"Little Fish, why are you still here?"
Ji Qingzhu circled around silently, flew behind the boat, and successfully ambushed, accurately pinching the little girl's soft cheeks from behind as she teased her.
After reaching the Divine Ability Realm, one could freely fly using Dharma Power, achieving all sorts of incredible feats in the eyes of mortals.
"Eldest Miss!!"
Chi Mengli's watery eyes instantly widened as she turned and plunged straight into Ji Qingzhu's embrace, muttering, "You scared me to death just now! I thought the Eldest Miss was fighting someone..."
"It's fine, it's fine. Didn't I come back safe and sound?" Ji Qingzhu stroked the little maid's smooth hair, comforting her.
Fortunately, she had tidied herself up before returning, otherwise this girl would have been worried sick again.
"Let's go home. Honestly, I told you to go back by yourself, but you wouldn't listen." Ji Qingzhu released the little maid, and with a thought, her Divine Ability and Dharma Power stirred the waves, automatically pushing the small boat upstream against the current.
"Eldest Miss, you broke through to the Divine Ability Realm?!" Although Chi Mengli could be a bit spacey, her reactions were just slow; her brain wasn't stupid.
Seeing the boat move without oars, coupled with the Eldest Miss silently sneaking up behind her just moments ago, she guessed that the Eldest Miss had already advanced to the Divine Ability Realm.
"Yes, your Eldest Miss is amazing, aren't I?" Ji Qingzhu walked into the boat's canvas hood and sat down cross-legged.
"As expected of the Eldest Miss!" Chi Mengli praised loudly, following her into the cabin, and said in a low voice, "Still, the Eldest Miss needs to protect herself, crow. Little Fish will worry..."
She reached out and pinched the corner of Ji Qingzhu's robe. Such a fine Dharma robe was already ruined. The fierce battle under the waterfall just now clearly involved the Eldest Miss exchanging blows with someone.
Ji Qingzhu hadn't paid attention to such trivial details. She shook her head, pulled the little girl into her arms, and promised, "Alright, I promise you."
She knew Chi Mengli's temperament inside and out; whenever an issue arose, coaxing her first was always the best course of action.
They sailed home in the dead of night, the bright moon casting its reflection on the clear river.
Neither of them knew that as the sky grew from dark to faint dawn, a streak of purplish-black light suddenly descended beneath the Waterfall of the Falling Dragon.
"Hmph, idiots! You can even mess up something this simple!"
The figure was slender and completely enveloped in a purplish-black mist, making their true appearance impossible to discern. If ordinary people were to merely hear that sinister voice, they would likely be driven mad.
This was the demonic art of bewildering minds, something utterly intolerable to the entire Tianyuan Realm!
The newcomer looked around, then cast some unknown divine ability and spell. The purplish-black mist actually began to trace out phantom figures in the exact spot where Ji Qingzhu and Qianlin had fought, seemingly replaying the battle that had just taken place.
"Still, anyone who dares to ruin my plans—no matter who you are, the moment I find you, you will die a horrific death!"
Yet, after waiting for quite a while, the person failed to find the mysterious individual who had killed Qianlin, as if their tracking divine ability had lost its effect.
"Heaven and earth boundless, trace the root and source!"
Thus, they cast an even stronger divination divine ability, attempting to locate the person who had ruined their scheme.
However, attempting to divine anything about Ji Qingzhu was no simple task...
"Huh? Why is everything in utter chaos? Could it be she possesses a supreme treasure capable of shielding the heavenly secrets?!"
Lin Jianshu deeply furrowed his brows. A supreme treasure capable of shielding heavenly secrets was something even he would covet immensely. How could such an item appear here, and even kill his subordinate?
"Tsk, whoever it is, no one shall ruin my plans. Yun City, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for appearing right where you shouldn't have. A blood sacrifice of a hundred cities to shatter the seal of the ancient Demon Honored—only then will I have the opportunity to complete my Heavenly Demon Divine Ability..."
