Speak of the devil; sometimes guarding the medicine garden all alone was quite helpless.
The eerie, sinister voice scared the junior disciple so much that his goosebumps almost stood on end. He swallowed hard, not daring to move his feet. "Y-y-y-you... don't come over! I-I-I'm not afraid of you."
He hadn't done anything underhanded, so he wasn't afraid at all!
Just as the junior disciple was trying to comfort himself, a cold, slippery sensation brushed against the back of his neck. At that instant, he was so frightened his hair stood straight up.
"W-what on earth?!"
He wanted to run, but his legs had turned to jelly; he couldn't walk a step. The slippery touch at the back of his neck kept moving, as if it could snap his neck at any second.
"Ahhh..." The junior disciple screamed, flailing his arms wildly. When he locked eyes with a pair of glowing red orbs, he let out a "squawk" and passed out cold.
Unamused, Feng Ning pulled away the two fiery red carrots she had been dangling. *Tch! With such a cowardly heart, he must have plenty of skeletons in his closet.*
"Junior Sister." Di Siyu called out softly in the medicine garden.
"Hmm?" Feng Ning raised an eyebrow at him. "Trouble's taken care of. Go ahead and harvest your herbs."
"I think I found the entrance to the Medicine Sect's Holy Spring."
Di Siyu wasn't entirely certain; the entrance was far too crude. The only indication was the word "Holy Spring" carved onto a small stone at the edge, and even the paint was chipping off.
If not for the fact that the medicinal herbs grew lusher and older the closer they got to this spot, he truly never would have noticed it.
Hearing this, Feng Ning hurried over to Di Siyu's side. She looked at the minimalist entrance and couldn't help doubting it for a few seconds. "Never mind whether it is or not—let's go inside and take a look first."
As soon as she finished speaking, she pushed Di Siyu forward as they went in one after the other. The entrance was narrow, barely wide enough for a single person to pass through. The further inside they went, the denser the spiritual energy became, stirring an involuntary longing in their hearts.
Deeper still, the space opened up significantly. Rows of night-pearls were embedded in the stone walls, banishing the original darkness and illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.
Lifelike totems of ancient divine beasts were carved into the walls.
Feng Ning studied the wall for a long time. Among the top ten divine beasts, only the Qilin was missing. This had to be the right place.
In mysterious and formidable secret realms or Inheritance Lands, the guardian beasts were never carved onto the walls—a gesture meant to show respect and reverence.
"Junior Brother, this really is the Holy Spring. Leave that Qilin to me in a moment, and you just enjoy your soak to your heart's content."
Rubbing her palms together, Feng Ning was already geared up for action.
Yet at that exact moment, a wave of intense pressure washed over them, accompanied by the furious roar of a beast.
What was going on here?
Exchanging a glance, Feng Ning and Di Siyu quietly crept forward, one high and one low, peeking out to look into the Holy Spring.
"Xie Ling, step forward and bind this auspicious beast Qilin."
In the spacious habitat of the auspicious beast, the heroine Feng Qing's voice echoed out. "Trust me, after soaking in the Holy Spring for so long, this Qilin will definitely acknowledge you as its master."
Xie Ling always trusted her words implicitly. Striding forward with absolute confidence, he walked toward the giant, coiled Qilin.
The next second... he was sent flying by a flick of the Qilin's tail.
"Sister... *cough*..." He cried out pitifulously to Feng Qing, spitting a mouthful of blood right then and there. One could only imagine the Qilin's strength.
Seeing this, Feng Qing leaped up in a hurry and caught the miserable Xie Ling.
Crouched in her arms, Xie Ling bled continuously from the corner of his mouth. "Sister, what should I do if it won't acknowledge me as its master?"
Feng Qing fed him a healing pill, her brow furrowed deep. Could it be because Xie Ling wasn't strong enough yet? In her past life, this Qilin had clearly been very docile; it had only needed a sniff of Xie Ling's scent to recognize him as its master.
