At these words, the entire Yuan Luogong was dumbfounded.
He couldn’t help but turn back to look at the door, then at Jiang Zhaoxue: “This… this…”
After thinking for a long time without understanding, he probed, “Is it because he’s your life servant?”
But thinking it over, he felt that wasn’t right and shook his head: “No, that’s not right. The life servant contract doesn’t have this effect. I made a pact with him, so how could I possibly be suppressed by you? Could it be…”
The Yuan Luogong’s eyes slowly widened in disbelief: “The Spirit-Locking Formation?”
The Yuan Luogong guessed correctly.
The life servant contract certainly wouldn’t work—what was effective was the Spirit-Locking Formation.
Back then, she had engraved the Spirit-Locking Formation on a jade token. In the prison, she had handed the token to Pei Zichen, telling him that if he was willing to give her his life, he should stain the token with blood and call her name.
From the moment he summoned her on the cliff, they had already formed the Spirit-Locking Formation. From then on, Pei Zichen became her container for storing divine weapons. She was Pei Zichen’s master, and all divine weapons that acknowledged Pei Zichen as their master were actually acknowledging her as their true master.
But she couldn’t judge the Yuan Luogong’s position well, so she didn’t acknowledge it. She only said, “Things of the Life Master—if you don’t understand, don’t speak carelessly. If you can’t figure it out, don’t try. You only need to know that following me—”
As she spoke, Jiang Zhaoxue’s soul suppression slowly loosened. She rose with her fan, looked down at the Yuan Luogong, and smiled while fanning herself: “Is better for your future than following that boy.”
The Yuan Luogong stared at her blankly. For weapon spirits like them, acknowledging a master was actually most importantly about looking at fortune.
The better a cultivator’s fortune, the more it proved their limitless future. While the woman before him didn’t have the great fortune that Pei Zichen possessed, her fortune was very strange—clearly an overlay of her own fortune with others’ fortunes. Moreover, the Yuan Luogong could even see Pei Zichen’s fortune on her.
“You can intercept others’ fortune?”
The Yuan Luogong examined Jiang Zhaoxue. Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue felt somewhat guilty inside but still showed confidence on her face: “What do you think?”
Hearing this, the Yuan Luogong was shocked. A person’s fortune was innate. The only way to strengthen fortune was to constantly perform good deeds and accumulate virtue. If one could intercept others’ fortunes and continuously stack them, one would sooner or later become the person with the strongest fortune.
Moreover… once a weapon spirit formed a pact, they would be sensed by the master’s soul and then suppressed by it. The stronger a cultivator’s soul, the greater their suppression over them.
Jiang Zhaoxue was a Unity Realm cultivator—her soul power was far stronger than Pei Zichen’s. Although he didn’t know how she had formed a pact with him, Jiang Zhaoxue’s threat to him was much greater than Pei Zichen’s.
Thinking it through from all angles, the Yuan Luogong instantly made his decision. He immediately kowtowed to the ground, sincerely and earnestly shouting aloud: “Greetings, Master!”
“Good.”
Seeing the Yuan Luogong so sensible, Jiang Zhaoxue smiled and tapped his head with her fan as a reward. Then she walked back to her original position and said leisurely, “Since you’ve recognized who the master is, you must know whose side to stand on in the future. First tell me, what’s your name?”
“Yuanluo.”
Weapon spirits were generally named the same as their magical artifacts. Jiang Zhaoxue nodded: “I heard you were transformed from Haocang Shenjun’s bones and sinews?”
“That’s right!” At this mention, Yuanluo immediately became proud.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue was somewhat confused: “Then logically, your body should carry Haocang Shenjun’s divine power. Why has Pei Zichen only reached Core Formation after you’ve been in his body for four years?”
At these words, Yuanluo’s face instantly fell: “You can’t blame me for this—blame him.”
“How so?”
“He refuses to take my power.”
As soon as Yuanluo spoke, Jiang Zhaoxue frowned, finding it quite strange: “What do you mean?”
“Oh, because the source of power he cultivates is different from mine. The power circulating in his body… according to your terminology, it’s called spiritual power? But I’m different. My power is drawn from everything in heaven and earth—the power generated by human hearts, the power generated by nature, mountains and rivers, sun and moon and stars. As long as it’s power in this world, I absorb it all.”
“Even resentment?” Jiang Zhaoxue immediately understood.
Yuanluo nodded: “Exactly. Moreover, the power from ordinary living beings nowadays is a bit strange—not pure enough. I don’t absorb impure power, so now I only absorb the power of human hearts and the natural power born from mountains, rivers, sun and moon. But I haven’t taken much power from ordinary living beings for many years.”
“Not pure?” Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue felt it strange. “What does that mean?”
