27 - The Cannon Fodder is Prepared to Divorce

In the evening, Ji Wu Nian went to find her drinking companion, Yue Bai, who materialized before her and accepted the wine she handed over. Yue Bai, with an indifferent expression, twirled the wine cup between her fingers, seemingly fascinated by the moon's reflection inside the cup. "Is it you?" Yue Bai glanced at her but did not acknowledge it. "What are you talking about?" Ji Wu Nian simply smiled and didn't press further, "Can you teach me to cultivate demonic energy tonight? I was almost led astray by someone, and the demonic energy nearly went out of control…" It was Yue Bai in front of her who had timely pulled her back. She had just gotten a barrier jade talisman from Ji Wu Nian, with a promise to "keep it safe." Ji Wu Nian's smile was as cunning as a white fox in the moonlight, mischievously eyeing her prey. Yue Bai remained nonchalant about Ji Wu Nian's gaze. If it weren't for Ji Wu Nian's demonic energy being exposed that day, Yue Bai wouldn't have had to forcefully use her Qiong Ying whip and Zhi Ge bow to suppress the demonic cultivator. It seemed this mission was to prevent anyone from discovering Ji Wu Nian's demonic energy. Hence, it was best to address it from the root. Returning the wine cup to Ji Wu Nian, Yue Bai reached out and stopped her hand just before Ji Wu Nian's dantian, releasing a thread of soul power. She observed the pure and abundant spiritual energy surrounding Ji Wu Nian's golden core. Yue Bai instructed her to release some of her demonic energy. Ji Wu Nian complied, but the golden core appeared unchanged. Yue Bai looked at her, and Ji Wu Nian only smiled. "Try to control it a bit more." Without much further explanation, Yue Bai sensed a sliver of familiar energy surrounding the golden core. With a slight pull of her soul power, the ferocious black cloud around the golden core was revealed. Ji Wu Nian's body tensed, her eyes turned slightly red, and her fingernails dug into her flesh as she struggled to suppress the sudden surge of violence. The more Yue Bai tugged, the more Ji Wu Nian trembled. "The cycle of karma never misses anyone," Jiu Yi clicked his tongue twice. "Yue Bai, this is definitely revenge." Yue Bai, her eyes on Ji Wu Nian's reactions, replied to him mentally with considerable satisfaction, "It's for her own good." Ji Wu Nian had closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling, and her cheeks tense as she gritted her teeth to endure. Inside her, the demonic energy was relentlessly assaulting her consciousness, trying to seize control of her body. She clamped down on her hands, afraid that she might unintentionally lash out at the person in front of her with her sword. Seeing that the extracted demonic energy was sufficient, Yue Bai used her soul power to gently separate it from the spiritual energy and wrap it, isolating it within Ji Wu Nian's body, making it vanish without a trace. Ji Wu Nian relaxed and gazed at Yue Bai, her expression complex. Yue Bai sat cross-legged and invited Ji Wu Nian to sit beside her, guiding her, "Circulate your spiritual energy throughout your body, into your bones and flesh, and see what you feel." This technique was similar to what Ji Wu Nian had done for Yue Bai to temper her body, so Yue Bai knew she could do it. Following Yue Bai's spiritual energy, Ji Wu Nian seemed to sense something, "This…" Yue Bai explained, "Demonic energy tends to gather in the sea of consciousness, easily overpowering one's will. By utilizing this method, you can store it in your flesh, which makes it easier to control and cultivate. It also allows you to avoid forming a nascent soul and focus solely on your physical body." Few people in this realm practiced body cultivation, so most energy was stored in the dantian, with everything residing in the golden core and nascent soul. Yue Bai, who was inherently strong and primarily trained through body cultivation, made every inch of her body a treasure trove of the golden core's essence. Given that Ji Wu Nian's cultivation foundation was different, Yue Bai didn't plan to teach her too much, just how to store demonic energy without it invading her sea of consciousness. This method also worked for spiritual energy, preventing detection