Chapter 8: The Daily Routine of Getting Beaten Up

Beiming Yanhu returned once more to the Water Sky Dream, where everything seemed familiar, yet nothing remained the same. Once a divine being of ancient times, a mighty god of war, he had now been refined into the Demon Lord—a fate too ironic for words. His divine essence had been forcibly turned into the marrow of evil, leaving him a creature of both god and demon.

“Little flower sprite, you’d best not try your luck behind me—or else I’ll feed you to the wild ghosts of the Archaic Witch Lands.”

With utter disdain, Beiming Yanhu did not even turn his head, continuing to stroll leisurely through the Hall of a Hundred Blossoms.

“Do you have eyes in the back of your head? I don’t! I’m practicing my spiritual power, so I can ascend to the Blessed Palace sooner.”

Beiming Yanhu’s gaze was cold, his steps graceful. His silver hair, as radiant as the moon, fluttered in the gentle breeze of the hall as he spoke indifferently.

“Don’t even dream of ascending. I’ve seen your fate: your soul is incomplete, your immortal root unstable. You only possess a physical body. Even if you train for millions of years, it’ll be for nothing.”

“When did you ever see my fate?” Flower Yan retorted, cheeks flushed with anger. Then, a thought struck her. “Could it have been… in the Archaic Witch Lands?”

“You’re not as foolish as I thought, little flower sprite.”

“Who are you calling foolish? I am the steward fairy of the Hundred Blossoms Hall! Stop calling me ‘little flower sprite’ all the time. Besides, with the Nine-Purple Li Fire Pill, I could ascend and become an immortal.”

Beiming Yanhu casually plucked a celestial flower, snapping it with a sharp crack and dropping it to the ground.

“The Nine-Purple Li Fire Pill?”

Flower Yan watched as Beiming Yanhu broke her flower and threw it away. She picked it up with a look of tragic sorrow, her voice trembling with grief for the flowers and grasses of her hall.

“Aiyah! Why did you break my flower? You could have just talked. Why hurt my flower? It didn’t offend you.”

Beiming Yanhu ignored her pained protest and continued to pluck celestial flowers and grasses, dropping them as he pleased.

“So you were searching for the Nine-Purple Li Fire Pill in the Archaic Forest.”

Flower Yan clenched her teeth, glaring fiercely at Beiming Yanhu’s back. He was nearly stripping her hall bare.

“Of course! Otherwise, I would have found the pill already, cured my immortal root, and ascended successfully…”

Before Flower Yan could finish, Beiming Yanhu interrupted with a cold snort.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Flower Yan demanded.

Beiming Yanhu’s gaze flickered, sparks dancing in his eyes. He raised a slender hand to casually sweep aside a strand of hair blown across his forehead, completely unconcerned.

“There is no Nine-Purple Li Fire Pill in the Archaic Witch Lands.”

---

Flower Yan watched as Beiming Yanhu dared to disparage the words of the Grand Fate Keeper. She placed her hands on her hips and shouted,

“The Grand Fate Keeper would never lie to me!”

“So it was Star Lord Sige who told you. That explains it,” Beiming Yanhu replied, his eyes full of contempt.

“How dare a mere immortal lord address the Grand Fate Keeper so casually?”

Beiming Yanhu snorted again, showing not the slightest regard for Star Lord Sige, continuing to pick and discard Flower Yan’s celestial flowers and grasses. She hurried behind him, gathering up what she could.

“The Nine-Purple Li Fire Pill is a sacred relic of the Beiming Divine Clan of Nine Nether Mountain.”

Flower Yan stopped her spiritual practice, eyes wide. “Beiming Divine Clan? Isn’t that the Demon Clan?”

Beiming Yanhu’s anger made him clench his eyes shut, his lips twitching. When he found the Flower of Bone Ash and revived his thirty thousand demon soldiers, he would surely destroy this little flower sprite himself.

“What should I do? Am I destined to remain a little flower sprite forever?” Flower Yan burst into tears.

Her sobs echoed through the hall, filling Beiming Yanhu with irritation.

“Enough noise. If you keep crying, I’ll kill you and make you into floral ingredients.”

Flower Yan, frightened by his threats, immediately covered her mouth.

“I have something I need you to do, little flower sprite.”

“What can I possibly do? I’m just a humble flower sprite,” Flower Yan muttered, head lowered, barely daring to breathe, kicking a pebble as she walked behind Beiming Yanhu, forgetting to watch her step.

She accidentally trod on the hem of Beiming Yanhu’s robe, making him stumble.

Beiming Yanhu turned in anger. “Are you blind, little flower sprite?”

Flower Yan, however, bumped straight into Beiming Yanhu’s broad chest.

“Ouch!” She looked up, smiled sheepishly, and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Beiming Yanhu shoved her away, threatening, “Find me the Flower of Bone Ash or I’ll kill you.”

---

Flower Yan plopped down on the ground, pointing at Beiming Yanhu and cursing, “Are you only capable of violence? Have you no emotions at all? I just bumped into you, and you threaten to kill me!”

“If I help you find the Flower of Bone Ash, then our debts will be settled.”

“Afterward, you can’t kill me anymore, nor come to the Hundred Blossoms Hall to trouble me.”

She spoke in one breath, feeling a sense of relief as all her thoughts spilled out.

Beiming Yanhu looked at her, his facial muscles twitching slightly as she berated him, then replied coolly, “I give you my word.”

“You…”

Flower Yan was nearly beside herself with fury. After all her words and reasonings, he had simply dismissed her.

“Fine! Go on, then! I’ll find the Flower of Bone Ash.” With that, she hurried to shoo him away.

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

Seeing Beiming Yanhu unmoving, Flower Yan pushed him forcefully.

“Until you find the Flower of Bone Ash, I won’t leave.”

With that, Beiming Yanhu slipped into her room, closed the door tightly, and lay down on Flower Yan’s bed to rest.

“What?!” Flower Yan was instantly plunged into despair, on the verge of tears.

Her home was occupied, her fate in another’s hands, and so she stormed to the door and pounded on it.

“You scoundrel! Get out here, or I’ll ask Lord Feng Lan of Lanxi Hall to drive you out of Water Sky Dream!”

“You disrespectful little immortal, do you hear me?”

Beiming Yanhu turned angrily toward the door. “Noisy.”

With a wave of his jade hand, a wisp of Nether Li Fire shot from the room.

Flower Yan’s eyes widened as a spark suddenly appeared before her, lips twitching, and in the next moment, she leapt up in fright.

“Help! Don’t burn me! If you scorch me any further, I’ll turn into a single petal!”

The Nether Li Fire chased her relentlessly, threatening to burn her as she fled with all her might.