Chapter 172 – The Protagonist (10)

Back in the day, Mu Yiling had once been fortunate enough to team up with this Senior Sister from the Yunyin Immortal Sect during a trial. Even then, she knew this woman was an exceptionally reliable genius.

She was like a blade—sharp, unstoppable, cutting through all obstacles. Her Junior Disciples admired her, trusted her, and gathered around her with absolute faith.

Now, venturing into the Secret Realm alongside her once more, Mu Yiling felt that same sense of being shielded and protected.

This Secret Realm was dangerous. As the Saintess of Snowfall Palace, Mu Yiling had always ventured here alone. Her master had said it was part of her cultivation and trial.

But Mu Yiling knew the real reason: none of the other Snowfall Palace disciples were strong enough to accompany her. Having them along would only slow her down, and the elders were busy with their own affairs—no one had time to fetch the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water for her. She had to fend for herself.

As a cultivator specializing in sound-type spiritual tools, Mu Yiling lacked offensive strength. Every time she came for the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water, she ended up injured. This was the first time in her life she experienced the sheer joy of being carried to victory.

Sword cultivators were, after all, universally acknowledged as the strongest combatants. And now Gongxi Yue had already advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. The spirit beasts that used to give Mu Yiling endless headaches, beasts she’d need to tangle with for ages, were now being cut down one by one with a single swing of Gongxi Yue’s sword.

The snow mountains were cold, and the Secret Realm cave even colder. The spirit beasts living around the outer perimeter were starved for spiritual energy. Unable to approach the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water deep within, they lingered near the entrance, hunting cultivators who entered.

Accustomed to eating human flesh, these spirit beasts waited ages for a single meal. Even when they encountered Gongxi Yue, a Sword Cultivator radiating killing intent, they hesitated to leave, circling hungrily.

But Gongxi Yue showed not the slightest change in expression as she cut them down. The beasts’ foul, bloody spray couldn’t even stain the hem of her robes. Advancing steadily, she carved a bloody path forward, forcing the greedy beasts to retreat in fear.

Perched atop the tiger Spirit Beast with the child in her arms, Mu Yiling didn’t suffer a single scratch. Gongxi Yue shielded them so thoroughly it felt as though they were merely sightseeing.

Mu Yiling’s first use of spiritual energy within the Secret Realm cave wasn’t even for battle—it was for Qian.

The child, draped over her shoulder, had been watching her mother slay spirit beasts with such excitement that she drooled all over Mu Yiling’s clothes. With a flick of her spiritual power, Mu Yiling drew the moisture out and transformed it into drifting snowflakes.

Unfortunately, from that moment onward, Qian lost interest in watching her mother’s heroic feats and became fixated on playing with the floating snowflakes.

In the blurry corners of the child’s memory, whether it was silver hair, violet eyes, that cold aura, or drifting snow… all of it became something warm and reassuring to remember.

So when they paused midway to rest, Qian nestled sweetly in Mu Yiling’s embrace, unusually docile.

Gongxi Yue sat to the side, cradling her sword as she restored her spiritual energy. Mu Yiling asked, “Are you not going to take Qian back?”

Gongxi Yue, eyes closed, replied, “After slaughtering all these spirit beasts, I reek of blood. It’s not suitable for holding a child. I’ll trouble you a little longer.”

Even as she spoke, Mu Yiling sat down beside her, with the warm, furry tiger serving as a giant cushion at their backs.

Qian gripped Mu Yiling’s shoulder, placed one foot on her mother’s leg, and burrowed directly into Mu Yiling’s arms.

Gongxi Yue: “…”

Sigh… in the end, she still couldn’t escape childcare duty.

Ever since this child was born, the time Gongxi Yue had to peacefully cultivate and comprehend her Sword Heart had grown shorter and shorter.

The little one squirmed restlessly in her arms, unwilling to stay still for even a moment. She’d nestle against her for a while, then climb onto her knees and hands, scamper over to Mu Yiling’s embrace, and back again—back and forth endlessly.

When Gongxi Yue opened her eyes to scold her into settling down, the moment their gazes met, it was over. The child would assume her mother wanted to play and start babbling baby talk with no end in sight.

One foot stepping on Gongxi Yue, the other nestled in Mu Yiling’s lap, her little head swiveled back and forth between them, inexplicably overjoyed.

After listening to the child’s nonstop chatter, Mu Yiling finally couldn’t help but say, “She’s really noisy.”

Gongxi Yue gave a long-suffering sigh. “Yes.”

Even the white tiger covered its ears with its paws and let out an exasperated howl.

