“What do you think they’re talking about?”

In the distance, by the teleportation array, Zuoliu stroked his chin and finally couldn’t help but ask.

They were standing here, only able to see Jian Chou’s back.

After watching the two exchange a few words, Wuduan’s face actually showed that kind of expression as if he’d seen a ghost, and he even took a couple more glances at Xie Buchen. This made several people feel genuinely curious.

However, no matter how much they pricked up their ears, they couldn’t hear what they were actually saying.

His fingers nimbly flicked, and Young Master Ruhua glanced at Xie Buchen beside him, who remained impassive, then looked back at Wuduan who was still communicating with Jian Chou, merely snorting: “Just to say a few words with someone from Kunwu, they still need to set up a sound transmission array. Tsk, I see that Fellow Daoist Jian Chou has far too many romantic entanglements…”

“…”

And you have the nerve to criticize others?

Zuoliu glanced at the patch of blooming pink peach blossoms on Young Master Ruhua’s lapel and felt genuinely disgusted.

Lu Xiangleng also felt that the scene just now seemed somewhat hard to imagine.

She had long heard that among the twelve disciples under Kunwu’s Hengxu Real Person, each was exceptionally talented. Even after Xie Buchen came later, their brilliance was never completely overshadowed. Wuduan’s cultivation was said to span five hundred and twenty years – a genuine “Nascent Soul old monster” – yet he would show such an expression? And it was related to Xie Buchen.

Recalling the fog-like relationship between Jian Chou and Xie Buchen in her mind, the hidden worry in Lu Xiangleng’s heart gradually rose again.

After a while longer, Jian Chou finally finished speaking with Wuduan. They cupped their fists in farewell, and she walked toward them.

As soon as she turned and approached, Jian Chou discovered that everyone was looking at her strangely.

Zuoliu’s eyes flickered with curious light, Lu Xiangleng showed slight worry, Young Master Ruhua sourly looked her up and down, and Xia Houshe gave her an indifferent glance before quickly withdrawing his gaze.

Of course, there was also Xie Buchen.

His gaze had just withdrawn from Wuduan and slowly returned, meeting Jian Chou’s eyes perfectly.

Calm, profound, containing a few traces of warmth within the indifferent coldness, though there was also some unfathomable divine light within.

Everyone must be curious about what she had asked, right?

Actually, she hadn’t asked much.

Wuduan’s words echoed in Jian Chou’s mind: “Junior Brother Xie has exceptional talent, and Master values him highly. Over three hundred years ago, Master stopped personally teaching anyone, yet now he personally guides him. What Master taught him, no one knows clearly. We only know he learned the Outstanding Sword Intent from Senior Brother Zhao Zhuo, the River Flow Sword Intent from Senior Brother Yue He, and the Hermit Sword Intent from Junior Brother Wang Que. This person is different from our other Kunwu senior and junior brothers – cold-hearted and cold-natured. I cannot see through him.”

The smile at the corners of her lips deepened slightly. Jian Chou casually stood in the teleportation array and said: “I only discussed some private matters with Senior Brother Wuduan, nothing related to this journey.”

Everyone collectively showed an indescribable expression: You’re talking nonsense.

Jian Chou paid no attention to everyone’s expressions and merely smiled: “Time is getting late. Let’s go to Deng Tiandao now.”

At this point, she suddenly paused, turned back, and looked at Xie Buchen: “It is Deng Tiandao, correct, Junior Brother Xie?”

Hengxu Real Person had said that Xie Buchen was someone who had been to the Hidden Realm and was quite familiar with matters, so Jian Chou asked this question.

Only…

This question carried a tone of light mockery that only Xie Buchen could detect.

However, he didn’t get angry, merely nodded, showing no airs, and said: “The Hidden Realm of Qingfeng Nunnery has a teleportation array that transports to Deng Tiandao – it’s an array left by Master Jian Chou’s teacher, though it’s severely damaged. When I returned from the Hidden Realm, I guessed there might be others coming later, so I repaired the array in front of the Hidden Realm gate. Now we only need to go to Deng Tiandao, and once we repair the array on Deng Tiandao to connect with the Hidden Realm, we can directly teleport to the Hidden Realm, saving the trouble of crossing the sea.”

“You can repair teleportation arrays?”

Upon hearing this, Young Master Ruhua’s eyebrows rose slightly as he immediately looked at him.

Xie Buchen nodded slightly: “I know a little.”

“…”

A little?

