Each Harbors Ghosts in Their Hearts

"Hehe."

He Lingxiu was very satisfied.

Usually, she was an exceptionally fair businesswoman and never thought of taking advantage of anyone, but she had to admit that seeing an iron rooster like Wang Li suffer a setback was indeed quite uplifting.

Wang Li looked at her speechlessly.

Though this Huayang Sect female cultivator's expressions sometimes could not truly represent her emotions, he could tell at this moment that He Lingxiu was genuinely smug.

What left him even more speechless was that He Lingxiu next stuffed a jade talisman into his palm.

This sort of one-use transmission jade talisman, read with spiritual sense, had actually been clutched in her hand all along. By the time she put it into his hand, it was already warm from being covered by her palm!

What scheming!

Still, Wang Li read the method contained within the jade talisman as quickly as possible.

"..."

What made him even more speechless was that this secret sound-transmission art was actually Gezhao Sect's "Two Hearts Know" secret art.

Gezhao Sect ranked among the top ten sects in Lesser Jade Continent. As far as he knew, not even every true disciple in Gezhao Sect was necessarily qualified to learn this sort of sound-transmission secret art.

Clearly, the origins of He Lingxiu's secret art were not aboveboard either.

"Now should you tell me why we must move slowly through this area?" He Lingxiu looked at his thoroughly speechless expression and seemed even more satisfied.

"There is a great deal of bone phosphor sand beneath this area. Moving slowly like this normally will not cause any changes." Wang Li did not bother arguing with her. "But if we travel too fast, the airflow here will shift more violently, and the bone phosphor sand below will begin to combust on its own. Once it does, thick smoke will billow into the air. Then some of the insects lurking beneath this region will crawl and fly out in every direction. What follows will be hard to predict. It might alert cultivators from the Chaos Domains that cultivators are active here, and it might also draw plenty of demonic beasts that feed on those insects."

He Lingxiu nodded, then asked, "Wouldn't it work to fly directly over the dense forest?"

"Other than the northern end of White Bone Continent, the eastern, southern, and western sides are full of avian demonic beasts. Unless cultivators came here specifically to hunt demonic beasts, it is best not to be so ostentatious." Wang Li said, "Especially since our group is headed for the Seven Treasures Ancient Domain. It is better not to stir up trouble."

When they heard about the bone phosphor sand, Ye Wan and the others were visibly startled. But by this point, the three young cultivators were somewhat dismissive.

That expression surprised He Lingxiu somewhat.

The highest cultivation among the three was Ye Jiuyue's, yet he was only at the First Level of Foundation Establishment. Although she knew that the chance of the demonic beasts Wang Li mentioned attacking was not especially high, these three seemed not particularly wary of those demonic beasts at all. That was somewhat abnormal.

After all, even on the outskirts of these Chaos Domains, it was quite common for demonic beasts with strength equivalent to a fifth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator to appear.

"Hehe, those three are somewhat strange as well." She simply sent a voice transmission to Wang Li.

"Mm." Wang Li said only one word.

That one word was also sent using Gezhao Sect's "Two Hearts Know" sound-transmission method.

"Your cultivation talent truly is not low." He Lingxiu's brows furrowed slightly. She could sense that Wang Li had said only that one word because he had not yet been entirely certain when using this sound-transmission secret art and wanted to test it first. Yet regardless, Wang Li had succeeded on his first try.

Though Gezhao Sect's sound-transmission secret art was not difficult to understand, fully comprehending and using it in such a short time was not something an ordinary cultivator could achieve.

"That's right. Though I'm a cultivator without any spiritual root, my talent for comprehending spells is still quite good." Wang Li transmitted smugly, "Everyone here is harboring ghosts in their hearts anyway. I don't trust a single one of them. Believe it or not."

He Lingxiu said with a chuckle, "Including me?"

Wang Li did not even answer her directly. He merely rolled his eyes at her and left her to make of it what she would.

He Lingxiu smiled faintly and transmitted, "How many times have you come to White Bone Continent?"

"Many times," Wang Li said.

"If you keep acting like this, then I may as well hurt others without benefiting myself. We might as well all stop getting along." He Lingxiu gave a cold laugh. "Perhaps you should think about this from another angle. You should think carefully about what spiritual root I told you I possessed when we first met."

"The Innate Clarity Spiritual Root."

Wang Li immediately felt somewhat guilty and gave an awkward laugh. "I was only joking before."

He Lingxiu said mockingly, "Then Fellow Daoist Wang Bihui, what benefits did you and your senior sister seek when you repeatedly came to White Bone Continent?"

Wang Li said, "The White Bone Phosphor Fire here is quite good. Refining it into bone phosphor sand and White Bone Underworld Fire Talismans can be traded for quite a bit of spiritual sand needed for cultivation."

He Lingxiu said, "It seems you do have some methods for earning spiritual sand."

Wang Li sighed softly. "It is only hard-earned money, barely enough for cultivation."

He Lingxiu chuckled again. "But I think Ice Flame Crystal Bone is even better. The Explosive Flame Ice Talismans made from it have remarkable effects when kept for fighting enemies."

Wang Li froze for a moment, then could not help turning to glance at her. "Can you stop testing me like this all the time?"

"I have no choice." He Lingxiu said, "If I do not spell certain things out, I might accidentally be set up by someone. Perhaps certain people will suddenly use Explosive Flame Ice Talismans someday, thinking such talismans can deal with me?"

Wang Li said speechlessly, "Fellow Daoist Hehe, you are overthinking it."

"One must not lack the heart to guard against others. Fellow Daoist Wang Bihui, you just said that everyone here harbors ghosts in their hearts. I do not trust a single one of them either," He Lingxiu said.

Wang Li was completely speechless.

He Lingxiu said, "Fellow Daoist Wang Bihui, it seems you are also quite accomplished in talisman crafting?"

Wang Li pressed his lips tightly together. He remained silent and refused to answer.

He Lingxiu did not mind. With a faint smile, she said, "How about I help you seek suitable spiritual materials for making talismans, and you give me a share of the profits?"

Wang Li was fuming, but he still answered with unusual decisiveness, "What share?"

He Lingxiu said, "Half and half?"

Wang Li said, "Seventy-thirty. Seventy for me, thirty for you."

He Lingxiu said, "Sixty for you, forty for me."

Wang Li said, "Deal."

He Lingxiu laughed. "Two hundred paces ahead on the left, several feet beneath that jawbone, there is a Ghost Pattern Spirit Bone."

Wang Li froze, then immediately realized. "Hehe, you had already spotted it earlier, so you hurried to negotiate terms with me?"

"This is a little sweetness for you." He Lingxiu said calmly, "So that you understand that as long as you safely lead me along, and do not flee by yourself the moment danger appears, you will receive sufficient benefits."

Wang Li immediately snorted in disdain. "As if you are not getting anything from this. You simply want me to take you to places rich in spiritual materials whenever possible."

He Lingxiu looked straight ahead, seemingly unconcerned. "I remember that when Old Ancestor Tong Hui gave you the Yin Thunder Umbrellas, he also gave you an artifact-refining method."

"Fellow Daoist Hehe, don't tell me you specifically came to Lonely Peak to recruit me because we have that artifact-refining method?" Upon hearing this, Wang Li instantly felt his scalp tingle. "Your scheme was laid that far in advance?"