Unconsciously, the cobblestone road of the small town had come to an end. Xuan Xi looked up and realized she was already standing at the edge of the forest.
She remembered running to this forest often as a child, especially when those Dragon Descendants were chasing her.
She would run into the woods alone.
But back then, she didn’t dare go too deep. She would only hide at the edge and wait until dark before going home.
According to the map, past this forest and a bit further south was Beast Tribe territory.
She had only read descriptions of the Beast Tribe in books—dominated by the Wolf, Bear, Eagle, and Flood Dragon Clans, their physical strength ranked among the top of all races. But she had never seen an actual Beast Tribe member.
Xuan Xi stepped into the forest, her Perception extending outward, covering a radius of three hundred meters. She felt an explosion in the distance.
It was magic, and without a doubt Fire Element. It came from deep within the forest, exactly at the farthest range of her Spiritual Energy detection.
Xuan Xi quickened her pace, her Perception stretching further ahead—there were seven Dragon Descendants up front. Six standing, one bound.
The six standing seemed to be attacking something, spells of all kinds being thrown in succession.
Xuan Xi had seen it in the Continental Dangerous Creatures Illustrated Guide at the Academy Library—the Man-Eating Flower. Its vines would coil around prey, secreting digestive fluids through its petals to slowly dissolve and devour the victim.
It was said that some high-tier Man-Eating Flowers could even corrode the hard scales of Dragon Descendants.
One of the group was already tangled in vines, struggling.
Xuan Xi quickened her pace and arrived at the scene.
In the center of the clearing, a massive Man-Eating Flower was contracting its petals. Its vines extended from the stem, writhing in the air like snakes.
Six people were attacking the flower, but unfortunately, their attacks couldn’t even break through its defenses.
The person caught in the vines had already been dragged to the edge of the petals, about to meet his end.
“Hit its roots!” someone shouted. A fireball slammed into the base, sending dirt flying. The roots were exposed—thick as an adult Dragon Descendant’s arm, covered in tiny suction cups.
“We can’t break through!” the voice was laced with fear.
Xuan Xi’s Water Blade condensed in the air. She rushed forward, circling to the side, planning to strike from an unexpected angle. A vine whipped toward her.
She ducked, and the Water Blade sliced through the vine’s base. The vine snapped cleanly, milky white fluid spraying from the cut, and a foul, rotting stench filled the air.
“Who’s there?” Someone turned and spotted her.
Xuan Xi didn’t answer. The Water Blade flipped in her hand. A second vine lashed out; she sidestepped, and the blade cut through its middle section.
The vine split in two, falling to the ground, still writhing. The Man-Eating Flower’s petals suddenly opened wide, revealing the person tangled inside.
His legs were covered in thick digestive fluid, his pants corroded with several holes.
On the inner side of the petals was a row of fine, sharp teeth—not real teeth, but they bit together like fangs when contracting.
Xuan Xi’s Water Blade stabbed into the joint between petal and stem, then cut horizontally. A petal peeled off, gushing copious milky white fluid.
The Man-Eating Flower let out a sharp, shrill shriek.
The entire flower began to contract, vines retracting into the ground, petals closing. In seconds, the whole plant sank into the soil. It fled.
All that remained in the clearing were the severed vines twitching slightly, and the boy slumped on the ground, his legs covered in slime.
Xuan Xi dispersed her Water Blade. She crouched down, examining the boy’s legs.
His pants were corroded beyond recognition, with patches of red blotches on his skin—burns from the Man-Eating Flower’s digestive fluid. Not severe, but it would hurt for days.
“Can you still move?” she asked.
The boy nodded. His face was covered in dirt and sweat, with red marks where the vines had strangled him.
“Thank you, you saved my life…” His voice trembled, and when he looked up to see who had saved him, he froze. “You… are Xuan Xi?”
