Xiao Yi Xian's hand paused slightly on the teapot. She smiled and shook her head too.
"I'm not going to Saint Dan City either."
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow. "You're not going either? Ice River Valley may be gone, but the Woe Poison Physique still draws covetous eyes in the Central Plains. You'd be safest coming back to the Pill Tower with me."
Xiao Yi Xian pushed the cup of tea she had poured toward Lu Heng, her expression calm but firm.
"It's precisely because Ice River Valley is gone that I don't want to hide behind you anymore."
"I was lucky enough to break through to One-Star Dou Zong at the Heavenly Mountain Blood Pool. I thought I could help shoulder some of the burden, but then I drew Tian Shuangzi to us and nearly got the entire Han Clan wiped out.
If Yao Lao hadn't protected us, and if you hadn't personally fought your way into Ice River Valley, I don't know how I would have handled it."
Xiao Yi Xian raised her head and met Lu Heng's gaze.
"Lu Heng, the Central Plains are vast. Beyond the Far Northern Ice Plains, there are countless remote mountains, swamps, and ancient ruins. I've sealed the Ice Venerable's Acquired Woe Poison Physique Origin inside my body. I need to train in dangerous places thick with poisonous miasma, far from other people, and absorb it completely."
She pointed to Qing Lin, who sat quietly beside her.
"Qing Lin wants to come with me. Her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils have just taken control of three Seventh-Rank magical serpents, and she needs somewhere to practice controlling them. If we travel together without revealing who we are, we'll be much safer than we would be drawing attention in Saint Dan City."
Qing Lin