Chapter 74 Spirit Seal "It seems a little too close to me."...

Before the Xihua Hall, the eagle that had brought the two back had already flown away.

Jiang Yuhuo wanted to return the silver snake to Jia Yue, but the little snake clung tightly to her hand and refused to let go. It stretched its whole body toward Jiang Yuhuo with all its might, using almost every body language to desperately signal to Jiang Yuhuo not to separate from her.

Jiang Yuhuo felt quite helpless. She could give it back to Jia Yue if she hardened her heart, but the pitiful look on Xiao Xi's face made it hard not to feel sorry for her.

"Keep it with you for now. Return it to my bedchamber before dark. If it's inconvenient for you to take it, I can..." Jia Yue paused, "...or send someone to fetch it."

He couldn't bring himself to say "I can go and get it too," not wanting her to think he had deliberately left the silver snake with her, or that he had deliberately used this opportunity to see her. He didn't want her to know that his heart was captivated by her.

“Alright, I’ll take it with me for now.” Jiang Yuhuo had no objection, but she still felt that continuing like this was not a solution. She raised her wrist, placing the stream between the two of them. “However, Your Excellency may need to keep a closer eye on it.”

She showed Jia Yue how the stream was affectionately rubbing against her wrist, saying, "It seems a little too affectionate towards me."

A faint smile appeared in Jia Yue's eyes. Of course he knew; he had seen enough, even without her raising her hand to show him. But this was not something he could control. Although he was its master, the Shadow Moon Serpent possessed sentience. He had been unable to control its affection for her before, and now, he wanted to control it even less.

Jiang Yuhuo paused for a moment, then continued, "After all, you are its master, and I will eventually leave," she touched the silver scales on Xiaoxi's body, "so that it won't be sad in the future."

The smile in Jia Yue's eyes froze instantly.

Jiang Yuhuo was still teasing the stream and didn't notice that the merman's face had darkened at some point. She didn't hear Jia Yue's reply for a long time, and only when she looked up did she see his cold face.

Not knowing what she had said to upset him, Jiang Yuhuo had no interest in finding out, as it was certainly not a problem she could solve. So, taking advantage of the silence, she bid farewell to the sect leader.

The mermaid stood alone, her eyes unconsciously following the tall, slender figure that was disappearing into the distance. The scent of incense gradually dissipated, and her soft voice, scolding the silver snake, drifted on the wind, "You betrayed your master, and now you've upset him."

Xiaoxi, who was innocently blamed, was completely bewildered. She weakly stretched out her tongue to protest, and after being lightly scratched by Jiang Yuhuo a few times, she twisted and entangled in her hand, oblivious to the world around her.

After returning to Xihua Palace, Jiang Yuhuo went straight to the sinking pool. He had been busy outside for almost a day and a night, and his body was starting to feel hot. He needed to cool down in the sinking pool.

As soon as she entered the water, the penetrating cold enveloped her body, making Jiang Yuhuo's mind incredibly clear. She began to recall what she had learned from Mo Sheng the night before, those spiritual cultivation methods she had never heard of before.

The methods she learned from the spiritual cultivation techniques in the library were not wrong, which is why she was able to gradually increase her spiritual power during practice. However, the reason why she could not gather spiritual energy as quickly as Mo Sheng did on the field was because she was missing something: forming a spiritual seal.

This kind of mark is like a net woven in the void, capturing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth with invisible warp and weft, and its speed is many times faster than ordinary cultivation. These marks are not written in books, but are only passed down from generation to generation among the disciples of Tianque. If Mo Sheng had not been expelled from Tianque and had not needed her help, Jiang Yuhuo would never have been able to learn these.

Mo Sheng taught her a total of 120 spirit seals, targeting the five powers of heaven and earth. Each power was further subdivided, and the 120 seals were enough to cover most of the scenarios she would encounter. She memorized each of these seals, repeatedly practicing them, not wanting to miss a single one.

With her eyes closed, Jiang Yuhuo repeatedly practiced drawing these marks in her mind until she drifted off to sleep. In her dream, she was still practicing drawing these marks, forming spiritual seals in conjunction with the Heavenly Palace Spiritual Cultivation Technique, unconsciously beginning her cultivation within her dream. Gradually, the sinking pool began to change. Spiritual energy began to gather around it, and as it came into contact with the water, the entire surface of the pool was covered with a layer of golden, sand-like particles of light.

