"Tell me more, Auntie."

  Zhi Xuan lowered his voice, exuding a cold, dominating aura that immediately made the candy vendor woman tremble slightly.

  This was no longer an interaction between an awkward Young Master and an ordinary vendor; this was a Blood Transformation Cultivator interested in a mystery. Mei Hua, still busy directing the candy towards her rag doll, seemed isolated in her own world and unaffected by Zhi Xuan’s intense aura.

  The woman glanced at Mei Hua, then pulled herself closer to Zhi Xuan, whispering as low as possible, although Zhi Xuan could hear her clearly.

  “Young Master, it happened about sixty years ago,” the woman whispered, her eyes filled with deep fear. “At that time, the herbal gatherers found a strange light on the southern slope, between two ancient banyan trees. There, they found Mei Hua, playing alone in the middle of the trees, as if she had just appeared from there.”

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, his cold sapphire eyes emitting a faint jade light as he processed the information. Sixty years? Even mortals living healthily in Green Cloud City would age in that timeframe, let alone a child.

  A five-year-old child from sixty years ago should already be ashes or, at least, a very fragile old woman. Yet, Mei Hua before him still looked exactly like a small child with baby teeth and chubby cheeks.

  “Ancient banyan trees… On the southern slope…” Zhi Xuan muttered. The southern slope was an area very close to the Spiritual Essence basis of the Jade Dragon Ridge Mountains, where natural formations were located. The sudden appearance, without parents, and the stagnation of time—this felt too strange and illogical.

  Especially with the absence of spiritual fluctuations; if Mei Hua were an artifact or something that took the form of a small child, a high-level cultivator in Green Cloud City would surely detect even the smallest spiritual essence. But this, there was no spiritual essence fluctuation, she even looked like a normal mortal.

  "Has she ever been sick?" Zhi Xuan asked, his voice low. "Does she eat? How does she survive?"

  “She eats like a normal child, Young Master. But she has never been sick,” the candy vendor said, her expression filled with deep confusion and fear. “And the strangest thing, she never emits an aura of death. We even thought she was a guardian spirit or something.”

  Death Essence. Zhi Xuan knew what the woman meant. Every mortal being, as they age, would emit a passive Death aura—a foul aura indicating the coming end. But a child who does not age, does not get sick, and does not emit Death Essence? This seemed impossible.

  "Has anyone ever tried to bother her," Zhi Xuan said, slowing his speech and whispering skeptically. "Or has anyone ever tried... To take her away?"

  The candy vendor woman gasped, her gaze implying deep panic. She immediately nodded repeatedly, her face pale.

  “Yes, Young Master. Of course there has been. If it weren't for the strange occurrences, we wouldn't let her wander alone. Six years ago, a cultivator from the Five Elements realm, he was a famous spirit catcher in Green Cloud City, tried to capture Mei Hua,” the woman whispered, almost choking with fear.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes. A Five Elements cultivator? That was a realm much higher than his Blood Transformation, and already possessed the ability to manipulate Essence profoundly.

  “What happened?” Zhi Xuan urged, his tone now very flat, as if every word had to be weighed in the Sea of Consciousness.

  "He truly tried to pull Mei Hua's spirit, but..." The old woman sighed softly, calming her trembling body. "Mei Hua was only like a past memory; when the cultivator pulled her spirit, nothing happened. Only Mei Hua's memories sometimes get blurry."

  "Only Mei Hua's memories sometimes get blurry," Zhi Xuan repeated, his voice containing a measured tone of danger. He glanced at Mei Hua, who was now licking the fire flower candy with her rag doll. This phenomenon felt like remnants of consciousness or something very ancient.

  "So you mean, she often loses her own memory?" Zhi Xuan asked, extremely curious about what lay behind Mei Hua.

  The candy vendor woman nodded quickly, her wrinkled face filled with relief at having shared this burden with a brave cultivator.

  “Yes, Young Master. She doesn't forget us, but she often gets confused by new names, or events that just happened. Sometimes, she just stares at the sky, then she says, ‘Lulu says, the sky is sad.’ And what's more horrifying—” the woman cut herself off, holding back tears. “Mei was once tried to be thrown into the Blood Curse Abyss; everyone thought she was a curse. But she always came back, not angry and not hurt, she even seemed to forget the incident that happened.”

