The three days on Constellation Island were originally meant to be Zong Xuezhen’s opportunity to make Mo Xuanli develop feelings for her. But Mo Xuanli was fully absorbed in crafting the ring, leaving her with no time at all to interact with him.
Bound by pride, Zong Xuezhen couldn’t bring herself to be too forward. She could only show concern and care for everyone while paying extra attention to Mo Xuanli.
As time passed, she started to feel as though she’d grown close to everyone, even changing the way she addressed them, calling him directly “Xuanli.”
Although Mo Xuanli felt somewhat displeased, he didn’t want to stoop to arguing over something like that.
Finally, after being disturbed one time too many, he said, “Miss Zong, your brother still hasn’t come. Shouldn’t you go look for him?”
Zong Xuezhen froze, then replied, “Actually, I am worried too. But since I was injured earlier, it’s hard for me to search alone…” She looked at Mo Xuanli with hopeful eyes.
Mo Xuanli hadn’t expected her to be so… blatant, and was momentarily at a loss. Just as he was about to change the subject, footsteps approached.
Zong Ziming finally arrived.
But the instant he stepped out of the bushes, Mo Xuanli’s ring gave a faint pulse. His eyes sharpened, was it warning him of a demon nearby?
Yet…
When his gaze landed on Zong Ziming, he saw that the man’s expression was dark and gloomy, and his eyes briefly flashed a sinister red.
But in the blink of an eye, it vanished, his face returning to normal though a faintly ominous aura still hung around him.
Mo Xuanli and Li Xiuran immediately stood, alert.
“Brother, why are you only coming back now?” Zong Xuezhen’s tone carried displeasure.
Zong Ziming paused, then said, “I suddenly felt enlightenment halfway through and broke through, so it took a little longer.”
“Did the breakthrough not go smoothly? You look awful,” Jingzhan said curiously.
Zong Ziming flared up at once. “What do you mean not smooth! I broke through to Nascent Soul in such a short time, that’s genius! How would you understand?”
Jingzhan hadn’t expected him to be so sensitive and immediately shut his mouth. Zong Xuezhen, on the other hand, looked overjoyed. She hadn’t thought her brother would break through so soon, this meant the Zong family’s strength had risen another level.
Li Xiuran and Mo Xuanli exchanged a glance. They could both sense demonic energy coiling faintly around him. Judging from the situation, it was likely due to his mental state being unstable during the rushed breakthrough.
“Your state of mind is unstable right now,” Li Xiuran said bluntly. “You shouldn’t continue absorbing spiritual energy. It’d be best if you didn’t enter for the time being.”
Everyone froze at that, embarrassed. Jingzhan even gave Li Xiuran a thumbs-up, telling someone not to enter the spiritual spring could easily be taken the wrong way. There might be a fight, and he was ready to watch.
But to everyone’s surprise, Zong Ziming merely gave a cold snort, found a place to sit down, and started meditating. He really didn’t go in.
He was giving up the chance to absorb such rich spiritual energy.
Li Xiuran and Mo Xuanli both understood, Zong Ziming must know he’d nearly fallen into deviation, so cultivating now would only worsen things. The strange flicker they’d seen earlier must have been the result of that.
And Mo Xuanli reached another conclusion, the ring his Master had given him didn’t sense demons specifically, but rather demonic energy.
Zong Ziming’s safe return allowed everyone to relax. At least it meant there wasn’t some hidden danger lurking nearby.
Li Xiuran stood up then, stepping out of the pool. “I’ve finished cultivating,” he told the others. “I’ll be practicing at a distance until the secret realm opens. Call me if anything comes up.”
Then, turning to Mo Xuanli, he added, “If you’re free, come find me. I’d like to spar again.”
Mo Xuanli blinked, then nodded.
After Li Xiuran left, Jingzhan clicked his tongue. “You people really don’t cherish this spring, huh? What are the rest of us supposed to do?”
Mo Xuanli smiled. “He’s about to break through. If he keeps absorbing energy here, it might push him into an involuntary breakthrough. It’s not the right place for that.”
