Su You's cultivation reached the peak many years ago. He hadn't been humiliated by someone like this for a long time. 

He looked at Xi Huai with a savage expression, attacking him repeatedly.

Each blow was vicious and deadly, conveying his extreme hatred. 

Xi Huai was no easy opponent. Despite his young age, he had studied martial arts quite thoroughly and could even reign in this area in the cultivation world.

At first, he just wanted another method to vent when the Hui Dragon Flames went rampant, so he practiced the traditional methods countless times. This could also distract him and ameliorate his extreme emotions.

He just wanted a method to lessen his suffering at first, but now he got an unexpected boon and was able to use it to suppress Su You.

Su You stopped once he knew he was outmatched. His tone was very indignant. "That's enough."

"Pei." Xi Huai was unhappy. "Do you think of me as a sparring partner, that will stop when you say so?"

"Return the bell to me. It has no use for you." 

"Why don't you go die? There's no use in you living."

"Just what do you want?" 

"No matter what, even though I find it disgusting to hold a coffin on me, it means you will behave yourself." Xi Huai thought about it before putting the bell away. 

He had to guard against Su You, who could take his life with a wave of his hand outside of this pure land. 

If Su You's bell was in his hands, it was another story. 

This was Su You's weak point. 

Su You glanced at Xi Huai and the people around him a while longer before chuckling. "Fine, I will leave it with you for now."

With that, he glanced at Chi Muyao before turning and leaving.

After Su You left, the others wanted to ask Xi Huai about the situation outside, but unfortunately they were unfamiliar with him and treated him badly before.

Yu Yanshu exchanged a glance with Chi Muyao, who soon got the message.

This look that lasted less than a breath made Xi Huai scowl.

Chi Muyao pulled him away to a secluded area and had him sit down and rest. At the same time, he asked, "How did you come in?" 

Xi Huai answered honestly, "When I came, the Nascent Soul stage cultivators of the Nuan Yan Pavilion and other sects were already here to reinforce the Grand Array sealing the mountain. I insisted on going inside, and fought them when they disagreed. In the end, they were afraid of my Hui razing the mountain, plus they didn't want to bully a junior like me so they let me in. However, I had to give Zong Sichen and Song Weiyue as ransom." 

"As...ransom? What-what good friends they must be, ah..." Chi Muyao couldn't help but sigh, suddenly feeling sorry for those two.

Xi Huai didn't mind. His lips quirked up as he said, "They originally didn't want to associate with me." 

"En?" Chi Muyao didn't understand the implication. "I thought you all got along well?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Chi Muyao nodded thoughtfully.

The Grand Array sealed the people and the miasma within. If someone wanted to go in it would be easy, they just needed to instantly be pushed in.

The difficult part was leaving. Even the most careful preparation would result in something leaving with them, or destabilise the Grand Array. 

They didn't expect someone to go to their deaths despite knowing this, so they didn't squabble with Xi Huai.

Chi Muyao was a little puzzled. "How did you know I was here?" 

Xi Huai frowned, unwilling to bring up how he tied a Cultivation Partner Knot with him in secret. With the Cultivation Partner Knot and the red line only he could see, he could know Chi Muyao's location by following it.

This was something he was unwilling to bring up, no matter what. Every time he thought about Chi Muyao's snow white end, his heart would ache for some time. 

He could only reply, "I happened to hear it." 

Chi Muyao couldn't help but sigh. The thought of the Soul Renewal Lamp's cost made him cringe. "You shouldn't be here. You've only put yourself in danger with me. Even Su You can't leave, so what about us?" 

"I just want to know if you can't return to the Qing Ze Sect or if you don't want to return there."

Chi Muyao looked at Xi Huai, stunned.

Xi Huai was also looking at him. The usually overbearing man actually looked kind of petulant right now, like a giant dog that had been abandoned by its owner.

Wind lifted Xi Huai's bangs, showing off his full forehead and handsome features to Chi Muyao.

He suddenly had a bout of heartache for some reason.

He looked around and confirmed no one was there before looking at Xi Huai and mumbling, "The Nuan Yan Pavilion has met with a problem that requires the Yu Chong School's help. They have always looked after our Sect, so we had to help. Only Little Shijie and I were able to identify some beast bones, but we unexpectedly ended up trapped here."

The implication was that he couldn't come, not that he didn't want to. 

This reply soothed Xi Huai's heart a bit.

"Why is Su You so interested in you?" This was something Xi Huai noticed even in the brief time he's been here.

Chi Muyao's strange behaviour last time at the Thousand Sect Conference, and the look Su You shot him before leaving—Xi Huai found it all very puzzling.

Chi Muyao didn't know how to explain. He couldn't bring up the Colourless Yunni Deer or say he had a healing ability. 

However, how was he supposed to explain Su You's attention without them? 

He could only reply, "I don’t know either."

"That old bastard!" Xi Huai cursed unhappily. A several thousand years old geezer like Su You was coveting Chi Muyao? He explained after a beat, "I was referring to Su You."

"Oh..." For a moment, Chi Muyao felt guilty.

He shouldn't feel guilty when it came to age. He was 18, 18!! 

Xi Huai looked around and asked, "Where's that bird of yours?"

"Qiuqiu is in the spirit pet bag. It will feel hunger in the pure land, and there's nothing to feed it here. It will feel more comfortable in the spirit pet bag."