Jiang Yuhu was still asleep and couldn't see the changes around her. As soon as Qingping pushed open the door, she was so shocked by what she saw that she gasped for breath.

The entire sinking pool was illuminated by golden sand particles, and the black water surface became unusually clear. In the hall built of white marble, where the light particles were most concentrated, a woman was sleeping soundly by the pool, her wet black hair sticking to her smooth, white back, and a silver snake guarding her arm.

The scene is bizarre and decadent, yet strangely harmonious.

Qingping had the illusion that she had stumbled into the lair of a powerful female demon.

But this scene was quickly broken. The sleeping "succubus" began to breathe heavily, slowly opened her sleepy eyes, and cast a lazy glance at the newcomer.

Whether it was a trick of her imagination or not, Qingping seemed to see a golden outline appear in the other person's black pupils, but as the other person blinked again, her eyes returned to being completely black.

Although Qingping deliberately kept her footsteps light, Jiang Yuhuo still noticed her. She was never a deep sleeper, and for some reason, her hearing seemed exceptionally sharp this time; any slight sound was crystal clear to her. Seeing that it was Qingping, she no longer took precautions.

Qingping put aside her wild thoughts, slowly approached the pool, handed the white robe to Jiang Yuhuo, and took the robe that Jiang Yuhuo had just taken off.

Jiang Yuhuo was puzzled. The cultivators' clothes were all maintained with the Cleansing Dust Technique and did not need to be changed every day. Her robes were still in good condition and had not even been stained with blood. Was it necessary to change them?

Qingping noticed her confusion and smiled, "It's Lord Jiayue. He said that your clothes got dirty yesterday and asked me to bring you a new set."

Jiang Yuhuo tried hard to recall for a moment, trying to find out where Jia Yue might have thought her clothes were dirty last night, but after thinking it over, the only thing that could be considered as her touching him was when she blocked him on the eagle's back. Could it be that he couldn't even tolerate being touched?

After considering the possibilities, Jiang Yuhuo didn't dwell on it too much. After all, she was living under someone else's roof, so she let it be. She changed into new clothes, still a white robe in the style of the Heavenly Palace, which looked no different from the previous one. She became even more certain that Jia Yue hated being touched by her.

After Qingping finished dealing with her original clothes, she took the opportunity to ask about Jiang Yuhuo's disappearance yesterday. Jiang Yuhuo didn't expect that even Qingping knew about her disappearance in just one day, so she told Qingping about Mo Sheng and Ji Yun's request for her to plead with Jia Yue, but omitted the fact that she had asked Mo Sheng to form a spirit seal in exchange.

Qingping nodded, her expression grave. "I see. But they're incredibly audacious to come directly to Xihua Palace to kidnap someone. Such a lack of discipline means Lord Jiayue has no chance of letting him return. Tianque has always had strict rules, and even his junior sister probably won't be let off easily this time."

What will happen to her?

Jiang Yuhuo thought of the spoiled and willful female cultivator who was truly devoted to Mo Sheng. Although it was Ji Yun who had tied her up, she could understand Ji Yun's actions. If anything happened to Wen Yizhan, she wouldn't hesitate to help. However, upon hearing that she would be punished for it, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but feel a little worried for her.

"At best, they will be demoted; at worst, they will be expelled from the Heavenly Palace."

The hierarchy among the disciples of Tianque is strict, and it may take decades of effort to embroider a single rank. Jiang Yuhuo remembered that Ji Yun's robe was adorned with only a red Jianmu tree, just one rank higher than the lowest rank of green. Moreover, judging from the difficulty she faced in her cultivation, it must have taken her a lot of effort to embroider this red Jianmu tree. If she were to be relegated to the green rank because of Mo Sheng, it would mean that all her years of hard work would have been for naught.

Even though Ji Yun came from a prestigious family, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but feel sorry for her at this moment.

Qingping, seeing her expression, knew what she was thinking and comforted her, "These are the rules of Tianque. She knows what kind of punishment she will receive for doing something like kidnapping someone in Xihua Hall."

