Qin Shu was not the type to work himself mindlessly into the ground.
Whenever he could slack off, he did so with complete justification, and whenever he could rest, he would never force himself to suffer… But the situation was urgent now. If he ate his fill tonight, returned to the dormitory, and simply lay there doing nothing, Qin Shu would worry instead that his anxiety might invite an inner demon.
Earlier, they had spent half an hour on the mountain talking with Cultivator Yuxu and had basically settled several mutually beneficial points of cooperation.
First, Qin Shu and Pei Zhao would help her find a way to control the effects of the world fracture. Their immediate goal was to curb the pollution and the intrusion of evil beings from outside the world. Their ultimate goal was to bring the guardian deity exiled from Jing City back into this world.
At first, Yuxu had known nothing about the exile scheme. She had only heard somewhat about the contamination of the dragon vein, so she had begun trying on her own to contain its effects while secretly investigating the mysterious “disappearances” of the gods.
Once she learned just how vicious and deranged Zuo Zhe’s methods had been, she joined Qin Shu and Pei Zhao’s plan without hesitation. No matter how difficult it might be to rescue a deity from the void, she had to take part.
After all, there were almost no other cultivators still alive today who possessed enough ability to participate in a plan this difficult.
In exchange, if their operation in Jing City ended successfully, Qin Shu and Pei Zhao would do one favor for her first: if they continued rescuing other exiled deities afterward, the Dragon King of the West Sea would be their first target.
In truth, Qin Shu would have prioritized that even if Yuxu had said nothing. That was Ao Run, Dragon King of the West Sea. Even without mentioning the merit he had accumulated over a thousand years of summoning clouds and rain, he was still the white dragon’s biological father… More importantly, much farther back, whenever relatives visited one another during New Year and other festivals, Ao Run had gone to Pei Zhao’s home every single year.
Qin Shu did not especially like the way dragons had conducted themselves in ancient times, particularly how naturally they accepted human sacrifices and indulged in outrageous luxury, but however you looked at it, there was still some degree of kinship between everyone involved.
Times had changed, and the problem of the world fractures could never be solved by one person’s strength alone. Now they needed to unite every force they possibly could.
Aside from that, there was a third point of cooperation, which now sounded almost ridiculously simple by comparison.
Yuxu was willing to help them deal with the Dragon Mother. Whether that meant joining the fight, stealing the child, stealing the Dragon’s Eldest Son’s remains, or robbing the Dragon Palace treasury… she was interested in all of it.
As for the invitation, Qin Shu did not need to worry about that at all. As a reclusive great cultivator with an extraordinarily long lifespan, Yuxu was merely little-known among the younger generation of cultivators. That did not mean she was truly obscure.
Among circles of old yao cultivators who were even better at staying alive, Yuxu could practically be considered one of the family, because she had always maintained excellent relationships with all kinds of spirits, yao, and plants. If some little spirit or yao ran into mortal danger and came crying for Senior Yuxu’s help, that was perfectly ordinary.
In fact, the invitation to the birthday banquet had even been personally delivered to her by the Turtle Minister.
It was not that she needed to find some way inside. They were practically begging her to attend.
That simplified matters considerably. After thinking everything through, the only real difficulty in their cooperation once again returned to the matter of “rescuing a god.”
Aside from Pei Zhao, whose attitude toward the danger was difficult to read, both Yuxu and Qin Shu had some doubts about how much they themselves could withstand.
The closer one approached a world fracture, the closer one came to the void, which was essentially the same as moving closer to death.
Yuxu already had experience with this. Spiritual energy around the fracture was extremely thin, and oxygen was even scarcer. If she had not set up a spiritual-energy formation in advance, even she would have been unable to remain inside the cave for long. On top of that, the pollution leaking from the fracture and any unknown evil beings potentially emerging through it were horrors capable of taking a life through the slightest careless mistake.
And what they intended to do was endure all those risks, use the traces of aura left behind by the guardian deity, and rely on the Spirit-Guiding Summoning Formation provided by Pei Zhao to pull the missing deity back out of the void. Even if they could not pull the deity out, they still had to find some way to open a path of communication and leave behind a concrete, reliable beacon that could guide the deity home.
