A Trial by Halves

Just One More Sacrifice

In her chamber back in Qing Qiu, she tried not to think too deeply about what she was about to do. She had briefly discussed it with Mo Yuan and having left him not long after she was soon preparing herself to flee again and this time covertly, because if her family knew what she was about to do, they would absolutely prevent it. In fact, her father and even her mother would take the task off her and do it themselves.

Which is the main reason why she had taken Er Li off Kunlun mountain and brought him home because she knew her parents would be far too occupied with their grandchild rather than the pinched look on her face as she steeled herself for what was coming.

Mo Yuan had absolutely forbidden her from attempting the next part of Ye Huas revival, and instead had insisted on doing it himself, seeing as he had cultivated enough energy over the past few thousand years specifically for this purpose because if anyone knew what needed to be done once Ye Huas soul had reached a certain stage, as well as the amount of cultivation he would need, it was him.

He might be the Heavenly Fathers son, but no one was exempt from taking what he had placed under permanent guard, not even him. And having returned with near depleted cultivation to the point of collapse, he fully fed his body the divine energy of Kunlun Mountain to not only take on those beasts, but he was also planning on using what was left to create the elixir.

And cultivation was the key to gaining the Fungal Grass. Too many had died because they had not prepared themselves before hand. The beasts were the only living creatures known to be exceptionally powerful in both magic and strength. Only those with exceptionally high cultivation and knowledge of the beasts would be able to battle them successfully and to date, no one had or at least not that he was aware of.

And after a tense standoff, she verbally agreed to stand back and let him, only she had also reverted to a childhood practice of crossing her fingers behind her back. A promise wasn't valid if your fingers were crossed and no sooner had she left Kunlun Mountain, then she immediately prepared herself to leave again with or without her Shifus permission. Because one sacrifice was more than enough for any man, she was not going to let him do it again.

In fact, she herself had tasked Er Li with one final chore. He was to keep her parents occupied by being as cute and endearing as possible without actually telling him why. Though it wasn't really all that difficult because he was such an adorable little boy who merely had to smile and his grandmother was all over him. And if she smiled, then his Grandfather was also enamoured and no sooner was he back in the den, then he quickly set about throwing himself into their arms before regaling them all manner of mischief he had managed to get himself into when the Master of Kunlun Mountain wasn't looking.

Listening to the laughter from her chamber, Bai Qian took a few moments to allow herself a little pleasure from it too. She rarely got to hear him laugh because he was normally such a serious child, much like his father had been when he was little and though their lives were worlds apart, this was one aspect of Ye Huas nature that their son had inherited and of course, being taught under the Grand Master himself, he had learned to control his rather childish tendencies quite young, though the Disciples kept him grounded by allowing him all the freedom he wanted while with them.

And it was her Disciple brothers her mind then briefly moved to. She had seriously considered requesting Die Feng and Chang Shans assistance, because as much as she wanted to do everything for herself, this was one task that she knew she might not be able to accomplish on her own. But in the end, she decided against it, after all, the last thing she wanted to give Ye Hua on his return was a life debt that he had no say in.

She had plenty of cultivation and she certainly had the confidence in her abilities, but still, those beasts belonged to Heaven and contain half of The Heavenly Fathers cultivation, so she wasn't that stupid as to think it would an easy walk in. Not having sat with Mo Yuan for several hours learning everything she could about them.