My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

The same evening.

Li Yuan's snores rumbled like thunder through the residence.

Bai Lingshui and Han Tong'er met under moonlit pines outside the courtyard, speaking only through hastily scribbled slips.

Why didn't you throw a single move tonight?Bai Lingshui asked.

He's terrifying. An ignorant fool might have struck freely, but this felt different. I could see what was coming. Yet the moment I tried to answer it was already too late.Han Tong'er frowned, a trace of fear lingering in his eyes. Then he added,You're certain he isn't using a ghost item disguise?

Bai Lingshui shot back a firm glance.I'm certain. His Yang energy pours out like a mighty river. No ghost item can fake that.

Han Tong'er nodded grimly, then wrote,We may have stumbled on a once-in-a-thousand-years monster. I'm unfit to measure him.

A sudden flare lit up in his eyes, and he scribbled,Can you tame him? One man, that's all we need to tip the fortunes of our Four Lotuses.

Realizing it didn't sound quite right, he crushed the note, burning it to ash.

He wrote down a new slip.Could you make him fall for you. Even if you spent your life as his wife and did nothing else, it would be an immense service to the Four Lotuses. Shape yourself into whatever woman he wants. Play the role forever.

Bai Lingshui hesitated, then finally wrote.I don't know. I've never met anyone like him, and I doubt another person like him exists in the world.

Han Tong'er changed the topic.Whatever happens, don't let him meet Qing Hancheng. If the Holy Tree Temple swallows him, we'll have missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

Bai Lingshui remained silent. Her bright, faintly melancholy eyes drifted. She was facing the greatest challenge of her career and needed caution. Finally, she decided,At dawn, I'll slip away. You point him south toward our territory. After that, stay clear.

While the two Lotus Cult elders planned, a shadow drifted across the courtyard. Like a ghost, it plucked the tufts of hair that had been shaved from Han Tong'er, tucked them into a small pouch, and vanished back into the residence.

Han Tong'er's hair, acquired!

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next morning.

Bai Lingshui was gone by first light.

Li Yuan wolfed down meat buns from the market, polished off a giant bowl of pork-knuckle noodles, and bellowed round the courtyard, "Where's Miss Bai? Miss Bai!"

Han Tong'er emerged. "My sister had urgent business. I can show you a road to the Holy Tree Temple."

Li Yuan crossed his arms. "I don't believe you!"

Han Tong'er looked skyward in exasperation, then remembered a report he'd read,Bubba once famously got tricked before…He spread his hands and said, "Trust me. If I'm lying, I'll eat this whole table, legs and all."

That sounded fair to Li Yuan. "All right, then."

Han Tong'er hurried him onto the main road and pointed south. "Stay on this road and you'll reach the Holy Tree Temple."

"Good!" Li Yuan pounded away, then, a few kilometers later, throttled back to a walk.South, huh?A road this neat was meant for dupes. The White Lotus Cult surely had a second move ready; if not, he'd feel cheated on their behalf and find the Holy Tree Temple on his own.

Gemhill County and The Bladeseekers were growing more dangerous by the day, too many shadowy pieces still hovering in mid-air. Once those pieces finally slammed onto the board, they'd hit like falling mountains. This trip was as much a scouting run as it was a training quest, and real information never arrived by chance. The stronger the opponent, the harder they were to meet; the deeper the secret, the tighter it was locked.

He might be powerful. But far to the northwest, the Deathless Tombs still made him uneasy, and above the Five Elements Alliance and Four Lotuses stood something beyond, the so-calledtranscendent powers.

He'd heard whispers, never seen a trace. Even during his time in the Holy Tree Temple, when he'd probed Gu Xuejian and other senior figures, they admitted the powers existed but appeared only once in several centuries. And no one alive had ever laid eyes on them.

Lost in thought, he tramped along the main road for a full day and night, then perched on a fat tree stump to wait.

Come midnight, moonlight flooded the path silver-white.

A lone rider barreled up the road, snow-pale robes, hair in tangles, desperation in every line. She yanked the reins when she spotted the bald giant, vaulted down, and half-doubled, gasping for breath yet grinning through unshed tears.

It was the first time he'd seen Bai Lingshui smile. A woman who could crack a smile after enduring hardship was far more disarming than any painted courtesan's grin.

Five stars for acting,Li Yuan thought, applauding her performance.

"Bubba, I-I…finally caught up to you. Hah hah…" Bai Lingshui gasped with relief.

Li Yuan braced for a dramatic swoon into his arms, but the seasoned enchantress kept her distance, eyes shining instead of hands roaming.

He scratched his head. "What's wrong, Miss Bai?"

"My brother… H-he sent you the wrong way!" she panted. "That road will never bring you to Qing Hancheng. The moment I found out, I came after you. I thought I'd never see you again, but—" She spun, palms pressed together, facing the moon and stars. "Thank heaven, thank heaven!"

Ah,Li Yuan mused,classic one-push-one-pull. Step on the brother, step up her own stock.Even knowing, he felt the tug; it was an honest, ordinary human feeling.

"Back when I was small," she said, voice low, "my family tricked me. Handed me to a stranger, pinky-swore we'd meet again, but we never did. They died before we could reunite; my brother brought only their ashes. I hate liars. No one gets to trick me, and no one gets to trick you. I willpersonallybring you to the Holy Tree Temple to face Qing Hancheng."

She clenched a tiny fist, eyes bright. "I swear it!"

Then she swung back onto her horse and beckoned. "Come, Bubba. Ride with me."

Li Yuan clambered up, all 150 kg of him. The horse groaned, almost letting out an aggrievedneighin complaint, but then plodded forward anyway.

He half expected her to hit with the corny,Hold onto me tightly so you don't fall.

However, Bai Lingshui chose to let the silence linger between them. With two riders and one saddle, a certain level of physical intimacy was inevitable. She pretended not to notice while their shared warmth seeped through cotton and leather.

A clever hunter often looks exactly like the prey,she reminded herself, adopting the helpless pose.

Li Yuan let his hands hang loose, refusing to clutch her waist. Instead he muttered happily under his breath, "If I open with the Thunderbolt Whirlwind Exploding Slash, follow with a Nine Heavens Lion King Roar…I wonder how you'll answer that, Ah Qing, huh?"