It sounded difficult. Doing it would be even harder. If they truly rescued the deity but the deity failed to control their terrifying pressure and leaking magical power in time… the three of them might even be crushed to death on the spot by the very god they had saved.
That was Yuxu speaking from experience. She had once personally witnessed a fairly renowned Daoist invite a deity, only for the god to emerge without restraining their power quickly enough. The Daoist could not withstand it and died after vomiting blood on the spot.
So to make sure nobody died halfway through, all of them had to prepare methods of preserving their lives in advance, then choose an auspicious day before formally beginning the plan.
According to Yuxu, choosing an auspicious day was genuinely important, and so was whether their luck happened to be good that day. Sometimes the success or failure of a task did not depend only on one’s own strength. The final deciding factor… might lie in nothing more than the tiniest difference in fortune.
Qin Shu did not dare take that lightly. He immediately searched an old almanac online and carefully chose a comparatively suitable date.
Three days later.
Time was tight, but before the winter camp ended, that was somehow the only particularly auspicious date suitable for starting something important.
Delaying would not make the situation any better, so they might as well solve it sooner. Until then, Qin Shu completely lost his desire to play around. He used every scrap of time he had, determined to become even a little stronger if possible.
First, though, he had to eat his fill. He found a mutton hotpot restaurant near Jing City University that Auntie Su had recommended and finished an entire pot by himself. After demolishing the meal like a whirlwind, he even attended an evening lecture on mathematics competition problems. The moment he returned to the dormitory, he started extra training.
Using the oil lamp’s illusions for combat training actually saved an enormous amount of time, because time inside the illusion flowed differently from reality. Enter, come back out, drink a little water and catch his breath, and at most only two or three minutes would have passed.
As long as Pei Zhao did not exhaust himself, those illusions could continue without end.
And Pei Zhao happened to be… very difficult to exhaust. Forget maintaining an illusion for an entire night. Keeping one running for a full month would hardly pose a problem for him.
Qin Shu had not realized that before. Only after he became so tired he could barely lift his arms, his sense of smell completely overwhelmed by the blood inside the illusion, did it finally sink in. Even after drinking ice water and resting for a while, his brain kept making him smell faint traces of blood that were not there, almost dragging the illusion into reality with him. Only then did Qin Shu finally agree to stop.
Pei Zhao stood, picked up the oil lamp, and gently blew it out. He looked completely fine. The stamina he had spent tonight was not even as much as being held and kissed by Qin Shu for ten minutes would cost him.
Was this what species advantage looked like?!
“Whew… Zhaozhao, I seriously can’t move anymore.” Qin Shu collapsed into the sofa, his eyes following Pei Zhao’s every movement as he weakly reached out a hand. “Hug me. Emergency energy recharge.”
Pei Zhao smoothly sat down in his arms, lowered his head, and kissed him. His cool, soft lips lingered lightly against Qin Shu’s as his voice dropped even softer. “Want a late-night snack?”
“Yes!” Qin Shu instantly revived several times over. He shot upright and wrapped his arms around Pei Zhao.
But the late-night snack Pei Zhao meant had absolutely nothing to do with the steaming barbecue, fried rice noodles, or clear-broth noodles Qin Shu had imagined.
Pei Zhao touched the luminous pearl on the coffee table that had been disguised as a desk lamp, then took a handful of grass out of the storage space.
Yes. A handful of grass. The stems and leaves were tender, lush green, and so fresh they looked dripping with water. Exactly the sort of thing Huang Yu Yuan would become obsessed with at first sight.
“This is fresh spirit grass. It was put directly into storage after being harvested, so it remained preserved for a very long time… several thousand years, approximately.”
Qin Shu’s eyelid twitched. “Several thousand years… fresh spirit grass from several thousand years ago?”
“Mm. Eating it raw gives the best effect. This species has gone extinct now. The only remaining batch was in Zuo Zhe’s storage artifact.” Pei Zhao raised the handful of spirit grass and nudged it toward Qin Shu’s mouth with a faint, teasing smile. “I kept some of the lower-quality specimens so we can try propagating them again later. Everything else is for you to eat.”
