“Is that so? I’m sorry, I misunderstood you.”
Hua Jian’s heartfelt confession made Linglong instinctively believe her words.
Since she had spoken incorrectly, she might as well apologize honestly. Linglong was a good girl who admitted her mistakes and corrected them.
“I shouldn’t have treated you like a villain who would do anything for Spirit Stones.”
Hua Jian was momentarily speechless at Linglong’s words. She felt that what Linglong needed to do now wasn’t to look for Dragon Scales, but to hurry back to her Saint Sect and find a few Shijie to properly refine her skills in the art of conversation.
With Linglong’s current ability to speak, Hua Jian thought it was a miracle she hadn’t driven someone mad yet.
How exactly do you use such a sincere expression and tone to say such sarcastic things? Can you teach me? I think I could use this skill to provoke others and trap them.
“Thank you, Saintess Daren, for enduring the disgust of sharing a room with a scum like me. I am truly grateful.”
“No need to thank me.”
Hua Jian took a deep breath, refraining from saying anything offensive.
Sigh, stay calm. There’s no point arguing with someone with a hole in their brain. Even if a normal person wins an argument with an idiot, it won’t feel good.
“I’m going to cultivate now. Don’t disturb me.”
“Oh.”
……
The next day, Hua Jian, dressed in the luxurious equipment generously provided by Linglong, entered the Territory of the Spirit Beast.
That day, she stayed longer inside the Spirit Beast Territory and even managed to dig up a small Lingcao worth over ten Spirit Stones.
As for why she could stay longer, it was thanks to some enthusiastic Cultivators who had been fooled by her false information. They delayed for her at the cost of their own lives, spending a hundred Spirit Stones each to buy Hua Jian a little more time.
“One good piece of news and one bad piece of news. Which do you want to hear first?”
Linglong, who had been waiting inside the cave for a while, slowly raised her head, a little displeased with Hua Jian’s teasing.
But out of respect for Hua Jian, she still graciously replied, “The good news.”
Then Hua Jian perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be ungrateful.
“Let’s hear the bad news first. Your Spirit Tool is useless and was almost burned through by Sparks.”
Opening the Spirit Tool robe she was holding, Hua Jian pointed at several slightly discolored spots and explained.
This Spirit Tool, like her Lingli Barrier, had been stuck and scorched by Sparks immediately upon entering the Spirit Beast Territory. If Hua Jian hadn’t noticed in time, taken off the robe, and shoved it into her Storage Pouch, the robe Linglong lent her would likely have been burnt through with several holes.
“I suspect those Sparks automatically attack any other Spirit Qi-infused objects entering the Spirit Beast Territory. We need to find another approach and a solution.”
“I discovered that within the Spirit Beast Territory, there are quite a few other Spirit Beasts and Spirit items. Why haven’t the Spirit Beasts wiped them out?”
If the Spirit Beasts judged intruders based on the Sparks sticking to them, then other Spirit Beasts inside the territory, who also carry Spirit Qi, should be indiscriminately attacked by the Spirit King Black Tiger.
But the reality was clearly different. In the Spirit Beast Territory, many Spirit Beasts existed that weren’t seen anywhere else in the Secret Realm.
The Black Tiger hadn’t exterminated these Spirit Beasts invading its territory; on the contrary, they seemed to coexist fairly harmoniously.
“I suspect the Black Tiger treats Spirit Beasts and Cultivators differently. If we can disguise ourselves as Spirit Beasts to enter the Territory, the outcome might be very different,” Hua Jian explained.
“So you have a plan?”
“I have a somewhat immature idea. I’ll go collect some materials tomorrow and try it out.” Hua Jian nodded; she did have some ideas.
As a Cultivator who liked to scheme, she naturally needed to master the skill of disguising as other things.
For example, in the dense forest, she wanted to disguise herself as a small flower by the roadside, and in the pond, as underwater aquatic plants.
In short, she aimed to be as inconspicuous as possible.
……
One day, two days, three days…
Linglong continued to provoke the Spirit Beasts daily according to plan, making a ruckus that disturbed the area.
After so many days of constant teasing, many Cultivators in the Secret Realm had become used to Linglong’s daily provocations.
So when Linglong didn’t bother the Spirit Beasts on the fourth day, everyone was surprised.
Where is she? Why is it so quiet today?
Linglong’s absence was Hua Jian’s idea, for two reasons.
First, to let the Cultivators paying attention know that Linglong occasionally rested, allowing ample buffer time for Linglong’s next moves.
Second, Hua Jian wanted to show Linglong the results of her work.
“Ta-da! This is the secret recipe I found at the Jishi. After applying it to your body, you can disguise your aura as Spirit Beasts or Lingcao!”
Holding a lump of green goo that looked like mud, Hua Jian explained to Linglong, who was showing a hesitant expression.
To let Linglong experience the effect intuitively, Hua Jian poured the green stuff all over her head, coating herself entirely in the goo.
As she turned green, Linglong sensed Hua Jian’s aura becoming increasingly chaotic and eventually somewhat similar to Lingcao.
“Don’t judge it by its looks. It’s actually made by mixing several common Lingcao, so it’s very clean.”
Hua Jian knew her creation wasn’t pretty, so to ease Linglong’s reluctance, she explained the principles behind the green goo.
This was pure and natural with no pollution—good stuff!
“Does it really work?” Linglong leaned in slightly. Although Hua Jian’s creation looked unappealing, its smell was strangely pleasant.
It was a faint bitter scent, a mix of various herbs and plants, somewhat like medicinal soup.
“Whether it works or not, you have to try it. But I don’t usually use this kind of thing myself,” Hua Jian scratched her head, a bit embarrassed.
Honestly, she wasn’t even sure if she’d gotten a good deal.
She had exchanged ten Spirit Stones with an old lady at a stall for the secret recipe, but the effect was rather mediocre. The chaotic aura wasn’t very useful because Cultivators could easily sense something was off.
After all, it only made a person’s aura similar to Lingcao, not actually turning them into Lingcao.
It still needed to be used with the Nixi Spell… but if you’re already using Nixi, wouldn’t it be better to simply suppress your aura completely?
Disguising as Lingcao and having others curiously come to check you out? That would just blow your cover!
So Hua Jian felt she’d wasted a bit of money on this, but it might be good enough to confuse the Spirit Beasts’ perception.
After all, Spirit Beasts aren’t as clever as people, and she thought her chances of success were quite high.
“All set. Let’s go; we’ll explore the Spirit Beast Territory again!”
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