How could I have seen him?
Does looking in the mirror count…?
“I haven’t actually seen Chief Disciple Lin myself. Everything I know about him is just hearsay.”
Lin Ci hurriedly backtracked.
Ruan Huoying, hearing this, took the opportunity to press:
“Oh~ So it’s just hearsay, huh… no original thoughts at all!”
Lin Ci sneered and refused to argue with her, instead countering:
“Have you seen him?”
“Of course… but only from a distance. I couldn’t see his face clearly.”
As she spoke, Ruan Huoying sighed wistfully. “If only one day I could see his face up close.”
Don’t worry, you won’t get that chance…
“Good luck.”
Lin Ci dismissed her with a perfunctory remark and was about to resume his rest, but Ruan Huoying wasn’t done.
“Hey, Li Feiyu, I’ll tell you a secret. Do you know what kind of relationship Chief Disciple Lin has with Yueyue?”
“Xiaoying, don’t spread rumors around…”
Buliuguyue softly chided.
“What kind of relationship?”
Lin Ci pretended to be quite interested.
This was actually a good chance to gauge Buliuguyue’s reaction.
“Hoho, do you really want to know?”
Ruan Huoying teased.
“Go ahead and tell me.”
“Take off your mask, then I’ll tell you!”
“…Forget it.”
Lin Ci waved her off, seeing clearly that Ruan Huoying had no intention of revealing anything.
He secretly glanced at Buliuguyue, who remained calm and expressionless.
Ruan Huoying wore a smug look, convinced she had piqued Lin Ci’s curiosity and made him itch to know more—yet he didn’t dare press further out of pride.
Humph, take that for making me mad!
Though, she was genuinely curious about Lin Ci’s face beneath the mask.
“Li Feiyu, why are you wearing that mask?”
She quietly leaned closer and persistently asked.
Lin Ci lowered his hat and said coldly:
“It’s none of your business. Don’t ask.”
“Tch, whatever. Probably some ugly monster anyway, not interested in knowing… Wow! Yueyue, look at that!”
A strangely shaped demon bird flew by nearby. Ruan Huoying pointed and screamed.
She quickly took out the Hundred Demon Picture Scroll but handed the book to Buliuguyue instead.
Buliuguyue smiled faintly, wrist elegantly turning, and a fine brush appeared in her hand.
She began to draw on the page, and in the blink of an eye, an image identical to the odd bird appeared on the paper.
“Such a good drawing, Yueyue!”
Ruan Huoying looked over in delight, then showed it to Lin Ci:
“What do you think? Isn’t Yueyue’s drawing amazing?”
“You brought Xiaoyue along just to get drawings… Hmm, it’s really quite good.”
“Of course! Yueyue is my personal artist. We have clear roles. When this Hundred Demon Picture Scroll is complete, half the credit belongs to her!”
Ruan Huoying proudly noted down the demon’s characteristics in the book.
Lin Ci thought for a moment, then looked toward Buliuguyue:
“You must have seen Chief Disciple Lin before. Could you draw his likeness?”
“Yeah, Yueyue, draw Chief Disciple Lin for us!”
Ruan Huoying excitedly urged.
Buliuguyue simply smiled and shook her head lightly:
“No, no, I don’t know how to draw people.”
“Ah… what a pity.”
Lin Ci replied indifferently, then fell silent and resumed his cultivation.
The day passed like this, the sun leaning west.
As dusk fell, Ruan Huoying, leaning against the side of the Spirit Boat, yawned sleepily.
Buliuguyue walked to the stern and called out to Lin Ci:
“Feiyu, traveling at night isn’t good. According to the geomantic map, there should be a town ahead. Should we stop and rest for the night?”
Surprised she asked his opinion, Lin Ci considered it. The Spirit Boat was fast; there was no need to push through the night without rest.
“Alright, let’s stop for the night.”
Buliuguyue nodded, maneuvered the Spirit Boat, and soon landed on the outskirts of a brightly lit town.
The sign indicated this place was called Gu Ta Town, named after the Ancient Dynasty Pagoda located there.
The three disembarked.
