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In the deep, silent forest, where the sunlight shone abundantly, there was a tranquility one dared not disturb.

Ya loosened his grip on the steering wheel, slouched in the seat, and did not intend to wake her up.

After quite some time, he took a cigarette out of the car. Then, he opened the car door a little and took a suit jacket from the trunk to drape over Gu Xiaoxi.

In the end, he lighted the cigarette and sighed as he gazed at the valley not far away.

He had wandered in this world for thirty years, not knowing where his relatives were? Not knowing where home was?

He went with the flow, having seen women by the tens, if not hundreds, thousands... Yet none could make him want to take a second glance after the first.

But Gu Xiaoxi was an exception. The first time he saw her, he felt nothing special, as she seemed like an ordinary person.

Ever since a strange dream, she seemed to have taken root in his heart, making him remember her.

The second time they met, he found her to be quite enduring to look at, not that kind of beauty that would bore you after a few glances.

Instead, the more he looked, the harder it was to look away.

Until the second time they parted.

He still couldn’t forget her every smile and frown. He would even daydream during his practice, with her image filling his mind.

A married woman, and yet he had this strange feeling for her.

And that feeling was a mix of sourness with a hint of sweetness.

It seemed that every time he thought of her, his heart felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

Is this the love that everybody chases after?

Ya thought how unfair the heavens were to him, making him fond of a woman whose heart belonged to someone else.

Gu Xiaoxi was awakened by the ringing of a phone.

The caller was Yun Xiao.

And when she opened her eyes, it was already late afternoon, nearing dusk, as the sun began to set beyond the mountains.

"Xiao Xi, why haven’t you come back? We’re about to go on a mission," Yun Xiao said anxiously.

Gu Xiaoxi quickly pushed the car door open, not realizing that her nap had lasted most of the day.

At that moment, there was no one around, and she did not know where Ya had gone.

"On a mission, I probably won’t make it back in time. Yun Xiao, tell Kang Wei to take charge for now. I’m currently tracking down the Rat King, so I won’t participate in tonight’s mission," Gu Xiaoxi said. Although it wouldn’t be good for her to miss the second mission.

Now that she was already outside, it would be too late even if she rushed back.

"Tracking the Rat King? Xiao Xi, that’s a very formidable creature! Be careful," Yun Xiao said worriedly.

"I know!" Gu Xiaoxi hung up the call and briefly explained her situation to Jing Rui.

Jing Rui said to her, "The International Alliance assigns the missions, and you just need to complete them. How you arrange your team, whether you are there or not, is all up to you."

Gu Xiaoxi did not expect the International Alliance to be so considerate in their management, so she understood and said, "Aunt Jing, I’ll contact you again once I find the Rat King."

"Good! Safety is the most important. If you can get Ya to help, the odds of success for this mission will be greater. Don’t rush back. I’ll speak to the higher-ups first," Jing Rui said excitedly.

Gu Xiaoxi did not expect the International Alliance to hold Ya in such high regard.

To the extent that Jing Rui actually asked her to enlist his help.

After hanging up the phone, Gu Xiaoxi saw that there were no people around as the setting sun stained the valley red, still clueless about where Ya had gone.

"Is anyone there?" Gu Xiaoxi called out.

After quite some time, no one responded to her.

Therefore, she could only raise her voice and shout, "Ya!"

Shouting just a single syllable for a name felt odd initially, but she had grown accustomed to it after calling out a few times.

"This guy, said he’d take me out for a breakthrough, search for the Rat King, and then disappears without trace. That’s just too irresponsible," Gu Xiaoxi mused while gazing at the empty wilderness, feeling speechless inside.

She looked at the ever-falling sunset, and as the evening breeze picked up, she felt a bit cold.

If she had to blame anyone, it would be herself for not dressing warmly enough when she left home.

"If you’re cold, there are clothes in the car. Just make do with them for now!" Ya’s voice suddenly came from behind her.

Gu Xiaoxi quickly turned around and saw him there with a large bundle of fruit wrapped in leaves, standing behind her.

"Why didn’t you wake me up?" Gu Xiaoxi’s tone carried a bit of rebuke since this had interfered with her official duties.

"You looked too tired, and I was afraid you wouldn’t learn well. With me here, those people from the International Alliance won’t give you trouble," Ya said as he approached with the fruit, "Eat some, get ready, I’ll take you up the mountain in a bit."

