Small footsteps drew her attention.
She quickly wiped her tears, drawing her daggers as she spun around, ready to strike—but paused.
Two fluffy thunder bunnies with fur crackling with contained lightning, a delicate white wind fox whose ethereal form seed to dance with the morning breeze, and a massive frost tiger whose very presence crystallized the air around it—Li Wei's spirit beasts had returned.
She relaxed, sheathing her daggers. Their eldest brother's precious companions, who had fought so fiercely just monts ago, now approached with an almost timid air, their usual majestic presence diminished by shared loss.
"Co here," she whispered, her voice soft with understanding.
The four spirit beasts padded over, their movents heavy with grief. She could see her own pain reflected in their otherworldly eyes—they too had lost their family today.
"You fought well today. Thank you for protecting our Family." She whispered, reaching out to stroke the frost tiger's crystalline fur. Her fingers paused mid-motion as she realized sothing. "You can't stay here, but..." A small smile touched her lips. "I know sowhere safe."
The spirit beasts looked at her, heads tilted in curious synchronization.
She laughed softly—her first genuine laugh since the battle—and closed her eyes. Before the spirit beasts could take another breath, reality shifted around them. When Li Hua opened her eyes, they stood in her private space: a vast, lush forest untouched by the morning's chaos, still as peaceful as she had left it.
The spirit beasts looked around in wonder, their otherworldly eyes taking in the strange new environnt. The frost tiger's crystalline fur shimred with reflected light from the dense spiritual essence in the air, while the thunder bunnies' whiskers twitched at the powerful energy surrounding them. The wind fox's ethereal form seed to ripple, responding to the space's unique properties.
Li Hua smiled at their reaction and led them across the ornate bridge.
"This is my ho. Little Firefly, who manages the space is asleep at the mont, but you can roam freely until we et with my eldest brother. Do whatever you like, ok?"
The spirit beasts seed to understand, their eyes brightening slightly. The thunder bunnies were the first to move, their tiny paws carrying them toward a patch of glowing grass. The wind fox twirled gracefully into the air, its ethereal form dancing through the trees, while the frost tiger padded majestically toward the spirit spring, leaving delicate ice crystals in its wake.
Li Hua watched them explore before making her way to her bedroom. There, on her pillow, lay a small, dimly glowing ball, cocooned in blankets. She sat on the edge of her bed, fingers hovering over the warm, silk-like surface.
"Little Firefly," she whispered softly. "When will you wake? I miss you so much. There's so much that has happened, and I wish you were here to see it." Her voice caught slightly as she touched the cocoon's warm surface. "Everything's changed now."
She watched him for a mont before walking into her bathroom.
She was surprised but not surprised. Blood splattered all over her training robes and outer robes—evidence of the morning's devastation she hadn't even noticed until now. thodically, she removed each layer, the fabric stiff with dried blood from their enemies.
The warm water washed over her, carrying away the physical remnants of battle but doing little to ease the weight in her chest. Steam rose around her as she scrubbed her skin clean. When images of today's battle and her parents' faces flashed unbidden through her mind, she tensed, scrubbing harder and harder until she looked down to find her skin bright pink from the unconscious violence of her movents.
Finally stepping out of the shower, she wrapped herself in the cotton towel and released a bone-deep, exhausted sigh before quickly changing into a plain white robe, its fabric soft against her tender skin.
Once she was satisfied, she walked out of her courtyard house and realized that this was the first ti she had entered her space with her physical body. The difference was staggering.
The spiritual essence here was so dense it felt almost liquid, pressing against her skin like warm honey. She hadn't noticed it earlier, too preoccupied with introducing the spirit beasts to their new ho, but now in this quiet mont, she could feel it fully. The air itself seed to pulse with power, each breath filling her ridians with pure, concentrated essence that would take days to accumulate in the outside world.
Her mind raced with possibilities. Since bonding with Little Firefly in her previous life, she had trained countless tis in this space through her spiritual projection, achieving remarkable results. But now, standing here in her physical form, she couldn't help but wonder - how much more potent would her training be? The thought of pushing her actual body through forms and techniques in this essence-rich environnt made her ridians tingle with anticipation.
This one week, she would push herself beyond any previous limits. She would forge herself into sothing new. Sothing strong enough to face whatever waited in the celestial plains.
But, before she dived into this, she wanted to visit her mother's garden, she quickly exited her inner space and reappeared in their family's courtyard.
"Li Ming!" An elder man's voice ca from a distance.
Li Hua paused, recognizing the village chief's voice.
She walked over to the gate and saw a few villagers and the village chief in front running hurriedly.
She quickly used her concealnt technique and called out, "Village Chief."
"Ah! Is that you, Li Hua?" He called back, his breathing unsteady.
"Yes, Village Chief."
"What happened? Is everything ok?" His weathered face creased with concern. "We saw strange lights in this direction, and there was an odd rumbling..."
Li Hua looked at the small group of villagers behind him, their faces a mixture of worry and curiosity. These people who had known them only as simple farrs who practiced basic cultivation—who had no idea of the true powers that had clashed here today. She felt a familiar weight settle on her shoulders, the sa weight her parents had carried for eighteen years, protecting these innocent people from truths that would only bring them harm.
"Everything is fine," she said with a gentle smile that masked the storm in her heart. "Father was just testing so new farming techniques with spiritual essence that he picked up from the Chen village over the mountain. But he and mother had to leave suddenly—a relative is ill." The lie fell easily from her lips, just as her parents had taught them. Keep it simple, keep it believable.
The village chief nodded, though concern still lingered in his eyes. These were good people, with good hearts—which was exactly why they needed to be kept away from the dangerous truths of the higher realms.
"If you need anything..." he offered kindly.
"Thank you," Li Hua replied softly, aning it. Their simple concern, untainted by knowledge of cultivation politics and immortal sches, was sohow more precious for its innocence. Then, forcing the words past the tightness in her throat, "Village Chief, my brothers and I will also be eting our parents. This courtyard..." she paused, unable to finish.
The village chief understood imdiately, his weathered face softening with paternal concern. "This courtyard will remain yours forever. No one will claim it."
She nodded gratefully, the simple promise aning more than he could know.
The old man stepped forward and patted her shoulder gently. "Then we'll leave. Take care, child." His voice was rough with emotion as he turned to lead the villagers away, leaving Li Hua alone with her thoughts and the weight of all that had changed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)