Mu Cheng’s face was ashen, his body trembling. He clung tightly to Lian Yunzhi’s neck and murmured: “……I was too hungry.”
Lian Yunzhi was struck speechless.
He had forgotten.
He had forgotten that Mu Cheng was still just a Qi Refining Layer 2 child who hadn’t achieved fasting and could get hungry.
Though he had warned Mu Cheng not to touch anything, he himself had hidden in the cave out of anger and to read the precious book. If Mu Cheng had really stayed obediently at the cave entrance without doing anything, he would have starved to death.
Lian Yunzhi tightened his arms slightly in annoyance.
The demon beast still pursued relentlessly, drawing closer. Without spiritual power to sustain him, Lian Yunzhi’s stamina began to flag.
His vines were powerful, but not enough to kill a Tier 5 Demon Beast. Even when Lian Yunzhi used vines to swing himself and Mu Cheng up a giant tree, the beast didn’t relent. It let out a low roar and began ramming the tree.
Bang!
The giant tree shook violently, numbing Lian Yunzhi’s body and beading his forehead with cold sweat.
“Throw me down.”
The Little Mu Cheng in his arms suddenly stopped trembling. He closed his eyes and said through gritted teeth.
“Throw me down. The demon beast is after me.”
“No,” Lian Yunzhi refused without thinking as he pondered their next escape route. “We have the Dao Companion Contract. If you die, my cultivation will plummet.”
But then he heard Mu Cheng say: “……I’ll dissolve the Dao Companion Contract right now.”
Lian Yunzhi stunnedly looked down at Mu Cheng, who had placed his hand over his heart, lips moving as if preparing to dissolve it.
Slap!
A sudden palm struck the back of Mu Cheng’s hand on his chest, followed by a firm pinch on his lips.
“Shut up.”
.
Whoosh!
A massive vine sliced through the air and plunged straight into the mouth of the demon beast, which was ramming the tree and roaring. The beast’s sharp teeth bit the vine savagely, but by then, the vine’s tip had pierced out through its eye socket like a spike!
“Awoo—!”
The demon beast clutched its head and let out a pained roar before going berserk and continuing to ram the tree!
But this time, it couldn’t even aim properly!
Now!
As the giant tree toppled, Lian Yunzhi extended a vine as a buffer, rolled to the ground with Mu Cheng in his arms, and immediately bolted again!
Mu Cheng didn’t know how long Lian Yunzhi carried him running. He only knew that the one-eyed demon beast tripped over a vine mid-chase, and Lian Yunzhi seized the moment to leap off a cliff with him, dangling from vines into a cave on the cliffside.
They were saved……
Lian Yunzhi leaned against the wall, panting heavily. His eyes were closed, sweat trickled from his forehead, but his dangling hand trembled uncontrollably.
Mu Cheng saw that his shaking fingertips were covered in blood—from the vine the demon beast had bitten off.
Mu Cheng rummaged through his clothes, tore the cleanest piece of fabric in half, knelt shakily before Lian Yunzhi, bandaged his injured hand, and gently wiped the sweat from Lian Yunzhi’s forehead.
“Why?” Little Mu Cheng’s eyes reddened. “You could have waited for me to dissolve the Dao Companion Contract and thrown me down. Why didn’t you?”
Lian Yunzhi opened his eyes and looked quietly at Mu Cheng without speaking.
Little Mu Cheng finally couldn’t hold back and pounced into his arms.
Lian Yunzhi: “……”
Lian Yunzhi was a bit disgusted by the dirt, blood, and tears on his face, but he lacked the strength to push him away. Remembering he was just as filthy, he endured it.
He just sighed softly and patted Mu Cheng’s back: “Do you know why I’m so weak, why I can’t even kill a single Tier 5 Demon Beast?”
“……Why?” Little Mu Cheng asked hoarsely.
“It’s all because of you,” Lian Yunzhi sighed. “Before…… uh, just think of it as a past life. You used some power to seal all my meridians, so I can’t access my spiritual power. That’s why we’re in such a mess today…… So you need to cultivate diligently from now on, lift the restriction on me as soon as possible, got it?”
Mu Cheng: “……”
Mu Cheng: “.”
Mu Cheng slowly released Lian Yunzhi.
“Got it?” Lian Yunzhi poked him with a finger.
“……Got it.” Little Mu Cheng said sullenly.
“And the Dao Companion Contract……” Lian Yunzhi suddenly took Little Mu Cheng’s hand. “I’m not planning to dissolve it for now.”
Little Mu Cheng’s eyes lit up as he raised his head.
Lian Yunzhi placed Mu Cheng’s hand on his Storage Bracelet: “Recite this incantation in your mind……”
Little Mu Cheng recited it puzzledly.
Pop!
The exquisite Storage Bracelet suddenly glowed. Lian Yunzhi’s eyes curved in a smile as he retrieved a bottle of pills from inside and fed one to himself and one to Little Mu Cheng.
Lian Yunzhi raised his brow smugly: “See! I read a bunch of books just now. They said Dao Companions can open each other’s storage artifacts. Now I can use the treasures in my Storage Bracelet!”
Mu Cheng: “……”
Mu Cheng: “Oh, so that’s it.”
Little Mu Cheng said dryly.
[Hmm, actually there’s another reason……]
A voice suddenly rang out unbidden in his mind.
Little Mu Cheng stiffened and looked around, then fixed his gaze on Lian Yunzhi’s mouth. But Lian Yunzhi’s lips were pressed tightly shut, not moving at all.
The voice sounded again.
[……I just learned from the book that Dao Companions can not only do regular Dual Cultivation but also Divine Soul Dual Cultivation. Mu Cheng’s physique is so good too…… When he grows up, we can do both regular and Divine Soul Dual Cultivation at the same time…… Plus, Dual Cultivation with a Dao Companion Contract doubles the effects, and with Divine Soul Dual Cultivation, that’s four times! No Thunder Tribulation either! Ascension is just around the corner!]
Mu Cheng: “……”
Little Mu Cheng clenched his fists tightly, his heart a tumult of emotions.
He felt shocked, a bit indignant, and something indescribable……
He looked up at Lian Yunzhi. The man’s hair was disheveled, his robes torn and bloodstained from the escape, far from the ethereal true immortal he had seemed at first sight.
But……
Little Mu Cheng lowered his head, his cheeks burning hot.
……I want to grow up so badly.
.
One man was lost in sweet dreams of ascension, utterly immersed. The other was flustered and confused, heart in chaos.
Thus, neither noticed, neither discovered.
Little Mu Cheng’s figure was growing visibly, inch by inch…… He was a full inch taller than moments before.
