Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 41

Because of Lian Fengqing’s words, Qin Suoliu calmed down and decided to keep her feelings even more hidden from now on.

She understood clearly that if her sisterly relationship with Tingxi was compared to financial gains and losses, at present it was only “breaking even.” This was because Tingxi was kind enough to let her past deeds from her previous life be forgiven, giving her a clean slate.

Even if she wanted to deepen their bond, in the short term she could only work on strengthening their friendship and alliance. She absolutely could not hope for a romantic relationship. What she had done during their recent rest period had been both a test and a step over the line; if it happened again, she would only dare act at a time when Tingxi truly needed her.

In short, she needed to restrain herself.

Lian Fengqing did not know about their past entanglements and had only dared to speak boldly because of that. Qin Suoliu must not, because of receiving her affirmation and analysis, assume anything about her relationship with Tingxi.

Thus, after returning to the main cabin, she was noticeably quieter.

Tingxi did not notice her change. After speculating about the connection between the Gray Moth and Qin Yingguang, she sank her spiritual sense into the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel and reported the events of the Iris Whale illusion, along with her hypotheses, to the Jade Mountain Master.

—Just in case, before entering the Xuan Shui Secret Realm, she had the Gray Moth cast a spell on the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel so she could communicate with the Jade Mountain Master even across the Secret Realm.

As expected, the Jade Mountain Master let out a cold hum.

“Very well, at least she can no longer hide it.” Even knowing the truth of Qin Suoliu’s “tainted soul,” the Jade Mountain Master had little change of opinion. “This little liar has long been accustomed to deceiving others. In the future, if you encounter matters you cannot decide, do not listen solely to her. If you cannot contact me in time, ask your other friends first — Luo Yansha, Chan Ying, Yun Ruan — those who are more aligned with you.”

“Yun Ruan” was the white-haired dog-like spirit they had failed to meet on their last return to the mountain — gentle by nature and attentive toward young spirits and children. She was exceptionally perceptive in detecting lies.

Tingxi agreed. For some reason, recalling what had happened during the rest period made her cheeks warm. After all, she had been a hundred-year-old serpent and had seen all kinds of manuals. After waking with a clear mind, she could understand what it implied.

Fortunately, nothing could be seen within the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel. Seeing the Jade Mountain Master had not noticed, she suppressed her fluttering thoughts and actively changed the topic: “Master, any new thoughts on the origin of the Gray Moth?”

“It’s the same as before. It should be a concept related to the ‘Way’ or ‘Law.’ As for the so-called ‘World Consciousness’ the little liar mentioned, it is no different from what I described.” The Jade Mountain Master explained, “Since that is the case, your entry into the Xuan Shui Secret Realm may be a chance to encounter it up close. After all, the Secret Realm is an ancient godly relic, a special illusion closest to the world’s origin.”

She paused. “I am actually curious whether Qin Yingguang’s remark in the illusion, ‘born as a human,’ was just an expression or literal.”

“…Literal?” Tingxi was startled.

“I once read notes left by Transcendence cultivators. Such beings sometimes imitate legendary creators, creating small worlds filled with countless life forms, observing them for decades or even centuries. After the world stabilizes, they place a fragment of their soul into one of the beings as a human. The so-called ‘literal meaning’ is that the World Consciousness becomes a part of humanity, experiencing the world from a human perspective.”

Tingxi had never heard of this and was astonished.

“Th-then why would it do this?” she stammered.

“I can only say ‘the will of Heaven is hard to guess,’” the Jade Mountain Master replied calmly. “Perhaps it is to see if there are flaws in its management of the world, like a ‘secret inspection’ by humans; or perhaps it is lonely and curious about the mortal world, wishing to experience joys and sorrows with everyone.”

“But if it is the latter, its human form in the mortal realm may have no original memory or abilities — just an ordinary child. Even if you seek out Qin Yingguang after leaving the Secret Realm, she would know nothing.”

Tingxi fell silent.

“There’s no need to trouble yourself. As they say, ‘the boat will reach the bridgehead naturally.’” The Jade Mountain Master ruffled her hair. “Alright, if there’s nothing else, go speak with the little liar. Staying here will only drain your energy.”

“…Her lies are not intentional.” Before leaving, Tingxi couldn’t help defending Qin Suoliu.

