Avoiding Harm and Seeking Advantage

Cultivators of the Divine Path rarely entered the Divine Domain Dojo of another cultivator without good reason.

Qingyuan knew the taboos. He had merely opened his Divine Domain Dojo and changed the surrounding environment to conceal his aura and tracks.

"Daoist, I doubt you came here just to travel around." Qingyuan changed the subject and asked again.

Chen Ming swung the branch in his hand, and a Bronze Mirror flew out of it.

Yin Cold Qi gathered over the Bronze Mirror, and Situ Yuelan took shape.

Qingyuan's expression changed. He hadn't expected another cultivator of the Contemplation Realm to be hidden away, and one with considerable strength, at that.

"Daoist, have you ever come across a Spiritual Item that shares my aura?" Situ Yuelan asked as soon as she appeared.

Though she had been concealed in the Bronze Mirror within Chen Ming's small Grotto-Heaven, Chen Ming hadn't completely severed the connection between the Grotto-Heaven Dojo and the outside world.

Situ Yuelan had seen what happened outside and sensed it all.

Water patterns flickered between Qingyuan's brows. Thinking Chen Ming had set him up, he said coldly, "Are you two here to make a fool of me?"

Chen Ming smiled. "Don't be alarmed, Daoist Qingyuan. That Spiritual Item is extremely important to Fellow Daoist Situ, so she asked about it. We mean no harm!"

"Daoist Qingyuan, you attained your Divine Dharma Body through the Water aspect. Now that you've seen me, don't you find the aura about me familiar?"

Situ Yuelan, however, made no effort to be tactful. She had already spotted the telltale signs on Qingyuan.

It was obvious that Qingyuan had refined his Divine Dharma Body by studying her Incense and Fire God Refining Art.

Qingyuan's expression changed again. So the person whose body it came from has come looking for it.

Qingyuan was a Spirit God born from a Tribal Totem. At first, he had known only to act according to the Incense and Fire Thoughts. Later, he obtained a Spiritual Item and comprehended a Magic Art from it. Only then had he refined his Divine Dharma Body, greatly increased his strength, freed himself from the restraints of those mixed Incense and Fire Thoughts, and gained a measure of ease and freedom.

The Spiritual Item wasn't made of copper or iron. It looked like a plant, yet was cold with Yin. After he comprehended the Magic Art, the spiritual spark within it had dissipated.

Even so, it remained uncanny: water couldn't dissolve it, and fire couldn't destroy it.

He had studied it for a long time but never discovered what was so mysterious about it, so he had hidden it in his Divine Domain Dojo.

"I won't hide it from you. That Spiritual Item was formed from a fragment of my scattered body. You've already comprehended the spiritual spark within it, so it's of no further use to you. But some of my memories remain inside, and I need them. The Spiritual Item is still yours!"

"You've benefited from what my body left behind. Don't forget that kindness!"

As Situ Yuelan spoke, she held the Bronze Mirror in her hand. Yin Cold Qi gathered around her, and her Aura surged higher and higher, growing truly terrifying.

"A cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm!"

Qingyuan felt that Aura and was shaken. He hadn't expected the Spiritual Item he'd obtained to have been formed from the body of the woman before him.

His own Supernatural Ability let him sense such things, and he knew Situ Yuelan wasn't lying.

What's more, with the pressure of the Spirit Condensation Realm she displayed—and Chen Ming standing right there—Qingyuan sensed a grave threat.

The Waterway was heartless, but it was also best at avoiding harm and seeking advantage. Qingyuan saw the situation clearly at once. "Senior, please wait. I'll retrieve the Spiritual Item."

As he spoke, water patterns flickered between his brows, connecting him to his Divine Domain. Before long, he drew out a Spiritual Item.

"Is this it?"

Situ Yuelan took one look and knew it had indeed come from her body. The Yin Cold Qi within it could not be faked.

She beckoned, and a wisp of Aura flew out of the Spiritual Item and settled on the Bronze Mirror.

The Spirit Condensation Realm Aura she had shown was still somewhat unstable. With this wisp of Aura, some of her memories were restored, and her Aura grew more solid.

