A dreamlike cave entrance appeared as Xingyao stepped out from the dark red spear barefoot.
Her pale green hair flowed like water, and her curves were faintly visible beneath her translucent gossamer dress.
She leaned languidly on a bed formed of stardust, twirling a strand of hair around her finger while looking at Cai Xiaonuo with a flirtatious, smiling gaze: “Little girl, why are you hiding? It’s not like I’ll eat you~”
Cai Xiaonuo shrank behind Li Ze to steal a glance, only to be drawn forward by a hook of Xingyao’s finger.
Xingyao’s cold fingertip lightly tapped the tip of her nose as she teased, “You little cutie with the Chaos Spirit Root, this body of yours… is much more interesting than the Young Master’s.”
Cai Xiaonuo’s cheeks flushed crimson, yet she couldn’t help but reach out to touch the ends of Xingyao’s drifting hair: (◕‿◕)
“Big Sister’s hair is as beautiful as a galaxy…”
Xingyao deliberately brushed her gossamer sleeve across Cai Xiaonuo’s cheek, a sweet fragrance lingering as she chuckled, “You like it? Then look all you want~ After all, this Soul Sea of yours will be my territory from now on.”
“Of course! As long as Sister wants to come, Xiaonuo welcomes you!”
Cai Xiaonuo smiled broadly (￣▽￣).
“Sister is even more beautiful than the fairies in picture books!”
Within the Soul Sea, stardust drifted as Xingyao stepped barefoot toward Cai Xiaonuo, who was curled up in the corner of the bed.
The gossamer fabric slid off her shoulder with every step:
“Nourished by Chaos Spirit Power, Sister’s dress has become even more translucent~”
Her fingertip traced the girl’s reddening cheek.
Cai Xiaonuo fiddled with the corner of her clothes, her ears turning red as she stole a glance at those pale green hair tips: “Sister Xingyao is so pretty…”
Li Ze sat cross-legged beside the spear, frowning.
“Xingyao, stop teasing her.”
Xingyao chuckled and stepped forward to caress him, her voice echoing softly, “Does the Young Master feel distressed for her!?”
“It’s okay! Senior.”
“I really like Sister Xingyao!”
Xingyao’s slender arms lightly encircled Cai Xiaonuo’s waist, her green hair falling like a waterfall.
Li Ze flicked his sleeve.
“You are a divine artifact spirit, after all. Can’t you be a bit more serious?”
She cast a teasing smile toward Li Ze.
“With the way the Young Master is neglecting me, could it be you dislike me!?”
Her fingertip lightly brushed over Cai Xiaonuo’s reddened cheek.
Cai Xiaonuo looked at Xingyao with a beam: “Sister Xingyao, can you play with Xiaonuo from now on?”
……
Li Ze had a headache.
Back on Earth, he had envied goddesses like Xingyao.
But after actually interacting with her, that feeling had vanished.
Li Ze’s figure dissipated like smoke as he silently withdrew from the Soul Sea.
Li Ze calculated how to obtain spiritual energy resources for his upcoming cultivation.
The two Peak Masters practically monopolized the spiritual energy of this spirit vein.
For the spear to recover quickly, it had to absorb a massive amount of spiritual energy.
That meant he could only set up a small-scale Spirit Gathering Array; such an array would be difficult to detect and sufficient for his needs.
Li Ze took six green array flags out of his storage bag.
The golden characters for “Gather” and “Spirit” on the flagpoles shone brilliantly.
Li Ze cast a spell, and green array patterns manifested in his hands.
“Scatter!”
The six array flags took flight, dispersing and embedding themselves into the surrounding stone cave.
Mysterious green array patterns rapidly spread and connected between the floor and the stone walls, forming a complex miniature array.
He cast the spell again: “Gather!”
Outside the stone cave, spiritual energy began to gather slowly, competing for energy with the sect’s grand array.
However, this newborn gathering force inevitably created a subtle conflict with the massive grand array that shrouded the sect and nourished the two main peaks.
Though Li Ze’s miniature array was small and hidden, it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.
Its act of forcibly taking a “share of the spoils” was quietly contesting the spiritual energy escaping from the spirit vein below with the sect’s grand array.
“The effect is quite good. It can actually take the upper hand while competing with the sect’s grand array.”
Li Ze manifested the spear outside his body.
“Xingyao, this will be the place for you to absorb spiritual energy and recover!”