in her dantian. Yue Bai further taught her a technique to conceal her spiritual energy, so even if someone examined her body, no traces would be found. Yue Bai, however, left a safeguard in teaching her methods to ensure that even if Ji Wu Nian tried to examine her, she wouldn’t uncover anything significant. Jiu Yi, surprised by the plethora of cultivation techniques Yue Bai had, couldn't help but ask, "Does your family run a cultivation technique store? How do you have so many?" "I enjoy researching them in my free time," Yue Bai replied. "There are countless techniques in the world, but they are essentially similar. It's just a matter of personal comprehension." She didn’t elaborate further with Jiu Yi. After teaching Ji Wu Nian what she needed to know, she let her practice on her own. Planning to leave, Ji Wu Nian called out, “Yue Bai, do you know how my demonic energy is currently hidden?” Yue Bai turned back to look at her. Ji Wu Nian's eyes were intense, as if this question was of utmost importance to her. “There’s a certain essence intertwined with your demonic energy that allows it to hide, camouflaging inside it while also keeping it suppressed,” Yue Bai responded. “You just separated that essence,” Ji Wu Nian asserted. “You can control it.” Yue Bai pondered for a moment and nodded, “There is indeed a method to control it.” That essence belonged to Yue Bai's original world, with which she was very familiar. “Teach me.” Her tone was firm, her gaze on Yue Bai hot and determined. Yue Bai, with a cold demeanor, casually tossed her something. A blue crystalline lotus appeared in her hand, its cool and translucent surface reflecting the moonlight. “Wear it, and keep yourself hidden.” Yue Bai didn’t look at her again and dispersed her soul consciousness. *** Ji Wu Nian finally settled into proper cultivation. Not only did she seek Yue Bai's guidance at night, but she also spent her free days meditating in the Qinglin Hall. Seeing the progress on her task of aiding Ji Wu Nian’s cultivation steadily increasing, Yue Bai felt quite gratified. As Jiu Yi put it, it was like the satisfaction of counting money while lying down. However, while Ji Wu Nian diligently cultivated, she also began pestering Yue Bai to teach her the method of controlling that essence. Yue Bai, becoming exasperated, sometimes just glanced at her without revealing herself. “Why don’t you teach her?” Jiu Yi couldn’t understand, feeling Yue Bai wasn’t typically stingy with knowledge. Yue Bai explained, “That essence is somewhat similar to my origin, but I’m not entirely certain. Besides, Ji Wu Nian’s current cultivation isn’t sufficient. Exposing her to too much might make it uncontrollable for her. It’s better to take it step by step.” Jiu Yi found this reasonable and asked, “What about that demonic cultivator infiltrator? Do you have any leads?” He might be the most useless system ever, he thought. Usually, it’s the host asking the system for guidance, but here it was the opposite. “Not at the moment.” The Sanqing Sect had three thousand disciples, spread across seven peaks, with some out on travels. Without any clues, finding one person… If they exhibited demonic energy, it would be straightforward. But if they were like Liu Li or Ji Wu Nian, she would need to search their sea of consciousness, which could take ages. “Isn’t there a competition coming up?” Yue Bai mentioned. “When the disciples gather, there might be a chance something will reveal itself.” She still had no idea what the demonic cultivator’s intention was. Yue Bai had inquired with the creatures on the back mountain, and there were no news from the demonic realm either, so she decided to go with the flow for now. *** One day, Ji Wu Nian took some time and brought Yue Bai to Wushi Peak to visit Liu Li. Liu Li, still recovering from serious injuries, greeted them warmly. He invited them to sit down and had his attendant serve tea. “Rest assured, Wu Nian, I’m doing well,” Liu Li said, seemingly normal though his body should still be too weak to smoothly circulate spiritual energy. “Thanks to you for reorganizing my meridians; otherwise, these injuries would have been much worse.” “Senior brother should rest well and recover quickly,” Ji Wu Nian replied casually, pursing