If he directly ate fresh spirit grass from ancient times, would he also be swallowing ancient bacteria that a modern human body could not tolerate?
Qin Shu’s brain instantly filled with all the bloody scenes from the illusion, mixed with a few horrifying images from science-fiction movies. But Pei Zhao was already holding the food right against his lips. If Qin Shu refused to eat now, could he even call himself human?
“…Fine.” He braced himself, grabbed the other end of the spirit grass, stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, closed his eyes, and chewed several times.
So sweet.
Not the cloying sweetness of honey, but a clean, refreshing sweetness like a cool breeze and morning dew, one that went straight to the heart.
Qin Shu suddenly felt all the mental exhaustion from his extra training disappear. At this point he had not even swallowed the spirit grass yet. He had only tasted it, yet the spiritual energy was so rich and mellow he nearly became intoxicated by it.
Good stuff. This is absurdly good stuff.
The herbs and spirit medicines grown in Phoenix Village were already powerful, but this plain-looking green spirit grass surpassed the medicinal fields cultivated by Granny A-Shu in practically every respect. It was not a matter of technique. The species itself simply possessed an overwhelming advantage.
Qin Shu carefully swallowed the tender spirit grass and felt every breath turn into the freedom and coolness of an open wilderness. Strength surged violently through his entire body, and even his vision seemed to acquire a high-definition filter. Extremely high-definition.
His gaze stopped directly on Pei Zhao’s face. Staring at that pale, utterly flawless face, Qin Shu felt his heart jump uncontrollably.
“Zhaozhao, don’t you need to eat any?”
“Not particularly.”
“Really?”
Pei Zhao raised a hand, pinched the flesh of one cheek, and twisted it with neither too much nor too little force. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Am I an idiot?”
“…Smart, smart. You’re the smartest. If you need anything, you’ll eat it yourself. I know.” Qin Shu naturally tilted his head and pressed his face into Pei Zhao’s palm, closing his eyes to enjoy the cool touch. Only after a moment did he continue, “Reporting in. My stamina’s completely full again. I want more training.”
Pei Zhao froze, lit up his phone to check the time, then did not refuse. “All right. Another half hour. But there won’t be another late-night snack afterward. You can’t become addicted to spiritual energy that’s too pure. It’ll affect your mental state.”
“Understood!”
＊
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Qin Shu lived an extraordinarily full life, somehow even fuller than the days before they killed Zuo Zhe.
The winter-camp activities really were interesting, and the instructors teaching the compulsory classes were exceptionally capable. The moment Qin Shu realized he was fully concentrating and genuinely enjoying physics class, he understood exactly how impressive the lecturer at the front of the room had to be.
Even if they had not had a world to save, this trip still would not have been wasted.
Aside from the compulsory classes, Qin Shu participated in only one or two other activities, using them mostly to relax.
For example, around dusk he joined a bird-photography session near the trees beside the pond. He even let Coalball disguise himself and sneak into the flock for fun, then used special methods to preserve several precious video clips…
There was also a gardening class meant to bring students closer to nature. Qin Shu’s real purpose for joining was to let Yuanbao play in the dirt while testing just how miraculous the wooden bead Yuxu had given him actually was.
When Qin Shu went out again the next day to check the golden camellia tree he had planted in a corner, he discovered that his tree had already stolen all the water and nutrients from its little neighbors. It was growing branches and stretching upward with almost animated enthusiasm, and Qin Shu could practically see a bizarrely smug expression on its face.
If the spiritual energy were a little denser, this thing would practically be ready to become a spirit!
Such tenacious vitality and liveliness had to be credited entirely to the wooden bead Yuxu had made with a casual gesture… This was only the embryonic form of the power of creation. One could imagine what she might accomplish if she truly went all out.
Gaining such a powerful ally made Qin Shu’s confidence rise considerably. After all, according to Pei Zhao, Yuxu was definitely also a grandmaster when it came to healing arts.
If someone accidentally lost an arm or a leg, she could reconnect the torn flesh and restore everything in minutes without the slightest difficulty.
The auspicious day finally arrived. Before heading up the mountain, Qin Shu specifically asked Pei Zhao for another handful of spirit grass. This time, when he ate the leaves raw, there was none of his earlier reluctance. If anything, he was almost impatient for them.
