As stunning as he was, Wen Jingshu knew she had to remain cautious around a stranger met in an unfamiliar place.
Ignoring her wary gaze, Sui Qi swept his eyes up and down her before adding, “Still a little kid who's just started shedding her mortal bones?”
“Little sister, how did you get in here? Where are your elders?”
Whose child was this? Letting an eight-year-old run around outside, and into a divine ruin of all places.
Wen Jingshu remained silent in the face of his questions.
Mainly, she didn't quite understand what he meant.
Looking at her guarded expression, Sui Qi waved his hand. “Forget it. No matter how you got here, it's fine as long as you can keep me company and chat.”
“This young master has been trapped in this godforsaken place for over a thousand years. I'm about to go stir-crazy.”
“Consider yourself lucky to have run into me right after you started shedding your bones. Come, let this young master check your physical condition.”
Sui Qi rambled on, and without waiting for her consent, he reached out and pulled her right in front of him.
Sui Qi was actually a cold and ruthless person, but he had been cooped up for far too long. The sudden appearance of a harmless-looking little kid made him lose his composure and act a bit too enthusiastically.
Wen Jingshu felt a sudden warmth on the crown of her head as Sui Qi placed his hand over it.
He secretly channeled his immortal power, letting it circulate quietly through her body.
Wen Jingshu felt as if her entire body had been immersed in a hot spring, comfortable and refreshed.
“Dual dantians and dual spiritual roots? Your wood spiritual root has also begun transforming into an immortal root? Hmm... the shedding of this first immortal bone is practically perfect.”
“Wait, that's not right. With talent like yours, how could your elders let you wander around outside all by yourself? And you even wandered all the way here? Your hidden dantian and hidden spiritual root aren't even concealed by a Spiritual Concealment Art...”
Had the great clans outside become this negligent after he'd been gone for only a thousand years?
When he was a child, he had ten Profound Immortals and an Immortal Monarch guarding him at all times, constantly terrified that some accident might cause his immortal demise.
What was going on now? Were geniuses being raised free-range?
Hearing Sui Qi's words, Wen Jingshu's face turned pale.
Who on earth was he? How could he see through her hidden dantian at a single glance?
Seeing the fair, chubby little dumpling staring at him so warily, Sui Qi couldn't help but soften slightly.
A beautiful human cub, instinctively baring her claws to protect herself when facing danger, completely unaware that she didn't pose the slightest threat in his eyes.
Actually, this little cub's bristling, defensive look was rather cute.
With that thought, Sui Qi unconsciously softened his voice into a gentle, coaxing tone. “Don't be like that, little sister. I'm a good guy.”
“Besides, it's just the two of us here. If I really wanted to do something to you, do you think you could resist?”
“Come, tell big brother first: what's your name, where are you from, and how did you get in here?”
Sui Qi was clearly coaxing a child. Wen Jingshu also understood that he was telling the truth. Seeing that he was so handsome and didn't seem like a bad person, she didn't hide anything and answered honestly:
“My name is Wen Jingshu. I come from the Eastern Azure Continent, and I stumbled in here by accident.”
Upon hearing her answer, Sui Qi's brows furrowed deeply.
The Eastern Azure Continent?
This little girl came from a lower realm?
But that didn't make sense either. This place was filled with immortal qi. Since she had never entered a Marrow-Cleansing Pool, how had her body not exploded from the pressure of the immortal qi?
Not only had she not exploded, but she had also successfully begun shedding her bones and transforming her immortal root?
Sui Qi scrutinized Wen Jingshu for a long time, making her hair stand on end before he finally stopped.
Well, the universe was vast and full of wonders. It was Wen Jingshu's own fortune to have begun shedding her bones and transforming her root in a lower realm.
And running into someone as kind as him just as she started the process made her an exceptionally lucky girl.
If it had been anyone else, they might have taken a liking to her immortal root and ripped it right out of her.
“Senior... what is this place?”
Sui Qi replied, “Don't call me senior. It makes me sound old. My name is Sui Qi, and I'm the seventh child in my family. Just call me Seventh Brother.”
