Chapter Sixteen: Preparations

"Today, we killed members of the Heavenly Prophecy Sect. What if they come back for revenge?" Su Xue'er asked.

"They probably won't. The elder was just at the Spiritual King realm. He should be from an affiliated family, likely using the Heavenly Prophecy Sect's name to harvest spiritual herbs," Shen Zixuan replied.

Realizing her limited experience, Su Xue'er sighed.

While eating dinner prepared by Shen Zixuan, Su Xue'er marveled at his culinary skills. "Xiaoxuan, your cooking is even better than the city's top chefs'. Where did you learn?"

Shen Zixuan looked confused. "Mom, you forgot. I learned from you."

Su Xue'er quickly agreed, "Look at my memory. I forgot about that."

"I remember the first time I tasted Mom's cooking. I had three big bowls and then begged Mom to teach me how to cook," Shen Zixuan reminisced.

"Do you know what kind of person Mom used to be? A despicable one?" Su Xue'er asked.

"Of course not. You were a good person, unlike other spirit masters. You never killed innocents and always did what you believed was right," Shen Zixuan replied.

Hearing Shen Zixuan's words, Su Xue'er put down her chopsticks, her eyes downcast. "What if your mom wasn't like that? What if she was universally despised, condemned by everyone on the continent? What would you do?"

Seeing Su Xue'er's change in demeanor, Shen Zixuan asked, "Mom, what's wrong? You weren't this unsure before. You used to tell me, 'Xiaoxuan, when you grow up, you must be an upright person. No matter how the world judges you, as long as you believe it's right, you must do it, even at the cost of your life.'"

Su Xue'er forced a smile. "Yes, let's eat."

"Okay."

After dinner, Su Xue'er prepared to rest. She lay down and soon heard movement beside her. Turning, she saw that Shen Zixuan had fallen asleep next to her. Just as she was about to push him away, she realized he was already asleep, murmuring in his sleep.

He smiled and said, "Mom, I finally found you. I'm so happy, really happy."

Seeing him peacefully asleep, Su Xue'er decided not to disturb him, sighing softly. "Forget it."

As Su Xue'er turned to lie down, she heard Shen Zixuan's choked sobs in his sleep.

"Mom, don't leave me. I've been waiting for five years, and I finally found you. Please don't leave me, okay?"

He began to cry, his voice extremely plaintive, like a child who had never had a mother. Su Xue'er quickly turned around and hugged him, comforting him.

"Mom will never leave you again, never."

After Su Xue'er spoke, Shen Zixuan gradually quieted down.

Next day, when Shen Zixuan woke up, he found himself in Su Xue'er's embrace. Feeling the warmth of her embrace, he couldn't help but smile secretly, waking Su Xue'er up.

"Awake?"

"No, still sleeping?" Shen Zixuan chuckled.

Su Xue'er whispered, "You're smiling."

"What's wrong?"

"My hand is numb."

Shen Zixuan quickly got up, chuckling. "Sorry, Mom."

"It's okay." Su Xue'er shook her arm lightly and asked, "Xiaoxuan, do you know this canyon well?"

"Of course, I've lived in this canyon since I was a child. Why, Mom?"

"I want to find a quiet place to cultivate and regain my strength as soon as possible."

Shen Zixuan thought for a moment. "I know a place."

"Where?" Su Xue'er asked excitedly.

"It's a secret, but that place is absolutely free from disturbances."

Su Xue'er rolled her eyes at him.

Shen Zixuan gestured for Su Xue'er to sit down slowly, then spoke solemnly, "Mom, I need your help with something."

Su Xue'er was somewhat bewildered. "What is it?"

"Killing someone."

Upon hearing those two words, Su Xue'er's heart skipped a beat.

"Killing someone?"

"You're my mother, so I'll be honest with you. I'm actually a spirit beast, not a human."

Upon hearing that Shen Zixuan was a spirit beast, Su Xue'er found it unbelievable. Then Shen Zixuan continued, "Spirit beasts can only transform into humans after reaching a certain level of cultivation, and it requires being a spirit beast with special bloodlines."

Looking at Su Xue'er, who appeared astonished, Shen Zixuan asked, "Mom, would you despise me?"

"No, no, of course not," Su Xue'er replied, clearly lacking confidence.

"Mom, do you know why I only told you about my identity now?"

