Elsewhere, in an orchard, beneath an apple tree.

Listen.

“Wow, I’m so moved. I finally found something to eat.”

“See, stomach? I told you I’d find food. There you go~”

“Grrr!”

Someone patted their stomach and shouted happily.

And it wasn’t just this one tree.

Looking into the distance...

There were apple trees everywhere, each one laden with bright red apples that looked absolutely delicious.

The person beneath the tree was, of course, Xiaobai, who’d just been forced to leave the battlefield.

It had only taken Xiaobai five minutes to find this orchard, but those minutes had felt like an eternity.

Xiaobai’s stomach thought Xiaobai was lying to it, and it had been making a terrible racket.

But Xiaobai couldn’t argue with it. The facts were right there: Xiaobai really was hungry.

This damn mountain was ridiculously huge and completely useless.

At a normal pace, just wandering around, Xiaobai couldn’t even find a single thing to eat. Not happy at all.

With no other choice, Xiaobai used the utmost speed of the Sword God realm and raced madly in circles around the mountain.

After who knew how many laps, Xiaobai finally found this orchard. It hadn’t been easy.

The whole process had been a little tiring.

But now things were different. Xiaobai had found apples, and energy, vitality, and spirit all came rushing back in an instant.

Tired? Not at all.

Enough talk. Time to get down to business.

Xiaobai pointed a fingertip at a branch, and a blade of sword energy shot out.

The movement was smooth and flowing, all in one seamless motion.

“Crack~”

The branch snapped, and the apple dropped from the tree in a perfect free fall.

Xiaobai had already held both hands out beneath it.

The apple drew closer and closer.

Beneath the tree, Xiaobai’s eyes sparkled with tiny golden stars, and a brilliant smile spread across their face.

However...

“Splat~”

When the apple was just a hair’s breadth from Xiaobai’s hands, a palm struck it to pieces.

“Huh? My apple!”

Xiaobai cried out.

The higher the hopes, the greater the disappointment.

Xiaobai looked ahead. A white Sacred Beast was glaring furiously at them.

“Kitty, you again? Didn’t I tell you not to follow me? You can’t beat me anyway, so what’s the point?”

Xiaobai didn’t understand.

Ever since Xiaobai had called the white Sacred Beast “Kitty” while getting ready to leave a little while ago,

the white Sacred Beast had been following closely behind Xiaobai, despite being covered in wounds.

It stuck to Xiaobai like a shadow and kept glaring furiously the whole time.

If looks could kill, Xiaobai would’ve died a thousand times over by now.

One person and one Sacred Beast stared at each other in silence.

After a long while, the white Sacred Beast still hadn’t answered. So Xiaobai shot another blade of sword energy at a different branch, and another apple dropped straight down.

“Splat~”

This time, it moved even faster. A gust from a palm sent the apple flying away.

It traced a perfect arc before smashing into the ground. What a tragic end.

“You son of a—”

Xiaobai was furious. Was it really that hard to eat one apple?

You’re picking on an honest person here!

Xiaobai snatched up the black sword and swung it hard.

Like some random spectator, the white Sacred Beast had no chance to resist and was sent flying in an instant.

Only after the white Sacred Beast had disappeared from sight did Xiaobai look back at the apples.

Let’s try again.

Xiaobai prepared to release a blade of sword energy.

Time to be extra careful.

Xiaobai turned around.

Nothing. There was nothing there.

Only a gust of wind swept by, making the apple trees rustle.

All clear.

There really wasn’t a problem.

All right, let’s do this.

The third blade of sword energy shot out, just like the first two.

The whole process was still just as perfect.

Xiaobai held out their left hand beneath the apple.

The third apple drew closer and closer to Xiaobai.

The anger in Xiaobai’s heart had long since vanished, replaced by the heartfelt joy of food about to land in their hand.

“Plop~”

The apple landed right in Xiaobai’s palm. This time, nothing went wrong.

Xiaobai patted their chest, looking very pleased.

After going through so much hardship, Xiaobai could finally eat. Just thinking about it made them a little excited.

Xiaobai picked up the apple and opened their mouth.

They were just about to take a bite.

Then a massive source of heat came hurtling down from above the orchard.

A beam of light dropped in an instant, engulfing Xiaobai and the apple in their hand.

A hemispherical explosion erupted around Xiaobai in an instant.

The flash from the explosion was brighter than 10,000 suns. It was blinding.

Anyone with a low level of cultivation who looked at it from nearby could be blinded.

Everything the light touched instantly vaporized.

The apple orchard and everything else had long since been reduced to ashes.

The blast wave overturned the earth, and nearly every tree in the surrounding forest was uprooted.

The air was so scorching that even breathing felt unbearable.

At the very center, a mushroom cloud slowly rose. The earth all around had melted, and the scene looked like hell.

“Creak~”

“Creak~”

A figure slowly emerged.

Not a single part of their clothes was intact, and their hair was a complete mess.

With a vacant stare, the figure looked straight at their left palm. It seemed to be clutching something transparent.

The figure kept muttering:

“Why...”

“Why...”

“I just wanted to eat an apple...”

“Why... though...”

In an instant, an unforgettable, terrifying aura radiated from the figure.

The aura scattered the mushroom cloud that had just risen.

It was tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions of times more intense than the energy released by the explosion of the beam of light.

It brought a terror that struck straight to the depths of the soul.

That aura had a name: despair.