Qin Lingxiao’s visit wasn’t to engage in a major conflict with Xiaoxiao.

Last time, under urgent circumstances, he had been forced to use this strategy as a last resort, betraying Xiaoxiao.

After returning, he naturally conducted a secret investigation with his father, angrily asking what exactly his relationship with Lord Can was.

Qin He was also pushed to the wall by his son and finally revealed the secret that he had once been in mortal danger and relied on Lord Can’s blood to sustain his life.

Once using Lord Can’s blood, there was no escape. Qin said he was also forced into becoming Lord Can’s minion.

Of course, Qin He’s words were half-true and half-false, but his reliance on Lord Can’s blood for survival was true.

Now that Lord Can had suddenly “died,” Qin He’s inner anxiety was greater than his son’s. Because he hadn’t received any news and didn’t know whether Lord Can’s death was real or fake.

However, Senior Brother’s tragic death was real because those remaining palm fragments from the prince’s mansion couldn’t be faked. This made Qin He uneasy, suspecting he had become an abandoned pawn like Senior Brother.

Helplessly, he could only tell his son about his current predicament—if he couldn’t obtain Lord Can’s blood to sustain his life on time, what should he do?

Although Qin Lingxiao hated his father for colluding with Lord Can, he was still his father after all. How could he watch him die from blood loss?

Since Lord Can couldn’t be found now, there was only one method—using a Demon Pearl to sustain life.

Although being attached by a Demon Pearl might ultimately result in being controlled by it, with Father’s cultivation, he could hold out for some time.

This would give him time to figure out a way to completely save his father.

At least he had lived again. If he watched his father die before his eyes again, what would be the meaning of his soul’s transmigration?

He knew there were two Demon Pearls total—one was on Xiaoxiao’s body and couldn’t be separated for now, while the other’s whereabouts were unknown, not knowing whose body it was attached to.

Qin Lingxiao originally had no time to search, but now he had to find a Demon Pearl to sustain his father’s life.

Two hundred years later, to find the Demon Pearl, he had sought out the Yellow Emperor’s compass as assistance.

This time, after much effort, he finally found this ancient compass again. With the Yellow Emperor’s bronze compass, finding the Demon Pearl’s direction became much easier.

Qin Lingxiao had followed the compass’s guidance all the way, eventually arriving at this mountain where he had once studied.

Looking at Ghost Stone Cliff, Qin Lingxiao felt mixed emotions. Because the compass’s indication was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, he wandered around the mountain for a while and happened to see the scene of Xiaoxiao fighting the five phoenixes in the back mountain.

At that time, Qin Lingxiao was extremely anxious and wanted to investigate the back mountain, but unexpectedly, the entire back mountain of Ghost Stone Cliff seemed to have a barrier that he couldn’t enter, no matter what.

After two days like this, when the back mountain barrier finally dissipated and he entered, he discovered Xiaoxiao had already taken the Talismonger Sect disciples to the front mountain.

When Qin Lingxiao stood at the familiar demon cult master’s gate, seeing that Xiaoxiao had completely replaced Wei Jie and become the new master of Ghost Stone Cliff, his heart went cold.

For some reason, every time Qin Lingxiao thought of how Xiaoxiao always mistakenly replaced Wei Jie and went through tribulations that should have belonged to that demon, he felt a chilling sensation. If this continued, what would be Xiaoxiao’s final fate?

So this time, he wanted to see Xiaoxiao again, not only to explain his previous offense to her, but more to persuade her not to get entangled with Wei Jie anymore.

Although Qin Lingxiao now knew that the previous life’s sins weren’t done by Wei Jie, this couldn’t completely whitewash that demon.

Wei Jie’s inner coldness was more terrifying than the sins he committed. Being with such a person was no different from seeking skin from a tiger.

Of course, though he mentioned searching for the Demon Pearl, he hid the fact that he wanted to use it to sustain his father’s life, only picking nice things to say.

Xiaoxiao impatiently interrupted Qin Lingxiao’s incoherent apologetic explanations and directly asked: “You say you came here to find another Demon Pearl—what’s your basis?”

Qin Lingxiao then took out the ancient compass.