“Does the Young Master want to dump me here?”
Xingyao appeared before the girl.
Her fingertip tapped Li Ze’s chest, lightly caressing it.
“Young Master~ since you’ve called me out, how can you just wash your hands of me?”
“Xingyao doesn’t want to leave the Young Master.”
“There is no point in you following me right now. Recovering here is beneficial to you, and to me as well.”
“Alright then!”
“Young Master, remember to come see Xingyao often!”
Xingyao tightened her embrace around the girl’s waist.
“Sister Xingyao, Xiaonuo and Senior will come to see you often.”
Xingyao vanished into a shimmering phantom.
“Bye-bye!”
With that, the spear sank into the ground.
“I am already at the peak of the fourth stage. I’ll break through to the fifth stage right here.”
The girl sat cross-legged and began to breathe in the spiritual energy.
The surrounding spiritual energy converged, and then a ripple of energy vibrated outward.
“Break!!!”
“Spirit Realm Stage Five, complete!”
Cai Xiaonuo asked curiously, “Senior, how does it feel now that you’ve broken through?”
“A breakthrough in a minor stage of the Spirit Realm won’t bring about massive changes. It’s just that my strength and stamina have become a bit greater.”
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Li Ze’s soul.
He was forced to lean against the stone wall, taking a deep breath.
He spoke in a heavy tone, “The plan to recover my soul needs to be put on the agenda.”
Li Ze took out a simple purple-black soul banner made from array flag materials with his left hand.
Before leaving, Li Ze placed a restriction at the cave entrance.
This was to prevent anyone from intruding, and he would know if the restriction was triggered.
Realizing it was almost the end of the month, he remembered he had taken two missions last time and was still missing one.
Upon arriving at the Mission Hall, Li Ze spotted a task among the many missions that could both recover his soul and earn a large amount of spirit stones.
The task was to execute a disciple of the Yin Yang Sect who was acting as a mountain bandit outside Mengxi City—Gu Liang, a tenth-stage Spirit Realm cultivator!
“Senior, this mission really kills three birds with one stone!”
“It can eliminate evil, recover Senior’s soul, and earn some extra spirit stones. The only downside is that it’s too dangerous!”
Li Ze stared at the plaque in front of him.
After a moment of hesitation, he said:
“Gu Liang has not yet liquefied his spiritual energy to reach the Dao Realm. With his average talent, no one in the Spirit Realm is my match.”
The girl accepted the mission.
According to the information provided, the tenth-stage Spirit Realm Gu Liang had left the sect two years ago.
Over the past year, he had been operating as a bandit on Huangshan.
Using a flight array, they arrived at Huangliang Mountain.
Huangliang Mountain was covered in maple trees, their leaves already turned the color of dried blood.
Li Ze moved forward over the rotting leaves, his footsteps making a faint, crisp sound.
As the mountain wind blew, thousands of maple leaves rustled like weeping.
The red debris they shook off stuck to the hem of his white robe, looking like clotted scabs.
Halfway up the mountain, the wooden fence of the bandit stronghold was slanted.
A worm-eaten wooden sign hung there, with the words “Gu Family Fortress” written in crooked handwriting like crawling earthworms.
Li Ze looked up.
In the bottom right corner of that wooden sign were characters carved in Simplified Chinese: “Mr. Gu, live a happy life!”
How could there be Simplified Chinese in this world?
The scenes within the fortress were even stranger.
Dozens of wooden houses were built against the mountain, with copper bells hanging from the eaves.
In front of the main gate stood two guards chatting merrily.
Li Ze bypassed the guards and entered the main courtyard.
In the largest courtyard, a white porcelain teapot sat on a wooden table.
It was painted with blue and white landscapes—clearly an Earth style.
On the wooden table sat a ceramic tile bottle with the words “Maotai” carved on it.
Beside it, however, stood a crooked half-piece of a wooden plaque with ten characters written in Kaishu script: “Heaven and Earth are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs.”
Li Ze murmured in a low voice: “Could he be a transmigrator too!?”
The wind swept past the copper bells.
Amidst the tinkling sound, the faint, hoarse humming of a nursery rhyme drifted from inside the house: “…In this world, only Mama is good. A child with a mother is like a treasure…”
The girl stepped forward and pushed open the wooden door of the main hall.
“Creak~”
The wooden door swung open with a groan…
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