The results were pretty decent. Whether it was the Demon Skill·Chained Fire Tail, or the Demon Skill·Fire Cloud Tail for throwing flames and concealing herself, Xiaoyan had made some real progress using them.
The only exception was that there wasn’t much improvement with her Core Demon Skill·Shadow-Luring Fire Fox.
The two Fire Fox Illusions Xiaoyan summoned still ran mechanically, dashing straight ahead like bulldozers, not even knowing how to turn a corner.
On the contrary, Xiaoyan had gotten really good at working with her illusions, her mimicry skills were downright impressive.
Now, if the three little foxes ran side by side, your average Joe wouldn’t be able to tell which was real...
Du Yu turned to look back. Against the background of the distant and massive Twin Trees, he spotted a tall, slender figure: "Ready?"
"I did my best, managed to convert it all to Wind Spiritual Qi." Lin Shiwei nodded, a trace of apology in her tone. "Sorry for making you wait so long."
"I was training too! Besides, there’s so little Spiritual Qi left in the world these days—you couldn’t go faster even if you wanted to." Du Yu grinned and waved his hand. "Let’s go!"
Lin Shiwei hurried to catch up, walking shoulder to shoulder with Du Yu. "Thank you, Du Yu. No matter how it turns out, thank you for helping me..."
Before she finished, Du Yu smacked her on the shoulder. "Don’t be so polite, Third Sis!
The stronger you get, the better! You’re my...um, my personal tank! Whenever we go dungeon crawling later, you’ve gotta tank up front, right?"
Du Yu realized he said too much, and mumbled, "We’ve got plenty of time ahead of us, right?"
Lin Shiwei gave him a weird look. "King?"
Du Yu just smiled. "No need to be formal. Just call me Second Bro."
Lin Shiwei rolled her eyes. Was I talking to you? That was a question, thank you very much!
Still, Du Yu’s last line hit home for Lin Shiwei. Yeah, there’s a long road ahead for us...
The two of them strolled quietly through the mountains. After a few minutes, Lin Shiwei broke the silence. "Once we meet the Dust Spirit Deer herd, I need to head home for a bit."
"Sure." Du Yu nodded. Counting the days at Mountain Fire Blade Training Camp, it was coming up on a full month since the girl had been home.
Unlike him, most people in the world actually have families—and parents, too.
Lin Shiwei asked, "Where are you headed? Want to come home with me?"
"Huh?" Du Yu was caught off guard. "Is something up?"
"Nah, just inviting you over as a guest. Nothing special back at home—just been away too long. Wanted to see Mom and spend a few days with her," Lin Shiwei explained.
"I’ll skip it, don’t want to intrude."
Lin Shiwei didn’t insist. "Well, I’ll leave the car for you. Makes things easier if you need to go anywhere."
Du Yu shook his head like a rattle. "Nah, I can’t drive—don’t have a license."
Lin Shiwei lowered her voice, "It’s fine, it’s got a shield."
"Third Sis." Du Yu got an idea of what Lin Shiwei was thinking. He chuckled, "You don’t need to worry about me. Before I met you, I was getting along just fine, wasn’t I?"
Lin Shiwei lowered her head and chuckled. "True, I guess."
"Don’t worry, I’ve got the Library Ring here—free food, free lodging, free everything... Actually, how about this, you drop me off at Master Qing’s house later."
It had already been a week. Who knew if Master Qing was back? Might as well go check, and finally get a good night’s sleep.
The two chatted as they trekked through the woods, finally reaching the familiar gorge.
Too bad their timing was off—the Dust Spirit Deer herd was probably out and about, no sign of the Immortal Deer anywhere.
They found their way with ease, following the cliff westward to the spot closest across the canyon, leaping over, and found the big tree where Du Yu had once busted his butt training short-blades.
The two waited most of the day, all the way until sunset, before finally spotting a few Dust Spirit Deer heading home.
"They’re here!" Du Yu steadied himself on the tree, covered in scratches, and scrambled to his feet. "Over here! I’m right here!"
The Dust Spirit Deer watched cautiously from afar in the direction of their home. After confirming it was really Du Yu, they relaxed and trotted over.
"We meet again." Du Yu lit a tiny flame in his palm and waved it at the Dust Spirit Deer.
Suddenly, the herd of Immortal Deer forgot all about being scared. They started racing toward him—each one faster than the last. The one in front actually barreled over Du Yu and knocked him flat!
"Whoa~" Du Yu felt like he was being swamped by deer, and shouted, "Hey now, have some dignity! You’re Immortal Deer, remember? Show a little restraint!"
"Nai!" Melodious deer calls rang out, and strands of Fire Spiritual Qi were sucked away. Du Yu could barely see anymore—everywhere around him was thick white mist....
Du Yu was drained in no time, the small flame flickering on his fingertip, like the tiniest breeze could blow it out.
"Nai~~~" Lying on his back on the ground, Du Yu felt one deer head after another nudging his own—like they wanted even more.
"Nothing left. Seriously, I’m all tapped out..."
"Nai." The Dust Spirit Deer herd waited for a bit, realized Du Yu really was squeezed dry, and returned to their usual graceful selves: heads held high, hooves stepping lightly, and started to walk away.
As the white mist cleared, there was Du Yu, lying on the ground all alone, with an "I totally saw this coming" look on his face.
Du Yu braced himself up with one hand and sat.
A few meters away stood two Dust Spirit Deer whose size dwarfed the rest of the herd—one tall and burly, its antlers covered with white blossoms.
The other was a bit slimmer, with flowers on its antlers shimmering with enchanting colors.