“It’s just… in what you call spiritual power, I feel something is mixed in. I don’t know what it is, so I don’t dare absorb it rashly.”
As Yuanluo spoke, Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart grew heavy.
She roughly understood why Pei Zichen refused to accept Yuanluo’s power.
Because Yuanluo’s explanation was precisely the core difference between the True Immortal Realm and the Jiuyou Realm.
The power source of the True Immortal Realm was spiritual power. Spiritual power was generated by all living beings and in turn nourished all things. Without spiritual power, all plants would wither and all living beings would perish. All cultivators used spiritual energy as their foundation of power, drawing it into their bodies and transforming it into spiritual power for cultivation.
But the Jiuyou Realm was different. The Jiuyou Realm believed that everything in the world was power, especially what was generated by human hearts—resentment, obsession, joy, and love were all their offerings. Moreover, the Jiuyou Realm even advocated entering the path with a ghost body, as soul bodies could absorb these products of human hearts to a greater degree. Cultivating from a soul body, when the soul body could condense into a physical form, one would become a great power among ghost cultivators.
Feeding on human thoughts, power increased far faster than cultivation with spiritual energy. However, one’s Dao heart would easily be disturbed by human thoughts, gradually losing one’s original heart and becoming a shell puppet under these human desires.
In the past, the True Immortal Realm had once allowed this cultivation method. In the end, most went mad and insane, and often caused disasters due to their immense power, so it was expressly prohibited. Later, after the Jiuyou Realm was born, this cultivation method became even more a mark of demonic cultivation—to be killed on sight.
The True Immortal Realm often had such cultivators taking shortcuts. Every year, Lingjian Immortal Pavilion had to deal with quite a few. How could Pei Zichen, from an orthodox sword cultivation background, possibly accept this cultivation method?
No wonder the Pei Zichen in the book eventually went to the Jiuyou Realm. If he accepted the Yuan Luogong, he would definitely have to walk the cultivation path of the Jiuyou Realm, and the True Immortal Realm wouldn’t tolerate him.
“But you’re not a demonic creature,” Jiang Zhaoxue thought, somewhat confused. “You’re leading him down this path—aren’t you afraid that using human hearts as a power source will ultimately make him controlled by human desires?”
“If one could be controlled by human desires, could they become a god?” The Yuan Luogong sneered coldly. “I am originally a divine weapon. A so-called divine weapon is meant for gods to use. Those who would become gods must have a Dao heart unshaken by external forces. If mere human desires could drive them mad and insane, how could they occupy a divine position and rule over all beings? Using those ignorant plants and living beings as a power source is because one’s Dao heart is unstable and cannot withstand trials, so one walks the so-called path of immortal cultivation. But the master I want not only needs to ascend to immortality—he must become the master of all beings, a god of this world. How can he be so weak?”
“By your logic,” Jiang Zhaoxue found this interpretation interesting, “these demonic cultivators are actually going against the current, seeds for becoming gods, while we spiritual energy cultivators are taking shortcuts?”
“Cultivation methods have no good or evil. So-called demonic cultivation is just your people’s terminology.”
“But what if they only have power without a Dao heart, killing innocents without limits?”
“Have you ever seen any cultivator with only power ascend?” Yuanluo countered. Jiang Zhaoxue paused.
Only then did she realize that over all these years, those evil demonic cultivators, no matter how strong, had never ascended.
They either died from joint suppression by many, or died from inner demons during advancement, or from heavenly lightning.
“What you see as impure power is, in my eyes, itself a way for them to cultivate their hearts. If they can’t cultivate it, they die. I don’t understand Pei Zichen’s resistance to me. Can you persuade him?”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue lightly tapped her fan handle with her fingers.
After speaking, Yuanluo realized that as Jiang Zhaoxue’s divine weapon, he perhaps didn’t need to care so much about Pei Zichen. He quickly coughed lightly and said, “Um, I’m just seeing that Master cares so much about Pei Zichen, I thought Master hopes Pei Zichen will become stronger quickly.”
“Correct.”
Jiang Zhaoxue looked up at him and said calmly, “My expectation of you is to make him become stronger quickly.”
“That’s easy then!” Hearing this, the Yuan Luogong became happy and quickly said, “As long as Master can convince him to accept my power and cultivate according to my method, then we can follow the Su Guangji to find Lingxu and Zhanshen. With us major divine weapons together, helping him become a god would be no problem!”
“After becoming a god,” Jiang Zhaoxue probed, “will my life servant contract still exist?”
“Definitely.” The Yuan Luogong reassured Jiang Zhaoxue. “Even gods must be bound by what they promise to heaven. If you’re not at ease, just set up another Spirit-Locking Formation. With the Spirit-Locking Formation in place, even if Pei Zichen becomes a god, he must still be bound by Master.”