  Zhi Xuan was silent. The Blood Curse Abyss was a remote place in the north east of the southern continent, known for its deadly spiritual poison and dense Death aura; he had seen the symbol of the abyss on the map of a bandit he had killed.

  Mei Hua, who had finished eating the fire flower candy with Lulu, now stepped closer and hugged Zhi Xuan's legs happily, looking like an ordinary little girl pleased after eating candy.

  “Handsome Brother,” Mei Hua whispered, looking up with her round eyes. “Thank you for the Fire Flower Candy. Big brother is very kind!”

  Zhi Xuan felt a familiar warmth, as if he had met Mei Hua before and felt a strange resonance. He ignored it, bending down and kneeling on one leg on the ground to align his body with Mei Hua.

  “Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan called, his voice now gentle again, containing neither the coldness of a threat nor the firmness of a cultivator. He looked at the little girl, his eyes scanning with his Divine Sense, searching for clues, spiritual traces, ancient energy residue—anything that could explain why time did not gnaw at this mortal essence.

  He found nothing. This girl was just a pure mortal child, yet her presence felt heavier than the Ancient Devil Monument he carried in his Sea of Consciousness.

  “Do you have a place to live?” Zhi Xuan asked, his voice calm, yet containing a rare layer of concern.

  Mei Hua tilted her head, making her braid bounce cutely, her wide smile still present. “Mei doesn't remember where I live, but now Mei sleeps among Auntie Lin's baskets!”

  Auntie Lin was the candy vendor woman. The woman sighed resignedly, but her eyes showed affection. “We all take turns caring for her, Young Master. She just needs a place to sleep and Fire Flower Candy. We can't let her freeze.”

  "Handsome brother," Mei Hua murmured, her voice small and hopeful. Both hands hugged Zhi Xuan's neck and pulled her body closer. "Are you going to leave?"

  Zhi Xuan froze completely, his hands hovering in the air. Mei Hua's touch felt like a small electric current flowing through his body—a current that was not painful, but extremely foreign. He was used to restraining a deadly aura, but this innocent hug felt like a spiritual blow he could not handle.

  “I…” Zhi Xuan began to speak, his voice sounding hoarse. He had to go. The Devil's Bite Chain Arena, Spiritual Stones, Attack Techniques, the Thousand Heavens Sect Selection—everything waited. Mortals were merely a distraction.

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  However, within that small embrace, he felt a resonance. Not spiritual, but a faintly familiar resonance. Zhi Xuan forced his cold hands to embrace the girl's back, a movement that was awkward and foreign to him.

  “Yes,” Zhi Xuan replied, his tone flat, emotionless, yet with a layer of hidden gentleness. “Big brother has to leave. Big brother has something to finish.”

  "I want to go with big brother," Mei Hua murmured softly, tightening her hug and as if she did not want to be left behind. "Mei always forgets when walking around, Mei promises to be a good child."

  Zhi Xuan gently released the embrace. Although he had fortified his Dao Heart with cold determination for solitude, Mei Hua's hug felt like a small crack that suddenly appeared on the surface. It was not doubt, but an unbearable strangeness.

  “You cannot come, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan said, his voice returning to a cold and absolute tone. “The path big brother will take… it is full of blood and cruelty. Big brother has to go to a place where people want to kill each other for a small stone.”

  Mei Hua looked at Zhi Xuan, her round eyes radiating a painful clarity. Instead of being afraid or horrified by the words blood and cruelty, the girl merely tilted her head.

  "People fight for a small stone?" she asked innocently. "Like Lulu and Mei fighting over Fire Flower Candy?"

  Zhi Xuan flinched. He looked back at the horrified candy vendor woman, as if afraid the child would be judged. For Zhi Xuan, the question was deadlier than a spiritual weapon. It was a horrifying comparison between high-level power conflict and the most basic mortal innocence.

