When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

The entire prison exuded a sinister and murky atmosphere, a truly horrifying sight. Chu Xianlan instinctively gripped Yi Chen's hand tightly, and after a long while, she exclaimed in surprise, "Earth spirit?"

No wonder the confused earth spirit called him "A-Li" before; it turns out the earth spirit had been by the former crown prince's side for a thousand years. Perhaps it was a coincidence that the crown prince's name happened to coincide with his courtesy name.

The earth spirit had been trapped underground for too long, without seeing any living beings for a thousand years, which is why it momentarily confused his identity with that of the former crown prince.

But... why did you get them mixed up?

Could it be that I look very similar to the former crown prince from a thousand years ago?

Chu Xianlan touched her face, feeling something was off. She had a feeling that things weren't so simple, and she became increasingly curious about what the Crown Prince looked like under the veil of mystery.

As he pondered, the Crown Prince sighed, "How could this be?"

Looking at these creations that defied the laws of nature, a faint sadness welled up in the prince's eyes.

Clearly, they were all failures in the demon king's path to becoming a dragon.

The prince felt heavy-hearted, unable to imagine just how insane the Demon King's ambition to transform into a dragon must be, and how he must defy the heavens to forcibly piece together these indescribable "half-demons".

Just then, a violent noise came from the outer wall of the prison. Blinding purple lightning blasted a large crater in the wall. Amidst the mess, a nimble and upright figure stood at the entrance of the hole, sword in hand.

It's A-Yue.

She was covered in blood, her robes stained with filth. A-Yue raised her hand to wipe the blood and grime from her face with her sleeve, her breath coming in short gasps, "Your Highness! Are you alright?"

"Ah Yue," the Crown Prince immediately rose and went to her side, exclaiming in surprise, "You... how did you get here so quickly?"

Chu Xianlan was dumbfounded. Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Her master is really something.

After all, since the Demon King dared to kidnap the Crown Prince to this place, he must have hidden him in an extremely secretive way, setting up all sorts of inescapable formations. How did Grandmaster find this place?

The situation was urgent and didn't allow for much talk. A-Yue raised an eyebrow, pointed to her side, and said in a strange tone, "It's strange, well, how should I put it... anyway... it brought me here!"

Looking down in the direction she was pointing, I saw the black snake coiled at A-Yue's feet.

The crown prince was slightly taken aback, then his eyes flashed, "It's you."

It was the ordinary snake that had broken into his bedroom a few days ago and which he had healed with his spiritual power.

The black snake didn't react to the prince's words and slowly moved its body to hide in the withered grass.

Confused, A-Yue quickly grabbed the Crown Prince. "Your Highness, the demon race clearly made a truce agreement with the human race, yet they treat the alliance like dirt and commit such a treacherous act. We'll go back to the south right now—" She was so frightened by the scene deep inside the prison that she lost her words and took a step back.

"My God, what are these things...?"

At this time, Zhiyue Zhenren was still a young girl. Although she had the fearless and unrestrained spirit of a thousand years later, she had never seen such a terrifying sight before. It wasn't until the prince patted her on the shoulder that she suddenly came back to her senses.

"Disgusting..." A-Yue's face turned deathly pale; she couldn't stand it for even a second longer. "It's too disgusting!"

Fortunately, apart from being ugly and bizarre, these things don't seem to have anything special about them.

Soon, the two figures of the Crown Prince and A Yue took off on their swords. They had to leave on their swords before the demon pursuers arrived. However, when they were in mid-air, the Crown Prince seemed to sense something and suddenly stopped and looked back.

Under the warm moonlight, the clear snake eyes gazed silently in his direction, facing each other across the vast moonlight.

"Hmm? Your Highness, where are you going?"

Suddenly, there was an empty space next to A-Yue. Startled, she slammed on the brakes and turned around to see the Crown Prince flying away on his sword in the direction he had come from, landing on the ground.

The prince walked step by step toward the pile of withered grass, and reached out his hand toward the dirty black snake hidden among the grass blades.

"Would you like to come with me?" The voice was soft yet firm, with its usual gentleness.

Soft white light flickered at his fingertips.

The Heavenly Spiritual Root encompasses all things, and the Crown Prince believed that the little snake could understand his words.

