Out in the wilds, vast stretches of land lay as dark and gloomy as an abyss.
Qin Ming glanced behind him. Faint flickers of firelight swayed at the edge of the horizon—that was a walled city. Nearby, only the night wind swept past, without even wild beasts to be seen.
Yet he was certain that something was trailing him.
He had just slain three grandmasters in succession back in Kaiyuan City. Did someone truly still dare to pursue him?
Moreover, he was traveling via spirit wandering at such immense speed that ordinary experts had no hope of catching up.
*The dream bug?* Qin Ming harbored doubts. Had that exotic bug with its extraordinary abilities followed him? If so, that would spell tremendous trouble.
However, the dream bug was in terrible shape. Would it really risk everything to track him down in a life-or-death gamble?
Qin Ming then considered other possibilities. Had an actual great grandmaster come after him?
When Lin Shuyue, Qian Ye, and the others had communicated in secret, Qin Ming had resonated with fragments of their conversation. That dream bug could divine good fortune and avoid calamity, having "pinpointed" four lines in total that might resolve its predicament.
At the time, ancient gods and great grandmasters had personally followed the first three lines to secretly peer into and observe them, meaning those targets were clearly of immense strength.
Qin Ming frowned. Had a great grandmaster of the Godkin Society returned at this juncture to retrace him, the fourth line?
Shifting freely between substance and form, he grasped the miniature White Tiger female grandmaster and silently slipped deep into the night.
Qin Ming traversed vast distances through the night mist, changing directions repeatedly. Although there was no disturbance behind him, his instincts warned him that this stretch of territory was unusual.
"Little brother, what sharp instincts you have," a voice marveled from within the night mist.
This time, the sound came not from behind, but from the road ahead. In the thick nocturnal fog, an elderly man carrying a red paper lantern stood amid the barren wilderness.
He had white hair and a gaunt face, his figure flickering between light and shadow.
Qin Ming halted. By now, he was at least fifteen thousand li away from Kaiyuan City.
If ordinary folk were to encounter such an emaciated, disheveled white-haired elder in this desolate wilderness, it would surely send chills down their spines.
In the deep night, wisps of crimson mist coiled around the red paper lantern, drifting beside withered trees and broken stone steles. It was far from a peaceful scene.
Qin Ming spoke concisely, uttering only two words: "Who are you?"
The old man replied, "Just an old codger with little life left. Once, I was a god; as for now, a plucked phoenix is worse off than a chicken."
He was remarkably candid, directly admitting that he was a degenerated deity, now thoroughly decayed, decrepit, and with few days remaining.
"Little friend, I bear no ill will. I too attended the Kaiyuan Grand Gathering and witnessed your awe-inspiring might with my own eyes. Little did I expect that we would end up traveling the same path toward this region. Only as you drew near my doorstep did I reveal myself, wishing to invite you for a chat."
Carrying his lantern, the old man kept his distance to avoid misunderstanding, speaking from afar.
"You need not worry. Though this old man has degraded severely, no one else should be able to approach on my turf. There are no pursuers behind you."
Ultimately, Qin Ming stepped forward.
The old man nodded in greeting. "In the battle of Kaiyuan City, your performance was truly earth-shattering. In the past millennium, among anomalies like you, I have seen no more than one or two."
Qin Ming replied, "Senior flatters me. If I were truly that outstanding, I would not have fled."
The old man was momentarily speechless, then shook his head. "You were alone against the Godkin Society. That battle has already made you famous across the realm. From now on, who won't know of Hu Dingming?"
He glanced at the White Tiger female grandmaster, who was less than a palm high, and said, "What a well-behaved little kitten."
Soon, a sharp gleam surfaced in the elder's cloudy eyes, accompanied by a touch of surprise. "Hm?"
He spoke solemnly, "Forgive my rudeness; my eyes deceived me. A pure White Tiger bloodline, truly blessed with celestial poise and divine bones. Little friend, this confidante of yours will surely achieve limitless heights in the future."
