Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 36

Yue Tingxi didn’t guess what Qin Suoliu was really thinking, but she did agree with the current proposal—facing a demonic body while one’s own body is restricted is inconvenient in every way and makes it easier to fall into a disadvantage.

So she nodded in agreement, but when she took her seat, she chose the spot closest to the narrow channel so she could provide support to Qin Suoliu at any moment, just like Lan Fengqing had done earlier.

“By the way, the Grey Moth helped me just now too!” Seeing that no people or demons were approaching, she immediately shared what she had meant to say earlier, “It used a giant transformation spell at the exact moment my long whip was about to strike the crocodile demon!”

She emphasized those last words and added, “Qin Suoliu didn’t even feel uncomfortable upon entering the Shallow Water Layer. Maybe the Grey Moth intentionally helped her with that too!”

“What does this indicate? The Grey Moth’s help was not only proactive but also timed perfectly! Not too early, not too late, ensuring the energy wasn’t wasted.”

The two young ladies were stunned by her speculation.

“…But this also reveals a problem,” Lan Fengqing said. “Speaking from my own experience, if someone possesses inexhaustible spiritual power, they generally don’t care much about spell consumption. It’s only those with limitations or insufficient control who calculate the timing carefully for each action.”

“It should just be a limitation,” Qin Suoliu interrupted, denying the possibility of insufficiency, “However, since the Grey Moth is willing to help proactively, it probably has confidence. Let’s just call it ‘icing on the cake.’”

Yue Tingxi agreed in her mind—these small matters could have been easily handled even without the Grey Moth.

With no interfering demons, Yunzhou continued to descend southeast.

For some reason, several flying artifacts followed them shortly afterward, but unlike the audacious Daoist Sea disciples, they kept a respectful distance.

“Many cultivators, once entering the secret realm without experience or a map, tend to follow strong figures they encounter,” Qin Suoliu explained as she noticed a demon and a person watching the window outside, “where there’s a piece of meat for a strong one, there will be a sip of soup for them too.”

“I see, they want to ride our luck!” Yue Tingxi understood. “Do we need to shake them off?”

“In my opinion, they should all be discarded,” Qin Suoliu said casually, “But if the treasures aren’t particularly valuable, just let them have it.”

To quickly raise her cultivation to a level that could compete with Lan Zhaoyao, she needed high-quality treasures—artifacts, spiritual medicines, or ancient texts. Lower-quality items could be given to the followers to prevent trouble or to use them as scouts.

The followers just wanted a share without causing problems.

Yet Yue Tingxi felt the situation was suspiciously calm, as if something major awaited them.

Having never entered a secret realm herself, she could only recall Lan Fengqing’s warning that the Shallow Water Layer was tricky, read some accounts in Book of Worldly Matters, and review information she had recently gathered, but she still couldn’t predict what might go wrong.

After a brief moment, this premonition of danger intensified sharply.

“Alert!” instinctively, Yue Tingxi shouted.

Suddenly, Yunzhou jolted violently!

“Hold on, the defensive barrier is already activated,” Qin Suoliu had anticipated this. Calmly, she tossed spiritual stones into the power slot, “Several flying artifacts are attacking ‘Whale Fall’ simultaneously. They’re clearly not friendly.”

Such a coordinated, nearly silent attack must have been a joint effort.

“In that case, let’s eliminate them all.”

Surprisingly, it was the seemingly weakest Lan Fengqing who made the decision.

Seeing Yue Tingxi’s astonished look, Lan Fengqing smiled, “Don’t underestimate me. Though I appear weak, I’m still the younger sister of a sect leader. Besides… a chronically ill person always harbors some unshakable darkness. I’m not as pure as you think.”

Her expression remained gentle, but her movements were swift. She summoned a five-stringed pipa and unleashed a ferocious battle melody!

Thanks to Qin Suoliu continuously feeding spiritual stones, Lan Fengqing’s spell could be cast at full strength.

Emerald spiritual energy stretched from beneath Yunzhou, no longer forming vine-like shapes, but as streams of light, piercing countless incoming spiritual arrows, destroying them one by one.

