The next day.
Between sleep and wakefulness, Ling Feng suddenly felt a surge of killing intent.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a sharp sword tip flickering with cold light. It was plunging straight toward his throat.
He raised his hand and caught the blade firmly between two fingers. Only then did he see the assassin—a sword servant dressed in black, wearing a strange black mask.
Jiang Yueyi had a group of these black-clad sword servants under her command. They were the same people who had ambushed him in the Secret Realm before.
This person was likely one of them.
"Die!" The sword servant's Mana exploded instantly as she tried to force the blade down to pierce his throat.
A second later, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She flew backward like a kite with a broken string and crashed right through the window.
She tried to circulate her Mana to control her sword and hover, but Ling Feng's figure flashed before her eyes. He raised his foot and stomped down!
Bang!
Her body slammed into the ground. She let out a pained groan, but a heavy follow-up kick landed squarely on her chest. The impact shattered the thick rock beneath her.
Zero-frame start. He charged up another kick and let it fly.
As a streak of bright red blood flowed from beneath her mask, she completely lost the ability to move.
Ling Feng finally stopped, though his foot remained planted on her chest. He pressed down with enough force to make her feel like she was suffocating.
"Why are you trying to kill me?"
"You deserve to die!"
Ling Feng remained relatively calm. After thinking for a moment, he retracted his foot.
Ultimately, she was Jiang Yueyi's subordinate. If he killed her outright, it would be hard to explain to Jiang Yueyi. Since he was technically her subordinate now, it was better to let her handle it.
He let out a yawn and prepared to go back to sleep. It was rare to have such a comfortable bed. After being worked to the bone by Jiang Yueyi lately, sleeping in didn't seem like too much to ask.
"Stop right there!" the sword servant screamed as she saw him walking away.
The pain was so intense she couldn't even stand. If she hadn't been at the Third Level of cultivation, those two kicks would have killed her. Even so, her ribs were completely shattered.
Ling Feng didn't stop. He walked straight toward the main door of the White Pavilion.
"You ruined my Lady's state of mind! If you don't die, you will become a stumbling block on her path to immortality! I will kill—"
In the next heartbeat, the sword she had dropped earlier fell from the sky. It thudded into the ground, stopping a hair's breadth from her neck. A thin line of blood bloomed on her pale skin.
Ling Feng yawned again and went back to finish his nap.
***
When the sword servant woke up, Jiang Yueyi was sitting beside her. She was reading an ancient book with great interest, occasionally popping a grape from the nearby tea table into her mouth.
"My Lady! I... ugh..."
"Alright, don't move. Your ribs are all broken. I gave you a healing pill, so just refine the medicine yourself in a bit and you'll be fine." Jiang Yueyi kept her eyes on the book, not even glancing at her.
"I'm sorry, My Lady. I caused trouble for you," she whispered dejectedly.
"It's not really a problem." Jiang Yueyi's tone was indifferent, making it impossible to tell if she was angry.
"I failed... I couldn't kill him."
Jiang Yueyi sighed softly. She hadn't expected her subordinate to be foolish enough to attempt an assassination. Foolish didn't even cover it.
"He has no grudge against you. Why did you try to kill him?"
"He damaged your state of mind. If he lives, he will become the biggest obstacle to your cultivation. The Master ordered us to protect you. He had to die."
Jiang Yueyi tapped the servant's face with her book, her gaze full of helplessness.
These people had grown up with her since childhood. They were incredibly loyal and prioritized her above all else. Before coming to the Canghua Realm, her father had ordered them to clear any obstacles in her path at any cost.
"I can handle my own mental state. This is the last time. If you do it again, even if you die at his hands, you'll have brought it on yourself."
***
After catching up on his sleep, Ling Feng woke up in the afternoon.
He yawned, stretched, and got out of bed. After getting dressed, he pushed open the folding doors.
Outside his room was a small balcony about ten square meters in size. He liked this spot, which was why he had chosen it as his living quarters.
A gentle breeze blew, and the forest rustled below. The view here was grand and spectacular. This was the sixteenth floor, the highest level of the White Pavilion, which was built on the tallest peak of the Moon-Resting Mountain's eastern range.
Feeling the cool breeze, he took a deep breath. He decided to take a bath.
Jiang Yueyi had mentioned yesterday that the fifteenth floor was a Hot Spring Secret Realm.
It was quite interesting. Except for the sixteenth floor, every level of the White Pavilion was an independent pocket dimension. Although they were only about ten miles wide—tiny for a Secret Realm—that was only because Jiang Yueyi was too lazy to expand them.
The White Pavilion itself was a Spirit Tool. It was an 8th-Rank item. It was technically possible to build sixteen realms as large as the entire Canghua Realm inside it.
[Human Dao Cultivation Levels: Spirit Sea, Decay Transformation, Inscribed Pattern, Cave Heaven, Divine Tribulation, Ultimate Zenith, Heavenly Mandate, Boundary Sacrifice, Void Refinement, Law Realm.]
