Chapter 1

In a room filled with luxurious furniture a woman was sitting on a bed with a small child in her embrace.

"Xiao'er..." The woman looked at the child in her embrace with a soft and loving gaze.

"I am so sorry that mommy can't spend more time with you. You have to grow up strong and not let anyone bully you. Make mommy proud"

The woman took out what looked like a normal green jade necklace and placed it on the childs neck.

The child looked at her with his big purple eyes then lifted his little hands hands trying to reach her face.

"Mo..mmy?

The woman's eyes couldn't help but start to moisten. She rubbed off the tears forming in the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, and called out in a cold tone.

"Yun"

Seemingly out of nowhere a presence appeared beside the door leading out of the bedchambers. The woman holding the child, stood up and handed the child over to the other woman.

"Make sure you are not seen"

The tone of the woman formerly holding the child took a complete 180 when speaking to the person that just entered the room. Her voice was cold, distant and even with a hint of arrogance and a grandiose demeanour.

"Yes ma'am"

The woman bowed deeply and disappeared seemingly into nothingness the same way as she appeared in the first place.

The woman was left alone in the bedchambers and was looking into nothingness seemingly in a daze. After several tens of seconds she collapsed on the carpeted floor and the sounds of sobs filled the room.

If anyone were to see her in this state, they would undoubtedly be stunned speechless. And would most like have to double check. This was because the woman that was currently on the floor is known as a ruthless and indifferent person, that does not show even the slightest hint of emotion even during the most difficult of situations. Due to her attitude she was often referred to as the 'ice goddess'

However now this 'ice goddess' was laying on the floor and weeping as if she was a small child.

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"Wake up, Xiao.. Wake up its already noon!"

I open my eyes and am greeted with the eyes of a beautiful young girl. Her eyes are of a light hazel colour, her skin is as smooth as jade and as pale as ice. She is sporting long blonde hair which is complemented by a light pink dress.

"Good morning Lin'er" I said with a light smile

She is none other than the young miss of the Feng family, which governs over the azure lake city.

Feng Xiao has been adopted by the Feng family and trained since birth to become Feng Lin's personal guard. At least that was what was supposed to happen. At the age of 8, when most children start to cultivate he was unable to feel the slightest presence of qi in the air. After more than a year of trying the Feng family invited a doctor to check what is the issue. It was found out that he completely lacked any meridians.

This means that he was nothing more than a cripple, or worse, as even cripples have some chance of restoring their broken meridians with heavenly medicine. Unfortunately in his case there is nothing to be restored in the first place.

Feng Lin pinched Feng Xiaos nose

"Get up already. What have you been doing last to be waking up so late?"

"What do you mean? It is all your fault, I stayed up all night thinking of you Lin. You have to take responsibility!"

Feng Lin rolled her eyes and pinched his nose even harder.

"Don't blame me if you have to wait another year to enter the spiritual garden"

"Oh, You're right!"

The spiritual garden was located about an hour from azure lake city. Instead of a garden it would be more accurate to call it a forest, as it is a massive area of land covered in trees and mountains which contains heaps of spiritual herbs and medicines.

Something peculiar about the garden is that it is covered by a massive barrier that prevents anyone from entering, opening only once a year and allowing only those under the age of 20 to enter.

No one knows the origins of the garden or the barrier, it is presumed to have existed since ancient times since even the oldest records in Azure Lake city mention it.

"Quick, lets go!"

Remembering that today was the day that he would visit the garden. Xiao energetically leaped out of bed, however before he could go anywhere he felt a grip around his hand. He turned around to see Feng Lin tightly holding onto him.

Xiao was not surprised by her strength, as she was already in the 5th stage of qi gathering, while he hasn't even started cultivating

"Hm? What is it?"

Feng Lins previous attitude changed and she looked at him with a slightly stern gaze like a mother warning her child.

"Xiao, you remember what I told you right? I agreed to help you get into the garden as long as you stay near me at all times. You absolutely can't go off on your own!"

Feng Xiao put on a helpless expression and nodded.

"Alright alright you've been saying the same thing for almost a month. I'll stay next to you. Even at night~" Xiao Feng teased

Hearing his words Feng Lin's face took a light pink colour and she hurriedly left the room.

