Chapter 89: Chapter 24 Using Each Other, Mutual Wariness
“In the Ancient Era, this island was located on the border between the Clarify Cult and the Intercepting Cult, not inhabited by anyone. The Clarify Cult called it ‘Wuzhi Island’, while the Intercepting Cult called it ‘Five Poisons Island’.”
“Wuzhi refers to the growth of five types of spiritual fungi on each of the five islands, known as the Red, Gold, Jade, Black, and Wood Lingzhi.”
“Five Poisons refers to the presence of five types of poisonous creatures on each of the islands, specifically scorpions, spiders, centipedes, toads, and snakes. Each feeds on one of the Lingzhi fungi.”
Upon hearing this, Li Qinniang tightened her clothes around her body without showing any reaction.
Although she was not afraid of bugs, she found them quite repellent.
Seeing her discomfort, her Senior Sister showed a pleased expression and continued,
“Originally, Five Poisons Island was under the control of the Intercepting Cult, used for raising and cultivating poisons.”
“After the Intercepting Cult met defeat in the East Sea, many of its powerful members were killed. The poisons on Five Poisons Island were also exterminated by the Clarify Cult, which had taken over the place.”
“But the most crucial poison creature, due to its exceedingly secretive hiding place, luckily survived the massacre.”
“How can you be so sure?” Li Qinniang asked softly.
“After the destruction of the Intercepting Cult, the Beast Taming Path has been continuously sending people to the East Sea,” her Senior Sister said coldly. “Given the considerable resources and manpower they’ve invested, it’s highly unlikely they’re searching for some elusive phantom. They must have some way to confirm that the creature is still alive.”
Li Qinniang said nothing for a moment, her mind churning with thoughts.
If what her Senior Sister said was true, then considering the Beast Taming Path’s previous arrogant behavior, a poison creature that could intrigue them to such an extent that they would go to great lengths to deal with it, was very likely the one her Senior Sister suspected…
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“I understand now.” She smiled sweetly. “Then I will follow the plan and lead those two to the place.”
“Good,” her Senior Sister responded sternly, “Once they’ve disabled the Formation, you’ll use the Divine Light to subdue them both.”
“Yes, Senior Sister,” Li Qinniang complied.
After bidding farewell to her Senior Sister, her face once again took on a playful expression.
To be honest, when she first met Luo Yan, she had an inexplicable sense of déjà vu but couldn’t quite pin down what it was at the time.
It suddenly dawned on her:
The similarity between him and me is that we both have idiotically foolish Senior Sisters.
The only difference is that he is still subtly manipulating his Senior Sister, while I can no longer tolerate this imbecile.
Well, this could be a good opportunity to get rid of her.
………
The following days passed with nothing eventful happening.
Ling Yunpo continued his streak of easy victories. Among his seven or eight opponents, only one was ranked beyond the eightieth place on the Immortal Sword Ranking; the rest were unranked newcomers.
It was an effortless win that delighted Senior Sister An.
On Qiu Changtian’s side, when he wasn’t busy with routine cultivation, he was taking care of Xu Yinglian.
If the Junior Sister wasn’t happy, he would take her out to challenge others or to gain experience through adventures.
This led to strange rumors within the Taiqing Sect, suggesting the two had already become Daoist Companions.
When Xu Yinglian first heard these rumors, she felt a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, but seeing Qiu Changtian’s calm demeanor, she didn’t want to lose to her Senior Brother in terms of composure and gradually became indifferent towards the gossip.
Luo Yan accompanied Shi Liuli on various tours with Li Qinniang, the host, providing them with delightful company throughout.
It wasn’t until they had finished visiting all of Wuzhi Island and sampled all the local delicacies that Miss Shi remembered the real purpose of their trip.
Guided by Li Qinniang, the two made their way to the uninhabited islands of Wuzhi Cave and began examining the key points of its Formation one by one.
Luo Yan had to admit that his master, Shi Ding, was truly skilled in setting up Formations.
‘Observing the mountains and the waters’ means integrating the artificial Formation with the natural terrain to minimize operational loss and prolong the life of the Formation.