Xiaoxiao looked and found this thing familiar. She remembered that when she and Qin Lingxiao subdued demons together at the silk farm in Fei County, she had seen sword sect disciples holding this compass-like object to determine the Demon Pearl’s location.

She glanced at it and said coldly, “Since you have proper business, go busy yourself. Lingshan doesn’t welcome you!”

Qin Lingxiao hadn’t expected his sincere apology to fail to gain Xiaoxiao’s forgiveness.

The Young Pavilion Master’s pride again covered his apology as he said coldly: “You keep saying your master taught you to subdue demons and eliminate evil, but when it comes to the crux, you only remember personal grudges? Will you ignore it and let Madam Bai’s tragedy repeat?”

Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows, looking at Qin Lingxiao, who had again found the moral high ground, and suddenly couldn’t help but laugh mockingly: “Qin Lingxiao, your skills haven’t improved, but your sharp tongue has become more slippery. Does your Lingyun Pavilion practice swordwork with mouths?”

Every time Xiaoxiao smiled, that sweet smile seemed to gather sunshine, making people unconsciously sink into it. Qin Lingxiao stared blankly at her face for a moment, actually overlooking the mockery in her words.

When Xiaoxiao smiled while reaching out toward the fire-eyed Qin Lingxiao, Qin Lingxiao was slightly stunned, looking at Xiaoxiao somewhat incredulously, finally tentatively extending his hand, placing his large palm on her slender white hand…

Xiaoxiao suppressed an eye roll, reached out and slapped away the surname Qin’s paw, saying coldly: “I’m telling you to bring that compass for me to see!”

Earlier, though Qin Lingxiao had said so much, only the phrase “if ignored, letting Madam Bai’s tragedy repeat” reached Xiaoxiao’s heart.

That Madam Bai was the one who had previously transformed into a silkworm demon. Xiaoxiao still felt extremely sorry for her when thinking about it.

So, although Qin Lingxiao was a bastard, if there was a way to find the Demon Pearl, that would be best.

After all, those two Demon Pearls were also key to returning two hundred years later.

Having misunderstood earlier and been mercilessly slapped away by Xiaoxiao, Qin Lingxiao now felt somewhat unable to save face. He could only coldly take out the compass and hand it to Xiaoxiao.

Xiaoxiao carefully examined this compass—square-shaped, smaller than an ordinary inkstone, with many fine bronze inscriptions on top and a small bronze spoon.

Seeing Xiaoxiao repeatedly examining it, Qin Lingxiao knew she suspected trickery in this object.

So he coldly pointed and swore: “If I tampered with this object to harm you, I’m willing to suffer heavenly punishment and never ascend to immortality!”

Xiaoxiao ignored his poison oath and carefully examined it. The compass’s back had some inscriptions that Xiaoxiao couldn’t fully recognize, but they were generally related to the Yellow Emperor’s battle with Chiyou. The thick, steady aura on the compass also confirmed this was indeed an artifact left by ancient sages.

It’s just that this compass seemed insufficiently sensitive, capturing auras intermittently—no wonder Qin Lingxiao couldn’t find anything.

Xiaoxiao’s sharp eyes immediately spotted the flower-pattern-like writing carved on the compass.

These characters were completely different from the back inscriptions and had similarities with the Talismonger Sect’s talisman patterns—Xiaoxiao could understand them.

It turned out this compass could not only point north-south but was also the Yellow Emperor’s tool for subduing demons and eliminating evil. It had its method of enhancing sensitivity—it needed demon blood injected into the central magnetic spoon, then the spoon handle could guide the location of those with the same demonic aura. Using this compass could more quickly find the whereabouts of demonic creatures.

After studying this compass for a long time, Xiaoxiao suddenly asked: “Where did you obtain this object?”

Although Qin Lingxiao could read the back inscriptions, he couldn’t understand those talisman patterns, never expecting that Xiaoxiao could read them.