Chu Xianlan and Yi Chen saw the black snake move and thought it would burrow back into the dark hay, but unexpectedly, the black snake actually wrapped itself around the prince's wrist.

Chu Xianlan was slightly taken aback; so this was the Heavenly Spiritual Root.

Even knowing it was an illusion, he was still irresistibly drawn in. It was the most gentle and clear spiritual power he had ever seen, as if it could make all living beings in the world willingly follow it.

Chu Xianlan looked up again, and then her eyes widened.

The hazy mist that had been lingering on the prince's face dissipated.

With bright eyes and sparse eyebrows, his gaze was clear and gentle. His temperament was noble but not sharp. Even the dilapidated and cold environment could not hide his innate nobility. Such a appearance could be described as outstanding even in the cultivation world.

Chu Xianlan was immediately drawn to his eyes and brows.

Those eyes were incredibly beautiful, as if they held the beauty of the world, bringing a warm, spring-like feeling. Yet, deep within those eyes lay a resolute strength, gentle and dignified, never appearing indecisive.

Chu Xianlan could tell at a glance that the Crown Prince did not resemble her at all.

Previously, I had been secretly wondering why the earth spirit had mistaken me for someone else, but now that I saw the other person's true face, all my doubts vanished.

But after staring at the prince's face for a while, a strange feeling inexplicably arose in his heart.

Chu Xianlan's gaze remained fixed on the Crown Prince's brows and eyes, which seemed somewhat... familiar... but who did he resemble?

Yi Chen turned his head and glanced over. What he saw was Chu Xianlan staring at the former crown prince with an infatuated look. She was unusually serious, as if she was extremely amazed and couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Is it pretty?" Yi Chen asked, seemingly casually.

Distracted and absent-minded.

Chu Xianlan hadn't actually heard her master's words clearly; she was still pondering them in her mind. She responded softly, "Mm."

With relish.

"...What's so interesting about it?"

Chu Xianlan answered every question and they even started chatting back and forth: "His eyes... I guess."

Yi Chen, who had been praised twice by his apprentice for his beautiful eyes and had secretly kept those compliments in mind, was speechless.

Chu Xianlan's perfunctory response successfully added fuel to the fire. Yi Chen paused, wanting to say something but feeling it inappropriate to make a request over such a trivial matter. He pursed his lips and quietly loosened his clasped hands.

Chu Xianlan didn't care at all about the empty hand in hers. Instead, she immediately used her free hand to touch her chin.

He seemed more relaxed without holding hands, which didn't stop him from focusing intently on his gaze.

In a corner where no one paid attention, Yi Chen's face darkened.

After enduring it for a long time, Yi Chen finally couldn't hold back and raised his hand to lightly tap his disciple's forehead with his finger.

"Hmm."

Caught off guard, Chu Xianlan covered her forehead, looking embarrassed. "Master...Master?"

Over there, Ah Yue had already landed, stamping her foot and urging, "Your Highness, you're driving me crazy! Don't delay, let's go, let's go!"

Watching the two escape on their swords until they were completely out of sight, Chu Xianlan finally felt a little relieved. At this moment, Yi Chen's unhurried voice rang out:

"Have you seen enough?"

Chu Xianlan finally sensed that something was wrong with Yi Chen's tone, so she silently raised her head and put her previous thoughts aside.

The master's profile remained calm, but he didn't even look at him, clearly indicating that he was displeased.

"Master," Chu Xianlan leaned forward and gently tugged at Yi Chen's sleeve, her voice soft and somewhat pitiful, "What have I done to upset you?"

Although acting coquettishly and being unreasonable is an essential skill that every filial disciple can readily use in front of their master, Chu Xianlan is born with a bit of shame in this regard, and she always blushes when she does this.

"..." Yi Chen, "No."

The master and disciple thought the illusion had come to an end and would move on to the next scene as before. However, an extremely fierce and sinister aura flowed out from the hole that Master Zhiyue had opened.

Yi Chen moved slightly and blocked the disciple's path. Chu Xianlan steadied herself and stared intently at the wisp of aura drifting from the cave entrance.

A guess formed in my mind.

At first, the aura seemed to be just a few wisps of invisible cold smoke, as thin as gossamer threads, which slowly gathered and coalesced into a surging red mist.

Chu Xianlan murmured, "A murderous aura..."