Hearing the Yuan Luogong’s words, Jiang Zhaoxue looked up at him.
She guessed the Yuan Luogong had probably already guessed she used the Spirit-Locking Formation but didn’t dare confirm it, so he could only hint indirectly to reassure her.
But these words couldn’t reassure her.
However, it didn’t matter—she wouldn’t let Pei Zichen reach the point of becoming a god anyway.
She didn’t respond to Yuanluo but changed the topic, continuing to ask, “You said to follow the Su Guangji to find the Lingxu Fan and Zhanshen Sword—how do we find them?”
“When you returned, Su Guang came to find us.”
As Yuanluo spoke, he took out a mirror fragment from his sleeve and sent it forward. It landed steadily in Jiang Zhaoxue’s hand.
Jiang Zhaoxue received the mirror fragment and felt it was somewhat warm.
She took out her own piece—it was also somewhat warm.
A’Nan made an “eh” sound and couldn’t help saying, “It’s glowing!”
“It scattered itself throughout various spacetimes. As long as you follow it, you can find us. Now that it’s glowing, it proves that either Lingxu or Zhanshen—one of them must be nearby.”
Yuanluo explained, then said, “You can try putting them together.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue fumbled to piece the two mirror fragments together.
The moment they joined, Jiang Zhaoxue immediately felt the restriction suppressing her spiritual power loosen considerably. The spiritual power she could use instantly reached Nascent Soul.
“What’s happening?” She immediately asked, “The portion of spiritual power I can use suddenly increased to Nascent Soul.”
“Because you and Pei Zichen were brought here by it. The greater your power, the more energy it needs to expend to support you. So when it’s weak, you’re also restricted accordingly. The stronger Su Guang is, the more spiritual power you can use. When you’ve found all of us and Su Guang is complete, you’ll also be able to return.”
“This good?” Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue smiled. “As long as we find it, we can obtain divine weapons and then return—I’ll definitely do such a good deal. But why does it want to find you all?”
Jiang Zhaoxue asked in confusion. Yuanluo frowned: “I don’t know either. You’d have to ask it.”
But the Su Guangji had already shattered into fragments, and its weapon spirit had fallen into slumber. No one could say clearly why it had come.
Fortunately, this answer would be known sooner or later. Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t make things difficult for Yuanluo, only saying, “I understand. So what I need to do now is find the divine weapon in this small world under the Su Guangji’s guidance. Can you sense where the divine weapon is in this spacetime?”
“I can’t sense it.”
Yuanluo shook his head: “Su Guang and Xunshi are Shenjun’s eyes. Only they can see us. Lingxu, Zhanshen, and I can only sense each other when we’re very close.”
“Tch.” Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t help feeling somewhat disdainful. “What useless things.”
As she spoke, voices came from outside. Yuanluo immediately grew nervous and quickly said, “Pei Zichen is here!”
“I know.”
Jiang Zhaoxue spoke lazily. With a lift of her finger, a strand of light fell into Yuanluo’s body.
Yuanluo was stunned, then heard Jiang Zhaoxue explain: “This is the Word-Binding Curse. If you reveal even one word of what you learned today, you’ll immediately be burned to death by true fire.”
“You…”
Yuanluo’s eyes widened, but before the words “poisonous woman” could leave his mouth, he heard Jiang Zhaoxue smile and say, “I can’t trust you. But rest assured, for now our interests align—we both want Pei Zichen to become stronger. Just pretend today never happened. As for the Jiuyou Realm’s cultivation methods—”
As soon as Jiang Zhaoxue spoke, she realized there was no Jiuyou Realm yet. Yuanluo probably didn’t know what she was talking about either. She corrected herself: “Your cultivation method—I’ll find a way to make him accept it. When the time comes, you’ll cooperate with me. I’ll be responsible for making him learn, and you’ll be responsible for teaching. If there’s anything, use the Word-Binding Curse I left in your body to communicate with me directly. He won’t discover it.”
With that, Jiang Zhaoxue raised her hand and beckoned: “Return.”
Yuanluo followed the force from her hand and slid back into the Yuan Luogong.
Hearing the footsteps, Jiang Zhaoxue took out her communication jade token. With a swipe of her hand, it was full of messages from Shen Yuqing, instantly exploding.
“Jiang Zhaoxue, are you alright?”
Annoying. Next message.
“Jiang Zhaoxue, I know the Su Guangji shattered. To return, you must gather all the Su Guangji fragments. I’ve come to search for Su Guangji fragments on Master’s orders. If you want to return, travel with me…”
Even more annoying. Next message.
“Jiang Zhaoxue, our marriage concerns both sects’ dignity…”
Is there no end? Next message.