"Up the mountain?" Gu Xiaoxi took a few purple-red wild fruits and began to eat. They were sour and sweet - not bad at all. At that moment, she genuinely felt hungry.

"Yes! I’ve found a place that’s excellent for training. There, you’ll break through to the Third Level in less than 24 hours and start practicing the next techniques," Ya explained.

He looked so casual and at ease that Gu Xiaoxi felt embarrassed, realizing she had misunderstood his intentions.

After eating something, Gu Xiaoxi put on the jacket from the car as the sky had turned completely dark.

Ya took out his flute and blew a soft and melodious tune.

Suddenly, Gu Xiaoxi saw countless fireflies emerge from the Shun Forest.

The green glow flickered, gathering from the mountain forest towards their location.

Soon, more and more fireflies clustered together, illuminating the area around Gu Xiaoxi with their green light.

Ya pointed to a small path not far away and said, "Let’s go this way! Keep going, it should take about an hour."

"Why don’t we fly over? It would take at most twenty minutes," Gu Xiaoxi asked with a smile.

Ya glanced at her and said, "Twenty minutes, I can manage. But I’m afraid you’d consume too much and fail to break through for the entire night. I’m planning to go find those two monsters early tomorrow morning."

So that was the reason!

After hearing this, Gu Xiaoxi nodded in understanding, and obediently followed him along the path into the mountain.

After an hour of trudging through mountains and crossing streams, they finally reached the lower part of the valley.

There, there was a cave.

A spring of clear water flowed out from within the cave.

Ya said as he looked at the cave, "We’re here!"

"We’re here?" Gu Xiaoxi seemed even more confused. Wasn’t he supposed to take her to cultivate?

In this place, she couldn’t feel any spiritual energy at all.

How could she possibly make a breakthrough like this?

Without hesitation, Ya walked forward, the fireflies lighting the way.

Gu Xiaoxi immediately followed close behind.

As soon as she entered the cave, the sound of flowing water, accompanied by a rich surge of spiritual energy, hit her in the face.

Gu Xiaoxi felt that in an instant, the pores of her body opened and every cell started to jump.

The rich spiritual energy made her feel as if her stagnant sea of Qi had suddenly come to life.

Standing there, even without practicing any techniques, the spiritual energy naturally rushed into her body.

Ya looked at her with a serious expression, "What are you dawdling for? Start practicing quickly!"

Gu Xiaoxi, elated, found a clean rock to sit on and began to practice her cultivation technique.

As she performed her feats of strength, her sea of Qi immediately started churning, and countless particles of spiritual energy rushed into her body like threads of silk.

Ya watched her, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

He rarely smiled like that, a pleased smile as if just watching her made him happy.

In fact, there was no spiritual energy in the cave at all.

He had used an Ink Cartridge to gather spiritual energy from the outside world for several days and then quietly released it here.

He didn’t want his kindness towards her to become her burden.

Last time, when he saw her injured,

he just wanted to collect this spiritual energy to heal her wounds.

He had not expected that when he saw her again,

her injuries were healed...

But, the gathered spiritual energy should not go to waste.

Consider it a token of his friendship to her.

After a night of cultivation, Gu Xiaoxi opened her eyes to find the sky already bright.

The spiritual energy inside the cave had long been absorbed by her, leaving only the pool of clear spring water flowing slowly.

The sound of the water, accompanied by the melodious sound of a flute.

Gu Xiaoxi, feeling refreshed, stretched lazily and then walked out of the cave.

Suddenly, she leapt into the air and flew up.

The abundant spiritual energy inside her body made her feel that flying was even easier.

With the breakthrough in the second volume of her cultivation technique,

she could feel her spiritual energy, inner strength, and spiritual power had all improved significantly.

Gu Xiaoxi’s heart surged with joy; in one night, the spiritual energy in her body felt several times that of the day before.

As her cultivation grew deeper, she found she no longer felt that her spiritual energy was depleted.

It was as if her sea of Qi contained inexhaustible spiritual energy.

Gu Xiaoxi, following the sound of the flute, found Ya.

He sat on a small tree in front of the cliff, his blue shirt fluttering with the morning breeze, his soft ink-colored hair, those amber eyes seeming like a cosmic void.

Nobody knew what he was thinking.

His flute playing was beautiful, melodious and smooth, yet it conveyed a feeling of solitude.