Ignoring the shock of everyone in the room, Hei spoke to Yunru.

“This is going to be even more intrusive than before.”

“Mm.”

Yunru nodded her head.

After getting her approval, Hei activated his technique and his arm started glowing, becoming ethereal.

This was a technique he had created after modifying Heavenly Revocation and Heavenly Bestowal.

Since he wasn’t going to take anything from her, nor was he going to give her anything, he didn’t need to use the phrases that usually activated the techniques.

Everyone was surprised to see this. Previously, he had only taken Yunru’s hand in order to do whatever he was doing. But this time he seemed to be activating some kind of unique ability.

Since Yunru’s situation had dramatically improved, the atmosphere in the treehouse became much lighter.

She was no longer at death’s door, so they were able to relax for the first time since they were attacked.

In order to heal her, Hei had to grasp her heart and interact with her spirit roots directly.

This meant he had to place his hand on her chest.

As the others watched him do so, their eyes opened wide.

Why was it that before, he was able to help her by holding her hand, but now he needed to…

They watched as Hei’s hand slowly approached Yunru’s chest, becoming more and more alert.

What surprised them, was that he didn’t stop at her chest, but his hand passed through and entered her body.

They wanted to both sigh in relief and raise their brows in confusion.

Yunru, on the other hand, didn’t feel anything as Hei’s hand entered her chest. It was only when he grasped her heart that she was able to notice a difference.

After having grasped her heart, Hei used his Qi to further breakdown her damaged spirit roots.

This was a very unpleasant experience for Yunru and caused her body to jolt slightly.

“Bear with it.”

After her spirit roots were broken into their core components, Hei started the re-forging process.

He used the technique he and Bai had developed to modify her spirit roots to be more in tune with the cultivation techniques they had created for vassals.

This part of the treatment was much more comfortable. Yunru could feel that her state was improving. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was definitely a positive change.

After having completed the process, Hei withdrew his hand and transferred Yunru her new cultivation method, which was one of the elemental foundations series, most suitable with her spirit roots.

“This technique shouldn’t be disclosed to others.”

Yunru nodded her head.

She could see that he had given her techniques all the way up to the transcendent realm, and even with a quick look, she could see that they were very good techniques.

The fact that they used simple language, but still had profound content, was a good sign.

“Also, you may have difficulty cultivating regular techniques now. That is a side-effect of this particular method of treatment. But you should find that Elemental Foundations is superior to anything you have practised before.”

“Thank you for all your help. I don’t know how I can repay you.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Hei had no need for payment for this particular situation. It was all so he could complete his mission anyway.

Besides, she was a vassal and could potentially be exposed to danger through his actions. By giving her these techniques, she would at least be able to defend herself.

Yunru didn’t know what to say. There was supposed to be no such thing as a free meal in this world.

How could she feel comfortable receiving someone’s favour without giving anything in return?

Hei stood up and turned to the other disciples.

He formed some bracelets in his storage space and pulled them out, floating one to each disciple, including Yunru.

“Keep these with you. Once I have handled the problems with the Zhu Clan and the sect, I will come to find you.”

These were special chains which were infused with the aura of an envoy. Given what he knew about the aura, these bracelets were too weak to activate the stones that the enemy held.

Since the chains held his aura, he could locate them from a distance.

As long as the disciples held them, he would be able to find them.

“Even if you move to another location or if you split up, as long as you have these bracelets, I will be able to find you.”

He could see some hesitation in their faces.

“The fact that I haven’t taken you forcefully should be evidence enough that you can trust me. I won’t bring you to a dangerous environment.”

Seeing their faces relax a little, Hei started walking towards the exit of the treehouse.

“If I find your families along the way, I will rescue them. However, I can’t promise you anything.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Hei was about to leave and begin his search for the person who was fighting against the Zhu Clan when he heard the cat’s voice.

“You’re looking for the boy who is running around in the forests?”

Hei stopped and turned to the cat.

“I think I may know where he is…”

The cat slowed its words at the end and started looking around the room.

Hei wasted no words.

He raised his hand and flipped his palm, and in it, was a natural treasure.

The cat’s eyes lit up. It didn’t hesitate to jump up and swipe the treasure right out of Hei’s hand.

It was one smooth motion.

At one moment, the cat was on the ground, looking at Hei, and at the next, it was on the ground, looking at Hei, but with the natural treasure in its mouth.

After swallowing the treasure, the cat sighed with delight.

“It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mister.”

Seeing this interaction, the disciples couldn’t help but ask.

It was Yuke, the girl Hei had followed, who spoke first.

“Is this your tamed beast, Junior Brother Hei?”

She had been wanting to know this from the moment she saw the cat leading Hei to the treehouse. But she thought it was far-fetched.

The others also had sparkly eyes.

“Are you a beast tamer?”

Seeing a beast tamer in this part of the continent was almost unheard of.

“It’s so cute!”

“Aw, I want to cuddle it.”

Now that Yunru was healed, the environment became very light-hearted. These young ladies had been living under a dark cloud for so long, that even the slightest bit of fun was a ray of sunshine.

Hei was actually unfamiliar with the term beast tamer. If he had seen it, it had only been loosely mentioned among the occupations.

From the name, and the context in which it was brought up, along with the web novels he had read, he was able to hazard a guess as to what it was, but he surely wasn’t one.

“No. I speak Beast Language. That’s how I’m able to communicate with the cat.”

After Hei said these words, the room became silent.

What he didn’t know, was that even among beast tamers, very few could speak Beast Language, and even then, it was at such a basic level that it wasn’t very useful.

To be able to speak Beast Language fluently was the pinnacle that all beast tamers wished to reach.

But since the relationship between spirit beast and humans was a tense one, it was very hard to have a spirit beast be willing to teach a human.