Breaking through should always be done somewhere safe, or with someone you trust nearby. Otherwise, one could end up like Zong Ziming, deviating with no one around to help. A single stroke of bad luck could mean disaster.
Especially from the Nascent Soul stage onward, each step was extremely difficult. Though he and Li Xiuran advanced quickly, neither dared to take it lightly.
“Wow, that’s fast. He’s really talented! Xuanli, you can’t lose to him, you’d better hurry up too,” Jingzhan said cheerfully.
Mo Xuanli shook his head with a laugh. As he continued to absorb spiritual energy, he worked on his carving. He was engraving the patterns now and had prepared a red bead to store his fire-elemental spell. It couldn’t rival his Master’s lightning, but it would give the cold black jade a touch of warmth, enough to warm his Master’s naturally cool hands.
Zong Xuezhen, realizing that her brother’s return had ruined her chance again, felt sulky. She still wanted to find an opportunity to talk to Mo Xuanli but when she turned, she saw a faint barrier shimmering around him.
She called out softly twice, but Nan Zhi spoke up, “Don’t bother. That’s the Zixiao Sect’s silencing barrier. If you really need him, you’ll have to tap him.”
Zong Xuezhen froze. Jingzhan couldn’t hold back a laugh. “He wants to focus. If it’s not something important, better not disturb him.”
Zong Xuezhen’s face flushed red, then pale, then red again.
Mo Xuanli, focused entirely on his carving, gradually entered a state of insight. He could faintly sense the threshold to mid-Nascent Soul and just as he reached it, the ring was completed.
A pitch-black ring inlaid with a red bead, engraved with the same simple ancient patterns, but with spell markings that nurtured spiritual energy. It could also resize at will.
Mo Xuanli placed the new ring in his palm and compared it with the one on his own finger: one white, one black. No matter how he looked at them, they were a matching pair. Remembering what Li Xiuran and the others had said earlier about the “wedding ring custom,” Mo Xuanli couldn’t help the sweetness that filled his heart.
After infusing the red bead with fire-elemental energy, the black jade warmed to the touch. He added a spatial mark using Void Spirit arts, and a faint light flashed across the ring. Then, taking out a beautifully crafted box from his storage pouch, he placed the ring carefully inside and closed it.
With that, Mo Xuanli’s token of love was finally complete.
It was only now that Mo Xuanli finally withdrew the barrier. When he lifted his head, he found everyone’s eyes on him.
“You’re not even going to let us take a look after finishing it?” Jingzhan teased.
“This isn’t something for show,” Mo Xuanli refused flatly, stepping out of the pool.
“Hey, where are you going? There’s still some time before the secret realm closes,” Jingzhan called after him, puzzled.
“I’m about to reach the point of advancement, it’s not suitable to keep absorbing spiritual energy. I’m going to find Li Xiuran,” Mo Xuanli said, and with that, he took off into the air.
Ao Hang, lounging idly on a tree branch, rolled over lazily. Since Mo Xuanli wasn’t going far, he decided not to follow.
Before long, Mo Xuanli found Li Xiuran. But instead of cultivating, Li Xiuran was staring blankly at a blooming flower on a tree.
“The Yanrong Flower, it can be refined into a celestial blossom for women’s beauty and complexion,” Mo Xuanli said with a smile.
Seeing him, Li Xiuran said, “So it really is that?” With that, he flew up, picked all the flowers that had bloomed, and carefully stored them away.
“Gifting them to someone?” Mo Xuanli asked with a faint smile.
Li Xiuran looked slightly uncomfortable. “Chuling likes to fuss with these things. I figured I’d bring some back for her when I saw them.”
Mo Xuanli wasn’t as gossipy as Jingzhan; he only smiled and let it go.
“You really did come out early. Before I left, I could already tell you were close to advancing,” Li Xiuran said.
“It went smoothly enough, but I still want to advance by my master’s side.”
Li Xiuran nodded. “That’s safer.”
“Want a spar?” Mo Xuanli asked. He enjoyed crossing swords with Li Xiuran, he always gained insight from it.
