Chapter Thirty-Six: Heartache

During the interrogation’s interlude, the others all sat cross-legged, adjusting their breath and meditating. Shen Luo was generous, distributing pills to everyone—these were fourth-tier, top-grade Spirit Concentration Pills left to him by Ke Rongzi, each one perfectly round and full, worth a fortune.

No one was more astonished than Gu Hongshang, who rubbed the small bottle of pills with her fingertip. For a moment, she remembered the tragic death of her junior sister, with whom she’d grown up; then, she was struck by the kindness shown to her by those around her. A tangled mix of emotions surged within her.

Suddenly, Shen Luo spoke. “If I had to do it again, I would still make the same choice.” Though it had been the Thunderclap Bird that acted, everyone knew it was under the beast’s direction—and that was precisely Shen Luo’s true sentiment.

Gu Hongshang looked up sharply. “I…” She tried to speak, but the words died on her lips. If Nian Ciyun wanted his life, why shouldn’t he fight back?

A mocking smile flickered across the young man’s face. “The strong prey on the weak—such is the law of the world. She, and those clan members who once bullied me, I have never hated them. Only the strong can stand at the summit and decide others’ fates at will. Between her and me, it was simply a matter of strength.”

Everyone glanced over, a trace of admiration in their eyes. So young, yet possessing such a breadth of mind—his future would be limitless.

Su Li coiled her tail around the youth’s arm, lifted her chin, her expression seven parts smug, three parts proud, as if to say, “That’s exactly the person I picked.” Shen Luo couldn’t help but laugh, squeezing her furry little paws before turning to leave.

“Ah Luo.” Shen Fengling suddenly called after him.

Shen Luo turned.

Shen Fengling hesitated, then asked, “Do you truly hold no resentment?”

Shen Hao and Shen Sinan also looked over.

A self-deprecating smile touched Shen Luo’s lips; his tone was earnest. “I did once. But after I accidentally learned the truth about my parents when I was four, I never felt that way again.”

Shen Fengling’s expression grew complicated. “What your father did has nothing to do with you.” Yet even as he said it, there was a hollow note in his voice. For ten years, the Shen family had shown this child little kindness.

Shen Luo’s head drooped. The firelight cast a faint glow on his profile, making it impossible to read his expression or know if he’d taken the words to heart.

Su Li strained to recall the plot.

Ten years ago, the Shen family was still the foremost clan in Youzhou, preeminent among all beast-taming families on the continent. Their greatest advantage lay in a natural cavern beneath their estate, a mine producing Blood Crystal Marrow.

For beast tamers, affinity with spirit beasts was paramount—the stronger the tamer, the higher the tier of their contracted beast. Legend had it that Blood Crystal Stones could refine the body and marrow, purifying a beast’s bloodline and enhancing its grade and power. For millennia, the Shen family had secretly used this method to improve their contracted beasts, ensuring the family's unassailable position and enduring prosperity.

By the time Shen Luo’s father, Shen Ji, led the clan, he had already distinguished himself—blessed with remarkable talent, he had contracted a tenth-tier Scarlet-Eyed Heavenly Lion, and before the age of thirty, entered the Golden Core stage, earning widespread renown.

Yet he had a fatal flaw: he was sociable, trusting, and indiscriminately made friends. During three years’ travel, he befriended people from all corners of the world. Then, one autumn a decade ago, he returned with someone claiming to hail from the top-tier continent, the Xuanming Continent—a cultivator named Hong Zhongyin, a peak beast master at the mid-Division stage, ninth rank.

A trace of mockery flashed in Su Li’s eyes. The Division stage was a time for vigilance, yet he so casually divulged the family’s greatest secret to a “friend”—his heart was indeed too open.

As expected, Hong Zhongyin feigned interest in accepting disciples but in truth plotted to seize the Blood Crystal Marrow mine. When his scheme was uncovered, he tried to destroy everything. The Shen family’s patriarch was forced to use an ancient sealing art, trapping himself and many family members within the mine. Hong Zhongyin escaped, gravely injuring Shen Luo’s mother, who was seven months pregnant. Shen Luo was born prematurely, his body frail and sickly from spiritual energy injuries, struggling even more than others to draw qi into his body.

