Hua Qiyue paused for a moment. She was surprised to hear that Bai Qianyue merely admired her moral character. Did he not have any ulterior motives by gifting her with such a powerful medicine pellet?

Hua Qiyue could make no sense of his actions. Why would Bai Qianxue express such admiration for a woman who he had never met? Was admiration all he felt toward her? Did he harbor no other ulterior motives?

This piqued her interest in Bai Qianxue and for some reason, she sensed that Bai Qianxue would be an important figure to her in the future.

“I’d like to meet the person who was able to lay out such an impressive array across Spirit Heaven City myself,” Hua Qiyue bent down, picked up the bag of wild fruits that she had gathered, and headed into the mountain cave.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m going to hunt a Demon Chicken.”

“There’s no need to do so. I’ve already brought one back myself,” Xuanji said calmly.

Since the last time they had come back with one Demon Chicken from their hunt, Ji Feng had steamed and grilled the Demon Chicken until it was ready to eat and stored it in the Heavenly Space Ring that Xuanji had given him. This Space Ring was of a much better quality than ordinary Space Rings out there.

This was because this Space Ring was able to keep the food stored within it fresh— in other words, the cooked chicken stored inside the ring would still taste as though it was freshly cooked even after 10,000 years.

Not everyone would be able to own a Space Ring that could keep food fresh.

Thus, the Demon Chicken that they had caught would be able to last two weeks. Hua Qiyue liked the taste of this chicken and the chicken meat contained a lot of universal spiritual energy, so she wanted to hunt another one.

She was surprised to hear that Xuanji had already brought another Demon Chicken back.

“That’s strange. I thought monks are not allowed to kill?” She asked, her eyes blinking as she turned and walked with Xuanji back to the Ten Thousand Spirit Cave.

#

The hare said in a strange tone, “There’s no way he’s a Taoist priest. He’s definitely a fake! If he was a true Taoist priest, he would never live with a woman.”

Xuanji looked at the hare calmly and said, “Senior, I am indeed a Taoist priest not affiliated to any temple but I’m not as despicable as you make me out to be.”

Hua Qiyue replied with a smile, “There’s nothing that would surprise me in the vast world and all kinds of evil could be found in the world. In any case, this is a dog eat dog world, and this is a principle that has survived the test of time.”

She took Xuanji’s side with her words. After all, this was how the world operated. The strong would be worshipped while the weak would never be able to make a name for themselves and if they would be considered fortunate if they could get by.

The hare scoffed. It didn’t seem to be very fond of Xuanji.

Hua Qiyue saw Ji Feng and Huangfu Xuan rushing anxiously toward her as she walked to the entrance of the Ten Thousand Spirit Cave.

“Qiyue, where did you go? We thought you had gone missing and we were searching frantically for you!” Ji Feng said gently and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Hua Qiyue was safe.

Spirit Heaven City was a city filled with anima energy since it was created from an array but there were many evil beasts roaming around Spirit Heaven Mountain. It was even said that even evil beasts that were more powerful than the tenth-level could be found here.

If Hua Qiyue were to encounter an evil beast that was above the tenth-level, then…

“I’m fine. I had only headed outside for a walk to relax,” Hua Qiyue said and handed the bag she was holding to Ji Feng. “These are the fruits that I plucked earlier. They are delicious.”

Ji Jing blinked and said, “Qiyue, you didn’t see how terrified my brother was earlier when he thought that you had gone missing. He was extremely concerned about your well-being!”

Ji Jing was starting to ‘drivel’ again. Ji Feng coughed and his face reddened as he said, “It’s late and it looks like it’s about to pour soon. You should head inside to rest.”

Hua Qiyue looked up and saw that dark clouds were gathering ahead and she could even make out flashes of lightning overhead.

They returned to the wooden hut and for some reason, she suddenly felt drowsy and went to take a nap in her room.

As the dark grew darker, the flashes of lightning grew brighter and sinisterly split the sky apart. Everyone’s faces could vaguely be seen in the wooden hut as lightning flashed.

“Bang…” Thunder rolled overhead and there was another bright flash of lightning.

“This lightning and thunder seem to have appeared so suddenly. I can’t put my finger on it but I feel like some extraordinary is about to happen…” Ji Jing frowned uneasily.

Xuanji looked at the lightning outside. Hua Qiyue had already retired to the second floor while the others remained in the common area on the first floor. It was a simple hut but this was good enough.

This world was almost separated from the rest of the world and thus, one’s cultivation speed could soar even faster than in the outside world. The area was quiet and beautiful and despite their simple living arrangements, everyone was focused solely on improving their Qi Art skills and they did not care much for worldly enjoyment.

On the second floor, in Hua Qiyue’s room.

If anyone had been standing outside her room, he would have noticed that these bright flashes of lightning would enter her room at the very end.

Hua Qiyue lay quietly on the jade bed. Her room looked simple but she slept on a special jade bed that would be warm in winter and cool in summer. Her face was strangely pale as she lay on the bed.