Li Xiuran chuckled. “Not a spar. I want to show you something.”
As he spoke, Li Xiuran drew the Dingtian Sword. With the God-Slaying Sword fragment embedded in it, its power doubled instantly. The sword intent he unleashed swept across the entire Constellation Island with overwhelming force.
But Mo Xuanli had already experienced this aura in previous duels with Li Xiuran. The next moment, however, his expression changed.
Li Xiuran was demonstrating a cultivation method, the part of the God-Slaying Sword Intent taught by the Hidden Gods Clan. Since Mo Xuanli also possessed sword fragments that could be refined into an artifact, Li Xiuran believed he had the right to learn it and that it would benefit him greatly in the future.
Li Xiuran taught without reservation. Shocked but focused, Mo Xuanli absorbed every detail. When he followed along to perform the God-Slaying Sword Technique, though he lacked true sword intent, the three God-Slaying fragments fused into his life-bound weapon allowed him to wield nearly the same level of power.
Two hours later, Mo Xuanli had already mastered most of it.
Li Xiuran finally stopped, drained of spiritual energy, collapsing onto the ground. Soon after, someone else dropped behind him as well breathing hard. Li Xiuran nudged his back and laughed heartily. “I knew you were fated with the God-Slaying Sword! Otherwise you wouldn’t have learned it so fast. I’ve heard that those without such a fate can’t even comprehend the technique, let alone master it.”
“Why are you teaching me this? Is it something that can be taught so freely?” Mo Xuanli finally asked. It was a little late to ask now, but he still did.
“Teach you? I didn’t teach you anything. You just stole it from me during our spar, you genius,” Li Xiuran replied lightly.
Sitting back-to-back, Mo Xuanli couldn’t see his face but was speechless. “If the Hidden Gods Clan heard that, they’d probably die of rage.” He knew they were a very insular clan.
“Chuling said this can only be passed on to those fated with the God-Slaying Sword. They may not know you are, but I do, so there’s no problem. With this, you’ll stand a better chance against the demons coveting the sword in the future,” Li Xiuran said calmly.
Mo Xuanli took a deep breath. “Thank you. This… is indeed very useful to me.” He could already feel clear progress in his swordsmanship.
“I should thank you too. Without a partner to practice with, this kind of technique is hard to grasp. Even though the Hidden Gods Clan inherited it, few actually use it. Now that both of us can wield it, we can keep improving together.” Li Xiuran smiled. During their joint training, their coordination had been perfect, he’d even broken through bottlenecks that had stumped him for a long time. The two of them felt as if they were born to complement each other.
As he was speaking, he suddenly sensed something wrong behind him.
When Li Xiuran turned around, he saw Mo Xuanli’s face had gone pale, spiritual energy surging violently through his body.
Startled, Li Xiuran jumped up. “You’re advancing?”
It seemed the training with the God-Slaying Sword Technique had accidentally triggered Mo Xuanli’s breakthrough.
But looking at his condition, Li Xiuran frowned. “Don’t suppress it, it’ll harm your body. Don’t worry, I’ll guard you. Just focus on advancing.”
Mo Xuanli truly couldn’t suppress the spiritual power boiling within him, but he didn’t dare advance in front of someone else. He feared that if something abnormal happened again, Li Xiuran, like his master before, might mistake it for him falling into demonic deviation. He didn’t want to risk that, especially not with someone who had just trusted him enough to share a secret art.
Just then, a dragon’s roar echoed from the sky. A massive black dragon descended, and Mo Xuanli finally let out a sigh of relief, sitting down cross-legged.
The black dragon landed like a moving wall of shadow, the gale of its aura pushing Li Xiuran far to the outer edge.
When Li Xiuran regained his footing, he saw the dragon’s enormous head lowered toward him.
“I’ll handle things here,” Ao Hang said.
It was indeed safer to have one’s contracted beast standing guard. Li Xiuran didn’t argue. “Alright. I’ll go tell the others not to come near.”
But just as he turned to leave, his steps halted. His expression shifted, he had sensed something familiar.
A faint trace of demonic energy was seeping out from the very center of where the black dragon was shielding Mo Xuanli.
