Chapter 166 After being distracted:

When Rong Xie heard Shen Bingsi mention Xiaozhi, his heart tightened at first, then relaxed.

His guess was so bizarre, yet upon closer examination it made perfect sense, leaving Rong Xie speechless.

“Alright, no need to tell me,” Shen Bingsi held up her palm, indicating that Rong Xie didn’t need to explain. “Elder Bai must have made some kind of confidentiality oath with you. I understand that you can’t tell me. However, Elder Bai’s bad idea can be discarded.”

As they spoke, the Yunmeng boat landed, and Rong Xie helped Shen Bingsi down.

"Junior Brother Rong!" The guide parted the Dao Palace disciples and came to Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi, leading them into the center of the crowd—the location of Elder Bai.

Two healers circled around Elder Bai. One placed a healing orb on him, while the other wrote a prescription with a flourish, then transformed it into a paper crane. He cast a spell, and the paper crane flapped its wings and flew into the air, presumably to get the medicine from the pharmacy.

Under the doctor's diligent treatment, Elder Bai slowly woke up, but his chest injury was too severe, and he was still on the verge of death, unable to speak normally.

"Junior Brother Rong, you've come at the right time. Who exactly injured the elder like this? Did you see it?" the guide asked.

“It is a mimosa flower demon.” Rong Xie thought for a moment, covered up the small branch part, and only said that it was a flower demon that suddenly appeared in the Dao Palace. He then described its appearance to everyone, “It is very powerful. It releases a fragrance that smells like roses. Anyone who smells the fragrance will be controlled by it.”

“Yes, I saw it too,” Shen Bingsi testified to Rong Xie.

"A mimosa flower demon?" "What kind of monster is that?" "This is the heart of our sect's territory, how could a monster have broken in?"

The disciples of the Dao Palace began to discuss the matter in a panic. It was no wonder that they were panicking. In the heart of the Xuan Tian Sect, no monsters had appeared for hundreds of years. The last time a monster appeared was during the war between gods and demons.

This is not a good sign.

In the midst of the chaos, the healer who was treating Elder Bai looked up and said, "Elder Bai seems to have something to say."

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the Dao Palace fell silent.

The guide knelt beside Elder Bai, lowered his ear to Elder Bai's lips, and while listening, conveyed Elder Bai's meaning to everyone:

"Elder Bai said that the one who injured him was indeed a mimosa flower demon. That demon is extremely cunning. Go and inform the sect leader immediately. Everyone else, go and search for the demon's whereabouts. Junior Brother Rong, you and Shen Jiansheng stay behind."

"Yes!" Everyone accepted the order and left, leaving only two healers, the guide, and Rong Chen inside the Dao Palace.

"Junior Brother Rong, Elder Bai is being entrusted to you for now. He wants to have a private talk with you." The guide said, getting up and leading the two medical cultivators away.

Rong Xie approached Elder Bai.

Elder Bai said weakly, "Ying Qi..."

Rong Xie was puzzled. He was Rong Xie, could Elder Bai have mistaken him for someone else?

"Ying Qi has successfully attained enlightenment... Now, he is a powerful being at the Nascent Soul stage! No one can... expel him anymore..."

After saying that, Elder Bai showed a gratified smile.

Rong Xie: "..."

Elder Bai, what time is it? You're still bragging about your prized student!

“Rong Xie, you said…” Elder Bai paused, “He can understand me, right?”

Rong Xie frowned, craning his neck to listen for a long time, hoping Elder Bai could say something useful: "I think... I should be able to."

"That's good," Elder Bai breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

“No, Elder Bai, the most urgent thing now is to catch up with Xiaozhi,” Rong Xie said in a low voice. Shen Bingsi clearly heard him. He shifted his weight to his other leg and glanced in their direction, but Rong Xie didn’t care. “Xiaozhi is still here. I saw him. But since he left the Spirit Locking Array, his spirit body is constantly dissipating. We must find him quickly!”

