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Sunlight shone through the dense forest, lighting up the ground in sporadic patches.
A light breeze blew past and leaves rustled as birds sang in the trees.
A female figure stepped through the soft soil and hummed an old song to herself as she strolled through the peaceful forest.
“Big Sister Bai, you’re going the wrong way. That’s the direction the Buddhist Kingdom is in; the Kingdom of the Nine States is in this direction!” An Lin pointed toward another direction.
The woman turned back to look at An Lin with a lovely smile on her face. “I’ll go wherever I want, why do you insist on following me?”
“You’ve been secluded for too long, I’m scared you might be unacclimatized to the outside world or you might encounter some danger.” An Lin patted Da Bai’s bum, prompting him to move faster so they could keep up to pace with Bai Ling.
Bai Ling raised her chin and took in a deep breath of fresh air. A vibrant smile appeared on her face as she experienced the warmth of the sunlight seeping through the branches. Her smile was like a warm breeze melting through a layer of snow and ice, leaving the onlooker entranced.
Da Bai couldn’t help but transmit his voice to An Lin, “Big Brother An, I’m starting to believe what you said about Big Sister Bai being a beautiful princess.”
An Lin transmitted his voice in reply, “When have I ever lied to you?”
“It’s been so long since I’ve been in the outside world, but everything is still so beautiful. I love it!” Bai Ling looked at the plant life around her and breathed in the earthy scent of soil. She listened to the birds chirping in her ear and basked under the warmth of the sun. Everything was extremely mesmerizing to her, and she couldn’t help but marvel at the world around her.
An Lin could see that Bai Ling was not exhibiting any negative symptoms of acclimatization.
“Howl!” A mutant beast with a tiger’s head and a snake’s body suddenly leaped out from the trees and lunged toward Bai Ling.
Lightning was already beginning to flash on An Lin’s fingertips when he caught sight of the mutant beast.
Splat!
The mutant beast suddenly crashed into an invisible barrier with a loud bang.
An Lin looked at Bai Ling with a surprised expression. He could only detect an extremely faint ripple of vital energy before the invisible barrier materialized out of thin air.
He knew this barrier wasn’t some sort of low-level spell technique like a wall of air, but instead an extremely advanced spatial manipulation technique!
Just that one technique alone gave An Lin a lot more confidence in Bai Ling. As long as she didn’t start picking fights with mighty figures, she would definitely be alright on her own.
Hmm
 Not only did she not have any negative symptoms of acclimatization, but she was also more than capable of looking after herself. He could let her go off into the world with a clear conscience.
“I don’t have a habit of killing little animals for no reason, scram!” Bai Ling spoke coldly as she looked at the mutant beast, which had almost knocked itself unconscious after colliding with the invisible barrier at high speed.
The mutant beast immediately ran off into the distance.
“I’ve heard that these types of mutant beasts have extremely tender flesh!” An Lin suddenly yelled.
The space around the mutant beast suddenly began to warp.
It was dead within an instant.
An Lin set up a fire and skewered dollops of tender, white meat together on metal skewers before roasting them over the fire.
An Lin was constantly spreading condiments onto the meat, causing the fire below to crackle and spit. An alluring scent slowly began to waft through the air from the roasting meat.
Bai Ling sat with her hands supporting her chin on the little stool An Lin had pulled out from his storage ring. She stared silently at the skewers roasting over the flames with a slightly vacant expression.
“I’ve eaten a really popular dish at a restaurant in the Stone Dragon State where the main ingredient was the flesh of this mutant beast. Hence, I knew we couldn’t miss the opportunity, especially when one of them basically fell into our laps!” An Lin couldn’t help but smack his lips as he looked at the skewers roasting over the flames.
He chuckled lightly at Bai Ling’s intent gaze. “How long has it been since you last ate?”
“Um
 Ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-six years,” Bai Ling replied.
An Lin: “
”
“Don’t you get hungry after not eating for so long?” An Lin asked after a moment of stunned silence.
