222: Lin Fei, you've finally shown up!!

The village children would throw stones at Lin Fei, and even the kindest village chief put up a "Do Not Approach" wooden sign outside his house.

Only Su Jiuning, who lived next door, would always sneak into his house.

Su Jiuning was one year older than Lin Fei, her parents had died young, and she lived with her grandmother.

She would always share half of the coarse grains her grandmother gave her, tucking them into Lin Fei's embrace;

In the cold winter, she would give Lin Fei her only patched cotton-padded jacket, shivering herself in thin, old cotton floss.

Lin Fei asked her why she wasn't afraid of him. Su Jiuning squatted by the stove, helping him roast wild vegetables while softly saying, "My parents also died shortly after I was born, and I was once disliked by the villagers like this. I understand how you feel."

Below Tea Mountain, there was an abandoned cave that became their secret base.

Su Jiuning's grandmother taught her to read, so she would write characters on tree bark, teaching Lin Fei stroke by stroke;

When digging for wild vegetables on the back mountain, Lin Fei could always sense the tracks of a Yao Beast in advance—sometimes by the unusual movement of grass leaves, sometimes by the fishy smell in the wind. Several times, he pulled Su Jiuning to hide behind a giant rock, watching colorful Yao Beasts pass by. Cold sweat soaked his clothes, but he held her hand tightly, never letting go.

"Lin Fei, how are you so amazing?" Su Jiuning whispered in his ear.

Lin Fei looked at the distant Black Mist Forest: "I don't know, I just... feel like I should do it."

The two grew up together like this until they were sixteen. Lin Fei's body looked thin, but he was full of refined muscles.

He secretly memorized the movements of the Martial Artists in the village and practiced boxing alone, enduring wind and sun, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, thus exploring and cultivating himself into an extraordinary Martial Artist.

The villagers no longer dared to look down on this child. The village chief even said he wanted to focus on cultivating Lin Fei and marry his daughter, Xiaojuan, to Lin Fei.

Lin Fei naturally refused; his heart belonged only to Su Jiuning.

Su Jiuning's grandmother suddenly coughed up blood, which contained black cotton-like substances. The doctor came to examine her and shook his head, saying, "It's the decaying Qi from the Black Mist Forest that has entered her body. She needs a Cleansing Decay Medicinal Pill, otherwise, she won't last half a month."

The Cleansing Decay Medicinal Pill was a Medicinal Pill that only Qi Refining Cultivators could refine. The people of Luoxia Village had never even seen one.

Su Jiuning cried, holding her grandmother. Lin Fei stood at the door, unable to bear seeing the girl he liked cry.

Having made up his mind, that night, Lin Fei, clutching a machete, walked towards the Black Mist Forest under the moonlight—he had heard hunters say that in the "Corpse Bone Cave" on the edge of the forest, lived a second-tier Yao Beast, the "Corpse Bone Bear." Bear gall could be used as medicine, and perhaps it could be exchanged for a Cleansing Decay Medicinal Pill.

The miasma outside the Corpse Bone Cave was as thick as ink. Lin Fei covered his mouth and nose with a wet cloth, and as soon as he touched the cave entrance, he was swept by a fishy smell wind.

The Corpse Bone Bear's giant claw, carrying black-green venom, struck. He dodged sideways with the instinct of an extraordinary Martial Artist. The machete struck the bear's claw but only left a white mark.

The bear's roar shook the cave ceiling, causing gravel to fall. Lin Fei was struck in the chest by the bear's paw, crashing into the rock wall like a kite with a broken string, blood gushing from his mouth, staining his clothes.

He stared intently at the bear's abdomen, discovering that the Yao Beast was severely wounded, vaguely revealing its inner core. That pulsating dark green light mass was the hope for Su Jiuning's grandmother.

He gritted his teeth and climbed up, using the rock wall for cover, circling behind the bear. The machete plunged fiercely into the bear's wound—the Corpse Bone Bear roared in pain and frenzy. When it turned, it exposed a weakness. Lin Fei used his last bit of strength to grab the warm inner core and stumbled out of the cave.

