Episode 5: The Garden of Eternity

The creepy feeling persisted. Ning Ru Fei was still feeling as if something was very wrong. She always trusted her instinct, so she stopped to check for a while.

The cave was as dark as ever. She could barely see a thing, but after staying in the dark for so long, her eyes had somewhat adapted to the dark.

After a while, nothing out of sort seemed to happen, but she still felt tired and decided to rest for a bit. Ning Ru Fei didn't realize how long this 'while' was. She simply fell asleep in the cave.

Shang Yue was simply present there as a guide, so he would not interfere with her decisions. After waking up, she felt a little lighter, or maybe, it was her imagination.

Ning Ru Fei started walking through the cave again. Shang Yue followed her. After resting, her mind felt clear and fresh, yet she still felt that peculiar feeling. Now, this was no longer her imagination.

Suddenly, Ning Ru Fei felt cold behind her back. She squatted down in a hurry. A whish sound passed above her head.

She raised her eyes to look. She saw an arrow, quite sharp and perfectly aimed at her. Her eyes was shining, but not because of happiness. The arrow was glowing.

In reality, this arrow was made purely of spiritual powers. It glowed a beautiful golden. But this light only sent coldness to her.

That chilly feeling made her whole body grow cold. She turned around only to see a whole bunch of arrows flying towards her.

Ning Ru Fei ran and dodged the arrows, but some still pierced her shoulders and back. The pain was crawling to her entire body, but she ensured it without a sound.

As an abused child since birth, Ning Ru Fei had developed a big pain tolerance. She was bleeding profoundly and heavily. The wounds had already started to fester.

Shang Yue was only her guide and had no intentions of saving her. He could skillfully make a barrier and protect himself from the arrows.

But the weird thing was, where did the arrows come from? After a short while, the arrow attacks finally stopped. Ning Ru Fei was taking shelter behind a big piece of rock.

She finally checked her wounds. She had her back pierced by three arrows. Her right shoulder was cut and her sprained leg was also hurt.

Ning Ru Fei hurriedly pulled out the arrows, in case there was poison in them. The blood refused to stop, and she frowned heavily in pain.

Ning Ru Fei was hurt over and over. Every time she cried in front of her mother, she would receive a beating. Therefore, she made it a point to never cry no matter how much it hurts her.

Even now, with her wounds all festered and bleeding, she still refused to let a single tear fall. Shang Yue watched her with a sympathetic gaze.

She rested in place for a while. Tore her cloth ends and tied her wounds. After a long while, she finally decided to check where the arrows came from.

Ning Ru Fei got up, grabbed a stick from who knows where, and walked in the direction of the arrows. Unexpectedly, there was nothing there.

After checking around on walls and floor for a while, she decided to continue forward. But the same chilly feeling stopped her from taking another step forward.

Ning Ru Fei suddenly turned around. This time, it was no lava, no arrows, but a monster. It was a monster. There was nothing else it could be called.

If Shang Yue gave the vibe of a graceful spiritual beast, then this monster sensed nothing but blood, very dangerous.

Despite the martial arts she learned, there was no way for a human being to fight a monster, not to mention, she was currently injured severely.

I am probably gonna die.

Ning Ru Fei had always been obedient, but now, she couldn't behave and accept death. Shang Yue tried to convince her to stop as well.

"Child, you'll die if you continue. Listen to me, go back."

"I can't."

"Why so stubborn?"

"Because I--!"

Right. What am I struggling for?

The monster had its claws drawn out. It moved towards Ning Ru Fei's direction. It approached her slowly at first, then increased it speed all of a sudden.

I have nothing left. I only knew how to live to satisfy my mother. Now that I'm dead, I don't have to do that anymore.

The claws of the monster were sharp. The moment its palm hit Ning Ru Fei, she flew several meters. All her unhealed wounds started bleeding again.

It hurts.

Am I going to die here?

But... I don't want to. Yes, I may not have a reason to live anymore, but that does not mean that I want to die. I want to live. I want to live for myself!

There was a sudden flash of light. Ning Ru Fei's eyes lit up. It was those arrows again. So this monster was responsible? No worries. She decided to live.

Don't know where she got the energy from, but Ning Ru Fei suddenly felt light. She got to her feet, and looked at the monster.

Her eyes, which were naturally black, had a tint of red in them. The eyes of a person in despair and pushed to the brink.

I have had enough! I would not allow anyone to control me and my life anymore! I will make my own decisions! Those who get in my way shall all die!!

Ning Ru Fei ran forward, her wounds still bleeding badly, but she no longer cared. She had made up her mind to kill all in her path of survival.

The stick in her hand was no longer used to help her walk, but to repel the beast before her. It was probably her imagination, but she felt like her body had become much more powerful.

The more she moved, the lighter she felt. The stick flew between the teeth of the beast. Ning Ru Fei pushed her hand and used all her strength to push the stick inside.

Ning Ru Fei was trying to slow the beast down by trying to block it's breath, but unexpectedly, the stick actually pierced through the throat of the beast instead.

Ning Ru Fei was dumbfounded. She did not understand where she gained the strength to actually pierce through a beast as such.

