Marriage Is Impossible

He escorted Xu Yinglian to the entrance of the Golden Ridge Cave.

The foolish junior sister had red eyes, seemingly not yet fully calm.

She had only spoken offensive words in the Scripture Hall, so she apologized to Qiu Changtian earnestly in a low voice.

Qiu Changtian naturally wouldn't hold it against her.

To be honest, with the mission to seize the Sky Mending Stone weighing heavily on his heart, he couldn't be bothered to see this junior sister as an opponent.

His true enemy was the unknown person living in Yuxu Palace who possessed a fragment of the Sky Mending Stone!

To be able to obtain this innate spiritual treasure, the other party was most likely a major figure at the Grand Elder level, with a status even higher than the Ziwei Sect Master.

Whether through persuasion, deception, or theft, Qiu Changtian currently had no confidence in obtaining the Sky Mending Stone fragment from that person.

Informing them of the situation was impossible. Regardless of whether the other party believed him, he had no way to explain how he knew about the catastrophe of the Dharma-Ending Age.

Not to mention the Kunlun Mirror within his body, which was an innate supreme treasure on the same level as the Sky Mending Stone.

If anyone found out, it would definitely bring disaster, not fortune, upon him!

After sending his junior sister back, Qiu Changtian returned to his cave dwelling and meditated on the stone bed for several hours. Following the circulation route of the Nine Heavens Pure Micro Entrance True Words, he circulated his true qi for several cycles, thus filling his sea of qi by a tiny bit.

With his cultivation for the day complete, Qiu Changtian called out in his mind again:

"A Jing! A Jing!"

After a long while, a helpless voice replied:

"What is it?"

"It's time to go to Shushan," Qiu Changtian reminded him.

The Kunlun Mirror was silent for a moment, then asked:

"What do you plan to do about Xu Yinglian?"

"Naturally, I will refuse," Qiu Changtian said with a smile. "Women only slow down my cultivation speed!"

Kunlun Mirror: ...

"What, is that not right?"

"Xu Yinglian's primordial yin is extremely pure by nature. If you were to cultivate together with her, yin and yang in harmony, it would greatly benefit you," the Kunlun Mirror stated truthfully.

"You lecherous mirror, how do you even know about dual cultivation?" Qiu Changtian asked suspiciously. "Tell me, did you take a liking to something about her?"

"Xu Yinglian possesses the Phoenix Bird bloodline," the Kunlun Mirror explained. "Although it's diluted, its rank is still present."

"Phoenix Bird bloodline, so what?" Qiu Changtian sneered inwardly, So that's how it is, and continued to press.

"The Phoenix Bird is the red seed of the Phoenix, a true spirit among demons, its blood is fiery," the Kunlun Mirror said frankly. "If you cultivate with her, yin and yang in harmony, activating the true spirit energy deep within her bloodline, I can engrave the 'Phoenix Bird Bloodline' talent into the mirror."

"And then?" Qiu Changtian sighed and asked. "To obtain the 'Phoenix Bird Bloodline' talent, I have to play Xu Yinglian's character role, right?"

"Yes," the Kunlun Mirror replied. "Her character role is 'seeking victory.' You should know her very well."

Qiu Changtian pondered in silence. After a long while, he said:

"Take me to Shushan first."

"Alright." The Kunlun Mirror began to operate. Qiu Changtian felt a brilliant light surge in his sea of consciousness, as if his three souls and seven spirits were trembling.

[Countdown to World Destruction: One Thousand Years.]
[Please hurry to find the Sky Mending Stone.]

The Kunlun Mirror recited mechanically:

[Location Two: Shushan Shangqing Sect, Green Snail Peak.]
[Character Identity: Ling Yunpo.]
[Mirror Flower Water Moon template overlaying, initiating spacetime traversal.]

Ling Yunpo's eyes snapped open.

At this moment, he was sitting on a soft bed, meditating. The surroundings were furnished like an ancient bedroom.

On the wall by the bed hung a bronze mirror.

Ling Yunpo looked into the bronze mirror and saw a black-haired youth with handsome, heroic features and a resolute expression.

Although his facial features were quite similar to Qiu Changtian's, his temperament was completely different, carrying a sense of deep-seated suffering.

To describe this temperament metaphorically, it was like a dark youth who was determined to seek revenge on his elder brother, who had murdered his entire family and then fled.