  Zhi Xuan inhaled slowly, his Black Jade Essence swirling within his newly born Spiritual Blood. He was silent for a moment, letting the silence sink into him. Mei Hua's innocent words had pierced him in an unexpected way—they stripped away all the glory and illusion of cultivation, reducing it to a ridiculous fight over Fire Flower Candy.

  ‘This girl is dangerous, Monkey. Not because of cultivation, but because of… her perspective. She corrupts your darkness. Leave her!’ Ruo Xianxue roared from within the Sea of Consciousness, her voice sounding uneasy, as if Mei Hua's innocence was poison to her Devil essence.

  Zhi Xuan ignored the Ancient Devil Monument. He stared at Mei Hua, then at her shabby rag doll. He felt a conflict within him. He had to go to the Devil's Bite Chain Arena, to a place where blood and cruelty were the law, to get a small stone. Yet, here, he was confronted with the innocence and absurdity of that same small stone.

  He made a decision. A decision not based on cultivation logic, but on the unexpected strangeness of the destiny he had just chosen.

  “Yes, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan said, his voice calm again, yet possessing a strange warmth. “They fight for a small stone. And Big Brother must go and fight to get that small stone.”

  Zhi reached out to pat his waist, taking out the small monkey statue he found in the weaver master's hut, scratching his fingertip and dripping spiritual blood onto the statue. The statue trembled faintly and glowed momentarily before dimming.

  "Take this," Zhi Xuan said calmly, smiling slightly and handing the small statue to Mei Hua. "Big brother will know wherever you are as long as this small statue is with you."

  Zhi Xuan presented the small monkey statue to Mei Hua. The statue was carved from rare spiritual wood, adorned with ancient patterns, and now, it emitted a soft, cold black jade essence aura—a hidden protective aura.

  Mei Hua stared at the small monkey statue made of dark spiritual wood, her round eyes shining. She took it carefully, holding it along with her rag doll, Lulu. The monkey statue, now carrying a faint trace of Zhi Xuan's Jade Spiritual Blood, felt warm and solid in her tiny hands.

  “Little monkey?” Mei Hua asked, tilting her head. “Lulu says, this little monkey is handsome!”

  Zhi Xuan merely nodded, his faint smile disappearing, replaced by his familiar serious frown. “He is a very naughty monkey. But, if you hold him, he will protect you.”

  The candy vendor woman stared at this transaction with wide eyes, understanding that the cultivator had just given away something very valuable. “Young Master—”

  Zhi Xuan raised a hand, stopping the woman. “Auntie Lin, please take care of her. I will return before the Thousand Heavens Sect selection to see her. If something strange happens, show this statue to any cultivator who bothers Mei in the city.”

  Zhi Xuan stood up from his position, towering, and momentarily his hand stroked Mei Hua's head, who was now playing with the small monkey statue and the Lulu doll. Then, Zhi Xuan looked back at the woman with a serious and trusting gaze.

  "Tell them to look for the Black-Haired Devil, if they bother Mei." Zhi Xuan did not wait for an answer. He knew the candy vendor woman was shocked, not only by the unexpected gold coin, but by the request and the title he had just given.

  'Black-Haired Devil'—after so long, Zhi Xuan finally accepted and used the title given to him in Shoutuo city, how his reputation was in the Dragon Fang Arena. Not because of arrogance, but because of blood and fists that spoke.

  Zhi Xuan quickly walked away from the candy stall. His movements, which had been slightly stiff from the unexpected interaction, were now smooth and deadly again. However, his steps were not straight, as if an invisible burden held him back.

  He did not immediately head towards the East Lower District, where the black market thugs hid. Instead, he turned into a narrow alley, letting his Black Jade Essence spread to scan the last traces he left.

  Behind him, he left a little girl who seemed to be woven from frozen time, and a middle-aged woman who now held a gold coin, confused between fortune and fear.

  ‘That annoying girl,’ Ruo Xianxue echoed, her voice now normal again, but with a lingering tone of unease. ‘You even wasted that monkey statue, which you could have used to study an ancient nirvana puppet technique.’

  Zhi Xuan sighed softly, the decision to give the small monkey statue was indeed bold. Especially with the spiritual blood he dripped, a cultivator at least in the Transformation realm would be able to track its traces.