But it didn’t stop there. At the moment the arrows were pierced, the emerald streams consumed them, reshaping into arrows that shot back at their origin!

A small flying vessel closest to them was hit unexpectedly.

At first, nothing seemed unusual, but the vessel suddenly exploded! Countless vines pierced the hull, and blood seeped out, dissolving in water before their eyes.

Yue Tingxi was stunned, but it made sense—if Lan Fengqing hadn’t accurately understood her strength, Qin Suoliu wouldn’t have invited her to explore the secret realm together.

These two grew up together, knew each other inside out—one dared to invite, the other dared to follow.

Yue Tingxi then looked at the followers.

Lan Fengqing’s attack was a warning, demonstrating that if anyone dared attack again, they wouldn’t survive. The attackers’ strike stopped immediately, yet Lan Fengqing continued playing.

Her pipa performance became increasingly frenzied, her movements blurred, her gentle smile turning into a mocking grin.

Yue Tingxi felt the spiritual energy fiercely converge between Yunzhou and the followers. Soon, a giant spiritual tree manifested in the water, its immense trunk forming an almost impenetrable wall, its twisted branches attacking any flying vessel that tried to approach.

“That’s enough,” Qin Suoliu reminded her, “Your body can’t take much more.”

Lan Fengqing didn’t respond but gradually slowed her pipa movements.

Taking advantage of this, Qin Suoliu increased Yunzhou’s speed, activating its concealment barrier, completely vanishing from the followers’ sight.

About half an hour later, Lan Fengqing stopped playing, put away her pipa, and began coughing violently.

“Lan, are you okay?” Yue Tingxi rushed over, smelling blood, and tried to give medicine, but Lan Fengqing waved her off.

“She’s fine. She used the high-level spell Jianmu Illusion, recreating the ancient Jianmu tree. The energy consumption was too high, so her body couldn’t handle it for long. She’ll recover with rest,” Qin Suoliu said calmly. “Think of it as her testing a spell she’s been perfecting.”

Yue Tingxi half-believed it, giving her some spiritual medicine to alleviate aftereffects, then turned her attention back outside.

No vessels followed them anymore.

Next Morning, Qin Residence

Qin Yingguang awoke to find a Grey Moth on her pillow.

Having seen the Grey Moth at her sister’s place before, she thought it was a spiritual creature her sister had caught and was about to take it to her, but the moth flew toward her on its own.

She instinctively closed her eyes. A cool sensation touched her forehead, and suddenly, a vast ocean appeared in her mind—within it was a Yunzhou slowly descending.

She recognized her mother’s Yunzhou. Confused at first, she quickly realized—the secret realm had opened early, and her sisters had likely entered last night!

She regretted not properly saying farewell, but the scene unfolding in her mind gradually comforted her.

If Yue Tingxi, Qin Suoliu, and Lan Fengqing could see this, they’d notice the bloodshed had been concealed.

“So, you’re here to ease my worries?” the girl smiled, “Even without a proper send-off, seeing their journey like this is wonderful!”

The Grey Moth lifted its tiny claws to comb its antennae, seemingly happy too.

Shallow Water Layer, Middle Section

By noon, Yunzhou encountered a sudden spiritual turbulence.

This area was saturated with water-aligned spiritual energy suitable for Yue Tingxi. She had become adept at using externalized spiritual perception to analyze the situation and frowned, “A whirlpool is forming below! At Whale Fall’s current speed, we can’t avoid it!”

After Lan Fengqing recovered, Yue Tingxi had asked why the Shallow Water Layer was tricky. Lan explained that large teleport whirlpools have fixed positions, while small ones appear randomly. Bad luck could send them far from the ruins layer.

Now, they faced such a random small whirlpool.

Yue Tingxi wished she could transform into a demon body to bypass it, but she decided to follow Qin Suoliu’s orders.

“Don’t avoid it; consider it mapping practice.” Qin Suoliu reinforced the defensive barrier and drove Yunzhou straight toward the whirlpool.