“Jiang Zhaoxue,” Shen Yuqing seemed to have pondered for a long time before saying with difficulty, “I was somewhat impulsive in my words that day. I’d like to speak with you face to face. We’ve been husband and wife for two hundred years…”
“Master’s Wife.”
Before Shen Yuqing could finish speaking, Pei Zichen appeared at the doorway. Jiang Zhaoxue pretended she had been listening to the transmission all along and stopped Shen Yuqing’s voice in time, looking up and saying, “You’re back?”
“Yes.”
Pei Zichen stood respectfully outside the door, eyes lowered to look at the ground: “Disciple has already used the name of helping Li Xiuji find his relatives to contact Li Xiuji’s parents through Tianji Academy’s branch offices. There should be news within half a month.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue nodded without saying more.
The two stood and sat, Jiang Zhaoxue remaining silent, only intermittently tapping the armrest.
That sound seemed to strike at Pei Zichen’s heart. He couldn’t help but look up, his gaze falling on the still-glowing communication jade token in Jiang Zhaoxue’s hand.
After a long while, Jiang Zhaoxue seemed to finally make a decision and softly called him: “Come in and talk.”
Pei Zichen stepped into the room and sat properly to one side. Jiang Zhaoxue thought for a moment and said, “I just examined this bow. This is a divine weapon. If you obtained its power, you wouldn’t be limited to just Core Formation. You didn’t take it?”
Hearing this, Pei Zichen reacted and immediately said, “Master’s Wife, this is an evil object. Its power is suited to Jiuyou Realm’s cultivation methods. Disciple cannot practice them.”
“Isn’t that a pity?”
“Not really a pity,” Pei Zichen said seriously. “It has the ability to block spiritual power prying and break through space. I used a formation to connect it with my sword, so I can freely split open space within a hundred li.”
You’re quite something.
Jiang Zhaoxue now understood why, without accepting the Yuan Luogong’s power, he could split open space at the Core Formation stage and escape with her right under Shen Yuqing’s nose.
“But such powerful strength—you’re not tempted?” Jiang Zhaoxue probed. “Different cultivation methods…”
“Disciple will never practice Jiuyou Realm’s cultivation methods.”
Pei Zichen spoke very decisively.
Jiang Zhaoxue was stunned, realizing Pei Zichen’s attitude probably couldn’t be easily persuaded. She coughed lightly and simply changed the subject: “Fine, it’s your divine weapon anyway. Let’s talk about the main matter—I roughly understand what’s going on with this Su Guangji now.”
Jiang Zhaoxue roughly explained the relationship between the Su Guangji fragments and the divine weapons. Then she took out the mirror fragment from her sleeve and handed it to Pei Zichen: “The third fragment should be in the capital. Take it with you these days and go out more. If you discover anything unusual, immediately return and tell me.”
Receiving these words, Pei Zichen took the Su Guangji. Jiang Zhaoxue continued, “Shen Yuqing probably can’t sense the Su Guangji’s presence, so before, he always waited until I used the Su Guangji to appear. But the Xunshi Mirror should be able to sense divine weapons. When you search for fragments, you must be careful.”
“Disciple understands.”
After Pei Zichen responded, Jiang Zhaoxue waved her hand: “You may go. Since I’m staying at your place recently, go out and check the situation. If things aren’t too tense,” Jiang Zhaoxue smiled, “take me out to have some fun?”
Hearing this, Pei Zichen was stunned. Then his eyes couldn’t help but show some amusement as he said softly, “Yes.”
After discussing the main matters, Pei Zichen took Jiang Zhaoxue to familiarize herself with the room’s environment. Then, together with Li Xiuji, the three of them spent the day playing in the courtyard.
Fearing Jiang Zhaoxue would be bored, he read storybooks to her while teaching Li Xiuji to recognize characters. Li Xiuji learned quickly, practically having a photographic memory. So Pei Zichen instructed him, “If I’m not home in a few days, you’ll read books to the Female Sovereign, understand?”
Li Xiuji quickly nodded and immediately gave Pei Zichen a dramatic demonstration.
Jiang Zhaoxue listened as Li Xiuji read in a recitation-like voice: “The young lady’s heart was in turmoil, her eyes full of autumn ripples. With a delicate fist, she lightly tapped the young master’s chest—you’re naughty, you’re so very naughty…”
Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Pei Zichen felt somewhat embarrassed and quickly snatched Li Xiuji’s book away, saying seriously, “You’re only allowed to read ‘Record of the Little Stone Pond.'”
Hearing this, Li Xiuji seemed a bit unwilling: “Fine.”
Listening, Pei Zichen patiently taught for a while longer. Jiang Zhaoxue sat beside them listening to their lesson, finding it more interesting than listening to stories.
