“Indeed, it’s because when Sister Lu was in male form, it obscured the Heavenly Secret!” Liu Qingxi spread the copper coins in a line, feeling refreshed.
“Now… all… Hmm, why is it still wrong?”
The last coin she slapped onto the table had a chipped corner.
“This…” Lu Li carefully flipped through the pages of the divination book.
“It says a flawed coin means this hexagram is abnormal—cannot continue divination.”
“Yes, but Sister Lu, you are clearly female. I performed the divination based on your female form, so it shouldn’t be wrong.” Liu Qingxi then swept her gaze over Lu Li with those pupils.
“Strange. My Derivative Calculation Heavenly Eye…”
“Is this something like the Buddhist Light Sect’s eye technique?” Lu Li asked.
“Yes, my Derivative Calculation Heavenly Eye can see the branching futures, or at least some omens and trajectories.” Liu Qingxi looked at Lu Li, then stood up, drawing closer and closer to her.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Hmm…” Liu Qingxi said nothing, but stared intently into Lu Li’s pupils, so close that Lu Li could almost feel her breath.
“Liu Qingxi?!”
“Ah… sorry, I got lost in your eyes for a moment, Sister Lu.” Liu Qingxi immediately stood up straight. “Just now I said I could see the future trajectory of the other person, but why can’t I see it with you?”
“Perhaps it’s because of my Bewitch Heart technique,” Lu Li made a simple guess.
“That’s wonderful!” Liu Qingxi immediately grabbed Lu Li’s hands. “Sister Lu, then let’s go out together this afternoon!”
“Ah, um, what?” Lu Li was momentarily baffled by Liu Qingxi’s behavior. “Why?”
“I’ll explain once we’re out!” Liu Qingxi dragged Lu Li back to the dressing table. “Sister Lu, wait for me a moment?”
“That’s fine… if there’s nothing important.” Lu Li watched as Liu Qingxi took out various bottles and jars from her cosmetic case and began to adorn herself.
While waiting, Lu Li realized with mixed feelings that she had not only learned how to dress and apply makeup, but also understood what a woman was trying to achieve with each stroke, and could even vaguely discern the merits and flaws of each action.
‘So it seems… ever since I joined the Yin Yang Sect, I’ve rarely walked the Immortal Realm in male form.’ As she sighed, Liu Qingxi finished her makeup and blinked her starlit eyes.
“Sister Lu, how do I look?”
“Nothing major wrong… No, nothing wrong at all.” Lu Li bitterly realized she could see where Liu Qingxi’s makeup could be refined further.
‘This is because of the Yin Yang Sect’s techniques and various needs… plus some special purposes… yes, that’s why I learned dressing and grooming.’
In her self-consolation, Liu Qingxi tugged at Lu Li’s sleeve, flicked the jade disk at her waist, transforming it into a large circular plate that carried them both aloft, then soared into the sky.
“Oh… so we’re in the Ascending Heavenly Palace.” Lu Li looked back and caught a glimpse of the cloud ladder piercing the sky.
“Yes, if you don’t mind, Sister Lu, you could actually live here.” Liu Qingxi flew the jade disk.
“We’re both Saintesses, so we should visit each other often.”
“Haha… right.” Hearing these words again, Lu Li could only force a smile.
“But Little Xi, you…”
“Yes, I have no other friends.” Liu Qingxi said in a calm tone, slowly flying toward the market square built parallel to the Ascending Heavenly Palace.
“Because I can see the future, even the other senior and junior disciples of the Heavenly Deduction Sect aren’t willing to get close to me.”
“They think I’m amazing, but no one wants to look me in the eye, and no one wants to share their heart with me.” Liu Qingxi looked toward the market square.
“But Sister Lu is different.”
“That was just a coincidence…”
“No, it wasn’t. When I was pretending to be a beggar, Sister Lu didn’t despise me at all and always trusted me.” Liu Qingxi turned back to look at Lu Li in the wind.
“And in Three Gold Village, you were willing to protect mortals. With all that, even though I can’t see your future, you’re not afraid of me—that’s the icing on the cake.”
“From that perspective, I suppose…” After entering Heavenly Deduction City, Lu Li had vaguely noticed that cultivators in the Immortal Realm seemed to be divided into three factions.
One part resembled Shen Zhaoxue in her early days, judging everything by cultivation level.
Another part was like Liu Qingyun and Yuan He—they simply focused on cultivating Dao, disregarding everything else.
Finally, there were those like Li Zhengshen, whom he met in Heavenly Deduction City, who took the protection of ordinary people as their responsibility.
“Alright, Sister Lu, don’t frown and think too much—it doesn’t look good.” Liu Qingxi reached out and tapped Lu Li between the brows. “Let’s go. First, let’s check on Three Gold Village.”
In the past, riding a horse or carriage would have taken a full three days. But now, Lu Li and Liu Qingxi stepped onto the light gauze disk and sped along, arriving at Three Gold Village in half an hour.
