As before, Su Qing arrived with the Daoist boy before the side hall.
Upon reaching it, the Daoist boy, just like in the past, remained outside the door, waiting for Su Qing to finish her conversation with the Old Mother.
Su Qing was accustomed to this, so she merely composed her expression slightly before stepping into the Old Mother's Hall.
Inside the side hall.
The statue of the Old Mother of Mount Li stood there, tall yet exceedingly kind and benevolent, lacking the solemnity of ordinary immortals.
Su Qing looked at the Old Mother's statue and bowed to her.
Moments later.
A wisp of light smoke solidified into a human form, appearing before Su Qing.
This was the Old Mother of Mount Li's Incarnation formed from Incense Power, a spell she used to converse with Su Qing when she herself was not present.
Seeing the Old Mother of Mount Li, Su Qing bowed again and said, "Greetings, Senior..."
"No need for such formality," the Old Mother of Mount Li chuckled softly, then naturally sat down on a cushion.
"I truly didn't expect, Senior, that you would send that girl back. It seems you were truly annoyed with her," Su Qing didn't rush to ask about the main topic but instead chatted about other things.
The Old Mother of Mount Li laughed and shook her head, her face full of helplessness, saying, "You don't know how unreliable that girl is... Keeping her around doesn't help much, and I have to divert my attention to manage her. It's truly too troublesome, so I simply let her come back. It's also good for her to look after her Junior Sister!"
The Junior Sister the Old Mother of Mount Li referred to was naturally not the newly accepted disciple, as that one had already been taken away by the Old Mother of Mount Li... she was actually referring to Bai Suzhen.
Don't be fooled by Bai Suzhen appearing much older than the Daoist boy and acting far more mature and steady.
In reality, Bai Suzhen was much younger than the Daoist boy.
Su Qing showed no surprise at this, having already known. She said, "It's actually quite good to have her back. This way, when I come here to find Little Bai, I can also chat with her."
"Hehehe, don't set your sights on her; you might not be able to handle her," the Old Mother of Mount Li was momentarily stunned by Su Qing's words, then said with a playful tone.
Su Qing shook her head and said, "Senior, you're teasing me again. You know me; if I had any intentions, I would have made my move long ago."
Seeing Su Qing speak this way, the Old Mother of Mount Li laughed heartily and didn't dwell on it, saying, "If you say so, then I can be a little more at ease. Alright, I won't chat about these trivial things with you, girl. Let's talk about the main business."
Hearing this, Su Qing also nodded with a smile and said, "It's enough that Senior understands me... So, what did Senior call me here for this time?"
The Old Mother of Mount Li seemed to be organizing her thoughts, remaining silent for a moment before finally saying, "It's about the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth."
Su Qing was taken aback. Lately, she seemed to be constantly discussing this matter with others.
However, she didn't overthink it, merely feeling that people were becoming increasingly serious about it.
She stroked her chin, then nodded and asked, "About the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth? Is there anything you need my help with?"
"Not much help is needed, just to inform you of the progress," the Old Mother of Mount Li said, shaking her head.
Su Qing nodded at this and asked, "So, what's the progress?"
"Very smooth? Or perhaps, too smooth. The most difficult part has now been overcome... The rest is just a matter of grinding work."
"Oh? That smooth?" Su Qing was slightly surprised. She had thought that with all the seniors acting together, there must have been some extremely difficult obstacles to overcome. She hadn't expected everything to go so smoothly.
It was indeed somewhat unexpected...
Perhaps...
Seniors truly live up to their name?
Their combined effort is truly formidable?
However, what puzzled Su Qing was...
Even though the Old Mother of Mount Li spoke of things being very smooth, her expression didn't seem particularly happy.
It was as if this smoothness concealed some kind of crisis.
Su Qing couldn't understand.
So, she simply asked directly.
"Yes, it's been very smooth indeed!" the Old Mother of Mount Li said.
"Senior seems to have some worries? I see that Senior isn't very satisfied with this smoothness?"
