed, but it will probably take some time for her to wake up.”
Hua Li stood up, found a stool to sit on, and took a large gulp of water from a tea cup on the table.
“Now, Hong Niang, I want to discuss something with you. You originally wanted to take this girl, Yun Fei, as your disciple, right? But you did destroy a whole furnace of my herbs, and they were all rare items~”
A successful smile played across the corners of Hua Li’s mouth as she arched an eyebrow at Hong Niang.
“Just let me have her. An Exotic Fire~ those are very hard to come by. Rather than leaving her with someone like you who doesn’t handle business, she’d be better off following me to refine pills~”
Hearing this, Hong Niang frowned.
“But… fine, so be it. I probably couldn’t pay you back for that furnace of herbs even in hundreds of years anyway. It’s good to settle the debt like this.”
Hong Niang originally wanted to negotiate further, but seeing Hua Li’s face gradually darkening, she took a step back.
There was nothing she could do.
Aside from her Life-bound Sword, she didn’t have anything else of value.
Most of her expenses went into maintaining her Life-bound Sword, so she simply couldn’t afford to pay more.
“Mm~ what a sensible Vice Principal~ Since the matter is settled, I’ll be going. See you later~”
Hua Li left, and Hong Niang couldn’t help but shake her head helplessly as she watched her departure.
‘Hmph… given the relationship between us… what difference does it make whose disciple Yun Fei is? This is a guaranteed win~’
Hong Niang was in a very pleasant mood, and she even began to hum an unknown tune.
“Lingxi, since she’s okay now, I’ll lend you this room for a while. I have things to attend to… Oh, right, you haven’t gone through College Allocation yet… How about this? Where do you want to go? I can directly recommend you to that peak’s Peak Master.”
“Eh? I… I should probably go to the Sword Dao Academy.”
“Then I’ll mention it to the master of the Sword Peak later. She has a good relationship with your master, so I’m sure she’ll be quite happy to have you~”
With that, Hong Niang hurried away.
It was late now.
Mu Lingxi looked out at the starry sky; as always, the sky was full of twinkling stars, making it seem like a peaceful day.
Returning to the bedside, Mu Lingxi pulled up a stool and sat down, quietly watching Yun Fei’s tranquil sleeping face.
Yun Fei’s clothes had been changed, and she was now wearing a plain white nightgown.
The blood on her body had been washed away.
As for who helped her wash…
Mu Lingxi was the only one familiar with her here, so naturally, she had done it.
Even the nightgown Yun Fei was wearing belonged to her!
However, as Mu Lingxi looked at Yun Fei’s face, she couldn’t help but recall the scene when she was cleaning her, and her face turned slightly red.
“Yun Fei… you were a man who turned into a woman, so how did you develop a better figure than mine? It’s making me feel really insecure, you know?”
If only Yun Fei were flat as a board, she wouldn’t have felt that way while cleaning her!
“Yawn~ mm~ Huh? I’m actually a bit sleepy today? I haven’t felt like this in a long time… Oh well, I might as well enjoy the feeling of sleeping again.”
Mu Lingxi let out a wide yawn.
Her eyelids grew increasingly heavy.
Perhaps today’s emotional fluctuations had been too much?
The bed wasn’t large, and it clearly couldn’t accommodate her as well; there was already a patient like Yun Fei on it!
Thus, in her grogginess, Mu Lingxi was overwhelmed by the surging sleepiness.
She fell into a deep sleep by the side of the bed, her head resting on Yun Fei’s hand.