When evening came, Li Xiuji grew drowsy from Pei Zichen’s reading. As Pei Zichen recited the story of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, he nestled in Pei Zichen’s arms and began snoring softly.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue reminded Pei Zichen, “Is he asleep?”
Pei Zichen paused, looking down at the child in his arms. As if just realizing something, he said hurriedly, “Master’s Wife, Xiuji is asleep. I’ll take him back first. If Master’s Wife needs any help, please instruct this disciple.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue nodded and waved her hand: “Go ahead.”
As he stood up, he seemed somewhat hesitant. But after thinking for a long while, he finally nodded and said, “Master’s Wife, I’ll take my leave first.”
With that, he carried Li Xiuji, bowed, and departed.
After he left, A’Nan spoke up: “The moment Li Xiuji closed his eyes, he glanced at him. He knew long ago he was asleep—he just wanted to stay here!”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue paused, then couldn’t help but laugh: “He’s quite calculating.”
Seeing her still thinking, A’Nan thought for a moment and probed, “Do you really want him to cultivate Jiuyou Realm methods?”
“What else?”
Jiang Zhaoxue glanced at her and said, “If he doesn’t cultivate Jiuyou Realm methods, he can’t inherit the divine weapons’ power. If I wait for him to cultivate on his own, when will I be able to leave? The biggest problem with Jiuyou Realm cultivation is that it’s easy to go mad. But he’s the male lead—in the book, he never went mad in the end. What’s there to worry about?”
“But…” A’Nan struggled and reminded her, “If he learns Jiuyou Realm cultivation methods, he’ll never be able to stay in the True Immortal Realm again.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue’s fan stopped. She thought for a moment, then laughed: “Why worry about that? After we leave the Su Guangji, once he’s gathered the three great divine weapons, he might be close to the Great Ascension stage. Then I’ll just open the Spirit-Locking Formation and use his cultivation to nourish the Tianji Lingyu.”
With that, Jiang Zhaoxue said with feigned indifference, “As long as I move fast enough, who will discover he cultivated Jiuyou Realm methods? When I extract his cultivation to nourish the divine weapon and he becomes a mortal again, even if he wants to cultivate, he’ll have to start from scratch. It won’t affect him—no one will discover it.”
“You’re still letting him cultivate from scratch?” A’Nan was somewhat surprised. “After you take his cultivation to nourish the divine weapon, you two will be enemies. You won’t eliminate the threat completely but will give him another chance to cultivate? Are you looking for death?”
“I’m just speaking casually.” Jiang Zhaoxue felt somewhat irritated by A’Nan’s words and glared at her: “Just focus on the present. You’re really quite nagging.”
“Fine, then tell me—how do you plan to handle the present?” A’Nan refused to back down. “With him looking like he’ll never compromise with the Jiuyou Realm, how do you plan to make him cultivate Jiuyou Realm methods?”
“He’s been raised by Lingjian Immortal Pavilion since childhood and hates evil with a passion. It’s normal for him not to want to become a demonic cultivator. But people’s bottom lines are broken down step by step. Lingjian Immortal Pavilion has four thousand rules—we’ll break them one by one. Once breaking the bottom line becomes a habit, we’ll find an opportunity to push him a bit…”
Jiang Zhaoxue calculated in her mind: “It’s only a matter of time.”
Thinking of the bright future ahead, Jiang Zhaoxue was quite pleased. She lay down on the bed and mused, “Starting tomorrow, we’ll smash Lingjian Immortal Pavilion’s rules to smithereens!”
“Great!” A’Nan also grew excited, then asked, “Do you remember Lingjian Immortal Pavilion’s rules?”
This question stumped Jiang Zhaoxue.
She suddenly realized that although she had often been punished by copying the rules over the past two hundred years, every time she got angry and slammed the table, Shen Yuqing would scold her a few times and let it go.
She truly didn’t remember what those four thousand rules actually were.
But it didn’t matter—whatever Pei Zichen resisted was definitely forbidden by Lingjian Immortal Pavilion.
She had confidence!
Jiang Zhaoxue drowsily closed her eyes and fell asleep.
At midnight, when the wind blew out the candles, Pei Zichen once again passed through the wall and came to her bedside.
Jiang Zhaoxue slept soundly. Pei Zichen looked down at her, his gaze moving to the constantly glowing communication jade token.
He stared at the communication token for a long time before finally closing his eyes.
Jiang Zhaoxue slept through the night. When she woke early the next morning, Pei Zichen helped her wash up and eat breakfast, then instructed her to stay in the courtyard and told Li Xiuji to look after her.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhaoxue sighed and instructed, “Get a few storybooks and come here.”