“I know, I understand. But in my life, I dislike those who treat honesty with lies,” the Jade Mountain Master said expressionlessly.

Outside the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel, Tingxi watched the young lady navigating the Yun Zhou to the ruins layer.

“Should only take half a day to leave the shallow water layer,” Qin Suoliu said, noticing her gaze. “Thanks to the Iris Whale, there are no more troublesome creatures bothering us at the moment.”

“Let’s hope they all give up,” Tingxi muttered. “I’ve informed the Master about the illusion and the Gray Moth; he said that by entering the Secret Realm, we might have a chance to speak directly with it.”

“Then after exploring the ruins layer, we can check the deep water layer,” Qin Suoliu agreed. “The map given by our helper is complete and details the many transport whirlpools in the deep water layer.”

Thus, their plan was temporarily set.

As they descended, Yun Zhou encountered two waves of fish-monster groups. This time, Qin Suoliu tried to use the Gray Moth’s “isolation” technique to bypass them, and they passed smoothly.

Half a day later, seeing the transport array leading to the ruins layer, Tingxi went to wake Lian Fengqing.

However, Lian Fengqing looked troubled and frowned. “Sister Tingxi… did you hear a drum-like heartbeat earlier while resting?”

“No,” Tingxi replied in surprise. “How could there be a heartbeat? Yun Zhou has a soundproof barrier; you must have dreamed it.”

“Hopefully,” Lian Fengqing sighed. “I’ve heard that the deep water layer is home to unspeakable colossal beings — neither demon nor monster. Few survive encountering them… I hope it’s just my imagination.”

Her words made Tingxi uneasy. She was about to inform Qin Suoliu, but the young lady suddenly shouted “Hold on!” A whirlpool appeared just as Yun Zhou was about to touch the transport array!

“Is there still a way?” Tingxi asked the Gray Moth immediately.

The Gray Moth remained motionless, seemingly helpless.

“I’ll try.” Lian Fengqing stayed calm, summoning a disc engraved with a yin-yang fish. “This disc can perform one ‘major shift,’ but it consumes immense spiritual power. It requires two opposing types of power to activate.”

“The yin-yang disc seems perfect — Suoliu and I are ‘fire and water incompatible!’” Tingxi’s eyes lit up. She began channeling water spiritual energy.

“If Suoliu lacks enough spiritual power…”

“Leave her replenishment to me,” Lian Fengqing said.

As the whirlpool neared, Tingxi and Qin Suoliu poured water and fire spiritual energy into the disc.

As instructed, the disc pulled their energies forcibly, consuming them rapidly.

It was a major drain, which explained why Lian Fengqing had not used it before. But the result was successful: the scene outside Yun Zhou instantly changed, and they felt the mild dizziness typical of a transport array.

“Success!” Seeing the transport arrays in the ruins layer, Lian Fengqing quickly cut off their energies from the disc.

Tingxi’s spiritual foundation allowed her to remain comfortable, but Qin Suoliu turned pale. Once Yun Zhou stabilized, she immediately consumed several replenishment pills and held spiritual stones to recover her energy.

Lian Fengqing worriedly took her pulse. “Completely drained!”

Tingxi’s energy was mostly intact. Lian Fengqing speculated, “The two types of spiritual energy may be drawn in unequal amounts — like heating water with fire; the water remains, but the fire must continuously burn.”

“Let’s rest a day after entering the ruins layer,” Tingxi suggested. “Whether it’s treasures or manuals, there will be guards, and we need energy for safety.”

The ruins layer had no water and resembled indoor corridors. Yun Zhou had to be folded away for small flying instruments.

Qin Suoliu silently restored her energy while listening to their conversation.

“Wish there were a way to quickly recover energy,” Lian Fengqing looked at Qin Suoliu, but the latter ignored her.

Even dual cultivation was impossible — Tingxi would almost certainly refuse. Delaying exploration a day wasn’t critical; it allowed others to clear the path first.

After half an hour, Yun Zhou landed on a dry plain.

Tingxi used her spiritual sense to check around. “There’s no one here.”

That shouldn’t be. Intelligence reports indicated that in the small space of the ruins layer, energy fluctuations would be easily detected.

…Could they really have gotten lucky and been transported to an unvisited area?

Regardless, they had time to recover energy and explore nearby.

Since Qin Suoliu was drained, Yun Zhou remained deployed and needed a guard. Tingxi volunteered, summoning her black crane whip as wings. “I’ll check it out,” she said, moving with the Gray Moth.