"It's too late..." Elder Bai sighed, looking up at the sky. "That flower demon is extremely powerful. Unless Ying Qi is here..."

"I'm going to find Lu Yingqi!" Rong Xie straightened up.

"No!" Elder Bai, drawing strength from who-knows-where, grabbed Rong Xie's arm, aggravating his wound, and gasped for breath again. "We can't... we can't let Ying Qi know..."

As they were speaking, a beam of white light shot from afar, striking the open space in front of the Dao Palace gate.

The impact of the spiritual energy startled everyone present.

As soon as he was told to arrive, Lu Yingqi stepped out of the white light and came before Elder Bai and Rong Xie.

His gaze was even more indifferent than before, like a deity on an altar.

His indifferent gaze swept over Rong Xie and Elder Bai: "Master."

Elder Bai was overjoyed and tried to get up, but several of his ribs were broken, so he couldn't get up at all. After struggling, he fell back down in pain, gasping for breath.

Seeing that Elder Bai was in bad shape, Rong Xie quickly stood up: "Elder Bai was attacked by a flower demon. A healer just helped treat him, but his injuries are too severe—"

Lu Yingqi stood still, showing no intention of checking Elder Bai's injuries.

"Since there are healers available, I won't interfere," Lu Yingqi said calmly. "Where's Xiaozhi?"

Rong Xie was taken aback.

"I heard you talking," Lu Yingqi said. "What flower fairy? What does it look like?"

Rong Xie felt an indescribable feeling. Lu Yingqi knew that Xiao Zhi was not dead, but he neither showed joy nor excitement. It was as if he had learned something that had nothing to do with him.

Is this what happens when you cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness? Yes, one who governs the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth cannot have personal feelings—but is this still human? What difference is there between this and a stone?

Rong Xie described the flower fairy's appearance, and Lu Yingqi nodded and turned to leave.

"Ying Qi!" Elder Bai struggled to shout as he regained some strength, "You can't go! You can't get involved in other people's karma anymore!"

"..." Lu Yingqi paused slightly, but did not turn around. "This is not someone else's karma, it is my own. I will end my own karma."

Having said that, a beam of white light shot straight into the air like lightning, distorting the surrounding space. The straight beam of light turned into an arc of light—a unique action method of the Nascent Soul stage, shrinking the earth to become an existence! In an instant, one can reach the destination.

Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief. Now that Lu Yingqi had gone, he should be able to rescue Xiaozhi.

“I have to say,” Shen Bingsi, who had been observing from the sidelines, came to Rong Xie’s side with her sword in hand, her eyes still fixed on the direction Lu Yingqi had left, “Old Bai’s Dao-proving formation is indeed quite powerful. Lu Yingqi is already in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, isn’t he?”

"Late stage of Nascent Soul?" Rong Xie thought it was mid-stage Nascent Soul, but it seems he was being conservative in his estimation.

"Heh...hehe, he's in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm!" Elder Bai, with a burst of energy from who knows where, was able to interject again. "Looking across the cultivation world, the powerhouses at the Integration and Dao Proving stages only exist in legends. Right now, the one closest to being a legend is Ying Qi!"

"..."

Seeing how energetic Elder Bai became when he mentioned Lu Yingqi, and recalling Lu Yingqi's indifferent demeanor just now, Rong Xie felt a mix of emotions upon comparing the two.

Lu Yingqi will only become more and more unemotional. His indifference to Elder Bai's serious injuries is just the beginning. Just as Elder Bai himself said, he can no longer interfere in other people's karma...

The fact that Elder Bai could be so overjoyed shows that he truly loves mentoring disciples.

"What's so great about him? He's just a lone wolf," Shen Bingsi said dismissively.

"Huh? What's wrong with being a lone wolf? Aren't we cultivators of the Path of Ruthlessness aiming to be lone wolves?" Elder Bai said in surprise. "Shen Bing Si, aren't you always arrogant? Now you're actually looking down on others for being lone wolves? I think you're just jealous!"

