"So, he is my fiancé," the young mortal girl thought. As it turned out, she was none other than Gu Tian, Wu Huang's fiancée.
"Master, how close are we to the secret realm?"
"I can sense it. It shouldn't be much further; you'll just have to climb a bit higher," a voice resonated within her mind.
Gu Tian sighed in relief and caressed the jade pendant hanging from her neck; a faint sadness clouded her face as she remembered the reason for her journey. The reason she had ventured into the Beast Mountain Range, so far from her clan's domains, was precisely that object.
Ever since the ancient Empress, Luo Yan, appeared in her consciousness, Gu Tian discovered that the relic left by her mother was, in reality, the key to an ancient secret realm—a legacy left by the sovereign herself for her descendants. Countless treasures of heaven and earth awaited there, but most importantly: a way to recover her Spiritual Root and return to the path of cultivation.
Under the pretext of needing protection, she had managed to get her father to assign her a guardian, reaching the mountain range in less than a week. Unfortunately, as soon as they arrived, they were ambushed. While the elder dealt with a Golden Core cultivator and his subordinates, she fled, only to be pursued by another group. She had been on the verge of perishing.
If it weren't for the intervention of these cultivators and my fiancé, my life would have ended here.
"It's obvious they were waiting for my arrival. The question is: how did they know I was coming?" she questioned herself in a low voice.
It was evident there was a traitor among their ranks. Although it wasn't surprising given the size of the clan, they had taken too many precautions for this to happen. A flash of coldness crossed her eyes.
"I'll have to conduct a thorough cleansing as soon as I return," she murmured.
"Hey, um..." Su Feng approached to greet her but stopped, somewhat embarrassed upon realizing he didn't know her identity. "May I ask the young lady's name?"
Gu Tian remained silent for a moment, masking her gaze.
"Luo Tian," she replied briefly.
Now that she was surrounded by enemies and her status as a prodigy had vanished along with her cultivation base, a fake name was her only defense. Especially considering that her fiancé was the senior brother of those guys.
"Luo Tian, did you know Brother Wu from before?" he asked directly.
The young girl's pupils contracted for an instant before she regained her composure.
"It's the first time I've seen him. Why do you ask?"
"No, it's nothing. It's just that I feel like you know him somehow... it must be my imagination, don't worry," Su Feng replied with a casual smile as he stepped away.
A trace of cold sweat ran down Gu Tian's face. This boy is more perceptive than he seems. With a simple reaction, he had sensed a link between them. Meanwhile, Wu Huang didn't seem to have noticed her identity; or perhaps, she herself had been too obvious.
Controlling emotions and composure as a mortal is much harder than when I was a cultivator, she thought bitterly as she continued walking.
The idea of fleeing crossed her mind for a moment, but she discarded it immediately. As a mere mortal, she knew the speed and perception of any cultivator far exceeded her current capabilities; there was no point in trying.
These Celestial Cloud disciples are quite irrational; it doesn't seem like they'll let me leave so easily, she reflected.
Suddenly, the group came to a dead halt. Gu Tian, absorbed in her thoughts and now lacking the sharp senses of a cultivator, ended up bumping into Su Feng's back.
"Ouch!" she grumbled while rubbing her forehead from the impact.
"Oh, sorry for stopping so suddenly," Su Feng said before fixing his gaze forward.
Gu Tian, with a trace of irritation, looked ahead. A wolf-like magical beast was blocking their path.
A First-Order beast... she thought with a pang of pity. If it were before, a single thought would have been enough to kill it; I wouldn't even have needed to lift a finger.
It was a bitter feeling to have to rely on cultivators at the Qi Refining stage to handle such a weak creature. Noticing the conflicting emotions on "Luo Tian's" face, Su Feng gave her a confident smile.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of this," he declared as he stepped forward and unsheathed his sword.
He lunged toward the creature, and with one fluid motion, the magical beast's body was sliced into several pieces.
Lin Xian, who was beside him, couldn't hide her surprise. "Have you become stronger, Brother Su?" she asked, astonished.
Su Feng nodded with a satisfied smile. "That's right, Sister Xian. After the encounter with those men in black, my strength increased significantly. Now, dispatching these magical beasts only takes me one move."
Luo Tian watched the scene with growing curiosity. At the Qi Refining stage, taking down a First-Order beast was no simple task, and doing it so cleanly was even more unusual. She was surprised; it was evident the young man possessed exceptional talent. Then why does his name not sound familiar at all? she wondered.
When she herself was in Qi Refining and fought against experts in the Foundation Establishment realm, her name resonated across countless regions, though she knew much of that fame was due to the immense prestige of the Gu Clan.
Even though he still has blind spots in his swordsmanship and his energy flow is somewhat inefficient, he is still impressive. He must possess a Heaven-Grade talent, or even a Heaven Spiritual Root, she analyzed internally.
As a former possessor of a Heaven Root, she was capable of identifying the energy circulation patterns associated with such a gift. Of course, determining the exact type of Heaven Root he possessed was something she couldn't decipher at a glance in her current state.