Trees of some unknown species stand tall. There are almost no gaps between the lush foliage.
It is already nearing noon and the sun is high in the sky, yet the forest is still very dim. Only some strands of sunlight can penetrate the leaf barrier and land here.
Although the moment she saw Martial Demon Realm, Xue Qilin gained a certain understanding of its scope, but she still lacked a real sense of it. Not until she was inside it, did she truly appreciate how big the forest is.
It is another world.
There are no man-made structures in the forest, not even something that could be called a road. According to Qi Qiqi, people have tried to lay roads in Martial Demon Realm. But the paved roads would soon be destroyed by martial demons, and finally disappear.
… “Where humans walk becomes roads, where martial demons walk reverts to their original state.”
Qi Qiqi said this at the time. Xue Qilin feels that this sentence reflects the difference between humans and martial demons well.
At least, humans cannot survive in such a dark place for long.
The uneven woodland is covered with all kinds of obstacles – stones of different sizes, roots exposed above the ground, caves dug out by animals and martial demons.
These obstacles do not pose a real threat to martial practitioners. But for ordinary people, they are a menace. If they accidentally stumble over a tree root and hit a big rock, they will likely forfeit their life.
It is hard to imagine how hunters, lumberjacks, miners, and people of other professions engaging in the exploitation of resources overcome these natural dangers in their day-to-day life. Even Xue Qilin who is a Heaven Realm master has tripped over tree roots several times due to carelessness. Of course, thanks to her natural reaction speed, she didn’t fall once.
Other people in the team have also encountered some minor problems. Thanks to this, the whole team moves very slowly.
After crossing a puddle, Xue Qilin ran into another problem.
This time some underbrush hooked her by a sleeve.
“What the hell is this place! This god-forsaken place!”
Xue Qilin complained as she tried to unhook the sleeve from a barbed stem, agitated.
Shui Yun’er following behind the lass covered her mouth and snickered. At the same time, she stepped forward to help.
“This is also part of the trial by fire.”
Shui Yun’er said so. She’s in an even worse state than Xue Qilin. The water-blue hair is infested with several young leaves and the dress is stained with mud – this is proof that she fell into some puddle.
“I’m not here to participate in the trial by fire.”
Xue Qilin puckered her mouth, unconvinced. Seeing this, Shui Yun’er smiled helplessly.
“Big Sister Young Ancestor, let me help you!”
Nangong Mingye who was instructed to bring up the rear with his sister by Qi Qiqi shouted as he ran this way.
The Nangong siblings are also participating in the trial by fire.
Catching the eye of the martial maniac Situ Mutou, Nangong Mingye was accepted by him as a disciple. This lad who shouts “beautiful big sister” whenever he sees an unfamiliar beautiful girl has thus become an inner disciple.
As for Nangong Mingming, she also stays in the inner temple. Qi Qiqi once expressed her intention to accept Nangong Mingming as a disciple. At the time, Xue Qilin thought that if Nangong Mingming learned this news, she would faint from happiness. After all, she has always admired Qi Qiqi.
It is not surprising that the Nangong siblings who have a relationship with Qi Qiqi ans Situ Mutou respectively and have excellent talents were chosen to participate in the trial by fire.
Apparently finally noticing the situation here, Qi Qiqi in the lead of the team stopped, and the entire team stopped as a result.
“What is it again?”
She looked back and asked. The team getting stuck repeatedly must have left Qi Qiqi a bit sulky, and so there is a faint impatience contained in her tone.
Everyone’s eyes landed on Xue Qilin. At the beginning they were surprised that their Young Ancestor would encounter the same problems as themselves. But as the number of predicaments the lass encountered increased, they gradually became numb to it.
Seeing that the one who ran into a predicament this time was Xue Qilin again, Qi Qiqi’s face wrinkled at once. Perhaps because she is apprehensive of the difference in seniority, she didn’t rebuke the other party, but just said “be more careful.”, and then continued to lead the team.
“You want to touch me there, you little pervert!”
Finding out that Nangong Mingye’s hand is heading towards her thigh, Xue Qilin gave him a look. Nangong Mingye stuck his tongue out and ran back to Nangong Mingming who is staying at the end of the procession. However, she knocked him on the head.
When the stem was finally unhooked from her sleeve, Xue Qilin found out that the team has already moved forward a considerable distance. She who had been walking in the front of the team had fallen behind to the back of the team.
“That Little Seven won’t even wait for me.”
“You should not blame Temple Master Qi, Young Ancestor. As the master of the temple, she cannot just care about you, Young Ancestor.”
Nangong Mingming walked up to Xue Qilin and predictably started defending Qi Qiqi right off the bat.
If it was some ordinary disciple instead, they wouldn’t have dared to talk to Xue Qilin like this. Although she appears to be easy-going and easy to get along, but due to her seniority, such disciples are bound to be somewhat reverent towards her.
However, Xue Qilin dislikes it when others are respectful to her.
Fortunately the Nangong siblings don’t seem to be like that. This is probably due to the time Xue Qilin who disguised herself as an outer disciple has spent with them.
Xue Qilin sighed when she heard that.
“Of course I know that, I’m just venting.”
“Ha-ha. But if Senior Sister Qi heard that, she might get upset again.” Shui Yun’er chuckled.
“Don’t, don’t tell her, or else I’ll be disciplined again!”
As she said that, Xue Qilin shivered involuntarily.
Qi Qiqi is the person the lass is most afraid of. The lass is afraid of her verbal barrage, and even more afraid of her fists.
“Big Sister Young Ancestor, do you want me to carry you on my back?”
“Ha…? You?”
Xue Qilin looked Nangong Mingye’s small body up and down skeptically. He isn’t much taller than her.
