The Three High Priests exchanged looks, each wearing a different expression.
Then they all turned in unison toward Ling Xi, who stood at the edge of the square.
The Empress stood with her hands behind her back, her gold-trimmed red robes snapping in the wind and her long, silvery-white hair spilling over her shoulders, her expression as calm as though nothing had happened.
The Three High Priests and the elders hurried forward to pay their respects.
"Clan leader, may we ask what happened?"
Xiao Baichuan made a show of being utterly unruffled and waved a hand.
"I'll leave what comes next to you."
With that, he turned and headed toward the Cave Abode.
Ling Zhi eagerly tried to tag along.
Xiao Baichuan paused and glanced back at her.
Ling Zhi's feet abruptly nailed themselves to the spot. Instinctively, she stood at military attention, hands pressed against her trouser seams and back ramrod straight.
Xiao Baichuan spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Go back and cultivate properly."
"And don't go out fighting and robbing people for a while."
Ling Zhi's lips drooped, and she answered pitifully.
"Oh..."
Meanwhile, on the other side, at the same point in time as the body swap:
Early in the morning, sunlight streamed through the window lattice into the small room.
Ling Xi slowly opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling and familiar bed curtains.
Xiao Baichuan's room.
She instinctively called out.
"Lecher?"
No one answered.
Yao Chen's illusory figure floated out of the jade pendant, looking at her strangely.
"What's gotten into you, brat? Why are you calling your own name?"
Ling Xi froze.
She turned to look at Yao Chen, then lowered her gaze to her hands.
Long, powerful fingers with distinct knuckles. They were a man's hands.
Ling Xi abruptly sat up and pulled open her collar to look at her chest.
Flat.
Those two cumbersome lumps of hers were gone.
Ling Xi went rigid.
She called frantically in her mind.
Xiao Baichuan? Xiao Baichuan!
No one answered.
Ling Xi's expression changed.
She called a few more times, but her mind remained empty.
Ling Xi clutched the bedding as a terrifying thought rose in her heart.
Could it be... that I accidentally possessed him?
But she immediately rejected the idea.
Possession required actively wielding her Soul Force. She had been asleep all night and had done nothing of the sort.
Besides, if she really had possessed Xiao Baichuan, his soul should have been inside her.
But now, she could not sense Xiao Baichuan's soul.
So there was only one truth! He had transmigrated!
After watching Xiao Baichuan sit in a daze all day, Yao Chen floated over and smacked him on the back of the head.
"Are you still half-asleep, brat?"
"Go wash your face and wake yourself up. We still have to sell pills and make some money later."
The slap brought Ling Xi back to her senses.
She instinctively wanted to turn around and kill Yao Chen, then remembered that she was Xiao Baichuan now.
Only then did she suppress the murderous intent in her heart.
You old bastard, you even dare hit a Dou Di. You've already earned yourself a path to the shitter.
"Got it."
Ling Xi got herself ready, pushed open the door, and left.
She walked like the wind, her steps swaying from side to side, somehow looking rather seductive.
Yao Chen floated behind her, studying "Xiao Baichuan's" retreating figure. The longer he looked, the more something seemed off.
"Brat."
Ling Xi did not look back.
"Hmm?"
Yao Chen floated beside her and lowered his voice.
"You're going out just like that? Aren't you going to disguise yourself?"
Ling Xi kept walking, her tone casual.
"What do I need a disguise for?"
"Aren't we just selling a few bottles of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, Qi Gathering Powder, and pills like that?"
Yao Chen choked on his words.
Pills on the level of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid and Qi Gathering Powder were indeed trash to the two of them.
But this was not the Central Plains. Still, seeing that Xiao Baichuan had no intention of disguising himself, Yao Chen could not be bothered to say more.
They were not particularly valuable medicines, after all.
It was just that Yao Chen kept feeling a faint trace of aloofness from Xiao Baichuan today.
Playing the cool, distant type, are you!
Yao Chen floated aside, stroked his beard, and found himself a reasonable explanation.
Putting on the image of an aloof heartthrob when he's out and about. Young people-understandable, understandable.
At this age, they always have a bit of that cringeworthy, self-important pretty-boy streak. He'll grow out of it in a few years.
Believing he had figured it out, Yao Chen asked no more questions and floated beside Ling Xi to lead the way.
Ling Xi entered the Mittel Auction House with Yao Chen.
The spacious hall was paved with green jade tiles polished bright enough to reflect a person's image. Gilded lamps hung on either side, and the guests coming and going were either wealthy or noble.
Ling Xi swept her gaze around and quickly spotted a room with a sign reading "Appraisal Room," then walked straight toward it.
She pushed the door open and went inside.
The room was small but exquisitely furnished, with soundproofing cork set into the walls and soothing sandalwood incense burning in a corner.
A long rosewood table stood in the center. Behind it sat a slightly plump, round-faced middle-aged man, idly leafing through an account book.
Behind the middle-aged man stood a display cabinet, its shelves arranged with assorted treasures: daggers gleaming with cold light, jade bottles green all over, and several beast cores with warm, lustrous colors.
Hearing the door open, the middle-aged man looked up.
He had assumed it was some oblivious attendant, but the instant he saw who had arrived, the indolence vanished from his face.
Before him stood a young man with a tall, upright figure and an extraordinarily handsome face. Though his blue robes were not lavish, they could not conceal his otherworldly bearing.
The middle-aged man recognized that face at once.
Xiao Baichuan, the Xiao Clan's newly risen prodigy, who had defeated Master Gu He's personal disciple despite the gap in their cultivation!
The Xiao Clan's affairs had caused such an uproar over the past few days that even the imperial capital knew a handsome young man named Xiao Baichuan from the Xiao Clan had defeated the personal disciple of Gu He, the Jia Ma Empire's foremost alchemist, despite being at a lower cultivation level.
The middle-aged man immediately sprang from his chair, plastered a flattering smile across his face, and hurried forward to greet him.
"Why, it's the young master of the Xiao Clan!"
He bowed slightly and rubbed his hands together, his tone as warm as though he had met his own father.
"I didn't know you were coming, young master, and failed to welcome you at the door. Please forgive me!"
"Whatever you need, young master, just say the word. I'm a manager of the Mittel Trading Company, entirely at your service!"
The middle-aged man displayed his professional expertise with exceptional proficiency.
Xiao Baichuan had already demonstrated ample potential.
Defeating a Five-Star Dou Zhe while only at the eighth stage of Dou Qi-with talent like that, the Mittel Family certainly did not mind investing early.
Ling Xi dispensed with pleasantries, casually took three porcelain bottles from her Storage Ring, and set them on the table.
"I want to auction these."
The middle-aged man hurried closer and picked up one of the medicine bottles with great care.
He first examined the bottle, then opened the stopper and brought it close for a sniff, his brows shifting slightly.
"Young Master Xiao, this is...?"
Ling Xi's tone was indifferent.
"Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid. It increases the speed of Dou Qi cultivation and only works on those below Dou Zhe."
The middle-aged man's eyes immediately lit up.
Auxiliary medicines for those below Dou Zhe had always been in short supply in a place like Wutan City.
"Please wait a moment, young master. I'll fetch an alchemist to appraise it right away."
He turned and hurried toward the back door, his steps ten times brisker than before.
A little while later, the back door opened, and an old man in blue robes followed the middle-aged man inside.
Before you continue