Hearing this, Pei Zichen was somewhat confused. He took some storybooks and walked before Jiang Zhaoxue. Sensing him approach, Jiang Zhaoxue commanded, “Kneel down.”
Pei Zichen knelt on one knee before Jiang Zhaoxue. He watched as she fumbled and reached out her hand. Pei Zichen was stunned, not yet reacting, when he felt Jiang Zhaoxue touch his forehead, then bend down and press her forehead against his.
Pei Zichen stiffened, then felt his soul being pulled away, appearing in Jiang Zhaoxue’s consciousness sea.
Seeing him enter, Jiang Zhaoxue extended her hand toward him: “Give me the books. Did you really want Li Xiuji to read to me all day?”
Pei Zichen came to his senses and hurriedly stepped forward, handing the books to Jiang Zhaoxue respectfully: “It’s this disciple’s lack of consideration.”
Taking the storybooks, Jiang Zhaoxue flipped through them, then said, “From now on, you can give me things this way. Don’t lecture me about propriety. Remember—you’re my life servant first, a disciple of Lingjian Immortal Pavilion second.”
Listening, Pei Zichen slowly responded, “Disciple understands.”
“Bring me more interesting things. Don’t shortchange me.”
Jiang Zhaoxue flipped through the storybooks and waved her hand: “You may go.”
Pei Zichen raised his hand in salute. As he withdrew, Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly said, “Remember to bring me some erotic picture books. If they’re not explicit enough, I won’t read them.”
Hearing this, Pei Zichen’s soul nearly flew away in fright.
His face instantly turned bright red. Beside him, Li Xiuji asked in surprise, “Brother, what’s wrong? Why is your face so red?”
“Nothing.”
Pei Zichen spoke in a panic, then quickly bowed and left.
After he left, A’Nan couldn’t help saying, “Wasn’t that shock a bit too much?”
“Not really.” Jiang Zhaoxue suppressed her laughter. “To break down bottom lines, of course you have to use any means necessary.”
As Jiang Zhaoxue spoke, Li Xiuji outside saw her smile and thought for a moment, somewhat confused: “Big Sister, what were you just doing with Brother?”
“Me?”
Jiang Zhaoxue turned to look at Li Xiuji. After thinking, she explained in terms Li Xiuji could understand: “I was letting his soul enter my brain.”
“Soul entering the brain? Why would it enter the brain? Can I enter too?”
“You can’t.” Jiang Zhaoxue flipped through the storybook in her consciousness sea, saying leisurely, “Only people who’ve made soul-related contracts with me can enter my consciousness sea by touching foreheads.”
“Soul-related contracts? What contracts?” Li Xiuji blinked.
Jiang Zhaoxue patiently explained: “Usually, it’s a Dao Companion Contract. But if you meet a Life Master, you can make a Life Servant Contract. If you meet a demon cultivator, you can make a Shared Heart Contract. If you’re a demon cultivator or weapon spirit yourself and acknowledge them as master, that works too. Unfortunately,” Jiang Zhaoxue smiled, “you’re just an ordinary person. Even if you cultivate, you probably won’t meet a Life Master in this lifetime. At most, you’ll just make a Dao Companion Contract.”
“So are Brother and Big Sister Dao Companions?” Li Xiuji asked curiously, then immediately said, “No, that’s not right—he calls you Master’s Wife.”
“He’s my life servant.”
“What about his master?”
“Dead.”
With Li Xiuji around, though he talked a lot, the day passed quickly.
During the day, Pei Zichen would go handle affairs for Tianji Academy while also investigating the situation everywhere. At noon, he would return to cook. In the evening, he would bring back gifts, and after coaxing Li Xiuji to sleep, he would bring the gifts into Jiang Zhaoxue’s soul to hand them over.
For the first two days, Pei Zichen was still somewhat reserved, but within days, he adapted smoothly without a trace of awkwardness.
This composure made Jiang Zhaoxue feel that she wasn’t breaking down Pei Zichen’s bottom line—rather, Pei Zichen seemed to have no bottom line regarding this matter.
But thinking Pei Zichen wasn’t that kind of person, she could only understand it as: from the moment Pei Zichen accepted being a life servant, this was inevitable, so it couldn’t really be called a bottom line.
So Jiang Zhaoxue began having him bring many items forbidden by Lingjian Immortal Pavilion—from alcohol to erotic pictures to various explicit books.
Pei Zichen obediently brought them back, somewhat reserved each time he handed them to her.
This made Jiang Zhaoxue feel one step closer to success. But when she secretly summoned the Yuan Luogong at night to inquire, Yuanluo told him with a dejected expression, “It’s useless. His mind is perfectly steady. He doesn’t even flip through the erotic pictures he brings you.”
Pei Zichen’s composure left Jiang Zhaoxue feeling extremely frustrated.
