Testing and Trust

"Senior, I only wanted to help you."

Chen Changming smiled.

The White-Clad Woman's brows shot up. She sneered, "Help me? You, with your second-layer Golden Core Realm cultivation?"

Chen Changming remained calm and neither servile nor arrogant. "Although this junior's cultivation is inadequate, I know a friend in the Nascent Soul Realm. Perhaps he can help you."

"Senior only needs to tell me how to obtain Soul-Calming Flowers. Then my friend might be willing to lend you a hand."

"That sounds ridiculous."

The White-Clad Woman shook her head.

She studied Chen Changming and said coolly, "You're an interesting one. You show no respect for the current Palace Master, yet you want to help me, a retired Palace Master. Just who are you?"

Though his identity was under suspicion, Chen Changming did not panic.

He knew that once this woman regained her senses, she would remember how he had repeatedly asked her about the whereabouts of Soul-Calming Flowers.

If she were working with Jiang Lingyin, she could have exposed him long ago.

Instead, she had waited until now to question him.

From the conversation between master and disciple earlier, Chen Changming could also tell that she was unwilling to step down. But Jiang Lingyin was too powerful, and she had been forced to abdicate.

Put simply,

there were not enough Soul-Calming Flowers for both the current and former Palace Masters.

If Jiang Lingyin used one, there would not be enough for the old Palace Master.

That was why her cultivation had been sealed and she had been imprisoned here.

On occasion, Jiang Lingyin would show a burst of kindness and give her a Soul-Calming Flower, allowing her to remain lucid for a while.

And during those lucid periods, Jiang Lingyin would have something to ask of her.

She wanted her help