BAAF Chapter 86

Shen Liuxiang guessed that Di Yunyu was observing from afar and deliberately summoned his Nascent Soul as a test.

 

The snake-like fire vines indeed halted their attack, becoming confused in mid-air. Their tips swayed gently as they watched the small Nascent Soul waving its white flag left and right with both hands.

 

After a moment, one vine extinguished the flames surrounding its body and dipped into a pool of clear water. After cooling off, the green vine tip gently curled around Shen Liuxiang’s Nascent Soul, placing it on a small swing woven between two large trees.

 

The forest was cold, and perhaps fearing the chill, nearby vines lit two small fires for warmth.

 

Soon after, they brought a pile of freshly picked fruits and presented them to the Nascent Soul.

 

The Nascent Soul, who initially wanted to return to Shen Liuxiang, put down its white flag upon seeing this, picked up a round orange with both hands, and obediently sat back on the swing.

 

With smiling eyes, it said: “Then I won’t surrender anymore.”

 

Shen Liuxiang stared in disbelief at the fire vines surrounding him on all sides, then at his Nascent Soul leisurely munching on an orange.

 

A fake Young Lord, but truly an Imperial Palace prince?

 

Before he could react further, the white flag in his hand was burned to smoke by a stream of fire. The vines’ earlier gentleness had been a brief illusion. The fire vines surged toward him like waves of flame, bringing scorching heat.

 

Shen Liuxiang had no choice but to fight back. He closed his eyes, using divine consciousness to track the fire vines’ movements. His dodging speed instantly increased.

 

He moved purposefully through the forest. Before long, the vines following him became entangled with each other, pulling against each other, trying to break free. But such movements only bound them tighter together.

 

Shen Liuxiang landed, curving one corner of his lips: “Nothing special.”

 

Just as the words left his mouth, a “crack” sounded. Shen Liuxiang turned to see the entangled vines breaking in half, freeing themselves, then regenerating with lightning speed, growing even thicker and tougher than before.

 

Shen Liuxiang: “?!”

 

Boom, slap—!

 

Provoked by his mockery, the vines doubled their speed. Shen Liuxiang couldn’t dodge in time and was struck on his left arm, letting out a hiss of pain. The other vines gave him no chance to breathe, all surging toward him at once.

 

The forest instantly filled with the sounds of whipping and striking.

 

In the Imperial Palace, Xu Xinglian watched this scene with furrowed brows. The vines attacking Shen Liuxiang were clearly faster and more powerful than those facing the other two. She couldn’t help saying: “Isn’t that too harsh on brother?”

 

“It’s not my order—he’s too arrogant,” Di Yunyu said, his gaze falling on the figure desperately fleeing. His brows moved slightly, and after a moment, he seemed to laugh softly. “Forget it, let’s just watch the show.”

 

So he watched as Shen Liuxiang struggled in dire straits.

 

Shen Liuxiang discovered these vines were truly extraordinary. Not only could their white flowers breathe fire, but they could also shoot ice arrows. One moment he was roasted and howling, the next he was shivering with cold. Even in the brief moment it took to sneeze, he was unexpectedly whipped.

 

Fortunately, as time passed, he gradually adapted to their speed, significantly improving his reactions.

 

By nightfall, Shen Liuxiang could dodge with ease within the ice and fire encirclement, though his internal spiritual energy was nearly exhausted, and his body was covered in blue and purple bruises.

 

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, panting heavily. He could hold on a little longer before collapsing from exhaustion.

 

However, the vines seemed to have received an order and showed no intention of continuing their attack. They tossed him a water flask and completely withdrew.

 

His Nascent Soul jumped down from the swing, hugging the orange and hurrying over, but tripped over a stone mid-way, falling flat. The small figure couldn’t get up for quite a while.

 

Shen Liuxiang silently went forward to help it up.

 

The Nascent Soul was dizzy, offering him the orange while muttering: “I saw a little green thing, why didn’t you let me beat it up?”