Her depressed appearance left Pei Zichen somewhat at a loss. The next day, after thinking it over, he probed, “Master’s Wife, do you want to go out?”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhaoxue turned back in surprise. “We can go out? Has Shen Yuqing calmed down?”
“Master asked Tianji Academy to search the city thoroughly.” Pei Zichen stated honestly. “The critical period should be over now. If Master’s Wife wants to go out, we can go in disguise. Moreover…” Pei Zichen thought carefully, “Disciple has been carrying the Su Guangji around the entire city these days, but it hasn’t changed at all. Disciple also wants Master’s Wife to check the situation—I fear that being young, I lack experience and may have overlooked something.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue was delighted: “Wonderful!”
Seeing her smile, Pei Zichen went to prepare. After disguising himself, he had Jiang Zhaoxue put on her disguise treasure, then also wear a veil.
Then the two took Li Xiuji along, pretending to be a family of three going out.
“Master’s Wife, the Yuan Luogong can block spiritual power detection. Over these years, I’ve relied on this to escape from Master’s notice several times. Although Master’s Wife has a treasure to conceal her appearance, I’m still afraid of accidents. Along the way, I must hold Master’s Wife’s hand to transfer the Yuan Luogong’s ability to her through spiritual power, just to be safe.”
By blocking spiritual power detection, Shen Yuqing could only see what appeared on the surface and couldn’t use spiritual power to see through the disguise to their true faces.
Jiang Zhaoxue understood Pei Zichen’s meaning. Actually, as long as Pei Zichen was beside her, she could share his magical artifacts. But she didn’t want Pei Zichen to realize this, so she smiled and said, “Alright.”
Hearing this, Pei Zichen lowered his eyes and held her hand.
The moment he grasped her hand, Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly felt a sense of familiarity surge up. However, before she could think much about it, she felt Pei Zichen’s spiritual power flowing in, and her vision gradually cleared.
Jiang Zhaoxue knew Pei Zichen was sharing what he could see with her. Not having seen anything for so long, Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly felt quite happy.
Although separated by a veil, Pei Zichen still sensed her joy and smiled: “Where would the Female Sovereign like to go?”
“Me?”
Jiang Zhaoxue thought for a moment. A location surfaced in her mind, and she turned back with a smile: “Let’s go to the Qing…”
Before she finished speaking, Jiang Zhaoxue suddenly saw a small child at her feet. She swallowed her words and could only say, “Let’s go to a gambling house.”
“A gambling house?”
Pei Zichen frowned. Jiang Zhaoxue smiled and became serious: “You’ve searched the entire city but can’t find the Su Guangji, which proves the thing is hidden in a space you can’t approach. Where divine weapons emerge, there must be strange phenomena—like that vengeful spirit in Taizhou City. Her appearance there was not unrelated to the Yuan Luogong. So we need to inquire and see if there have been any strange incidents.”
“I can check the case files at Tianji Academy.”
“We should certainly check the case files.” Jiang Zhaoxue pulled him forward. Pei Zichen held Li Xiuji while being led by Jiang Zhaoxue, listening as she said, “But what gets reported to Tianji Academy are demon and evil spirit disturbances with requests to eliminate them. But if it’s human wrongdoing—”
Jiang Zhaoxue smiled and glanced at Pei Zichen, who immediately understood.
Only demon-caused harm would be reported to Tianji Academy. The spaces he couldn’t access must be wealthy households or even the imperial palace.
If such people committed evil, it would never be reported to Tianji Academy.
“The Female Sovereign’s consideration is thorough.”
Pei Zichen spoke softly. He always called her Female Sovereign when going out.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t notice his change in address, completely captivated by the mortal realm. Not having been out for fun in so long, she pulled Pei Zichen and hurried toward a food stall, saying excitedly, “Quick, quick, quick! I want to eat these sweet rice balls!”
Hearing her excitement, Pei Zichen couldn’t help but smile and led her to the stall to eat sweet rice balls.
Once Jiang Zhaoxue started eating, she couldn’t stop. She wandered everywhere buying things, with Pei Zichen following behind while holding her hand.
“In the four years I’ve known you, this is the first time I’ve seen you so happy.”
Yuanluo’s voice rang in Pei Zichen’s mind, reminding him through gritted teeth, “Beautiful women are all poisonous. I’m afraid you won’t even have time to cry later.”
“Senior Yuanluo,” Pei Zichen lowered his eyes while paying, saying softly, “If you slander the Female Sovereign again, we’ll have to settle accounts starting from four years ago.”
Hearing this, Yuanluo immediately shut up.
The image of him nearly shattering was vivid in his mind. Yuanluo took a deep breath and only said, “You’ll definitely come slap yourself and apologize to me later!”