Lian Fengqing hadn’t expected her to move so quickly, missing a chance to intervene.

The ruins layer’s lights responded to explorers’ positions. Tingxi flew along the corridor; torches lit and extinguished sequentially.

Feeling slightly reassured, she expanded her spiritual illumination and searched for forging materials or the “dark gold chest” mentioned in reports.

These treasure chests sometimes held monsters waiting like pitcher plants.

Tingxi fixed the crane whip behind her as wings, wielded a “fire rod” from her storage ring — solid and warding, ideal for testing chests.

Treasure chests were rare; she only found a few blue minerals suitable for forging and some dusty jade bottles from a ruined hall. Considered her “spoils” for this exploration.

“I wish I had the treasure-finding mouse ability,” she muttered to the Gray Moth while returning.

Legend said human tamers could train “treasure mice,” inconspicuous creatures that found treasures immediately. Being a demon, she couldn’t buy one.

She wondered if Lian Fengqing brought similar tools.

Halfway back, the Gray Moth flew off, leading her somewhere. Tingxi knew the little creature was an agent of the World Consciousness, signaling something important.

The white crane wings flapped faster as she followed its silver-gray trail.

They entered a damp, hot cave reminiscent of a summer storm.

Inside, a fire-attributed plant grew in a central pond, surrounded by crimson spiritual energy.

Tingxi tried to approach but couldn’t. The heat wasn’t only physical but seared her soul.

She placed water spiritual barriers, but still had to retreat. Only those with fire spiritual roots could endure without harm.

This was clearly the World Consciousness understanding her need, sending the Gray Moth to guide her to a crucial treasure.

Tingxi bowed twice to the Gray Moth in gratitude and contacted Qin Suoliu, giving the location of the fire plant.

While waiting, Tingxi observed the pond. The Xuan Shui Secret Realm had water-born fire — a scene impossible outside.

She scooped a handful of water with her spiritual sense and discovered it wasn’t ordinary water: the water consisted of fire spiritual power sealed by water. The pond’s surface was just a barrier; the plant absorbed nutrients as needed.

“Sister Tingxi?”

Qin Suoliu’s voice pulled her attention. Tingxi pointed to the central pond. “Try to collect it, protect your soul!”

Qin Suoliu, understanding the situation, activated soul-protecting artifacts and lightly stepped on the water, reaching the plant.

The plant instantly disappeared, and heat surged through her dantian. She barely managed to place a teleportation talisman and collapsed beside Tingxi and Lian Fengqing.

“What’s happening?!” Tingxi exclaimed, crouching to support her. Qin Suoliu’s skin was scorching hot. She gathered water spiritual energy to safely lift her.

“…I’ve only heard legends — in the Secret Realm, some plants consume compatible spiritual energy from nearby cultivators. Survive it, and it becomes part of you. Since the Gray Moth guided you here, the answer is clear!” Lian Fengqing explained rapidly.

Qin Suoliu needed fire energy, exhausted from the yin-yang disc. Tingxi’s water energy could contain it.

“…You said it’s a reward if she survives!” Tingxi worried.

“She has no energy, but you do!” Lian Fengqing said. “Quickly contain the plant and prevent it from damaging her organs!”

Tingxi hesitated, but Qin Suoliu, though weak, extended her hand. “Try…”

With no choice, Tingxi said, “Forgive my breach of etiquette,” turned her back, and placed Qin Suoliu on the ground.

She inserted her hand at the dantian, envisioning the “water-born fire” scene and began injecting water energy.

Qin Suoliu’s body was in immense pain, but she could feel the energy clash. Tingxi’s water energy, fierce and serpentine, swallowed the fire energy.

She had enough strength to assist, entwining remaining fire energy to restrain the plant.

—Just like how she had applied her experience with Qin Suoliu’s earlier care during the illusion.

The plant tried to break free, releasing more fire energy, but Tingxi’s spirit serpent captured it, and the plant became part of Qin Suoliu.

Qin Suoliu’s body cooled to normal. Tingxi no longer needed to protect her hands and could embrace her.

She wiped the blood from her lips and adjusted her loosened clothing.

Seeing a gaze on them, Tingxi glanced at Lian Fengqing, who smiled strangely, looking almost… euphorically delighted?

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