He honestly said, “This object was entrusted by Master Wan Lian to my father for safekeeping. It needs to absorb masculine righteous qi, and our Lingyun Pavilion happens to be due east, where purple yang auspicious qi rises. Originally, it would be kept in the pavilion for three more years before being returned to Master Wan Lian… but in the previous trajectory, this thing was always kept at our Lingyun Pavilion, and Master Wan Lian never came to retrieve it…”

Xiaoxiao guessed that in the original trajectory, Master Wan Lian later died at Wei Jie’s hands. Having lost to Wei Jie in the mirror realm battle and been killed by him, he naturally wouldn’t go to his junior brother Qin He to retrieve things.

In this lifetime, many things have advanced, like Mirror City, which they had experienced earlier outside Luoyi City.

However, with changing circumstances, Master Wan Lian ultimately couldn’t escape death.

And this compass, being used early, without absorbing three years of yang qi, apparently could only use demon blood to enhance its power…

Just as Xiaoxiao was checking whether this compass had other spell mechanisms or was a trap left by Master Wan Lian, Qin Lingxiao walked forward a few steps, looking down at the focused girl, but suddenly saw red marks on one side of Xiaoxiao’s neck…

Those were marks left when Wei Jie was passionately entangled with her the day she had nightmares.

Although Qin Lingxiao had lived two hundred years longer, he had never been romantically involved with women. He initially didn’t recognize them, only asking: “What happened to your neck? Were you bitten by a poisonous insect?”

But Xiaoxiao guessed he saw the kiss marks Wei Jie left on her neck. She immediately covered them with her hand, her cheeks involuntarily reddening, then glared at Qin Lingxiao: “Hmm… It’s none of your business!”

Even if Qin Lingxiao initially didn’t recognize what those red marks were, seeing Xiaoxiao’s uncomfortable covering, he immediately understood.

The scoundrel who could leave kiss marks on Xiaoxiao’s neck was none other than that bastard Wei Jie!

Realizing this, an indescribable sourness surged in Qin Lingxiao’s heart.

He could no longer hide his inner fury, saying coldly, “Do you think Wei Jie would truly be moved by women? To him, people are just tools to be used completely! Though the current Wei Jie hasn’t gone on killing sprees, do you think he’s kinder than his previous life? As a disciple who served him for years, I know him best! His heart only contains becoming stronger, making all who once looked down on him prostrate at his feet. For this goal, those who love him are just useful chess pieces! Didn’t you see Yu Ling’er’s fate in the previous life? She wholeheartedly served Wei Jie, but when she died, did Wei Jie shed even half a tear for her? Cui Xiaoxiao, why are you so obstinate, insisting on walking the path of no return to die for him?”

If Qin Lingxiao had said these words earlier, Xiaoxiao might have taken them to heart.

But now, even if his words were facts, they made Xiaoxiao feel slightly sweet.

Because… Wei Jie had indeed shed tears for her, and they were heart’s blood tears…

Seeing Xiaoxiao not speaking but with a reminiscent smile at the corner of her mouth, Qin Lingxiao struggled to suppress the sourness in his heart, saying in frustration: “Forget it, you’re already bewitched. No matter how much I say, it’s useless. But you should know, you’re not from two hundred years ago. If you keep staying and even marry Wei Jie, it might cause heavenly chaos. For cultivators, if they can’t even control small romantic feelings, how can they achieve the Way?”

Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Lingxiao’s exasperated lecturing appearance and sighed speechlessly. She didn’t want too much interaction with him.

This person was somewhat stubborn and rigid in his principles. Dealing with such self-righteous people was very tiring.

Moreover, he had previously embarrassed her in front of everyone?

But now that they could find the other Demon Pearl’s whereabouts, she could temporarily set aside her grudges with Qin Lingxiao.

If the Demon Pearl parasitized an inappropriate person, the consequences would be endless. Xiaoxiao didn’t want Fei County’s Madam Bai’s tragedy to repeat.

So she coldly said to Qin Lingxiao: “Shut up! Otherwise, hurry up and get off this mountain!”

Then she took out a dagger, cut open her palm, and dripped a drop of blood onto the spoon.

The moment the blood dropped, the spoon-like compass began clicking and turning.

This thing had been in Qin Lingxiao’s hands for nearly two hundred years, but he never knew it had such usage.