 

“After accompanying me through this grueling practice, why bother chasing it?” Shen Liuxiang understood Di Yunyu’s intention. Wiping the orange, he took a bite. “Besides, you can’t even get up after tripping—who could you possibly beat up?”

 

The Nascent Soul pouted, looking down at its index fingers.

 

Since it could produce primordial energy on its own, its body had become unusually heavy, and it couldn’t bounce around anymore.

 

Seeing his extremely aggrieved expression, Shen Liuxiang held its chin, examining it closely before raising an eyebrow.

 

The chubby face had thinned somewhat—it must have grown a bit.

 

Shen Liuxiang pinched the soft cheek, and when the Nascent Soul widened its eyes in displeasure, he returned it to his dantian to continue nurturing it.

 

Di Yunyu had mentioned that damage to the primordial spirit could cause memory loss. Shen Liuxiang had always thought his lack of the original body’s memories was because he was an outsider, but now it seemed that perhaps the original body’s memory had already been problematic before he arrived.

 

Shen Liuxiang rubbed his brow, stepping away from the forest. Once his primordial spirit was fully repaired, perhaps he would remember some things.

 

The other two had already emerged. Xu Xingchen was clutching his head, searching everywhere for the vine spirit to exact revenge. Zhou Xuanlan was waiting outside the forest, and when he spotted the slender figure, he frowned.

 

Master was injured.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s hair was disheveled, his outer robe burned and tattered, his face covered in dirt as he emerged. He had planned to find some water to wash his face before seeking others, but looking up, he saw Zhou Xuanlan.

 

He immediately felt the urge to turn back.

 

“Master,” Zhou Xuanlan called out, quickly approaching.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s hand was grasped, his sleeve lifted to reveal a wound on his wrist where the skin had split open from a burn. Zhou Xuanlan lowered his eyelids as the person before him laughed: “It doesn’t hurt, just itches a bit.”

 

This mark was left when Shen Liuxiang had momentarily let his guard down and his wrist had brushed against a fire vine. He had already applied spiritual medicine, though it wouldn’t heal quickly.

 

Seeing Zhou Xuanlan press his lips together silently, appearing quite displeased, Shen Liuxiang tilted his head to examine his expression.

 

Though this minor injury was nothing—he wasn’t a delicate thing that would fall at the slightest touch—discovering that the person before him was upset because of it made his heart leap with joy.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s eyes curved into a smile: “Could it be that you’re concerned for me?”

 

“Yes.” Zhou Xuanlan stared at him.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s heart skipped a beat, not expecting such a frank admission without the slightest concealment. His cheeks immediately flushed as he withdrew his hand.

 

Something was different. Where was the reserved, restrained disciple from before?

 

Zhou Xuanlan took out an outer robe from his storage pouch and draped it over Shen Liuxiang, gathering his disheveled black hair and tying it with a slender red ribbon. Then he pulled him into his embrace and in an instant, they were beside a clear river.

 

By the time Shen Liuxiang came to his senses, the dirt on his face had already been wiped clean with a dampened silk handkerchief.

 

Having battled the vines all afternoon, he was already exhausted. Seeing this, he simply stopped pretending, leaning forward to rest against Zhou Xuanlan, lifting his hand to wrap the outer robe tighter, his forehead pressed against the broad shoulder.

 

Shen Liuxiang narrowed his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the moment.

 

A thought of becoming a happy layabout from now on naturally arose.

 

But just as this idea emerged, he felt a chill down his back. Shen Liuxiang abruptly lifted his head, remembering that Di Yunyu might be watching from the shadows, and trembled all over in fright.

 

Zhou Xuanlan: “What’s wrong, Master?”

 

Shen Liuxiang coughed dryly: “Nothing.”

 

He quickly stood upright, properly donning the outer robe. Zhou Xuanlan’s clothes were slightly larger than what he usually wore, with the hem barely touching the ground. Shen Liuxiang tightened the belt, glanced left and right, then grabbed Zhou Xuanlan’s sleeve and hurriedly left.

