Devouring The Heavens
chapter-3

The girl's smile was so beautiful it could calm the most ferocious anger.

Her smile brought tranquility to Xuanyuan's anxious and helpless heart. He could not exactly pinpoint the feeling, but he felt at home as long as he was with this girl. She gave him the feeling of belonging.

However, he was shocked by how easily she would be able to kill him. He didn't even see how she sent him flying.

"Who was murdering their husband?" She grinned and walked towards Xuanyuan in her bare feet. She was still stunning to look at, even with her threatening posture. As she approached him, Guxing shielded Xuanyuan, giving a whimper as a warning, but the girl ignored it. Xuanyuan looked at her in the eyes, she was at least a head taller than him. He remembered how she sent him flying and he knew he didn't stand a chance against her. He could only appeal to her with his words.

"This is my home that you slept in. How could you attack me?"

She ceased her footsteps and glanced around the house. She gave off an alluring aura with each of her movements, her glance then landed on Xuanyuan. His clothes were covered in bloodstains, he was dirty and ragged. She noticed that some of his wounds had already started to heal. After a few moments of pondering, she smiled and said,

"You have a good body, but your strength cannot even compare with the weakest fighter. How are you going to prove that this is your home? You don't posses the power to carve such a large house inside this tree?"

"If you lift the fur beneath the bed you slept on, you'll find a hidden compartment. Inside there are 936 fighter coins exactly." Xuanyuan pointed at the middle of the bed confidently.

The woman was slightly shocked. She found the coins inside the compartment under the fur and counted them one by one. It was 936 fighter coins exactly.

Her expression was shaken. Seeing this, he took the advantage and stepped up."Guxing, dig out the bones you hid inside the house. Let her see with her own eyes whose house this is."

Guxing gave out a small whimper and grabbed a large thigh bone from a magic bull that was hidden in corner of the tree house.

"You dare to say this is not my home? If you still don't believe it, I'll show you." He moved to another corner and opened another hidden compartment. There was some dried meat and clean water inside.

"Do you believe me now?"

"Then I'm truly sorry. I was exhausted when I came across such a well hidden home, so I came in to get some rest. Now that the master of the house is back, it's time for me to be on my way." She smiled. She gestured elegantly then walked towards the door leaving a floral fragrance behind.

"Wait a minute, you barge into my home and hit me for no reason at all. Now you want to just leave? This doesn't sound right." He knew if he let such a beautiful girl leave, he did not deserve the good karma his ancestors must have accumulated for him. However, there was a more important reason, Xuanyuan wanted to get more information about this world from her. He wanted to know more about cultivating and practising martial skills!

The woman was stunned and her cherry red lips quivered. "How do you plan to stop me? You can't even touch a hair on my head. If I want to go, there's nothing you can do about it."

Xuanyuan didn't react immediately, but he suddenly had a strange idea form in his mind. He softened his voice and said, "You're being too unreasonable. How about this: you teach me the martial path for a month as compensation for hitting me and then you will be free of any bad karma."

The woman looked at Xuanyuan. He looked about fourteen years old and yet he kept his home orderly, which she appreciated. From the state of his body, she could tell that he had recently been in a fight. Even though Xuanyuan had a good body, anyone who even slightly practised a martial skill could easily deal with him.

Looking at his determined face, she couldn't resist and agreed to teach him.

"All right, I will teach you for a month and I will leave after that. Make use of this opportunity while you still can."

Xuanyuan was so excited that he jumped up and down while nodding his head vigorously.

"Of course! I never let an opportunity slip away, but before that, how should I address you? I'm named Xuanyuan!"

"Xuanyuan? Xuanyuan... What an interesting name. I am Yin Zhenluo." Yin Zhenluo stepped on the floor lightly and put on a pair of white boots that were tucked under the bed. She moved in front of Xuanyuan and said, "Do you truly want to learn martial skills? The quiet life you have now may not be a bad one, being a simple hunter has its own rewards. Why would you throw yourself into the chaotic mess that is the martial world?"

"I don't have any grudges against the world, but the world seems determined to hurt me. After all, the powerful are always at the top of food chain. Look at all my scars, I got them because the young master of the Moonwaste City ordered it. He wanted to kill me, he had me thrown into the mass grave alive so the wild beasts could finish me. I... I was lucky and I survived, but Guyue, the wolf that grew up with me, wasn't so lucky. Yuejue was the reason that I couldn't save Guyue. Guxing is the only family that I have left now. How can I look at myself if I don't avenge Guyue?”

"A real man should always repay other peoples kindness, yet also be ruthless when taking revenge. A real mans life should be fulfilling and passionate. What's the point of being a coward and living safely? I'd rather be the meteor that fills the sky with splendour, even if only for a moment!"

Yin Zhenluo wanted to say something, but she just sighed instead.

"Never mind. I will oblige if you say so. Take off your clothes."

Xuanyuan didn't know how to react. He took a few steps backwards, his hands cradled his body and his eyes stared at the exquisite Yin Zhenluo. He almost burst into tears of joy because he was about to live in the same room as this beautiful girl for a month. The old beggar used to say, you needed to accumulate good karma for a hundred lifetimes to marry a girl like this.

"Wha...what do you wanna do to me? I'm a guy, but I’ve never done that thing before, you..."

She was both angry and amused by his response. With just a step, she was already in front of Xuanyuan. She flicked her finger onto his forehead, she moved slowly this time so Xuanyuan could see her movements. The pain was intense, but much lighter than the last one. He was only forced a few steps back this time.

Xuanyuan trembled and thought, "How can a woman be so strong? She only used her finger. Is she really human? This is insane!"

"There's nothing to be surprised about. People who practice martial skills have an unimaginable strength compared to someone like you. Take off your clothes and change into something clean, you're still filthy. I have a bottle of medicine which will help your wounds heal faster. Tomorrow, I'll guide you on the martial path and introduce you to our world." Yin Zhenluo took out a jade bottle and threw it to Xuanyuan.

"Thank you so much, my beautiful master!" Xuanyuan caught the bottle and took out a set of clean clothes from the end of the bed. He ran outside while cheering.

"Guxing, let's take a bath!"

Yin Zhenluo was looking at his silhouette disappearing, then she smiled and mumbled to herself, "Xuanyuan, right?...I shall see how much you can grow in a month."