Xuan Xi’s hand paused. She looked at his face, studied it for a few seconds. Dark brown hair, eyes of the same color, and a scar on his face from a fall when he was a child.
She suddenly remembered who he was. Back in this border town, in the alley next to the Blacksmith Shop, among the group of kids who chased her, he was the one running at the front.
Back then, he was half a head taller than her, his fists thicker than her arms.
She could never outrun him, and he always cornered her at the alley entrance.
“Xuan Xi?” The others gathered around. They recognized her too.
Six faces, all familiar from her childhood.
The one who had launched fireballs at the Man-Eating Flower had thrown stones at her when they were kids; the one using Ice Spikes had drawn turtles on her doorstep; the one wielding wind blades had pulled her hair.
The boy who had been tangled in the vines was the leader of their group. He now picked himself up from the ground, legs still shaking.
Xuan Xi stood still, her dark blue-black hair cascading over her shoulders, the dark golden Destiny Mark flickering faintly in the dappled shadows.
Her amber-gold eyes burned like two ignited stars in the sunlight, the corners slightly upturned, carrying an nobility, distance, and depth that didn’t belong to this small town. Her neck was long and graceful, a hint of collarbone visible beneath her collar.
Her skin was much paler than in childhood—not just pale, but the texture of fine mutton-fat jade. Wind swept through the forest, lifting her hair, which gleamed in the sunlight.
The people standing before her fell silent. Someone swallowed nervously, betraying their anxiety.
The leader opened his mouth, his throat dry. “Xuan Xi… we…” The words got stuck in his throat, neither rising nor falling.
“Regardless, thank you!” He finally squeezed the words out. Then a second one. “Thank you.” A third, a fourth, until all of them had said it.
“About what happened when we were kids…” The leader’s voice was low.
“We shouldn’t have treated you that way. I’m sorry.”
Xuan Xi looked at him. She remembered when he used to corner her at the alley entrance—he was half a head taller, his fists a size bigger.
Now, he was still taller than her, his fists still bigger, but standing before her, he looked like he had shrunk.
“I don’t even remember that anymore.” Xuan Xi’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear.
It wasn’t a polite dismissal.
She genuinely didn’t remember much of it. Not that she had forgiven them, and not that she had made peace with it—it was that those things were simply too small compared to everything else.
Her own wounds, the Echo Valley Dragon Lizard Battle, the “Saving the World” her mother had spoken of in her dream, her feelings for SigrdrÃfa—compared to all that, the childhood bullying was too trivial.
Her story would never be confined to such a small town.
The leader’s hand moved. He pulled something from his pocket and held it out to Xuan Xi—a deep blue stone, fist-sized, its surface covered in fine markings like ancient runes.
“We found this in the forest. This thing might have some kind of power, which is why the Man-Eating Flower was attracted to it.” His voice dropped low.
“And there’s a cave up ahead. Something seems to be deep inside it. We didn’t dare go in. If it’s you, maybe you can.”
Xuan Xi took the stone. The blue markings felt faintly cool against her palm. She asked, “What cave?”
“About two li deeper into the forest, there’s a mound. Beneath the mound is an entrance, covered by vines. Inside the cave, there’s a strong energy fluctuation. We only made it to the entrance.” He paused.
“That energy… it feels a lot like what you’re radiating. It’s not Elemental Power. It’s something else.”
Xuan Xi thought for a moment. Not elemental—that meant Spiritual Qi. She looked at the deep blue stone in her palm and decided to check it out.
“Thanks.” She pocketed the stone.
The leader nodded, then led his companions away, limping as they went. After a few steps, he stopped. “Xuan Xi.” His voice was soft. “Thank you—and, I’m sorry.” Then he left, vanishing into the direction of the forest’s edge amidst the dappled shadows.
Xuan Xi stood still, looking at the deep blue stone in her hand.
The forest shadows swayed gently in the wind, as if something deep within the woods was calling to her.
She stepped forward, heading deeper into the forest.
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