The tender leaves slipped down his throat, and refreshing coolness spread through his entire body. Even Qin Shu’s steps became lighter.
The two skillfully avoided security and surveillance cameras, returned to the cave by the same route, then walked a few more steps along the narrow path. The perfectly rounded spherical chamber appeared before them once again.
The white dragon had arrived ahead of time. For once, he displayed genuine enthusiasm, eager to contribute to the operation. Only if they successfully rescued one deity would they have a chance to repeat the method later and save his father.
“Sis, want my dragon pearl? I’ve got one too, same model as my dad’s. Haven’t used it in thousands of years. Take it, take it.”
Qin Shu happened to hear the white dragon speaking as he entered and nearly burst out laughing. The faint tension he had still been carrying instantly vanished.
He had never heard the white dragon use such an ingratiating tone with anyone before. Even in front of Pei Zhao, he always behaved awkwardly and stiffly… Yet faced with Yuxu, only two or three days had passed, and all that rebelliousness seemed to have vanished completely.
“Wow, you’re already calling her Sis?” Qin Shu could not resist teasing him. “As expected, it takes Senior Yuxu to handle you. Senior, please help me keep Ao Wang in line. He throws a tantrum every few days, and I’ve never once seen him this obedient.”
“How could you and her possibly be the same?!”
The white dragon froze, briefly looking embarrassed and angry, but one amused glance from Yuxu immediately softened his attitude again. “Fine, fine. That’s not the important part. Hurry up and explain how this spirit-guiding formation works. I’ll help. I’ve still got plenty of cold-jade marrow too… if you can use it.”
“Keep your own things for yourself. Don’t waste them for no reason.”
Pei Zhao said that in an even tone, nothing more than a casual scolding from an elder. The white dragon secretly gave a small snort, but he also knew Pei Zhao was saying it for his own good and did not dare protest again.
Yuxu had already completed the preparations for laying out the formation. Pei Zhao did not need to teach her a second time.
They had discussed the exact procedure beforehand, so Yuxu had already begun the basic groundwork. She was extremely skilled with formations. By drawing out the underlying logical structure of the formation in advance, she could save them a considerable amount of tedious mechanical work.
Next came the decision of what to use as the formation core. It was both the heart that stabilized the formation and its source of energy, and it absolutely could not break midway through the process or everything would immediately be lost. No matter what kind of formation one intended to construct, some spiritually potent object, large or small, had to serve as its core.
It could be something as small as a spirit stone or jade pendant, or as large as the Dragon King of the West Sea’s dragon pearl. The basic function was the same.
Pei Zhao thought for a moment, then voiced his decision. “To be safe, use my dragon pearl.”
“Huh?”
“What?!”
Qin Shu and the white dragon stared at him simultaneously. Yuxu froze for only a moment before saying seriously, “If it won’t have much effect on you personally, Fellow Daoist, then that would indeed be the best choice.”
“Mm. It won’t have much effect. There’s no need to worry about consuming too much energy.” Pei Zhao paused and looked at Qin Shu. “I don’t normally need to activate the dragon pearl’s power anyway.”
“…Okay.”
Only after seeing Qin Shu nod did Pei Zhao move. His pale palm turned lightly upward, and a brilliant sphere of pure golden light appeared before everyone, illuminating the originally dim chamber as brightly as day.
Life force so intense it seemed almost tangible, terrifying spiritual energy and dragon qi, and scorching golden light even more dazzling than sunlight itself.
This was the ultimate treasure that only a pure-blooded true dragon at full strength in a flourishing age could possess.
The little white sphere the white dragon had spat out before had looked impressive enough at the time, but compared with this… it now seemed almost awkward. Even the West Sea dragon pearl Yuxu had been using as the core of the spiritual-energy formation was far less dazzling than the one in Pei Zhao’s hand.
“…Whew. No wonder you could devise such a daring method, Fellow Daoist. Your strength truly is extraordinary, far beyond Ao Run’s.”