No wonder his master’s first reaction was ‘impossible’ when he heard there was a problem with the Formation.
After examining more than a dozen small islands, Shi Liuli, finding it boring, used her sword to fly back to Danzhi Island to explore the market.
Luo Yan patiently adjusted the Formation flags, only to hear Li Qinniang ask from behind,
“It seems that Luo Daoist Friend is quite adept at Formations?”
“I dare not claim to excel,” Luo Yan said indifferently, “I only have a slight understanding.”
“Is that so?” Li Qinniang neither agreed nor disagreed, simply smiling as she said, “I wonder if my friend understands ancient formations?”
Upon hearing this, Luo Yan’s heart skipped a beat. Was she showing her true colors?
At the moment, the two were on a deserted island, and Miss Shi was not present; whether she desired to attack him or he wished to kill her, there was ample opportunity.
Well, if she makes even the slightest move, I’ll just kill her with the Postnatal Five Elements Great Extermination Divine Light.
With that thought in mind, Luo Yan decided not to keep up the pretense any longer, and simply said:
“Speak then, what formation do you want me to break?”
Li Qinniang giggled:
“My friend is truly amusing. Why would you think that I want you to break a formation?”
“Because the protective grand formation of Wuzhi Cave has no problems,” Luo Yan said expressionlessly. “And my friend is not someone from the Wuzhi Cave.”
Li Qinniang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly revealed a mischievous smile:
“Interesting.”
“I thought my disguise was flawless…”
“So could my friend enlighten me, where did I slip up?”
“What are you plotting?” Luo Yan countered instead of answering.
Li Qinniang stared at him intently for a while before biting her finger in frustration and saying:
“You’re not going to take action directly? I thought all you orthodox sect people had the straightforward nature of ‘demons and heretics must all be executed.’”
“That’s correct,” Luo Yan replied calmly. “So based on your answer, I will determine whether you are a demon or heretic.”
Li Qinniang’s mind raced, and she surmised that his seemingly confident demeanor might indeed be backed by a powerful trump card capable of self-protection.
Indeed, he is similar to me.
“Actually, it’s quite simple,” she said with a smile. “I found an ancient relic on Wuzhi Island, protected by an obscure formation on the outside, so I wish to borrow my friend’s strength to break through it.”
“Once the formation is broken, we can split the spoils inside the relic fifty-fifty. How about that?”
Luo Yan thought for a moment, then asked:
“Where is this relic located?”
“Right on this island,” Li Qinniang narrowed her eyes. “But the entrance is extremely hidden. If my friend were to go alone, you would definitely not find any clues.”
Luo Yan, astute as he was, immediately understood that she was cautioning him not to think about ditching her to look for the relic.
As for her saying “the entrance is extremely hidden,” that made sense.
After all, this place had been under the control of the Wuzhi Cave for thousands of years, and even if located on a rarely visited island, it would be difficult to conceal from the eyes of the local cultivators.
There must be some mechanism that conceals its presence.
Of course, Luo Yan had no intention of starting a fight with her either, since he wasn’t a Guardian Taoist who detested evil to the extent of needing to eradicate it completely at the sight of a Demon Cult cultivator.
Moreover, since she had taken the initiative to reveal her identity and was not worried about him attacking her… perhaps she also had a similar trump card for self-preservation.
There was no need to rashly attack her without any benefit.
And she likely held the same belief towards him.
With both parties using and wary of each other, a fragile basis for cooperation was established.
“Alright,” Luo Yan then nodded and said, “let’s first locate that relic.”
“Let me say this upfront,” Li Qinniang smiled charmingly, reminding him, “Although it is an ancient relic, it may not be safe; my friend must still be cautious.”
“You need not worry about that,” Luo Yan replied without hesitation under her probing gaze, “Lead the way quickly!”
Seeing that his expression remained flawless and he didn’t even ask for more details, Li Qinniang felt increasingly puzzled about his strength, but could only smile and say:
“My friend, please follow me.”