Chapter 8: The Three-Day Realm

Su Ziye slowly opened his eyes.

He looked up at the sky, obscured by the thick canopy of leaves. In such a dense forest, one could barely catch a glimpse of sunlight. Perhaps that was why this forest was named the Forest of Fading Radiance. During his days in the Forest of Fading Radiance, Su Ziye had never slept so soundly. He had almost truly drifted into a deep slumber.

First, of course, was the fact that he was within Xingxi’s territory; within these bounds, he would suffer no attacks. Second, it was because he knew Xingxi was watching him from the shadows. Even if he were in genuine danger, she would not intervene—or rather, she absolutely would not. Xingxi had made it clear: survival ability within the Forest of Fading Radiance was part of the assessment, just as the rules of her territory were part of the forest’s laws of survival. Yet, for some reason, simply knowing she was watching made Su Ziye feel at ease.

She had told him not to trust her, for she was unworthy of anyone’s trust. But Su Ziye understood that she might be the most reliable woman in the world—until the moment she received the order to kill him.

The young man had slept fully clothed in his sleeping bag. Upon waking, he calmly unzipped it, climbed out, packed it away, rinsed his face with fresh water, and skillfully started a fire. The embers from last night were still usable; he only needed to add a few dry branches. He placed a small iron pot over the flames, filled it with fresh water, and waited for it to boil before dropping in two small soup dumplings. The dumplings melted the moment they hit the water, instantly transforming the clear liquid into a steaming, fragrant broth.

Su Ziye took out a large white porcelain bowl, glanced around, and walked over to a nearby tree. With a single hand-blade strike, he severed the trunk. The top portion of the tree erupted into golden flames of flowing light, turning to ash in an instant, leaving him with a natural wooden dining table.

He placed the porcelain bowl on the table and arranged slices of cooked beef in neat layers. Over the beef, he sprinkled spices, salt, finely chopped green onions, and finally, a few vibrant, fiery fried chili pieces. Only then did he turn back to lift the iron pot, which was still billowing with white, piping-hot steam, and poured the rich broth into the porcelain bowl. The boiling liquid cascaded over the beef and scallions, creating an aroma so mouth-watering it was impossible to resist.

"Would you like to have breakfast together?" Su Ziye asked, standing there. "This is a breakfast often eaten in our homeland, though I suppose you’ve never had it."

There was no answer from the void. Su Ziye knew that Xingxi was likely very close, but as long as she intended to hide, he would find it nearly impossible to detect her. Because he was weaker than Xingxi—far weaker.

He extended the invitation only once. Not receiving a response, he stopped asking. He pulled a baked flatbread from his supplies, tore it into pieces to soak in the beef broth, and finished his breakfast at the makeshift table. The reason he had invited Liu Ru to share beef soup after saving her was simple: he loved it himself.

The bowl of soup was soon finished. Although there was more in the pot, Su Ziye did not help himself to another. He poured out the remaining broth, cleaned the pot, returned it to his storage space, extinguished the fire, turned, and walked out of Xingxi’s territory. To complete his mission, he could not stay here; the lack of conflict was one reason, but more importantly, Heavenly-realm beasts were the overlords of the Forest of Fading Radiance, and one could not find a second overlord to fight within the territory of the first.

As it happened, Su Ziye knew of an overlord nearby. He headed toward the territory of Zhuying, soon arriving at the place where they had last met.

"Can Zhuying sense your intrusion?" Su Ziye asked Xingxi with interest before summoning the beast.

This time, Xingxi responded: "I will try to hide."

*Try to hide*—that meant there was a possibility of being discovered, but perhaps it wasn't high?

Su Ziye smiled. He looked ahead and unsheathed the Blade of Illusory Annihilation. "Zhuying, I’ve returned."

With the power of the blade combined with Su Ziye’s carefully modulated voice, the white celestial horse descended from the sky just seconds later, appearing before him.

"What is your purpose this time?" Zhuying’s will rumbled in Su Ziye’s mind.

"Do you know of the Dark Star? Or the Star City? Or perhaps a hidden race whose name cannot even be spoken?" Su Ziye asked, looking at Zhuying calmly.

Zhuying’s reply came immediately: "I know nothing of these. This world is a realm unto itself; there is no need to concern oneself with changes in the outside."

"It must be difficult for you to be so self-righteous about being closed off from the world," Su Ziye said with a faint smile. "In any case, I have a mission: I need to defeat and kill a Heavenly-realm beast and obtain its magic core as proof."

The atmosphere shifted instantly. Zhuying stepped back, watching Su Ziye with vigilance, and said coldly, "Even with that magic weapon, do you truly think you are a match for me?"

Judging by its posture and tone, Su Ziye had no doubt it would attack at any moment. At the same time, it had not expanded its domain, which meant it did not wish to provoke a fight.

"By human standards, you would be considered to be in the Heavenly Market Realm, wouldn't you?" Su Ziye asked tentatively.

Even within the Heavenly realm, there were differences in strength. Generally, the Heavenly realm was divided into three tiers: the weakest, the Heavenly Market Realm; the formidable Ziwei Realm; and the pinnacle, the Taiwei Realm. To use specific people as analogies, the pursuer killed by Xingxi had been in the Heavenly Market Realm, and Xingxi was also in the Heavenly Market Realm, though her combat prowess far exceeded that of an average practitioner of that tier. As for the Ziwei Realm, the Master of West City, Yi Lanshan, was a practitioner of that level, though even he was stronger than a typical Ziwei-tier expert. Regarding the Taiwei Realm, such existences were even rarer. If there was one confirmed Taiwei-tier expert, it was Lin Xi, the Dean of Yeye Academy and a direct disciple of the Sage Yue Yi. Of course, his Taiwei level was also quite different from the norm; otherwise, he would not be known as the strongest man in the world.

"Yes," Zhuying did not deny it. "This is the outer periphery of the Forest of Fading Radiance. The more powerful overlords reside closer to the lake."

"In that case," Su Ziye said, as the destruction domain of the Blade of Illusory Annihilation slowly unfurled around him, "would you be willing to be my sparring partner?"