Yes, those two Demon Pearls came from the same source, both split from Wei Jie’s body. Since Xiaoxiao now had one on her body, her blood was naturally demon blood.

The spoon handle quickly spun a circle, then accurately pointed toward… Cui Xiaoxiao!

Cui Xiaoxiao’s eye roll almost flew out. She knew she had a Demon Pearl attached—did they need it to point that out?

This thing was useful, but could it find the other Demon Pearl?

Just as she was about to speak, the compass trembled slightly twice, then continued turning.

This time, after spinning rapidly twice, the spoon handle pointed toward the southeast.

Xiaoxiao and Qin Lingxiao exchanged glances.

Qin Lingxiao said urgently, “Only when the Demon Pearl is close does it vibrate so violently. It seems the other Demon Pearl is really near Ghost Stone Cliff?”

Without another word, Xiaoxiao picked up the compass and quickly flashed toward the southeast direction.

Her swift movement again secretly surprised Qin Lingxiao.

He knew that although Xiaoxiao progressed rapidly in talisman control, she was completely ignorant of wind-riding movement techniques.

Although Cui Xiaoxiao could occasionally show off using the Heaven’s Punishment Sword, she was still far from true sword-riding mastery.

Unexpectedly, after just a few days, her movement speed… seemed to surpass his own!

Not allowing Qin Lingxiao to think more, he also gathered his qi to follow, chasing Xiaoxiao toward the southeast.

This southeast direction happened to be where the mountain path up Ghost Stone Cliff was located.

At this time, Wei Jie was leading Tang Youshu and two fox clan men down the mountain to buy rice, flour, meat, and vegetables.

Because he had shed his heart’s blood in the phoenix secret realm, Wei Jie wasn’t suitable for using true qi these past few days.

Since nearby villages were far from the mountain, Wei Jie and Tang Youshu each rode foxes to make purchases, then returned.

When they reached the mountain base, they discovered a large crowd of people.

Wei Jie couldn’t help frowning, suspecting Xiaoxiao and Yu Ling’er had caused some trouble, and this crowd had come seeking revenge.

Tang Youshu recognized these people, saying quietly, “Oh no, those seeking apprenticeship tracked us here. We need to quickly tell Master Ancestor!”

Hearing this, Wei Jie learned that the Lingshan Talismonger Sect had become popular in the cultivation world, attracting so many talents competing for apprenticeship.

However, Wei Jie didn’t want his little master to widely accept disciples.

According to his thinking, Master only needed himself as a disciple to uphold the sect’s reputation. As for other senior and junior brothers, taking too many would only be a burden, affecting his future travels with Master…

So Wei Jie pretended not to see these tactless people, leading Tang Youshu and others with large and small packages toward the mountain gate.

But just as he stepped on the stone steps, Ling Zhishan also began leading people up the mountain.

That night, Cui Xiaoxiao’s group had left without anyone knowing. At dawn, people discovered Sect Master Cui had disappeared with her disciples.

Some people, seeing this situation, felt disheartened and wanted to return home.

But Ling Zhishan’s determination to seek an apprenticeship grew stronger. She had earlier learned from Yu Ling’er that they were going to Ghost Stone Cliff, so even if Cui Xiaoxiao secretly left, she could still find them.

With Ling Zhishan leading, others felt that finding a famous teacher required many tests, so under her leadership, they stuck like irremovable plaster, chasing all the way here!

Earlier at the mountain base, Ling Zhishan happened to see the renamed stone tablet—Ghost Stone Cliff had been renamed Lingshan.

It seemed Cui Xiaoxiao was right that this was truly the Talismonger Sect’s founding mountain range.

Actually, from afar, Ling Zhishan had encountered Wei Jie returning from shopping.

Seeing that man’s tall figure, Ling Zhishan’s eyes lit up as she quickly ran over to greet Wei Jie.

Unfortunately, Wei Jie remained as cold to her as before, not even acknowledging her before going straight up the mountain.

Seeing his non-stop pace, Ling Zhishan quickly gave chase.

The newly built mountain path wasn’t very smooth. Ling Zhishan slipped on loose stones underfoot—half accidentally, half deliberately throwing herself at Wei Jie.

