All things possess a spirit, as well as an essence. Water is no different — it has its own vital essence. A water spirit is a naturally condensed essence born from pure, spiritually-charged bodies of water, pristine and naturally vibrant.

The water spirit before them was capable of speaking in human tongue, which meant it had cultivated for many years and developed spiritual intelligence — only then could it do such a thing.

After its explanation, Jiangche finally understood. No wonder it hadn’t feared the flame breath — after all, what water fears fire? But the moment Lang Jiuchuan made her move, hurling a clump of filthy, foul-smelling dung-mud at it, the spirit immediately submitted and revealed its origins.

“You figured it out?” Jiangche looked toward Lang Jiuchuan. Was this the difference between a person and a tiger? It made her feel a little foolish.

Lang Jiuchuan said lightly, “I couldn’t be certain it was a water spirit, but I guessed it was related to water — either a lesser spirit or a spirit-creature. So I decided to test it.”

The water spirit huffed indignantly, “Couldn’t you have used some clean soil? Why did it have to be something so filthy? I couldn’t tell from looking at you — a neat and tidy little lady, with clear eyes and bright pupils — that you’d be so disgusting on the inside… Ah, here it comes again!”

It shot up to the ceiling at lightning speed, dodging the hand seal Lang Jiuchuan threw at it, and fumed, “Don’t push your luck. Be careful — I’ll flood you out like a tidal wave.”

“Go ahead and try.” Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze was cold and clear. “I wouldn’t mind making you disappear.”

The water spirit shuddered, its round, plump spherical form swaying with the tremor.

Jiangche’s tiger eyes deepened. If it bounced toward her, she could pounce—

No. This was the kind of thing humans did to tease cats and walk dogs. She was the mighty White Tiger King. She was absolutely not a little kitten!

Fu Yi fixed his gaze on the water spirit and asked Lang Jiuchuan, “Water carries spiritual energy — can it truly condense into a spirit-form with developed intelligence?”

Lang Jiuchuan replied, “All things have spirit. If they can cultivate, and if the period of cultivation is long enough and the spiritual energy sufficient, why couldn’t they condense?”

“Exactly — even you, a mere ghost-creature, can borrow a paper body to walk among the living, so why couldn’t I, born of water that gathers the energy of heaven and earth, condense into being? I’m older than you. Why should I be denied spiritual intelligence?” The water spirit retorted.

Fu Yi was startled. “You can see through my true form?”

“Gloomy and reeking of ghost — an old ghost if I ever sensed one. How could these clear, clean, water-bright eyes of mine fail to see it? So filthy…” As it spoke, it shot another glance at Lang Jiuchuan. She was the one it was wary of — this woman who was more dog-like than any actual dog.

Fu Yi stepped forward, looked it over from left to right, and asked with solemn earnestness, “Where are your eyes?”

The water spirit was speechless.

It was a water spirit — a round, plump ball of water — where would it get eyes? And yet it could see. Its entire body was its eyes, its ears, its senses. But how was it supposed to explain that?

Pfft.

Jiangche saw it struck utterly speechless by Fu Yi’s blunt literalness and burst out laughing. Serves it right for being so smug!

Even Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes held the faintest trace of amusement.

Mocked and teased, the water spirit was both furious and aggrieved. With a wail, it actually began to cry — and in an instant, the room was as though a rain had fallen, with water cascading down from above.

Jiangche and Fu Yi both stared in disbelief. This water spirit could cry and make it rain?

Was it perhaps the Rain God of the heavens in a mortal incarnation?

Lang Jiuchuan, seeing her room about to suffer, immediately formed a hand seal. “Shut it. Ruin my room and you can stay dirty.”

The water spirit froze.

The rain stopped.

Lang Jiuchuan asked, “The lake at the Duke’s estate has some spiritual energy, but it’s still just an ordinary lake. The water there isn’t particularly rich in spiritual energy — so how did you condense your spirit-form there?”

“It’s an unremarkable lake now, but a thousand years ago, there was an ancient spring beneath that lake. I condensed from the water of that ancient spring.” The water spirit recalled, “Back then, spiritual energy wasn’t as scarce as it is today. Beneath that ancient spring lay an entirely different world — rich with spiritual energy. It was there that I, a spirit-essence of water, was born. I cultivated by absorbing the earth-energy from deep within the spring veins. I was muddle-headed and chaotic at first — it took a thousand years of diligent cultivation before I developed spiritual intelligence.”