The miniature White Tiger female grandmaster had furry ears and large eyes as clear as spring water. With all ferocity faded away, her demeanor appeared remarkably innocent and pure.
She said nothing, merely staring intently at the deity.
Qin Ming said, "Since Senior is aware of the events in Kaiyuan City, you should understand that I must hurry on my journey and cannot linger."
"Though I am in my twilight years, I still possess some means in this domain. Rest assured, little friend, no harm will come to you. Still, since you harbor concerns, it would be inappropriate to invite you into my divine kingdom as a guest. Let us simply share a cup of wine right here for a brief conversation."
Instantly, the wilderness behind him lit up. Mountain peaks draped with cascading fire-spring waterfalls, floating islands, divine shrines bathed in morning glow, pavilions, terraces, spirit lakes, arched bridges, and all manner of wondrous scenery stretched as far as the eye could see.
It was a resplendent divine kingdom.
"With my dying body, who knows how many adversaries are waiting for me to thoroughly rot away so they can storm my divine kingdom? Alas, no matter how glorious a deity once was, in the end, it is inevitable to meet a bleak demise. Thinking about it, it is no surprise. Not to mention myself, even if a Heavenly God were drained and their lifespan reached its end, they would hardly fare any better."
The elder felt many emotions, sighing at his approaching fate.
He confessed that his only lingering concern was his descendant.
He was direct. "In my old age, I was blessed with a daughter. Though she is not an anomaly seen once in centuries, she is exceptionally gifted. I only fear that the day my divine kingdom falls will be the day she meets her end alongside me. Could you take her with you?"
As the White Tiger female grandmaster underwent her reverse aging, her temperament seemed to have become somewhat adorable as well. She mumbled, "What kind of situation is this? Even while fleeing for our lives, someone is offering a divine maiden."
The elder smiled bitterly. "Nothing more than seeking a chance of survival for my daughter."
Qin Ming shook his head. "Senior is a noble deity and yet cannot shelter her. I am merely a lone rogue cultivator—how could I possibly keep her safe?"
"To be entirely frank, I can tell that you are from an outer realm and do not belong here. Thus, I wish for you to take my daughter away to a new world, where she might evade this lethal calamity. As for this old man, I shall guard this realm and, before my lifespan runs out, take the initiative to settle scores with those old rivals!"
At this moment, he resembled not an ancient god, but merely an aging father, sincere and melancholy. He took out a document and offered it forward.
"So long as my daughter survives, that is enough. This is a covenant that will grant you control over her destiny. Whether she becomes your companion or a concubine in the future, I can accept it. My judgment of character is accurate; I know you are pure-hearted and kind, and will not mistreat her."
Qin Ming stepped back, not taking the covenant.
"Little friend, can you truly not lend a hand? Simply taking her away will suffice," the old god pleaded.
Behind him, within the divine kingdom, a woman clad in snow-white garments stepped lightly forward. Her crystalline purple hair fell over her chest and back, her complexion fair, her face bearing a trace of sorrow. Looking at her aged father, she seemed on the verge of tears.
Her appearance could only be described as stunning. Though a divine maiden, she lacked any aloofness, conveying instead an air of delicate gentleness.
The palm-sized White Tiger female grandmaster mumbled, "How about you perform the marriage rites before leaving?"
The old man's spirits lifted at once. "If that could be so, nothing could be better! If you wed today, I am willing to bestow all the rare treasures of my divine kingdom as her dowry."
Qin Ming shook his head. "The realm I come from is fraught with even more bloody turmoil and is on the verge of war with external forces. It is by no means a pure land. I cannot protect a divine maiden. Taking her across realms might only bring great disaster upon her."
Unwilling to waste time, he directly took his leave.
The old god looked dejected, but ultimately said nothing more. He simply nodded and watched Qin Ming depart, offering a final warning that an evil god dwelt in a certain region ahead, advising him to take a detour.