"Satisfied, of course, I am, but when things are too smooth, it inevitably causes some concern," the Old Mother of Mount Li said, shaking her head. "However, I hope my worries are unfounded... After all, no one wants any real accidents to occur. This concerns everyone in the Heavenly Court!"
It wasn't that the Old Mother of Mount Li was overthinking it...
It was simply that this time, things were too smooth... It didn't resemble the difficulty that such a great disaster should entail.
So, some inexplicable worries were unavoidable.
This matter put too much pressure on everyone, and even those at their realm were inevitably affected.
However, fortunately, it was precisely because they were at this realm...
Although the pressure was immense, they could still bear it.
It wouldn't lead to any mishaps in these matters...
If it were some juniors or younger generations...
Whether they could even help would be one thing; just the pressure alone might be too much for them to bear.
And after Su Qing heard the Old Mother of Mount Li's words...
She couldn't help but sigh in her heart, thinking, 'Even the Old Mother of Mount Li is overthinking it... It seems this matter is indeed too smooth. I only hope it truly is smooth, and not just an illusion of smoothness!'
"Senior, don't worry too much. Everything going smoothly is definitely a good thing," Su Qing offered a word of comfort.
Although it was somewhat strange for a junior to comfort a senior, it was all she could say.
The Old Mother of Mount Li nodded at this and said, "Forget it, telling you this wasn't to make you worry, but to hope that you pay more attention to the anomalies between heaven and earth recently. You are now the guardian of the Northern Continent, so I need you to monitor the situation in the Northern Continent. This is to prevent unforeseen events from occurring..."
Su Qing was completely confused by this.
But she still nodded and agreed, saying, "Senior, rest assured... I will definitely pay more attention. However, what aspects should I focus on? Natural disasters, perhaps?"
"Pay attention to all aspects! At least, any place that feels strange, you can report it," the Old Mother of Mount Li was silent for a moment, then gave an answer that left Su Qing even more bewildered.
Su Qing's mouth twitched, her mind even more chaotic, completely dumbfounded.
But she still agreed, saying, "Uh... In that case, I will report any unusual occurrences to Senior."
Although this would mean writing many more reports, it was indeed the most reliable method.
"Mm, that's good. You just report them, and we old folks will help you analyze whether they need serious attention," the Old Mother of Mount Li stroked her chin and nodded.
Seeing this, Su Qing knew the matter was settled, so she nodded and said, "Mm, I understand."
The Old Mother of Mount Li, seeing Su Qing agree so readily, let out a wisp of green smoke.
"Oh, right, besides that..." the Old Mother of Mount Li paused here... Her entire Incarnation formed from Incense Power suddenly began to blur.
It seemed something had happened on the other side, and the Old Mother of Mount Li was busy dealing with it, so much so that she couldn't attend to Su Qing, not even finishing her sentence.
Su Qing watched this scene, her brows furrowing involuntarily. She murmured to herself, "Could it be that unlucky? What you worry about comes true?"
Luck is a mysterious thing.
Even the immortals in Heaven find it difficult to control.
So, even if an immortal has bad luck, there's nothing strange about it.
Su Qing sat on the cushion, looking at the blurry green smoke, not rushing to leave...
She just sat there quietly, contemplating some things.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, an incense stick's worth of time had passed.
And after that incense stick of time.
The Old Mother of Mount Li's Incarnation formed from Incense Power finally solidified again.
"My apologies, there was a situation just now, so I was focused on handling that," the Old Mother of Mount Li said naturally to Su Qing upon her return.
She wasn't some old senior who cared too much about face; saying sorry was not a difficult thing.
Su Qing heard this and didn't pay too much attention. She merely asked, "What happened on Senior's side? It shouldn't be that the jinxing actually came true, right?"
The Old Mother of Mount Li shook her head and said, "Although it was indeed a bit of a jinx, fortunately, it wasn't the most troublesome part that had a problem..."
Su Qing blinked. So it really was a jinx?
