Dark valley, tranquil bamboo forest, a bonfire, four people.

The roar of thunder was incessant, lightning constantly streaked across the night sky, illuminating Jiang Yuebai, who was focused on carving bamboo.

Xie Jingshan furrowed his brows, looking around, unable to imagine how Jiang Yuebai managed to endure it all back then.

Yun Shang gazed at Jiang Yuebai with eyes full of sympathy, while Ge Yuchan felt somewhat uncomfortable; her eye and ear powers had been specially trained, making it hard for her to endure the thunder and lightning.

Jiang Yuebai finished carving four bamboo cups and poured a cup of luminescent green liquid for each person.

The other three cast glances at each other, doubtful whether the liquor was drinkable.

"Drink it, I brewed it myself. It’s not poisonous, look."

Jiang Yuebai raised her head, the liquor entered her mouth, and her face instantly turned less than pleasant.

Gulp!

With difficulty swallowing the liquid, Jiang Yuebai chuckled awkwardly, "Maybe the liquor’s been stored for too long..."

Yun Shang and Ge Yuchan’s cups were taken away by Jiang Yuebai, while Xie Jingshan dodged to the side.

"I have to see just how bad it tastes."

Downing it in one go, Xie Jingshan nearly spat it out, holding his mouth firmly, forcing it down with a strained neck.

Back home, he was used to swallowing his mother’s soup directly like this, both he and his father were.

Xie Jingshan turned to see Jiang Yuebai looking at him dumbfounded, his face slightly flushed, stammering, "It’s... not that bad."

Jiang Yuebai rolled her eyes; if she hadn’t tasted it herself, she might have believed Xie Jingshan’s nonsense!

"Xiaobai, weren’t you scared living here all by yourself when you were so little?"

Yun Shang held Jiang Yuebai’s arm, asking with concern.

Jiang Yuebai nodded with a smile, "Of course I was scared, so I kept myself busy for all twelve hours of the day, leaving no time to be afraid."

Ge Yuchan stared at the bonfire, "Back then, when I was alone in the Outer Sect, unfamiliar with everything, it was the same—I just kept busy to leave no room for idle thoughts."

Yun Shang sighed, "Although I also grew up alone in the mountain stream at the Spiritual Beast Valley, I at least had those spiritual beasts for company."

Having had similar experiences, Yun Shang, with her delicately sensitive nature, could especially empathize with how Jiang Yuebai felt back then.

Xie Jingshan looked at the three bewilderedly, recalling his own youth when he was running wildly around the sect with Song Zhi’ang and Shen Huaxi, not finding anything particularly hard except the times they got caught and punished by the Golden Core Masters and Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

Jiang Yuebai smiled indifferently, "Back then it might have felt tough, frightening, and lonely—I worried about failing and couldn’t see a future. But after getting through it, I realized that every day spent here was worthwhile. Without those five years of secluded training, I wouldn’t be who I am today."

The night wind was chilly, the bonfire crackled.

The three shared stories of their childhoods. Yun Shang even joked about crying all night from missing her parents, while Ge Yuchan casually recounted the mocking words from people in the Outer Sect.

Jiang Yuebai said with a laugh, "... This is called people throwing mud at me, and I plant lotus flowers with it!"

"To grow lotus roots and sell them for money," Yun Shang chimed in.

Ge Yuchan laughed, "And use the money to laugh happily."

"Hahaha..."

The three laughed so hard they leaned against each other, their laughter driving away the night’s solitude.

But as they laughed, their eyes welled with tears, thinking back to the days when they were nameless. Now as they looked at each other today, all three had become Direct Disciples. Their journey had been arduous, with struggles that outsiders couldn’t understand.

Xie Jingshan watched them laugh, unable to join in, realizing his journey had been indeed too smooth. Apart from almost dying when ambushed by two from the Upper Realm, he hadn’t faced any crisis or hardship.

And yet, he constantly complained about having too much money, a father who only had eyes for his mother, a mother always out and about, and a grandfather who solved everything with money. Compared to what the three had gone through, his troubles were hardly setbacks.

In the deep night,

Ge Yuchan and Yun Shang went to rest in Jiang Yuebai’s small bamboo house, planning to head into the Thunder Marsh early the next day.

Jiang Yuebai left the bamboo house, unable to find Little Green anywhere; she didn’t know where it had run off to.

She strolled to the edge of the cliff and saw Xie Jingshan sitting cross-legged alone, his silhouette seemed profound.

Jiang Yuebai sat beside Xie Jingshan, looking out at the far-off Thunder Marsh.

An endless sea of black clouds, with thousands of silver dragons roaring and galloping.

She left here at twelve, now she was thirty-two, exactly twenty years later.

In twenty years, neither the Thunder Marsh nor this valley seemed to have changed at all.

The only change was her.

"I’m especially happy today. Twenty years ago, I dreamed that if only someone could accompany me here, all the suffering wouldn’t be suffering. It’d be filled with laughter like today. The little regrets I had about this place and that time have all been fulfilled today."

Jiang Yuebai could feel that her Dao heart had become more harmonious and complete.