"Young Master," the purple-haired divine maiden called out softly from behind. In the end, she too sighed, silently waving her slender hand from within the divine kingdom.
Qin Ming vanished into the night, rapidly pulling away. Looking back from afar, he saw the divine kingdom fading, steeped in boundless twilight and rot.
*Ding!*
A crisp sound resonated deep within the clouds of the night sky. Immediately after, lines of silver thread lit up, weaving into an enormous spirit-capturing net.
It possessed little offensive might, yet served as an early warning system.
Qin Ming's expression shifted slightly. Was someone ambushing him?
The White Tiger female grandmaster's clear tiger eyes widened. "We didn't take the path the old god pointed out. Could we have truly run into trouble?"
Amid the mist and clouds, a tall young man clad in black-gold armor and holding a halberd sat atop a bat-winged silver exotic beast. His gaze was sharp as lightning, locking onto Qin Ming.
Grasping the heavy halberd with his right hand and holding a golden conch with his left, he was communicating with someone far away, saying, "What a coincidence. It seems I've actually run into Hu Dingming!"
Afterward, this man—radiating an exceptionally formidable aura and cloaked in dense Dao rhyme—put away the conch. He looked toward Qin Ming and said, "Are you Hu Dingming?"
"And what if I am?" Qin Ming asked.
The man said in a deep voice, "I heard that you, an outsider, swept through multiple grandmasters in our realm's Kaiyuan City and swaggered away. Having heard of this, I wish to battle you."
This was a grandmaster, and evidently a renowned figure. Though appearing youthful, his true age was likely greater than his outward appearance suggested.
"Not interested!" Qin Ming refused.
"That is not up to you!" the young man shouted. Centered on him, the surrounding clouds detonated. His black-gold armor erupted with dark light, and the heavy halberd in his hand seemed poised to crush the void.
With a roar, the high-tier exotic beast beneath him let out a dragon-like cry. Fierce and terrifying as a true flying dragon, it carried him forward at extreme speed.
With his ink-black hair trailing loosely, the young man raised his halberd with both hands, bursting forth with boundless thunder and flame as if linking to the firmament, dazzling beyond measure.
Man and beast moved as one, both emanating the aura of the fifth realm—a dual-grandmaster combination!
Qin Ming frowned and sensed carefully, then clenched his right fist and punched forward violently. Extreme Yang heavenly light surged like a roaring river sweeping across the sky.
Since he was in a state of spirit wandering, the size of his fist complied with his will, instantly expanding to the size of a house and causing the void to resonate with violent tremors.
With a thud, both man and beast shuddered violently, blood seeping from their mouths and noses.
The young man growled. Raising his halberd slightly, he slashed forward once more, drawing upon the thick Dao rhyme of the firmament while carrying boundless thunder and fire.
With a boom, Qin Ming erupted with Chaos force and delivered another heavy punch. Heavenly light burst forth like a breached dam, blasting man and beast tumbling backward through the air.
Without a word, Qin Ming carried the White Tiger female grandmaster into the distance.
The man's body wavered as he murmured, "Defeated... I cannot withstand him at all. Even if I fought to the death, I likely couldn't endure twenty of his punches before being slain."
Qin Ming's brow remained furrowed. Accidents had occurred one after another along the way. His whereabouts seemed to have leaked, and someone had set up spirit-capturing nets to intercept him.
"A great grandmaster!"
In the deep night, above the clouds, a figure resembling a fiendgod blocked the way, bearing a pair of black feathered wings that radiated immense pressure.
His face appeared utterly cold in the gloom, his towering figure exuding a power that made the heart tremble.
Qin Ming held the rotten fan, but did not activate it. Instead, he instantly dove toward the earth.
"Think you can escape?" the great grandmaster spoke.
"If you attack, aren't you worried your ailing condition will worsen?" Qin Ming turned back to ask.