"Xie Ling, don't get discouraged. Try a few more times." Feng Qing still refused to give up.
The Holy Spring could only be taken away once this Qilin was bound. Not only could the Holy Spring water nourish spiritual veins, but it could also be used to refine medicines and forge weapons—an inexhaustible treasure.
She wanted Xie Ling to bind the Qilin ahead of time and claim the Holy Spring so he could make a name for himself in the Cultivation World earlier and inherit the Medicine Sect.
Xie Ling tried several more times, only to be swatted away by the lounging Qilin over and over. The Qilin's emerald-like eyes looked down on everything with utter disdain. To deal with an ignorant ant, it didn't even see the need to stand up.
This sudden turn of events amused Feng Ning immensely.
How novel—the heroine was already torturing the second male lead?
Look at Xie Ling—all aggrieved, wanting to express his anger yet daring not to. How spineless.
Di Siyu didn't quite understand, lowering his voice to ask her, "Junior Sister, what do you suppose they're doing? Are they looking to get beaten up?"
"They want to bind that auspicious beast Qilin."
Feng Ning was now certain that this Feng Qing was a reborn soul.
Only because she had lived through a lifetime already did she understand the members of the Wanshou Sect so well. Because of her rebirth, she knew that this auspicious beast Qilin and the Holy Spring both belonged to Xie Ling.
No wonder the plot was diverging from the original book.
It seemed even more thrilling now.
"If I'm not mistaken, that boy is at the Foundation Establishment (mid) stage, right? He wants to bind an auspicious beast Qilin?" Was he even worthy?
Auspicious beasts possessed spiritual intelligence. Even if the beast's eyesight were terrible, it would never choose a good-for-nothing master!
They were definitely trying to force the beast against its will.
"Mhm, that boy is Xie Ling, the one who ripped out my spiritual root." Feng Ning's lips curled into an enigmatic smile. "Junior Brother, get ready. We're going to steal his fortune."
"Huh?" Di Siyu tilted his head to look at her. "How do we steal it? Just snatch it by force?"
Let's be real—the auspicious beast Qilin might not even look twice at them, right? Why was his Junior Sister's expression so utterly confident?
"Watch me!" From her Storage Bag, Feng Ning pulled out an Invisibility Talisman—no, an Amplification Talisman, lowered her voice, and bellowed pompously into the interior, "Who dares trespass into the forbidden grounds of my Medicine Sect?"
The shout startled Feng Qing and Xie Ling into a flurry of panic.
"Oh no, we've been discovered. Let's get out of here first." Hurriedly steadying Xie Ling, Feng Qing fled in a panicked scramble.
Because both Feng Ning and Di Siyu were wearing Invisibility Talismans that concealed all their presence, the fleeing pair didn't notice anything amiss as they left.
Once the two auras vanished, Feng Ning shoved Di Siyu straight into the Holy Spring. "Go on and soak in it. I'm going to go meet that auspicious beast Qilin."
This was entirely different from the rumors, too.
What happened to needing to kowtow three times and knock your head nine times just to get a few drops of Holy Spring water? Why was this auspicious beast's temper so pleasant that it didn't even react when someone jumped into its Holy Spring?
"Junior Sister! This isn't Holy Spring water." Di Siyu poked his head out of the water, droplets covering his handsome face. His wet clothes outlined his broad shoulders and narrow waist, radiating explosive physical power.
Every single strand of his hair was dripping wet right now, making him drop-dead sexy.
Yet Feng Ning seemed far more interested in the auspicious beast Qilin, merely casting a cool glance his way. "Such public indecency. Go put on some clothes."
Di Siyu: "..."
No wonder this Qilin hadn't reacted at all—it turned out this pool of water was just a decoy. Where on earth was the real Holy Spring?
Rolling its lightbulb-sized emerald eyes, the Qilin sized up the two sudden arrivals. They looked slightly smarter than the previous pair, but not by much.
Ignorant and greedy humans. As a noble divine beast, it really didn't want to bother with weaklings like these.