Without her little sister here to help burn off energy, the child was still wide awake and bouncing around this late at night. Gongxi Yue was even considering letting her hunt spirit beasts tomorrow just to tire her out.

The next day, as they ventured deeper into the Secret Realm, they encountered the Snow Bats.

A cluster of white bats clumped together like a patch of snow. When Gongxi Yue’s sword aura swept across, they scattered, revealing a layer of faintly glowing blue spirit ore beneath them.

These bats specialized in sound attacks. Their screeches were silent to the ear but could assault a cultivator’s very soul.

Seated atop the white tiger, Mu Yiling produced her spiritual tool—a jade flute. As its clear, lingering notes rang out, they enveloped and neutralized the Snow Bats’ silent cries.

Bat after bat, each no bigger than a palm, grew dizzy and fell from the air.

Qian stretched out her chubby little hands and caught the falling bats with startling precision.

Living in such cold caves, the Snow Bats were covered in thick white fur to keep warm. And as everyone knows, small, fluffy, white creatures are rarely anything but adorable.

With one in each hand, Qian squeezed the snowy fluffballs until they squeaked.

Driven to desperation, the Snow Bats tried to bite her hands, but the bracelet on her wrist protected her.

Prepared by her grand-master and her grand-uncles from the Gongxi Family, the defensive artifact could withstand attacks from even Mahayana Stage cultivators, let alone a few small spirit bats.

The poor bats squealed pitifully as the child squeezed them without mercy. Qian laughed delightedly at the sound.

“Qian, don’t play with the Snow Bats. They’re dangerous,” Mu Yiling coaxed for ages, but the child refused to part with her soft, warm, hand-held toys.

Not only did she refuse to let them go, she kept stuffing them into her pockets.

On past trips to collect the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water, Mu Yiling had always been locked in a constant battle of wits and strength with the local spirit beasts. This time, all her energy went into looking after the child. Before she realized it, Gongxi Yue had already led them straight to the destination.

Mu Yiling sighed inwardly. What an easy treasure hunt this turned out to be.

While Gongxi Yue stood nearby wiping her sword, Mu Yiling hugged the jade vial containing the Extreme Cold Heavenly Water, gazing at her with undisguised admiration.

Disciples from Snowfall Palace were already considered top-tier support partners wherever they went, but she wondered if she might someday become friends with such a powerful Sword Cultivator.

Noticing her gaze, Gongxi Yue thought for a moment, then sheathed her sword, walked over, and said bluntly, “Thank you for taking care of Qian. From now on, we’re friends. If you ever need anything, come find me.”

Mu Yiling was touched. “It’s my honor to be your friend. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Gongxi Yue: “Really? If something comes up… would you be willing to watch Qian for me now and then?”

She didn’t actually want to dump the child on someone else. It was just… well, Qian really seemed to like being with Mu Yiling.

Besides, Mu Yiling was also one of Xiao Shou’s targets. Just in case, letting Qian spend more time with her might help prevent her friend from falling into Xiao Shou’s traps again.

Yes, that was it. Completely selfless. Not at all for her own convenience.

Mu Yiling: “……”

She was sure of it now—Gongxi Yue had brought the child along on this trip purely to find someone to help with childcare.

By the end of their stay at Snowfall Palace, Qian had successfully gained herself a new godmother.

When Gongxi Yue brought Qian back to the Yunyin Immortal Sect, the little one also delivered some “special little gifts” to the relatives and elders who had been missing her.

The moment Aunt Gongxi Wenxing scooped her up, tearfully smothering her with affection, she suddenly let out a howl, raised her bleeding finger, and collapsed sideways with a pained expression.

Second Martial Uncle Duan Yuanlang, still oblivious, caught the child just in time and was about to ask what had happened when Qian opened her small hand—and a bloodied, sharp-toothed white fluffball lunged straight at his face, unleashing a piercing screech.

Thus, the completely unprepared Second Martial Uncle went down as well.

Qian, utterly unaware of the chaos she had caused, thought they were all playing with her. She watched the scene, laughing gleefully: “Heeheehee!”

From the space inside her bracelet, Dannan Snow Mountain’s finest specialty beast—the Snow Bats—came pouring out, one after another, flying all over Zhaoming Palace, screeching and darting wildly.

In the end, though only two people suffered minor injuries, the palace was thrown into utter chaos for a time.

These little creatures were incredibly good at hiding. They tucked themselves into every nook and cranny of Zhaoming Palace, evading capture until Ancestor Jing Lingzhao personally rounded them all up.

