"How on earth did you manage to provoke them?" Qin Yi frowned with a hint of confusion. "Why are they coming after you?"
Wang Xuan looked like he was about to cry. "I don't know... From the moment I entered the Tianyuan Valley, I've just been heading southeast. But somehow, every single time, I run into them. It's like they're haunting me..."
Hearing Wang Xuan's reply, Qin Yi could not help but chuckle.
Come to think of it, it was probably because of the Zhuxian Vine.
Qin Yi felt a wave of relief. Fortunately, he had managed to obtain the Zhuxian Vine first; if he had been even a step slower, it would have surely stirred up another storm.
"This place is no place to linger. Let's head back to the Immortal Prefecture first," Qin Yi said indifferently.
"But..." Wang Xuan hesitated, seemingly reluctant to leave.
"Is there something unsayable troubling you?" Qin Yi glanced sideways at him, puzzled.
Based on his perception, the other side had about five practitioners at the late Body Tempering stage and three who had just stepped into Foundation Establishment. Even though the disparity in combat power was huge, given Wang Xuan's timid nature, the two of them joining forces probably wouldn't make it easy to deal with them.
Besides, the Grand Competition was approaching, and they needed to preserve enough energy. They certainly could not afford to expose themselves rashly.
Qin Yi thought for a moment, then took a black-and-gold stone from his robe and handed it over. "Since you don't want to leave, use this Star-Radiance Stone to protect yourself. Find a hiding place and wait for them to leave..."
With a face full of gratitude, Wang Xuan quickly bowed in thanks. "Thank you, Senior Brother! Once I finish the task assigned by Master, I will surely repay you well!"
Realizing how it was, Qin Yi didn't waste any more breath, turned around, and left directly.
Taking a detour all the way out of the valley, Qin Yi stood far away on a peak, overlooking the scene below. From time to time, he could see the movements of a fight breaking out.
"With the Star-Radiance Stone protecting him, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?" Qin Yi watched, shaking his head helplessly, but there was not much he could do to help right now.
"Oh well, I'd better go back to the Immortal Prefecture and find Master first," Qin Yi muttered to himself, then turned and sped away toward the Fifth Immortal Prefecture.
...
The Fifth Immortal Prefecture, Yunxue Manor.
It was bustling and lively with wide streets and rows of various shops standing densely side by side. It was far more prosperous than before.
"I didn't expect that after being away for a year, it would change so much." Qin Yi was quite surprised and accelerated his pace as he rushed up the mountain.
"Whoosh—"
"Bang—"
Abruptly, ripples appeared in the air, and then two streaks of light shot toward him at high speed.
Qin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted, and he hurriedly dodged.
The two streaks of light cut through the air and ultimately crashed into a giant tree over a hundred feet tall. Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, the ancient tree shattered into pieces, and an endless cloud of dust half-obscured the sky.
When the smoke and dust cleared away, Qin Yi finally saw the newcomer clearly. She wore a green robe embroidered with a delicate, nimble, and dashing crescent moon pattern.
"Senior Sister," Qin Yi greeted softly.
The newcomer glanced at Qin Yi, the corners of her mouth curving up. She leaped forward in a great stride and said playfully, "Not bad, kid! Dodging two of my moves in a row, you've improved."
"Hehe." Qin Yi gave a dry laugh, then said, "That's all thanks to Senior Sister's sneak attacks over the years."
"Humph!"
"Stop joking around," the woman snorted, acting proud. "If you only relied on my probing, heaven knows what kind of shape you'd be in! Don't think I don't know that over the years, Master has kept all the good things for you."
"Hehe..."
Qin Yi gave an awkward smile, then asked earnestly, "That's right, Senior Sister Qiuran, is Master at the manor?"
"Looking for Master? Why, are you craving food again?" The senior sister crossed her arms and teased.
Qin Yi shook his head and continued, "Of course not. I came today to ask Master some questions!"
Hearing this, the senior sister stopped teasing and said, "Master is in seclusion. As it happens, I've just come out of seclusion. Tell me whatever is on your mind first."
At those words, Qin Yi fell silent.
Seeing this, the senior sister took another step closer, a hint of curiosity on her face, and questioned, "What? Is there something you can't tell your sister now?"
