Chapter 65: Revisiting Zhuyuan to Substitute Spirit Technique

"Her pill furnace exploded?" Bai Wuchang was somewhat surprised to hear the subordinate report this.

Logically speaking, someone capable of refining a pill like the Life-Prolonging Pill would never make such a low-level mistake with the fire control; could it be that he had misjudged the person?

"Do you know why she would mess up the fire formula?" Bai Wuchang asked in a deep voice.

Yet the person behind him seemed not to have heard, merely kneeling on one knee in a daze.

After a long while without receiving a response, Bai Wuchang turned to look.

"You have been somewhat absent-minded in your work lately; do you need me to give you a reminder?"

Upon hearing this, the man hurriedly said he dared not, explaining only that Lingxiang had been refining pills alone with no one present, so no information could be gathered.

Bai Wuchang asked again if the Summoning Array Compass on Yinyu Mountain had been found, to which the man replied that Yinyu Peak had been sealed off after the martial arts demonstration, making it impossible to enter and search.

"Since that is the case, keep a close watch."

As Bai Wuchang spoke, he turned and vanished, leaving the man kneeling alone, seemingly lost in thought.

It seems this chess piece is nearing the end of its usefulness; it is time to cultivate another.

Seeing that the third martial arts demonstration was drawing near, all the outer sect disciples were as if facing a formidable enemy, each one standing at the ready and practicing diligently outside of their lessons.

That was only natural; after all, it was the final demonstration, and regardless of the previous two, only this one could make the Elders take special notice and allow for direct promotion to the inner sect.

Success or failure hinges on this one move!

Especially Chengkai, who did not slack off in the slightest during his rest, either practicing sword techniques or meditating on the Dao; in short, he was giving it his all.

Relatively speaking, however, the four in Long Qi's courtyard seemed extremely lethargic, each one looking listless, and even Liu Xia seemed less keen on cultivation.

If one were to ask why?

Firstly, he had been terrified all day long lately, carefully guarding against Banxia at every turn, which exhausted too much of his energy. Secondly, ever since the last martial arts demonstration, he always felt as if there was a surge of vital energy colliding chaotically within his body, yet he could never grasp it, leading to a sense of frustration and thus some laziness.

Long Qi was even more distracted all day, always fantasizing during his cultivation about living on Qingwei Peak with Lingxiang in the future, unable to settle his mind at all.

As for Xin Yi, it went without saying; ever since he saw the tattoo on Maidong's arm last time, he always liked to stay by himself, either sitting alone on a rock in deep thought or lying motionless in his room with the door shut tight, his whole being filled with a decadent air.

With these three like this, Zhao Wuyang was even more so; he was still young and found it difficult to grasp the profound Daoist meanings in the books, and with no one to correct his swordsmanship, he could only sigh at his books in low spirits every day.

The moment Lingxiang stepped into the room, she saw the slack appearance of the few; she could understand Xin Yi being this way, but why the other three were like this was extremely puzzling to her.

It seems these stinky brats really cannot leave her for even a moment; she truly has to break her heart for them with her motherly spirit.

But except for Zhao Wuyang, which one of them wasn't a few years older than her?

She coughed lightly to draw the attention of the three, and all three were startled: Lingxiang's leg bones were completely shattered, so logically she should be lying in bed; how could she have recovered so quickly?

Long Qi hurried forward to check, but from top to bottom it was indeed Lingxiang, and he felt incredibly astonished.

"How could you recover so quickly? Could it be that the Bone-Mending Pill is actually a celestial pill from the heavens?"

Lingxiang had no choice but to explain the Puppet Technique; Zhao Wuyang listened as if he understood but didn't, Liu Xia sighed in amazement and then just said "oh," and only Long Qi knew deeply that this act carried many dangers.

He had seen a book in the study at Youran Abode which mentioned that this technique was extremely dangerous; not to mention whether the original body was safe or not, unlike the separation of the Primordial Spirit, the Substitute Spirit Technique involved stripping away the consciousness and lodging it in a puppet. If the puppet were damaged, the consciousness would be injured, and if things went poorly, one might even become a fool.

Although he felt that in some aspects, Lingxiang was indeed like a fool.

He hurriedly voiced his worries, and Lingxiang was very gratified to hear them: they were her disciples after all, and though they were not very promising, they were quite filial.

Thinking this, she replied to Long Qi, saying that since she was within the sect, there was no danger, and added that Maidong was guarding her physical body at Xianyun Abode and had lit an Ever-Bright Lamp, so if there were any danger, she would immediately recall her consciousness.

Long Qi felt a little more at ease after hearing this, yet he felt something was not quite right—Maidong was crazy all day long; could she be a reliable person?

After finishing, Lingxiang stated her purpose directly: she had come to find Xin Yi to talk.

Long Qi was somewhat surprised to hear this; except for the time she helped Chengkai at the request of Elder Zhaoming, Lingxiang usually came to Zhuyuan because of him, with the other three just tagging along, but now she was explicitly saying she was here to find another man.

Since when had she become so close to Xin Yi?

Although Lingxiang had stated her purpose, she decided to resolve the matter of the three before her first.

Thus, without any preamble, she asked Liu Xia directly why he was so depressed; time waits for no one!

Liu Xia was startled by the question and immediately recounted the events of the past few days.

"Since you can meet, it is fate; what is there to dodge? As for cultivation, everything requires an opportunity; just let things take their course and do not worry about other things, it is just that the time has not yet come," Lingxiang said, not asking if Liu Xia could accept it, and turned to ask Zhao Wuyang.

Zhao Wuyang explained that he could neither understand the true mysteries of the Daoist formulas nor perform the Sword Formula beautifully, then looked at Lingxiang with eyes full of expectation.

"Not everyone can understand the meaning of the Dao, nor can everyone use a sword well. Even Senior Brother Qianyuan, despite his profound cultivation, is quite weak in sword techniques, but everyone has a path suitable for their own cultivation. When I have time another day, I will teach you some other things; do not be discouraged," Lingxiang said, patting Zhao Wuyang on the head, which left him quite surprised.

When it was Long Qi's turn, he stammered and couldn't say anything, so Lingxiang lost patience, told them not to overthink, instructed everyone not to follow her to peek, and then went upstairs by herself, leaving the three in a state of astonishment.

Since when had this Lingxiang become so brisk and decisive?

Once Lingxiang went upstairs, she knocked on the door, said "excuse me," and opened the door to enter the room.

Xin Yi had been thinking about things and had not yet recovered when he heard the knock and saw Lingxiang open the door and enter, but he merely raised his eyes to look at Lingxiang as he usually did.

Seeing him like this, Lingxiang walked to the window and stood still.

"You don't seem surprised as to why I would come to find you," Lingxiang said, turning around and leaping lightly to sit on the windowsill.

Xin Yi heard this but did not respond, continuing to think about his own affairs.

"Where should I begin this story? Is it the Taishang Sect, the Life-Prolonging Pill, or perhaps..." Lingxiang said, taking an object from her sleeve; it was actually the Summoning Array Compass!

"Or perhaps this object of the Demon Race?"