After a moment, one of the disciples spoke.

“So… The cat is free for all?”

Hei nodded his head.

And that started a game of cat and mouse. Except, this time, the cat was the mouse.

The young ladies, all started chasing the little green cat, which tried its best to escape.

Unfortunately for the young ladies, the cat was very proficient at dodging their hands.

‘Uh…’

Hei was wondering why these people were slowing down his progress. He wanted this cat to hurry up and show him the way, but it was playing around with the disciples.

Then he took a moment to notice the expressions on their faces.

They seemed to be so happy over such a trivial thing.

“Little slippery fellow!”

“I will catch you!”

“You won’t slip through my fingers this time!”

-Hahaha.

After a while, the cat decided to jump on Hei’s shoulder.

The disciples could only glare at it as it stood in safety, grinning from ear to ear.

“Let’s go. These humans are insatiable.”

As Hei looked at the pouting faces of the disciples, he decided to throw them a bone.

From his storage space, he retrieved a few natural treasures, one for each of the disciples.

They caught them with blank faces, but when the cat saw what was in their hands, its eyes opened wide.

“You! You! … You!”

It couldn’t say anything else. It looked at the evil grins on the faces of the young ladies, as they waved the enticing treats in front of its face.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”

“I know you want it.”

“Look at this shiny, delicious treasure.”

The cat could only gulp as it looked at the mouth-watering treasures.

Before long, its urges took over and it pounced on the disciples.

-Hahaha.

The disciples laughed merrily as they played with the cat. It was now unable to get away from them, as they would be able to lure it with the treasures every time.

Hei waited patiently for them to have their fill.

He noticed that Yunru was just smiling in the corner as she watched all of this. She still wasn’t in any condition to move around.

He walked over to her and knelt down so that he was at eye level with her.

“Yunru.”

“Mm?”

“I’m going to the peak of this world and have room to take you along. Do you wish to follow me?”

Yunru’s eyes opened wide.

She wasn’t the only one. The whole treehouse became silent as the others looked on with shocked expressions.

One of them even hid the lower half of her face with the cat, who just watched with a blank expression.

Yunru responded.

“You will bring us as well?”

She didn’t know why, but Hei’s words were very convincing. It was as if whatever he said would come to pass, without fail.

“The offer is only for you.”

Hei had no intention of bringing along just anybody. Unlike his goofy self, he had no need for flashy maids or anything like that.

If it wasn’t an envoy, he wasn’t interested.

“I…”

Yunru hesitated, and Hei could see that.

Surely, through this life and death ordeal, these young ladies had formed quite a bond. It would be difficult to just up and leave.

He stood up.

“There’s no need to rush. You can give me a decision when I return.”

He then walked to the exit of the treehouse and jumped out.

The young lady who was holding the cat, unconsciously let it go, and it followed after Hei.

Before it jumped out, it turned back to the young ladies with pleading eyes.

They still had a few of the treasures.

Seeing the cat’s expression, they all huddled up around it and fed it the treasures one by one.

“Go on now, Kitty. You can’t keep Junior Brother Hei waiting.”

Without so much as a second thought, the cat jumped out of the treehouse.

Now that it had eaten all of the treasures, it didn’t want to spend another moment with those vile temptresses.

As soon as the cat had left, all of the young ladies turned to Yunru.

They quickly shuffled over to her with sparkly eyes.

Yunru was confused.

“Wha-”

She was cut-off.

“So, when’s the wedding?”

“Mm. I’ll need to pick out a proper dress.”

“Me too.”

“Hmph. You’re all lacking in preparation. I already have five dresses to choose from.”

Yunru was overwhelmed by the avalanche of comments.

“What are you talking about?”

The responses became even more aggressive.

“I’m going to the peak of this world and I can’t bear to walk it alone.”

“Will you walk beside me?”

"Mm. That is how it should be. Not some elders telling you who you should love!"

“Then you even asked if we could come along, you silly girl.”

“And what did he say?”

“I only want you, my love. Kyaa!”

Yunru was flabbergasted.

“When did he say any of that?”

The others became frustrated.

“He didn’t say with his words, he said it with his heart!”

“Mm. Behind that cold tone, is a man in love.”

“Why do you think he healed your spirit roots? Do you think that was necessary? Obviously, he wanted you to be strong enough to walk with him!”

Yunru didn’t know what to say. She could only try to reason with them.

“That’s not what it is at all.”

But her words had no effect.

“Why not? Is your appearance worse than anyone else’s? I don’t think so!”

“Mm. And the same goes for your talent. Even in all the sect, you’re one of the best.”

Yunru tried again.

“But we don’t even know what he looks like.”

Again, her words were as effective as a cup of water on a burning house.

“Does it matter what a dragon looks like?”

“That’s right! He is sure to rise above the rest.”

"Didn't you see how he marched right into the heart of danger to protect us? You have to realise, his mission was only to return us to the sect. He didn't need to go after the Zhu Clan."

“Besides, with such a deep cultivation, he can’t be ugly.”

She tried once more.

“But he’s only 10 years old.”

She was like a firefly trying to outshine the moon.

“Will he not grow older?”

“I suppose he’ll be 9 next year?”

At this point, Yunru decided to just let her friends lose themselves in their fantasies.

She knew very clearly what Hei meant when he spoke those words.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she had developed feelings for him just because he saved her.

She watched with a warm smile as they enjoyed themselves.

All this time, she had felt like a tremendous burden on them, and there were even times she wanted to let go so they could move on.

Now that she could see them happy again, it was all she could ask for.

And it was all thanks to Hei.

She turned her gaze to the exit of the treehouse, and could still see Hei walking away.

She watched until he left her field of vision, then closed her eyes, falling asleep.