"It's been a long time since I've been back."
Chu Xingchen gently reached out his hand, confirming each layer of barriers one by one, and finally stepped aside to clear a path before the sect's main gate.
Bai Xuanling stood at Chu Xingchen's side:
"Not coming back is a good thing. When you come back, it means either you're in trouble or someone else is."
Chu Xingchen chuckled lightly as he walked inside:
"Can't it be that I'm feeling nostalgic, coming back to look at the scenery? The people here don't have high cultivation. I can walk sideways here—no need to watch anyone's expression."
"What, you have to watch other people's expressions in Central Province now?" Bai Xuanling raised her eyebrows slightly. "Who in Central Province dares to give you attitude now, Lord Chu?"
Chu Xingchen walked slowly inward, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.
Although no one had tended to the place for a long time, weeds had not overgrown it—Chu Xingchen had already cast a spell before leaving.
Only the large trees had grown taller, their branches denser.
The formation array blocked the wind from blowing in, so there was hardly any dust.
It was just as it had been when he left back then—only the trees were taller and larger.
After walking forward for a moment, passing through the covered corridor, one could see that clear little pool.
The stone chairs and stone table that had originally been placed here had already been moved to Wanhua Ridge.
Even without the stone chairs and table, it didn't stop Chu Xingchen from recalling Chen Baiqing when she was still small, holding a book, with candied fruits placed on the table.
Every brick and tile here had been built under the supervision of his own eldest and second disciples.
They had been built when they were tight on money, having to calculate every expense carefully.
Even this covered corridor had gone through several design revisions before they picked a cheaper one.
Chu Xingchen gently reached out and touched the corridor's pillar.
Though it was cheap, the feelings poured into it were very expensive.
Bai Xuanling, seeing Chu Xingchen's nostalgic demeanor, couldn't help but speak:
"If you're so reluctant to leave, are you really going to choose this place? If you ask me, going somewhere farther wouldn't be a problem."
Chu Xingchen shook his head lightly at her words. "The spiritual vein flows through this place. Though it's not large, it can maximally support the formation's operation. For us, there's only one chance."
"The people who made these memories are still here. What's precious is them—this place merely carries the memories."
"We have spirit stones now. If we really want to build something in the future, we can build it then."
Chu Xingchen looked back, turning his gaze toward the leisurely composed Bai Xuanling:
"As for you, Sister Bai, you can't act recklessly this time. Sect Master Lu has already informed me of your true situation."
Bai Xuanling's expression turned displeased:
"I know. I knew that idiot sect master couldn't keep his mouth shut."
"This operation won't be small. Last time it was two Celestial Demons. How many do you think will come this time?"
Chu Xingchen's eyes narrowed slightly:
"Anyway, I'm calculating for all eight to show up. When Xu Jin heard my arrangements, he asked me if I was planning to sink Southern Jambudvipa."
Bai Xuanling nodded lightly, sighing:
"It really takes Xuanqing Heavenly Sect to have that kind of boldness."
Chu Xingchen walked toward the deep pool, and at the same time took out a bead of black and white continuously swirling from his spatial ring.
Bai Xuanling could naturally see the bead in Chu Xingchen's hand. Even she was greatly surprised, even swearing subconsciously:
"Damn, I really underestimated Xuanqing Heavenly Sect. Their boldness is even greater than I imagined."
"They're actually willing to take this thing out and lend it to you? Come on, tell me—are you and Xu Jin involved in something shady?"
"The cultivation world's attitudes are pretty open these days. I've heard that some sects practicing dual cultivation methods have even started selling their services externally."
"You didn't sell yourself short either—half of Xuanqing Heavenly Sect's foundation is in your hands now. If word gets out, they might even treat you like a patriarch and ask how you managed to sell it for so much."
Chu Xingchen didn't even turn his head, his tone exasperated:
"This isn't something Xu Jin can just lend on a whim."
"That's true… Could it be you're involved with the sect master of Xuanqing Heavenly Sect?"