Jiang Yuhu nodded thoughtfully, but there was still one thing she didn't understand, so she asked Qingping directly, "But I still don't understand why they asked me to plead with Lord Zongzi on their behalf?"

Logically speaking, wouldn't it be more appropriate for Mo Sheng to go directly to the cultivator he knew in Tianque who could speak with Jia Yue?

Qingping's expression suddenly stiffened, and her gaze shifted elsewhere. "Perhaps it's just a coincidence that you, Miss, were almost injured by him and happened to be recuperating in Tianque during this time." She noticed Jiang Yuhuo's disheveled hair and changed the subject haphazardly, "What kind of hairstyle would you like to have today, Miss? I know quite a few."

She gave Jiang Yuhuo a bright smile, trying to dispel her doubts, but the other woman frowned, nodding at her, her eyes still showing confusion, but she didn't ask any further questions.

Qingping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, she knew why Mo Sheng and the others had chosen Jiang Yuhuo instead of looking for others, but she couldn't tell Jiang Yuhuo about it.

Rumors have been rampant in the sect lately, saying that the sect leader has taken a liking to the champion of the grand competition and has even brought this female disciple from Kunlun into the Xihua Hall to recuperate. Some rumors are even more outrageous, claiming that the two meet secretly at Shenshui Pond every day. Qingping severely punishes anyone who gossips, but she still can't stop the rumors from spreading like wildfire.

Qingping had only mentioned His Highness's special attitude towards Miss Jiang to Ling Changyu, so how did it become such a scandal? Qingping couldn't understand it, but she felt that she shouldn't talk about these things anymore, whether it was the Left Protector or the Right Protector.

Fortunately, this female cultivator didn't like to join in the fun, and the people in the Washing Flower Hall were taught to keep their mouths shut, otherwise it would have been bad if those rumors had reached her ears.

Qingping decided to thoroughly quell these rumors, lest the two of them get annoyed by these gossipy people before they even had a chance to figure things out. Her Highness had finally met someone he liked; if her slip of the tongue ruined things, she would be in grave danger.

The thought of His Highness searching for someone all night made Qingping smile. She looked at the woman in the mirror who still seemed a little sleepy. She was clearly impatient with combing her hair but let her do as she pleased. She looked stubborn and cold, but she was actually very easy to talk to.

Qingping's nimble hands quickly combed her hair into a bun. Looking at the inexplicably obedient look in the mirror, she couldn't help but pinch her cheeks, making her turn around, and used magic to draw a silver ice pattern on her forehead.

Jiang Yuhuo instantly felt a coolness on her forehead, which not only dispelled her drowsiness but also made her feel refreshed. She couldn't help but look in the mirror to see what was going on on her forehead. She saw that the ground where the cold jade had been was now marked with an ice crystal-shaped pattern.

Qingping smiled as she looked at her in the mirror, "We mermaids are naturally cold-blooded, and we have a more relaxed control over water spirits. This is just a little bit of ice spirit magic, it won't last long, so just consider it as a pretty face."

Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but admire it sincerely. This thing was so convenient and effective; she wanted to learn how to use it too. With this, she could draw one for herself anytime, so why would her senior brother need to go through the trouble of finding cold jade for her?

Qingping pretended to hesitate for a moment, "Well, it's not impossible for you to learn if you want to, but it's been so long that I can't remember some of it clearly." Suddenly her eyes lit up, "Why don't you ask our prince? He remembers every kind of magic in his mind very clearly."

Jiang Yuhuo instantly deflated, her face losing its luster, and she was almost about to say "forget it."

Qingping tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Ah, I remember now."

Sure enough, Jiang Yuhuo's eyes lit up again.

"Does that girl want to learn from me?"

Jiang Yuhu nodded hurriedly, "Mhm."

Qingping couldn't help but pinch her cheek, a sly glint in her eyes. "Alright, then follow me and learn."

However, learning from her doesn't mean you can't go to His Highness to learn from her.

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Author's Note: I can't take it anymore! Whose female lead has 260,000 words and hasn't even kissed anyone yet?! When will our Xiao Jiang finally get a bite of fish? It's so hard! [crying emoji]