Chapter 124: Possessor of the True Lord's Soul?

"Shui Bing has appeared in Xiluo City. Could this be the place where the Saint's Secret Realm opens?" some cultivators speculated.

However, others countered this view, arguing that Shui Bing’s high-profile appearance here was precisely proof that Xiluo City could not be the entrance to the Saint's Secret Realm. After all, apart from that first day when she made a show of herself in the sky, no one had seen her since. Her appearance here was likely just a distraction.

The two factions remained firm in their respective beliefs, and those who doubted this was the location were already preparing to head for Fuxian Port.

Zhou Qi did not know which side was correct, nor did he know if Shui Bing would grant him any information for the sake of Huangfu Xiu. But he quickly dismissed the thought; even Huangfu Xiu had her Golden Core shattered. If he were to run into Shui Bing’s master without the backing of the Huangfu family, he would likely be slapped to death on the spot.

The minds of these great powers were too difficult to fathom. It was destined that many cultivators would be working in vain, and even those who guessed correctly might not find it a blessing—the struggle at the entrance would surely be intense, and the majority of cultivators would only serve as stepping stones for others.

Zhou Qi could only adopt a "go with the flow" attitude. Originally, he had held a significant advantage with Huang Qianqian, but he had accidentally "lost" that cheat code.

"That Shui Bing is not quite right. You must be careful," the voice of True Monarch Tianxuan echoed.

To warrant a warning from True Monarch Tianxuan, could she be a holder of the True Monarch’s soul fragments? Zhou Qi was startled; this complicated matters.

"True Monarch, is that Shui Bing a holder of your soul?" Zhou Qi asked.

"It is hard to say. At times it feels like it, at others it does not. We are too far apart to judge. You must be wary of this person. If it truly is her, she will surely try to kill you. I will do my utmost to hide my aura from now on to avoid being detected prematurely," True Monarch Tianxuan replied.

The extreme caution of the True Monarch made Zhou Qi nervous. "True Monarch, did you notice her cultivation level?"

"As soon as I sensed something amiss, I concealed my own aura and dared not observe her further. Since you have reached the Foundation Establishment stage, I will impart a technique to you called 'Gaze of Qi.' It allows you to perceive the cultivation of others. However, given your current realm, you can only see through cultivators up to three levels above you. Those at the Soul Formation stage are beyond your sight. If you reach the Golden Core stage, even Soul Formation cultivators will fall within the scope of the technique." With that, the True Monarch transmitted the mental formula to Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi memorized the technique and began to practice. Before long, he channeled the Gaze of Qi, and sure enough, the cultivation levels of the surrounding cultivators became visible to him. Those he could not see were clearly individuals he could not afford to provoke.

This technique was excellent. If the old man at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment had known it, he would never have mistaken Huang Qianqian for an ordinary woman.

Zhou Qi pondered silently: if Shui Bing was indeed a holder of the True Monarch’s soul, should he kill her or not? If Huangfu Xiu had developed genuine feelings, being enemies with Shui Bing would surely put her in a difficult position. Well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it; it was not yet certain that Shui Bing was an enemy.

***

As Zhou Qi walked down the street lost in thought, he suddenly bumped into a woman, jolting him out of his reverie.

Zhou Qi quickly apologized, only to see the woman glaring at him, teeth bared in a snarl. Zhou Qi was baffled; he had only bumped into her by accident—why the look of deep-seated hatred?

"You heartless scumbag!" the woman shouted.

"Big sister, do I know you?" Zhou Qi asked, confused. The surrounding crowd of onlookers had already begun to focus on them.

"It’s only been a short time, and you’ve already forgotten who I am? You really are a faithless man," she pressed, unrelenting.

The surrounding cultivators shook their heads. To think someone would actually fancy a guy like this—no matter how desperate, there were limits. And now, he had even been tracked down.

Zhou Qi was completely bewildered. Could his current disguise happen to be the lover of this woman? Surely it couldn't be such a coincidence? And he noticed she was a Golden Core cultivator—if he were to take the fall for someone else's mess, it would be real trouble.

"I’m sorry, miss. I sympathize with your situation, but I must remind you that you’ve likely mistaken me for someone else. I’m only in my twenties and have no partner," Zhou Qi explained.

"You said you were going into seclusion for a year or so, so why have you been missing for ten months? Are you intentionally hiding from me?" the woman continued to press.

This... Huang Qianqian?

Zhou Qi realized who it was. It was actually this supreme being. Who could have recognized her in this guise? How had she found him? But then again, she had helped him track Jiu’er’s aura last time; surely finding his own aura was a trivial task for her.

"Senior, it’s you! I didn't recognize you. It wasn't that I didn't wait for you, but I knew you would be able to find me, so I came out of seclusion early to scout for information. I found a restaurant nearby that seemed like it would suit your tastes. Please forgive me," Zhou Qi said with a smile.

*Senior?* Pfft, *scumbag*, the surrounding cultivators thought in unison. Had the world really fallen to such depths? Forget that he didn't care about her looks, but was he now disregarding the hierarchy of seniority?

"Are you telling the truth? How did you know I love fish?" Huang Qianqian’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Only then did Zhou Qi notice that the place he had gestured to randomly was actually a grilled fish shop. *This could happen?*

***

Zhou Qi kept his composure and nodded solemnly. "Naturally, it is a connection of hearts. Senior, please." *Eat more, so you can fly faster later.*

Huang Qianqian followed Zhou Qi into the shop, beaming. *It seems little Zhou still cares about me; he even guessed my favorite food,* she thought.

"Senior, why did you disguise yourself like this? It made you unrecognizable," Zhou Qi asked.

"I learned it from you. It’s better to change one's appearance every so often to avoid being identified," she said dismissively.

"Have you run into any trouble?" Zhou Qi asked, feeling tense.

"No! It’s just fun."

Two sentences into their conversation, Zhou Qi noticed the large platter of grilled fish that had just been served was already polished clean by Huang Qianqian. As expected of a divine beast, she ate with such speed.

After the meal, Huang Qianqian began to ramble on about her experiences over the last ten months. She had discovered that the Tianxuan Continent was indeed vastly different from her memories. She had searched everywhere for her kin but found none, and she had looked for traces of the Dragon Fang and the Demon Dragon clan with no success. In those ten months, she had traversed the entire Huangxuan Domain and collected several rare flames she had encountered.

Feeling aimless, she had returned to where Zhou Qi had been in seclusion. Finding the cave dwelling destroyed, she felt as though she had been abandoned by the world—with no one to care about and nothing to hold onto. She had expected that after her resurrection, she would make a grand name for herself, take revenge, and dominate the region, only to find that she nearly failed to escape a single Soul Formation cultivator.

If she was so out of step with this world, what was the point of being alive? "Little Zhou, should I not have asked you to bring me out?"

"Senior is overthinking it. You are beautiful and possess great power. You are merely a dragon trapped in the shallows for now. How can you be so self-deprecating? If you trust me and protect me as I grow, one day I will lead you to command the four corners of the world and overlook all creation. We will trample the likes of that 'Dragon Fang' beneath our feet," Zhou Qi said. *What is going through her head? Why is she always so weary of the world?*

"Wow, little Zhou, are you hitting on me?" Huang Qianqian’s eyes sparkled again.

"No." Zhou Qi’s forehead was covered in black lines. *Is she just an older woman desperate to be married?*