Thinking of what awaited the merfolk in the future, Gu Baiqing couldn’t help but warn her: “No matter what, Beast-Taming Manor will definitely retaliate. You must stay alert and be prepared.”
“I’m not worried about them,” Junhua said confidently. “What concerns me is that others in the cultivation world might use this as an excuse to strike at us. Beast-Taming Manor should already be nearly wiped out by Weak Water. Even their tribulation-stage patriarch wouldn’t last within it. Only those with water-type contract beasts to save them, or outrageously good luck, could survive.”
Gu Baiqing frowned slightly. “You’re that certain?”
“Of course. Otherwise, would we have sacrificed three priests’ cultivation in vain?”
But Gu Baiqing was uneasy. In the original account, Beast-Taming Manor had only suffered minor losses — their main bloodline survived, and only expendable underlings died.
It was said that the eldest young lady, Yu Yingwan, was saved by Fu Ye. The rest were never explained. It could only be assumed that Weakwater hadn’t destroyed them. Yet from Junhua’s words, and from his own experience within the Weakwater, something didn’t add up.
“Maybe Beast-Taming Manor has some way to protect themselves before the Weakwater reaches them,” Gu Baiqing said. “What if…”
Junhua thought he was worrying too much, but she still replied, “In any case, I’ve already sent people to check the situation. If something’s wrong, we’ll know soon enough. I’ve also summoned all our people back to Weakwater. As long as it remains, even if they survived, they won’t be able to attack us.”
Gu Baiqing’s eyes flickered. “Every powerful thing has a weakness. If they find that weakness and exploit it, this place could turn into a trap — like fish in a barrel.”
Junhua was about to argue when something suddenly occurred to her. Her face paled slightly.
“Impossible,” she said at last. “No one knows Weakwater’s weakness except the royal bloodline. Even though Fu Ye has been wandering outside… he wouldn’t be so reckless.”
Junhua raised a brow at Gu Baiqing and said, “Why do you always think the worst? Can’t you wish us well for once?”
“I just feel a little uneasy,” Gu Baiqing frowned slightly. If the plot couldn’t be avoided, he at least wanted to minimize casualties.
“Then just add a few more layers of barriers.”
A voice suddenly came from behind the screen.
Gu Baiqing turned and saw that Mo Xuanli had already dressed and come out.
“You’re awake,” Gu Baiqing said in surprise. Wait a second—the clothes had just been outside. How did he… oh, right, maybe he used God Nine Transformations to pull them over. Come to think of it, if Mo Xuanli woke up naked and found himself lying on the bed like that, he probably would’ve panicked…
Gu Baiqing imagined the scene, but then realized Mo Xuanli was looking at him with faint reproach.
Gu Baiqing immediately reacted and said, “I wasn’t the one who undressed you.”
Mo Xuanli froze, his expression instantly turning darker. He had just thought, well, if his master was healing him, fine—but why did he have to be stripped bare?
Now, hearing his master say that, it meant someone else had undressed him. Even if it was to avoid awkwardness, that wasn’t any better!
“When we brought you back, you were both unconscious, and you were injured. A male merfolk helped treat your wounds,” Gu Baiqing quickly explained.
Junhua gave the two of them a suspicious look. “Why are you so desperate to explain to him? He’s not some delicate maiden—so what if he was naked? You saw it, so what? You were peeking just now anyway! D*mn, I’m the only one who didn’t get to see!”
Gu Baiqing didn’t have time to shut her mouth—Mo Xuanli’s eyes had already changed.
“I just wasn’t sure if that person was you, so I looked to confirm…” Gu Baiqing felt exhausted—every word of explanation burned on his tongue.
Mo Xuanli didn’t pursue it further. Instead, he sat down and asked, “Brother, are you feeling alright? Usually after drowning, there are side effects, you—”
Before Gu Baiqing could answer, Junhua interrupted, “Didn’t you breathe air into him? He didn’t drown…”
Gu Baiqing stared blankly at Junhua. This person really knew how to talk!
Mo Xuanli rubbed his nose awkwardly. “It’s good that you’re fine, brother.”
Gu Baiqing had nothing left to say.
“When did you wake up? How much did you hear?” Junhua asked.
“From when you started talking about the merfolk tribe’s situation,” Mo Xuanli replied. His gaze flickered slightly, but he didn’t continue.
Junhua nodded, then briefly explained the arrangements she had made for the two of them.
“Thank you,” Mo Xuanli said sincerely when he heard she was offering a place suitable for his advancement.
