Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Thank-You Gifts

“Get up!”

Bai Meng Jin returned to the guest room and slapped Ling Bu Fei awake without the slightest gentleness.

Ling Bu Fei’s eyes flew open. “Did Uncle leave?”

“He left.” Bai Meng Jin sat down and poured herself tea.

Ling Bu Fei took the cup from her hand without thinking and gulped it down. Only then did he notice her stare.

“What?” he asked, annoyed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I already drank from that cup,” Bai Meng Jin said flatly.

“Oh.” Ling Bu Fei answered on reflex.

A heartbeat later, the meaning caught up to him. Heat climbed up his neck and flooded his face.

Bai Meng Jin poured herself another cup and drank quietly, as if nothing had happened. Her gaze drifted, thoughtful, and she didn’t spare him so much as a glance.

Outside, Bai Li Xu’s voice rang out, cautious as if he were approaching a sleeping beast. “Where’s Young Master?”

Then Song Zi replied, “The Young Sect Master is in the room, and Senior Sister Bai is there too.”

“Good.”

No one knew what Bai Li Xu hesitated over, but in the end he didn’t come in.

Bai Meng Jin set her cup down. “Going out?”

“Yes.” Ling Bu Fei exhaled, grateful for any excuse to escape his own embarrassment. He got up too quickly and nearly tripped over the hem of his robe.

They left the room and found Bai Li Xu speaking with the two elders. When he saw them, he hurried forward. “Young Master. Miss Bai.”

“What are you talking about?” Ling Bu Fei pushed in with the entitled impatience of someone who’d spent his whole life being “protected.”

“Flowing Moon City,” Bai Li Xu replied.

Ling Bu Fei’s brows rose. Bai Li Xu explained carefully, “A Nascent Soul Stage Devil Creature is rare to begin with, and this one appeared under strange circumstances. I just went to the steward hall to report it to Martial Uncle Wen.”

He added, “Senior Sister You Yan said that in recent years, Devil Creatures have been increasing across different regions. The sect often receives reports from devil hunters.”

In the cultivation world, many independent cultivators made their living hunting devils. If they encountered a Devil Creature beyond their strength, they reported it to the nearest sect and let the sect handle it.

“Is that so?” Ling Bu Fei turned to the two elders. “Why is it happening? Does it have something to do with the Devil-Sealing Barrier?”

Hua Wu Sheng nodded. “The war to seal the devils ended thousands of years ago. The barrier loosens year by year. Devil qi leaks into the Nine Provinces, so Devil Creatures have increased.”

Her tone carried the weight of someone who’d watched this pattern repeat. “These past years, the Immortal Alliance has been sending people to reinforce it. But patching and mending can never truly solve the problem.”

“Can’t we set up a new barrier?” Bai Li Xu asked. “If it stays like this, it’s only treating the symptoms.”

Hua Wu Sheng gave a bitter smile. “You think setting up a Devil-Sealing Barrier is easy? Whether it’s resources or manpower, the cost is terrifying.”

Her eyes went distant. “Back then, they used the devil hearts of four devil kings from the Devil Realm as the foundation. Countless cultivators used their bodies as shields to fill the formation nodes.”

She shook her head. “The current cultivation world can’t produce that.”

“So that’s how it is…” Bai Li Xu murmured.

After devil hunters purged devils, they collected devil qi and brought it to nearby sects in exchange for spirit stones. That devil qi was used to replenish what the Devil-Sealing Barrier lost.

Venerable Ku Mu continued, “A senior from Cang Ling Mountain once said the affairs of the world run in cycles. When the Devil-Sealing Barrier can’t hold on anymore, there will be another war to seal the devils.”

His gaze swept over the three young faces, worry plain in his eyes. “Your Martial Uncle and I are old. If a great war truly happens in our lifetime, then so be it—we’ll gamble these old lives.”

He paused. “What we can’t stop worrying about is you. If war breaks out and your cultivation isn’t enough, you won’t even be able to protect yourselves.”

Bai Li Xu straightened at once. “Grandmaster, I will cultivate diligently and reach Nascent Soul as soon as possible to protect Young Master.”

Hua Wu Sheng smiled. “Good child.”