Qin Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He could not help recalling when he first came to the Immortal Prefecture. There was not a single person to talk to; if Senior Sister hadn't accompanied and taken care of him all along, helping him open up his heart, who knew where he would be doing odd jobs now.
But then again, back then their personalities were quite peculiar. Neither of them had friends and both liked to keep to themselves, yet they could talk endlessly about cultivation insights. Coupled with the fact that Qin Yi was young and had no one to lean on at the time, he would happily share whatever happened to him with Senior Sister. Gradually, it had become a habit.
Seeing her again today, it felt somewhat like recapturing the past, but the greenness in Qin Yi's eyes seemed to have long since vanished.
Being quick-witted, the senior sister saw at a glance that Qin Yi was harboring a secret, so she pursued the matter: "You little brat, how dare you hide things from me?"
She stared closely at Qin Yi, trying to see into his heart, which made Qin Yi inexplicably panic.
After a pause, Qin Yi raised his head to look at Senior Sister and said earnestly, "When the time is ripe, I will naturally tell you, Senior Sister."
With no other choice, she pouted and continued, "Alright then, since you don't want to talk about this, I'll tell you some news you might find interesting."
Oh?
Qin Yi's gaze narrowed slightly as he listened attentively.
"Those five monsters from the top three prefectures have come out of the mountains," the senior sister said earnestly.
Qin Yi remained silent, not particularly surprised by this.
As she spoke, the senior sister turned toward the riverbank with a somewhat pessimistic expression and continued, "Xiaobai... has also lost his qualification for the Grand Competition!"
Qin Yi frowned and asked uncertainly, "Does Senior Sister mean Senior Brother Murong Bai?"
"Yes! He withstood all the moves of Chen Qingshan and Sun Huayuan, but at the very last moment, his qi and meridians went out of control and snapped, and he passed out on the spot." As she spoke, the senior sister could not help sighing. "Such a fool, always trying to act tough..."
Hearing this, Qin Yi also lowered his head, a strange glint flashing in the depths of his eyes as he muttered inwardly, "They actually struck with such cruelty?"
Sun Huayuan, the core disciple of the Lord of the Second Immortal Prefecture, a direct descendant of the Sun family in Yuanwu City, wielded dual weapons with dazzling skill. Though he rarely showed his face, his strength was immense, ranking him among the top five peers across all prefectures—a testament to his profound cultivation.
"In terms of talent, Xiaobai is inferior to you, but when it comes to the arts of soul-essence, he is even much better than me. Yet even so, he still couldn't defeat them..." The senior sister sighed softly, full of sadness and undisguised care and worry for Qin Yi.
"Senior Sister, rest assured..." Qin Yi gently placed his hand on Qiuran's shoulder and said in a deep voice, "In this Grand Competition, I will definitely give it my all and seek justice for Senior Brother Murong!"
Gradually, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. In a small pavilion a few hundred feet away from them, Fu Chenzi was also silently observing the two of them.
"Clearly you care so much about your disciple, why refuse to see him under the pretext of seclusion?"
Abruptly, a woman's voice came from behind. Fu Chenzi did not turn back, only saying indifferently, "The time is not yet right."
That voice was calm and detached, without a trace of emotional fluctuation, like ten-thousand-year-old ice.
"You're still like this!" The woman was somewhat angry, then asked, "The final trials are right around the corner now, and the five proud prodigies of the upper three prefectures have also joined. There's a chance they might run into each other tomorrow. Can you really rest easy letting Yi'er face this just like that?"
"I have my own measure of these matters; you need not worry about it anymore," Fu Chenzi's indifferent voice resounded through the air. "Also, didn't I tell you to cultivate in quiet seclusion? Why have you come out of seclusion already?"
As the voice faded, the woman's tone softened slightly, turning somewhat heavy. "The Fuxian Seat has been acting up incessantly, and I sensed some spiritual energy fluctuations in the Narcissus Palace. Besides, having been in seclusion for decades, I was truly rather bored, so I simply came out to take a look."
"You sensed it too?"
The voice stopped abruptly.
The two looked at each other, both seeing the impending doom in each other's eyes.
The Narcissus Palace was entrenched on Yunshan Mountain in the Fifteenth Immortal Prefecture, closest to the Tongtian Tower. Every time a tribulation changed or a great figure from the upper realm descended, it would react instantly, never taking more than a day.
