Mortal: Traveling Between Two Realms with Mei Ning to Pick Up Trash

The room fell silent.

The sea breeze blew in through the broken window, scattering the ice chips on the ground.

Clean and tidy.

There wasn't even a smell of blood.

If they acted together, they might cause him some trouble, but unfortunately, they each had their own ulterior motives.

Zhou Yu stood in the center of the room, looking down at his right hand.

The layer of blue-black spiritual light in his palm was slowly dissipating, revealing a pair of slender hands underneath.

The Azure Wave Technique is indeed very useful.

This set of techniques doesn't have many offensive spells, but each move is refined to the extreme.

There are no fancy variations, no complicated hand seals; it's simply about compressing spiritual energy, compressing it again and again, and then unleashing it—simple, direct, and domineering.

Just like that palm strike from just now.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

The chair that Hu Biao had sat on was still lying against the wall, with a thin layer of frost on the back.

A teacup was broken on the stone table; the tea had long since gone cold.

The tall, thin man's flying sword was still lying on the ground. The blue light on the sword had been extinguished, and there were several nicks on the blade, indicating that it had been used for many years.

Zhou Yu bent down, picked up the sword, and put it into his storage bag. Then he rummaged through Hu Biao's pile of ice shards and found a gray storage bag. He also took Liu's storage bag from her body.

He opened the bag and scanned it with his divine sense. Inside were several fire element crystals, some spirit stones, two bottles of pills, a spare short dagger, and some other odds and ends of little value.

Zhou Yu picked out the Fire Fiend Crystal and put it away, then threw the contents of the two storage bags into the depths of his own storage bag.

Then he walked to the spot where Sun Fu's body had shattered and picked up a dark blue storage bag from the ice shards.

He opened the bag and probed inside with his divine sense.

A moment later, Zhou Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Sun Fu was much wealthier than Hu Biao and the others, possessing over three hundred spirit stones, two bottles of decent healing pills, a medium-quality flying sword, and a copper shield with slightly worn edges but still usable.

There was also a jade slip in the corner. Zhou Yu took it out, stuck it to his forehead, and scanned it with his divine sense. It was a defensive technique called "Xuanwu Shield Technique", the same technique that Sun Fu used to block his Canglang Fist.

It's not high-grade, but it's quite practical.

Zhou Yu carefully packed everything away.

He straightened up and looked around the room again.

Confirmed that nothing was missed.

Then he raised his right hand, and a ball of light blue spiritual fire condensed in his palm.

The spiritual fire drifted down from his palm, transforming into a thin curtain of light that clung to the ground, walls, tabletops, and chair backs, spreading inch by inch.

Where the light curtain swept across, the frost melted, and the traces of spiritual power were erased layer by layer.

A moment later, the spiritual fire dissipated.

The house was spotless.

Zhou Yu pushed open the door and went out.

He didn't turn around and walked straight toward the dock.

A sea breeze swept over me, and in the distance, the setting sun was halfway down the sea, turning half the sky orange-red.

Several seagulls circled around the pier.

On the dirt road of Qingyufang, groups of two or three independent cultivators came and went.

In the chaotic Star Sea, losing a few people is never a big deal.

Zhou Yu walked to the edge of the dock and stopped.

He didn't immediately fly away on his sword, but stood there, looking at the distant sea, and waited for a while.

A moment later, he confirmed that there was no one behind him, and no one on the dock was paying attention to him. As for whether they had any companions waiting for them outside, it seemed that they didn't.

Zhou Yu withdrew his gaze and took off on his sword.

The streak of light pierced the sky and flew towards Suihan Island.

The sea breeze whistled in my ears, and my robes fluttered in the wind.

As darkness gradually fell, the stars began to shine overhead.

The outline of Suihan Island came into view.

The stray light landed on the beach of Suihan Island.

Zhou Yu sheathed his flying sword and stood on the beach for a while.

He walked toward the house, feeling a strange, indescribable feeling—not unease, but a faint, almost imperceptible anticipation.

The door to the house was closed, the kitchen light was off, and the whole island was quiet except for the sound of the wind.

Zhou Yu stood in front of Mei Ning's door for a while. The door was still closed. There was no sound, no spiritual energy fluctuations, nothing at all.

I was just about to leave.

Then it lit up inside.

It was light shining through the crack in the door, milky white, growing brighter and brighter as it squeezed out from the crack.

Zhou Yu turned around and looked at the door.

It wasn't just light overflowing from the crack in the door, but also spiritual pressure—a gentle spiritual pressure that rose slowly like the tide.

Zhou Yu took a step back, leaned against a pillar in the corridor, crossed his arms, and looked at the door.

The spiritual pressure continued to rise, from the peak of perfect refining, and then suddenly surged, breaking through that thin veil and surging into a wider world.

Foundation building.

The spiritual pressure rose to a new level and then remained steadily there.

The light coming through the crack in the door gradually dimmed and went out completely.

The door opened.

Mei Ning stood at the door, wearing a light blue dress and with her hair down.

Her face was somewhat pale, but not in a sickly way.

She looked at Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu looked at her.

Neither of them spoke.

After a while, Zhou Yu's lips curved into a smile.

"You've reached the Foundation Establishment stage?" he asked.

"You've reached the Foundation Establishment stage," she said.

Mei Ning slowly walked out.

The kitchen light came on.

Mei Ning stood in front of the stove for a while, then started to light the fire, rinse the rice, and wash the vegetables.

"Are you hurt?" Mei Ning asked softly without turning around.

"no."

"That's good."

The two of them fell silent again.