Shen Bingsi is always sharp-tongued, and she will definitely refute her opponent into silence at this time, especially since her opponent is an old man who is seriously injured and panting.

But he just smiled and didn't argue.

Rong Xie looked at Shen Bingsi and felt that after his Dao Heart was shattered, some of his temperament seemed to have changed, becoming... more likable.

"Elder Bai, you promised me before that you would tell me Elder Hong's location after the matter was completed so that I could find him smoothly. Can you tell me now?" Rong Xie asked.

Shen Bingsi also pricked up her ears and moved closer.

"Cough cough... You want to know now? Wait until I recover..."

"By the time you recover, the grass on my grave will be three feet tall." Shen Bingsi leaned down, getting close to Elder Bai. "Speak quickly!"

"..."

Fortunately, the Dao Palace cultivators had all been dismissed by Elder Bai, and the guide absolutely trusted Rong Xie. Otherwise, they would have witnessed Rong Xie and Shen Bing Si joining forces to interrogate an injured old man—was this a moral decline or a breakdown of ethics?

Elder Bai intermittently revealed Elder Hong's whereabouts. Although they had not been in contact for many years, based on Elder Bai's understanding of Elder Hong, the Hehuan Sect should not have changed much from fifty years ago.

When Elder Hong left to take charge of the Hehuan Sect, he invited Elder Bai to join him. Elder Bai secretly visited the Hehuan Sect, but ultimately refused Elder Hong with a high-sounding excuse. From then on, the two went their separate ways. Elder Hong regarded Elder Bai as a traitor and the Wuqing Dao Palace as a den of hypocrites, refusing to associate with anyone from the Wuqing Dao Palace.

"In that case, Elder Hong is quite reasonable," Shen Bingsi commented.

"Hmph, young and ignorant. What goodness and hypocrisy you talk about are just excuses you make for yourselves." Elder Bai sneered. "I've told you everything I know. You've chosen the evil path over the righteous one, and that's your own choice."

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder Bai. We'll be going now." Shen Bingsi pulled Rong Xie, and the two stood up.

"Hey, wait a minute—" Elder Bai didn't expect them to leave so readily. "You're leaving already? You haven't even attended Ying Qi's victory celebration banquet yet!"

Shen Bingsi ran away even faster.

The two reached the gate, and Rong Xie told the guide that they were leaving. Although the guide was surprised, he did not ask any questions and led the healer back to Elder Bai's side.

The two walked out of the Taoist palace, and before they had taken two steps, a white arc of light shot out from a distance, distorting the surrounding space. It was Lu Yingqi who had returned.

Rong Xie's heart tightened, and he stared intently into the distorted space. He only saw Lu Yingqi returning alone, but he did not see Xiaozhi's soul.

"Where's Xiaozhi?" Rong Xie asked hurriedly.

Lu Yingqi's indifferent gaze finally showed a slight fluctuation. He looked up at Rong Xie, his eyes seemingly filled with incomprehension and confusion.

He raised his hand and grabbed at the air, and Rong Xie flew over involuntarily: "Come with me."

"What are you doing?" Rong Xie struggled.

"Rong'er!" Shen Bingsi rushed up from behind.

He didn't explain, but simply led Rong Xie into the distorted space, taking Shen Bingsi, who was clinging tightly to Rong Xie's arm, with him as well.

The surrounding environment turned into a blur, and the next moment, Rong Xie arrived at the edge of a rocky cliff. A bright moon hung high, illuminating the situation at the top of the cliff clearly.

Xiaozhi's spirit stood on the edge of the cliff, sideways, with her eyes lowered. Apart from her body being semi-transparent, she was no different from when she was alive.

Behind him, above the cliff, a giant flower head emitting an eerie red light floated in the void, its petals opening and closing as if it were breathing with life.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that Xiaozhi and the mimosa flower spirit behind him are connected by countless red threads. Red light continuously flows from the mimosa flower plate into Xiaozhi, as if it is keeping his spirit from dissipating.

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I'm the daily update maniac! [Sprinkling flowers]