Buliuguyue waved, and the Spirit Boat quickly shrank and was stored inside a Storage Pouch.
Ruan Huoying was so sleepy she almost collapsed on Buliuguyue:
“Yueyue, let’s find an inn to rest quickly.”
“Okay, let’s go, Feiyu Xiong.”
“You two go ahead.”
Lin Ci said, then sat down near the entrance of Gu Ta Town.
“I’m not used to crowded places. I’ll rest here tonight.”
“Such a weirdo…”
Ruan Huoying yawned and teased.
“Is it because you forgot to bring silver?”
Buliuguyue asked, “I have some Silver on me. Want me to lend you some?”
“Thanks for the concern. I have Silver, just don’t like crowded places. You two go get some rest. Find me here tomorrow morning.”
“That’s fine… but it’s unfamiliar territory, Feiyu Xiong, be careful.”
Buliuguyue glanced at him, then was pulled away by Ruan Huoying.
Lin Ci stayed behind alone.
Near the town entrance, torchlight flickered. He looked around, then got up and moved to a different spot.
Walking further away, he sat beneath a large tree, big enough to encircle with three people’s arms, hiding himself in its shadow…
Holding his Flying Sword, Lin Ci leaned against the trunk and sat silently.
He wasn’t averse to staying in inns.
But for no clear reason, he had a bad feeling.
He sensed tonight might bring trouble. The town was unsafe. To keep the upper hand, he needed to stay hidden in the shadows.
Back at the Great Void Sect.
That morning, after Lin Ci left.
Xia Xiaochan returned to her room, troubled, repeatedly pondering over the Escape Technique Incantation her senior brother had left her.
She even copied the incantation onto paper and pasted it on the wall to study repeatedly.
“Divine Condensation Mustard Seed, Futreading Sumeru.”
“Thought of mountain toppling, meaning settling dust…”
“…”
“What do these all mean? How am I supposed to comprehend them…?”
Xiaochan was deeply troubled.
But past experience told her that when her senior brother taught her something, no matter how profound or difficult, she must first try to comprehend it!
“Divine Condensation Mustard Seed, Futreading Sumeru…”
She recited it over and over.
Five times… ten times… twenty times…
Xiaochan resolved that if she made no progress, she wouldn’t stop.
This continued until the next morning.
“Divine Condensation Mustard Seed… Futreading Sumeru…”
By now, she had silently recited the incantation five hundred seventy-two times.
Her lips were dry, and her throat felt like it was on fire.
She thought to herself, Senior Brother’s incantation truly is extraordinary…
The more she recited, the more Heavenly Dao Punishment tried to stop her from understanding it further.
She took a sip of water to soothe herself. Her fate is mine to control, not the heavens’.
At the moment she finished the five hundred seventy-second recitation.
As she paused, Xiaochan suddenly felt a flicker of enlightenment.
Divine Condensation Mustard Seed…
Could it really mean this?
She sat still with legs crossed, then swiped her hand.
Pure spiritual energy surged out, constantly shifting in the air until finally condensing into a bright symbol.
The symbol was incredibly clear, yet its shape was hard to discern—extremely wondrous.
As for why it was wondrous…
Everything in the world is larger when viewed up close and smaller from afar.
But this seal went against that—
The closer you looked, the smaller it became; the further away, the larger it grew!
“This is… the Jiezi Seal!”
Xia Xiaochan’s joy was overwhelming. Although she hadn’t fully comprehended the escape technique, she had already condensed the Jiezi Seal!
From her understanding of the incantation, this seal was the most crucial step of One Thought Tramples a Thousand Mountains.
Only by condensing the seal beneath one’s feet can one shrink the distance, treading across Sumeru…
“So that’s how it is, so that’s how it works!”
Xiaochan clenched her fists, her heart racing with excitement.
A spiritual radiance seemed about to descend from the heavens.
“Senior Brother! I’ve understood…”
“Lin Ci, are you there?”
Suddenly, a voice outside interrupted Xiaochan.
The smile on her face slowly faded…
She knew who it was.
Li Xingyao.
She had come again…