In the interval of time that Xinzi, Xiao Hu and Zi Zuixian got acquainted, Chun Xu rose from the ground, palming her face as she wondered how and why she’d fallen so low. For as long as she could remember, Xinzi had been a thorn in her side. On first meeting, the resonance between their Harmonious Duality Physiques and Void Spiritual Roots lured them towards one another, but it soon became clear that, unlike Chun Xu, Xinzi had no trouble staying in control of these sensations—almost as if his soul or Enlightenment level put him above their bodies’ manipulations.
Chun Xu, however, couldn’t say the same, and had to rely on no end of willpower to keep her impulses at bay. Over time, the blend between the monk’s unabashed persona, his jesting nature and lack of decorum, kindled too much of Chun Xu’s interest—adding to the resonance to, step by step, pull her farther and farther away from Xia Hu. Chun Xu didn’t want to betray Xia Hu, to let all the words and pledges become no better than gibberish, so she tried to salvage the situation by getting rid of Xinzi—ultimately driving herself faster into the fiery pit, and dragging them all down in the process.
Now, Xinzi had turned into an obsession. Xue Lin’s Heart Chasing Immortal Law offered a chance to either cleanse or embrace this obsession. Cleansing it not only made more sense, but would also smoothen Chun Xu’s sword and Dao cultivation. But instead of latching on the opportunity—on yet another moment of impulse—the Sword Fairy chose to embrace the Obsession. Battle-power wise, this choice came with massive benefits. But in the grand scheme of things, it not only made the Sword Fairy’s life more difficult but also ensured that she could never look at Xia Hu in the eyes again.
Worse, from then on, Chun Xu’s cunning brain started devising all kinds of schemes—ways to ensure that she could take ownership of Xinzi’s attention, despite all the hussies that seemed so desperate to crowd his meat. Long, careful plans took shape already—some of them not even sparing Dong Ling, whom Chun Xu loved very much.
“Of ‘fairy,’ I truly only have the name.” Confused and torn between her desires and humanity, Chun Xu said, and wobbled out of the underground room. Her Spiritual Sense spread out, drawing the attention of the White Immortal sect elders, who located her instantly.
‘Strange. First it was Xinzi. Now it is Chun Xu. How can the missing disciples keep popping out of nothingness? Does the Soaring Crane mountain’s Dao Transmitting hall hide a secret room? Even if it did, our Spiritual Senses should have detected it, right?’
‘That seems to be the only explanation. No wonders we can’t find the Nine Paths of Yin and Yang. One of them must have pocketed it already—alongside all of the Soaring Crane mountain’s resources. And if I had to bet on someone, it would be…’ the elder’s voice trailed off, and yet all five of his peers came to the same conclusion.
‘Xinzi! Insufferable. How does that brat keep foiling our plans? More importantly, why is it that he can access a room that our Spiritual Senses cannot locate? Don’t tell me that he was the one that made it inaccessible in the first place!’
‘That’s quite the stretch…’ In the six elders’ eyes, only the late Soaring Crane or other outstanding formation masters of the Nascent Soul stage could have set up a concealing barrier that their eyes couldn’t see through. But at the same time, they had to consider that if Xinzi could see through what they couldn’t, unless he had some immeasurable artifact or innate skill to count on, it was likely that he also had the means to hide what he wanted to from them.
Instantly, their eyes grew cold. Burning Spear supercity aside, there wasn’t a place throughout the Yanzhou Province where a Nascent Soul expert’s appearance wouldn’t command waves of adoration. How dare a measly Qi Refinement junior play tricks on them? Still, it was one thing to feel slighted, another to ignore reality. Even as the Nascent Soul elders exchanged mental messages, they knew that they couldn’t take an aggressive stance with Xinzi, who alongside Chun Xu, represented the future of the Qi Refinement generation. No—with the accomplishment they displayed in the Yin-Yang Sword contest, it was no exaggeration to flat-out call them the future…of the White Immortal sect.
In silence, Chun Xu ambled at the gathering. An increasing number of disciples rose from the ground, shaking their heads as they attempted to figure out what went on. From a distance, Chun Xu spotted Xiao Hu and instinctively stopped dead in her tracks. The Sword Fairy’s appearance didn’t escape our monk. With one grasping motion, Xinzi let his Qi Spiral erupt, unleashing a startling surge of Spiritual Qi that latched on Chun Xu—pulling her towards our monk.
Chun Xu barely had the time to make sense of the pull that she’d landed by Xinzi’s side. The monk’s left arm wrapped around her waist—subsequently cushioning her against his chest.