Spirit Tools used the same ranking system as cultivation. This meant the pavilion was a Boundary Sacrifice Level Spirit Tool.
A Boundary Sacrifice expert is equal to a god, controlling the life and death of an entire world.
Unfortunately, it was a purely defensive Spirit Tool with no offensive capabilities. It was likely Jiang Yueyi's ultimate life-saving treasure.
While he wasn't curious about her background, he couldn't help but marvel at her mystery.
He reached the fifteenth floor and stepped inside. It was a hot spring dimension with several lakes scattered about. White mist drifted through the air, but a closer look revealed a faint purple hue.
This was a Mana Spring, which was incredibly beneficial for cultivation. While such springs existed in the world, he had rarely seen any with that ethereal purple mist in the Canghua Realm.
Marveling once more, he took off his clothes and stepped into the water. A Mana Spring couldn't tolerate any filth; the energy would instantly vaporize any impurities. This was why cultivators loved them so much.
It seemed Jiang Yueyi had prepared this for herself. It was an extravagant move to move a naturally formed Mana Spring into a private Secret Realm.
But he had to admit: "This is comfortable..."
"I'm glad you like it."
"..."
Ling Feng looked back. Jiang Yueyi had walked up behind him at some point. He was very sensitive to killing intent or hostile auras, but he didn't pay much attention to anything else. Consequently, he hadn't noticed her arrival.
She was wearing a moon-white lace bathgown with ruffled edges. It looked sexy yet retained a hint of innocence.
He wasn't sure why he would use a word like 'innocent' to describe her, as it didn't fit her personality at all.
Jiang Yueyi stepped into the spring with her pale legs. Once submerged, she stretched her arms, arching her back as if to highlight her curves and her ample breasts.
"This is my favorite Secret Realm. Since you like it, my hard work wasn't for nothing." Jiang Yueyi smiled beautifully. Perhaps the water really was relaxing, as the mischief in her eyes faded, replaced by genuine warmth.
"It's nice." He quietly looked away. This woman was too enchanting; looking at her for too long would disturb his focus.
Jiang Yueyi didn't miss the flicker of shyness when he turned his head. Her lips curled into a smirk, but she suppressed her urge to tease him for the moment.
With a flick of her finger, a white jade platform rose from the water. The ripples hit it, but the stone remained perfectly still.
She pulled several items from the spatial bracelet on her wrist and set them down.
A bottle of wine, two jade cups, and a fruit platter.
She poured two drinks and handed one to Ling Feng.
Their cups clinked, and they drank.
Jiang Yueyi swirled the wine in her cup and said softly, "About Su Nu's actions... I apologize on her behalf."
"Oh. Fine." He didn't know the name, but she was definitely the black-clad servant from this morning.
"You're forgiving her that easily?"
"Three strikes and you're out."
Since Jiang Yueyi had apologized personally, he wasn't the type to be petty.
"It was my fault, really. She didn't try to kill you out of hatred."
"Was it because of your state of mind? I still don't know how I ruined it, but I don't hate people who are that loyal to their masters."
He truly didn't know. If she hadn't mentioned it, he never would have thought he'd affected her mental state.
"The state of mind is an irrational thing. But... I don't really care. Even if it's damaged, it isn't necessarily a bad thing for me."
Ling Feng looked at the sword scar on her pale shoulder. The wound had healed, and the scar was already fading. It would probably vanish completely in a few days.
It seemed that since the past, he always ran into situations like this.
He didn't understand the specific reason. Since it happened so often, he just chalked it up to coincidence.
There was no other explanation.
In the beginning, people would curse at him, saying he had ruined their state of mind or destroyed their Dao heart. He would usually just counter-attack without hesitation.
But after it happened so many times, he had to wonder if there was something wrong with him.
The answer was no. What could possibly be wrong with him?
"Have you considered how to end this cycle of cause and effect?"
"I've given it a lot of thought and I know what to do. That's why I said this might not be a bad thing."
"If you can settle the karma affecting your state of mind, it could be considered a lucky break."
"Or maybe a match made in heaven," Jiang Yueyi whispered. Her voice was so soft that Ling Feng wouldn't have heard her if the room weren't pin-drop silent.
He felt awkward and took a sip of his wine. Jiang Yueyi saw his embarrassment. Now that the apology was over, she stopped holding back her playful side.
"Are you blushing? So cute." Her smile was intoxicating.
"..." He didn't like being called cute.
"Still, even though you get shy, you never seem to doubt it when people show affection for you, do you?" Jiang Yueyi swirled her cup, her words carrying a deeper meaning.
"You're mistaken. I just accept other people's opinions of me calmly."
He couldn't control love or hate. Some people hated him but wouldn't draw their swords; others loved him but struck anyway.
Because of that, he simply accepted how others treated him.
It wasn't arrogance. He just felt that other people's wills were their own, and he couldn't control them anyway.
"Is that so?" Jiang Yueyi gave him a meaningful look.
"Little brother, do you dare to challenge me?"