Lü Xuan strode forward, leading Chu Xingchen toward the rear of the great hall.
After walking for a stretch, Lü Xuan, who was ahead, suddenly spoke:
"When did you recover?"
After Lü Xuan finished speaking, he slowed his pace, but even after covering a considerable distance, Chu Xingchen still hadn't said a word.
He stopped and turned around, looking at Chu Xingchen with displeasure:
"I already made excuses for you. If you keep pretending, I'll go back and have a good chat with Lingyu."
Chu Xingchen coughed lightly at his words:
"What are you saying, Sect Master? I only just recovered a short while ago today. The moment I got better, I rushed straight to Tianyan Peak to shine and contribute, to help Sect Master Lü ease your burdens."
Lü Xuan snorted, flicked his sleeve with spiritual energy, then turned and continued leading the way:
"You still talk just as sweetly. If I could make excuses for you, how could I possibly be the one snitching behind your back?"
Chu Xingchen quickened his pace and spoke in a low voice:
"Senior Bai said your mouth is like a torn rag. Not only can it not keep a secret, it can't even hold in a mouthful of spit."
"She!!"
Lü Xuan's eyes went wide, one hand involuntarily reaching out and shaking.
This was an insult within an insult!
Chu Xingchen quickly reached out and gently patted Lü Xuan's back:
"Senior Bai has always been outspoken in her speech, and her metaphors are a bit casual. If you take them seriously, you'll only suffer for it."
Lü Xuan snorted and used spiritual energy to brush Chu Xingchen's hand away:
"You two are a matched pair, birds of a feather. Lingyu is such a good kid who trusts you so much, and you still play games with her. Young man, trust isn't something you should use for testing."
Chu Xingchen quickly nodded: "Thank you for the guidance, Sect Master Lü. However, this wasn't any kind of test."
"Oh?" Lü Xuan raised an eyebrow at his words. "Then what was it?"
A smile appeared on Chu Xingchen's face. He waited a moment before saying:
"Lingyu has a little ditty that's quite interesting. I'd like to hear it."
Lü Xuan nodded in understanding. A cold-faced person naturally had thin skin, and asking her to sing a little ditty in front of Chu Xingchen would indeed be difficult.
Moreover, Lü Xuan roughly understood what that little ditty was.
It was probably the one Bai Xuanling had taught Xie Lingyu.
Lü Xuan had also heard it once—Bai Xuanling had softly sung it once at Bai Xuanyue's grave.
And that was the only time he'd ever heard it.
But at that time, Lü Xuan hadn't been in the mood to listen either. He'd only caught the gist of it, because quite a few of his good friends and seniors had also died there.
Along the way, Lü Xuan didn't say much more. He led Chu Xingchen straight to a secret realm barrier hidden deep within Tianyan Peak, all the way into a sealed chamber.
Lü Xuan pushed the door open.
Inside, a transparent diamond-shaped crystal stood tall within a spiritual energy formation.
Several cultivators from various sects, wearing their respective sect robes, were each conducting their own research.
Chu Xingchen's gaze naturally turned toward that Principle.
The formation sealing the Principle was clearly an extremely profound one. The immense spiritual energy within it was nearly enough to block the terrifying dao resonance emanating from the Principle.
Lü Xuan cupped his hands slightly: "Could fellow daoists take a brief rest? Let him take a look?"
The cultivators in the room turned their gazes toward Chu Xingchen, then didn't say much more and turned to leave.
The Tianyan Sect cultivators naturally obeyed their own sect master. As for the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect cultivators, those who could reach this room were naturally core figures, and they were well aware of their sect's attitude toward Chu Xingchen.
Seeing the cultivators from both sects tacitly depart, the Taidao Sect cultivator didn't insist on staying either.
Chu Xingchen returned the courtesy with a cupped-hand salute. After a brief moment, only the two of them remained in the room.
"Regarding the Principle, the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect knows the most about it. When the Heavenly Dao was collapsing and flowing away, they collected Principles most aggressively. Later, under the supervision of the various sects, they returned the Principles to the Heavenly Dao, but they kept quite a few Principle mappings, and their research has been the deepest."