 

“Let’s get to business.”

 

When they had been sent in, Di Yunyu had told them to climb to the mountaintop.

 

Mount Shengqi at night was bathed in bright moonlight, with thin mist floating, peaceful and serene.

 

But before long, a rumbling sound came from deep within. A large amount of spiritual energy began to churn restlessly, breaking the night’s tranquility.

 

A giant spider, ten feet tall, stood at the dim, damp entrance of a cave, extending its colorful, slender legs like a performer, leisurely plucking at the crystal-clear spider silk under the moonlight.

 

The entire web trembled.

 

Two figures trapped within, almost separated, were instantly wrapped together again.

 

Not long ago, the two had fallen into the giant spider’s trap. Zhou Xuanlan’s back was stuck to the spider silk, unable to move, while Shen Liuxiang had fallen on top of him, with his hands and feet also stuck.

 

Discovering that his internal spiritual energy was continuously flowing away through the spider silk, Shen Liuxiang used all his strength to struggle free. His hands had just broken loose somewhat when the spider web violently shook, and everything returned to square one.

 

He fell back onto Zhou Xuanlan and looked back to see the giant spider, which terrified him.

 

Now that they were trapped, if the giant spider attacked, the situation would be dire.

 

But unexpectedly, the giant spider just stood at the cave entrance, not climbing onto the web, showing no sign of attack.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s heart brightened, and he mustered his strength again, gradually freeing his hands from the silk. However, just as he was about to succeed, the web violently shook once more, and all his efforts were instantly wasted.

 

Unsure if it was coincidence, Shen Liuxiang tried again.

 

But when he was one step away from success, he groaned and fell back onto Zhou Xuanlan.

 

Shen Liuxiang caught his breath, his eyes red with anger. He turned his head, gnashing his teeth: “Can’t you just get it over with? What’s so great about toying with people?!”

 

The spider clearly toyed with him, plucking the web whenever he was about to break free!

 

The giant spider ignored him, raising its rainbow-colored long legs to scratch the top of its head.

 

Zhou Xuanlan pulled the enraged person to his chest. Perhaps having never seen his master red-faced with anger before, his black eyes revealed a hint of amusement as he said softly: “Master, don’t be angry. Looking at the spider’s appearance, it’s already full and won’t move against us for now, but it’s unwilling to let its prey escape, that’s why it’s doing this.”

 

Shen Liuxiang ground his teeth.

 

What strange creatures were hidden in Mount Shengqi—tough vines that could spit ice and fire, spider silk that couldn’t be broken once stuck… even his Soul Formation Realm cultivation couldn’t withstand them.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s black eyelashes trembled lightly, anxious and frustrated, not entirely because of the spider but partly due to the Love Flower Gu.

 

Since the injury to the Gu from the heart blood, he had barely detected the child Gu’s movements, not knowing whether it was dead or alive. But just now, as he repeatedly fell back onto Zhou Xuanlan, their bodies pressed together, he had begun to feel warm, and now they were forced to remain in close contact.

 

Shen Liuxiang’s nape grew hot, his legs reflexively weakening.

 

His phoenix eyes slightly reddened, and after pondering various methods for a while, he stared at Zhou Xuanlan: “Spiders can be considered demons too. Aren’t you a dragon? Intimidate it.”

 

Zhou Xuanlan was stunned for a moment. Looking at the person in his arms, he opened his mouth, revealing a sharp fang on each side, and gave a model-worthy snarl.

 

“Just go ‘rawr~’ ‘rawr~’ like that.”

 

“Use force to intimidate him.”

 

After the demonstration, Shen Liuxiang’s eyes brightened with expectation.

 

Then he saw his disciple fall silent for a moment before his thin lips inevitably curved upward, laughing softly: “Master, I’m not Ao Yue.”

 

Shen Liuxiang: “—?!”

 

Who’s being called a dog?!

 

 

---