This was because the lightning bolts would tunnel into her body as they entered from her window.

These powerful lightning bolts did not fry her alive at all. She merely lay quietly in bed and would frown occasionally as though she was disturbed by her dream.

After dozens of lightning bolts entered her body, her body started to tremble slightly. She also felt waves of pain wash over her in her dream but she curled into a ball and continued sleeping…

If anyone had in her room, he would have noticed that her body seemed a little translucent and terrifying white lightning was hurtling across every meridian, Qi Mai, and so on.

Hua Qiyue’s body trembled slightly but she didn’t wake up. After some time, the thunder and lightning finally stopped.

Hua Qiyue drowsily opened her eyes and felt as though something had torn through her body. She felt like all her energy had been sapped out of her and she couldn’t even summon the energy to sit up.

She moved a little and groaned as the pain intensified.

“Do you feel better?” Someone suddenly asked.

Shocked, Hua Qiyue followed the sound of the voice and saw Xuanji quietly sitting near her bed, looking at her strangely.

“How… how could you come in? This is my room!” Hua Qiyue said with a frown. She was still an unmarried lady, so she was a little annoyed that Xuanji had entered her room without knocking.

Xuanji looked calmly at her and his eyes were so calm that no feelings could be detected. “Qiyue, there’s an otherworldly force circulating within your body. If you don’t trust my words, then take this medicine pellet!” He said as he placed a small white bottle on the table.

Then, he left her room without any further pleasantries.

Hua Qiyue was surprised but then, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

There was a powerful and strange force circulating within her body and this force seemed to render her unable to summon nor control her strength. She couldn’t even rise to her feet.

Hua Qiyue was shocked. How did Xuanji know that there was a foreign force inside her body? Was this uncontrollable force known as an otherworldly force?

Otherworldly— which world did he refer to?

Hua Qiyue was unable to wrap her head around his words. She rested for a while and finally managed to summon enough energy to sit up.

She took a deep breath, then tumbled out of her bed unsteadily and struggled to walk to the table. It was merely a few steps away but she felt like she had traveled 500 kilometers and was panting heavily by the time she reached the table.

“What’s going on… how could these be a foreign force within me…” Hua Qiyue was extremely shocked and felt as though this foreign force was about to cause her body to explode.

Sweat trickled down her forehead and as the foreign force within her gathered, she felt her heart clench in intense pain!

She was even more astonished. This force seemed intent on destroying her and was targeting the most important part of her body!

Did it mean to destroy her, then take control of her body?

Hua Qiyue didn’t dare to hesitate. She hurriedly picked up the small white bottle and swallowed the white pill inside.

After she swallowed the pill, she frantically gulped down water until she felt the medicine pellet quickly dissolve in her body and release a mighty force.

As the force from the medicine pellet clashed with the foreign force within her body, she felt a sweet tang in her mouth as blood trickled out of her mouth.

These two forces were almost as strong as each other and suppressed each other. One hour later, she finally felt the foreign force within her vanish, or perhaps it had been suppressed but her body was covered in sweat.

She quickly rushed out. Her strength had been restored but her face was deathly pale as though she had been terribly ill.

“Master Xuanji…”

Hua Qiyue finally found Xuanji under the Bodhi Tree in front of the wooden hut. He looked like he was carving something and the wooden block in his hand was as big as the size of his fist.

He looked flustered when he noticed Hua Qiyue’s presence and quickly put the wooden block aside. Then, he looked calmly at Hua Qiyue who rushed toward him.

“What’s wrong?” He asked calmly.

Hua Qiyue was very perceptive and wondered how he could be so calm when she had clearly seen the flash of panic in his eyes earlier.

“Where did you obtain the medicine pellet that you gave me earlier? How did you know what was wrong with me? And… where did the foreign force come from?” She blurted out a series of questions anxiously, as though she couldn’t wait to find out the answers.

#

Xuanji calmly looked away and said, “I realized that this was happening when I was practicing divination. Please call me Xuanji in the future.”

Hua Qiyue frowned as she sat beside him. She looked at the wooden block he had been carving and asked, “What are you carving? Oh yes, you didn’t answer a single one of my questions earlier!”

“These are all heavenly secrets that I am not allowed to disclose,” Xuanji said, then fell silent. No matter how Hua Qiyue pestered him for an answer, she could not get him to speak anymore.

She couldn’t figure Xuanji out at all! He could be very warm and kind at times but sometimes he would be aloof and cold. He was usually cold most of the time but he was always helping her, so she couldn’t help but be suspicious of his motives.

“Xuanji, did someone tell you to look after me?” Hua Qiyue stared into his eyes as she asked.

#

“No,” he answered simply.

She paused and couldn’t help but feel dejected at the thought of that man. She sighed softly and didn’t pursue this matter.

Regardless, she had to become so strong that no one would be able to defeat her. Then, she would be able to find Tianci.