Young Master Ruhua pursed his lips and somehow let out a cold laugh, saying nothing more.

In these Nineteen Continents, those proficient in array formations were rare, unless they were from the Northern Region’s Yin-Yang sects.

Among a hundred cultivators, having one who knew the basics of array formations would be good, let alone those who could repair teleportation arrays – they were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, mostly old monsters with extremely high cultivation who had studied bitterly.

Though Xie Buchen came from Kunwu, he only had Golden Core cultivation, yet he could repair arrays?

Young Master Ruhua wouldn’t think he was boasting, after all, everyone traveling together wasn’t blind.

He laughed coldly, only at Xie Buchen’s seemingly modest “know a little”!

Being able to repair teleportation arrays yet only saying he “knew a little” – how hypocritical! It made everyone else seem to know nothing at all.

The atmosphere became somewhat cold.

Facing Young Master Ruhua’s cold laughter, Xie Buchen’s face showed not the slightest trace of anger, remaining consistently calm, as if he hadn’t heard anything at all.

Jian Chou was delighted inside.

She understood Xie Buchen. For him, this “know a little” was truly honest, because there were countless array formations under heaven, and Xie Buchen had only been on the cultivation path for less than three years. What he understood could indeed only be considered “a little.”

Only who told him that people didn’t like him?

Before departure, Jian Chou had already obtained another map of Qingfeng Nunnery’s Hidden Realm from Nie Xiaowan. Everyone also knew that Xie Buchen had concealed things for various reasons in the great hall, so from the beginning, they couldn’t possibly be completely unguarded against him.

This being the case, even if what Xie Buchen said was perfectly normal, when it fell on everyone’s ears, the flavor wasn’t quite right.

Undeniably, Jian Chou’s earlier planning might not have been without scheming.

Only she had another map in her hands – how could she leave familiar friends alone in danger?

Everything could only be blamed on Xie Buchen’s own bad luck.

Jian Chou smiled and took out a teleportation talisman from her Qiankun bag, holding it in her hand: “Since that’s the case, let’s go to Deng Tiandao first.”

“Snap!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Jian Chou directly crushed the teleportation talisman.

The entire teleportation array immediately emanated a hazy brightness. In the blink of an eye, several people disappeared from where they stood.

The autumn sky carried a kind of clear deep blue.

Thirteen islands, laden with legends of immortal paths. Quite a few magical artifacts’ glimmers swept across the sky, either toward the distant azure sea surface or toward the nearby majestic land of the Nineteen Continents.

The thirteenth island was named Deng Tian, meaning “ascend to heaven in one step.”

Legend said that cultivators who came from mortal isolated islands seeking the Dao, once they passed this island, could attain the Dao and become immortals.

The teleportation array emitted several rays of light, and Jian Chou and five others appeared within the array.

Zuoliu stepped out, still somewhat excited: “This is my first time leaving the land of the Nineteen Continents!”

Young Master Ruhua standing behind rolled his eyes.

Except for Zuoliu, the remaining few were all worldly. Jian Chou also came from mortal isolated islands and had seen Deng Tiandao’s appearance before, so her expression was peaceful.

She looked at Xie Buchen: “When Master’s teleportation array went wrong initially, we were only transported to Zhan Ye Island. I’m not clear which array on Deng Tiandao it actually is.”

Xie Buchen didn’t look at her, only nodded upon hearing this.

The arrays carved around here were numerous – half came from the Western Sea plaza, a small half from Wangjiang Tower and Wanghai Tower, and an extremely small portion from powerful cultivators, mostly belonging to the type that were built, used once, then abandoned.

If it weren’t for their group, the array left by Fudao Shanren would also be among them.

Wearing azure robes and carrying a long sword, Xie Buchen walked around several arrays and stopped before one half-buried by mud, saying: “This is the one. This teleportation array isn’t very severely damaged – it can be repaired in half an hour.”

“That long?”

Zuoliu immediately clicked his tongue.

Xie Buchen didn’t mind his rudeness and merely smiled: “If a powerful cultivator were here, perhaps it could be repaired in a quarter-hour. However, my cultivation is minimal, so I can only spend double the time.”

Speaking this way, he was truly polite and magnanimous.

With him saying this, Zuoliu suddenly didn’t know what to say, stammering for a long time without getting words out.

He was supposed to be a rogue, yet unexpectedly got fooled at this moment.

Jian Chou sneered inwardly, only feeling that though Zuoliu called himself a rogue, his thoughts were still too simple. She was about to speak to help him conclude when, in the distance, a sorrowful and indignant shout faintly came: “So it’s actually you!”