“Compared to what you two have done, this is nothing. If there’s anything else you want, just say it,” Junhua said generously.
“I want to ask you about the Black Dragon,” Mo Xuanli said.
Junhua’s face instantly darkened.
“What’s wrong?” Mo Xuanli asked in confusion.
Gu Baiqing also looked at her curiously. Judging from how Junhua’s jaw tightened, she clearly had some grudge against the Black Dragon.
“What business do you have with Ao Hang?”
The moment she said the name, Mo Xuanli’s eyes lit up.
“You know him? I heard he’s a true dragon, born of the ancient times. I wanted to ask him about the fragments of the God-Slaying Sword.”
“The God-Slaying Sword fragments?!” Junhua’s voice shot up.
That startled both master and disciple.
“If I’d known you wanted that, I would’ve kept it for you,” Junhua suddenly said.
“What!” Mo Xuanli’s face changed. “You’ve had one before?”
Gu Baiqing looked puzzled—wasn’t it supposed to be…
“I gave it to Ao Hang,” Junhua said. “It was something passed down from ancient times, said to be precious. Anyway, we merfolk didn’t know how it ended up among us, and it was useless to us—just something for show. After the great war between immortals and demons, our tribe was too weak and afraid of being bullied. Just then, the Black Dragon Ao Hang awoke from his long slumber. Since we were all sea dwellers, the merfolk wanted to ally with a true dragon as our backing. They told me to marry him, and the God-Slaying Sword fragment was my dowry. But that b*stard went back on his word halfway through, said he’d found his true love, and broke off the engagement! D*mn it—does he think he can just take me if he wants and toss me aside if he doesn’t?”
Junhua spoke with fiery bravado, then paused to touch her face. “But, well… first, I couldn’t beat him anyway—your grandma here knows when to bow and when to rise—and second, he made me a whip from his own dragon whiskers as an apology gift. I loved that whip so much I accepted it. As for the dowry, I left it with Ao Hang as a token of friendly relations. But later I heard his wife ran away, and no matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find her. Ahahahaha—I laughed for an entire year. Retribution! Absolute retribution!”
Seeing the two of them staring speechlessly at her, Junhua coughed and said, “Anyway, the fragment you want is with Ao Hang now. I’ll take you to the Dragon Palace later. Whether he gives it to you will depend on his mood—I can only put in a good word. But mind you, that old man, abandoned by his wife, has a terrible temper. Also, like us merfolk, he despises human cultivators. Too many blind fools have tried to make him their spirit beast—ridiculous! He’s nearly divine-level, of course he hates them.”
Mo Xuanli hadn’t expected to get such valuable news so easily. He had only hoped to ask the Black Dragon for information about the sword fragments, not find one’s location outright. The shock left him momentarily dazed.
Gu Baiqing found his reaction amusing—he already knew that once Mo Xuanli subdued the Black Dragon, the second fragment would indeed come from him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Junhua asked Gu Baiqing cautiously when she saw Mo Xuanli staring off blankly.
“He’s trying to collect the fragments of the God-Slaying Sword.”
“Such grand ambition!” Junhua exclaimed. “But too bad—I’ve only ever heard of this one piece. They say there are eight in total. Why set such a goal—does he plan to use it as a weapon?”
“No… it’s to cure an illness,” Mo Xuanli said slowly, regaining focus. “Thank you—for telling me something so important.”
This time, his gratitude carried much deeper weight than before.
Junhua caught the meaning in his tone and said solemnly, “Don’t worry. If there’s another fragment within the seas, I’ll help you find it—no matter what.”
The corners of Mo Xuanli’s lips had just lifted slightly when Junhua suddenly said, “If you two find the fragments, how about both of you stay here in the merfolk tribe as live-in husbands? Handsome men like you are no worse than our merfolk. I really like your looks.”
Gu Baiqing raised a hand to his forehead.
The smile on Mo Xuanli’s lips instantly twitched. “I’m not selling myself.”
“Tch! Missing out on a great beauty like me—where else will you find a wife as gorgeous, powerful, and high-status as I am?” Junhua said disdainfully.
Gu Baiqing suddenly felt she had a point. With her looks, power, and carefree temperament, she was indeed exceptional. He couldn’t help but wonder… if even someone like Junhua couldn’t make Mo Xuanli’s heart stir, then what kind of person could?
That rumored “Little Plum Branch”? But the disciple had never admitted anything, and Gu Baiqing had always suspected that person’s existence. Even if this wasn’t the same Mo Xuanli from the original story, his nature should be similar. Mo Xuanli was someone deeply insecure, starved for love. If he truly liked someone, he couldn’t possibly go so long without seeing or mentioning her—only hearing about her from others. He’d want to be by her side all the time, think of her constantly, yearn for her day and night.