Xie Jingshan looked heavy-hearted, turning to gaze at Jiang Yuebai.

"Actually, if you wanted to stay back then, Lu Nanzhi and I could have protected you."

Jiang Yuebai shook her head, "Even if I had to choose again, none of my choices would change. Even if some choices were irrational and not optimal, I’ve never regretted them."

Xie Jingshan sighed, gazing at the turbulent sea of clouds, and asked again, "Did you really get struck blind and paralyzed by lightning here back then, lying immobile for a month? Not exaggerating?"

Jiang Yuebai laughed, "Back then, it was my own doing. I decided to practice the Sharpness Technique here. If it weren’t for the Mountain Protection Array at the time, I might have been reduced to ashes on the spot, but now..."

Jiang Yuebai raised her hand, a golden light bursting from her fingertips.

Crack!

A silver thunderbolt ruthlessly struck down from above, Xie Jingshan raised his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding silver light, watching in amazement as the lightning hit Jiang Yuebai but was deflected by her Protective Gang Qi, turning into tiny arcs of electricity scattering around.

Jiang Yuebai smiled, "Now, even without the Mountain Protection Array, mere lightning cannot harm me."

"This is just ordinary lightning at the edge of Thunder Marsh. Try the Jian Palace Thunder and Water Thunder deeper inside; even a Nascent Soul True Monarch would tremble at those."

Jiang Yuebai took out a few sheets of Talismanic Paper, a box of Talismanic Sand, and a Dragon Hair Talismanic Brush, casually drawing some Earth Escape Talismans as the papers floated before her.

"The long night is ahead, Young Master Xie, are you interested in accompanying me to explore below the mine?"

The Earth Escape Talisman was pushed in front of Xie Jingshan, who curiously examined it, "How do you use this thing?"

Jiang Yuebai stood up in surprise, "You’ve never used an Earth Escape Talisman?"

"This thing is not precise with the Earth Escape distance. I have a more accurate Tunneling Pearl; what do I need this for?"

Jiang Yuebai rolled her eyes dramatically, "If you can’t keep up, then don’t come!"

With that, Jiang Yuebai activated the Earth Escape Talisman, transforming into yellow light and disappearing into the ground.

Xie Jingshan, unwilling to be outdone, said, "Can’t keep up? Impossible! In my life, not only will I ascend ahead of you, but even if I die, I’ll die ahead of you!"

Rumble!

The sound of thunder echoed, and Xie Jingshan shivered involuntarily, quickly spitting and activating the Earth Escape Talisman to follow.

After the tugging sensation disappeared, Xie Jingshan felt a heaviness on his chest and found himself stuck halfway in the mountain wall, unable to move.

Xie Jingshan: ...

As I said, this piece of junk is too random and not easy to use!

"Oh, Young Master Xie got stuck?"

Jiang Yuebai emerged from a nearby tunnel, not sparing the chance to mock.

Xie Jingshan twisted his body, forcefully pulling himself from the mountain wall with crumbling rocks, "I’m just not used to it. Give me a couple more, and I’ll get the hang of it."

Jiang Yuebai handed Xie Jingshan a few more Earth Escape Talismans, then scanned the surroundings. The mountain walls were marked with excavation traces, with no Spirit Stones left, not even debris.

Jixiang and the Flower-Furred Rat poked their heads out from Jiang Yuebai’s waist, twitching their noses, but upon not smelling anything good, they retreated to continue sleeping together.

Jiang Yuebai used the Earth Escape Talisman to journey downward, passing through places where she once fought for her life. She saw the spiritual medicine she once uprooted sprouting anew and the Mountain-Penetrating Beasts that had returned to give birth to their young.

Some of the mine tunnels had birthed Resentful Souls and Evil Corpses, which she resolved with a flick of her hand.

The past came vividly to mind, shadows of youth and inexperience wiped away from the mines, returning to her now matured body and soul.

Xie Jingshan followed silently behind Jiang Yuebai, once again getting stuck in the mountain wall, he unexpectedly discovered a small mark left by Jiang Yuebai.

A small crescent moon, followed by the character ’正’ (indicating counts), becoming fewer with each instance, seemingly recording how many people or spiritual beasts she had slain in several bouts.

The last row of crescents had a crude smiley face.

Xie Jingshan smiled knowingly, as if seeing the young Jiang Yuebai standing amidst the corpses of beasts, holding a long spear, covered in blood, joyously laughing.

Xie Jingshan suddenly recalled a passage from "Wangshu’s Diary,"

"Three advances, three retreats, on the fourth trial, I single-handedly fought the Poison Fire Spider swarm, annihilating them, killing the Spider King."

Only at this moment did he gradually comprehend the bittersweet effort and satisfaction hidden behind the plain narrations in "Wangshu’s Diary."

He saw only Jiang Yuebai’s achievements, seeing her move ahead of him time and again, yet never seeing the rugged, arduous road beneath her feet.

"Little Green? Where did you run off to?"

Up ahead came Jiang Yuebai’s voice as Xie Jingshan squeezed out of the mountain wall, seeing Little Green rushing to Jiang Yuebai’s face, its lantern bearing three characters.

[Found Something]