The Human Domain's Schemes Ran Deep-Who Took Whom Seriously?

Half a day later, at the Bear Hug Tribe Royal Court.

Wu Wang's grand tent shimmered with flowing, illusory colors. Ji Mo sat cross-legged atop a seven-colored lotus platform, meditating to heal his wounds and promptly eradicate the hidden injuries he had previously suppressed, lest they affect his future immortal path.

As the master of this place, Wu Wang continued to enjoy the rare tranquility after the not particularly intense battle, holding a witty tome borrowed from Ji Mo and reading it closely.

The book resembled a geographical chronicle from the Human Domain.

It was not the sort of geographical chronicle exclusive to Ji Mo, but a perfectly normal and proper one recording mountains, rivers, cities, and sects.

Wu Wang was rather disappointed and lowered his professional evaluation of Ji Mo by one star.

He had thought every book on this fellow would be something interesting...

His earlier conversation with his mother still echoed in his heart.

He had asked why she wanted him to rescue Fairy Ling, but the explanation she gave was somewhat too far-fetched—maintaining good relations between the tribe and the Human Domain, and doing the Human Domain a favor.

Given Wu Wang's understanding of his mother, things were definitely not that simple.

But if his mother would not say, there was no way for him to press further.

What bad intentions could Mother possibly have? She merely wished to better protect the Northern Plains, her family, and the tribe.

Lin Suqing approached gracefully with an incense burner and set it on the table before Wu Wang, her expression somewhat hesitant.

Wu Wang asked softly, "Is she still washing?"

"Yes." Lin Suqing nodded lightly, her eyes filled with worry. "If this goes on, will Fairy Ling have some kind of problem?"

Wu Wang said, "What problem could a great cultivator of the Leaping God Realm possibly have?"

At most, her skin would peel off.

Then Wu Wang's eyes filled with emotion, and he suddenly felt a touch of fellow suffering with Fairy Ling.

"Have someone prepare some calming fruits for Fairy Ling," Wu Wang said warmly. "Send several musicians outside her tent to play soothing music. Fairy Ling must be made to feel the peace and security of being home."

"Yes!"

Lin Suqing agreed, then blinked at Wu Wang as though asking, And you still say you haven't taken a fancy to her?

Wu Wang curled his lips and shrugged, able only to shake his head.

If he were to develop some wonderful relationship between man and woman with another woman—say, an older auntie—the only thing he would need to overcome was his strange illness.

But if he were to develop an unconventional relationship between man and woman with Ling Xiaolan, Wu Wang was reminded of a famous work he had read in school in his previous life.

The Man in the Straw Hat, and a double concerto at that!

The bloodline of the Bear Hug Tribe's chieftains was doomed to end.

Wu Wang's arrangements seemed to have had some effect. Barely a moment after Lin Suqing departed, Ling Xiaolan appeared outside the tent.

She seemed to have forgotten to wear her veil. Her long hair was simply pinned up, and she wore a loose white dress. As the hem swayed from side to side, it revealed a waistline that unsettled the heart and spirit.

People in his previous life often said that beauty lay in the bones, not the skin. Ling Xiaolan's appearance seemed to perfectly embody that saying.

Her almond eyes, jade nose, and pale lips might not individually have been flawless, but together, her features were astonishingly harmonious.

A tiny red mole rested at the corner of her lips, adding another touch or two of lasting charm.

"Young Master Bear!"

Ling Xiaolan clenched her delicate fists and stood two zhang away.

That posture caused the guards on both sides to step forward, while Lin Suqing, who had chased after her, also became somewhat alarmed.

Wu Wang set down his book and asked solemnly, "What guidance does Fairy Ling have for me?"

"Th..."

Her lips trembled, and she softly drew in a breath. Her gaze shifted aside, her right hand holding her left arm. After trying several times, she finally uttered a faint, "Thank you."

With that, she left behind two afterimages and was already out of the grand tent, leaving Wu Wang as confused as a monk two zhang tall who could not reach his own head.

Could she have been embarrassed?

Ji Mo, who was meditating beside him, opened one eye and whispered, "Did Fairy Ling just thank you?"

"What is strange about that?"

Wu Wang asked in puzzlement, "I saved you all. Shouldn't she thank me?"

Ji Mo immediately forced out an ugly smile. "Thank you, Brother Bear, for lending us a hand. Fairy Ling rarely thanks anyone, and she rarely asks anyone for help."

"You are too polite, Brother Ji. So that is how it is."

Wu Wang blinked at Lin Suqing and asked with concern, "Suqing, how is Fairy Ling's injury on her back?"

"Young Master, Fairy Ling's injuries are no longer serious," Lin Suqing said. "The Human Domain's Alchemy Dao is profoundly mysterious, and Fairy Ling's healing pills are also of the finest quality. Not even scars will remain.

"If only the injured warriors of our tribe had such pills."

Ji Mo immediately said, "It is inevitable for Northern Plains tribes to be injured while fighting Fierce Beasts. Once I return home, I will immediately have someone deliver a batch of precious healing pills, as a gift of thanks for Brother Bear!"