The only sounds in the kitchen were the clatter of spatulas and the crackling of burning firewood in the stove.

Zhou Yu leaned against the door frame, watching Mei Ning's back. She wore a light blue dress, had long, loose hair, and was slightly bent over.

The porridge was ready. Mei Ning served two bowls, handing one to Zhou Yu and keeping the other for herself. The two sat down in the kitchen and slowly drank the porridge.

"When you broke through," Zhou Yu put down his bowl, "was it smooth?"

Mei Ning nodded. "It's just... a little painful."

"Where does it hurt?"

"Meridian." Mei Ning put down the bowl and looked at her hand. "When the spiritual energy rushed through, it felt like someone was pricking me with needles."

She looked up at Zhou Yu, a slight smile playing on her lips. "But it went more smoothly than I expected."

Outside the window, the moon had risen high in the sky, illuminating the entire island as if it were daytime.

The sea breeze blows from afar.

Mei Ning smiled, reached out, and gently took Zhou Yu's hand.

Zhou Yu neither withdrew his hand nor spoke.

He grasped her hand in return, enveloping it entirely in his palm, and Zhou Yu instinctively tightened his grip.

Mei Ning's eyelashes trembled.

Zhou Yu lowered his head, raised his other hand, pulled her closer to him, and kissed her.

It's not a test, nor is it a half-hearted attempt.

Mei Ning's breathing became erratic. She didn't know where to put her hands. First, she grabbed Zhou Yu's collar, then let go, and finally climbed onto his shoulder, applying slight pressure.

The spiritual energy spread out from where the two touched, flowing slowly along with their breath.

for a long time.

Zhou Yu stepped back a little, his forehead touching hers.

Mei Ning's face turned bright red, burning from her cheeks all the way to her ears, and she hadn't fully recovered yet.

"You—" she began, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

Zhou Yu didn't let her finish speaking, and leaned down to kiss her again, a light, fleeting kiss.

Then he pulled the person into his arms and hugged them tightly.

Mei Ning buried her face in his chest, and could hear his heartbeat, which was a little faster than her own. She couldn't help but smile and rubbed her lips against his clothes.

"...Your heart is beating so fast," she said quietly.

"Mmm." Zhou Yu rested his chin on her head. "I know."

Mei Ning smiled, wrapped her arms around his waist, and tightened her grip.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting the shadows of the two people on the wall.

……

"Should we go in now?" Mei Ning asked, somewhat puzzled.

"That's right, there's not much time left," Zhou Yu said without turning around, making preparations before entering.

"Not much time left?"

Zhou Yu was taken aback, then said, "The Chaotic Star Sea has become increasingly turbulent lately, I need to improve my strength quickly."

Mei Ning gave a soft "hmm".

"Don't go in yet. Let me find out what's going on in the area first, then you can come in."

"it is good."

"Don't let anyone in," Zhou Yu said. "I've set up a protective barrier in this room. Stay inside and don't go out."

Mei Ning nodded, took two steps back, and sat down in the chair.

Zhou Yu turned around and stepped inside.

The moment the spiritual energy disappeared, his body sank slightly, as if something had been removed from his shoulder.

Zhou Yu gripped his sword tightly, crouched down, and scanned his surroundings.

He walked forward.

They walked very lightly, making almost no sound as they stepped on the gravel and bone fragments.

He had been to this battlefield several times, but each time he only searched near the entrance and dared not go deeper.

This time, he wanted to explore further, not to cause trouble for the giant beast, but to see just how big this battlefield was and if there was anything else there.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the amount of gravel on the ground increased, and the bone fragments became denser.

Some bones are as thick as a person's waist, half-buried in the soil, their surfaces weathered into a honeycomb pattern.

After walking less than a hundred steps, the terrain ahead suddenly dropped down, like a huge pit, hundreds of feet in circumference, with the bottom pitch black and unseen.

The edges of the pit were jagged, as if it had been smashed out of the sky by something.

Zhou Yu stood at the edge of the pit and looked down. There was a faint, dark red light flashing at the bottom of the pit, like something breathing.

Instead of going down, he took two steps back and slowly circled around the edge of the pit.

On the other side of the pit was a collapsed building.

The roof collapsed, leaving only half of the wall base standing, with some blurry lines etched on it.

Zhou Yu approached, squatted down, and touched the patterns with his fingers. They weren't array patterns, but characters. He didn't recognize them; the strokes were very complex and winding.

He looked around for a few moments, then stood up and searched through the ruins for a while. There were broken tiles, rotten wood, and rusted iron; nothing intact.

He picked up a palm-sized piece of metal from the rubble; it was rusted and its original shape was unrecognizable. He put it away and continued walking.

He walked for about fifteen minutes before stopping.

Not far ahead, on an open ground, lay a skeleton. It wasn't a giant beast, but a humanoid figure, or rather, a figure that had once been humanoid.

The skeleton was enormous, twice the size of a normal person's, with a robust frame and blackened bones, as if burned. The head was tilted to one side, the mouth was wide open, the jawbone was missing, and several ribs in the chest were broken cleanly, as if they had been severed by something.

He crouched down and searched around the skeleton for a while, but there was no storage bag, no magic weapon, no personal belongings, only a bare skeleton.

However, there was a ring on the skeleton, and after hesitating for a moment, he took it off.

The ring was silver-white, very light, with a smooth, mirror-like surface, without any patterns or spiritual energy fluctuations, just like an ordinary silver ring.

He put it away, stood up, and turned to walk back.

On his way back, Zhou Yu suddenly noticed a figure moving in the distance. Startled, he hid on a small hill.