her lips. “With your injury, the sect master has dumped a lot of chores on me.” Liu Li chuckled, “What? Is it about the Ascension Martial Arts Tournament?” The tournament, held every five years, was hosted by different major sects in turn. This year, it happened to be Sanqing’s turn. Liu Li, usually in charge of Wushi Peak and the Ascension Martial Arts Tournament, couldn’t manage it due to his illness, so Zhao Zi Chen assigned it to Ji Wu Nian. Normally, the Ascension Martial Arts Tournament involved only foundation-building disciples and wasn’t particularly troublesome. However, with Liu Li’s injury, the appearance of the flood dragon, and demonic cultivators threatening Moon Bay, Zhao Zi Chen intended to use the opportunity to gather multiple immortal sects for discussions in addition to the competition. This sudden situation required extensive preparation, making it more complicated. “People from Lingyun Hall and Wuji Palace are almost here,” Ji Wu Nian said, taking a sip of tea. “I’ve arranged for them to stay at the main peak’s Luoying Hall. When people from Mingyun Pavilion arrive, I’ll place them at Shenri Hall, adjacent to those from Cangxue Peak.” “Alright,” Liu Li nodded. “I heard Elder Wuxing from Mingyun and Immortal Li from Wuji don’t get along well. Be mindful of that.” “I know,” Ji Wu Nian added, “Our disciples should prepare thoroughly. We don’t want to disgrace Sanqing Sect.” Liu Li nodded, “There are quite a few promising disciples in the sect. I recall Luo Chang He, a disciple of Elder Ouyang, being quite outstanding. And he knows Ye Er, right?” Having been unnoticed, Yue Bai looked up, seeing both of them looking at her. Liu Li smiled warmly, while Ji Wu Nian’s eyes held a deeper meaning. Yue Bai quickly waved her hands, “I’ve only met Senior Brother Luo a few times…” “Qin Xiao and Ming,” Liu Li, who got along well with Ji Wu Nian, had a touch of mischief. “The gossip is all over Sanqing Sect… I only found out after coming back…” …Probably too idle while recovering, indulging in gossip. “If he knows his rumored love interest is also you…” Jiu Yi couldn’t help imagining. Before Yue Bai could respond, Ji Wu Nian started teasing, “Senior Brother, don’t mention Ye Er. What about your mysterious confidante? She hasn't even shown up yet.” "Ah, what confidante?" Liu Li shook his head, "I truly don't know who that person is. If I did, I would definitely visit and express my gratitude." Please don't, stay away, just leave me alone. Yue Bai sipped her tea quietly, pretending she wasn’t there. "Speaking of which, I still have the jade talisman that woman used that day," Ji Wu Nian flipped her right hand, revealing the Xuanwu talisman, which she handed to Liu Li. "It seems that woman cares about you a lot, Senior Brother. Keeping this talisman by your side for protection might better reflect her intentions, don't you think?" Quite the move to give a borrowed flower. Liu Li didn’t take it, "Ultimately, it belongs to her. Wu Nian, you should keep it." "They say that woman came for you, Senior Brother," Ji Wu Nian said with a smile, catching a glance of a certain disciple quietly drinking tea. "Who knows, she might come looking for you in the future. With this talisman, there's a higher chance we could return it to the rightful owner." Ji Wu Nian nudged it towards him, "Just take it, Senior Brother." "...That's not what she said a few days ago," Jiu Yi grumbled, "Yue Bai, she not only takes your treasures but also gives them away recklessly." No respect at all. Seeing Liu Li's hesitation, Yue Bai quietly listened to their banter, feeling a sense of clarity. "She knows I won't ask for it back. Giving it to Liu Li for protection is reasonable." "Huh?" Jiu Yi was confused. Maybe Jiu Yi didn't hear clearly, but Yue Bai knew. That day, when Ji Wu Nian placed her hands on her, she softly called her name. In the evenings when they met, Yue Bai didn’t bring it up, nor did Ji Wu Nian ask. The Xuanwu talisman had naturally become a token of mutual understanding between the two, left for Ji Wu Nian to handle. Yue Bai watched silently as Ji Wu Nian suddenly turned and flashed her a radiant smile. Her eyes sparkled, her lips curled mischievously. Yue Bai blinked and continued to drink her tea.