It hovered in midair, its transparent water-sphere swaying gently, making one irresistibly want to squeeze it.

“I may have no eyes, but I can still see. My entire water-body is my eyes, my ears, my senses.” The water spirit looked at the group and said, “I have witnessed the turning of the four seasons, the cycle of bloom and decay, accumulating spiritual awareness little by little until I cultivated intelligence. What right do you have to mock me?”

“You were the one going on about filth — don’t blame others for striking back.” Lang Jiuchuan said evenly. “Since you’re a water spirit, why did you try to take my bone chime?”

The water spirit grew agitated. “Those are White Mist’s remains — of course I wanted to take them back.”

“White Mist?” Lang Jiuchuan was taken aback.

“That’s right. It was a white snake born from the ancient spring vein — beautiful and translucent as white mist, so we called it White Mist. That fool — we cultivated together for many years. It had built up enough spiritual energy, sure — but water had clearly flooded its brain too. Fine, so it wanted to become a willow immortal — but a terrestrial immortal, and it ended up meeting such a tragic end.” The water spirit said with righteous indignation. “When I sensed its aura, I came to gather its remains — what’s wrong with that? We were old companions.”

What a pity — it hadn’t even managed to collect the remains and ended up trapped instead.

Truly unlucky.

Lang Jiuchuan fell silent. So the willow immortal’s name had been White Mist. What kind of fate was this?

She looked at the water spirit, her mind turning swiftly, and said, “Regardless of anything else, I have purified the karmic debt on White Mist’s remains. They belong to me now. I will re-refine them into a new spiritual tool.”

The water spirit rippled uneasily. This woman was insidiously devious.

Lang Jiuchuan looked at it and said, “The lake water at the Duke’s estate isn’t particularly rich in spiritual energy — it’s not especially beneficial to your cultivation. Would you like to cultivate alongside me?”

Jiangche glanced over. Seriously — how did this familiar con-artist formula manage to surface so effortlessly and smoothly?

A spirit-essence of water — of course Lang Jiuchuan wouldn’t let this pass. Call her greedy if you liked, say whatever you wanted — she was going to secure this water spirit!

After all, it was a heaven-sent gift — the quintessential essence of heaven and earth.

Well, saying that was perhaps a little shameless. But if it hadn’t been heaven’s gift, how had it ended up falling right into her hands after all its years of cultivation?

Therefore, all of this was clearly the hidden will of heaven!

Fortunately, no one present could read minds — otherwise they would have cursed her for her twisted logic and utter shamelessness.

The water spirit was also stunned by Lang Jiuchuan’s proposal for a moment. “Cultivate with you?”

“That’s right. I’ll find you a new vessel — how about your old companion?” Lang Jiuchuan tapped the bone chime and said, “I’ll re-refine it so you can reside within it. Come with me. From this point forward, you won’t be limited to water, no longer dependent solely on water veins. Instead, following the ringing of the bone chime, you’ll sense and absorb the water vapor, moonlight, rain, and dew that exist everywhere between heaven and earth — tempering your spirit-essence.”

The water spirit was a little bewildered. Could it really work that way?

Jiangche looked at that soft, squishy little thing and very much wanted to say, don’t listen to the little con artist’s tricks — but then she thought that maybe in the future she could bat it around to play with, and so shamefully shut her mouth.

The water spirit hesitated. Lang Jiuchuan didn’t press it. She gestured for Fu Yi to withdraw the barrier, then walked to the doorway and looked at A’Piao, who had revealed herself. “Well, well — your esteemed self has graced my humble abode. What brings you here?”

The proprietor A’Piao frowned. “Are you certain the divination you did for me was accurate? I went personally to search according to the hexagram you gave me, and found absolutely no trace of the person.”

Lang Jiuchuan was somewhat surprised. “Impossible. A simple missing-person divination — I couldn’t have gotten it wrong. Unless the birth data is incorrect, or you searched in the wrong place!”

Water spirit: Never expected it — I am a water spirit-essence!