In the original text, Mo Xuanli’s affection for his master had been blatant. Even after claiming him night after night, he still couldn’t bear to part by day. Even if he couldn’t touch, his gaze never left him. That clinginess—that was the real Mo Xuanli.
But now, he showed none of that toward anyone. So… did that mean there was no one?
Realizing this, Gu Baiqing unconsciously felt a wave of relief—and then froze. Wait, shouldn’t he be nervous? Shouldn’t he want Mo Xuanli to have someone he liked? Why was he relieved?
No, that wasn’t it—it was because… if Mo Xuanli had someone he liked, then continuing to walk side by side as the “canon CP” from the story would just feel awkward.
But if Mo Xuanli had no one for now, it wouldn’t be so awkward. That was all. Yes, that must be it.
As he thought this, he turned toward his disciple—and suddenly met a pair of deep, affectionate eyes.
That gaze, focused and unwavering, carried an inexplicable pull. At some point, Mo Xuanli had been watching him all along.
When their eyes met, Mo Xuanli’s composure faltered; his body trembled slightly with shyness before he quickly averted his gaze and changed the subject.
Since Junhua was so willing to help, Mo Xuanli wasn’t about to take her kindness for free. He took the initiative to bring up the matter of the protective formations.
Mo Xuanli was skilled at such things, especially after secretly studying the city barrier array in Star-Stepping City and gaining combat experience in Linxun Town. Setting up defensive formations within Weakwater wouldn’t be difficult for him.
In the original story, the disciples of Zixiao Sect had survived because of Mo Xuanli. Out of gratitude, he and his fellow disciples set up an array together.
But at that time, Mo Xuanli hadn’t known that those fellow disciples had eaten merfolk flesh before. Their attitude toward helping the merfolk was insincere, and when the merfolk were later attacked, they betrayed Mo Xuanli—causing him grievous injuries and leaving the merfolk unable to escape.
Something felt… off.
Gu Baiqing paused. There was always this strange sense of wrongness.
Whenever the plot progressed smoothly, it felt as if the all-powerful “Master” suddenly vanished from existence. Elder Luofeng, one of the top combatants in the cultivation world—if something really happened here, with that level of strength, how could it end in total annihilation?
Sure, later the Master was supposed to face a powerful opponent, but what about before that? Where did he go? Why did it feel so strange?
Gu Baiqing thought for a while but couldn’t figure it out. After all, when recording the voice acting, he’d only focused on his own lines and skimmed the full text once—he couldn’t remember all the details. Besides, the novel hadn’t focused on that; it was brushed over quickly. You couldn’t nitpick a novel too much, right? Maybe he was just overthinking it.
Mo Xuanli handed the array design to Junhua, telling her to discuss it with the merfolk priest. Once confirmed and the materials gathered, he would assist in setting it up.
Junhua told him to rest and stabilize his spiritual energy first. Once the array was complete, she would take him to begin his advancement.
After giving her instructions, she left.
Gu Baiqing rose and said, “You should focus on recovering. I’ll leave the room so I don’t disturb you.”
“Stay here. You won’t disturb me.” Mo Xuanli quickly reached out to tug his master’s sleeve. This was, after all, a strange place. No matter how friendly Junhua appeared, he still didn’t feel at ease letting his master wander alone. “Master, how is your spiritual power?”
“I still have enough,” Gu Baiqing said, sitting back down naturally. “Don’t worry. I can still protect you.”
Mo Xuanli blinked in surprise, then smiled slightly. He poured his master a cup of tea. “Of course. Still… there’s something I want to ask of you.”
“What is it?” Gu Baiqing asked, taking the cup—he happened to be a bit thirsty.
“I checked my meridians just now. My spiritual power is chaotic from the earlier shock. If I want to advance, I need to realign it. May I ask Master to help me regulate it?” Mo Xuanli said seriously.
Gu Baiqing nodded while sipping his tea. “Alright. What do you need me to do?”
“Dual cultivation.”
“Pffft!”
Gu Baiqing sputtered tea and stared at Mo Xuanli in disbelief.
Mo Xuanli blinked, seeming to realize what he’d just said. His face turned crimson. “I mean… the spiritual sense dual cultivation—like the one from Rufeng Sect. That’s the most effective method.”
“No way!” Gu Baiqing refused outright—completely, absolutely, to the death.
