Twenty Frames

But now, although she was saying she would give in, she genuinely meant it.

She wasn't afraid of heights. She was afraid of the unsteady feeling, the sense that she might fall at any moment. Even when she had looked straight down from a dizzying height before, she hadn't panicked this badly.

Worse, she had nowhere to put her hands. Instinct told her to grab Pei Ling's shoulders or his head, but reason told her not to. Who knew whether that would provoke him? What if he really threw her?

Then Pei Ling let go.

In that instant of weightlessness, before Qiao Ranran could even scream, several thoughts flashed through her mind: should she give up, let herself fall, and die? Or should she follow her instincts and grab the last thing that might save her, even if it would very likely kill her anyway?

Her instincts had already made the choice. Qiao Ranran seized Pei Ling and thought with reckless resignation, If I fall, I'm dead for sure. If I hold on to Pei Ling, I might still have a chance.

Pei Ling felt her arms clamp around his neck as though she feared he would drop her. A smile flickered across his face. If Qiao Ranran hadn't seized her chance, he might really have thrown her. This was more interesting.

"I know you want to find a cultivation method in the Profound Heart Sect that can fix the problem with your Divine Soul," Qiao Ranran said stiffly. "So could you please not throw me?" She valued her life. She didn't want to die, so she told him the truth.

Unfortunately, Pei Ling had lost interest in her answer. "Senior Sister, we're here."

"Hm?" Qiao Ranran blinked. Where?

She took a closer look. Was this the South Sea?

Pei Ling said with great patience, "If Senior Sister doesn't want to walk, I can take care of that for you."

"No!" Startled, Qiao Ranran instantly released him and jumped down. "There's no need! I can walk myself!" She was emphatic.

Because what she heard in Pei Ling's offer was not that he would kindly carry her, but that he could make sure she never had to walk again.

She then took a few steps with remarkable composure, putting some distance between them as naturally as she could.

"This is the South Sea?" She hadn't had the chance to visit it in her previous life, though she had been to the seaside before entering this world. "But the Blood Jade Ray is at the South Sea Extremity. How do we get there?"

Pei Ling gazed out over the vast ocean, seeming not to hear her. The deep-blue sea was calm, its gentle waves washing over the sand again and again, occasionally carrying a tiny sea creature ashore.

It was peaceful and still.

The South Sea Extremity lay deep within the South Sea, beyond the reach of ordinary people. If Pei Ling still had the cultivation of his previous life, he could have torn open a rift and arrived in an instant. The beasts, storms, currents, and countless other dangers of the South Sea would have posed no threat to him.

But his body was nowhere near strong enough now. He had said he would get the Blood Jade Nectar, and he hadn't been joking. There was always a way.

Qiao Ranran looked around but found no sign of habitation. Surely people should have lived along the South Sea, whether fishermen or cultivators. No one would pass up such abundant resources. Yet there was no trace of anyone here, not even a building to suggest people had ever passed through.

She had hoped to ask a fisherman for information, or perhaps find a fishing boat and head out to sea. Even if she couldn't reach the South Sea Extremity, at least she would get to see more of it.

But there was nothing here. She had no idea how Pei Ling had found the place.

When she turned, she saw Pei Ling standing some distance away. The sea breeze whipped the hem of his plain robe around his long frame, making him look even thinner. She had seen what he looked like beneath those clothes, though. What was that saying? Slim when dressed, built when undressed. Beneath Pei Ling's pale, almost sickly skin, his muscles were lean and powerful. He was not someone to trifle with.

And his waist looked rather narrow.

Before she knew it, she had been staring at his figure for quite some time. Then she abruptly realized he hadn't moved in ages. The tide seemed to be coming in, and the waves had slowly reached his feet, yet he remained motionless.

Qiao Ranran went closer. Pei Ling's eyes were often so dark that she could barely make out his pupils, so at first glance, his vacant stare seemed no different than usual. But when she looked carefully, she saw the difference.

Had his Primordial Spirit left his body?

Chapter 20: Twenty Frames

Pei Ling's Primordial Spirit had indeed left his body. With his mastery of Divine Sense, it was easy enough. But his physical cultivation now limited him. Trapped in this shell, he found many things he wanted to do beyond his reach, and it irritated him.

Leaving his body was no great challenge, and he enjoyed the freedom of being unbound by it. Of course, a Primordial Spirit outside its body was vulnerable. Pei Ling had only recently undergone Rebirth, and he had no wish for something so interesting to end abruptly. He wasn't ready for his soul to be scattered.

The Profound Heart Sect had many distinctive methods for cultivating the Divine Soul, including methods for cultivating the Primordial Spirit. Pei Ling wanted one particular method among them.

During his time in the Profound Heart Sect, Pei Ling had discovered that this small sect was even more interesting than he had known in his previous life. For one thing, any disciple could enter its Library Pavilion, the sort of place other major sects guarded fiercely.

As for the books inside, anyone strong enough to open one could read it, as much as they liked.

"Strong enough" meant overcoming whatever restrictions or bizarre conditions the person who had stored the book might have placed on it. Sometimes they were hardly restrictions at all, more like practical jokes. That was the conclusion Pei Ling had reached after taking a look around the Book Repository. Even restrictions that strictly required a certain cultivation level were useless against him. He could fool them with his Divine Soul.

Today was the perfect opportunity to try the methods he had found.

In the form of his Primordial Spirit, he crossed the South Sea and reached the South Sea Extremity in the blink of an eye. Astral Wind and lightning raged over its treacherous waters, each carrying the threat of death. Spatial Rifts appeared nearby without a sound, as elusive as ghosts. One careless move, and they would swallow him in an instant.