Chapter 257: Hidden Within the Tree
"Hmph. You had better be telling the truth. If you act on your own will again, and it affects the inheritance of the Terrestrial Fox awakener, the clan leader might even flatten this world to find him. You had better behave yourself."
With that, Tushan Shanhe waved his sleeve and teleported away.
Tushan Qing let out a sigh and looked down at the distant landscape. "My dear, you really know how to give me trouble."
A few moments earlier.
As they were flying toward Sunfall City and preparing to return to the Eternal Prosperity Sect through a teleportation array, Fu Young suddenly sent a transmission to Gou Guangming and the others.
Then Xiao Shou watched as the four of them used a small teleportation technique and left on their own.
Confused, he asked Fu Young, "Young’er, why did they suddenly leave on their own?"
"I sent them ahead," Fu Young said with a smile. "Master, come with me."
He extended his senses toward the nearby forest.
He then flew over and grasped Xiao Shou’s hand while pulling him downward.
The forest beneath that has been nourished by the life force Tushan Qing had infused into the earth was now extremely lush.
After landing, Xiao Shou and Fu Young were almost completely swallowed by wild grass.
Xiao Shou looked around in surprise. "What happened here? Is there a problem?"
"There is no problem here. I just feel that Dao Lord and his companion seem to be following us," Fu Young said with a smile. "So I came down here. I want to use my bloodline ability to help you hide for a while. You do not want to see them, right?"
Xiao Shou immediately nodded and asked in a slightly panicked tone, "You really sensed their aura? With beings at that level, can your bloodline ability handle it?"
"Yes. My bloodline ability is useless, weak, and quite limited, but it is still decent for hiding," Fu Young said without changing his expression. "Master, do you want to try it?"
When Xiao Shou heard this without understanding the ability at all, he immediately felt sympathy.
He felt distressed for his disciple who had worked so hard only to obtain what sounded like a useless ability.
Later, when he learned how terrifying that "useless ability" truly was, he would wish he could go back in time and knock some sense into his easily fooled past self.
For now, he did not think too much and nodded quickly, he then looked at Fu Young with expectation. "I believe you. You have never done anything without confidence before."
"I am very happy to hear that," Fu Young said. "However, this ability does not look very pleasant, so Master should not look."
As he spoke, he placed one hand around Xiao Shou’s waist from behind and used the other to cover his eyes.
At that moment, a strange dark green mist suddenly spread out from his body in all directions.
When the mist dispersed, a thick and ordinary looking cassia tree stood there.
It was the same tree Tushan Qing had glanced at after sending Tushan Shanhe away.
At that moment, Xiao Shou was plunged into darkness.
He could think of nothing clearly, only aware of his own rapid heartbeat.
The warmth on his back.
The warm breath near his cheek.
The faint fragrance of cassia flowers filling the surroundings.
The firm and slightly burning touch behind him.
The hand around his waist.
The warmth over his eyes.
All of it made his body feel strangely weak.
In this darkness, Xiao Shou suddenly realized something for the first time.
His disciple was no longer a child.
He had grown into an adult.
That realization made his heart tighten with unease as if acknowledging it would bring about some unacceptable change.
Just as his thoughts became chaotic, the pressure on his eyes and waist disappeared.
Fu Young’s usual voice sounded calm as always, though faintly tense beneath the sleeve. "Master, it is done."
"Young’er, you’ve already grown this tall?"
Hearing this, he opened his eyes and turned around as he lifting his head to look at Fu Young in front of him.
In the dim light, he seemed to glow.
His extraordinarily handsome face gave off an almost unreal, otherworldly feeling.
For a moment he thought in a daze.
Fu Young gently raised his hand and tucked Xiao Shou’s disheveled hair behind his ear.
His tone was especially regretful.
"What is the use of growing taller? My face is still like this. I formed my Nascent Soul too early, so my appearance was fixed too soon. I do not want to stay in this teenage look forever. After I ascend to the Spirit Realm in the future and reshape my spiritual body, I will make myself look like I am in my twenties."
"Uh, I think it is fine as it is now," Xiao Shou said stiffly.
He suddenly realized he was unconsciously imagining his disciple in his twenties as if he had been poisoned.
Fu Young’s eyes lit up at his words.
He instinctively reached out to hold Xiao Shou’s hand.
"Really? Master does not think I look too young or unreliable?"
"You are very powerful. You have always been the most reliable."
Even so, Xiao Shou unconsciously avoided his hand this time.
Seeing Fu Young’s expression change slightly, he quickly changed the subject in panic.
"Right, where are we? Did we shake off the trackers?"
Fu Young pressed his lips together slightly and looked at Xiao Shou with a somewhat aggrieved tone.
"This is inside the tree trunk created by my bloodline divine ability through mimicry. From the outside, it will only look like an ordinary tree no matter how it is viewed."
"So it is mimicry. Right, you also said it can nullify spells. Even if the cooldown is long, it is still quite useful. It is not useless at all," Xiao Shou said while deliberately comforting him after hearing the hint of grievance in his voice.
Fu Young looked surprised.
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