“As for this place... you can think of it as a place where a god once lived. And then, the god died.”
Wen Jingshu: “...”
Why did it sound so ominous when he put it that way?
Unaware of her thoughts, Sui Qi stroked his chin and asked, “Little sister, do you have any way to get out of here?”
Judging by her attire and behavior, she didn't seem to come from a minor household. Perhaps she carried some great boundary-breaking treasure on her?
Even if they ended up on the Eastern Azure Continent, he had his ways of returning to the Immortal Realm.
If she really didn't...
It wouldn't be bad to have a little kid keeping him company here.
Now, it was Wen Jingshu's turn to feel awkward.
Although she had already claimed the Boundary-Breaking Bead, she was currently searching for a way out as well.
Her intuition told her the method lay within these books, but she couldn't read them.
“Seventh Brother, can you read the books here? I don't recognize the characters...”
Only then did Sui Qi notice the surrounding bookshelves.
Strangely enough, though he had been trapped here for a thousand years and had turned the entire palace upside down, this was the first time he realized there was a study here.
Sui Qi casually picked up a book. Wen Jingshu closely watched his expression, her heart sinking when she saw him frown slightly.
Could it be that he couldn't read them either?
“These books...”
Sui Qi paused dramatically before continuing, “...are just some storybooks.”
Wen Jingshu was speechless.
He certainly knew how to keep people in suspense.
Seeing Wen Jingshu's expression, Sui Qi laughed heartily.
“Just teasing you. These are miscellaneous books, and there might indeed be a way out written inside. However... I don't know which books you need, and I can't very well read them all to you one by one.”
“How about this? I'll teach you how to read first. You'll have to learn it eventually when you ascend to the Immortal Realm anyway.”
Most cultivators possessed photographic memories, so learning characters was merely a matter of running them through one's mind. Wen Jingshu had no reason to refuse, so Sui Qi used the book in his hand to teach her character by character.
An hour later, Wen Jingshu could read on her own, occasionally asking Sui Qi whenever she encountered unfamiliar characters.
Afterward, the two split up and began flipping through the miscellaneous books.
The contents of these books were vast, covering anecdotes of the Immortal Realm, illustrated guides of immortal beasts, recipes for spiritual chefs, and even dual cultivation methods.
After searching all morning, Wen Jingshu finally found a clue.
She opened a book titled "Illustrated Guide of Heavenly Weapons." In the section ranking divine artifacts, the second-ranked divine artifact was clearly recorded: Yinian'an.
Wen Jingshu's heart pounded wildly. The bead in her possession was actually a divine artifact!
Yinian'an was a bracelet made of nine powerful beads. The main bead was a lustrous green bead called the Shengsheng Bead, while the remaining eight were secondary beads of different colors.
The individual functions of the nine beads were still unknown, and their combined effect was even more of a mystery. It had made the ranking because, in the year 53.8 million of the Wuyuan Era, an old Daoist had used this bracelet to cross realms and instantly slay a Divine Emperor in a single strike.
That single strike shook the earth and mountains, inverted the sun and moon, brought down thunder and lightning, shook the nine realms, and covered the sky in dark clouds like the end of the world. It was hailed as the most powerful strike in existence.
After that strike, the old Daoist never appeared in public again, and all news of Yinian'an vanished.
Wen Jingshu felt her blood boil with excitement. Although she didn't know what a Divine Emperor was, the fact that it ranked second was enough to prove the power of Yinian'an.
Unfortunately, this book only explained what the Muyuan Bead—or rather, the Shengsheng Bead—and the Boundary-Breaking Bead in her possession actually were; it did not record how to exit the Boundary-Breaking Bead.
At this thought, Wen Jingshu couldn't help but feel a bit amused and exasperated.
She had to be the most pathetic master Yinian'an had ever had.
Not only was her cultivation level low, but she also had no idea how to use it.
She hadn't even known the name of the main bead until now!
Rate on N.U.
