Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 44

Yue Tingxi knew that the stillness of that spiritual plant was unusual.

It reminded her of experienced hunters—lying in wait, striking only when the prey is most relaxed and off-guard.

Earlier, during fights, rescues, and their meeting with the Scales of Salvation, the spiritual plants had been calm. But now, while they wandered without incident, the plant began to act up.

Fortunately, the water-energy seal that Yue Tingxi had previously applied was strong enough. The mischievous plant, trapped inside Qin Suoliu’s body, couldn’t use any soul-harming techniques. It could only disturb her spiritual energy, causing her fire energy to spiral out of control.

Lan Fengqing immediately took out the Yin-Yang Fish Disk, preparing to absorb the overflowing fire energy, but Qin Suoliu gestured to stop her.

“Sister Tingxi… what you’re looking for is a spirit beast egg, of the fire element,” Qin Suoliu calmly explained. “Please help retrieve it; this overflowing fire energy is its nourishment.”

The gray moths could share information and were constantly observing Yue Tingxi, so naturally, they knew what she was searching for.

“All right, I’m on it!” Yue Tingxi, already close to the egg, quickly turned and pushed through the spiritual plants.

The fire-element spirit beast was nestled at the center of the wood-element plant. Yue Tingxi could roughly guess what was inside the egg.

Although it wasn’t the type of fluffy, furry creature Luo Yansha desired, the feathered fur species was also warm and fluffy—Yansha would likely like it.

At the end of the plant, she reached out and found a green-shelled egg with red markings.

Normally, an egg would have a mother nearby. However, even after Yue Tingxi picked it up, there were no traces of a parent beast.

Instead, the egg wiggled in her arms, seemingly wanting to go to Qin Suoliu.

Yue Tingxi spread her white crane wings and quickly carried the egg back to Qin Suoliu, carefully placing it in front of her.

Without any further action from Qin Suoliu, the egg began absorbing the overflowing fire energy on its own!

“This is the energy of an out-of-body stage plant!” Lan Fengqing exclaimed, shocked. “It can even eat this much?!”

“Don’t underestimate a hatching spirit beast’s appetite!” Yue Tingxi recalled. As a child, the Jade Mountain Elder had fed her as much spiritual energy as she could consume, even when she was still in her egg. She had never been afraid of overfilling.

Compared to the Jade Mountain Elder, who could overwhelm her understanding, this egg was not extraordinary.

With the spirit beast egg consuming energy, Qin Suoliu no longer needed to worry about harming her two friends with fire energy. She gradually organized her internal spiritual energy, transferring some to Yue Tingxi’s seal and reinforcing it around the plant as a precaution.

She also asked Yue Tingxi to help strengthen the seal.

Lan Fengqing, distracted by the egg, hastily activated the barrier spell to prevent interference but forgot to exclude herself.

Yue Tingxi, however, paid no mind. Seeing Lan Fengqing not looking her way, she casually tugged at her sash.

“You’ve recovered your energy. My water energy might hurt; if it’s uncomfortable, speak up. We’re all on the same side,” she reminded, sending water energy into Qin Suoliu’s dantian.

This time, her water energy met resistance, but Yue Tingxi was familiar with Qin Suoliu’s meridians and quickly moved to the plant. Transforming into her snake form, she swallowed the plant along with the previous water-energy seal, curling into an ouroboros and merging tail and head.

During this, Qin Suoliu felt intense pain running through her meridians several times.

Because Yue Tingxi was beside her, she wanted to moan but held back, fearing Lan Fengqing would spread rumors.

Once the seal was reinforced, the plant stopped moving and the fire energy ceased overflowing.

The egg, however, seemed still hungry, wobbling in place.

Yue Tingxi considered storing it in her inner chamber, as living creatures shouldn’t remain long in storage. Fearing it might misbehave like the plant, she wrapped it in a water-patterned cloth and covered it with a thin layer of water energy to prevent sudden energy surges.

The egg trembled more under the water layer.

Before Yue Tingxi could react, Qin Suoliu condensed a bit of fire energy, pushed aside the water layer, and placed it on the egg.

The egg absorbed it and then fell silent.

“I compressed half an arm’s worth of energy; it should last a long time,” Qin Suoliu explained.

Yue Tingxi remained silent, recalling how the Jade Mountain Elder fed her compressed energy when she was hungry or restless as a child—it always worked.

With a spirit beast egg to care for, they no longer lingered and began searching for a teleportation array to the shallow water layer.

These arrays were marked on the map, though somewhat far from their current location.

While Qin Suoliu meditated to recover, Yue Tingxi and Lan Fengqing calculated the time and decided to rely on the Yin-Yang Fish Disk, teleporting section by section.

