Chapter Sixty-Six: Love

"The young master should have already taught you the method for cultivating metal element battle energy. If there’s anything you don’t understand during your practice, you can ask me!" With a casual wave of his hand, Bai Yi cast a black veil of light, masking the dilapidated courtyard overhead. After channeling a strand of battle energy into Kexindi’s body, Kexindi instantly blazed with dazzling golden light. Bai Yi’s expression remained unchanged as he spoke.

"You wield a black dagger, which means you must be practicing the assassination arts of the Jin Ge family. The metal element embodies killing and decisiveness—it's fitting for assassination techniques. However, the radiance of metal element battle energy is far too conspicuous and difficult to control; you’ll need to work hard on mastering its brilliance." After listening to Bai Yi’s words, Kexindi walked back to his spot, deep in thought, and discreetly winked at Amanda who approached, signaling that Bai Yi’s advice was indeed correct.

"Bai Yi, I’ve tested my own talent—I have only a low affinity for the fire element. Kexindi has already broken through to a level two warrior, while I’ve just reached level one. Is there any way to speed up my training?" Listening to Amanda’s words and seeing the hint of hope in her eyes, Bai Yi smiled inwardly. He had been secretly observing the two youngsters these past days and knew they were precocious for their age. Otherwise, he might actually have been fooled by them.

"In cultivation, talent is important, but personal effort matters even more. To gain great power, you must pay the appropriate price. If you can withstand the training regimen I set for you, then even with only low fire affinity, your pace can match that of someone with medium affinity, perhaps even those with high affinity. Especially since you—" Here, Bai Yi paused briefly, forming several incantation gestures with his hands. Wisps of black light shot from his fingertips, entering various points in Amanda’s body.

"Ugh—" Caught off guard, Amanda let out a cold grunt, her body trembling uncontrollably as streams of black energy began to seep from within her, pain flickering in her eyes.

"Kexindi!" Sensing the sudden killing intent erupt behind her, Amanda growled in pain, then sat cross-legged on the ground to begin cultivating. Wisps of black energy churned across her skin, drawing out threads of fiery red battle energy, which were then devoured and dyed black, transforming into black flames...

—Dividing Line—

Not far from the Magic Beast Forest, at the entrance of a secluded mountain village, a group of burly men clad in animal hides returned from the forest, basking in the villagers’ cheers and embracing their families.

"This time we owe it all to Gray. If he hadn’t speared that suddenly-appearing level two magic beast right in the eye, we probably wouldn’t have made it out of the Magic Beast Forest alive!"

"Yeah, Gray’s strike was dead on..."

"We really have Gray to thank..." Hearing all the praise, Gray, whose muscular body was draped simply in an animal skin skirt, scratched his head sheepishly and gave a few silly laughs, saying nothing. He gazed at the girl beside him with tenderness in his eyes.

"Gray, thank you for protecting everyone!" Back in their humble home, the girl said joyfully to Gray. Others might not know, but she did: not to mention a level two beast, even a level seven magic beast—she believed Gray could defeat it. Her faith did not stem from blind adoration, but from the time she had encountered an injured Thunder Dragon, and it was Gray who had dragged her from the jaws of that ungrateful dragon. Even wounded, a dragon is still a dragon, and dragons are synonymous with power on the Tianxuan Continent.

Recalling that ungrateful Thunder Dragon, Hela felt a surge of anger. She had once seen the dragon in utter misery and, moved by compassion, had stepped out from behind a tree to feed it the herbs she’d painstakingly gathered. At first, the dragon was stunned, but it ate the herbs. In the days that followed, Hela continued to bring her collected herbs to the dragon. But one day, the dragon tried to eat her.

When Hela saw the dragon’s bloodshot eyes, lightning snorting from its nostrils, its gaping jaws and heavy panting as it advanced on her, she was terrified and blacked out. In her dreams, she imagined the dragon swallowing her bit by bit. She jerked awake to find the strong Gray before her.

She didn’t need to guess—Gray must have defeated the evil Thunder Dragon and saved her. Though half a year had passed since then, every time she recalled her first encounter with Gray, Hela’s heart would beat wildly.

"But why hasn’t Gray left yet? Is his injury not healed? Why is he still staying at my house? Could it be because he..." The young girl in the bloom of youth, lost in her thoughts, stole a glance at Gray, who was wolfing down his food opposite her, his sinewy body radiating masculinity. Her heart raced again, her face flushed crimson.

"Hela, you’re so beautiful!" Startled by the sudden praise whispered in her ear, Hela let out a soft cry, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and hurriedly fled to her room, leaving Gray with a silly grin.

"Gregory, my dear companion, where are you? Why won’t you answer me?..." Hearing the familiar voice resounding in his mind, Gray—or rather, Gregory—showed a complex expression. He glanced at the girl who’d just run inside, and tuned out the voice echoing in his mind.

—Dividing Line—

In a lavish room, a girl of about ten played with a delightfully mischievous little white lion cub in her arms, her laughter ringing like silver bells.

Suddenly, the little lion, who had been making funny faces at the girl, gazed toward the distant sky and quieted, nestling into her embrace. The girl paused for a moment, then understood. She called out toward the sky, "Great-grandpa!"

"Aijelie, have you missed great-grandpa? Have you been behaving at home?" The figure of Mage Qined appeared beside the girl, rubbing her head as he spoke, his gaze fixed on the adorable white lion cub in the girl's arms.

At first, he had thought it was just an ordinary cub, but now he was increasingly sure there was more to it. If the first time it sensed his presence was a coincidence, now Qined was certain—the little lion was no simple creature.

For some reason, Qined recalled the mother lion that had injured him. Thinking of the soul attack she’d unleashed at the end, Qined could almost still feel his soul ache. He knew it was time to retreat and train in seclusion for several years.

"Aijelie, great-grandpa has to go into seclusion to train. Listen to your father and work hard at your cultivation. If, by the time great-grandpa emerges, you’ve reached level seven, I’ll let you go out and explore the Tianxuan Continent on your own!" After a few more words of encouragement, Qined gave the quiet little white lion a warning glance and vanished from the room. Now, he had to enter seclusion at once. When his training was finished, he would investigate what truly set this little white lion apart.

Otherworldly Azure Dragon 66—Chapter Sixty-Six: Love, complete!