The great grandmaster replied coldly, "No need for your concern!"
Qin Ming landed on the ground, shrinking the earth to inches as he dashed toward the horizon.
The great grandmaster exuded an oppressive presence, following along at an unhurried pace.
Qin Ming turned back and called out, "Old fellow, since you dare pursue me, why not attack directly? What are you waiting for?"
With a thunderous roar, billowing vitality blood surged ahead, piercing between heaven and earth. Another great grandmaster appeared, blocking Qin Ming's path.
In this territory, experts at the peak of the fifth realm stood both ahead and behind, both radiating soul-shaking pressure that stirred restless agitation in Qin Ming's heart.
Without the rotten fan, relying purely on himself, facing a true great grandmaster would mean certain death.
Silently, a third elder appeared in the night sky. Clad in simple gray robes, he coughed faintly. He carried no overpowering aura, yet his eyes seemed to pierce straight into one's soul.
The White Tiger female grandmaster mumbled, "Could that be a deity?"
"You guessed correctly, but there is no reward," the gray-robed elder in the night sky smiled.
The scene was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Barring any surprises, these three were the powerhouses dispatched by the Godkin Society to pursue the other three lines. Now, all three had converged on Qin Ming: one ancient god and two great grandmasters.
The two great grandmasters closed in, both emitting terrifying fluctuations. For a time, the entire landscape resonated with them, and the night mist in the sky churned like stormy waves.
Moreover, the ancient god approached silently, poised to unleash a fatal strike at any moment.
Under the current overarching environment, once beings of this caliber made a move, they would inevitably suffer severe harm to their vitality or even drop dead on the spot.
Qin Ming stopped fleeing. Standing on the earth, he shouted, "What's the use of bluffing? Come and hit me!"
Instantly, winds and clouds churned, and the entire landscape lost its color. The two great grandmasters strode forward on foot, exuding suffocating pressure.
In the night sky, the deity smiled, his mouth splitting open wider and wider until it gradually filled the entire sky.
A dripping, bloody maw, like an abyss gushing gore, covered the boundless firmament. Was a god about to devour the entire earth?
"You dare not truly make a move?" Qin Ming called out fearlessly from the ground.
"Young grandmaster, we cherish talent and wish to invite you to join the Godkin Society. What say you?" one of the great grandmasters spoke.
Then the deity reached out a massive hand and drew a stroke across the earth, causing a glowing pure land to emerge. They wanted to converse with Qin Ming.
*Something's wrong!* Alarm flared violently in Qin Ming's heart.
He suddenly realized that this was not a question of whether they would strike. Someone was guiding him, attempting to draw him into the next "scene."
He had encountered many such questionable scenes along the way.
Whether it was the decaying god wishing to marry off his daughter or someone challenging him to battle, all these people shared one common trait: their wills were hard as iron, rendering them impossible to resonate with.
Qin Ming had naturally harbored suspicions, yet had not taken them seriously. Now, however, was different. If he did not act, he felt he might fall into grave peril.
Throughout the journey, Qin Ming had consistently sensed through his raw instincts that those individuals were anomalous. When verifying them through resonance methods, he had been astonished to find that even the tearful divine maiden had not possessed the slightest ripple of emotion.
With a rumble, Qin Ming fused his heavenly light with his consciousness and channeled it into his mind lamp.
A divine lamp hung high. Four kinds of firelight, accompanied by the sinking purple-golden core, coiled with black and white radiance while blending with nine-colored sword baleful aura, blazing as if to illuminate and shatter all things in heaven and earth.
Qin Ming poured all of his heavenly light and consciousness into the mind lamp. Every strand of radiance it cast forth resembled a majestic sword beam, poised to cleave through creation.
The scenes before him shook violently. The two great grandmasters dissolved, and the deity evaporated into nothingness.
