Ge Xuan asked, "Young master, what history do you have with that foreign fiend? How did you provoke one so powerful? If not for Immortal Guangchengzi's Soul-Sapping Bell, we might not have been able to withstand him today."
Ge Xuan's point was simple: if Bai Xiaowen had drawn the attention of a fiend that powerful, there had to be some history between them.
"There's no need to pry," Zuo Ci said.
Ge Xuan understood at once. "You're right, Master."
Bai Xiaowen offered no explanation either. Explaining the Black Soul Stone's origins would be troublesome, especially since he had previously told Ge Xuan that he had become a cultivator after discovering a Daoist Gate ruin.
One look at the Black Soul Stone was enough to tell that it was no relic of China's Daoist Gate.
Zuo Ci and Ge Xuan had not pressed Bai Xiaowen about his origins, in keeping with an unspoken custom among China's cultivators.
"Now that His Majesty's business is settled, let's hurry up the mountain," Zuo Ci said. "The method for deciphering the jade slips must be at the summit."
Bai Xiaowen pointed at the Soul-Sapping Bell. "Could you take that treasure, Elder Zuo?"
Bai Xiaowen actually wanted it for himself. It was clearly a devastating weapon, and one that could strike an entire group. Unfortunately, he had already used his Forced Requisition Edict on the three volumes of Heavenly Books, and he did not have another.
Zuo Ci shook his head. "I cannot. Not unless I possess greater power than Immortal Guangchengzi."
Bai Xiaowen was startled. It seemed even a Forced Requisition Edict would be useless against the Soul-Sapping Bell. From what Zuo Ci had said, the bell still had an owner. Taking it by force would mean snatching a treasure from Guangchengzi himself.
Bai Xiaowen