'hmm? What's with that reaction?' 'Don't tell me..' Xiao Feng thought to himself and shook his head.

'I should probably stop teasing her like this'

As the young miss of the Feng family, Feng Lin was destined for greatness. This is due not only to her background but also her exceptional talent in cultivation, unmatched by anyone in the city. Someone like Feng Xiao was most definitely not her match.

He got out of bed and started changing. If a pure maiden was to see him without his shirt, her face would undoubtedly turn a bright shade of red. His physique was similar to that of a body cultivator. His abdominal muscles, biceps,triceps etc. Were all very defined and slight striations were visible with his every movement, however he was not bulky, on the contrary his muscles were very compact and when wearing a robe one would not notice how well trained his body is.

This body was gained bit by bit ever since childhood, since he was being trained to become Lins personal bodyguard he has undergone arduous physical training since the age of three, the training was personally instructed by a body cultivator of the Feng family. However that would only last until the age of eight, as when the Feng family found out that Feng Xiao lacked the ability to cultivate, they completely stoped investing resources and manpower into his development.

However this did not stop Feng Xiao from working on himself without any outside help. After that his training could only be described as hell, to vent the frustrations of being a cripple and being looked down on, he trained himself to the absolute limit a of what a mortals body can achieve without cultivation. It was not a rare sight to see him vomiting blood and being unable to walk due to overexertion.

Such a session of training was precisely the reason why he woke up late.

'Alright, lets get lucky!'

Contrary to his demeanor, Xiao Feng was really excited to visit the spiritual garden. After being unable to cultivate, Xiao tried his hand at many different arts. Finding his interest and success in alchemy. Even though one needed cultivation to produce spiritual medicines, he was actually able to work with low-level herbs.

The spiritual garden would be the perfect opportunity to search for specific herbs that other cultivators usually ignore and use them as practice.

However the main reason for his excitement is the blood red lilly, which was sighted more than 100 years ago. The blood red lilly is an insanely rare spiritual medicine which is said to be able to construct a new set of meridians or reinforce existing ones. At least that was something that was hinted at in ancient alchemy books that Feng Xiao studied.

After changing, he packed the necessary supplies and headed outside. However even before leaving his house he heard two voices.

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After leaving Feng Xiaos room Feng Lin headed outside in a hurry.

'Dammit, I know he is only teasing me but...' Feng Lins expression seemed somewhat disappointed and melancholic.

'If it wasn't for my parents...' As Lin was thinking about her parents her expression once again changed. This time her face contorted into a frown and it was obvious that she was not in a good mood.

After that she left the house and waited for Feng Xiao outside while deep in thought.

A couple of minutes later her train of thought was interrupted by the voice of someone.

"Oh young miss Lin! My day already turned brighter seeing your beautiful self! Are you perhaps heading to the spiritual garden?"

The man who spoke was the grandson of the grand elder of the Feng family, Feng Fan. And he was accompanied by two other males who seemed to be his lackeys

Contrary to his words, he did not seem to be surprised to fing Feng Lin here. He was obviously stalking her. Feng Lin wanted to immediately beat Feng Fan to a pulp, however due to his grandfathers status in the family she had to give him some face.

"Good afternoon senior Fan. Yes I will be heading to the spiritual garden soon" Feng Lin answers in a dry manner with an obviously fake smile.

Feng Fan chose to ignore that and continued speaking. A lustful gaze never leaving leaving his face.

"Oh what a coincidence, I was just heading there myself. How about I accompany you on your way over?"

Feng Lin couldn't help but slightly frown

"Senior brother, I am sorry but I already have someone to accompany me. I appreciate the offer"

In the face of a clear rejection Feng Fan started to get agitated. He has been trying to court Feng Lin for the past several years and so far he had made zero progress.

Feng Fan has seen her coming out of Feng Xiaos house, which resulted in his frustration escalating even more. 'This bitch is always with the crippled trash but she doesn't even spare me a glance!'

"Oh and who might that be? Miss Lin surely has someone qualified to escort her! Don't worry, we can keep you company until your 'escort' arrives"

Knowing that Feng Lin was waiting for Feng Xiao, he tried to not so subtly humiliate Xiao before he even arrived.

Feng Lin ignored the comment and continued to wait.

At that moment the front door opened and Feng Xiao stepped outside.