  ‘You are annoying too,’ Zhi Xuan muttered in his mind, feeling amused and chuckling lightly. ‘Always noisy about strange things, has your majesty now become like the broken duck technique? You are more like a tombstone than an ancient Devil Monument.’

  Zhi Xuan sighed softly, feeling a rare amusement. The silent chuckle shook his newly born Spiritual Blood—a very strange feeling.

  The Ancient Devil Monument, which usually emitted an aura of destruction and majesty, now sounded like a complaining 'Tombstone'. This was a contrast only he could create after interacting with Mei Hua's innocence.

  ‘How dare you compare the majesty of the Ancient Devil Monument to such a lowly mortal technique, Monkey!’ Ruo Xianxue roared, her anger feeling so real that it caused a faint wave of heat in the Sea of Consciousness. ‘I have existed since the era of the last gods, and you call me a tombstone? I will remember this insult!’

  Zhi Xuan merely smiled faintly, calming the Sacred Devil with silence and determination. It was a confirmation that Mei Hua's innocence had unexpected power—she managed to tame the Ancient Devil Monument, at least for a moment.

  He did not bother to reply to Ruo Xianxue's sneer. The Sacred Devil was indeed right—the small monkey statue was carved from Spirit-Shaping Wood, a rare high-level material. He had channeled his black jade essence, integrating a strand of his new Spiritual Blood into it; the statue now functioned as a one-time protective artifact, and most importantly, as a tracking talisman.

  Giving it to a mortal he met on the street was a very ridiculous waste in the eyes of a cultivator. But, in Zhi Xuan's eyes, Mei Hua was a phenomenon far more interesting than any Ancient Devil Formation Scroll.

  He stepped out of the narrow alley, now facing the East Lower District—an area of Green Cloud City dominated by a foul aura, poison, and turbid spiritual Essence. The smell of old blood mixed with the smell of rotting spices filled the air. This was where black market thugs, lost Blood Transformation cultivators, and illegal fortune seekers gathered.

  Zhi Xuan immediately sealed his spiritual blood to the most passive level. He let his black jade essence absorb a bit of the environment's darkness, mimicking the aura of a competent but inconspicuous Blood Transformation cultivator. He was a predator looking for prey.

  He walked towards a dilapidated bar called 'The Poison Cup', known as a gathering place for illegal information dealers. Outside the bar, the Spiritual Essence felt very dense, but the aura felt very dirty and dangerous.

  Xiao Die, now hiding inside his robe, emitted a warning hum. Ruo Xianxue was right; this was the place where cruelty was the law.

  Zhi Xuan pushed open the thick wooden door of the bar. Inside, the atmosphere was dark and filled with herbal smoke that made the eyes sting. Dozens of cultivators sat at dirty tables, drinking a liquid that looked slimy and smelled like soured blood. The majority of them were in the Blood Transformation or Organ Transformation realms.

  Zhi Xuan stepped in with measured strides, his sharp eyes scanning every corner. He was looking for the most prominent figure—someone who looked thirsty for cruelty and had connections.

  His eyes immediately landed on a table in the back corner. Sitting there, with his back against the stone wall, was a thin man, wearing a black leather robe adorned with bone spikes.

  The man, who had only one eye, emitted a rough Organ Transformation aura. Scattered on the table were several low-level Spiritual Stones and a few shabby low-level technique scrolls.

  Zhi Xuan walked over there, ignoring the gazes of the other cultivators, which were filled with hunger and suspicion. He stood before the one-eyed man's table, his passive but pressing aura very clear.

  "Sit down, Young Master," the one-eyed man said with a hoarse voice, his lips forming an ugly sneer. "You look like a lamb who just shed all his wool to make a silk robe. What brings you to this den of wolves?"

  Zhi Xuan settled down, his eyes meeting the man's gaze. He retrieved his remaining spiritual stones and all the coins he possessed, placing them upon the low table.

  “I seek the path to the dragon's den,” Zhi Xuan replied, his voice flat and cold, "The Devil's Biting Chains Arena.”