[…Turn around.]

Huh? Wen Yuncheng installed the part she was holding, and when she turned around, she saw Lin Jinyu, who had been standing behind her for who knows how long.

Of course, the Little Ice Mountain had always been excellent at managing her expression. Wen Yuncheng blinked, unable to determine for a moment if Lin Jinyu had heard the tune she was humming. “I-I can explain…” But even as she said it, Wen Yuncheng lacked confidence.

“I just went to chop some wood and gather some branches.” Lin Jinyu didn’t respond to her, instead explaining what she had just been doing. She touched her ring, and a large pile of wood blocks, cut neatly by a longsword, and ordinary little branches appeared on the ground. “There’s a river nearby. We can walk along it; we should encounter quite a few demonic beasts.”

“Ah, okay.” Was Lin Jinyu… trying to cover for her embarrassment? Wen Yuncheng blinked. But if Lin Jinyu didn’t mind, she shouldn’t worry so much about it, right? Wen Yuncheng stood up, collected the wood blocks and branches into her ring, and said, “Maybe we can catch a few fish, too!”

“Mm.”

It seemed she had gotten through it safely. Wen Yuncheng touched the tip of her nose to hide her feelings and turned to extinguish the campfire. If they were going to the river… she also needed to fetch some water for later. Taking a bath would be even better, if possible. But as she walked, watching the pretty girl’s back, Wen Yuncheng couldn’t help but ask 1947: Did she hear me or not?

[She probably heard you.] 1947 hesitated. [But she might not have understood.]

Wen Yuncheng fell silent. Although there were some terms in it that Lin Jinyu wouldn’t know, when you put it all together… “Little sister’s legs aren’t legs – they’re spring water.” And then the part about “rose, scimitar, clear water”… there was no way that song could sound respectable.

Forget it. The more she thought about it, the more awkward it became. Heaven knows, she was just bored and humming randomly while thinking of the pretty girl; she had no other intentions! If Lin Jinyu didn’t know she was a girl, she would probably be mistaken for a pervert.

Wen Yuncheng walked behind, utterly embarrassed and silent, while Lin Jinyu walked ahead, expressionless and lost in thought.

Wen Yuncheng was probably, truly, a very special… girl… right?

Lin Jinyu wondered if she had accidentally stumbled upon some of Wen Yuncheng’s private moments. Perhaps next time she left and came back, she should make some noise? Raised to be independent, constantly pushed to cultivate, her childhood replaced by study and training, Lin Jinyu had never had any close friends, childhood sweethearts, or playmates.

In the sect, she had plenty of sparring partners, but they all kept an appropriate distance from her.

…Not very good at getting along with her peers and lacking any real experience, Lin Jinyu sighed inwardly.

Because her father’s expectations were so high, she had always worked incredibly hard. After entering the academy, she lived alone in her dormitory… Every day, she either stayed up all night cultivating or went to the Fire Tempering Bath to train. The senior students in the S-Class were friendly, and the teachers were considerate and gentle, but Lin Jinyu’s mind was solely focused on cultivation.

…She had never eaten roasted meat. Not roasted rabbit, not roasted pork, not even roasted fish.

What Lin Jinyu consumed most were medicinal pills, and as a child, she soaked most often in medicinal potions that aided cultivation. This was one of the reasons she now frequently went to the Fire Tempering Bath to temper her body; it was extremely important to her. Long-term consumption of medicinal pills-even high-grade, high-quality ones-would still affect her body, and the Fire Tempering Bath could refine away those effects.

As for pain? Since she was young, her father had watched over her as she practiced her sword techniques and movement skills, repeating her combat techniques at least three hundred times a day. Physical pain and exhaustion meant nothing to Lin Jinyu. Or rather, as long as she could make progress, it was all worth it.

Even when she came to the academy to study, her father told her to focus solely on cultivation and not think about anything else.

She couldn’t play with her peers, or perhaps she never even had the right to play at all.

To someone like Lin Jinyu, Wen Yuncheng was simply too peculiar. There was no one like her in the entire Flowing Cloud Sect.

One must be disciplined and proper, always mindful of one’s bearing, words, and actions. Cultivate, be diligent, never complain of hardship or fatigue. All conflicts were resolved through strength; the inner sect was always superior to the outer sect. Because her father was the Sect Master, she had to be even more careful. She had to be the best.

Wen Yuncheng… was peculiar, strange, and different from everyone else. Whether it was her Star Power, her fighting style, or her personality, she was different.

Lin Jinyu recalled how, after hearing the Winged Tiger’s roar, she had quickened her pace to end the fight and told Wen Yuncheng to flee… but Wen Yuncheng had actually gone to collect those strange little spheres and the tiger’s corpse… It was simply unbelievable.

Of course, Lin Jinyu thought, perhaps Wen Yuncheng hadn’t recognized the roar as belonging to a Winged Tiger. The slip was one thing, but then Wen Yuncheng threw out a meat bone to lure the tiger away and, in turn, dragged her along as they ran blindly. And after they were safe, while she took a pill to recover her Star Power, Wen Yuncheng actually started a fire to roast meat…?

None of that was a big deal. More importantly, Lin Jinyu couldn’t comprehend how someone could not cultivate at night. Lin Jinyu cultivated straight through to the early morning, so when she sensed Wen Yuncheng fiddling with those attacking spheres nearby, she assumed Wen Yuncheng would start cultivating soon after. But after a while, Wen Yuncheng actually… went to sleep. She even bought a sleeping bag just to sleep!

Sigh…

For such a strange person like Wen Yuncheng, humming a strange song seemed perfectly normal.

