Xiao Jin let out a soft call, clearly responding to Ling Zhenfei's words.
At that moment, a voice suddenly said, "You really should thank your friend. If it weren't for him, you'd be dead."
Ling Zhenfei was momentarily stunned, revealing genuine emotion, and hadn't noticed someone had arrived beside him.
Ling Zhenfei looked into the distance and saw a person appearing beneath a tree in the distance.
The person was dressed in white, standing tall, his hair fluttering in the breeze, as if merging with time itself.
The forest was extremely dark at night, but Ling Zhenfei could still recognize who this person was—it was none other than Sha Qianqiu, who had just saved him.
Ling Zhenfei said, "So it was you, thank you for saving me earlier."
Sha Qianqiu replied, "No need to thank me. I couldn't just watch you die since I haven't defeated you yet."
Ling Zhenfei was taken aback, "You want to defeat me?"
Sha Qianqiu said, "That's right. I want to defeat you. That time at sea, you won against me, and I want to reclaim that."
Ling Zhenfei said, "I didn't defeat you. You were lacking experience at the time. I believe after the trials in the Foreign Land, you shouldn't have that issue anymore."
Sha Qianqiu said, "Whether I can defeat you or not isn't something we can just talk about. We need to fight to know."
Ling Zhenfei said, "I see victory and defeat are very important to you."
Sha Qianqiu said, "In life, if you don't leave something behind, then what's the point of wandering through the world?"
Ling Zhenfei said, "So you saved me because you didn't want me to die at someone else's hands; otherwise, you wouldn't have the chance to defeat me, right?"
Sha Qianqiu said, "Exactly, that's how it is."
Ling Zhenfei said, "Then let's get started, I'm right here."
Sha Qianqiu said, "I won't fight you here; you're injured now. Even if I win, it wouldn't be honorable. Besides, there's no one here, so what does it matter if I win?"
Ling Zhenfei said, "So what you're saying is, I need to lose to you when I'm healthy, and there also have to be other people around, right?"
Sha Qianqiu said, "Exactly, that's what I mean. I want to defeat you in front of my master, to show him I'm much stronger than you."
Ling Zhenfei said, "Alright, since you've saved me, I guess I can't not agree with you."
Sha Qianqiu said, "Now, you must accept my challenge."
Ling Zhenfei said somewhat helplessly, "Alright, I accept."
Ling Zhenfei had no choice but to agree. After all, the person had just saved him; what else could he say?
Sha Qianqiu said, "Remember your words."
After saying this, Sha Qianqiu turned and walked into the forest behind him.
Ling Zhenfei watched Sha Qianqiu leave and let out a long sigh.
There are many people in this world, some for fame, some for profit, and such people are all a bit crazy.
Ling Zhenfei looked at the Lightning Bird on the ground and said, "Xiao Jin, your claw is injured. How about I take you back to the Peach Blossom Secret Realm?"
Ling Zhenfei wanted to take the Lightning Bird to the Peach Blossom Secret Realm because the world was terrifying, and something frightening could happen at any time.
Ling Zhenfei also feared implicating Xiao Jin. If something happened to him, it happened. But if something happened to Xiao Jin too, he would feel extremely guilty.
Xiao Jin shook his head and let out a cry, clearly not happy with Ling Zhenfei's words.
Ling Zhenfei stroked Xiao Jin's sturdy feathers and said, "Then find a place to rest. This place is too dangerous for you to rest. Go find a higher, safer place."
The Lightning Bird flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
It quickly disappeared into the night sky.
Ling Zhenfei was pondering what he should do when he suddenly heard a slight trace of Northern Spiritual Energy coming from a distance.
Ling Zhenfei was startled. It was already late at night, and not many people were outside at this hour.
Many cultivators would retreat defensively to avoid giving Demon Hunters an opportunity.
Thus, at night, cultivators generally wouldn't act.
However, someone was indeed moving around the area, and the energy was getting closer.
Ling Zhenfei was very curious—could there be Demon Hunters around?
Ling Zhenfei, thinking of this, quickly wanted to find a place to hide, but in the dim light, where could he go?
Suddenly, he saw a large tree nearby and leapt up into it.
He hid in a place with very thick foliage.
Suddenly, he saw a few people appearing around him, coming from different directions.
When they met, they exchanged glances.
One of them said, "Something's wrong, he's gone."
Another said, "Are you sure it's Ling Zhenfei?"
"There's no mistake; even if he turns into ash, I wouldn't mistake him. Plus, I verified it with people from the Shu Mountain Sword Sect. Ling Zhenfei was indeed taken by foreign races."
"But if he was taken by foreign races, why was he released? And how did he fight with them in the bushes? It's strange."
"What's strange about it? Isn't that kid a spy for the foreign races? Going there and coming back safely is very normal."
At that time, Ling Zhenfei was atop the tree, using the power of the soul to hide. He hadn't expected to overhear such shocking things about himself just then and wanted to hear what these people had to say.
One person said, "That indeed is a problem. If Ling Zhenfei is with them, why did they fight? How to explain that?"
Another said, "There's nothing difficult to explain here; it's too simple. The foreign races arranged for this show just to clear Ling Zhenfei's name, for us to see."
Ling Zhenfei was startled; these people's imagination was truly vast, turning black into white and white into patterned. Cleansing his name was indeed challenging.
"You mean this is an act by Ling Zhenfei and the foreign races, but why did it lead to him running into this forest?"
"It's too simple. Did you think the act must kill Ling Zhenfei? You're overthinking. They did this to clear his name, then give him a more unspeakable secret mission."
Ling Zhenfei was fuming at these people claiming to be from a Righteous Sect, yet behaving in unseemly ways.
Ling Zhenfei really wanted to jump down and teach them a lesson, but it wasn't the right time, not when he wasn't in his best state.
"Now he's missing. What do we do?"
"Ling Zhenfei can't have gone far. We'll search the area carefully; he might be hiding in a tree."
"Don't joke. If he's in these trees, how wouldn't we find him? I think Ling Zhenfei was probably taken away by the one controlling the Water Dragon."