After giving her daughter a stern scolding, an angry Gongxi Yue declared she would eliminate the smuggled little monsters with one swift sword strike.

Unfortunately, her resolve was no match for Qian’s ear-splitting wails.

With full support from the two victims and her granduncle, Jing Lingzhao, the final verdict was… the Snow Bats would stay.

They even built an ice-cold nesting ground inside Zhaoming Palace to house them.

Gongxi Yue: “……”

No, this wouldn’t do. Her master and all the elders were spoiling the child far too much. She needed to find a place where no one would indulge her like this.

Maybe… maybe it was better to foster Qian at Snowfall Palace after all?

It was a good plan in theory.

Unfortunately, the following days revealed another problem.

The godmother at Snowfall Palace might not dote on the child, true… but she couldn’t control her either.

During the time Qian stayed at Snowfall Palace, Mu Yiling’s spirit tiger became listless, its once-sleek fur now dull and disheveled.

As for Mu Yiling herself, she looked at Gongxi Yue with exhausted eyes and said in a faint, mournful tone, “I don’t long for lively company anymore. Just… some quiet solitude would be nice.”

And so, after two years of such chaos, the now three-year-old, nimble-tongued, and bouncy little Qian had grown into an utterly lawless little rascal.

Gongxi Yue sighed: One person’s strength… was simply too small against this.

Everyone she knew—family and friends alike—was conspiring against her!

On Chaoyang Peak of the Yunyin Immortal Sect, a group of newly inducted sword cultivator disciples were practicing under the guidance of their Senior Sisters.

The new disciples were buzzing with excitement, whispering to each other.

“I heard True Monarch Yuanhua is coming today to demonstrate the Boundless Evolution Sword Art for us!”

Faces lit up with eager anticipation.

“True Monarch Yuanhua… he’s the second junior disciple of the Lonely Moon Sword Monarch, right?”

“If True Monarch Yuanhua’s coming to teach us, does that mean the Lonely Moon Sword Monarch might come too?”

At the mention of Gongxi Yue—the Lonely Moon Sword Monarch—the disciples grew even more excited.

Innate Sword Bone, sect’s chief disciple, someone who had reached Soul Severing Stage at such a young age, already holding the title of Sword Monarch… and even considered the number one beauty in the Cultivation Realm. Which new disciple didn’t long to catch even a glimpse of such a legendary senior?

“All right! Quiet down!” One Senior Sister finally called the crowd to order as their chatter grew louder.

“True Monarch Yuanhua is here!”

As Duan Yuanlang rode his sword toward them, all the disciples—both old and new—lowered their heads respectfully and called out, “Martial Uncle.”

Most of them hadn’t yet formally taken a master. If one day they were lucky enough to be accepted by a Peak Lord as an official disciple, then they’d have the right to call him Senior Disciple Uncle.

True to the Senior Sisters’ descriptions, this True Monarch Yuanhua was tall and handsome, with a gentle, jade-like demeanor.

A warm smile played on his face, his presence as gentle as spring breeze… except… he was holding a child?

The new disciples didn’t know who the child was. They just thought she was adorably lively and immediately felt an instinctive fondness.

The older disciples, however, went pale the moment they caught sight of the child in Duan Yuanlang’s arms. They instinctively took several steps back, inwardly wailing: Why… why had that little demon come too?!

Qian, holding a small sword in her hand, wriggled excitedly out of her Second Martial Uncle’s embrace and rushed straight into the group of disciples. She stood at the very front, perfectly obedient, ready to practice swordsmanship with everyone.

As the daughter of a genius sword cultivator, Qian had been swinging swords around from a very young age.

When Gongxi Yue had first started teaching her, she had been comforted—relieved even—that her lazy daughter was willing to pick up a sword at all.

Little did she know… it wouldn’t be long before she discovered that her daughter treated swords like sticks. No matter how she corrected her, it never changed.

“You’re holding a sword. The correct way to swing it is like this. You can’t just use it like a club to whack people.”

At first, Gongxi Yue had taught her patiently.

“Qian, watch closely. Follow Mother’s example.”

Later on, Gongxi Yue started correcting her hand-on-hand.

“I just taught you yesterday how to wield a sword properly. Why are you back to flailing it around like a stick today?!”

The once-cool, beautiful Sword Monarch began to sound like every other parent forced to tutor their child… growing increasingly exasperated.

“Gongxi Qian! Are you listening to me at all?! Stop making up your own staff techniques! What you’re holding is a sword! A sword!”

In the end, the cold and elegant mother learned how to roar.