Moonlight shone down, making the great desert look like snow.
Song Ciwan walked slowly to a bonfire. Beside it, two soldiers of the West Wind Army were dozing off.
She raised a hand and gestured behind her, remotely retrieving her Han Guang Glaze Residence.
Deputy General Cai An was also on night watch. He sat by a prominent bonfire, wiping his saber with a piece of tanned Demon Beast Fur.
The saber’s edge was sharp and gleamed brightly, reflecting the moonlight like a pool of autumn water. But along its spine ran a vibrant red line, like a vein, from which a biting, malevolent aura emanated, revealing the weapon to be extraordinary.
She didn’t see Yu Wenxu. He was either resting in his tent or had gone somewhere else.
In the distance, the sound of the wind was faint. Wiping his blade, Cai An suddenly asked Song Ciwan, “Xing Lan Fairy, this humble general has a question. I wonder if you would be so kind as to answer?”
Song Ciwan replied, “Please ask, General Cai.”
Cai An said, “Fairy, your medical skills are sublime. You were even able to deal with something as bizarre as the Alien Gu. Your background must be extraordinary. But why are you so evasive about your origins? Is it something you cannot speak of, or something you dare not?”
The question seemed aggressive and pressuring.
But Cai An’s expression remained mild. Still, no matter how mild, it was an interrogation, a stark contrast to the attentive attitude he had shown Song Ciwan during the day.
Song Ciwan was taken aback for a moment. She retorted, “What do you mean, ‘dare not’?”
Cai An said, “Within the Nine Provinces, all land is the sovereign’s, and all people are the sovereign’s subjects. Yet in such a vast land, there are always Evil Cultivators who act perversely and defy the world! The Dynasty compiles the Evil People List, and the Immortal Dynasty issues wanted posters to hunt down and execute the wicked without mercy!”
He didn’t pause, his tone growing sterner as he spoke. “Xing Lan Fairy, your origins are vague. Unless you’re on a wanted poster or the Evil People List, how could anyone in this world truly have no background? There is only one possibility: you dare not speak of your origins!”
Cai An, still wiping his saber, abruptly looked up. His pitch-black pupils seemed to hold an eerie glow, which shot straight into Song Ciwan’s eyes.
No!
It wasn’t that they *seemed* to hold an eerie glow. Light was *truly* shooting out from Cai An’s pupils.
The light was too fast—it moved at the literal speed of light. Before she could even blink, it struck Song Ciwan.
In that instant, Song Ciwan felt the divine spirit in her mind tremble.
It was as if a great, invisible hammer had materialized from thin air and smashed down on her head!
But the blow didn’t strike Song Ciwan’s physical body—it struck her divine spirit.
Attacks that targeted the divine spirit were the most terrifying and dangerous of all, far more brutal than physical blows. No one would use such an attack unless they were a mortal enemy locked in a life-or-death struggle.
Cai An had launched this vicious, unprompted attack expecting to succeed in a single blow, leaving Song Ciwan dead or crippled.
But in reality, though she was ambushed, the divine spirit in her Sea of Consciousness merely shuddered lightly and was not truly harmed. Immediately after, the Heart Demon seedling beneath the divine spirit began to stir, its branches and leaves swaying.
“ARGH!” Cai An let out a bloodcurdling scream. The Demon Beast Fur in his hand fell to the ground as he shot up from his spot by the bonfire.
His gleaming saber flew into the air with him. He cried out in shocked fury, “Traitor! What did you do to me?”
Blood dripped from his nose and ears. Bleeding from four orifices, Cai An raised his saber in a reverse grip and roared in horror and rage.
“Die, traitor!”
His furious roar shook the scattered bonfires.
The flames from the surrounding fires surged like fire dragons bursting from the sea, joining the light of Cai An’s saber as they swirled and charged toward Song Ciwan from all directions, from the heavens above and the earth below!
Song Ciwan stood her ground, not counterattacking immediately.
She felt a strong sense of dissonance.
‘No, this isn’t right!’
‘Unless Cai An has gone mad, why would he suddenly erupt at a time like this, trying to kill me before a single word has been made clear?’
It wasn’t that Song Ciwan trusted Cai An that much; it was that his actions were simply illogical!
Although Song Ciwan’s origins were mysterious, she had passed the test of the Mountain and River Mirror, which proved there was no major problem with her.
As for minor issues, nobody’s perfect. There was no need to fuss over them.
As long as Song Ciwan was useful and valuable, she could carve out a place for herself in the West Wind Army.
After all, there were plenty of reclusive Cultivators in the world. This wasn’t the imperial examination for civil service; the West Wind Army didn’t care if you had a mysterious background when recruiting. In short, once you entered Demon Suppression Pass, followed military orders, and could contribute to the Human Race, wasn’t that enough?
This was also the difference between the Immortal Dynasty and a regular Court. Only the Immortal Dynasty dared to be so unconventional in its use of talent.
As Cai An’s saber slashed down, Song Ciwan stood her ground, her thoughts racing like lightning.
She didn’t move, not until the Treasure Saber was upon her.
BOOM!
The saber passed through Song Ciwan, but in truth, it hadn’t passed through the real her at all. It had clearly just sliced through a nonexistent, illusory image.
Upright Shadowless!
Song Ciwan had used this incredibly miraculous Celestial Spirit Dao Skill. No matter how madly Cai An screamed and roared, his slash had struck nothing but air.
Cai An was a Peak of Innate Third Transformation Martial Artist, just one step away from the Innate Acupoint Fusion Realm.
In terms of Cultivation, he was a sliver higher than Song Ciwan’s Late-stage Divinity Transformation. In terms of combat power, he was a Military General while she was a “Medical Cultivator.” With Cai An attacking so ferociously, Song Ciwan should have been completely outmatched.
Of course, in reality, even ten more Cai Ans probably wouldn’t be enough for Song Ciwan to bother lifting a single finger.
She didn’t strike back, not because she was merciful, but because her mind wasn’t on Cai An at all.
Standing motionless, Song Ciwan was actually extending her Spiritual Sense, carefully probing her surroundings for anything out of place.
Cai An’s slash missed, and he was both shocked and enraged. “Impossible! How is this possible? How did you block my Burning Earth Blade Technique?”
Fire danced as if to scorch the earth. Cai An slashed wildly, and the raging bonfires around them were swept up by his movements, as if they had grown wings, soaring and dipping in a frenzied dance.
The flames roared back and forth, and in an instant, the West Wind Army soldiers dozing by the surrounding fires were engulfed and turned into human torches!
Then, the first scream echoed.
A screaming man, wreathed in flames, staggered to his feet. He spread his arms and lunged at Song Ciwan as if to embrace her, passing right through her.
Another burning man got up, shouting, “Hot! So hot! Help me, help…”
His cries were bloodcurdling. He followed right behind the first man, also rushing toward Song Ciwan in a desperate embrace.
But just like the man before, he lunged at empty air.
More and more burning figures rose to their feet. They screamed in pain, running about, charging chaotically all over the camp.
One of the tents was knocked over—
The West Wind Army’s tents were supposed to be wind-proof and fire-resistant, equipped with their own locking Arrays and offering a degree of protection.
But as these burning men charged, tent after tent was not only knocked down but also caught the flames and was quickly set ablaze.
WHOOSH—
More and more tents caught fire. The blaze lit up the sky, and the entire scene descended into chaos.
Amidst the chaos, Cai An brandished his saber, slashing and shrieking madly, “Die! All of you, die! Aaaaargh…”
Song Ciwan’s ears twitched. She whipped her head around, and in her Sea of Consciousness, the divine spirit’s eyes snapped open!