"Oh."

At this time, Yi Qianxi suddenly shouted at Chi Muyao, "Shidi, quickly come over!"

Chi Muyao quickly rose, but he was worried Xi Huai would be lonely so he tugged on his sleeve. "Come with me."

Xi Huai looked down at the fair fingers grasping his sleeve and smirked a bit. Then he walked towards Yi Qianxi with Chi Muyao.

Yi Qianxi was huddled on the boundary of the pure land, staring into the forest. 

Chi Muyao thought there was prey, and looked over as well. It shocked him greatly to notice two glowing blue dots.

Looking closer, he noticed a blue fox under a sturdy looking tree branch.

Because the forest has become infested with miasma, the periphery of the pure land was trapped in everlasting darkness twenty-four/seven. The blue fox's eyes reflected the light like two ghost fires, kind of eerie. 

Chi Muyao couldn't help but exclaim, "So some blue foxes survived in the forest!”  

Yi Qianxi nodded. "En. Looks like this one is still growing, which is probably why it survived." 

"Are you planning to capture it?"

"That's right. It will end up being affected by the miasma in the forest. It's been standing there for some time, probably because it wants to try and come in. However, there's too many of us and it doesn't dare."

Perhaps because of the Blue Sacrifice, Chi Muyao's heart ached something fierce when he saw the blue fox.

It was supposed to live freely, but it became like this. Its companions must have met a terrible fate.

"Then let's think of a method to save it." He said.

 "En."

Foxes were usually hard to catch because they were clever and wary of humans.

Especially the blue foxes in the mountain range. They were even more wary after being over-hunted for so long.

However, Yi Qianxi had always had a soft spot for foxes, or else she wouldn't take a red one as her soul-bound spirit beast. She had a great understanding of their nature. She waved a toy in her hand, trying to lure the blue fox over.

Xi Huai squatted by Chi Muyao's side and asked, "What happens when you try to leave this pure land without any artefacts?" 

Chi Muyao told him about their desires surfacing. Xi Huai suddenly said after a moment, "I'm a bit curious what your strongest desire is."

Chi Muyao shook his head repeatedly. He was dreading acting out a student bitterly studying for the university entrance exam after leaving the pure land. Then everyone would label him as a weirdo.

Actually, Chi Muyao himself wondered what his deepest desire would be. 

Before transmigration, it would be: Getting first place in the province and entering Qingbei University.

After transmigration, it would be: Escaping the He Huan Sect.

Now that the biggest calamity after transmigration had passed, his obsession had lessened in intensity, which meant he might really scour the forest for textbooks and shout at the top of his lungs, "I need to learn!!"

That would be...too embarrassing!

While they tried to lure the blue fox over, the other cultivators thought they had found prey and came over asking if they needed help.

When they saw the blue fox, their faces became complicated. Now they were afraid to mess with this kind of spirit beast. Just the sight of it made them shiver. After all, the miasma in the forest was caused by them.

Yi Qianxi found them irritating, especially since they were scaring the blue fox. "If you can't help, then scram." 

Ming Shaoluo regarded Chi Muyao and the others from afar.

Her gaze kept coming back to Xi Huai. If Xi Huai had a change of heart, would he take her and leave this place?

While hiding here, she became an ordinary person and encountered all the problems of being one. For her, who was used to luxury, it was the hardest period of her life.

Although the expedition before was hard, at least she had spiritual energy to assist. Here, she needed to sleep, to eat, and even cleaning herself was unwieldy. She had had enough. 

Yet looking at Xi Huai, she really didn't know how to reestablish a relationship with him. She sank into contemplation. 

Soon, she noticed two other people looking over.

Mu Ren seemed to busy himself with what was in his hand, but he looked over at Chi Muyao once in a while. 

Recently, Mu Ren's attitude has really taken a one-eighty, but Ming Shaoluo wasn't shocked. What did shock her was how Yu Yanshu seemed to glance  at Chi Muyao, deep in thought.

Ming Shaoluo couldn't tell what he was thinking about.

She just knew that Yu Yanshu took care of Chi Muyao more than he did others.

At this time, Yi Qianxi roared in frustration, "What's with this blue fox?! If it won't take the carrot, I'll just use my net!" She said this, going to find it. 

This capture net used to be an artefact, but it could only be used as an ordinary net in the pure land. It needed to be thrown with skill.

Luckily, Yi Qianxi had plenty of experience and managed to ensnare the blue fox. 

Yi Qianxi tried to reel it in, but the blue fox struggled fiercely. 

Chi Muyao hurried over to help. 

Xi Huai stood and watched the two of them and the blue fox, unworried. Who would've thought their combined strength wouldn't be enough?

When he saw the two of them pulled out of the pure land at once, Xi Huai did a double take.

Everyone else was just as shocked. Every time someone lost themselves in the forest, it would take a lot of people working together to drag them back.

Xi Huai originally wanted to go out with the Soul Renewal Lamp, but he hesitated. He really wanted to see what Chi Muyao would be like in the miasma.

The miasma had always had hallucinogenic properties. When cultivators entered the forest, they would see what their heart desired most. Even the people in the pure land would be able to see the illusions. 

Everyone thought they would get to see the two embarrass themselves, but when they hurried over they were shocked.