As soon as he rushed out of the miasma zone, he collapsed onto the grass.

When Su Jiuning arrived with a lantern, she saw Lin Fei covered in wounds, seeping black blood, but clutching the inner core tightly.

"Lin Fei! Lin Fei!" Su Jiuning rushed over, hugging him, tears falling on his face.

Lin Fei's eyelids were as heavy as lead, his voice so faint it was almost inaudible: "inner core... take... take it back... save Grandma..."

"I want you alive!" Su Jiuning cried, holding him, "You said you'd marry me when you're twenty, you can't die here!"

Lin Fei's consciousness gradually blurred, Su Jiuning's cries in his ears grew more distant, but his vision suddenly brightened—it was a chaotic Void Realm, with a pitch-black coffin suspended in the middle. The coffin body was carved with dense Qin seal, precisely the characters he had longed for but never seen.

"Emperor Qin... Emperor Qin!"

For some reason, these two words blurted out.

These past years, he had been having a strange dream.

In the dream, there was an emperor clad in a black Dragon robe, laughing wildly in a storm: "Heavenly Dao! If you dare, descend yourself!!"

Just as Lin Fei's breath was about to cease!

As if a majestic voice commanded: "I! Forbid you to die!"

A golden light slowly enveloped Lin Fei's consciousness.

The wound on his chest no longer pained him, and the lost strength surged back into his limbs.

"Cough..." Lin Fei suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood and opened his eyes.

Lin Fei raised his hand, touched Su Jiuning's hair, his voice still a little hoarse, but with a smile: "Don't cry, I'm fine... Let's go home quickly and save Grandma!"

Su Jiuning cried and laughed, hugging Lin Fei tightly: "Don't be so foolish again!"

After this incident, the two were completely destined for each other.

Tianwu Calendar Year 500!

The Tianwu Dynasty held a five-hundred-year celebration in Tianwu City!!

Lin Fei decided to take Su Jiuning to see this grand celebration.

Tianwu City was packed with people, countless individuals wanting to catch a glimpse of Great Emperor Tianwu's splendor.

Even many Immortal Cultivation Sects sent Immortals to congratulate!!

Nine gilded giant Dragons pulled a cloud carriage that slowly ascended from the Tianwu Great Hall. Three hundred and sixty Bagua bronze mirrors floated around the cloud carriage, reflecting the Morning Light into a seven-colored curtain that bathed the entire Imperial City.

A guard of honor composed of seven thousand two hundred Qi Refining stage halberd-wielding Martial Artists marched to the rhythm of the ancient music "Great Martial." They held five-colored banners, and every hundred steps, they would shout in unison, "Tianwu Forever Prosperous!" The sound waves made the bronze wind chimes under the palace eaves jingle.

Great Emperor Tianwu sat in the Nine Dragon Cloud Carriage, the golden embroidery on his Dragon robe shimmering in the Morning Light, as if a true Dragon was swimming on the robe.

Countless gilded bronze coins were scattered from the cloud carriage, attracting the onlookers to vie for them, plunging the entire Imperial City into a fervent carnival.

Suddenly!!

Great Emperor Tianwu's gaze sharpened, noticing a familiar face on the outer edge of the crowd, and this face was also looking at him!!

Lin Fei?!!!

Great Emperor Tianwu's scalp tingled with shock. He absolutely hadn't mistaken it; he had seen this face for almost a thousand years!!

Lin Fei also looked at the emperor in the cloud carriage with shock.

This person was exactly the same as the man he saw in his dreams!!

Great Emperor Tianwu could no longer suppress his inner excitement and joy!!

He directly grabbed Lin Fei from the Void Realm, and Lin Fei flew straight to Great Emperor Tianwu Zhao Zheng.

Su Jiuning was alarmed, not understanding why Great Emperor Tianwu would seize Lin Fei.

Zhao Zheng exclaimed, "Lin Fei! You've finally appeared!"