Yet this time, Venerable Biyue had witnessed the abnormalities of the Fuxian Seat persist for over seven days during her seclusion—and that was while she was exerting her full strength to protect it.
Clearly, a calamity was about to descend.
"What's meant to come will come eventually; there's no escaping it..." Fu Chenzi muttered to himself, his eyes fixed all along on a region of the distant horizon.
There, a huge black moon was gradually becoming clear, yet in the eyes of most people, there was nothing at all—because that was the "Calamity Mark" that only Reincarnators could see.
"I just hope these children can remain safe and sound!" the woman sighed softly, her gaze joining his in looking into the distance.
...
The late evening stars exhaled tiny bursts of brilliance, and the cool, pleasant night breeze brushed across the lake, stirring up layers of ripples.
Qin Yi stood by the lake, gazing into the distant scenery, lost in thought, not moving for a long time.
Thoughts gathered deep within his sea of consciousness, and that feeling came again.
"Ever since it was interrupted by Wang Xuan last time, this feeling hasn't appeared for a long time. I didn't expect the reaction this time to be much stronger than before. I wonder if it has anything to do with that spiritual dew..." Qin Yi's gaze was piercing as he stared at the ball of gloomy fire in the palm of his hand.
"Standing by the lake alone for so long, don't you find it boring?"
Just at that moment, a voice came from behind—familiar and close to the ear, making one feel immensely at ease.
"Master!" Qin Yi turned around swiftly and indeed saw Fu Chenzi.
Fu Chenzi walked over with his hands behind his back, looking calmly at Qin Yi as he asked, "How do you feel?"
Qin Yi pursed the corners of his lips and replied, "During this period, my soul-essence power has shown a trend of rebounding and rising, and the spiritual power within my body has gradually stabilized."
"Oh?" Fu Chenzi raised an eyebrow and said with interest, "That means opening up the Divine Wheel is within reach?"
"Master, please don't joke. Opening up the Divine Wheel is still far out of reach for me..."
As his voice trailed off, Qin Yi seemed to hesitate.
"What is it?" Fu Chenzi asked again.
"Your disciple... has always had something he wanted to ask Master." After hesitating for a long time, Qin Yi finally blurted out his question.
"Is it about the Severed Meridians?" Fu Chenzi spoke indifferently, asking back directly.
As a master, how could he not know the little thoughts of his own disciple?
"Yes." Qin Yi nodded immediately and continued to ask, "Now that I've returned to Foundation Establishment and my qi and meridians feel like they're flowing backward, I wonder if it's possible to completely suppress the ailment of the Severed Meridians?"
"Plop..."
Ripples instantly stirred across the lake.
Fu Chenzi merely raised his hand slightly, releasing a strand of Divine Wheel will, and slowly replied, "As your master, I know your palpitations and understand your confusion. The illness of the Severed Meridians is a hidden danger brought about by Xiantian. Unless you possess world-shaking fortune, it is very difficult to cure it by the roots."
Hearing this, Qin Yi was instantly crestfallen. Then he took a lotus—the Phoenix-Spirit Ice Lotus—from his robe and asked, "Master, I harvested this from the bottom of the Tianyuan Valley. Judging purely by its quality, it has already reached the level of ordinary immortal-grade medicinal materials..."
"You want to use it to reshape yourself?" Fu Chenzi was not surprised; instead, he asked a rather serious question.
"Your disciple knows this is unlikely, but I want to try." Qin Yi's eyes burned with determination as he looked at him.
"Sigh, the quality of this ice spirit is indeed very good, but the danger it can bring you is also immense. Leaving aside the difficulty of reshaping and absorbing it, even simply refining it would probably be very difficult," Fu Chenzi advised earnestly while taking it into his hands to examine closely.
Qin Yi lowered his head, a trace of gloom flashing across his face. "As expected, it still won't work..."
Seeing Qin Yi like this, Fu Chenzi shook his head and continued, "The Severed Meridians are inherently incurable, but if you want to stimulate their special power and cause them to mutate, there is still a method to follow..."
Hearing this, Qin Yi's eyes lit up instantly, and he asked excitedly, "What is it?"
He handed the ice spirit back to Qin Yi and continued, "The Severed Meridians inherently belong to Yin. To draw out Yang to counter it and give birth to divine charm, the Profound Guidance Technique happens to belong to Yang. Combining the two might just create a bit of fortune."