Ji Yutang wanted to test Li Jingyu, but the other woman didn’t take the bait, so she let it go for now, not wanting Li Jingyu to notice anything suspicious.
She quickly gathered the papers with the Dao script and tucked them into her sleeve, letting her mind wander.
But when she looked up, her gaze suddenly met Li Jingyu’s deep eyes.
She froze, as if her thoughts had stopped, and all she could see were those starry eyes and her own reflection in them.
When Li Jingyu thought of the “Taiyin Physique,” she actually felt a bit gloomy, but that feeling quickly faded as she locked eyes with Ji Yutang.
She didn’t plan to say anything, just rested her chin in her hands and looked at Ji Yutang with interest, until Ji Yutang hurriedly looked away.
“Why isn’t Lin Daoist back yet?” Ji Yutang deliberately brought up someone else to ease her own awkwardness.
Li Jingyu’s eyes held a spring-like smile as she said lazily, “Maybe too much is happening in Beihai.”
Ji Yutang frowned.
“How come nothing’s reached Jiuzhou?” Li Jingyu just smiled and didn’t answer.
Beihai was demon cultivator territory, and most people who came back here were wandering cultivators looking for opportunities.
They didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the Eight Great Immortal Sects.
The Xuanming Yin Region wasn’t easy to cross, and there were very few big ships coming and going—plus, this trouble probably only started recently.
Not long after their conversation ended, there was a knock at the door, followed by Qin Ruoshui’s clear voice.
“See, isn’t he back now?” Li Jingyu raised an eyebrow.
Ji Yutang shot Li Jingyu a glare.
As long as Qin Ruoshui was around, she always remembered things from the past and couldn’t bring herself to be nice to the person in front of her.
She lowered her head to hide the gloom in her eyes and followed Li Jingyu out of the study.
Lin Heng really was back, sitting in a chair looking frustrated.
As soon as everyone came out, he started spilling the news he’d gathered: “There’s not much coming out of Beihai Dragon Palace, but apparently some strange demon has taken over.
It calls itself the god of Beihai and wants to rule all the demon cultivators there.
As for humans, it’s not interested in recruiting them—just wiping them out.
Right now, the Beihai Demon Cultivators haven’t fully submitted, so only a small group is harassing Xuanming City, but if that so-called god of Beihai succeeds, Xuanming City probably won’t hold.”
“God of Beihai?” Li Jingyu’s eyes twitched.
Lin Heng nodded seriously.
“Yeah, god of Beihai.
Two green snakes on its ears, two red snakes under its feet, called Yu Qiang, self-styled Xuanming.”
“One of the twelve Demon Gods visualized by Tianhai Demon Sect, an incarnation of the Demon Ancestor?” Qin Ruoshui suddenly stood up, blurting it out.
The previous Shebi Corpse disaster had brought the Demon God Stake to everyone’s attention, and now, in this far-off Beihai, there was another Demon God Stake planted by the Demon Sect! The Demon Sect was probably behind all this, but there was a Yuanshen-level power in Dragon Palace City, and the Demon Sect’s big shots hadn’t made a move—how did they pull it off?
Ji Yutang frowned and asked, “What’s Xuanming’s cultivation level?” Lin Heng answered, “Some say Foundation Establishment, some say Yuanshen, no one knows for sure.”
Li Jingyu shook her head and gave her own guess: “It might not be a real manifestation, just a demonic shadow.
But if we keep dragging this out and it really becomes the ‘god of Beihai,’ who knows what’ll happen.” After the Demon God Stake was planted, the turbid evil energy would surge, giving rise to the twelve Demon Gods, but that took a long time.
Why did Tianhai Demon Sect plant the Demon God Stake and want the twelve Demon Gods to descend? Did they want these twelve demons to evolve back into the Demon Ancestor? As this thought surfaced, Li Jingyu suddenly sensed danger, her brows furrowing tightly, not daring to think further.
Qin Ruoshui said seriously, “We probably need to go to Dragon Palace City.” The true dragon was the real ruler of Beihai, but now it had disappeared, letting “Xuanming” take over the region.
Something must have happened, and it was hard to find out what from Xuanming City.
“And I suspect Chi Dragon is in Dragon Palace City.” As a dragon, even after Dragon Palace City fell, he could still cause trouble everywhere.
Whether or not he’d betrayed Dragon Palace City, it was worth looking into.
“But with our strength, I’m afraid—” Lin Heng hesitated.
Qin Ruoshui said, “My master was friends with a true dragon from Beihai and got a dragon scale from him.
We can use it to ask that senior for help.
But we still need to send word back to the sect first.”
The true dragons were the overlords of Beihai, and their Dragon Palace City wasn’t exactly hidden.
When Lin Heng went out to gather information, he’d also asked about the location of Dragon Palace City, but everyone warned him not to go near it unless absolutely necessary.
The Coral White Jade Crystal Palace, where the true dragons lived, was the most magnificent place in Beihai, but also a deadly one.
If you weren’t a dragon, you’d probably be crushed by the dragon’s aura before you even got close.
But with the dragon scale in Qin Ruoshui’s hand, they didn’t have to worry about that.
The sea surged, waves roaring like thunder.
Lin Heng was a disciple of Langhuan Fairyland, specializing in the Dao of painting.
He held a scroll in his left hand, and with a gentle swipe, a large boat flew out of the painting and landed on the sea.
“Let’s go,” Lin Heng said to the other three.
Qin Ruoshui was the first to board, with Ji Yutang right behind her.
Li Jingyu’s eyes sparkled with amusement as she quickly caught up to Ji Yutang and whispered in her ear, “Do you still need a water-repelling pearl this time?” Ji Yutang pressed her lips together, thinking Li Jingyu was mocking her.
Back then, she didn’t have much magic power to use, so she needed a water-repelling pearl to get by in the water.
But now she cultivated dragon arts, and things like riding clouds and controlling rain were second nature—why would she be afraid of the sea? She ignored Li Jingyu, found a seat on the boat, and started circulating her Xuanxiang Pearl, forcing her spiritual energy to stay as magic power.
“Junior Sister Ran.” Qin Ruoshui noticed the awkward tension between the two and pursed her lips, speaking gently.
Li Jingyu turned around, raising an eyebrow, her gaze a little lazy as she looked at her.
Qin Ruoshui saw her expression and felt a wave of confusion, but after a moment, she continued, “When you meditate on the Big Dipper, have you run into any problems?” Disciples of the Eight Great Immortal Sects often sat together to discuss the Dao in their free time, deepening their understanding of different paths.
Qin Ruoshui hadn’t spent much time with Junior Sister Ran, but every time, the other woman would ask questions about Daoist techniques, so she’d always thought she was devoted to the Dao.
Li Jingyu shook her head.
“No.” The Daoist arts she practiced were completely different from Ran Guzhu’s, even with traces of demonic techniques, so there was nothing she could discuss with Qin Ruoshui alone.
Besides, as soon as Qin Ruoshui spoke, she could feel a glare like an ice blade on her.
She really didn’t want to make Ji Yutang hate her right now!