"Is this the kind of thing a sect master can just take out whenever they want?"
"I really underestimated you, Chu Xingchen. I didn't expect you to be involved with the entire—"
"Sister Bai, if you keep this up, I won't hold back in what I say either," Chu Xingchen interrupted.
Bai Xuanling's expression sobered at his words:
"You might not be able to set this thing up properly on your own. Let me help. It's my first time using a peerless treasure like this too. Lu Xuan is both stingy and stubborn—he wouldn't even let me touch it."
Chu Xingchen said nothing. It wasn't that Lu Xuan didn't want her to use it—he was clearly afraid that once Bai Xuanling used it, she wouldn't give it back.
After all, if she really didn't return it, Lu Xuan might not have any good way to get it back.
Bai Xuanling stepped closer, leaning her head slightly toward the small gilded bead in Chu Xingchen's palm—not large at all—examining it carefully, her eyes full of curiosity.
For a treasure like this, she had only heard of it, never seen it in person. At most she had seen illustrations, which captured none of its aura.
How could that compare to a heaven-reaching treasure radiating its aura right now?
Bai Xuanling observed while murmuring softly:
"Heaven has two qi—the rising is called clear, the sinking becomes turbid."
"One qi governs heaven, one qi rules earth. The five continents and all directions all derive from this, endlessly generating and sustaining."
"The Innate Primordial Dual Qi Beads—with this kind of aura, it's as if the Great Dao itself blesses it."
"Truly wondrous beyond compare… No wonder Xuanqing Heavenly Sect was once the greatest sect under heaven. No wonder they dared to defy the world and be the first to monopolize a spiritual vein."
"To think that even when Xuanqing Heavenly Sect fought at their most desperate back then, they still didn't bring this out to use…"
"How did you kid manage to convince those people at Xuanqing Heavenly Sect?"
Chu Xingchen infused a slight amount of spiritual power into it:
"I just asked them: is my safety more important, or is this thing more important?"
Although Bai Xuanling knew this was very likely true, she still subconsciously showed an expression of—do you really deserve that?
As Chu Xingchen's spiritual power flowed into the Innate Primordial Dual Qi Beads, the two continuously swirling colors gradually slowed and stopped—white on top, black on the bottom.
At the same time, an aura slowly circulated, rippling outward.
Bai Xuanling also reached out her hand, using spiritual power to gently prod it.
But the next moment, Bai Xuanling's brows furrowed slightly.
When spiritual power was infused into it, the upper qi was so light it was almost nothing—lighter than air, scattering at a touch, nearly impossible to control.
The lower qi was incomparably heavy, like the boundless earth itself, difficult to shift.
Even with Bai Xuanling's refined and precise spiritual power control, it was hard to manipulate—or rather, almost impossible to control.
She could only use brute force to move the lower qi, and the upper qi… could only be said to depend on luck.
A supreme treasure was indeed a supreme treasure, but wasn't this a bit too difficult to control?
No wonder Xuanqing Heavenly Sect didn't bring this out during the great war back then—they'd all be dead before they could even deploy it.
Bai Xuanling looked up, only to find Chu Xingchen controlling it with extraordinary ease.
Whether the upper clear qi or the lower turbid qi, he could mobilize both effortlessly.
The entire bead radiated its circulating aura, on the verge of deploying.
Bai Xuanling's brows furrowed—was she, an old Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, inferior to Chu Xingchen at Integration realm perfection?
The next moment, Bai Xuanling discovered the crux of the issue and understood the real reason Xuanqing Heavenly Sect had truly lent this to Chu Xingchen.
It was because Chu Xingchen's own spiritual power was nearly nonexistent.
Upper clear qi, lower turbid qi.
They were the truest and purest things in the world.
Once contaminated with anything different, these two qi would naturally repel each other to the extreme.
The clear qi is light—it would evade.
The turbid qi is heavy—it would resist.
Bai Xuanling smiled lightly and shook her head.
This treasure—probably only Chu Xingchen could use it with ease.
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