The Curtain Gradually Rises, the Silver Dragon Suspects

Su Qing soaked in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for two full days, thoroughly mastering the powers of Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire.

Just as he emerged from the pool, he realized the state of the various immortal herbs seemed off. What was going on? Could it be that he had soaked for too long, and they thought he had drowned? That didn't make sense, though; hadn't he just come out?

"Audacious human, how dare you trespass into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!"

Seeing him emerge from the spring, Youyou immediately adopted a hostile attitude.

"Hm? Sister Youyou, what kind of act is this?"

Su Qing was completely bewildered by this. He had only been in the pool for two days; had they forgotten him already? Were they joking?

"Ahem, I am not your Sister Youyou, so don't try to get close to me. However, considering you haven't told other humans of our existence, I can allow you to take seven immortal herbs."

"Sister Youyou, would seven be enough? What if Little Qing doesn't have enough for his cultivation later?"

The Earth Dragon Golden Melon and other immortal herbs whispered in tiny voices from the side.

"Hmm... then nine. Human, choose. Once you've finished, leave this place, otherwise, my brothers and sisters here are not to be trifled with."

As she spoke, she pointedly glanced at Jiaojiao and Bajiao, who were near the spring eye.

At this point, it was obvious to him that they were worried he would miss them after leaving and were intentionally putting on this show. Their acting was quite poor, though—who plots a conspiracy right in front of the target? Still, Su Qing was never one to spoil the fun, so he decided to play along.

"Oh~ in that case, I'll return this Qiluo Pill to Sister Youyou then?"

As he spoke, he reached up to take the Qiluo Pill from his neck, intending to hand it to Youyou, but before his hand could reach her, she swatted it away with a leaf.

"What is this thing? I don't recognize it. Take it away, take it away."

"Alright, if you don't leave now, I really will have them attack you!"

Su Qing, having been swatted, sheepishly withdrew his hand and put the Qiluo Pill back around his neck. Seeing this, Youyou was visibly relieved.

"Alright then~ I'm leaving!"

With that, he dashed into the poisonous miasma. He had never intended to take any of the immortal herbs; he had no use for them. Aside from the fact that, other than the already-fused Jiaojiao and Bajiao, the other herbs offered him little help and their conflicting medicinal properties would only cancel each other out, it simply wouldn't be kind to pluck them for cultivation after they had raised him.

"Hey, you didn't take the immortal herbs!"

Seeing him rush off so quickly, Youyou hurriedly called out.

Unexpectedly, Su Qing waved his hand without looking back as he ran: "We'll talk about it later!"

"This brat!"

Youyou was instantly fuming.

"Alright, Sister Youyou, Little Qing is a loyal and righteous child. We've spent so long together; he certainly wouldn't want to pluck us. Besides, he will definitely come back to see us in the future. Your acting was too poor just now; he likely saw through it all."

Seeing her anger, the Aromatic Silk Beauty didn't even bother saying goodbye to the departing Su Qing, turning instead to comfort her.

"I know, but he should have at least taken some useful medicinal herbs. What if he gets injured out there and has no medicine to treat it..."

As he ran, Su Qing slowed his pace, stopping to look back with lingering attachment. He stood there in a daze for a long while before holding back the moisture in his eyes and using his Wind-Gathering Wing-Weaving to fly out of the poisonous miasma at top speed.

His flight speed was faster than before, and within a few hours, he saw the walls of Tiandou City.

"My control over the wind element is becoming more proficient. Perhaps I can develop many escape techniques, but before that, I need to give this skill a name."

Many names flashed through his mind, and he soon made his decision.

"I'll call it Wind-Gathering Wing-Weaving!"

He was very satisfied with the name he had chosen. Regardless, it was quite descriptive, as the skill literally used wind elements to add a pair of wings to his back.

However, he hadn't decided where to go yet. Should he hunt for souls, find a place to stay, or go to the Tang Sect to find Tang Ya? After much deliberation, he decided to visit the Tang Sect first, but he didn't intend to stay there. For one, it would cause trouble for them, and for another, it would be inconvenient for him to research his martial soul.

Therefore, he planned to live in an abandoned village outside the city. He wasn't worried about food; there were plenty of low-level soul beasts in the Sunset Forest. Although he wasn't skilled at cooking, he could at least manage to heat food up; he wouldn't starve.

"If I'm going to hunt for souls, I'll have to go to the Star Dou Great Forest. Since I'm not lacking in soul skills, I should prioritize functionality for my soul rings. The more 'underground'—or rather, the more functional—the better!"

He soon decided on the type of soul beast for his first soul ring. It was a creature he had encountered by chance during his past life's soul hunts: the Elemental Sprite. An Elemental Sprite under ten thousand years old had almost zero combat power, but they possessed a unique ability: they could elementalize their bodies when taking damage. As long as their soul power wasn't exhausted, they were practically immortal.

Of course, that was only on the surface. If one truly wanted to kill them, finding a countermeasure was simple. However, if he possessed the ability to elementalize his body, he would have a way to deal with unavoidable attacks in future battles. After all, no matter how cautious an opponent was, they wouldn't expect someone to turn their body into elemental particles, right?

"Since that's the case, I'll go hunt for souls first. As long as I can find an Elemental Sprite, the age doesn't matter. With a god position, I can just infuse a bit of faith power to increase the soul ring's age."

With that thought, he immediately decided to head to the Star Dou Great Forest. But before that, he had to confirm one thing, as it concerned his ability to survive in the forest.

He needed to find the divine artifact he had created in his past life that could conceal his aura. He searched the Ring Jade thoroughly with his spiritual power but found nothing. He sighed slightly, but before he could lament the impermanence of life, he sensed a familiar aura from his god position. It was the artifact he had created, but it appeared to have fused with his god position; the ability to conceal his aura could only be used when he activated his Ring Jade martial soul.

"That's fine, at least the item isn't lost, and the concealment ability can still be used. It just means it's hard to launch an attack while concealing my aura."

Thinking of this, he felt relieved. In reality, the most important thing at this stage was still surviving amidst all the potential crises. With his current strength, which was no better than an ant's, he had to plan an escape route for everything he did.

"Everything is ready, the east wind has arrived. Let's set off!"

Meanwhile, in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, at the bottom of the Life Lake.

"Di Tian, I previously sensed a familiar aura. It might be related to why my godhood was inexplicably weakened. Keep a close watch on the movements in the Star Dou Great Forest today. If you discover anything, tell me immediately."

Gu Yuena was awake at this moment, her violet eyes filled with a hint of confusion. She was incredibly puzzled as to why her godhood was missing something for no reason, yet she could find no cause. Perhaps this familiar aura she had sensed could answer her questions. Feeling that familiar aura drawing closer, her anticipation grew.