To Xuefeng's surprise, when he opened his eyes, he found out that they were in the water tunnel and they swam with the current upwards. He couldn't breathe for a moment, but they quickly reached the surface and he inhaled fresh air once again. Reaching out with one hand, he held onto the edge while still hugging the Queen into his embrace with the other, Xuefeng looked at his surroundings.
"Are we in your bathroom?" Xuefeng asked confused when he realised that the Queen actually had the returning entrance to the Holy Land inside her own bathroom. The bathroom looked normal with the only exceptions being the well in the middle of it, which they used to arrive here.
"Yes, it just happens that this is the middle of our Parent Tree. Only the Royal Family can use it, so there is no problem with it being here. Now that you belong to us, maybe you will have a chance to catch me while I'm taking a bath when you come back next time." The Queen explained before she winked at him.
"That wouldn't be half bad. Let's hurry up. Yiren is waiting, right?" Xuefeng commented but unfortunately, he didn't have time to imagine such a scene as he was in a hurry to help Yiren.
The Queen reached down towards his hand which was clutching onto her butt and patted it, saying, "Yes, If you could stop squeezing my butt, I would be able to leave."
"Hah, my bad. It somehow became a habit. Let me help you." Xuefeng laughed wryly and pulled her upwards, before leaving the well himself. The Queen touched him on the chest with her finger, and his clothes which were wet began to dry swiftly.
"Follow me to the Wisdom Tree's cave." The Queen didn't waste any more time and left the bathroom before flying out of the palace using her wings. Xuefeng was curious what had happened and all he could do was to guess that it was connected to his assassination attempt.
"Welcome back, Queen." When they were entering the cave, the guards greeted their Queen and Xuefeng noticed that they were greatly surprised to still see Xuefeng in the Holy Land, but they didn't raise any objections.
Inside the cave, seeing Yiren lying on the altar, Xuefeng turned serious and ran up to her quickly to check her condition. The moment he touched her hand, Ling followed his intentions and used her Fate Qi to treat her. Thanks to the Wisdom Tree, her condition was stable, but if they had delayed their arrival even further, her state could have been direr.
'Welcome back Xuefeng~' Wisdom Tree called out in Xuefeng's mind with her sweet voice. She didn't hide her real voice while talking to him, compared to when she talked with the Queen for example.
'Oh, hey. Thank you for taking care of Yiren, while I was away.' Xuefeng thanked in his mind while he continued to observe Yiren's changing face. Ling worked rapidly and Yiren's physical injuries were quickly healing. He could see her condition improving with each second.
'During the ceremony when you turned into half-elf thanks to this girl's blood, you also connected to her with your spirit. Not only can she feel all of your strong emotions like love or longing but she also shares your pains. If you get badly hurt, her spirit will also sustain injuries. You shouldn't have such problems yourself as you have your friend strengthening your spirit.' Little Meng explained the situation, seeing how much Xuefeng was concerned about Yiren.
'So it was my fault after all? Sigh… Ling, how is she?' Xuefeng sighed and asked Ling who was still sending Fate Qi into Yiren's body.
'I am done healing her body but to treat her spirit, I will have to take a bit of yours to mend the loss in a few places. It would take too much time while only using Fate Qi. Your spirit is much bigger in size compared with others as you are connected to me, so it won't hurt you that much and I will be able to slowly heal you later on.' Ling presented him with a solution.
'Okay, do what you must.' Xuefeng didn't hesitate much and decided in a second. He would not be himself if he didn't help his own women.
In the next moment, Xuefeng felt as if someone stabbed him into the stomach before cutting some flesh as the blade moved inside his body. It was quite an uncomfortable feeling but he tolerated the pain as it was necessary. He didn't expect it to be a pleasant experience. Even after Ling was done and the pain lessened, Xuefeng could still feel throbbing inside his dantian.
It took Ling a minute, but Yiren finally opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Xuefeng's smiling face. She rubbed her eyes still not fully woken up and called out sweetly, "Xuefeng… You came back?"
"Yes, I am here for you. How are you feeling?" Xuefeng asked with a smile while hiding his pain. If Yiren knew he hurt himself to help her she would definitely feel bad.
"I'm actually fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Yiren replied as she sat up. She looked at Xuefeng with longing and hesitated for a second before she threw herself into his arms.
"Did you miss me this much?" Xuefeng asked playfully feeling her tight hug.
Yiren nodded with her head on his shoulder and said with relief, "Mhmm, don't leave anymore."
"Now that your man is here you forgot about your mother, huh?" The Queen called out from the side as she approached them.
"Here. Better?" Xuefeng asked after he reached out and pulled the Queen into his embrace too. She didn't reject and shared his warmth with her daughter. Only the Auntie was alone but she didn't mind and smiled at the scene.
Just as Xuefeng wanted to separate from them, Ling became impatient and called out to him, 'Are you going to keep your promise or you will continue to fool around?'
'Sigh… I was just about to do it… I didn't forget what we talked about earlier. Don't worry.' Xuefeng sighed, assuring her before he said to the ladies, "Let's talk in the palace instead of here."
"Okay. See you later Auntie." Both ladies agreed and they walked out of the cave after they said goodbyes to the Queen's mother.
'I already made a deal with the Wisdom Tree and she will allow you to train your elements in her space. She will make an exception and increase the time inside, so in reality, it will take you ten times less time to train. You only need to ask them to teach you their Elemental Arts and you are set.' Ling informed him about his new training plan before he left the cave.
'I will just follow your plan.' Xuefeng agreed as he didn't have much of a choice. He knew that he can't be this weak anymore and had to step up a notch in his training.
When everyone thought that he fell unconscious earlier, he was actually inside Ling's space. She protected his mind from damage and it also allowed them to have a real talk. Looking at Xuefeng's strength right now, she was actually worried that he wouldn't be able to live in this world for long.
She didn't have much time left to save the Thunder Goddess and if Xuefeng suddenly died, she would have to find someone else to take his place and it would be too late already. Ling wanted him to start taking his training more seriously and only if she managed him, would he progress in no time.
Earlier, she allowed him to slowly grow by himself but that strategy would not work anymore, judging from the recent situation. For a moment, she was happy that such a scene happened as it could act as a wake-up call for Xuefeng which he desperately needed.
In the end, Xuefeng had to promise her that she will be the one to take control of his schedule in the near future and that he will listen to her. He also wanted to be able to protect himself along with everyone around him, and realised that his current lifestyle was not in favour of that.
"So what are your plans now?" When the trio returned to the palace, the Queen asked the question which he himself was still not sure about.
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