Lü Xuan looked up at the Principle, which radiated pure white light yet appeared sharp and formidable, and continued:
"The Xuanqing Heavenly Sect studied this one and found no obvious alterations. The Principle remains a pure Principle."
After finishing, Lü Xuan turned his head to look at Chu Xingchen, who had been silent, and asked:
"Well? Have you gained any insights?"
Chu Xingchen didn't say much. Instead, he tapped his fingertip lightly, and Wanban appeared from who knows where, leaping into the formation and beginning to orbit around the Principle.
Wanban was a reward the system had given after reclaiming the Principles of the Incense Divine Path.
If he wasn't mistaken, Wanban was likely condensed from Principles themselves. Back in the Eastern Divine Continent, it had also reacted to the simplified replica of a Principle that Donggua carried.
Wanban had been nurtured for many years. Although it still couldn't communicate telepathically, it had developed at least some degree of spiritual awareness.
With his own intelligence, if Wanban learned even one ten-thousandth of it, it would know how to convey the secrets within.
Wanban spun and danced, transforming into a shimmering glow, as if excited.
The Principle standing at the center also seemed to respond, its light flickering with alternating brightness.
Lü Xuan watched Wanban spinning within it, his gaze showing a trace of shock:
"What material is this thing made of? Don't tell me you forged a Principle into a weapon? And it can resonate with it?"
Chu Xingchen kept a calm expression and said casually:
"Just picked it up along the way. I originally thought it was a little toy, but later discovered it's somewhat useful."
"You're making that up, right?"
"Did I have the money to forge something like that back then?"
Lü Xuan's eyes widened even further:
"You're serious? You actually found something like that just lying around? Where?"
"Oh, I just kicked it off the side of the main road—"
Before Chu Xingchen could finish his fabrication, Wanban shot in front of him, its sword hilt pointing at Chu Xingchen's nose, seemingly highly dissatisfied with what he'd just said.
What do you mean it was kicked off the side of the main road?!
Chu Xingchen coughed lightly: "My dear spiritual treasure, hurry up and tell me what you've discovered."
Wanban's sword hilt swayed for a moment, but ultimately it changed form, becoming a round, disc-like shape.
Wanban was easy to coax, and it understood the bigger picture!
Chu Xingchen affirmed this in his heart and began to ponder what Wanban was trying to convey.
A disc…
Wanban maintained the disc shape for a long while, and Chu Xingchen remained in that same contemplative pose.
It shook itself anxiously.
Chu Xingchen's eyebrows lifted. He observed for a moment longer, then said honestly:
"What does it mean?"
Wanban paused, then transformed into a small needle shape. It shot forward and vanished from in front of Chu Xingchen, then shot back—this time returning in its disc form.
It repeated this action several times.
Chu Xingchen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Seeing that Chu Xingchen still had no reaction, Wanban simply hovered in place, displaying its disc form, as if it had given up.
Chu Xingchen hesitated briefly, then reached into his system space and took out a reward the system had given him long ago—the Shattered Spirit Butterfly Jade.
This disc had once been evaluated by Li Yingling as a broken, useless plate with no purpose at all.
Wanban had been going in and out of the system space—most likely it was trying to hint at this item.
Sure enough, the moment Chu Xingchen took it out, Wanban instantly became joyful and began to dance.
It then signaled for Chu Xingchen to place the disc into the formation.
Chu Xingchen turned his head to look at Lü Xuan beside him:
"Should I try putting it in?"
Lü Xuan still wore that shocked expression. Hearing Chu Xingchen's question, he slowly replied:
"If you want to put it in, go ahead… It really feels like you've found a way to use it."
"And… don't tell me you also picked this thing up along the road?"
Chu Xingchen coughed lightly and said seriously:
"I'm not a scrap collector, going around picking things off the road all day."
Lü Xuan nodded with deep satisfaction:
"That's good. If you really did pick it up off the road, then tell me which road it was."
"I'll go pick up some too."
[
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