Lian Yunzhi pursed his lips and looked down at the jade pendant hanging from his waist. It was a Heaven Tier magic artifact Fang Tianxin had found while sorting old things—it could block a full strike from a Body Fusion cultivator. Fang Tianxin said he needed it more now, so he gave it to him.
[You could tell him the truth.]
The paper man turned its head, and Mu Cheng’s voice sounded in his mind.
Lian Yunzhi closed his eyes, then opened them.
[No.]
He continued walking forward.
Fang Tianxin was indeed Lian Yunzhi’s best friend, and Lian Yunzhi trusted him greatly.
But he didn’t trust Fu Qing, nor the Lin Xian Sect behind him.
…He had done enough stupid things once.
This time, until he had enough power to protect Mu Cheng, he would keep Mu Cheng well hidden. No one besides himself would know of Mu Cheng’s existence.
.
Though they browsed the lower three floors for a long time, most of their purchases were from the upper five floors. Midway, Lian Yunzhi spotted a strange shop on the seventh floor. It sold nothing but had many cultivators scribbling furiously inside.
“This is a shop that buys cultivation manuals and scriptures, but most cultivators don’t want to sell originals, so they copy them here to sell. The acquisition prices are high, but the requirements are strict—only books not in the Scripture Pavilion.” Fu Qing explained.
Fang Tianxin’s eyes lit up. “Then, could I sell the manuals I cultivated in Xiaoze State?”
Fu Qing thought for a moment and named two scriptures, then said, “I haven’t seen these two in the Scripture Pavilion, but they’re Qi Refining manuals, the lowest Yellow Tier. They’d probably fetch three or four hundred spirit stones at most.”
Fang Tianxin: “…Never mind then.”
Lian Yunzhi pondered thoughtfully for a moment, then walked over to talk with the shop owner. He sat down and began scribbling furiously. Using the Divine Soul Technique while copying, his brush moved on its own, and in moments, he had copied several… Hehuan Sect scriptures.
Fang Tianxin glanced once and flushed red with embarrassment, shifting his feet awkwardly.
He sneaked a peek at Lian Yunzhi, only to see the little paper man on his shoulder tiptoeing to adjust Lian Yunzhi’s mask more securely over his face.
Fang Tianxin: “…”
The scriptures Lian Yunzhi copied were all legitimate dual cultivation methods; he hadn’t included any related to human cauldrons. But since they were indeed top-tier techniques absent from the Scripture Pavilion, he received eight million spirit stones on the spot.
“Here.”
Lian Yunzhi tossed six million to Fang Tianxin, who was pretending to admire the scenery while draped over a golden railing. “Didn’t you have your eye on a spirit sword earlier? Short six million? Go buy it.”
Fang Tianxin stared in shock, nearly tearing up with emotion. He cradled the storage bag in both hands and asked, “Yunzhi, why are you so good to me? Did you do something to wrong me?”
Lian Yunzhi: “…Scram.”
Strangely, it hit right on his guilty conscience.
Fang Tianxin shouted, “I forgive you no matter what you did!”
Fang Tianxin happily clutched the spirit stones and walked off with Fu Qing. Lian Yunzhi watched his back with a smile, then turned into a clothing shop and swiftly bought several magic robes in different sizes—half of them treasure-blue.
The moment the clothes went into his new storage bracelet, a faint sigh echoed in Lian Yunzhi’s mind.
Lian Yunzhi turned his head and met the eyeless gaze of the paper man.
He hesitated, then reached out and gently stroked the paper man’s thin head with his fingertip. He whispered comfortingly, “You’ll have a body someday.”
The paper man tilted its head up, its “lips” rubbing lightly against Lian Yunzhi’s fingertip.
.
“What exactly are you going to Xiaoze State for?” Before leaving, Fang Tianxin asked with a face full of worry. “You’re not going back to die for love, are you?”
Lian Yunzhi: “…”
Lian Yunzhi had no idea where he looked like someone who would die for love.
“I’m going to ascend,” Lian Yunzhi told Fang Tianxin. “I have very important business in Xiaoze State, and I might go into secluded cultivation there for a while afterward.”
He then looked at Fu Qing. “As for those souls…”
Fu Qing produced a jar-like Heaven Tier magic artifact. “When you told me about this three days ago, I informed the Sect Leader. He lent me this artifact that can hold multiple souls.”
Lian Yunzhi breathed a sigh of relief and dumped all the souls into Fu Qing’s artifact like discarding a burden. He added, “If anyone else ‘sends thanks’…”
“I’ll save them for you.” Fu Qing said understandingly.
Lian Yunzhi smiled. “Half for me is fine. The rest for you and Tianxin.”
With everything settled, Lian Yunzhi took out his newly purchased spirit boat and waved to Fang Tianxin, whose eyes were red-rimmed.
“See you.”
.
The spirit boat rose on the wind, soaring straight up for thousands of miles.
They broke through the clouds, and the vast, otherworldly Lin Xian Sect grew ever more distant.
The familiar, barren Xiaoze State drew ever closer.
The moment Lian Yunzhi’s feet touched the ground of Xiaoze State, all the winds surged toward him. Vast and gentle, they lifted him right off the ground.
The wind embraced him, leaves freshly fallen from trees swirling around him. Even the paper man glided through the wind to stick to him.
“Hey!”
Lian Yunzhi laughed.
“Where are you taking me?”
The wind said nothing, only pushed him forward through the air.
Lian Yunzhi used a spell to make his body very light, relaxing completely as he drifted with the wind.
At dusk, the wind finally delivered Lian Yunzhi to the destination.
Lian Yunzhi stared in a daze.
He saw a mountain carved from white jade. At the mountaintop’s depression lay a massive hot spring, vigorous spiritual energy flowing through the pool waters. A massive, unknown jade tree rooted beside the spring, its vines dangling down as swings. Snow-white, flawless spiritual flowers bloomed from the peak to the foothills.
“What… is this…”
Lian Yunzhi murmured.
The wind remained silent, only peeling away his outer robes layer by layer, removing his shoes and socks, and gently pushing him into the pool.
The purest, warmest spiritual water enveloped him.
Lian Yunzhi sighed in comfort.
[Do you like it?]
“I like it…”
Mu Cheng chuckled softly.
The wind lifted the paper man up and down like a kite, swaying lightly in the air as it brushed a kiss over Lian Yunzhi’s lip corner and eye.
[This place appeared suddenly the day we did Divine Soul Dual Cultivation.]
The paper man pressed against Lian Yunzhi’s cheek, its Primordial Spirit glowing faintly to make the paper translucent.
Lian Yunzhi’s eyes widened slightly as he heard Mu Cheng whisper gently in his mind.
[Isn’t it magical?]
[Want to try again, see if another miracle happens?]