Yuxu sighed softly and carefully accepted the dragon pearl from Pei Zhao. Its energy seemed too powerful and its pressure too intense. Even brief contact at such close range made Yuxu visibly uncomfortable, and she frowned slightly. Still, she forcibly suppressed the discomfort, turned, and placed the pearl into the formation core she had prepared.
Then she began chanting quietly. Several ancient, obscure syllables drifted out above her head while the deep-green magical power unique to the Evergreen Art spread with them. Beneath the golden light of the dragon pearl, that green glow looked somewhat dim, yet it carried a gentle, resilient resonance all its own.
Yes. A resonance.
A trace only a top-tier great cultivator could casually leave behind. Qin Shu watched Yuxu’s every movement without blinking and once again realized that she truly was an “old monster,” someone whose strength had to be unfathomably deep. Yet immediately afterward, another thought rose inside him… Even she had almost failed to withstand the magnificent pressure radiating from that dragon pearl.
A dragon’s inner core, the source of its strength and the essence of its vitality.
Pei Zhao had never needed to rely on it before, and even now he behaved as though it were completely unnecessary, something he could take or leave without concern.
In that case, Pei Zhao’s true strength, which he had never fully revealed, could only be even more terrifying than what this dragon pearl implied.
“Am I kind of holding you back?” Qin Shu suddenly transmitted to Pei Zhao. “If I weren’t here, you could finish all of this by yourself, couldn’t you?”
Pei Zhao froze. “Who told you I could do all of this alone?”
“That’s just what it feels like.” Qin Shu looked away and silently continued through voice transmission. “Do you really need my share of the strength?”
“If I didn’t need you, why would I let you risk your life by coming this close to a world fracture?”
Pei Zhao’s expression darkened slightly. Unable to resist, he reached over and jabbed the soft flesh at Qin Shu’s waist, fairly hard. “If I didn’t need you, why wouldn’t I just finish something this dangerous behind your back? If there were no reason for you to participate, I never would’ve told you about it in the first place.”
“…Right.” Qin Shu’s eyes brightened. “Okay, then. As long as I’m genuinely useful. I’ll follow your signal later.”
The two understood each other too well. Their entire little exchange took place silently through voice transmission, hidden from Yuxu so their tiny “disagreement” would not affect anyone else’s mood.
Yuxu remained completely focused. After activating the dragon pearl, she immediately sat cross-legged behind the formation core and continued chanting while adjusting the energy supplied by the pearl, until its brilliant, piercing golden radiance gradually softened and condensed into a stream of pure gold, delicate as silk yet unbelievably solid.
The golden stream flowed outward from the formation core, lighting every part of the foundational formation Yuxu had drawn in advance. A dim glow glittered inside the spherical cave, forming a circular formation whose energy cycled endlessly through itself.
“Fellow Daoist Pei.” At that moment, Yuxu called softly.
“All right.”
Immediately afterward, Pei Zhao’s figure vanished from everyone’s sight, and the simple circular formation abruptly began to transform.
Every gilded line sprouted branches and expanded outward at an astonishing speed, silently dividing into bizarre shapes and intricate patterns. Some sections even rose upright from the floor and slammed directly against the surrounding cold stone walls, embedding themselves so perfectly that not the slightest gap remained.
Qin Shu did not become dizzy from watching. He kept his slightly aching eyes open and carefully distinguished the purpose of every change in those golden lines, because Pei Zhao had taught him beforehand.
Constructing the framework. Reinforcing space. Concealing their aura. Integrating the old formation to gather even more spiritual energy. Providing energy support precise to each individual… And most important of all, embedding the summoning formation within the whole structure and attempting to construct a spiritual-energy passage leading toward the void.
The void beyond the world fracture lay directly beneath the spherical space Yuxu had opened.
Without this safe space that Yuxu maintained alone, nearly every part of their plan would have been impossible to carry out. They would not even have possessed a stable place to stand.
But as long as Yuxu could keep the space from collapsing, the Spirit-Guiding Summoning Formation drawn by Pei Zhao could operate successfully.
And when this tightly interlocking cooperation finally reached its last stage, one more person had to hold steady as well.
Pei Zhao’s voice sounded inside Qin Shu’s mind. “Qin Shu, three steps forward.”
“Coming!”