"Get lost!" Hu Niu's sharp rebuke cut through the air.
"So fierce! I don't believe your Yi Gege will only have you as his woman. When he abandons you—"
Before the boy could finish, Hu Niu's waist-length, jet-black hair flared up, billowing like a dark cascade. Her calm gaze locked onto the youth, who was roughly her age and height, with an intensity that belied her youth.
"He wouldn't dare!" she declared.
She glanced up at Shi Yi, suspended in the sky. A fleeting, complex emotion flickered in her eyes—far too mature for her years—carrying three parts killing intent and seven parts resentment. But just as quickly, her gaze softened, returning to pure, innocent adoration as she looked at him.
"I was just saying! Your Yi Gege isn't that kind of person," the boy stammered, his legs trembling inexplicably. A primal fear gripped him, as if Hu Niu were a humanoid beast, capable of devouring him whole—literally, not metaphorically. The kind of devouring that left nothing behind.
___
Elsewhere, Shi Yi was oblivious to the whispered debates among Stone Village's youths. His nine Heavenly Passages erupted with blinding brilliance, like nine nuclear bombs on the verge of detonation.
At this critical moment, the ninth Daoist chant resounded.
The sound was silent as a gentle rain, audible only to Shi Yi. It was born from his Double Pupils' analysis of his past-life soul memories, fused with the runes of the Original True Solution, echoing deep within his spirit.
"Nine Palaces: Qian Palace, Kan Palace, Gen Palace, Zhen Palace, Central Palace, Xun Palace, Li Palace, Kun Palace, Dui Palace."
"First Palace: Kan [North], Second Palace: Kun [Southwest], Third Palace: Zhen [East], Fourth Palace: Xun [Southeast], Fifth Palace: Central [Center], Sixth Palace: Qian [West], Seventh Palace: Dui [Northwest], Eighth Palace: Gen [Northeast], Ninth Palace: Li [South]."
As the ninth chant reverberated, the radiance of his nine passages stabilized, entering a state of balance. The boundless light and heat settled, and the passages, tempered by the Daoist maxims, grew exponentially stronger. Traces of Yin-Yang, Five Elements, and Eight Trigrams began to gestate within them.
But this wasn't Shi Yi's goal.
He sought to open the Tenth Heavenly Passage.
"Chaos births Taiji, Taiji births Two Polarities, Two Polarities birth Three Talents, Three Talents birth Four Images, Four Images birth Five Elements, Five Elements birth Six Harmonies, Six Harmonies birth Seven Stars, Seven Stars birth Eight Trigrams, Eight Trigrams birth Nine Palaces."
Shi Yi extended his hand, and his nine passages spun rapidly, amplified by the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams Formation beneath his feet. They transformed into a voracious maw, endlessly devouring the surrounding energy.
"All converge into the Ten Directions!"
"Tenth Heavenly Passage, open!"
Crack.
A crisp sound echoed through the void, as if an invisible barrier shattered. The Tenth Passage, previously flickering between reality and illusion, solidified, stepping from a mirrored world into existence.
Unlike the legendary prodigies of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, whose ten passages aligned in a circular formation, Shi Yi's Tenth Passage stood apart. It sat at the center of the nine, dwarfing them in size—a colossal passage orbited by nine smaller ones.
From a distance, the nine normal-sized passages revolved around the massive central one, emanating a terrifying force capable of obliterating any Heavenly Passage Realm cultivator of the same level.
This wasn't mere invincibility within his realm—it was annihilation. Ordinary Heavenly Passage cultivators were like tofu before Shi Yi's unique Tenth Passage, forged as if from alloy. A single clash would shatter them.
"Such a peculiar obsession, and he actually succeeded?" Liu Shen murmured, her beautiful eyes flickering with surprise.
Indeed, she had honored her promise, manifesting her humanoid form. To avoid unnecessary attention, she cast a subtle secret technique, concealing her presence. Henceforth, only those of her caliber—or those she chose to reveal herself to—could perceive her. Shi Yi alone could see and touch her humanoid form.
It wasn't accurate to call her Shi Yi's exclusive possession, but he was the only one granted this privilege.
Moreover, this was Liu Shen's complete humanoid form, not a half-embodied willow tree. The charred, massive willow at Stone Village's center was a decoy, conjured from elsewhere using her laws.
Her reasoning was simple: since Shi Yi was so fixated on her humanoid form, willing to form an obsession just to be near it, he could serve her from now on. This "service" was literal—tending to her daily needs.
Though Shi Yi had achieved the Tenth Heavenly Passage and crafted a formation both superficially similar and fundamentally unique, Liu Shen wasn't swayed. Falling for a young upstart like him? That was the stuff of mindless novels, not reality. In her eons of existence, she'd seen countless prodigies; Shi Yi, while impressive, merely caught her eye.
Thus, his "service" was exactly that: caring for her daily life. A willow tree needed no such attention, but a humanoid form did.
___
On the eastern edge of Stone Village, by a small stream, two figures sat side by side.
The stream babbled gently, its clear waters shimmering with blue-green light. Under the breeze, it flowed languidly, like a silken ribbon winding through the forest, its graceful curves evoking a poetic serenity.
"Liu Shen, it's been five years. I want to go back and see," Shi Yi said.
Though he'd earned the right to touch Liu Shen's humanoid form, he harbored no improper intentions. He simply leaned against her shoulder, a gesture of quiet companionship.
"If you want to go back, then go," Liu Shen replied, seated on the grassy bank, her flawless jade feet submerged in the stream. "With your current strength, as long as you don't provoke the taboo existences in the Great Wilderness, you're practically unstoppable."
She lifted her skirt slightly, revealing bare feet that gleamed like polished jade. Her arches were smooth, her soles rosy, exuding elasticity and delicate tenderness. Her five toes aligned neatly—her big toe plump and round, the others dainty and elegant, the gaps between them soft and refined, irresistibly alluring.
"But I don't know the way," Shi Yi said, his tone tinged with helplessness. "The Great Wilderness spans billions of li. What if I get lost?"
"Head east for Stone Country, west for Fire Country," Liu Shen said softly.
"Liu Shen, I—"
Before he could continue, she pressed a slender hand over his mouth.
"Shi Yi, you've proven yourself, and I've kept my promise. From now on, you are my disciple," she declared, her tone brooking no argument.
"I won't—"
Shi Yi tried to protest, but her delicate hand felt impossibly heavy. Even summoning his ten passages couldn't budge it.
"Your Tenth Heavenly Passage is unlike any other," Liu Shen continued. "As your teacher, it's my duty to examine it for any issues."
With that, heedless of his objections, she transformed into a beam of light and entered the radiant, sun-like Tenth Passage, leaving Shi Yi alone, disheveled in the breeze.
"Forced apprenticeship?" he muttered, collapsing backward and staring at the sky.
There, he spotted a little red bird.
Wait.
Little red bird?
_
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