As they spoke, Bai Meng Jin’s mind drifted, pulled by memories she didn’t share.

The senior from Cang Ling Mountain had been right. The Devil-Sealing Barrier loosened year by year, and Devil Creatures grew more and more active. For the next few hundred years, the major sects purged devils everywhere, struggling just to hold on.

By the time she had been reborn, the barrier had been on the verge of collapse, ready to shatter at any moment.

That was why the Zi Wei Ruins appeared. Everyone had hoped to find treasures within that ancient Immortal Palace—anything to strengthen themselves before the world cracked open.

And it had been why, in her previous life, she’d risked being besieged by the sects to hunt for treasure anyway.

She had spent a thousand years searching for an answer, and she’d never expected to open her eyes again back before everything erupted.

“Oh, right, Young Master.” Bai Li Xu’s voice snapped her back. “After we came back, everyone sent you gifts. I brought them all.”

Ling Bu Fei blinked. “Gifts?”

It was so unfamiliar it almost sounded like a joke. He brightened in spite of himself. “What kind of gifts? Why are they giving me gifts?”

“Because you saved everyone.” Bai Li Xu pulled out a storage pouch and began taking things out one by one. “Young Master, you have no idea—early this morning, Startling Swan Reflections was packed so tight people could barely breathe. Everyone was falling over themselves.”

Pills, protective talismans, and artifacts appeared first—reasonable offerings. Then came toys, snacks, clothes, little trinkets and handmade charms. The table filled in moments. When there was no room left, they piled things carefully on the open ground nearby.

The strangest of all was a wooden rocking horse cart. Ling Bu Fei sat on it and immediately found a small hole at the top of its head, but couldn’t guess its purpose.

“Oh.” Bai Li Xu laughed. “That junior brother showed me. You put spirit stones in there.”

He slipped in a spirit stone. The rocking horse’s eyes lit up, and it began rocking back and forth.

Ling Bu Fei laughed. “It’s fun, sure, but does that junior brother think I’m a child?”

Bai Li Xu pointed at the ear on the side. “Young Master, twist that.”

Ling Bu Fei did. With a soft click, legs unfolded from beneath the rocking horse. It started walking forward in a wobbling, rocking step like a clumsy living thing.

Everyone watching grinned.

“This is clever.”

“As long as you have spirit stones, it can be a mount.”

“You don’t need spells to use it either—this fits you perfectly.”

“That disciple really put thought into it.”

Song Zi and Tao Jiao looked openly jealous. After Ling Bu Fei played with it a while, he handed it over to them with a dramatic flourish.

“Fine, fine. You two play.”

Then he frowned, still half-disbelieving. “So you’re saying I’m popular now?”

From childhood until now, the disciples had always kept a careful distance from him. Sometimes it had felt like even his shadow made them uneasy.

Bai Li Xu’s smile was bright. “The whole sect is talking about the Young Sect Master’s heroic deeds.”

As he spoke, the fog around them stirred.

Hua Wu Sheng’s smile vanished. She lifted her hand and summoned a water mirror.

The image showed the dock below. A small boat was moored there. A richly dressed middle-aged man stood onshore, posture respectful, voice loud enough to carry. “This humble one is a steward of the Ling Family, requesting an audience with Elder Hua.”

Hua Wu Sheng curled her lips and looked at Ling Bu Fei. “Now that they know you’re not completely useless, even the Ling Family has sent someone.”

Ling Bu Fei’s expression turned blank with immediate dislike. “Martial Uncle, send him away. I don’t want to see him.”

Hua Wu Sheng nodded once and let her voice carry through the water mirror. “What is it?”

The steward bowed deeper. “Old Master heard that the eldest young master was injured, and commanded this humble one to come pay respects.”

“Bu Fei is recuperating,” Hua Wu Sheng replied coolly. “He isn’t receiving guests.”

The steward hurriedly said, “This humble one wouldn’t dare disturb the eldest young master. I only ask to see the immortal master under your command, to ask about the situation and report back to Old Master.”

Hua Wu Sheng withdrew the water mirror and flicked her gaze toward Bai Li Xu.

Bai Li Xu rose without being told. “I’ll go.”