Bai Shuangshuang lay in bed for several days.
Well, “lay” was just a manner of speaking—she’d stopped feeling unwell long ago.
The Heaven-grade Dao Seed was no joke; recovery was swift.
By the third day, she felt she could hop out of bed.
In fact, she’d already gone from a mortal with no cultivation to a Mysterious Seed realm third-rank cultivator.
‘As expected of a Heaven-grade Dao Seed… this seems to be just the beginning of the benefits.’
But she kept quiet, staying in bed and continuing to moan and groan.
Because Zhao Qingyue was serving her tea and water.
The Commandery Princess herself was attending to her.
‘Where else could you find treatment like this?’
Zhao Qingyue didn’t stop talking while bringing the tea.
“Are you a pig? Eight pots of water in one day?”
Bai Shuangshuang blinked pitifully.
“I really am thirsty…”
To be honest, she didn’t know if it was a side effect of condensing the Red-Gold Flame into a Dao Seed, but she now felt thirsty at the drop of a hat—her water intake had multiplied several times over.
Zhao Qingyue grumbled as she went to get more water.
And she didn’t call a servant; she fetched it herself.
The maids passing by watched in stunned disbelief.
Who was the Commandery Princess and who was the maid here?
But then they recalled the commotion Bai Shuangshuang had caused that day—stars running wild in the sky, mountains and rivers roaring in unison, the entire Royal City shaking.
‘This wasn’t a maid; this was an immortal. If an immortal asked the Commandery Princess to pour a glass of water, so what?’
Bai Shuangshuang took a sip, sighed, and lay back down.
She didn’t know whether it was because the cost of that Descent into Reality had been too great, or because Mo Zhuozhuo had temporarily lost her means of dealing with her, but Mo Zhuozhuo hadn’t appeared in days, giving Bai Shuangshuang some peaceful days.
Zhao Qingyue stood by the bed, watching her lazy demeanor.
Her lips moved, but in the end she said nothing.
Did she not know that Bai Shuangshuang was faking? She wasn’t stupid.
But she couldn’t be bothered to expose her.
Anyway…
‘She was rather enjoying this herself. Otherwise, if she was really annoyed, she could have asked someone else to take care of Bai Shuangshuang—there were plenty of maids in the mansion. But she didn’t.’
On the fourth day, Qiu Yue supported Bai Shuangshuang as she went to the courtyard to bask in the sun.
She had barely sat down when Zhao Qingchuan arrived.
He held a teacup and wore casual clothes, looking like an old man out for a stroll who happened to pass by.
But Bai Shuangshuang knew that Zhao Qingyue’s building and courtyard were not part of Zhao Qingchuan’s usual route—he had come specifically.
“Feeling better?”
Zhao Qingchuan sat down on the stone stool beside her.
“Much better, thank you for your concern, Your Highness!”
Zhao Qingchuan nodded and was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking.
“The commotion you caused that day has spread all over the Southern Region.”
Bai Shuangshuang didn’t respond.
“Now everyone outside is guessing whether the Jingnan Prince Manor has invited an immortal to take charge.”
Zhao Qingchuan glanced at her and smiled.
“I’m also quite curious—who exactly are you? How did you manage such a commotion?”
Bai Shuangshuang opened her mouth, wanting to say “I learned it from reading books,” but swallowed the words back.
‘Forget it, who would believe that now?’
Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Zhao Qingchuan didn’t press further and changed the subject.
“What are your thoughts on the Stagnation of Spiritual Energy in the Southern Region?”
Bai Shuangshuang looked up at him.
‘This Prince really treats me as all-powerful.’
She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“Your Highness, what thoughts could I have?”
“That you could have.”
“That I really don’t.”
Zhao Qingchuan was silent for a beat, then nodded and stood up.
“That’s true. It’s a bit unreasonable to ask a young girl like you. I’m grasping at straws because I’m desperate. Lately I’ve been so busy with this matter that my head is spinning. Don’t take it to heart.”
He brushed off the hem of his robe, turned, took two steps, then looked back.
“Rest well. Later there’s still something for you to handle.”
He was referring to the matter of going to Lingxi County to investigate the spirit fields.
Bai Shuangshuang watched him walk away, then lowered her eyes.
