Early morning, on the Ancient Cloud Island.
Ancient Cloud Island was one of a few first-class forces in the Endless Sea Islands. The Sect spanned more than a dozen islands, large and small, each one rich in World Energy which allowed countless Precious Treasures to be produced. As long as its disciples cultivated diligently, they would not lack prospects.
Although Ancient Cloud Island was not comparable to Supreme Solitary Sect, the only thing it was truly missing in order to become a super force was a Transcendent powerhouse.
A few years ago though, after Ancient Cloud Island recovered its Broken Moon Transformation Art, the supreme Secret Art it had lost three hundred years ago, the Island Lord Gu Feng began vigorously cultivating both himself and the Sects elite disciples in hopes that out of these core members, some of them with exceptional aptitude and opportunities could reach the Transcendent Realm and elevate Ancient Cloud Island to the same level as Supreme Solitary Sect.
Although this goal is very ambitious and could not be accomplished in short order, Gu Feng believed that with the help of the Broken Moon Transformation Art, there would come a day when this dream would be fulfilled.
Today, the sea breeze gently blew, carrying a natural and refreshing taste with it.
Ancient Cloud Island Elite Disciple, Zhong Miao woke up from a night of meditation, jumped out of bed lightly, opened her door, and walked out.
After leaving her simply dwelling, she walked over to a nearby hut and gently knocked on the door while calling out, “Junior Brother, Junior Brother, time to get up!”
When the door opened, a young man’s face appeared from inside.
Glancing into the opposite parties weather-beaten and tempered eyes, Zhong Miao couldn’t help feeling slightly lost.
She couldn’t understand why this Junior Brother of hers who was less than twenty years old seemed so mature and experienced. Whether it was his demeanor or the way he carried out his work, there was no trace of the usual frivolous markings a young man should have, and when he spoke, his words were often profound and thought-provoking.
“Senior Sister, good morning.” The young man said with a smile pleasant smile.
Zhong Miao nodded gently nodded, her rich twin peaks undulating slightly, creating fascinating scene, smiling gently, “I thought you were still asleep. Quickly get ready, Elder Han is coming to see his peacocks today so we have to help those little guys get washed up. Otherwise, when Elder Han arrives he’ll punish us.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded and returned to his room to get ready.
In this remote corner of Ancient Cloud Island, Zhong Miao’s job was to look after a few noble peacocks.
These peacocks were not precious animals or even Monster Beasts, they were simply ordinary peacocks that were owned by Elder Han Chao of Ancient Cloud Island.
Han Chao was an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage master, which was neither strong nor weak in Ancient Cloud Island, but he was quite famous around the Sect.
Because these peacocks were raised by his late wife, after her death, Han Chao treated them like true treasures and had specially arranged for some of the Sect’s disciples to care for them.
Together with Zhong Miao, Yang Kai came to the place where the peacocks were located and, with the fresh water they brought, began cleaning the stains from their delicate feathers.
Glancing around at this somewhat familiar island, Yang Kai couldn’t help chuckling to himself.
He hadn’t expected that when the Void Corridor collapsed it would actually send him here.
Half a year ago, when Zhong Miao was out for a walk, she had fished him out of the sea near Ancient Cloud Island.
When the Void Corridor collapsed, the power of the void had almost shredded his body to pieces and if it had not been for his bone shield’s protection, he would certainly have died.
After being rescued by Zhong Miao, it had taken half a month for his injuries to slowly stabilize.
But Yang Kai was in no hurry to return to the Central Capital. The situation had been decided and it didn’t matter if he returned or not, so he took this opportunity to stay here and relax his tightened nerves.
Out of a pure innocent kindness, Zhong Miao begged Elder Han Chao to arrange a status for Yang Kai in Ancient Cloud Island, allowing him to become a sort of trial disciple who was responsible for taking care of the peacocks.