“It’s eaten so much energy; it has to do something!” Lan Fengqing said, rubbing the disk. “We’ll avoid areas with treasures or others exploring.”

Yue Tingxi agreed, knowing that even with the gray moths’ “shielding” spell, they could inadvertently affect bystanders if caught in a fight.

After choosing seemingly unoccupied spots on the map, they waited for Qin Suoliu’s recovery to confirm the teleportation points.

“No need to adjust; teleport,” Qin Suoliu quickly returned the map. “If worried about dangerous encounters, just place defensive tools nearby beforehand.”

They had plenty of defensive artifacts. Yue Tingxi contributed some to complement Lan Fengqing’s, forming a sturdy protective barrier.

The gray moths flapped, their silver-gray energy subtly applying the “shielding” spell.

Lan Fengqing quickly drew the teleportation array, and they stepped in to activate the Yin-Yang Fish Disk.

The first three teleports went smoothly, landing in empty areas, with the egg unbothered. Each step brought them closer to the exit array of the ruins layer.

During the fourth teleport, as soon as they landed, Yue Tingxi sensed an energy fluctuation.

A gust of force struck them head-on. Without the barrier, they might have been flung away along with the egg.

Yue Tingxi focused, realizing that a spiritual energy hurricane was forming outside, punctuated by sword cries—likely high-level sword cultivators fighting.

The unstable energy made further teleportation risky, potentially misplacing them.

“We’ll have to rest here first…” she began, noticing Qin Suoliu and Lan Fengqing’s serious expressions.

“Looks like Yuqiong Sect really fears a sect leader dying in the Glacier Snow Valley,” Lan Fengqing snorted, answering her unspoken question. “We just entered the Xuan Shui Ruins, and he’s already here!”

It made sense—these two grew up with Lan Zhaoyao and immediately recognized his sword techniques.

Qin Suoliu added, “Though we could attack him using disguise and the gray moth’s magic, his techniques remain powerful despite being a body-snatcher.”

Hearing this, Yue Tingxi understood why the Scales of Salvation hadn’t revealed the details but stressed training first.

If the opponent’s strength gap was too wide, even with opportunities, they’d lose without achieving their goal.

Previously, in the Ghost Market of the Suspended Mirror City, their success relied on surprise, poisons, disguise, and the enemy’s restraint. A direct attack could have been fatal.

“Then let’s move quickly!” Lan Fengqing urged, activating the disk. “I don’t know how much of his memories the body-snatcher retained, but if he recognizes this tool, we could be in danger!”

The teleportation array activated beneath them, struggling through the spiritual storm.

Lan Zhaoyao had entered the Xuan Shui Ruins to search for his original sister.

The 7364 system kept reporting “all normal.” Yet after leaving the Glacier Snow Valley of Yuqiong Sect and returning to Qingxu Sect with a few “Han Su” herbs, he discovered that his “normal” sister had already entered the newly opened ruins.

This didn’t match his character data!

Lan Fengqing had never been to the ruins. Even inheriting the former leader’s tools, she was vulnerable there.

To catch up with the ruins’ opening, he naturally went in search of treasures to increase his strength, driven by a strong desire to find his sister.

He felt uneasy—after the world rebooted, his connection with the Transmigration Bureau had been severed, and the once-reliable 7364 system was malfunctioning, unable to monitor the small world.

His occasional “sister-complex tendencies” also set off alarm bells.

He decided not to question the system about whether the original consciousness had been erased—it would only return false “all normal” reports.

Step by step, he needed to stir chaos and establish anchoring points to reconnect with the Transmigration Bureau and complete his mission to return to someone important.

The teleportation array activated but, due to the spiritual storm, trapped Yue Tingxi and the others in a special unstable space.

All they could do was reinforce their protective barrier and wait.

During this period, Yue Tingxi cautiously entered the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel, observing the Scales of Salvation and the Jade Mountain Elder leisurely playing chess, feeling reassured.

Since escape was impossible for the moment, she told them about her encounter with Lan Zhaoyao, the “world consciousness,” and the “intruder.”

“I can see your past and understand your vengeful intent,” the Scales of Salvation said, “but killing just Lan Zhaoyao won’t solve the problem. That’s why I advised training first. When you can capture and punish him, the answers will surface naturally.”

Unexpectedly, the Jade Mountain Elder didn’t oppose this, quietly watching the board and placing a piece.

Even he found it hard to decide, so Yue Tingxi deferred to them, nodding and leaving the Ice Wheel.

When she withdrew her spiritual awareness, she noticed Qin Suoliu frowning, holding the ruins map.

The gray moth hovered near the map, flickering silver-gray light, seemingly drawing a path intermittently.