"Daoist Xuan Mingzi, the memories in here contain the Magic Art for the Sacred Sun Fire, but only half of it. I'll have to find the rest elsewhere," Situ Yuelan said.

"No matter. Cultivation never goes smoothly in every respect," Chen Ming replied, unconcerned.

"Senior, are you still looking for other Spiritual Items? My strength may be meager, but I could still lend you a hand!"

Seeing Situ Yuelan absorb the Aura from the Spiritual Item, Qingyuan realized she was the rightful owner. His heart immediately burned with eagerness.

That day, when Situ Yuelan had fought someone and her body scattered across the Vast Mountain Range, he had sensed it too.

That had been a clash between Great Cultivators of the Spirit Condensation Realm. Even a centipede keeps wriggling after it's been cut in half; a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse!

Just by obtaining a Spiritual Item formed from Situ Yuelan's body, he had comprehended a Magic Art and refined his Dharma Body.

If he could get on her good side, wouldn't more opportunities come his way?

That fiend beside her sensed only the strength of the Contemplation Realm. But fiends are cunning and treacherous; perhaps he's a hidden Great Cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm too. I can't afford to offend him!

Qingyuan thought this to himself, his manner growing even more deferential.

But he didn't know that Situ Yuelan had only the Aura of the Spirit Condensation Realm. Her actual strength was merely at the Contemplation Realm.

She had used the same trick when she first met Chen Ming.

Only Chen Ming had seen through it, so she hadn't managed to bluff him.

Today, however, she had fooled Qingyuan, the Auspicious Spirit God.

Situ Yuelan gave him a look. Chen Ming realized she was about to lose control of her Spirit Condensation Realm Aura, so he spoke up. "Fellow Daoist Situ, rein in your Aura. You haven't fully recovered yet. It would be bad if you drew your enemies here!"

Situ Yuelan took the opportunity to withdraw her Aura. "Do you know where the Spiritual Items formed from my body fell, or who obtained them?"

Qingyuan hastily replied, "Senior, I know of several places..."

Before he could finish, Situ Yuelan waved a hand. "I still need to Refine Spell to recover. Tell Daoist Xuan Mingzi everything you know and let him make the arrangements!"

With that, Situ Yuelan returned to the Bronze Mirror.

Chen Ming swung his branch, drawing the Bronze Mirror back into his Grotto-Heaven.

"Daoist Qingyuan, just tell me what you know. I'll look for them myself; there's no need to trouble you," Chen Ming said lightly.

The more casually Chen Ming spoke, the more certain Qingyuan became that he was concealing his true cultivation.

"Rest assured, Senior. I'll tell you everything I know!"

Qingyuan infused the information he knew into a piece of jade and handed it to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming used a Secret Method to verify it. Once he was sure it was genuine, he said, "Then I won't bother you any longer, Daoist Qingyuan."

"As for that child in your tribe, Daoist Qingyuan, if you have time, just look after him a little. There's no need to let him know."

Qingyuan agreed. Chen Ming abruptly turned into smoke and vanished.

He really was concealing his strength. Even under the cover of my Divine Domain Dojo, I couldn't see which way he went when he escaped!

Holding the unchanged Spiritual Item in his hand, Qingyuan pondered for a moment, then turned into a wisp of Water Qi and slipped into the surging waves of his Divine Domain Dojo.

White Fish Red Carp leapt, and the Divine Domain Dojo vanished without a trace.

"Daoist, you acted well. You gave Qingyuan quite a scare!"

Atop a secluded mountain, Chen Ming spoke to Situ Yuelan in the Bronze Mirror.

Situ Yuelan replied, "I wouldn't say I fooled him. He's a Totem God, so the Incense and Fire Thoughts bind him more tightly than they do other Divine Path cultivators."

"The Spiritual Item formed from my body had a lot to do with his refining a Divine Dharma Body. Having refined my art, he naturally feels some reverence for me!"

"An art passed down by a cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm shouldn't be practiced lightly if you don't know where it comes from!"