The next day.
In the haze of the Barren Forest, the mountainside was like a fairyland rising into the clouds, hazy and gorgeous.
Looking down, one could see mountains upon mountains.
A young man in a black robe was shuttling through the dense forest. Behind him was a woman who was as cold as thousand-year-old ice, and one could feel the bone-chilling coldness from dozens of meters away.
The woman's waist-length hair was like a waterfall falling from the sky.
But surprisingly, the woman was holding a little girl with blue pupils in her arms. All the bone-chilling coldness seemed to deliberately avoid the little girl, revealing a soft and tender feeling around her.
These three people were undoubtedly Qin Shi, Yu Luocha, and She Xi 'er.
It had been three days since Qin Shi broke through to the late stage of the King Spirit Realm, and he felt that the breakthrough was exceptionally smooth.
The power of the universe in his body swam like a spirit snake, eager to give it a try.
In the evening, the three of them lit a bonfire near the cliff and rested. Qin Shi wrapped himself in his black robe and hugged She Xi 'er. Ever since he broke through, She Xi' er had been sticking to him. Brother Shi was very cute.
Qin Shi raised his sleeve and lightly touched the bridge of She Xi 'er's nose. "Xi' er, do you know where the secret passage out of the Barren Forest is?"
She Xi 'er shook her head. "I don't know. It's a forbidden area of the Fiend race. Only the patriarch and the elders know."
Qin Shi had expected this answer, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
After that, he didn't ask any more questions. He just picked up She Xi 'er and said gently, "Xi' er, how did you and your mother meet those bad guys?"
She Xi 'er pouted and said with some disappointment, "Not long ago, the Holy Spirit Flower's fragrance spread everywhere, so the patriarch sent me to check it out. That's how we met those bad guys."
Qin Shi frowned. "Holy Spirit Flower?"
"Xi 'er, what did you just say?"
But before Qin Shi could ask, Yu Luocha's beautiful eyes narrowed as if she had heard something shocking. "The Holy Spirit Flower is about to bloom?"
"Yes, it has already formed a bud."
Yu Luocha sucked in a breath of cold air as a rare look appeared on her usually icy face. "It seems that the Fiends are going to have another almighty expert?"
Seeing Yu Luocha's strange behavior, Qin Shi furrowed his brows and hesitated for a while. In the end, he still opened his mouth to ask. This was the first time he had spoken to Yu Luocha since She Xi 'er's mother had passed away, so he could forgive her. "What's going on with the holy spirit flower?"
Yu Luocha didn't respond. She just quietly stood to the side with a gloomy face. The bonfire reflected in her eyes, reflecting a rare gentleness.
"The Godspirit Flower is a sacred relic of the Fiends.
She Xi 'er, who was in Qin Shi's embrace, raised her head and replied, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't pestered Mother to follow her and ended up dragging her down, Mother wouldn't have been defeated by that group of evildoers."
Hearing those words, Qin Shi sadly lowered his head.
He was right. She Xi 'er's mother was at the late stage of the King Spirit Realm, and with the powerful body of an ancient beast, Qiu Ming and the others were no match for her.
But who could be blamed for this?
For this reason, he comforted She Xi 'er with heartache. "Xi' er, this isn't your fault. She'll protect you in the underworld. Tell me where your home is, and I'll send you home, okay?"
"Home?"
Her small body trembled. She Xi 'er's blue eyes became lax as she shook her head. "Mother is gone, so Xi' er has no home."
Qin Shi was stunned. "Hmm?
Where's your father? "
"Xi 'er doesn't have a father … I heard from Mother that he sacrificed himself for the Fiends in the battle for the holy spirit flower thirty years ago. That's why Xi' er pestered Mother to see the flower!" When She Xi 'er mentioned her father, she was a little disappointed, but she was more proud.
Hearing these words, Qin Shi couldn't help but be startled. But before he could reply, Yu Luocha, who had been silent under the firelight, suddenly raised her head and said, "Xi 'er, what did you just say?
Your father sacrificed himself in the battle thirty years ago? "
"Yes, he was a great hero of the Fiends!"
Surprise flashed in Yu Luocha's eyes. "Is your father called Snake-Horn Dragon?"
She Xi 'er was extremely surprised. "Big sister, you know my father?"
"As expected!"
Yu Luocha fiercely sucked in a breath of cold air. Her ice-cold eyes became abnormally stern.
She silently clenched her fists by the bonfire. The thin firelight shone on her pretty face, reflecting an imperceptible heaviness and sorrow.
She slightly raised her head and looked at the night sky.
Her black eyes were so silent that it seemed as if they could pierce through the starry sky. A sorrowful aura enveloped all directions.
In her unfocused eyes, she raised the corner of her mouth in a mocking manner. She silently said, "Hehe, Hua Ling, do you see this?
This is karma, right?
Fate makes fools of people. You would never have thought that I would be the one taking care of his child thirty years later, right? "
Her ambiguous words confused Qin Shi. Add to that Yu Luocha's abnormal behavior, and he was a little surprised. He asked, "What exactly is going on??"
Hearing this, Yu Luocha gradually calmed down. She lowered her head and smiled bitterly. "Snake-Horn Dragon was the previous patriarch of the Fiends."
"Hiss …"
Qin Shi sucked in a breath of cold air and glanced at his bosom in disbelief. He didn't think that She Xi 'er, this little fellow, was actually of royal blood.
"What about the war thirty years ago?"
Qin Shi wrapped She Xi 'er tightly in his black robe and spread his hands.
Yu Luocha's delicate body couldn't help but tremble at the mention of what happened thirty years ago, as if she was in great pain.
But after a moment of silence, she still threw two branches at the bonfire. "If we talk about what happened thirty years ago, we have to talk about the Holy Spirit Flower."