Feeling someone attacking from behind, Wei Jie naturally wanted to dodge aside, but unfortunately, he couldn’t use true qi now, so his movement was somewhat slow. By the time he turned around, Ling Zhishan had coincidentally thrown herself into his arms.

Ling Zhishan didn’t know Wei Jie had injured his true qi, only thinking he deliberately didn’t avoid her. When she fell into Wei Jie’s broad chest, she couldn’t help but feel secretly pleased, half-blushing as she looked up at Wei Jie.

The man so close was truly handsome as a deity, making one’s heart unsteady…

Wei Jie disliked people casually approaching him. Just as he was frowning to push her away, he heard a familiar yet annoying male voice from the steps above: “Xiaoxiao, you see, I wasn’t wrong—he’s exactly this kind of person who seduces women’s hearts everywhere…”

Wei Jie looked up and saw Master Cui Xiaoxiao, her slender waist standing straight, long skirts fluttering in the wind, holding something like an inkstone in one hand while placing the other behind her back, looking down at them with a somehow murderous aura.

Beside Xiaoxiao was the persistent Qin Lingxiao—those slanderous words were spoken by this surname Qin bastard!

Seeing Xiaoxiao staring straight at him, Wei Jie instinctively felt that she seemed angry, so he forcefully pushed away Ling Zhishan and turned toward Xiaoxiao.

Caught off guard, Ling Zhishan fell on the steps, actually scraping her elbow bloody.

This made her senior and junior brothers heartbroken as they quickly helped up Ling Zhishan, then angrily glared at Wei Jie: “Our junior sister accidentally fell and bumped into you—why push her so hard? Don’t you have any gentlemanly demeanor?”

Before Wei Jie could speak, Cui Xiaoxiao had already walked down the steps, shouldering Wei Jie aside to stand before Ling Zhishan, defending her disciple: “Miss Ling, as a cultivator rather than a sheltered young lady, how do you keep slipping? These steps are newly laid without even half a moss growth. Your foundation… perhaps you shouldn’t cultivate. Let me apologize for my discipline—look at this big wound, scraped skin with several drops of blood… tsk tsk, do you want silver for medicine or to apply healing salve yourself?”

Ling Zhishan’s fall had indeed been mostly deliberate, and being ruthlessly exposed by Cui Xiaoxiao left her somewhat embarrassed.

She could only clutch her injured arm, forcing herself to say: “Perhaps from traveling continuously without time for meditation, I felt momentarily dizzy. Sect Master Cui, we followed all this way—please accept us for our sincerity!”

Unfortunately, Cui Xiaoxiao came here neither to catch adulterers nor to accept disciples. She looked down at the compass in her hands—after approaching this group of apprentice-seekers, the compass vibrated even more violently.

Xiaoxiao carried it around the crowd, with the spoon handle constantly trembling.

Unfortunately, with two demon pearl carriers too close, the handle pointed sometimes at Xiaoxiao, sometimes at the crowd.

The next moment, with a crisp crack, the spoon-like handle actually broke into pieces, completely unusable!

Xiaoxiao hadn’t expected Lingyun Pavilion’s treasure to be so fragile, looking at Qin Lingxiao in surprise.

Qin Lingxiao also hadn’t expected this ancient divine artifact to die so young in this lifetime!

He couldn’t help looking up at Xiaoxiao, saying quietly: “How… how did you use it?”

Xiaoxiao whispered: “According to the compass’s instructions! I’ll say upfront—our Talismonger Sect is poor. If you want compensation, I can at most… only pay you five taels!”

But this quiet exchange between her and Qin Lingxiao appeared endlessly ambiguous to Wei Jie, watching from the side.

His purple eyes darkened slightly, expression becoming somewhat stern.

Qin Lingxiao hadn’t expected the treasure passed down for two hundred years to break within days of getting it.

It seemed the compass that hadn’t absorbed three years of yang qi was truly fragile!

But one thing was certain—the person possessed by the Demon Pearl was among these apprentice-seeking disciples. It seemed “he” wanted to infiltrate Ghost Stone Cliff with unknown intentions!