However, Su Qing didn't continue discussing the matter, but instead inquired, "As long as it's fine now! Oh, right, what did Senior want to tell me earlier? Senior left halfway through..."
The Old Mother of Mount Li looked at Su Qing and said, "Actually, it's nothing much... I just wanted to tell you that you can interfere with the Westward Journey more often recently. This way, you can help us create more variables."
Su Qing raised an eyebrow and said, "Is that so? But if I do that, I'll have quite a lot on my plate."
"For the Westward Journey, you can do as much as you are capable of," the Old Mother of Mount Li didn't force Su Qing to do anything specific, but said, "Just act when you have the time. After all, even if you cause trouble, it's difficult to completely destroy some of the things the Westward Journey is destined to experience."
Su Qing nodded at this, then said helplessly, "The Westward Journey truly seems to have a predefined script. No matter how much trouble one causes, the ending of the story must be as written in the script."
The Old Mother of Mount Li chuckled and said, "Indeed! It's as if everything has been predetermined... However, it is precisely because of this that those things are called Fate! Also, I dislike such things even more than you... After all, I have experienced many things more than once."
Su Qing heard this and remembered that the Old Mother of Mount Li was on the same level as the Jade Emperor, surely having lived through countless Cosmic Eras.
"So, Old Mother, you don't like such things either?"
"Who would like them?"
"Indeed, no one would," Su Qing nodded and said, "By the way, Senior, you said, after the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth passes, will those Fates still remain Fates?"
"Some will, some won't... If someone interferes, perhaps they won't," the Old Mother of Mount Li pondered for a moment, giving a conservative answer.
After all, she had never been to the world after the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth...
Naturally, she couldn't possibly know what that world would be like.
Therefore, she certainly couldn't give a very specific answer.
And after Su Qing heard the Old Mother of Mount Li's reply...
She couldn't help but stroke her chin, then nodded, thinking, 'After the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth passes, I might be able to cause trouble more freely.'
Su Qing disliked Fate; everything predetermined had no fun at all.
Su Qing, who loved fun, naturally wouldn't like such things.
So, if she could successfully pass through the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
Then she would definitely do more interesting things.
Su Qing looked at the Old Mother, smiled, and nodded, saying, "After the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth, everything will be clear."
"Mm!" the Old Mother said, "You can look forward to it."
Su Qing smiled; of course, she was looking forward to it...
After all, she was quite confident in passing the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth.
The escape treasure her master gave her was currently thriving!
"Oh, right, Su Qing, girl..." the Old Mother paused for a moment, then continued, "How is your collection of Incense Power coming along?"
"That's all going smoothly," Su Qing nodded and answered truthfully.
"Mm, that's good. I have a Secret Technique here that I obtained from an Old Dragon King... This is a Secret Technique modified from the Dragon Clan's innate divine ability... It can allow you and Suzhen to also procreate," the Old Mother of Mount Li suddenly said after a moment of silence. "This Secret Technique requires Incense Power as an aid, and it must also be cultivated by those of the snake or flood dragon lineage. You and Suzhen are both snakes, so I imagine this Secret Technique can be of use."
Although the Old Mother of Mount Li didn't want this girl to harm her other disciples...
She was quite supportive of the relationship between Su Qing and Bai Suzhen.
As for this Secret Technique, it was actually a form of compensation for keeping Bai Suzhen here to cultivate and not letting her run around with Su Qing.
After all, Bai Suzhen was not of the Dragon Clan, so it was impossible for her to conceive offspring like Ao Ying.
Such a Secret Technique, for Su Qing, would surely be very meaningful.
Su Qing was stunned in place upon hearing this...
She looked at the Old Mother of Mount Li, a little bewildered.
Although she was indeed very grateful that the Old Mother of Mount Li had found such a miraculous Secret Technique for her, she really had no use for it now, did she?
After all...
Because of the Marriage Lock...
Bai Suzhen herself had obtained such a Secret Technique.
She had been cultivating it on her own recently!
So, this item was truly of no use to her.
Rate on N.U.