Everyone heard it and turned to look toward the distance.

On a very distant small reef, several cultivators seemed to be standing, apparently having some dispute.

Several magical artifact glimmers cruised in the sky, probably also watching the excitement.

Somehow, Jian Chou felt this voice was somewhat familiar, yet couldn’t say where she’d heard it.

Her spiritual sense couldn’t reach that far, so she looked at the others.

Young Master Ruhua slapped his paper fan and actually directly rose from the ground, flying toward that direction.

“There’s a good show to watch. Since Fellow Daoist Xie needs half an hour to repair the teleportation array anyway, I’ll go take a look first.”

“I’ll go look too!”

Zuoliu’s eyes lit up and he immediately slapped his thigh, actually following along.

Xia Houshe glanced at that broken teleportation array and walked to the distance without a word, found a relatively clean rock, and directly sat cross-legged to begin regulating his breathing.

“The Fengmo Sword Sect typically produces people with fiery tempers, yet I’ve never seen one this gloomy.”

Lu Xiangleng looked at Xia Houshe’s figure and murmured this.

There were too many rumors about Xia Houshe, and no one knew which were true and which were false.

She stopped thinking about it and only said to Jian Chou: “I heard that many cultivators around here have obtained new items and sell them on the Thirteen Islands. I’d also like to take this opportunity to look around nearby – perhaps I can collect some needed medicinal materials. Would Fellow Daoist Jian Chou like to come along?”

Half an hour was just a blink of an eye for cultivators, but after all, once they went to the mortal isolated islands, they would no longer have the chance to obtain various materials from the cultivation world.

Though they had already made full preparations at Kunwu, having one more backup was always safe.

Only upon hearing Lu Xiangleng’s words, Jian Chou shook her head and looked at Xie Buchen.

At this moment, he was flicking his sleeve robe, summoning a gust of wind to remove all the mud filling the array’s crevices, revealing those complex patterns.

“With Fellow Daoist Xie repairing the array here, someone must watch over it, so I cannot leave.”

These words had deeper meaning.

In just a flash of thought, Lu Xiangleng already understood the stakes involved.

She also glanced at Xie Buchen and naturally remembered the information concealed in the One Crane Hall. At the moment, she only smiled slightly at Jian Chou and nodded: “Then Xiangleng will go first.”

Jian Chou nodded and watched Lu Xiangleng head toward the other end of Deng Tiandao.

There were several cultivators standing there, seemingly communicating. This was a common situation on Deng Tiandao – mostly people who had newly obtained something and wanted to sell it.

Everyone had left, leaving only Jian Chou and Xie Buchen at the original spot.

The seemingly small array was actually over two zhang wide. Involving spatial teleportation, its complexity was beyond imagination.

Xie Buchen took out a dagger made from rhinoceros horn from his sleeve. The tip of the dagger, about the size of a little fingernail, was deep ink colored.

Jian Chou walked over and looked carefully – that wasn’t actually an ink spot, but a large patch of densely packed arrays!

Complex patterns were carved on the tip of the rhinoceros horn dagger, delicate and dense, so at first glance it looked like an ink spot, dyeing the tip of the rhinoceros horn dagger black.

Creating array formations required gathering heaven and earth spiritual energy, but if relying purely on a cultivator’s individual power to set up arrays, they would be exhausted before completing the array, so cultivators needed to borrow external objects.

Rhinoceros horn carved with arrays to condense spiritual energy, made into knives, brushes, swords and other items, could all replace cultivators in channeling spiritual power into each array line.

Others’ rhinoceros horn magical artifacts might be deep gray or unevenly black and white, but the rhinoceros horn dagger in Xie Buchen’s hand was an unusual purple-gray color, not to mention the arrays carved to extreme complexity at the tip.

Though not very versed in the way of arrays, Jian Chou could tell at a glance that this rhinoceros horn dagger had an extraordinary origin.

Xie Buchen held this dagger and deeply carved a line along the array patterns.

He didn’t turn back, but as if seeing through what Jian Chou was thinking, said: “This dagger is named Baiye. It was obtained in the Hidden Realm – an instrument used by Yin Sect array formation master Bai Xuan during his Nascent Soul period for carving arrays.”

Jian Chou raised an eyebrow and lowered her gaze to see his palm, steady without the slightest tremor, accurately drawing more lines on the array.

Occasionally, he would extend his hand to brush the stone chips carved by the Baiye dagger aside.