[It seems we’re really predestined friends!] Yang Kai secretly thought as he reflected on the last time he had visited Ancient Cloud Island.
“Senior Sister, you’re an Elite Disciple in the Sect, right? You should be able to live in a better place to cultivate, so why are you staying here to take care of the peacocks? Isn’t that a little odd?” Yang Kai asked Zhong Miao as he busied himself cleaning the bird in front of him.
“En,” Zhong Miao nodded gently. She wasn’t a great beauty, her face was slightly freckled, but she was no doubt tall and graceful and her twin peaks were proud and tall, so spending time with her was in no way boring. Most importantly though, this Senior Sister of his was especially kind. This was apparent from the way she had saved Yang Kai from the sea and even used her personal relationships to arrange a place for him on Ancient Cloud Island.
As for Yang Kai, he simply told her he was a fisherman who inadvertently fell into the sea and had been carried away from his boat.
“Although Island Lord and several of the Elders wanted me to move to Shen Feng Island where the World Energy is much more abundant, I don’t want to go.”
“Why not? People seek greater heights as surely as water flows to the sea, could it be that Senior Sister is simply reluctant to part with these peacocks?” Yang Kai teased.
“No, that’s not the case,” Zhong Miao slowly shook her head, her eyes suddenly gazing off into the distance as if she was recalling some far off memories, only speaking after a long time, “I chose to remain here in the hope that one day I can repay a debt of gratitude.”
“Repay a debt of gratitude?” Yang Kai was astonished.
“Did I tell you that your Senior Sister used to have quite a low place in the Sect before? Not only was my status poor but others would often bully me.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“One day thought, all of that changed,” Zhong Miao said fondly, standing up from her work and wiping away the sweat on her forehead as she recalled, “One day, I woke up, and as I was preparing to feed the peacocks, I found a dagger stuck into my door; attached to that dagger was a letter.”
“A letter?” Yang Kai raised an eyebrow, “What was written on it?”
“There was a single line of text written on the letter itself and inside of it was a single old yellowed parchment.” Zhong Miao smiled faintly, “The text told me to hand over the contents of the letter to Island Lord and the Island Elders.”
Hearing this, the look on Yang Kai’s face suddenly became strange, suddenly feeling like this story was familiar to him.
“After glancing at the yellowed parchment, I immediately complied with the letter’s request.” Zhong Miao grinned, “After that, by following the instructions inside the letter, inside Red Cloud Sect, Island Lord and the Elders actually found our Sect’s Broken Moon Transformation Art that had been lost more than three hundred years ago! Because of this great merit, Island Lord allowed me to take a large amount of pills from the Pill Hall and even arranged for me to cultivate in the Cloud Spirit Cave for more than a year! It was because of this generous reward that I have my current cultivation!”
As Zhong Miao spoke of these events, her voice grew louder and more excited and her eyes seemed to flash a brilliant light, holding her hands over her slightly heaving chest, she continued, “If it weren’t for that letter, I would still be the past me, a nobody who was constantly bullied by others. I don’t know who put that letter on my door, but I know that because of him, my status, my whole life changed dramatically, and for that, I want to thank him, thank him from the bottom of my heart!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help coughing awkwardly, his face slightly twitching, “That all seems like such a big coincidence.”
“En,” Zhong Miao can be nodded repeatedly, “It really was all just a coincidence, after all, Ancient Cloud Island is so big, yet he left that letter here, with me. So even though I’ve become an Elite Disciple, I don’t want to leave this place. I want to stay here and wait for that person to reappear.”
“Wait for him to reappear?” Yang Kai’s face twitched even more awkwardly.
“En, I want to personally offer him my thanks,” Zhong Miao said confidently before her voice suddenly became quiet and her cheeks blushed, “And if he wants… I’d also like to marry him.”
“Wha…?” Yang Kai was shocked, hastily saying, “But you don’t even know if that person was a man or a woman, do you?”
