Xiao Hua pondered for a moment, then said, "The person you want to save is also a Confucian cultivator? That person... forget it, no matter what they are, if this little monk can help, then I will. But you are injured as well. What you rely on... is that hairpin artifact?"
"That's right!" Xin Xin was quite pleased that Xiao Hua did not ask about that person's background. She nodded. "That golden hairpin is precisely what I rely upon. It consumes an immense amount of true qi and vital essence. With my current cultivation, I can only activate it two and a half times! Earlier... earlier, the reason I could not help you in time was because I was hesitating..."
"This little monk has heard that Cangxian Continent has the Ten Great Artifact Controls. Your golden hairpin does not seem to be among them! Can it truly possess such great power?" Xiao Hua asked skeptically.
"Hmph, those so-called Ten Great Artifact Controls are nothing but a joke!" Xin Xin snorted coldly. "How could outsiders possibly know the foundations of my Confucian cultivator family?"
Xiao Hua rose to his feet. The triangular radiance had already taken shape, and within its shifting light and shadows seemed to stand a doorway. Yet neither Xiao Hua's naked eye nor divine sense could probe it. The two walked before the light, and Xiao Hua frowned. "Benefactor Xin, can you be certain... that an immortal artifact lies beyond this door? Or that we can find an exit on the other side of the immortal artifact?"
"No!" A trace of excitement appeared on Xin Xin's face. "Who knows what is inside? This may even be the exit from the Profound Water Palace! But having come this far, can you and I still stop?"
As she spoke, Xin