A glowing hand reached out from the mind lamp and stroked the White Tiger female grandmaster's head, appearing to cleanse and purify her.
"Five layers of dreams, almost stepping into the sixth. These are the methods of the dream bug," the White Tiger female grandmaster spoke.
Ahead, a blurry phantom drifted, sighing faintly in deep regret.
"What happens if one steps into it?" Qin Ming asked.
The White Tiger female grandmaster said, "You would fall into a deep sleep, ensnared without even realizing it."
"Young man, you are truly exceptional. I admire you greatly and harbor little malice," the phantom spoke, its eyes profound.
Qin Ming said flatly, "Are you an elder of the dream bug? Tracking me all this way and luring me into dreams, yet you claim to have no malice."
The humanoid phantom was indeed an elder bug. It said, "They were merely simple dreams. I wanted to take the opportunity to inspect your natural talent. You are indeed an anomaly. The light of your spirituality is like a blazing sun, stirring even my heart. I wish to find a new companion for Little Dream, to walk the path together with you. What do you think?"
"Not a big issue," Qin Ming replied.
"Then come with me," the phantom said.
Qin Ming said, "Lately, I have pressing matters to attend to. I'm afraid I cannot comply."
"For Little Dream's sake, I can only offend you for the time being," the phantom sighed.
Qin Ming suspected that the degenerated deity and divine maiden he had first encountered were likely realistic phantasms conjured by the elder bug's spontaneous musings.
"If Senior insists, then I can only offend you as well," Qin Ming said, clutching the rotten fan.
The elder bug said, "I did not expect it to come to this in the end, where force is required."
Qin Ming said, "Old Dream, drop the hypocritical act. If you truly wished to express goodwill, you would simply give Little Dream to me. There would be no need to bind and abduct me like this."
The elder bug replied, "You just fought a bloody battle in Kaiyuan City. Given your vengeful nature, do you think I could rest easy?"
The next instant, the phantom moved. The aura of a great grandmaster erupted completely—no longer a dreamscape, nor a false divine technique, but a true wondrous art capable of shattering mountains and rivers.
Qin Ming did not hesitate. Wielding the rotten fan that he had already primed, he swept it outward.
In an instant, centered on him, black gales surged across heaven and earth, capable of extinguishing one's pure yang consciousness. Accompanied by glowing patterns, they saturated every inch of the void.
The elder bug groaned in stifled pain, feeling rather shocked. Even with its extreme speed, it could not evade; black gale runes filled the sky and the earth.
Its form instantly faded, shooting into the far distance.
This strike was equivalent to an all-out attack on its part, yet it had been met head-on and forced back, exacting an enormous toll.
Only after the black gales weakened did it return from the horizon, thin as smoke and drifting unstably.
It said in a deep voice, "Can you still wave that decayed fan? Here I come again."
Qin Ming felt a heavy weight in his heart. Since arriving in this realm, he had refrained from deploying his rotten treasure, keeping it poised but unreleased. Only upon encountering this fifth-ranked exotic bug was he forced to spend it so lavishly.
Qin Ming spoke calmly, "Come and try me again!"
With a roar, the elder bug moved, daring to strike a second time. Under the current overarching environment, it was exceptionally valiant, going all out!
This time, Qin Ming unleashed an exotic treasure: the battered Six Phoenix Divine Lamp, covered in fractures that detonated upon encountering divine power. In an instant, boundless sin-karma erupted, surging like tempestuous waves.
This was the "sin-karma" he had collected deep underground beneath the land yielding divine grain, within that crimson ocean, when drawing upon karmic fire to absorb five-element wondrous substances like longevity qi.
"You..." Even the elder bug was unwilling to be tainted by this. Erupting with full power, it fled into the distance at extreme speed.
This sin-karma had once engulfed the dazzling sun above the crimson ocean and entangled the terrifying deity within; it was utterly horrific.
Qin Ming also retreated, steering clear of the boundless karmic fire.