Wu Wang smiled. "We can trade minerals for them. We each have what the other lacks, but let us not publicize this matter."

Ji Mo nodded solemnly, then sighed with feeling and praised, "To encounter such a hero of the age as Brother Bear during this trip to the Northern Plains has truly satisfied me."

"Not looking for a barbarian waist anymore?"

"That is a different matter, a different matter."

The two looked at each other, then threw back their heads and laughed. Yet their laughter contained depths Lin Suqing could not understand.

Ji Mo and Ling Xiaolan stayed at the Bear Hug Tribe Royal Court for three days and two nights. When the corpse-searching team Wu Wang had sent out returned empty-handed, they immediately took their leave.

To help conceal their tracks, Wu Wang specifically arranged for them to hide in a carriage from the Bear Hug Tribe headed for the marketplace, and he contacted a merchant vessel heading south in advance.

They would drift at sea for several days before switching to the Skyward Flight artifacts they carried and returning to the Human Domain.

Before leaving, Wu Wang and Ji Mo shared a bear hug and thumped each other hard a few times.

Ling Xiaolan bowed to Wu Wang and coolly said that she owed him three favors, which she would definitely repay in the future... though Wu Wang did not take it to heart anyway.

However, half a day after they boarded the ship, as night fell.

On the ship's aft deck, Ji Mo stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the northern stars, when he suddenly spoke.

"Teacher, do you think Brother Bear can shoulder a great responsibility?"

The air rippled slightly, and a gray figure strolled over, appearing out of thin air beside Ji Mo.

He was a middle-aged scholar in gray robes and a square headscarf. His face was rather pale, and he always gave off a sickly air. When he appeared, he held a jade talisman in his hand, and his voice lacked strength.

He spoke slowly.

"The Bear Hug Tribe's young master should become a prominent figure in the future. No one in the Northern Plains can match him, so he counts as an unexpected delight from this journey.

"But unfortunately, when he received the power bestowed by the Star God, his lifespan had already been completely fixed. A few hundred years will pass in a rush; he cannot be said to shoulder a great responsibility.

"This man's scheming exceeds even yours and mine.

"The Fierce Beast from the Hall of Ten Evils and Junior Disciple Yin's corpse were both detained by the Bear Hug Tribe. Wang Lin was obliterated by the Star Invocation Technique until not even dregs remained. Clearly, that too was intentional on the Bear Hug Tribe young master's part.

"This time, it will be difficult for your teacher to account for things."

"Teacher," Ji Mo frowned slightly, "those traveling with this disciple..."

"This was the trial. The content of this trial was to find the traitor from the Hall of Ten Evils and survive at the hands of Junior Disciple Yin, who had already defected to the Hall of Ten Evils.

"Even if Junior Disciple Ling had unfortunately died in the Northern Plains, that would have been a loss that had to be borne."

The middle-aged scholar sighed.

"I did not help you either. You dealt with it entirely by yourself; the rules have always been thus since ancient times. I have collected their corpses and will return them to their respective sects."

Ji Mo seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he merely sighed softly.

"Associating with Brother Bear truly clears the heart and delights the spirit. If I can meet him again, I should drink and make merry with him.

"By the way, Teacher, will you report Brother Bear's affairs to the Pavilion?"

"The message-bearing jade talisman has already been sent back," the middle-aged scholar said calmly. "Seventeen years old, with such powerful Spiritual Sense—even if his mother gave him Anointing, ordinary aptitude could hardly reach such a level.

"As for the specific decision, that depends on the Pavilion Elders.

"Perhaps some senior might help him escape the shackles of his lifespan. Who can say for certain?

"Enough. It is inconvenient for your teacher to appear too often. We have not yet left the Northern Plains, and that Lord Cangxue's divine abilities are unfathomable. My heart and spirit remain somewhat uneasy."

Ji Mo turned, lowered his head, and made a Daoist salute. The gray-robed scholar stepped half a pace back. Faint ripples spread around him, and he vanished into thin air.

When Ji Mo raised his head, he happened to see Ling Xiaolan standing not far away with her sword in her arms. Ji Mo immediately gave an awkward smile.

"Fairy Ling..."

Ling Xiaolan snorted coldly, took out a bamboo hat, and slowly put it on. She said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Ji, when you face the Bear Hug Tribe's young master in the future, will you truly not feel ashamed?

"He treated you sincerely and saved both our lives."

Ji Mo raised a hand to rub the tip of his nose and smiled. "My association with Brother Bear has always been open and aboveboard. Though I held thoughts of testing him, had Brother Bear not done the same?

"Perhaps Brother Bear is currently borrowing Lord Cangxue's power to watch us through his artifact sphere."

At the same time, inside Wu Wang's grand tent.

Wu Wang, sitting cross-legged alone in a beast-hide chair and watching the Crystal Ball before him, could not help suspiciously sweeping his gaze around the tent.

Good heavens, he had nearly thought the Great Wilderness had cameras too.