"The Holy Spirit Flower is a sixth-grade spirit herb."
"A sixth-grade spirit herb?"
Qin Shi smacked his lips. Having a little understanding of spirit herbs, he knew that this kind of existence was probably as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the entire Crimson Flame Empire.
If news of this got out, perhaps all the powerhouses of the five major regions would be involved.
"Yes, but the Holy Spirit Flower's blooming season is very unique. It might be a year, a hundred, or even a thousand years without blooming."
"The most amazing thing is that every time the Holy Spirit Flower blooms, a powerhouse will appear in the Fiend race. Therefore, there is an unwritten rule among the Fiend race that when the Holy Spirit Flower blooms, the Fiend race's patriarch will give up his position!"
Yu Luocha raised her head and looked at the stars in the night sky, feeling a little depressed. After a long time, she continued, "Every time the Holy Spirit Flower blooms, the new patriarch will be baptized by the Holy Spirit Flower. Only then can he be regarded as the new king of the Fiend race."
"There's such a thing?" Qin Shi said in surprise.
Yu Luocha nodded and said, "But thirty years ago, the Holy Spirit Flower bloomed under the accumulated evil spirits of heaven and earth. Unexpectedly, someone broke into the Misty Shadow Mountain and stole it. Because of this, the Fiend race fought with this person for three days and three nights. The former patriarch, Snake-Horn Dragon, also died in the battle. Even so, they still couldn't defeat this person, and the Holy Spirit Flower was stolen!"
Under the black robe, Qin Shi was shocked. He stood up and said, "What?
One person fought against the entire Fiend race and stole the Holy Spirit Flower?
Who is this person? "
"It's Hua Ling!"
"Hiss..." Qin Shi sucked in a breath of cold air again. Although he knew that Hua Ling was heaven-defying, he didn't expect him to be so heaven-defying.
How powerful is this Hua Ling?
Heaven Seizing stage?
Heaven's Equal stage?
Or Ascending stage?
Ignoring Qin Shi's astonishment, Yu Luocha continued, "Since the Holy Spirit Flower was stolen by Hua Ling, the current patriarch of the Fiend race hasn't been baptized by the flower. Therefore, the Fiend race is looking forward to the day when the Holy Spirit Flower blooms again!"
"I see."
Qin Shi nodded seriously. It seemed that the Holy Spirit Flower was very important to the Fiend race.
After a moment of silence, he relaxed his brows and said, "Now that the Holy Spirit Flower has bloomed again, does it mean that the Fiend race is going to have a new patriarch?"
A hint of struggle flashed across Yu Luocha's cold face. She then nodded mockingly and said, "Yes, the day when the flower blooms is the day when the king changes!"
After understanding the whole story, Qin Shi nodded and handed She Xi 'er to Yu Luocha. Then, he warmed his hands by the bonfire and prepared some food for She Xi' er. After that, he and Yu Luocha swallowed two more Life Extending Fruits and went to rest.
At midnight, She Xi 'er was already sound asleep.
Qin Shi sat cross-legged under an ancient pine tree next to the bonfire. He released his mental power from his sea of consciousness to cover a radius of three thousand meters.
Suddenly, a beautiful figure appeared in his sea of consciousness. He opened his pitch-black eyes and saw Yu Luocha standing in front of him.
When he saw Yu Luocha, he moved to the side and patted the seat he had just sat on, indicating for Yu Luocha to sit down.
The two of them sat under the tree.
For a moment, it was a bit awkward, and neither of them spoke.
In the cold wind and heavy atmosphere, Yu Luocha finally couldn't help but speak first, "Do you still blame me?"
"I do, but I'm not angry anymore."
The corners of Qin Shi's mouth curled up indifferently. He put his hands on the grass behind him and propped himself up, "Seeing how you take care of Xi 'er, I believe her mother in heaven will feel gratified?"
"I should make it up to her. I owe her too much."
Yu Luocha shook her head, revealing a rare warmth and self-blame.
With his sharp eyes, Qin Shi saw through Yu Luocha's strangeness at a glance and asked, "Did you and Xi 'er's father know each other long ago?"
Clang!
Yu Luocha's delicate body trembled, and her eyes revealed a rare fear. She scolded, "I said before, if you don't want to die, don't ask about my past. Don't ever ask about it!"
A bone-chilling cold swept up, and Qin Shi trembled.
He looked at Yu Luocha's pretty face. Her delicate cheeks seemed to have accumulated tens of thousands of years of vicissitudes. Just what had she experienced?
"Sooner or later, I'll make you tell me everything!" Qin Shi thought to himself. However, he didn't ask her about it.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to get an answer out of her now, and would only make Yu Luocha more vigilant.
This girl had been sealed in ice for far too long. She couldn't be melted by a short period of heat. He needed to slowly make her feel the warmth of the world.
"What do you think about the Holy Spirit Flower blooming this time?"
"Let's go get it!"
Yu Luocha said. "To the Fiends, seeing the Holy Spirit Flower is like seeing its master. As long as we can get it, we'll definitely find a way to force them to give us the secret passage."
Qin Shi nodded his head. He also had the same thoughts.
Even though he didn't want to fight the Fiends, this was the only way to get out of this place.
The night sky looked somewhat mysterious in the hazy miasma. The two of them didn't say a word, but they both raised their heads and gazed at the starry sky at the same time.
BOOM!
BOOM!
All of a sudden, the ground halfway up the mountain trembled violently. The tremor was so intense that the birds in the forest were startled, and smoke rose in all directions.
Shocked, Qin Shi held onto Gu Song and asked, "What's going on?"
Yu Luocha jumped to her feet and gazed in the direction of the tremor. She couldn't help but shiver as she fixed her eyes on the foot of the mountain to the east.