At the horizon, the elder bug returned once more, saying, "At such a young age, you have come into contact with quite a few dangerous substances."
Qin Ming said nothing, merely gripping the rotten fan tightly, ready to unleash it again at any moment.
Yet his heart was bleeding as he sighed inwardly. A rogue cultivator's path was hard; he had just restocked in Kaiyuan City, feeling full of gains, only to be forced to spend them now.
He had been "pinching pennies," unwilling to expend the rotten fan, yet now had no choice.
"No matter, you still have me!" The Yellow Silk Canopy appeared, spinning slowly. "At worst, I'll self-detonate once and start over afterward."
"Little Yellow, you truly move me," Qin Ming said.
He was certain that this was indeed a dusted supreme treasure experiencing rebirth. Its weapon spirit was brand-new, its disposition youthful and vibrant, knowing gratitude. Otherwise, if it were some ruthless old monster, how could it ever be willing to sacrifice so much?
"A supreme treasure reborn? Hm, that rotten fan also has no small origin. Could you hail from that world?" the elder bug spoke, its brows furrowing deeply.
"Cut the chatter, bring it on!" Qin Ming took the initiative and charged forward.
The phantom flashed and vanished from the spot. The elder bug's voice transmitted from the horizon, "Young man, until fate brings us together again."
At the critical moment, its heart had found calm and peace. It dared not strike again and turned to flee.
For if anything happened to it, the dream bug would be left temporarily without a protector, which could invite countless troubles and hidden perils.
"Hurry, leave!" the Yellow Silk Canopy urged via voice transmission.
Qin Ming turned and vanished into the night. "Little Yellow, you truly made me look at you in a new light today. Hm, have you recovered to the fifth realm?"
A seductive figure emerged upon the Yellow Silk Canopy and said, "I was just bluffing to trick him. Did you really think I would self-detonate?"
Qin Ming: "..."
Then he murmured, "The overarching environment of heaven and earth has shifted, yet this old bug still dares to strike so freely. Just how profound is its foundation?"
The White Tiger female grandmaster patted her chest to soothe her nerves. "That phantom most likely fused with an invaluable wisp of Xuanhuang qi, allowing it to sustain its condition. That is why it could strike repeatedly."
According to her, before this, the shadow of that elder bug had been many times stronger than it was now. It had likely shielded the dream bug from a calamity and been severely weakened as a result.
Hearing this, Qin Ming felt a massive headache. Even after being vastly weakened, that phantom still possessed the power of a great grandmaster. Just how terrifying was the true elder bug?
The White Tiger female grandmaster added, "That wisp of Xuanhuang qi was probably mostly dispersed by a supreme expert as well; not much was left."
Hearing that, Qin Ming could only draw in a cold breath of night mist.
He sighed softly. It was truly worthy of being the fifth-ranked exotic bug under heaven, especially since it made the rankings as an individual rather than relying on a swarm.
Such a creature could divine fortune and avoid misfortune, cultivate by borrowing a vessel, and discern the essence of a person's soul. Every one of its abilities was extraordinary, far beyond conventional limits.
And what was the background of the person who had injured the dream bug? Just how powerful were they?
This time, after carrying the miniature White Tiger female grandmaster eight thousand li away, Qin Ming set her down and said, "You saw it yourself. That old bug is terrifying and has set its sights on me. Go, don't follow me any longer."
In her reverse-aged state, the White Tiger female grandmaster looked at him with clear eyes. "He has already left. Besides, won't you take me with you? To your world, where we won't have to fear anything."
Qin Ming said, "Not for now. Inspections are strict on our side, and cross-realm travel for otherworld beings is forbidden; violations incur severe punishment. In the future, when the time is right, I will bring you over."
She mumbled, "You planted a slave seal on me and now you're just going to abandon me?"
In the end, treating her like a child, Qin Ming patted her head and drifted away, until he attached himself to the old cloth in an uninhabited place and vanished completely.