Switching from Qiu Changtian to Ling Yunpo only required activating the Kunlun Mirror's Mirror Flower Water Moon, which could create a permanent illusion, subtly influencing the senses of everyone around him.

Whether it was sight, hearing, smell, or touch, no matter how anyone used any sensory means to probe him, the image they perceived would no longer be Qiu Changtian, but the current Ling Yunpo.

Of course, maintaining this image required playing the corresponding character role.

If the inner character role did not match the external appearance, and the synchronization value was too low, people would notice something was wrong, and the Mirror Flower Water Moon would be in danger of being broken.

As for spacetime traversal, it was a unique skill of the Kunlun Mirror.

It could fix a spacetime coordinate and transport itself to the specified time and place.

For example, Qiu Changtian spent an entire day at the Kunlun Taiqing Sect.

When night fell, he teleported his body back to the Shushan Shangqing Sect from that morning and used the Mirror Flower Water Moon technique to disguise himself as Ling Yunpo.

This way, "Qiu Changtian" and "Ling Yunpo" could appear in different locations at the same time, establishing alibis for both identities.

As for why he did this, it was naturally because the second Sky Mending Stone fragment was hidden within this Shushan Shangqing Sect.

"Little Mirror, can you detect the location of the second Sky Mending Stone?" Ling Yunpo asked in a deep voice.

"The location hasn't changed," the Kunlun Mirror replied. "Three thousand meters deep underground."

Ling Yunpo: ...

Three thousand meters underground? What the hell is that? Am I supposed to dig down there?

But it's only logical that whoever hid something three thousand meters underground in Shushan must be a big shot in the Shushan Shangqing Sect—perhaps even a Supreme Elder.

I'll have to make a long-term plan and proceed slowly.

"Junior brother, are you up?" His senior sister's voice called from outside.

"Senior sister!" Ling Yunpo quickly got dressed and stood up.

He pushed the door open and saw his senior sister standing gracefully outside, smiling at him.

Senior Sister An Zhisu, the sole disciple of Shushan Green Snail Peak's Peak Master Su Jian, had already reached the Great Perfection of the Dantian Formation stage, just one step away from forming a core.

However, because her master Su Jian was in seclusion, Senior Sister An had no one to guide her, so her cultivation had stalled. She had no choice but to shift her focus to managing worldly affairs.

For instance, accepting disciples on behalf of her master and nurturing junior brothers.

Ling Yunpo looked and saw that Senior Sister An was wearing a goose-yellow short shirt and a creamy white long skirt today, her hair tied up in an elegant bun behind her head.

Combined with her pure and lovely appearance and her gentle, watery sisterly aura, she was truly irresistible to any man.

Yet, within her brows, there was a faint trace of intense Sha Qi...

That was the Sha Qi she had forged through countless life-and-death duels as a Shushan Sword Immortal, making Ling Yunpo dare not underestimate her in the slightest.

"Junior brother, you only joined our Green Snail Peak yesterday, so today I will tell you about cultivation," An Zhisu said, leading him towards the Meditation Hall with a smile.

"If you want to cultivate from a mortal body, you must first 'abstain from grains,' then enter 'Qi Refining,' and finally master the 'Qi Circulation Method.' Cultivators call this 'passing the three trials.'"

"Since Master is in seclusion, I will teach you three scriptures on his behalf first."

"'The Nine Essences Returning Radiance Harmonizing Spirit Supreme True Scripture,' for abstaining from grains and fasting;"

"'The Supreme Primordial Chaos True Record,' for opening the Qi Sea;"

"'The Shangqing Secret Transmission Shushan Qi Circulation Sword Control Art,' for learning the Qi Circulation Method. It also contains the general principles of our Shushan Sword Control Art."

Ling Yunpo, as Qiu Changtian, had already learned the "three trials" An Zhisu mentioned thoroughly.

However, he was currently playing the role of Ling Yunpo, so he used Mirror Flower Water Moon to disguise himself as a mortal who had not yet entered the Qi Refining Stage, patiently listening as Senior Sister An meticulously explained the content of the introductory scriptures.

[Time Travel Mechanism Explained]: For example, if the protagonist saves at 12:00 PM on July 1st in Kunlun and then teleports to Shushan, acting as a spy within Shushan for a period. When he reloads the save and returns to Kunlun, he will return to the exact same time, 12:00 PM on July 1st. Therefore, from Kunlun's perspective, it would appear as if "the protagonist never left."