Taking a moment to calm herself down, Zhong Miao thought about it for a while before saying, “If she is a woman… Then I’ll become her sworn sister, and follow her lead for the rest of my life, but if he’s a man… hehe…”
As she spoke these words, her face became incomparably gentle and her eyes flashed a warm light.
Now leaking a bit of cold sweat, Yang Kai hurriedly objected, “But what if he’s a man with three wives and four concubines already and is an incurable womanizer? Of what if he has an evil and wicked personality and a disfigured face? A man who cruelly kills others like flies without batting an eye…”
“Junior Brother! You’re not allowed to say anything bad about him!” Zhong Miao turned around and glared at Yang Kai, “No matter what his personality is, or what he looks like, he is my life’s benefactor! He gave me this opportunity! To me, he is the best person in the world! As long as he appears again before me, I will definitely go with him!”
Yang Kai once again wiped the cold sweat from his brow and muttered, “Then he probably won’t ever appear in front of you again.”
“Junior Brother, what do you mean?” Zhong Miao’s aura suddenly became dangerous as she aggressively stepped towards Yang Kai, her expression quite gloomy, “Do you mean that Senior Sister can’t enter that man’s eyes?”
“I didn’t say that,” Yang Kai cried out, silently complaining in his heart.
“Then you mean that Senior Sister is too ugly! Hmph! Even if Senior Sister isn’t a big beauty, is she not even worthy to be a maidservant?”
“En, en, Senior Sister is pretty enough!” Yang Kai nodded his head vigorously, like a chicken pecking rice.
“That’s right, hehe!” Zhong Miao smiled happily and stopped looking for trouble with Yang Kai, lightly saying, “Hurry up and finishing washing them. Elder Han will be here soon.”
Yang Kai was about to nod, but suddenly his expression cramped. Turning his eyes towards the sky for a moment, he quickly wore a bitter smile.
“Senior Sister!” Yang Kai called out.
“What?” Zhong Miao looked over in confusion but upon meeting eyes with Yang Kai, she suddenly saw a glint a light and became incredibly drowsy, her tender body slowly slumping over.
Yang Kai flickered over and caught her, lifting Zhong Miao in his arms, gently carried her into her room, and then returned.
Two slender figures quickly appeared in front of Yang Kai, the leading one an enchanting beauty that seemed to be the epitome of charm and grace. It was none other than the Beguiling Demon Queen, Shan Qing Luo, who was naturally followed by Bi Luo.
Silently staring at Yang Kai for a while, Shan Qing Luo gnashed her teeth and spat, “Little bastard, everyone in the entire Central Capital is worried sick about you, searching all over for any trace of your whereabouts, but you’re actually hiding out here, shaking up with some unknown woman, enjoying a carefree and pleasant life free of worries! Hmph, no matter where you go it seems you never change!”
As she spoke, a thick meaning of blame spread across her face.
“What? Nonsense!” Yang Kai retorted furiously, “How dare you slander me so viciously!?”
“Hmph, Mistress, just kill him directly. Death ends all troubles!” Bi Luo snorted while gesturing threateningly like a little tiger, glaring hatefully at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai glanced over at her and unconsciously fixed his eyes on her thin, luscious lips, grinning strangely as he said, “I haven’t touched a woman for a very long time. Don’t try to rile me up, doing so won’t end well for you!”
Bi Luo’s beautiful face instantly went pale and she quickly hid behind Shan Qing Luo, bullying the weak by relying on the strong, “With Mistress here, you won’t dare act so impudently with me!”
“Enough.” Shan Qing Luo cut in and stepped forward, staring straight at Yang Kai and saying, “They all thought you died; only I knew that you were still alive. You little bastard, you really know how to make others worry about you.”
Yang Kai was still marked by Shan Qing Luo’s Soul Seeking Seal, and although with his current cultivation, Yang Kai could easily smash it, he hadn’t done so, so Shan Qing Luo was naturally able to find him.