“Can you move with me on your back?”
“Of course!” Nangong Mingye puffed out his chest proudly, “I am already in the Human Realm!”
When the Nangong siblings joined the temple, they were already at the threshold of the Human Realm. They could enter the Human Realm at any time as long as the opportunity arose.
A few days ago, while practicing swordsmanship, Nangong Mingming had a flash of insight and stepped into the the Human Realm. As for her brother. More than a week ago at night, that lucky bastard woke up and discovered that he has already advanced to the Human Realm.
Then Nangong Mingye squatted down.
“Big Sister Young Ancestor, come on! It will fill me with bliss!”
“Yo, what do you mean by that?”
Xue Qilin tilted her head and asked, confused.
Nangong Mingye’s eyes shone and he uttered excitedly, “Look, if I carry you, your chest will press against my back! Plus, with your dress being this short, I can touch your thighs!”
What’s wrong with this little lecher! Xue Qilin itches to kick the little lecher in front of her. She has never met anyone who could speak so openly about their dirty schemes, let alone a child in their early teens.
“I’m clever, right?”
Nangong Mingye asked thusly, causing Nangong Mingming to growl and punch him.
“Ouch, Big Sister Mingming, you hit me again…”
Seeing Nangong Mingming’s eyes widen, Nangong Mingye shut up immediately.
“Only Mingming can keep this little lecher in check!”
Xue Qilin spoke ruefully.
Yet Shui Yun’er said while stifling a smile, “No, there is one more person.”
“Who is it?”
“His teacher.”
“Situ Mutou?”
“While supervising Mingye’s training, Big Brother Situ apparently didn’t let him see any female disciples.
Xue Qilin was first taken aback, and then laughed out loud.
To be honest, she can’t imagine how Situ Mutou gets along with Nangong Mingye. After all, one is wooden and the other is lively and restless. If you think about it carefully, Nangong Mingye may have been suffocated while under his obstinate teacher.
“… Young Ancestor, Big Sister Teacher asked me to tell you guys to go faster…”
Gong Tianqing came to the back of the procession from the front.
Xue Qilin looked ahead and found that her small group has fallen behind a little. They have to speed up and catch up with the rest of the team.
“How much further is it?”
As she spoke, Xue Qilin thought how to prevent herself from getting into trouble again.
Shui Yun’er frowned slightly and replied, a little uncertain, “We should be halfway there…”
“That so… what? Halfway there? We only walked 10 li [1]?”
Reportedly there is a small lake called Mirror Moon Lake about 15 li to the west in Martial Demon Realm. The people of each sect who set out will establish a foothold by the lakeside.
By the way, during Martial Demon Realm Trial by Fire, the people from Merak Temple are divided into two teams. In order to adapt to their respective teams as soon as possible, from the moment they stepped into Martial Demon Realm, the two teams went separate ways, each moving towards the gathering point along set routes. The route that Qi Qiqi’s team took is about 20 li long.
“To, to be more precise, we have already walked 1,680 zhang [2]. There are still 1,320 zhang left…”
Gong Tianqing interjected weakly, evoking a look of surprise in Xue Qilin’s eyes.
This Little Qing is accurate to this degree? Xue Qilin saw Gong Tianqing in a different light.
“How many li is 1,320 zhang?”
“Almost 9 li.”
Gong Tianqing answered quickly.
“Hey, there are still 4.5 kilometers…”
Xue Qilin moaned like she is about to collapse.
With her physique, even if she walks 100 li, it’s not a problem. But Martial Demon Realm’s terrain is very rugged. Even so, Xue Qilin isn’t tired at all. She’s just bored.
Ai, it would be nice if I could be transform freely like Phecda! Xue Qilin envies Phecda who turned into a kitten and is asleep in the basket on Qian Duoduo’s back.
“If there are no accidents, Elder Xia should arrive there soon, so… so we have to speed up.”
After a pause, Gong Tianqing continued, “Furthermore, the route conditions aren’t as bad as expected.”
“Aren’t as bad as expected? What did you expect?”
Xue Qilin widened her eyes and asked. Gong Tianqing shrunk her shoulders, and her words became meek.
“Originally, originally we should have… encountered martial demons… but…”
Xue Qilin realized that they haven’t met a single martial demon despite walking for so long.
“Is this normal?”
“I haven’t been here before either…”
It appears that this is also the first time Gong Tianqing is participating in Martial Demon Realm Trial by Fire. As a result, it is not surprising that she cannot judge if the current situation is abnormal or not.
“That so…”
“Bu, but…”
“But what?”
Gong Tianqing showed a hesitant expression.
“Young Teacher, when I went out to buy supplies yesterday, I made inquiries about the situation here. One of the stall keepers who sells dry rations said that the average person would rarely go deeper than 10 li into Martial Demon Realm.”
“Even hunters?” Feeling that her question is a little vague, Xue Qilin added, “I mean those who specialize in hunting martial demons.”
“I’m not sure, I didn’t ask.”
Shui Yun’er shook her head apologetically.
Xue Qilin touched her chin and pondered.
If even hunters who specialize in hunting martial demons for a living do not go this deep, then that indicates that martial demons should roam the area 10 li away from the edge.
Yet they haven’t seen a single martial demon until now.
“Big Sister Teacher has been saying ‘it’s strange’…”
Gong Tianqing finally spoke.
By saying that it’s strange, is Little Seven referring to this? As Xue Qilin contemplated this, Xi He’s face flashed in her mind.
She raised her head and looked around.
Not only are there no creatures other than them here, but there isn’t even wind around.
“…”
Xue Qilin narrowed her eyes and looked ahead.
The forest in front of her eyes is dark and endless, just like some fierce beast with its maw open wide.