‘She actually wasn’t completely without ideas. The Stagnation of Spiritual Energy in the Southern Region was like a great river that had been blocked. From her experience with controlling the flow of spiritual energy after setting up those formations several times, she felt it could be solved. As long as she could grasp the flow of spiritual energy, locate the points of stagnation, and then clear them, there was hope for a solution. But the problem was, she couldn’t do that step yet. Where would she find the flow of spiritual energy? Where would she find the stagnation points? Forget it, no rush.’
As for Qiu Yue, the young girl had been staying by her side these past few days.
When Bai Shuangshuang was sunbathing, she would sit nearby, circulate her Qi to nourish her own cultivation, and let wisps of spiritual energy flow toward Bai Shuangshuang.
It wasn’t much, but it was very comfortable, like a spring breeze brushing the face.
Zhao Qingyue watched from afar, but this time she wasn’t jealous.
Over these few days together, she had discovered that Qiu Yue was actually quite honest.
She didn’t compete, didn’t snatch, didn’t say things she shouldn’t, and was just prone to blushing.
Bai Shuangshuang glanced at her, and she blushed.
Bai Shuangshuang spoke to her, and she blushed.
Bai Shuangshuang accidentally touched her, and her face turned red all the way to the base of her neck.
Zhao Qingyue watched and found it rather adorable.
‘Alright, keep her, keep her. She can serve as a guard too, and she probably won’t stay long anyway. No threat to me.’
A few days later, Bai Shuangshuang had completely recovered.
The Prince’s Mansion was also prepared, with all the accompanying personnel in place.
Zhao Qingyue was her deputy, Qiu Yue was her guard, Qingluan led a team of armored soldiers, and there were also several immortal cultivators from various sects.
They were just waiting for Bai Shuangshuang, this Prince’s Mansion Special Envoy for Spiritual Fields, to take up her post and go to Lingxi County to investigate the case, opening the situation for the mansion.
Speaking of which, that group of Imperial Envoys had been in the Royal City for quite some time.
Zhao Qingchuan must have expended considerable effort to keep them delayed and occupied.
Bai Shuangshuang knew she had to act quickly.
Just before departure, Bai Shuangshuang stood at the gate of the Prince’s Mansion, touching the jade pendant that Zhao Qingchuan had given her.
Then she froze.
She had actually wanted to test the changes after condensing her Dao Seed, but the moment her spiritual power seeped into the pendant through her fingertips, something repelled it back.
Her consciousness was abruptly yanked into her mind, as if someone had unfurled a painting within her brain.
The mountains, rivers, and the flow of spiritual energy of the Southern Region all spread out before her eyes.
She felt as if she had established a certain connection with the mountains and rivers of the entire Three Southern Prefectures.
A feeling like every meridian in her body was locked and stagnant washed over her.
It wasn’t like the omniscience she had in the sword formation—she could only vaguely sense some general things.
But she did feel it.
Bai Shuangshuang stood still, her pupils slightly dilated.
‘She could see Qi.’
She guessed it was because when she condensed her Dao Seed, the mountains and rivers of the entire Southern Region had lent her their spiritual energy.
That energy had circulated through her body once, leaving a mark behind.
Like a key, or a token of trust.
Combined with this jade pendant symbolizing the authority of the Prince’s Mansion, it allowed her to sense the flow of spiritual energy in the Southern Region to a certain extent.
Bai Shuangshuang’s hand remained on the jade pendant, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind.
‘What if—just what if—she enlarged the Qingyun Sword Formation? Not a formation the size of a room, but a giant array that could cover the entire Southern Region? Using mountains as the formation’s feet, rivers as the array patterns… Then would she be able to see clearly the direction of every stream of spiritual energy and every blocked point? Would she be able to solve this Stagnation of Spiritual Energy problem?’
Bai Shuangshuang’s heart missed a beat.
She suppressed that thought and buried it in the deepest part of her mind.
‘Now is not the time.’
She withdrew her hand, took a deep breath, and mounted her horse.
Zhao Qingyue rode beside her, tilting her head to look at her.
“What’s wrong? Daydreaming?”
“Nothing.”
Bai Shuangshuang smiled.
“Let’s go. The Foolish Maiden of the Bai Family is returning home in glory~”
Qingluan and Qiu Yue followed behind.
Four white horses, a squad of armored cavalry, stepped out of the Royal City in the morning light…