“After reaching Return to Void Stage, one can utilize the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth as a source of sustenance, so of course I wouldn’t get hungry.” Bai Ling chuckled.
An Lin smiled in response. “But eating is one of the most enjoyable activities in life, it’s such a shame to not eat anything for over ten thousand years.”
He spread a final handful of condiments onto the skewers before handing one to the woman next to him. “Have a taste!”
Bai Ling took the skewer from An Lin’s hand, and a flash of emotion fluttered through her eyes as she took a whiff of its delicious scent.
She bit off a small morsel of meat and slowly savored the taste.
The roast meat was indeed delicious, and its delightful taste wafted through her tastebuds, causing her lips to curl up in an involuntary smile.
“It seems you’re enjoying my roast meat.”
An Lin smiled before passing the second skewer to Da Bai, who was already salivating with a longing expression.
Bai Ling looked at An Lin and nodded in reply. “This is the best roast meat I’ve had in ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-six years.”
An Lin’s lips twitched slightly. “Can’t you be a bit more genuine with your praise?”
Bai Ling’s raised her eyebrows slightly. “Heh, I haven’t eaten meat in ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-six years but I’ve bucked this trend just for your roast meat, isn’t this enough of a compliment?”
An Lin pondered her statement and found that she did indeed have a point.
Bai Ling continued to chew on the roast meat and nodded. “You were right, eating is definitely one of the most enjoyable activities in life!”
She then began to chuckle at her own words and continued working through the skewer with a delighted expression.
An Lin couldn’t help but sigh with emotion at the pure and clean smile on Bai Ling’s face, whose personality was normally so peculiar and cold. It seemed like it was definitely important to go out and see the world every once in a while!
“Where are you going next? I’m about to return to the Heavenly Court,” An Lin suddenly said.
“I’m not telling you,” Bai Ling replied concisely.
An Lin: “
”
“Then leave me a voice transmission talisman, you can contact me if you need something,” An Lin continued.
“Nope, we’ll meet again if we are fated to do so,” Bai Ling replied coldly.
An Lin: “
”
She was so gentle and lovely a few minutes ago, why was she suddenly so cold and aloof now?
Perhaps what she was going to do was something that An Lin couldn’t get involved in, hence her reluctance to tell him anything?
An Lin couldn’t figure out the reason why and couldn’t be bothered pondering over the issue anyway.
A short while later, the three of them finally devoured the entire mutant beast.
“You don’t have to accompany me anymore, let’s separate here.” Bai Ling looked at An Lin with an expressionless gaze, as if she had suddenly sealed all her emotions away.
It was definitely time for him to return to the Heavenly Court as well, so An Lin nodded in agreement after a momentary pause.
“Look after yourself, Bai Ling, you can come to find me in the Heavenly Court if you need.” He waved his hand toward Bai Ling.
Bai Ling nodded and instantly disappeared into the air with a flash of white light.
An Lin and Da Bai looked on in silence as Bai Ling departed.
“Big Brother An, your princess just ran away. Woof!” Da Bai suddenly spoke.
An Lin couldn’t be bothered responding. Instead, he cast his gaze onto his system.
There was a system notification that stated he had completed the special mission and could now receive his reward.
The reward was a lottery ticket, and it was a lottery for special spell techniques as well.
Thinking back, the previous lottery was a magic treasure lottery; he finally had a chance to enter a spell technique lottery now!
An Lin washed his hands first and prayed to his ancestors before getting down to business.
He directed his gaze toward the lottery wheel. There were hundreds of different spell techniques on the lottery wheel; all of them squished together in a dense bunch. On top of that, there was a light layer of fog which further obstructed his vision from being able to see what the spell techniques were.
So be it. These were all special spell techniques anyway; any one of them would be a fantastic addition to his repertoire.
“Begin the lottery!”
An Lin yelled in his mind.
The huge lottery wheel in his mind instantly began to revolve at high speed.
“Stop!”
The wheel gradually decelerated before stopping at a certain spell technique, where its name lit up with a brilliant light.