Expanding Our Thinking

After organizing the intelligence in the mountain village of the Southern Ling Kingdom, Bai Qiuran and the others dispersed.

Some disciples of the Heavenly Saint Buddhist Sect stayed behind to guard the mountain village, while the rest followed Dust Zen Master to Heaven-Forging Stronghold. Elder from other sects also returned to their posts, while Bai Qiuran left alone to wander around various places in the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou, hoping to gather some intelligence.

However, the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou are vast, Bai Qiuran traveled around several times without encountering the Ancient City. However, after a period of observation and summarization, the Righteous Path Alliance and the Demonic Sect Alliance jointly discovered some patterns in the movement of the Ancient City.

Firstly, based on the traces of the Ancient City found, and combined with the time when Bai Qiuran and Huangfu Feng witnessed the Stone Stele Activation, it can be deduced that the interval between the disappearance and reappearance of the Ancient City is generally about three days.

Secondly, each time the Ancient City appears or disappears, it is always accompanied by a thick fog.

Thirdly, where the Ancient City disappears, Vortex of Spirit Qi will remain for a long time.

Fourth, the Ancient City's activities are not limited to Qingzhou; its traces can be found throughout the entire Ten Lands of Jiuzhou. However, taking Qingzhou as the origin, the frequency of the Ancient City's activities decreases as one moves outward.

Fifth, the Ancient City uses Bell Chime to abduct people. If the number of people nearby reaches a certain level, the Ancient City will activate and attempt to abduct them. If the Bell Chime are insufficient to capture the target's mind, the Ancient City will unleash strange Dark Monsters to forcibly abduct the target. The Dark Monsters seem to be modified from the bodies of abducted people within the Ancient City, but the specific methods are currently unknown, and no living monsters have been encountered. The content of this fifth point is entirely based on the Projection Recording Stone on Elder Liu's body.

Currently, the people of the Profound Law Academy have begun to try to predict the next location where the Ancient City will appear based on these patterns, while Bai Qiuran, whose search was unsuccessful, has returned to Heaven-Forging Stronghold to see if he can help.

He could help with the deductions, and if the people from the Profound Law Academy actually figured it out, Bai Qiuran's speed and strength were top-notch among everyone present, making him the most suitable person to test the waters in the first wave.

However, when Bai Qiuran returned to Heaven-Forging Stronghold, it was already nightfall. When the disciples who had helped at the Profound Law Academy came out, he had only been back in his room for a short time when his disciple Tang Ruowei approached him, and she had brought a young girl he didn't recognize with her.

Looking at the pretty girl who resembled the girl next door, and then at his somewhat guilty disciple, Bai Qiuran surprise, "Hey, Ruowei, I've noticed that whenever we haven't seen each other for a while, you always manage to bring a pretty girl in front of me... You must have been born into the wrong gender."

What's going on?

Tang Ruowei's eyes widened. She knew exactly what her master was referring to. After casually adjusting her "chest," she gritted her teeth and said, "This is Senior Sister Li Jinyao from the Heavenly Demon Sect. She told me she wants to meet you."

"Hmm? Li Jinyao?"

Upon hearing this name, Bai Qiuran glanced at her with some surprise.

"So you're the one with the Heavenly Demon Body that the Demonic Sect Alliance has been keeping secret recently?"

"You are the Qingming Sword Ancestor?"

Li Jinyao did not deny it, but instead carefully looked Bai Qiuran up and down.

"Hmm, it doesn't look bad."

"Master (het. com)"

At this moment, Tang Ruowei, who had overheard their conversation, asked, "What is the Heavenly Demon Body?"

"The legendary physique recorded in the mystical scriptures of the Heavenly Demon Sect is even higher than the Heavenly Spirit Root Spiritual Root. It's equivalent to an all-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root for Demonic Cultivator. People with this kind of Spiritual Root can progress rapidly no matter what Demonic Sect Cultivation Technique they practice, and there are no side effects... This physique has only appeared in the scriptures, and it is rumored to have disappeared after the end of the last era."