---
Ji Qingzhu, who had already returned home, knew nothing of this. Only Cangyuan inside the Rivers and Mountains Map suddenly awoke, twisting its massive body and letting out a low growl.
"Someone is trying to divine me? With such paltry cultivation, they dare dabble in the path of heavenly secrets? If not for my cultivation being a fraction of what it once was, hmph, how dare a mere junior slight me."
However, the Rivers and Mountains Map was a Saint Artifact; even if only a shred of its might remained, it was certainly not something a minor cultivator could easily divine.
Cangyuan naturally suspected the attempt was aimed at Ji Qingzhu, but the moment it recalled the wisps of supreme Dao rhyme Ji Qingzhu had leaked when breaking through to the Divine Ability Realm, it felt a sense of fortune for the diviner.
If the person had directly targeted Ji Qingzhu with the divination, they wouldn't just have their heavenly secrets blocked—they would likely suffer the backlash of the heavenly will, and their very divine abilities might be destroyed.
"Alas, just how can I make her accept it? A Saint Artifact—how could anyone not want one?" Cangyuan sprawled across its peak, resting its head on a dragon claw, falling into deep contemplation.
Could it be that the world has changed too fast? Having not emerged for tens of thousands of years, are Saint Artifacts in the outside world no longer worth anything?
It had practically thrown itself at her with the Saint Artifact Rivers and Mountains Map, yet the little girl didn't appreciate it at all. How could such a person exist in this world? It truly gave the dragon a headache.
The next morning.
When Ji Qingzhu saw Ji Yuan again, she found that he had already begun tempering his bones.
Body Refining stage three, the Bone Pass!
"Not bad. You completed the tempering of your tendon and fascia overnight. You had the foundation of three times of blood-refining and Qi nourishing, and now you are doing the fourth tempering of your bones. Is there anything different?" Ji Qingzhu asked.
"Yes!" Ji Yuan swung his fists and said excitedly, "Retraining this fourth time truly feels different. I can feel my body becoming more perfect and robust, and my tendon and fascia and bones are several times stronger!"
This undoubtedly gave him the confidence to continue cultivating.
Seeing this, Ji Qingzhu reached out, placed her hand on him, and carefully examined his physique.
"Cangyuan, help me see what is different about his body." She even called upon the golden-finger old grandfather that originally belonged to Ji Yuan to inspect him together.
"I can sense a terrifyingly unimaginable power of origin hidden within his body, but that power is too mysterious; it will require an extremely massive amount of Qi and blood to activate it," Cangyuan exclaimed in shock.
"He is undergoing Saint Body Atavism. As long as his talent is activated and he grows smoothly, he will surely achieve Sainthood in the future!" Ji Qingzhu thought to herself.
"..."
Hearing this, Cangyuan abruptly raised its head and roared angrily at the gloomy sky: "You want me to follow him, right? You siblings are truly affectionate, but what do you take me and the Rivers and Mountains Map for? You just give us away as you please—this is simply bullying a dragon too much!"
Ji Qingzhu coughed lightly, not expecting her attempt at instigation to fail right at the start.
"It utterly infuriates me! Ji Qingzhu, since you so desperately want me to serve elsewhere, this dragon simply refuses to leave! Not even for your so-called Saint Body!"
"Hmph, I have already collected your hair, and you have left your spiritual imprint in the map. Rivers and Mountains Map, acknowledge her as your master and bind us!!"
Ji Qingzhu opened her mouth slightly in shock. What was happening? She hadn't done a thing, yet that foolish dragon soul had proactively taken the Rivers and Mountains Map and bound itself to her as master.
She parted her red lips slightly, her phoenix eyes turning adorable and blank. Blinking, she turned her head to look at the bewildered Ji Yuan, a wave of bitter tears welling up in her heart.
Little brother, oh little brother, your sister really didn't mean to steal your destiny, but this fellow simply doesn't play by the rules!
"Sis, what's wrong with you?" Ji Yuan was somewhat baffled as to why his sister was staring at him.