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(Southern Region- Xercopolis Empire)

(Huren Province)

"So how does your ability work? Can you see the future as a fixed series of events or just the possible timelines?" Xu Lu asked softly as she stretched out her arms and let out a small yawn.

"Or is your ability kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy? When you see something that future is guaranteed to come to pass..."

"Hello? Hello?"

The wooden box in her palm did not respond to her words. If anyone happened to see what she was doing right now...

They would probably think that she had gone mad.

"Fine... don\'t say anything," Xu Lu grumbled as she tucked the box away in her storage bag and continued on her journey.

The weapon spirit had not said a word to her since she had offered to take it back to the Holy Sword Sect to find its true master.

How rude!

"At least I got you little buddy," Xu Lu whispered sweetly as she raised up her hand and played with the white mouse currently lying down lazily on her head.

Squeak! Squeak!

The little mouse cried out happily as it nuzzled against Xu Lu\'s fingertips and gently nibbled on the side of her palm.

It then climbed down from the top of Xu Lu\'s robe and dove into her pocket. The saintess chuckled softly as she dropped some treats inside the pocket for her pet to enjoy.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and one could hear birds chirping merrily in the forest.

Several weeks had passed since she had left the capital city of the Xercopolis Empire and Xu Lu was enjoying the solitary journey that she was undertaking.

Being in the sect made her feel trapped but out here in the wild... she felt at peace.

There was a primordial beauty to nature that was hard to describe in words.

Still... it was not like she had no human contact. In fact Xu Lu would occasionally stop at the villages and small towns that she passed along the way to talk to the locals.

She would not reveal her identity as a cultivator and although some were suspicious, her easy-going nature convinced them that she was just a simple traveler.

Well as simple as one could be with a silvery-grey mask covering her face...

Xu Lu hummed softly under her breath and looked towards the horizon. She could see a large plume of smoke slowly wafting upwards into the air.

That was strange...

Xu Lu\'s footsteps paused for a moment, and she began to proceed far more carefully than before.

Her spiritual senses did not detect any danger, but her instincts were warning her that something peculiar was going on.

There as a large hill blocking the area where the smoke was coming from so Xu Lu walked around the hill to get a better look.

She saw a small village on the other side with hundreds of wooden houses. The residents of the village wore simple clothing made from hemp and other grassy materials.

The residents seemed quite healthy albeit a bit on the skinny side. Xu Lu reached into her pocket for a map and checked her current location.

Hmm... this village wasn\'t marked on the map but... that wasn\'t too surprising considering that information could not easily travel around the continent.

The giant plume of smoke was coming from the centre of the village where an enormous fire burned brightly inside several pits filled with pieces of dried wood.

Several large chunks of meat had been placed on wire racks above the fire and were slowly cooking.

Occasionally the women of the village would come forwards and sprinkle what appeared to be dried herbs and spices onto the meat.

It was a rather simple way of cooking and yet Xu Lu found her mouth watering at the appetizing smell.

"Hello... do you want to come join our festival?" a melodic voice sweetly asked.

Xu Lu quickly turned her head in the direction of the sound and what she saw left her frozen in place.

A beautiful woman was standing there. She had olive coloured skin and wore a rough outfit made out of hemp.

It was a cheap attire but somehow she made it work.

And her face...

Gentle facial features, sharp cheekbones, a warm smile and piercing grey eyes that shone with kindness and mercy.

She was perfect.

Xu Lu place a hand on her chest and felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn\'t felt this way since... since...

Camilla.

Xu Lu\'s eyes widened as a terrible sense of guilt flooded in mind. What the hell was she thinking?

She swore to Camilla that she would never find another lover and yet here she was in a different world thinking that another woman was attractive.

"Sorry... sorry... I\'m just passing by," Xu Lu stuttered nervously as she tried her best to push down the conflicting feelings that were rising up in her chest.

Why was she feeling this way?

This person was good looking, but she was a complete stranger!

Why did she feel so... familiar...

"Oh! Wow!" the beautiful woman clapped her hands together and looked at Xu Lu with excitement and genuine interest.

"Are you a famous explorer?"

"No... I\'m a cultivator... I\'m returning to my sect after a mission," Xu Lu confessed truthfully.

A look of surprise flashed across her face since she wasn\'t expecting to tell this strange woman her true identity.

Somehow it had just slipped out.

"A cultivator? Oh no! Please forgive my rudeness!" the beautiful woman hastily spoke as she bent her legs and prepared to kneel.

Before her knees could touch the ground, Xu Lu quickly rushed forward and grabbed her hands to steady her body.

"You don\'t need to bow... I didn\'t take any offence," Xu Lu immediately explained as she tried to reassure the woman that she was not a threat.

Xu Lu\'s mind was in such a mess that she did not notice that although the beautiful woman sounded afraid...

Not a single trace of that fear could be seen in her eyes.

"I\'m sorry if I\'m being a bit presumptuous... lady cultivator but I..." the beautiful woman\'s words were cut off as Xu Lu\'s hastily chimed in.

"No! You can call me Xu Lu!" the saintess spoke up.

A puzzled expression flashed across the beautiful woman\'s face as she was forced to revaluate the mysterious cultivator in front of her.

She did not act like a typical cultivator.

There was no arrogance in her demeanor or a sense that she thought that she was better than everyone else.

But at the end of the day... that did not matter. Cultivators were all the same... greedy selfish monsters that played and toyed with the lives of mortals.

They saw themselves as gods.

Rulers of the world with powers that made it impossible for ordinary people to stand against them.

"Xu Lu..." the beautiful woman slowly spoke.

"Can you tell me more about yourself? I\'ve always enjoyed hearing my mother tell me stories about cultivators."

"Is it true that you all live in golden palaces above the clouds? That you can command the seas with a single whisper?"

The beautiful woman moved closer until her body was practically pushed up against the saintess.

For once Xu Lu was grateful for the mask that was covering her face since she was sure that her cheeks must be burning bright red.

"Well, those rumors are a bit exaggerated, but some cultivators are indeed powerful," Xu Lu replied in a low whisper as she tried not to display the nervousness in her voice.

"I am the saintess of the Holy Sword Sect but... I don\'t live in a golden palace... in fact my home is a simple wooden shack."

"It sounds strange but... cultivation is about giving up on worldly desires... at least that\'s what my master taught me."

The saintess of the Holy Sword Sect?

A small smile flashed across the beautiful woman\'s face as she looked at the female cultivator with dark thoughts running through her mind.