“You…” Chun Xu prepared to muster a protest, but before the first word left properly, Xinzi leaned in, kissing the leftmost corner of the Sword Fairy’s lips. The abrupt move silenced her protest, and as she blinked in disbelief, our monk flashed her an impish smirk.
“Shush. All four of us have been reunited at last. This is very important to me. Don’t ruin the moment,” Xinzi said, making Chun Xu’s cheeks burn with a mixture of rage and shame. At Xinzi’s back, Xiao Hu fumed as well. Not only did Xinzi dare to act insolently with Chun Xu right under her nose, but she also failed to put up any meaningful resistance. More importantly, Xiao Hu too didn’t feel enough anger. By now, she should have unsheathed her sword and asked the rogue monk for accounts. Instead, she trembled in an odd mix of anxiety and frustration.
Awkwardness settled in, and now exposed to the unusual relationship binding these four characters, Zuixian arched an eyebrow.
“Well…time for me to dip, I guess. Congratulations, Xinzi, you’re about to become the wealthiest man of Dongli at 18. Not bad…I suppose. If you want to spend some of that money on wine, I know just the place. Once I’ve vetted your drinking skills, I might also give you a taste of my Roaming Fairy Wine. Hands down the best brew of Yanzhou’s seven states—satisfied or reimbursed,” Zuixian said, took a sip from his gourd, and walked past Xinzi.
‘Zuixian, what are you talking about? The matriarch wants you to inspect the scene with the utmost scrutiny and bring back critical information. How can you just leave out of the blue—especially after achieving nothing?’ Zuixian’s move triggered the Nascent Soul elders, who immediately assailed him with waves of mental messages.
Their cultivation bases far surpassed Zuixian’s, but regardless, the Nascent Soul elders couldn’t use it to oppress Xinzi, whose status and future achievements were all destined to stand leagues above theirs. Zuixian knew this very well, but as usual, failed to give a damn.
‘You have to be reasonable. I didn’t leave out of the blue. I announced that I was about to dip, and now I am in the process of dipping. As for scrutiny, damn, your cultivation bases and spiritual senses are all way above mine, and you expect me to make sense of what you cannot? Please don’t overestimate my abilities. I’m getting sleepy. Tell aunt that I tried my best.’ That said, the drunken sloth winked at Xiao Hu, broke down into a swirl of water drops, and flew out of the Soaring Crane mountain.
‘Unreliable buffoon!’ Speechless, the Nascent Souls stomped their feet. Behavior like this was the reason why, Zi Yao aside, not many viewed Zuixian and his potential candidacy to the sect leadership in a good light. Talent alone couldn’t make a faction prosper. Structured goals and ambitions had to drive the ship. Zuixian showed none of these, making even the Zi clan elders sigh in disappointment.
“Xinzi…well, this is an awkward thing to ask but…did you by any chance loot this place clean? The Soaring Crane mountain’s resources could be of great use to our sect’s development. I’m sure the leaders won’t mind sharing some of it with you, but you can’t just pocket it all in good conscience, right? The Nine Paths of Yin and Yang especially…”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Since it’s so awkward, you might as well stop mentioning it.” Xinzi didn’t give the elders any face, making their ancient cheeks take the shade of a pink pig’s behind.
At that time, Dong Ling woke up. “A’Xin!” That Xinzi’s face was the first thing that she saw delighted the impetuous snakegirl. But once she saw Chun Xu in his left arm, that delight turned into a whirlwind of fury.
“Hateful Chun Xu! How dare you attempt to exploit my unconsciousness to steal my man? You’ve gone too far! This time, I won’t let you off!” Dong Ling summoned the Lesser Spirit Snake Sword, eager for a fight.
“Ling’er, can you…” Here, the six elders saw in Dong Ling an opportunity to mediate things and bring Xinzi back to reason. Alas, they’d misjudged the situation.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you see that we’re busy? The nerve of you! Get lost! Get lost!” With even less restraint than Xinzi, Dong Ling directly waved the elders off. In usual times, she’d have treated them with more courtesy. But after waking up to her nightmares taking shape, the impetuous snakegirl couldn’t care less.
“Humph!” No longer knowing where to put themselves, the six elders waved their sleeves, and with wild intimidating gestures, flew out of the Soaring Crane mountain—leaving Dong Ling and Chun Xu to duke it out.
Xinzi used this opportunity to collect his invisible loot silently, then sat with five peaches, enjoying the catfight alongside Xiao Hu, who for better or worse, attempted to appease the warring parties.