Li Xiuran didn’t say anything, just stepped forward and immediately ran into the others who were hurrying over.
“What happened? I saw the black dragon suddenly fly off, and there was a spiritual energy shockwave, did something happen to Xuanli?” Jingzhan asked anxiously.
“It’s fine, he’s advancing,” Li Xiuran replied.
“Then let’s go guard him!” Jingzhan said, and Nan Zhi was already preparing to go but Li Xiuran stopped them all.
“With a true dragon there, what danger could there be? If we go, we’d only be disturbing him,” Li Xiuran said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come out.”
Hearing that, although still uneasy, everyone followed Li Xiuran’s advice and returned to the spirit spring to wait.
This time, Mo Xuanli’s advancement went extremely smoothly, he advanced in full consciousness and awakened in full consciousness. For a fleeting instant, however, a strong impulse surged within him, he wanted… he wanted to see his master.
He almost used the Void Spirit Space, but just then, a jolt of lightning shot from the ring on his finger, snapping him back to awareness.
His whole body went numb from the shock, nearly collapsing. The impulse in his mind vanished instantly.
Mo Xuanli realized in alarm that he had once again been tempted by demonic energy but thankfully, the ring his master had given him was there.
“Finished?” Ao Hang returned to his normal form, watching as Mo Xuanli lowered his head and brushed his lips lightly over the ring. Seeing that the demonic aura between his brows had completely faded, Ao Hang said, “That went quite smoothly this time.”
“Mm. Seems as long as it’s not a forced breakthrough, everything stays under control.” Mo Xuanli smiled faintly. “Come on, let’s go back. Master and Three Bean must miss us.”
At that moment, Gu Baiqing was with Three Bean, seeing Half-Step Mad off.
“D*mn mission, I wanted to see tonight’s excitement,” Half-Step Mad said miserably, clutching his Cloud Ascending Crane. “All the fun’s for them. A background character like me can’t even sneak into a frame.”
Gu Baiqing couldn’t ask about the details of the mission, so he just said, “You’d better not waste time. If it fails, you’ll be the one suffering.”
Half-Step Mad sighed and grumbled for a while, until he saw disciples from the Wuxiang Temple approaching then he bolted in fright.
At that moment, Gu Baiqing received a notification that the mission was completed.
Since the storyline had gone completely off track, he couldn’t predict when Mo Xuanli would advance. He had assumed Xuanli wouldn’t dare to do it outside but he wasn’t too worried. The demonic corruption value was still at 45, unchanged, meaning the advancement went smoothly. And with Ao Hang guarding him, there was no way anything could go wrong.
“They’re coming out,” Three Bean said suddenly, sensing the dragon’s aura, standing upright on Gu Baiqing’s shoulder.
Gu Baiqing smiled. “What’s this? You missed him after all?”
Three Bean immediately grabbed onto Gu Baiqing’s head. “Who missed him?!”
“I meant Xuanli. Who did you think I meant?” Gu Baiqing teased.
Three Bean was instantly furious, baring teeth and claws. At that moment, Chu Fei arrived and whisked Gu Baiqing away toward Taixu Hall.
As night fell, the Constellation Island opened, and the flying vessel returned with the seven disciples aboard, heading straight for the main island of Taixu Hall.
By now, all the immortal sects had gathered.
That night was not only to celebrate the safe return of the seven disciples but also to hold a great oath ceremony, to announce that all the immortal sects would join forces against the demon race.
Of course, most of the young people’s attention was focused on the tall stone platform where a human-sized Yinyuan Stone was displayed.
The round moonlight shone upon it, and it seemed to emit an enchanting pull, making people want to approach, to catch a glimpse of their destined bond in this lifetime.
The young men and women present were already abuzz with discussion. But not everyone had the chance to approach.
This time, only the seven returning disciples were permitted to do so.
On the flying vessel, upon hearing the plan, the seven began talking again about the Yinyuan Stone they’d discussed before.
Meanwhile, deep within the now-closed Constellation Island, demonic energy began to stir once more.
