Childhood (3)

In the face of her attacker, the little girl stopped playing with the flute and her fearful eyes stared at him.

Without really knowing why, Elder Xi suddenly rushed to intercept the death blow. The collision caused a huge surge of spiritual energy to explode with them as the center. Everyone else at the scene was thrown backwards and the little girl who was closest to them directly flew into a tree and got knocked out.

Elder Xi's eyes burned with rage. "As expected by someone from Dark Dynasty. You have no qualms about harming a child."

The cultivator from Dark Dynasty unsheathed his sword. "I have been given an order to kill everyone who stands in my way. This flute will never belong to anyone else!"

Of the three cultivators left, one suddenly attacked the other two. The shadow element he controlled showed that he was also from Dark Dynasty, and his opponents quickly counterattacked him in unplanned unison. This time, Dark Dynasty had worsened their relationship with Celestial Tribe's masters, all for the sake of an extremely rare divine weapon.

Meanwhile, Elder Xi's battle in the air was not turning out in his favour. Half of his awareness was on the battle on the ground to make sure none of them hurt the semi-conscious girl, leaving only half to spare on his own fight.

Elder Xi's opponent caught him off guard by enveloping them in a shadow sphere. Plunged into total darkness, he could only defend passively. What he didn't know was that his opponent had left the sphere of darkness and had already sent a wave of shadows at the little girl. Elder Xi was actually fighting against a high level shadow element skill—Shadow Clone!

Shadow Clone could be executed by any prodigious shadow element cultivator, but even so, the clone's power would be ranks lower than the original. The stronger the cultivator, the closer the power gap between themselves and their shadow clone. It wasn't entirely impossible for one's shadow clone to be as strong as the original, but it was extremely taxing on the caster.

By the time Elder Xi realized he had fallen for a trick, it was too late. The wave of shadows shot towards the girl, sharp and merciless, but she managed to dodge it. However, more attacks followed until the trees in the perimeter of their fight were totally eradicated, leaving a circular clearing. The girl had nowhere else to hide.

The girl was hurt by the previous attacks, but by sheer will or luck, she was still alive. The man from Dark Dynasty laughed maniacally and waved his hand almost carelessly. But it was often the careless moves that were the dangerous, and this was no different.

Nobody believed the girl could escape this time. They all could only sigh in pity and think it was unfortunate that the divine weapon chose her as its owner. Even if she managed to stay alive, many people would be drawn to her weapon and hunt her.

Time slowed. The girl's irises contracted and sharpened, and she saw every detail around her. From each blade of grass to each stroke of the tattoo on the wrist of her attacker.

"The Black Dragon," she gasped involuntarily.

A dark shadow suddenly burst out from her chest and blocked the fatal attack. Under the shocked gazes of everyone, the shadow morphed into a ten foot long dragon. What chilled them the most, though, was the shadow dragon's demonic and bloodthirsty red eyes.

With a roar that shook the sky, the shadow dragon rushed towards the two cultivators of Dark Dynasty and knocked them away with its tail.

The people left shook in terror as the dragon turned to look at them, but it rushed back to the little girl and coiled around her. Not protectively, but like a snake strangling its prey.

The girl's face paled and she trembled violently, silently crying. Just as everyone thought she would be swallowed, the dragon disappeared as quickly as it appeared. A wisp of black shadow was pulled back into the girl's body by a mysterious force and she fainted.

The five people who had narrowly escaped death shared a meaningful glance and disappeared through the portals back to their respective realms. They all knew they wouldn't just be keeping the Purple Dream Flute a secret. 

***

When the little girl awoke, she was back in the cave that was her home. With great difficulty, she pried her eyelids open and saw a familiar face. "Master..." she groaned.

Bai Rong immediately checked her for any latent injuries and sighed in relief when she found none. "Yin Xue, never run away again. You have to grow stronger as soon as possible, or you really will be dead next time."

"Master, why did they want to kill me?"

At that question, Bai Rong was reminded of a time long ago when she herself had thought the world was a kind and pure place. She grew up and learnt the opposite. Yin Xue had to grow up now. She stroked the girl's hair and said, "This is a world where strength is the only thing that matters. You'll understand when you're older. Your training starts tomorrow."

"But Master... The shadow dragon tried to eat me..." sobbed Yin Xue.

Bai Rong's tone hardened as she saw her tears. "Stop crying. It won't help."

When Yin Xue did stop crying, Bai Rong took out the pendant Yun had given her many years ago and put it around Yin Xue's neck. "This is a protection pendant. You'll be safe as long as you wear it."

Yin Xue touched the pendant with a lotus carving and replied earnestly, "Don't worry, Master, I will treasure this forever. I promise to train and grow stronger so that one day, I will be strong enough to protect myself and Master!"

"Good. I will ensure that you stand at the pinnacle one day." Bai Rong nodded approvingly.

But was being the most powerful person ever that easy? That dream was as far off as the clouds in Heavenly Realm.