Along the rest of the way, he drifted with the currents, swept by the night wind and carried by wild beasts, journeying onward naturally.
Only after traveling covertly in this manner for a long time did he resume his spirit wandering, pushing his speed to the limit.
At last, the ancient Mist Gate came into view. It lay enveloped in darkness, blending into the night where no fire springs burned, making it difficult to notice.
Qin Ming let out a sigh of relief. He was finally heading home, and with a bountiful harvest.
Suddenly, as he approached the ancient Mist Gate, his hair stood on end. He sensed the elder bug's aura, which arrived in an instant like a fiendgod crossing the void.
Qin Ming held the rotten fan behind his back and lunged straight into the gate.
"That was close!" He had nearly activated the rotten fan.
The elder bug attempted to follow through the gate, only to let out a stifled groan and blast backward, its phantom detonating once.
"What ruthless means!" It struggled to reconstitute its form.
"He tried to force his way through just now?" Qin Ming looked back.
Without a life talisman, one could not enter or exit the ancient Mist Gate; otherwise, a killing formation would be triggered.
Qin Ming's fury flared. Seeing the elder bug's tattered remnant shadow, he gritted his teeth and charged back out, brandishing the fan to pursue the elder bug.
"I..." The fragmented phantom of the elder bug looked back, instantly turning to flee without lingering for a single moment.
After all, its complete phantom had only been at the level of a great grandmaster. Severely battered as it was now, it would surely suffer a grievous loss.
"Where do you think you're going? The tables have turned!" Qin Ming gave chase, erupting with his strongest Chaos force and pounding forward punch after punch.
"Boy, I truly admire you quite a bit. Until fate brings us together again," the elder bug dispersed of its own accord, re-condensing in the distant night sky.
Qin Ming pursued it, shouting, "Old Dream, where is Little Dream? You two truly possess profound affection and loyalty toward me! Not only did you disguise yourself as a decaying god trying to marry off your daughter, you even escorted me for tens of thousands of li. Now allow me to see you off as well!"
With a boom, the elder bug's phantom was blasted apart once more. Yet it said nothing, executing a secret technique to reform in the far sky before quickly disappearing over the horizon.
Wielding his massive hammer of heavenly light, Qin Ming looked all around before finally being forced to resume his journey home.
"That is..." Shortly after, deep within the dense fog before the ancient Mist Gate, he spotted an unexpected figure.
By now, the White Tiger female grandmaster had returned to her normal state. Slender and tall, her silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her deep, beautiful eyes were examining the ancient Mist Gate.
Evidently, she had noticed Qin Ming as well.
Most critically, the two were standing far too close.
For a moment, turbulent waves surged deep within Qin Ming's heart. The elder bug was one thing, but how had the White Tiger female grandmaster also traced his tracks and followed him all this way?
"Little White, why are you here?" Qin Ming spoke naturally, not even brandishing the rotten fan.
Of course, he communicated secretly with the spirit of the Yellow Silk Canopy: if anything went awry, he would immediately activate the precious fan and sweep it at this mysterious opponent.
The White Tiger female grandmaster sighed softly. "Alas, you planted a slave seal on me yet abandoned me. I followed the guidance of the mark all the way here."
With that, she took a few steps forward on her own initiative, drawing near.
Qin Ming stepped forward with a smile, affectionately rubbing her head just as he had done when parting earlier.
"Don't worry. Once the inspections on my side become less strict, I will come to bring you over." Qin Ming stroked her long silver hair, emphasizing his tone to display closeness.
"Really?" The White Tiger female grandmaster gazed into his eyes.
"Really!" Qin Ming nodded. After a brief exchange, he waved farewell and walked toward the ancient Mist Gate.
One step, two steps... Qin Ming felt uncertain inside, not knowing what the White Tiger female grandmaster's true background was, or whether she would move to stop him at the critical moment.
Chapter 524