Chapter 216: A Chance Encounter in the Hidden Heaven

Banxia was trembling with fear the entire way; counting the ones she had just encountered, there were no fewer than ten spirit beasts.

Especially the one she had just dodged, which could simply be described as enormous; had she not been careful and cautious, she might well have ended up in its belly.

Fortunately, she had the Eight Trigrams Plate.

Banxia had never felt the Wen Wang Eight Trigrams to be as intimate as she did now; while feeling grateful for the many benefits of the plate in her hand, she breathed onto its surface and carefully wiped it with her sleeve.

It was at this moment that the Wen Wang Eight Trigrams seemed to respond to Banxia; the fluorescent light, which had been flickering at the Gen trigram, suddenly shifted to the Kan trigram, and it flickered rapidly, as if urging her on.

Seeing this, Banxia naturally dared not delay any longer and hurriedly headed in the direction indicated by the Wen Wang Eight Trigrams.

Circling around shrubs and pushing through thorns, after several twists and turns, she finally arrived before a mountain. Looking along the mountain, it was dense, lush, and verdant.

This was a mountain forest, but what surprised Banxia was that she could see Spirit Qi at the mountainside from a great distance away. Banxia was extremely astonished by this—could it be that her cultivation had improved?

Regarding the matter of cultivation, Banxia had always been indifferent; she was not actually keen on it. She still remembered that when she was first asked why she cultivated the Dao during her first martial exercise, her answer had truly made the Outer Disciples at the time laugh for a long while.

To live a smooth life, in peace and joy.

Banxia believed that if she could have this in her life, she would be content; why labor and toil in excessive pursuit? What was hers would eventually be hers, and what was not hers could not be obtained by seeking it.

Besides, she had entered the Daoist Sect in a muddled state to begin with.

Fortunately, Elder Donghui was not very strict regarding Banxia's cultivation; unlike how he treated the other senior brothers, he would let her be whenever she had practiced enough.

Perhaps because he knew Banxia's temperament, Elder Donghui even specially bestowed a title upon her, calling her Muyi.

Banxia was the first person to be bestowed a title immediately upon entering the sect, but only her own senior brothers knew of this, and she had never publicized it.

Yet even so, an improvement in cultivation was still very much worth being happy about.

Banxia was only at the Qi Refining stage; regarding Spirit Qi, she could only perceive a wisp or two and could not see it clearly as she did now.

At first, when she saw the anomaly at the mountainside, Banxia did not know what it was, and it was only after she approached the foot of the mountain and felt it that she knew it was Spirit Qi.

But she was wrong.

It was not that Banxia's cultivation had improved; in reality, the Spirit Qi in the cave at the mountainside was truly dense, and it was the Spirit Qi continuously overflowing from the cave that made it so clear to her.

As for why the cave was like this, she figured this was precisely the reason the Wen Wang Eight Trigrams had guided her here.

Seeing that the direction indicated by the Eight Trigrams Plate in her hand was indeed that cave, Banxia confirmed it again and again, then tucked the Wen Wang Eight Trigrams into her waist, channeled Spirit Qi to her feet, and ran toward the mountain without a second thought.

As soon as she reached the cave entrance, a breeze blew from within. The wind brushed against Banxia's cheeks, as soft as fine silk, making her feel a sense of comfort in her heart.

Banxia cautiously poked her head in to look; as far as her eyes could see, there was only darkness, and upon seeing this, she hesitated.

Now that she was all alone in this Yunmeng Daze, if she were to encounter danger, would she not be calling to heaven with no response and to earth with no answer?

She had originally intended to find Lingxiang and the others, but this Yunmeng Marsh was truly strange; there was no sun or moon to distinguish time, so there was no way to know the hour, and although she had clearly been searching for a long time, the sky remained bright.

However, it was only for a moment before she lifted her foot and stepped into the cave—trusting the Eight Trigrams Plate would surely not be wrong; she owed much of this journey to it!

Upon first entering the cave, she could barely see the path, but as she went deeper, she could not even see her own fingers. Banxia pinched a seal to gather Spirit Qi and activated her Spirit Vision, only to discover that the cave was truly cramped, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

After traveling along the tunnel for a while, light gradually appeared in the cave, shifting from blurry to clear, so that she could see even without Spirit Vision. And beneath her feet, there was a sudden sense of openness.

Seeing this, Banxia hurried forward; just as she turned a corner, a blinding light instantly struck her, dazzling her so that she could not adapt for a moment, and she covered her eyes with the back of her hand, only letting go after a while.

The scenery before her eyes left her stunned for a long time—green grass and fragrant flowers, clusters of blossoms, small bridges and flowing water, pavilions and terraces.

This was even more exquisite than her master's Daoist field!

Could it be that in just this short while, she had passed through this mountain?

Banxia walked forward while sighing in admiration, looking around in surprise; words could no longer express what she was thinking. And just as she had not yet had time to marvel, she suddenly heard a burst of "whispering."

"It's a human!"

"Really! Another human has come!"

"This person looks so delicious!"

Though it was called whispering, the voices were shrill, making it truly difficult for Banxia to ignore.

Wait! Delicious?!

Banxia suddenly became alert, but she could not see even half a shadow in the surroundings; she dared not relax in the slightest, pinching a seal with one hand and gripping the Judge's Pen tightly with the other.

After a long standoff, just as she thought she was hearing things, she heard a burst of children's laughter; the surrounding shrubs trembled, and then, one after another, small spirit beasts hopped out in groups, surging toward Banxia like a tide.

Before Banxia could react, she was submerged among the tiny bodies, and just as she was dazed, she suddenly felt a wet coolness on her face.

It turned out to be a spirit beast licking her cheek, and Banxia was startled at once—could it be that these little things really intended to eat her?

That would not do! She had not lived enough yet!

Banxia struggled to pinch her fingers, and a burst of airflow instantly erupted from her body, flicking these spirit beasts away one by one, after which she hurriedly sat up. However, these spirit beasts seemed to have suffered no harm at all, laughing and rolling over and over on the grass.

"This person is indeed so fragrant!" It was the little spirit beast that had licked her; it rolled like a Jiqiu, laughing as it said: "So fragrant! So fragrant!"

Hearing this made Banxia's hair stand on end, but when she saw the appearance of these little spirit beasts, she was at a loss for a moment—these little things were truly...

They were incredibly cute!

And the other little spirit beasts, hearing this, stopped rolling and hopped over, wanting to crowd onto Banxia, each sticking out its tongue and competing to jump onto her face, as if they were going to divide and eat her.

Banxia felt a panic in her heart; she truly could not bring herself to strike these little things, but she could not just be eaten like this!

That way of dying would be too unsightly!

It was at this moment that she heard a familiar voice: "You few, being naughty again!"

Hearing this, the little spirit beasts laughed and played as they scattered from Banxia's side, hopping and rolling as they ran behind her.

Banxia turned her head to look in the direction of the voice; the person who had come wore a green Daoist Robe fluttering in the wind, with a clear and bright face and a smiling expression—it was none other than...

"Liu... Liu Xia!"

And Liu Xia paused upon hearing the voice, followed by a burst of pleasant surprise.

"Banxia!"