“What’s she doing?” Yue Tingxi asked Lan Fengqing.

“I’m not sure; Qin seems intent on the map. Maybe she’s plotting the quickest exit?” Lan Fengqing said.

Soon, Qin Suoliu opened her eyes, and the map’s lights stopped flickering.

“Are you okay? Are you scouting a route?” Yue Tingxi asked.

Qin Suoliu didn’t answer directly, muttering numbers that sounded like four digits. She then shakily wrote “Qin Yinguang” on a paper.

The characters were pressed through the paper. Lan Fengqing asked, “What’s wrong with Yinguang? That ‘Yin’ is so strange.”

Yue Tingxi noticed—normally, the character is written one way, but Qin Suoliu had split it.

After a long pause, she whispered, “Sorry… I just miss my little sister.”

Without further questions, she stored the paper and asked Lan Fengqing, “Can we teleport continuously along the points on the map?”

“I’m not sure, but the worst is just being stuck until the energy chaos subsides. Let me try,” Lan Fengqing said, calculating and informing the disk of each point.

Soon, the teleportation array reactivated.

Breaking through the energy chaos wasn’t easy; the barrier trembled, one defensive artifact cracked, but Lan Fengqing replaced it in time.

During the teleport, Yue Tingxi’s eyes switched between the map and Qin Suoliu.

She overheard the numbers Qin Suoliu muttered—“7, 3, 6, 4”—but couldn’t figure out their meaning. It would have to wait until they left the ruins and returned to the Qin family.

Thinking of the exit, Yue Tingxi asked, “Are we heading for the shallow water layer’s teleportation array?”

“Should be,” Lan Fengqing nodded.

“Can you two handle water energy?” Yue Tingxi worried. “We came in on a fully activated cloud-boat—”

She realized she spoke too late.

The damp scent filled her nose. Water energy enveloped the area.

The spirit beast egg instantly awakened, struggling to escape the water.

The continuous teleport had unexpectedly sent them to the deepest part of the shallow water layer.

Looking up, Yue Tingxi saw the massive figure of the Arum Whale and a forming random vortex nearby.

Even summoning the cloud-boat wouldn’t be fast enough to traverse the vortex safely.

In desperation, Yue Tingxi went all out.

A pitch-black giant snake appeared, carrying the spirit beast egg, several artifacts, and the two young ladies still adjusting in the water, directly to her inner chamber.

“Watch the egg! Don’t let it run wild!”

She attached water energy to her snake body and swam toward the vortex.

Her inner chamber was fully prepared, with arrays more stable than the cloud-boat.

Even after confirming Yue Tingxi’s (demonic) identity, Lan Fengqing was astonished by the seemingly normal furnishings inside.

Qin Suoliu immediately hugged the egg, feeding it fire energy and gently stroking it until it calmed.

“This is my internal space. Normally, no one enters,” Qin Suoliu said matter-of-factly.

Demonic beasts, especially snake demons, consider such spaces part of their strength—a private chamber or even a prison for refining others.

She had previously contemplated if this place could become her grave when plotting against Sister Tingxi in her past life.

Yet while walking around feeding energy to the egg, she instinctively moved lightly, mindful of Sister Tingxi’s comfort.

Yue Tingxi swam with focus.

Her demon body moved like a fish in the great river, agile and confident. Having already explored teleport vortex points from the cloud-boat, she only needed to reverse the path and avoid small random vortices to leave the ruins.

Passing by the Arum Whale, she even had the leisure to admire its massive beauty.

Thanks to the whale’s illusions, many secrets and barriers between her and Qin Suoliu had eased, hoping the little trickster would be more honest in the future.

She casually checked in on the two young ladies, hearing them discuss future plans.

“The body-snatcher will likely loot the ruins and increase his strength. In the meantime, I want to transfer his assets in Qingxu Sect,” Lan Fengqing said.

“But your current identity only allows so much. You must understand the rules and their roots first to truly change them,” Qin Suoliu advised.

“Like your Human World Rulebook?” Lan Fengqing asked, recalling inspiration from it.

Yue Tingxi realized that the book she read had been authored by Qin Suoliu.

Curious, she checked the storage ring, flipping through the rulebook filled with text and illustrations, clearly hand-drawn by Qin Suoliu.

It detailed customs, politics, and geography of the human world. Yue Tingxi wondered what Qin Suoliu intended—business convenience or altering human-world rules?

Above, a large vortex was forming. Yue Tingxi prepared to push through when Qin Suoliu called, “Sister Tingxi, inform me when we reach a safe, open area. I’ll summon the cloud-boat for your rest.”

She couldn’t let Sister Tingxi get tired.

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