The beast was dead. Ning Ru Fei, still dumbfounded, sat on the floor. She examined her wounds from the battle. All her wounds had become even more severe, and she also had extra ones.

While Ning Ru Fei was pushing the stick down the beast throat, the beast was desperately scratching her body. She didn't notice in the heat of the moment, but now all her wounds hurt badly.

Ning Ru Fei had shed a lot of blood. She felt more pain and exhaustion with every breath. She couldn't take the stimulation and fell unconscious.

After a long time, Ning Ru Fei opened her eyes. She no longer felt any pain. Her exhaustion was also gone. If anything, she felt more refreshed.

She did not know what had happened. Ning Ru Fei slowly got up. The first thing that befell her vision was a tree. Weird, she thought, How can there be a tree in the cave?

"You're awake."

It was Shang Yue's voice. No, Ning Ru Fei was completely awake. She sat up and glanced at her own body first. The vision shocked her completely.

What shocked her wasn't the condition of the wounds, but the fact that there were no wounds at all. Ning Ru Fei touched herself all over, but the verdict was the same.

What happened? I clearly remember being severely injured.

"Wondering why you aren't injured?"

"...Yes."

Look around you. Ning Ru Fei did as told. They were no longer in the dark, gloomy cave. What was around them was clearly a beautiful garden.

Ning Ru Fei and Shang Yue were currently sitting below a huge tree in the middle of the garden. The leaves were blowing all around and the wind was soothing.

"This is the garden of eternity. You are quite lucky, I might say."

"How so?"

"The garden of eternity is my former master's personal garden. He decorated and planted everything here himself. This is the most beautiful plane in the heavenly mountain."

The Garden of Eternity had not opened since the disappearance of the master, but now it had appeared for the sake of Ning Ru Fei.

This garden had magical powers. All and any can be healed of all physical wounds in this place. Right after the battle, the gate of the garden of eternity opened.

Shang Yue brought Ning Ru Fei inside and let her wounds heal. Her wounds were severe, so it took a bit of time for her to heal completely and gain consciousness.

"I see. Thank you."

"No need. I cannot interfere with your trials, but saving you after the trials is within my powers."

"Shang Yue, you mentioned something about a plane before, right?"

"Yes, the garden of eternity is a separate plane from that of the heavenly mountain. The garden does not exist in the same plane or dimension as the heavenly mountain."

"Then what's it doing here?"

"It may not exist in the same plane, but it's entrance existed in the heavenly mountain. But now it has acknowledged you as it's Master. Therefore, now you are the owner of the garden of eternity. It moves with you."

"I didn't do anything special. Why me?"

"That, I do not know. It is simply the will of the place."

The will of the place... Garden of Eternity.

"Shang Yue, I have a favor to ask. Can you teach me cultivation?"

Shang Yue looked a bit surprised at the request. This was the first time that any human dared to ask a spiritual beast for cultivation lessons.

"You wish to learn cultivation? And sure, you want me to teach you?"

"I am!"

Ning Ru Fei answered without hesitation. The determination in her eyes was no lie. There was no rule that forbade Shang Yue from teaching the trial takers.

Shang Yue was impressed by her courage that she displayed earlier. He would be lying if he said that he did not wish for this girl to succeed in the trials.

She had completed three of her trials without any cultivation, which is quite the feat, considering she's a mere human being. Shang Yue couldn't help but be impressed by her.

Thinking of such, he agreed to teach her.

"Very well. I shall teach you. But it might be cheating. Considering the time in the two plans run separately. A month here, is only a day outside."

"I suppose I'm lucky. I don't think there's any rule that says you aren't allowed to use luck, is there?"

"Haha. There isn't."

"Then shall we start?"

Just like that. Ning Ru Fei's cultivation lessons started. She formally learned to generate and use spiritual powers at will.

According to Shang Yue, there were ten levels of cultivation. Every level had ten levels as well. The first level was called a spirit scholar.

To reach the level of a spirit scholar, a normal cultivator needed to level up ten times. To summarize, there were a total of one hundred levels.

After cultivating for quite a long time, Ning Ru Fei had reached the twenty-sixth level. She was now a Spirit Qi Master, and about to become a Spirit Qi Grandmaster at level thirty.

Ning Ru Fei had no idea how long she had been cultivating here. She was exploiting all of the loopholes in the trial rules to the fullest.

There was no time limit for completing the trial, so she could take here time cultivating. Previously, the garden of eternity had not opened for the previous challengers.

But in her case, it did. She could easily train here and avoid getting swept up in the continuous trail challenges. The best thing was that she was no longer in need of food and water on an everyday basis.

There was no day and night in the garden of eternity, therefore, Ning Ru Fei had no idea of how long she had cultivated here.

"Are you sure you want to take the trail now?"

"I am. If anything, I shouldn't wait too long to complete the trail. Thanks for all the training you have given me so far. I'm grateful."

"You're welcome. I won't lie. I have patiently been waiting for you to become my new master."

"Oh? You took a liking to me?"

"You remind me a lot of my master in his initial years."

"Really?"

Ning Ru Fei wasn't expecting such an answer. But nevertheless, she felt happy. After spending so much time together, naturally she had also developed fondness for Shang Yue.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***