She didn’t speak, as if completely unsurprised that Xie Buchen could see through her thoughts.

Xie Buchen’s lips carried a slight smile. The ground had the scent of damp earth and that unique cold fishy smell belonging to sea reefs.

“Scrape—”

Another line. A faint spiritual light flowed where the dagger passed, then deeply disappeared into the ground.

“You didn’t go with them but stayed beside me to watch – are you afraid I’ll tamper with the teleportation array?”

“Junior Brother Xie’s abilities reach the heavens. Even cruel trap-killing arrays like Earth Binding, you can casually instruct people to set up.” Smiling slightly, Jian Chou paced to his side. “Now it’s rare to personally witness Junior Brother Xie setting up arrays, rather than some fake puppet. How could Jian Chou not come to observe?”

“…”

The dagger in Xie Buchen’s hand paused. He finally slowly raised his head to look at Jian Chou standing before him.

Her face carried a nearly cloud-light, wind-gentle smile, as if speaking of something unrelated to herself.

Xie Buchen hadn’t been present during the Left Three Thousand small meeting, so he couldn’t personally witness the matter of the Dijiang Wind Thunder Wings.

Only the small meeting was such a sensational event?

Xie Buchen had once stayed at the Western Sea edge for a period to heal his injuries, and had long heard some things about Jian Chou from others’ words. In recent years, news about Dijiang Guyu only appeared once in the Killing Red Small Realm.

Connecting front and back, he knew that the person in the Killing Red Small Realm who confronted Gu Qingmei, broke the Earth Binding Array, severely injured Gu Qingmei and seized the Dijiang Guyu, was actually who.

“Scrape—”

After a long silence, Xie Buchen finally lowered his head again, drawing the dagger across the array.

Light flashed and instantly disappeared.

“I didn’t know you were also in the small realm at that time.”

Jian Chou tilted her head to look at him – eyebrows lowered, movements unhurried, despite bending toward the ground, every gesture was naturally noble.

Living like him was quite interesting too.

Jian Chou couldn’t help but smile and shake her head: “Fortunately you didn’t know.”

If he had known that the one in the Hidden Realm was her, even if he couldn’t confirm her identity, he would probably rather kill wrongly than let her escape.

A mere Earth Binding Array wouldn’t be enough.

He would use the Thirty-Six Extreme Killing Arrays of the Heavenly Cycle to ensure she died cleanly inside.

Fortunately you didn’t know.

These seemingly plain words hid indescribable earth-shattering implications.

Xie Buchen looked at the last broken section on the ground and drew the dagger across it once. The array at the dagger’s tip rotated, condensing the surrounding spiritual energy into a line, following the dagger’s movement trajectory to repair the broken array.

A golden light flashed, and the entire array emitted humming sounds.

He put away the dagger and stood up to look at her.

These familiar brows and eyes still carried some gentle meaning, only what lay beneath the gentleness was strength, firmness, and even dominance.

A strong person’s heart.

This was the Jian Chou he had never known.

Fortunately he didn’t know…

Smiling faintly, Xie Buchen only said: “You’re absolutely right.”

Jian Chou couldn’t help but laugh and sighed: “Only unfortunately, knowing now is already too late. Junior Brother Xie’s eye for choosing things is truly excellent. If there’s another good deed like the Killing Red Small Realm making wedding clothes for me next time, please be sure to inform me, Junior Brother Xie. I will certainly brave fire and water, die ten thousand deaths without regret.”

By the end, her face was full of sincerity and gratitude, benevolent to the extreme.

If there were a next time…

Xie Buchen gazed at Jian Chou, his eyes sweeping over the silver embroidered patterns on her moon-white robes, his gaze warm and gentle, as if recalling something.

He had made wedding clothes for her – this wasn’t the first time.

Only these wedding clothes were different from those wedding clothes.

“I only believe Master Jian Chou would brave fire and water, die ten thousand deaths to kill me. As for next time… why need a next time?”

Wasn’t right now an excellent opportunity?

For her, it was.

For him, it was.

In this instant, Jian Chou suddenly fell silent.

She looked at Xie Buchen, also looking at these familiar brows and eyes. If what he held in his hand wasn’t a sword but a brush, she would probably think that the one speaking to her with such nearly gentle words was that Xie Wuming of the past.

“It seems I must prepare a good coffin for Junior Brother Xie, lest when you’re dead I have to search all over the mountains and fields for suitable trees and freshly cut one. That wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience, would it?”