Simply put, Lin Jinyu, who was the same age as Wen Yuncheng, didn’t at all put herself in the role of the “little sister” from the lyrics. Plus, she didn’t quite understand some of the lyrics, so she just thought Wen Yuncheng was humming some strange, random folk song. She never paid attention to such things, so it was perfectly normal in her mind that she had never heard this song before.

It’s probably just a popular, strange folk song, the Little Ice Mountain thought to herself.

Full of apprehension, Wen Yuncheng energetically speared fish when they reached the river. 1947 helped from the sidelines, calculating angles and teaching her to grasp the timing, allowing her to successfully spear five or six fish.

They weren’t ferocious demonic beasts, but Silver-Scaled Fish, which were quite common on the Starry Sky Continent and named for their silver scales. The Silver-Scaled Fish had soft bones, extremely tender meat, and a sweet flavor. Coupled with the fact that they were easy to farm on a large scale, they were extremely popular.

Thinking that Lin Jinyu hadn’t eaten breakfast, Wen Yuncheng roasted all the fish and shared them with her. While eating the roasted fish, Wen Yuncheng was reminded of the pickled vegetable fish she had eaten in her past life. Unfortunately, she didn’t know if there were any plants in this world that could be used to make pickled vegetables.

Afterward, the two of them took turns keeping watch while they quickly washed up and changed their clothes. After all, they were in the Demonic Beast Great Forest; they couldn’t be too particular about other things.

Three days later.

“Qiu Fei! I killed this demonic beast!-“

“Heh, so what? It ended up in my storage ring.” Qiu Fei ran extremely fast, her speed, enhanced by Star Power, on par with Yan Ling’s. “How many demonic beasts have you snatched from me? I was the one who seriously injured that second-layer Star Lord beast yesterday!”

“That’s not what you said last year when you killed the beast I had seriously injured, you bastard!-“

“How can last year be the same as this year?! This year, I’m honestly mentoring my disciple, and you’re stealing her demonic beast. How old are you? Is that appropriate?!”

“Damn it, if you want it, I won’t let you have it! You bitch, stop right there!”

“We’ve fought no less than five times without a clear winner, so why are you chasing me? Can’t we just call it quits here? I won’t snatch any more demonic beasts from you in the future.” Qiu Fei sounded like she was backing down, but her feet didn’t stop. “Deal? Stop chasing me.”

“Leave the demonic beast’s corpse behind!”

“If you’re going to be like that, then there’s nothing to discuss. Go on and chase me then.”

Yan Ling: Damn it.

While the two were still entangled in their personal grudge, the ground suddenly began to tremble, and the trees started to shake violently. Qiu Fei stopped abruptly, looking toward the depths of the Demonic Beast Great Forest…

Was… was that a dragon’s roar? A dragon? Why would there be a dragon in the Demonic Beast Great Forest?!

The Dragon Race existed on the Starry Sky Continent. However, they lived on Dragon Island, which was very, very far across the sea from the continent. The Dragon Race was peaceful and rarely appeared on the Starry Sky Continent. In fact, some Star Emperor-level experts had visited Dragon Island, and the relationship between the Empire and Dragon Island had always been very peaceful.

Because those dragons would not leave Dragon Island.

The moment the dragon’s roar sounded, the demonic beasts in the forest panicked and went into a frenzy. The Beast Tide had been coming to an end, but in that instant, the situation descended into chaos!

“Notify the Headmaster. All students must return to the towns.” Yan Ling reacted extremely quickly. “You contact the other instructors and report to the Headmaster. I’m going to find my disciple.”

“Wait-” Before Qiu Fei could even voice her protest, Yan Ling had vanished. She was a little annoyed. Why did she have to be the one to report it? She had a disciple, too! But thoughts were just thoughts; she couldn’t delay on important matters. Qiu Fei immediately took out a communication stone and contacted the Headmaster while rushing back.

“It’s a dragon! A huge dragon has appeared in the Demonic Beast Great Forest!-“

“Report to His Majesty immediately! We must ask for His Majesty’s decision!”

“The sect masters of the various sects should be on their way, right? The Protectors of the Nation should be coming as well. Everyone, don’t panic! Guard the city gates and prioritize helping the students evacuate!”

When the huge dragon appeared, Wen Yuncheng was in the middle of a tough solo fight against a third-layer Star Practitioner leopard. When the ground trembled, she thought she was just dizzy and unsteady on her feet. It wasn’t until the leopard’s fur stood on end and it froze, trembling like a kitten under the dragon’s roar, that she realized what was happening.

From her vantage point, she couldn’t see into the depths of the forest. But she could hear that incredibly powerful dragon’s roar, a sound that could make one’s legs go weak just from hearing it. In that instant, her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, and for a moment, Wen Yuncheng could hardly breathe!

[Neutralizing Dragon’s Might…]

[Neutralization successful.]

Wen Yuncheng instinctively took a step back, clutching her heart. She controlled her steel spikes to extend and finish off the leopard while it was still in a state of fear, then looked at Lin Jinyu.

Lin Jinyu was holding onto a tree, half her body leaning against it, her face deathly pale.

“Let me help you sit down. Relax, relax… breathe slowly.” Without taking the time to wipe the blood from her steel spikes, Wen Yuncheng rushed over to help Lin Jinyu sit down. She half-knelt in front of her, took out a waterskin from her storage ring, and carefully helped her drink a couple of sips, allowing Lin Jinyu to regulate her breathing and calm her mind. She only stopped when Lin Jinyu turned her head to the side. “Feeling better?”

“…Mm.” The color had not yet returned to Lin Jinyu’s face. She looked toward the depths of the forest, her brow slightly furrowed. “It’s a dragon.”

It was a dragon, but there shouldn’t be any dragons in the Demonic Beast Great Forest.