Pei Zichen didn’t respond, only suddenly felt Jiang Zhaoxue’s steps slow and her grip on his hand tighten.
Pei Zichen looked up and saw Shen Yuqing approaching with Mu Jinyue in the distance.
Enemies on a narrow path.
Seeing the approaching people, Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t dare speak, much less transmit her voice spiritually.
Transmitting spiritually before Shen Yuqing would immediately make him sense spiritual power fluctuations. Everyone here was mortal—Shen Yuqing might not necessarily notice them in the crowd, but if there were spiritual power fluctuations, he would definitely discover them instantly.
Meeting him at such close range, Jiang Zhaoxue felt somewhat afraid and instantly regretted today’s decision to go out.
But she couldn’t hide forever. Who could have imagined being so unlucky—going out just once and running into him? Did he patrol the streets every day?
She cursed in her mind but didn’t speak outwardly, pretending to be calm while eight hundred contingency plans flashed through her brain for if they were recognized.
But Pei Zichen glanced up at Shen Yuqing once, seemingly long accustomed to this. He tightened his grip on Jiang Zhaoxue’s hand, as if to comfort her, then turned to Li Xiuji and said, “Xiuji, Father will take you to eat wontons.”
With that, he calmly led Jiang Zhaoxue forward, and the three of them passed Shen Yuqing openly and naturally.
The moment they passed, Jiang Zhaoxue’s heart nearly leaped out. She suddenly admired Pei Zichen somewhat.
For four years, he had been playing this cat-and-mouse game with Shen Yuqing.
How thrilling.
Fortunately, Shen Yuqing indeed didn’t notice.
After the three passed Shen Yuqing, Jiang Zhaoxue instinctively wanted to walk away quickly. Pei Zichen immediately raised his hand to embrace her shoulder, restraining her pace, saying gently, “Let’s look at this hairpin.”
Jiang Zhaoxue didn’t speak and followed Pei Zichen to a nearby hairpin stall.
Almost simultaneously, Shen Yuqing stopped and turned back, following his instinct to look at that family of three.
That family of three actually bore no resemblance to Jiang Zhaoxue and Pei Zichen. The Shared Heart Contract also sensed no trace of Jiang Zhaoxue’s presence. Yet he still couldn’t help but look, seeing the husband gently lift the woman’s veil and place a hairpin on her. The child beside them clapped: “Mother looks beautiful! Buy this one!”
“Master?”
Seeing Shen Yuqing dazed, Mu Jinyue spoke in confusion, glancing in the direction of Shen Yuqing’s gaze and couldn’t help saying, “Why are you looking at that couple?”
Hearing the word “couple,” Shen Yuqing’s heart settled.
It was impossible. Even if they were hiding from him, they couldn’t possibly pretend to be husband and wife, much less have such a large child.
Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t do such a thing. And even if Jiang Zhaoxue could, Pei Zichen couldn’t.
Four years had passed since the cliff fall. He had also calmed down and realized that although Jiang Zhaoxue had concealed things back then, she and Pei Zichen absolutely had no illicit relationship.
Over these four years, he had thought countless times: if only he had been calmer then and explained Pei Zichen’s identity as Heaven’s Abandoned to Jiang Zhaoxue clearly instead of testing her. Or if he hadn’t deliberately used Mu Jinyue’s communication token to agree to dinner with her. Or if…
If only he could have been more candid, Jiang Zhaoxue wouldn’t have reached the point of dissolving their Dao Companion Contract and jumping off the cliff with Pei Zichen.
He couldn’t act on emotion anymore. The time in the Su Guangji was his only chance to stabilize things with Jiang Zhaoxue.
Once they returned and Jiang Zhaoyue learned Jiang Zhaoxue had dissolved the Dao Companion Contract with him, Jiang Zhaoyue would undoubtedly take her away without hesitation.
Thinking of this possibility, Shen Yuqing’s heart trembled. He closed his eyes to steady himself, then turned and said, “Let’s go.”
Hearing this, Mu Jinyue followed Shen Yuqing and asked anxiously, “Master, where exactly are we going? Why aren’t we continuing the search?”
“We won’t find them.” Shen Yuqing said calmly. “Pei Zichen evaded me for four years, proving he has means to avoid me. With your Master’s Wife’s return, he’s even more empowered—finding them is impossible.”
“Then what do we do?” Mu Jinyue frowned. “Master, we’ve already been here for four years…”
“Our task is to retrieve the Su Guangji and obtain the divine weapon born with it. For this, waiting even hundreds of years is acceptable.” Shen Yuqing’s tone was calm. “And if they want to return, they must also find the Su Guangji fragments and the companion divine weapon. So there’s no need to search for them anymore—we’ll find the divine weapon and wait for them to come to us.”