Looking back at what the Crystal Ball showed, Ling Xiaolan had put on her bamboo hat and turned away. The two seemed to have parted on bad terms.

Wu Wang said in his heart, "Mother, that is enough."

The necklace on his chest flickered faintly, and the image within the Crystal Ball swiftly dispersed.

"The Human Domain is this complicated," Cang Xue's gentle voice slowly sounded. "Do you still want to go?"

Wu Wang fell silent for a while, then softly answered.

Cang Xue said gently, "Once you leave the Northern Plains, Mother will no longer be able to watch over you at every moment... Mother knows you are clever, but there are not many people in this world as simple as Suqing.

"The world is full of tumult, and living beings struggle to survive.

"The gods sit high above, indifferent to the joys and sorrows of the mortal world. Most who attach themselves to gods are cruel and numb."

"Mother, the Northern Plains are like a warm bed, and Star Invocation is like an old dream."

Wu Wang deliberately spoke in a relaxed tone.

"I still want to go out and see the world, to walk through the Great Wilderness and take it all in.

"Do not worry, Mother. For you and Father, for the tribe, I will cherish my life. If you and Father do not have another child, I will definitely return before I turn one hundred and eighty to inherit the tribe's great responsibility.

"If necessary, even discarding the cultivation realm I have gained would be no issue.

"But Mother, your son truly wants to go out and see the world. I do not want to see the scenery at the end of my life at the age of seventeen."

"You," Cang Xue chided softly, "with that mouth of yours, who knows how many women you will make utterly infatuated in the future."

Wu Wang's old face flushed slightly. He hurriedly changed the subject, and with a thought, told his mother every detail of the dream he had had earlier.

This time, Wu Wang clearly sensed a change in his mother's emotions. She seemed much more downcast.

Cang Xue did not answer any of Wu Wang's questions about the dream. She merely said:

"Leaving the Northern Plains to venture forth may not be a bad thing for you."

Wu Wang's eyes widened.

Mother, explain yourself. Your son is good at making connections; there is far too much information packed into those words.

Eh?

Could Mother mean that if he left the Northern Plains, his strange illness might have a chance to heal?

Wu Wang leaped up in excitement, but before he could ask more, he discovered that his mother had already cut off their connection...

"Ah, Mother really does know something."

After Ji Mo and Ling Xiaolan left, Wu Wang's longing for the Human Domain suddenly became much stronger.

The five-year deadline was drawing near, and he had more or less prepared everything he needed. Once outside the Northern Plains, the power of the Star Invocation Technique would decline, but it would still count as a means of self-defense.

Lin Suqing's master, True Man Zuo Dong, had temporarily taken up residence with the Bear Hug Tribe.

After all, there was no Cloud Boat to take him back, and True Man Zuo Dong's cultivation was insufficient to cross either the East Sea or West Sea. He would have to drift at sea for three and a half years. It was most fitting to wait until Lin Suqing's "sentence" was over and return to the Human Domain with her.

With an old Golden Core grandpa added to the tribe, Wu Wang naturally would not let the opportunity slip away.

A few Fairy Happy Fish and several jars of fine wine earned Wu Wang quite a few Cultivation Insights. After discarding the dross and retaining the essence, he gained... roughly three or four sentences useful to himself.

The harvest was enormous. Serious face.

As the five-year deadline he had set approached, Wu Wang's Dao heart instead became increasingly tranquil. He checked over the various treasures he had prepared.

The six high-grade Storage Treasures that Lin Suqing had gradually exchanged for over the past few years were all stuffed to the brim.

He had filled two storage bags with Northern Plains ores, selecting precious ones that were highly sought after and valuable in the Human Domain—roughly enough to fill four or five carts.

He brought two bags of Crystal Balls storing the Star Thunder Technique. These had all been painstakingly made by the tribe's Grand Priestess at Wu Wang's... request, and were worth even more than those ores.

As they took inventory, Lin Suqing quietly voiced her confusion.

"Young Master, are you going to blow up some immortal sect?"

"Hm?" Wu Wang froze at the question, then asked, "Is this enough to blow flat the mountain gate of an immortal sect?"

"It would definitely be enough for a medium-sized immortal sect."

Thus, Wu Wang ordered the tribe's priests to rush out several hundred more.

For the young master of a great tribe to cross the sea to the Human Domain, there had to be a reason that could be explained to the tribe, lest unrest and panic arise within it.

Wu Wang had prepared for this over several years, and the Star God Cult became the most powerful tool in his hand.

Very soon, a rumor spread through the various Northern Plains tribes:

The Northern Plains had long dwelled in the north of the Great Wilderness, originally the most peaceful of places. Yet the nine wilds of the Great Wilderness were plagued by unceasing war, and the resentment of living beings continued to gather, soon to become a calamity that would descend upon the Northern Plains.

The Star God had foretold that a messenger chosen by the Star God would travel through the Great Wilderness in search of the Star God True Scripture that could save all living beings.

His name: the Northern Plains Scripture Seeker.