"Why?"

"Because I found out before that you don't hate spirit beasts. As long as they don't harm humans, you wouldn't deliberately harm them to obtain their inner cores."

Su Xue'er looked at Shen Zixuan with determination in his eyes, silently pondering, If I didn't hate spirit beasts before, then how did I get injured? Was it by a human or a beast?

One month later...

Su Xue'er and Shen Zixuan observed the movements of various major sects from the summit of the valley.

"Mom, look." Shen Zixuan pointed to a group of people below. "Now, representatives from the nine major sects and the four great empires are all here, except for the Spiritualist Mansion's people. Based on my observation, each team has at least fifty or sixty people, and each is led by a Spiritual Emperor. But where are the people from the Spiritualist Mansion?" Shen Zixuan said as he scanned the area.

Su Xue'er cautiously observed the group of people below. Each sect had its own distinctive attire. She noticed the familiar blue robes and thought to herself, It seems that the Heavenly Prophecy Sect has also joined the fray, and they are led by a Spiritual Emperor.

"Mom, they will inevitably head to the core of the Gathering Treasure Valley to harvest spiritual herbs. So, we just need to trap them on the outskirts. Let's go, Mom. We need to set up some traps," Shen Zixuan said.

With that, Shen Zixuan led Su Xue'er to his residence.

Shen Zixuan placed a map of the Gathering Treasure Valley on the table, which detailed the locations of the valley's high-grade spiritual herbs, the frequent whereabouts of high-level spirit beasts, and the gathering places of some group spirit beasts.

Su Xue'er sighed inwardly, Whoever gets hold of this map will control the entire Gathering Treasure Valley's spiritual herbs.

"The nine major sects and the four great empires generally don't act together, so we just need to sow discord among them or lure them into the group of spirit beasts. That would be a great success," Shen Zixuan grinned.

"What if they discover us? What will you do?" Su Xue'er asked worriedly. Shen Zixuan replied calmly, "We still have you, don't we? Besides, I have the Shadow attribute in my spiritual body. It's not so easy to catch me."

Su Xue'er looked at him helplessly. This child is too confident.

Afterward, Shen Zixuan and Su Xue'er discussed where they could ambush the traps. There were eight optimal routes from the valley entrance to the core herb-growing areas, ranging from near to far, with the center being the most dangerous.

Su Xue'er speculated that the Imperial Spiritualist teams and the top five ranked teams from the nine major sects would take the four middle routes, while the others would take the outer four routes. After all, strength was respected.

"I feel the same way because this would preserve most of our strength. Besides, some sects have conflicts with each other, so they naturally won't team up," Shen Zixuan remarked.

Sure enough, the teams from the four great empires and the top five ranked teams from the nine major sects split into four groups, taking the four middle routes, while the other teams each took one route.

Upon noticing this, Shen Zixuan immediately took Su Xue'er and hurried to the deepest part of the Gathering Treasure Valley. Thanks to the amplification of his Shadow attribute and his unique teleportation skill, they arrived at the valley's depths in less than half a day.

At the deepest part of the valley was a mountain range towering above the clouds, grand and majestic.

In front of them lay a vast lake, surrounded by trees that encircled it in a circle, with a small island in the middle.

"This is the deepest part of the Gathering Treasure Valley? It's so beautiful," Su Xue'er exclaimed.

"If you think it's beautiful, stay a bit longer, human."

A powerful voice echoed from the other side of the lake. Suddenly, the water began to churn, and a colossal creature flew over from afar.

This creature had wings, a tiger's head, a dragon's body, and a pair of horns. This was the fierce beast among the Gathering Treasure Valley's spirit beasts – the Pixiu.

Su Xue'er had already drawn her Purple Enigma Jade Sword, ready to fight. Shen Zixuan said, "Mom, this is my big brother."

"Your big brother?" Su Xue'er asked in confusion.

The Pixiu spoke, "Kid, who's this? Didn't I tell you not to bring humans here casually?"

Shen Zixuan smiled and said, "Pixiu, this is my mom. Don't be rude."

The Pixiu turned to Su Xue'er, tilting its head slightly to look at her. The eyes of the human and the beast met.

In comparison, the Pixiu's head was as big as Su Xue'er's.

The Pixiu raised its head. "Hmm, kid, your mom is very beautiful. But why did you bring her here today?"