Yue Tingxi summoned her Black Crane Whip, Lan Fengqing prepared seriously.

As more cultivators entered the secret realm, small whirlpools appeared randomly, and each teleport required full preparation.

During the shaking, Yue Tingxi noticed the Grey Moth emitted a soft silver-and-gray light.

Moments later, she understood—the Yunzhou didn’t pass through the small whirlpool but penetrated it from below!

Even Yunzhou’s vibrations had calmed.

“…What’s going on?” she asked, looking at Qin Suoliu, who also appeared surprised. She tossed a spiritual stone toward the whirlpool, and it spun and disappeared inside.

The girls turned to the Grey Moth.

“Can ‘Isolation’ affect objects in the secret realm?” Lan Fengqing pondered.

“Why only use it now?” Yue Tingxi asked.

“Perhaps it’s uncertain, so only used when unavoidable,” Qin Suoliu guessed. The Grey Moth nodded twice in agreement.

They didn’t press it further, hoping it might help at critical moments.

Meanwhile, Qin Residence

Qin Yingguang collapsed on her couch, exhausted.

Just now, she had “seen” her sisters readying for the whirlpool and desperately wished for them to avoid battle, or even pass through it directly.

In a flash, she sensed a voice asking her opinion.

With a firm “I want to!” she allowed her energy to be drained, successfully seeing Yunzhou safely pass through the whirlpool.

Exhausted, she closed her eyes, unable to help but wish it could always go so smoothly.

After the Whirlpool

Yunzhou encountered more turbulence and another small whirlpool. Luckily, Yunzhou could be maneuvered around it, though they slightly deviated from the target.

Approaching the bottom of the Shallow Water Layer, they encountered a massive spiritual beast—a giant fish about the size of ten Yunzhou.

“…Irises Whale!” Lan Fengqing nearly shouted. “It is said to form from the lingering thoughts of the drowned and craves the souls of the living!”

Yue Tingxi had only heard the symbolic meaning of irises in humans and was shocked to face such a legendary beast.

“What kind of craving? Do soul-protecting artifacts work?” she asked.

Lan Fengqing quickly provided three soul-protecting artifacts and their incantations.

“It probes with countless tentacles, trapping the mind in a memory-related illusion,” Qin Suoliu explained while steering and activating all barriers, “This illusion drains the soul dangerously, unlike the minor fatigue from your Mustard Seed Ice Wheel.”

“How do we escape it?” Yue Tingxi flipped through the Beast Compendium, “If we exit the illusion, how do we leave its territory safely?”

“If you escape the illusion, it won’t pursue,” Lan Fengqing said, “Like recovering from a cold—you won’t catch it twice.”

“Then it seems entering the illusion may be better. If we avoid it, next time it might block our path again.”

“Agreed, but not all of us can go at once. Let’s assign a sequence with dice.”

They each received two sides of a six-sided die.

Before Yue Tingxi could respond, Qin Suoliu waved away the artifacts, saying, “I go first,” and vanished from the main cabin.

“She’s so impatient!” Yue Tingxi exclaimed, watching Qin Suoliu speed toward the Irises Whale.

“No worries, Qin Jie is steadfast. With her leading, we can be at ease,” Lan Fengqing reassured.

But Yue Tingxi couldn’t relax.

The warnings of Qingyu Shanin replayed in her mind:

—“Her soul is as tainted as the head of Qing… Sect. I wouldn’t allow her near Xishan otherwise.”

—“If she were innocent, why always restrain herself and deceive you?”

“…I can’t let her go alone!”

She shook her head at Lan Fengqing, “Can you stabilize Yunzhou alone if I leave plenty of spiritual stones?”

“Of course, but you—”

“I have to go.” She retrieved a familiar storage bag brimming with spiritual stones, tossing it to Lan Fengqing, then summoned her Black Crane Whip and instantly teleported outside Yunzhou.

A pure white light flashed, transforming the whip into white crane wings attached to her back.

Taking a deep breath, she infused the wings with spiritual power and chased after the massive purple whale below.

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