Bai Qiuran looked at Li Jinyao and said, "And she is the only one born with the Heavenly Demon Body after three thousand years. She has been kept secret by the Demonic Sect Alliance, who are afraid that the Righteous Path Alliance will find out."

"Uh, how did you know?"

Tang Ruowei complained.

"Su Xiangxue told me."

Bai Qiuran replied, "I had a couple of drinks with her, chatted for a bit, and when we got into a good time bragging, she just casually told me."

Second, you traitor!

At this moment, even though Tang Ruowei had a good impression of Su Xiangxue, she couldn't help but shout in her heart.

"I've long heard that Sect Master Su and Sword Ancestor have a close relationship, but I didn't expect Sect Master Su to 'casually' tell you such news. It seems she's basically completely unguarded around you."

Li Jinyao said with a smile.

"That's because she knows I won't hurt her."

Bai Qiuran looked Li Jinyao up and down.

"But since you possess the Heavenly Demon Body, you should have also learned her Phantom Shadow Fragrant Trace Art, right? How come I can't see any effect?"

"Because I made a change, I was able to capture the special effects."

As Li Jinyao spoke, she suddenly winked at Bai Qiuran with one eye.

"Look."

At that moment, she suddenly exuded boundless allure, and Tang Ruowei, caught off guard, blushed instantly, but Bai Qiuran remained expressionless.

"Hmm, I see."

After looking at it for two seconds, he commented, "You modified the Cultivation Technique I changed, which allows you to suppress the charm effect, but the power of the charm has been reduced by a bit. Moreover, the fact that you can completely suppress it is due to your physique; this modification is only suitable for you."

Li Jinyao was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then smiled wryly and said, "As expected of the Sword Ancestor, it took me two years to successfully modify this Cultivation Technique, but you saw through it at a glance. Even my Master took a long time to figure it out."

"I've simply lived longer than Ji Lingyun."

Bai Qiuran said calmly.

"I do not understand."

After Li Jinyao withdrew her allure, Tang Ruowei, finally regaining her senses, shook her head and asked, "Is this terrifying allure a side effect?"

"The inability to control the situation freely is certainly a side effect."

Bai Qiuran glanced at her disciple.

"Think about it, if Su Xiangxue marries someone with low resistance to seduction, just looking at her every day would kill that man within two years. They'd never even consummate their marriage. Don't you think that's a negative consequence?"

Tang Ruowei nodded, blushing.

"Alright, you've seen it all, now you can go back to work."

Bai Qiuran waved his hand and said, "Talking about these things now is meaningless. Let's quickly try to predict the movement trajectory of the Ancient City. I also need to think of a way."

"Speaking of which, I actually have an idea, but I'm not sure if I should say it."

Li Jinyao suddenly said.

"Hmm? Feel free to share your thoughts; we're in a rush to come up with ideas right now."

Bai Qiuran sat down at the table and said, "Please sit down, Miss Li Jinyao. Ruowei, don't just stand there like an idiot."

Thank you.

Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei sat down next to each other, and then the little girl from the Heavenly Demon Sect continued, "When I helped Elder Xu at the Profound Law Academy before, although he was wary of me, I still noticed some clues. What he speculated seemed to be that the Ancient City was moving so quickly by relying on the power of the earth's veins, and the method of operation was some kind of Escape Technique that we didn't know, which could perfectly blend into the earth's veins."

"Yes, there's nothing wrong with this line of thinking."

Bai Qiuran nodded and said, "To support such a large Ancient City Mobile back and forth so far without a trace, it is indeed necessary to rely on the power of the earth's veins."

"But I don't think that's necessarily true. Some of the locations where the Ancient City appeared are not on the ley lines of the earth, unlike the locations where the Book of Questions."

Li Jinyao Book of Questions, "So I was thinking, could the Ancient City have used some other power? After all, the power that can be used in this world isn't just the earth's veins... For example, the Celestial Phenomenon Power, which is the opposite of the earth's veins. What do you think, Sword Ancestor?"