This part of the story was only revealed later, when Shen Luo went to Ghostwind City to seek vengeance for his family. Yet he had known all along and silently borne the weight for years.

Looking up at him, Su Li suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

Her little head gently nuzzled the arm holding her.

The boy’s body went rigid.

After a long while, he uttered a melancholy, “I’m fine.”

That night, as usual, the Demon Flower King stood watch. The group slept well and woke refreshed.

Shen Sinan’s interrogation of the demonic cultivators had yielded results.

Shen Hao frowned. “You mean these demonic cultivators from Ghostwind City are also searching for the sacred artifact?”

Shen Sinan replied, “Exactly. Moreover, they’re convinced we’re in league with the Shangguan clan and will stop at nothing to eliminate us.”

Everyone’s faces turned ashen. If not for Shen Luo inadvertently disrupting their plan, perhaps Youzhou City would already have…

The thought alone sent chills down their spines.

At this, Gu Hongshang seemed deep in thought. After some hesitation, she finally spoke. “To be frank, our Xuantian Sect entered the secret realm to track the whereabouts of cultivators from the top-tier continent. According to our intelligence, the first place these people appeared was Ghostwind City.”

Everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.

Shen Fengling’s face grew stern, his breath quickening. “Which top-tier continent?”

Though Gu Hongshang found his reaction odd, she answered truthfully. “The Xuanming Continent.”

At her words, gasps sounded all around.

Shen Luo’s arm suddenly tightened, causing Su Li to feel a slight pain. She was about to struggle when she sensed the youth trembling from the effort of suppressing his emotions.

Suspicion flooded Gu Hongshang’s mind. Seeing their bitter, vengeful expressions, she wondered if they had some deep-seated grudge with people from the Xuanming Continent. But that was a top-tier continent—when had the Shen family ever had dealings with them?

“Good,” Shen Fengling said, his voice shaking with anger. “Let’s hope it’s an old acquaintance—then new and old debts can be settled together.”

Su Li’s thoughts raced. Something didn’t add up. Even if the top-tier cultivators were searching for the Soaring Serpent’s Sacred Whip, why would they ally themselves so openly with demonic cultivators?

In the comic “Contract Spirit Beasts,” the world was divided into five realms: the Divine Realm, the Cultivation Realm, the Chaos Realm, the Mortal Realm, and the Demonic Realm. The main story unfolded in the Cultivation Realm, which, based on spiritual energy, resources, and overall strength, was split into three top-tier continents—Xuanming, Youyun, and Illusory Sea—and four intermediate continents: Northern Vastness, Southern Inheritance, Eastern Desolation, and Western Torrent.

Between the intermediate and top-tier continents lay the Chaos Realm. Cultivators could only traverse these regions via official teleportation arrays designated by the Cultivators’ Elder Council, with all movements recorded in the archives. Such procedures would leave an obvious trail—how could they possibly hope to conceal their tracks? No matter how one looked at it, their plan was riddled with flaws.

Unless… there was another possibility.

The cultivators who crossed into the Southern Inheritance Continent were powerhouses above the Tribulation Ascension stage!

Once one reached the eighth level of Tribulation Ascension, they gained the ability to tear open the void itself. Such figures had not appeared on the Southern Inheritance Continent for millennia.

A grave look settled over Su Li’s face. Holding onto a sliver of hope, she asked Tiger Soul, “If we had to face a cultivator at the eighth stage of Tribulation Ascension, what are our chances?”

Tiger Soul was succinct: “None.”

Su Li paused, considered a little longer, then dismissed the absurd notion. If an expert at that level truly arrived, there would be no need to collude with demonic cultivators—they could effortlessly crush even the Shangguan clan’s ancestor at the Division stage.