When the villagers saw Lu Li descending, their expressions froze for a moment, then they broke into even warmer smiles.
Some of the elder women even gathered around Lu Li, greeting her enthusiastically.
“Sister Lu!” The young girl to whom Lu Li had given pills came bouncing over. “Thank you for saving us!”
“I only helped a little. If you hadn’t grabbed the demon beast’s tail, I couldn’t have struck that sword,” Lu Li said. She saw Liu Qingxi in the distance, her fingertips glowing with mysterious light—divining and healing people at the same time, clearly very busy.
“No, no, Sister Fairy Lu’s sword was really incredible!” the old man who had wielded the long sword exclaimed. “The only trouble is that underground cave of ours is temporarily unusable.”
“Since I’m here, let me help.” Lu Li instinctively rolled up her sleeves, but several nearby men immediately turned their heads away.
This action made Lu Li realize that she was now a woman, dressed in women’s clothing.
In the eyes of mortals, this behavior was somewhat inappropriate.
“Oh, oh, how could we trouble Fairy Lu with that?” an elder woman said.
“I caused this problem, so I should fix it.” Lu Li chuckled lightly. Looking at the little girl gazing at her with adoration, she stepped onto the light gauze and soared up to the small hill she had split open earlier.
‘That sword was truly powerful… but it consumed all my Primordial Yang Qi.’ Thinking this, Lu Li’s pink eyes trembled slightly. ‘Let’s test out my abilities in this female form.’
The crack was originally created by her sword strike and still carried her Sword Intent and True Yuan.
If she used the Bewitch Heart technique to guide the earth’s spiritual energy, perhaps she could make the stone rejoin.
“Bewitch Heart… Mountain, close.”
A faint rosy light glowed from her palm, and the peach blossom mark in her pupils became even more pronounced.
The split mountain stone slowly healed under the spray of rosy light.
It emitted a deep, rumbling sound.
“Hah… I may not be used to this female form, but I have to admit, a Divine Charm Spirit Root makes this kind of work very convenient.” Lu Li heard the cheers of the villagers below and floated down gracefully.
‘If I had used my female body earlier, I probably could have just charmed the demon beast without needing swordsmanship…’
As she mused, the people of Three Gold Village, seeing the mended mountain, cheered and insisted on hosting Lu Li and Liu Qingxi for a meal.
The two couldn’t refuse, so they had a simple meal. Then, waving goodbye to the little girl and the villagers, they flew back to Heavenly Deduction City.
“What a fulfilling morning,” Liu Qingxi said, sitting on the jade disk, gazing at Heavenly Deduction City under the midday sun.
Even though the sun was bright, the city was still snowing.
“Indeed,” Lu Li nodded. “I’m relieved to see they’re safe.”
“Since the big problem is solved,” Liu Qingxi adjusted the direction of the jade disk, “Sister Lu, would you accompany me for a little stroll through the market square?”
“You’re a Saintess, and you’ve never been through your own sect’s market square?” Lu Li flicked a stray strand of hair blown by the wind and couldn’t help smiling.
“In all these years, no one has ever accompanied me. Today, I must trouble Sister Lu.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll go with you.”
“Don’t be so serious, Sister Lu. Since you’re new here, the Northern Domain has unique Snow Silkworm Silk—the robes woven from it are sought after by countless people.” Liu Qingxi pointed at a bustling shop in the distance.
“Want to go take a look?”
“No, no,” Lu Li quickly shook her head.
“But I think Sister Lu would look great in it!”
“Well… uh… hmm… because that would cause some problems, and I’ll have to revert to my male form later anyway.” Lu Li really didn’t want to walk into a shop and order custom-made dresses.
“So, let’s skip it.”
“Not even just one?”
“Not even one.”
“Sigh, what a pity.” Liu Qingxi lowered her head for just a moment.
“Then Sister Lu, is there anything you want to see?”
“Some pills, artifacts, and talismans.”
“Good, then let’s go see those.” Without hesitation, Liu Qingxi adjusted the disk’s direction. “Sister Lu, after we finish, will you come browse with me?”
“That’s only right.” Lu Li nodded, watching the shops that smelled of rouge and powder recede, feeling much more at ease.
“And I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Just being able to go out with Sister Lu is already a joy.” Liu Qingxi landed in the market square, then linked arms with Lu Li again.
“Let’s go!”
‘This child…’ Looking at such a lively Liu Qingxi, a smile crept onto Lu Li’s lips.
In terms of emotions, she and Liu Qingxi were quite alike.
In this female form, very few people were either not charmed by her or not affected by her Enchanting Sound.
To be able to communicate so frankly was an invaluable experience.
“So, how much is this flying sword?” Lu Li pointed at a sword floating in the air, glowing with spiritual light, clearly meant for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
“This fairy,” the stall owner glanced at the jade disk at Liu Qingxi’s waist and immediately smiled ingratiatingly, “This is a long sword imbued with Sword Intent. The price is eight hundred low-grade spirit stones.”
“Ah?!”