So in her previous life… she had deliberately distanced herself from her, simply because this little sister couldn’t compare to family interests in her heart, let alone her blood-related cousins?
Lu Mingyi let out a soft hum. She took out some ointment and bandages from her Storage Ring and applied them to her wounds.
At the same time, she thought: Lu Mingyi and Xiao Yuxie were fellow disciples, so she overlooked those behaviors that could be called exploitation and substitution out of their century-old bond. But now, she had been reborn as “Jing Yao.”
What relation did she have with Xiao Yuxie now? They were mere strangers who had crossed paths by chance!
Gazing at the wound on her wrist, Lu Mingyi’s expression remained indifferent. She only thought that if she encountered Xiao Yuxie again, she wouldn’t show any mercy.
Even if Xiao Yuxie had cut her herself, so what?
These five gashes—she would return them tooth for a tooth, personally delivering them to the Xiao Family Head and her dear cousin.
As for Shen Mingzheng…
Thinking of that person brought Gu Li to Lu Mingyi’s mind more than anything.
If it had been anyone else who obtained Gu Li, even if its sword spirit was dead, Lu Mingyi would have snatched it back.
But Shen Mingzheng had gone so far as to completely alter her own spiritual power circulation, even taking pills to suppress her Spiritual Root, all to sustain Gu Li’s sword spirit.
Truth be told, even if Lu Mingyi herself tried to use Gu Li now, it wouldn’t be easy to make the sword spirit recognize its former master—who had changed her appearance and even her Spiritual Root.
Yet why was Shen Mingzheng so obsessed with utterly denying her existence? And why, upon suspecting her identity, had she revealed such a complicated expression?
Lu Mingyi could only sigh at the thought.
That Shen Mingzheng had taken Gu Li, kept its sword spirit intact, and could still wield its divine might was perhaps the only consoling thing in all this.
In the end, she felt it was best to avoid encountering Shen Mingzheng from now on.
Gu Li had already concealed her identity for her—let Shen Mingzheng continue believing she was dead.
As Lu Mingyi sat in the tree adjusting her breathing, she happened to glimpse two women in dark long robes threading through the dim, canopy-shrouded jungle. Long sabers hung at their waists, and the steadier-looking one of the two held a Night-Luminous Pearl to light the path ahead.
Studying their attire, Lu Mingyi pondered for a moment and recalled that this was the sect uniform of a southwestern sect—the Tianyan Sect.
In her memories, Tianyan Sect was only a mid-tier sect, but it was renowned across the Nine Provinces for one thing: its domineering and ruthless Heavenly Evolution Blade Technique.
In the Nine Provinces Grand Competition from her previous life, which she had spectated, she had witnessed the power of that blade technique firsthand. In her opinion, it was hardly inferior to the Taiqing Sect’s Taiqing Sword Art.
Seeing the two women move through the jungle unscathed, Lu Mingyi figured this area posed no great danger. She took out a low-grade Spirit Gathering Pill, closed her eyes, and prepared to rest and restore her spiritual power.
During this time, she faintly overheard their hushed conversation below:
“Senior Sister, are we really on the right track? The spiritual energy here is so dense, yet there isn’t a single spirit beast… I’m a bit worried…”
“It should be this way. If we don’t find it today, we’ll find a comfortable spot to rest for the night and search again tomorrow.”
Lu Mingyi cracked her eyes open a sliver, watching the two figures who leaned on each other so trustingly. A flood of past scenes flashed before her eyes.
In her previous life, she had entered Secret Realms multiple times and shared such intimacy with those people, entrusting her back to them without a care.
The past one hundred and eighty years—enough time for vast changes in the mortal world—had altered many things. For instance, Xiao Yuxie had become family head and her hair had turned white; Shen Mingzheng had become a Sword Cultivator with two swords at her side.
Yet those deeply rooted thorns embedded in the heart seemed to have changed little.
The setting sun on the horizon dyed the Secret Realm a bloody red, a few rays piercing through the dense canopy. Lu Mingyi shook her head with a smile, banishing those fluctuating thoughts from her mind.
She thought that perhaps this encounter today was meant to sever her completely from the past—including Gu Li.
Just as Lu Mingyi prepared to hunt for dinner amid the last rays of dusk, a faint chill touched her wrist, reminding her of something she had overlooked.
When Xiao Yuxie had freed her from the Water Prison earlier, she had felt a strange sensation flicker across her wrist.
Looking now, the skin there was still fair and smooth. Pressing her fingertip against it yielded a slight coolness—seemingly nothing amiss.
But Lu Mingyi smiled faintly. She rubbed her fingertip over it carefully and found the boundary between cool and warm. With a slight press, she peeled away from her wrist a thin… sheet of pale blue water.
Seeing this thing, Lu Mingyi blinked, a touch of nostalgia mixing with mostly exasperation.
This was something she and Xiao Yuxie had often played with back in the Taiqing Sect days.
In her early days joining the Taiqing Sect, Lu Mingyi found the place absurdly vast. She roamed everywhere but often got lost. Xiao Yuxie, tasked with watching over her, had to cultivate and handle family matters, unable to follow her constantly, yet worried she couldn’t find her.
So Xiao Yuxie invented a little spell.
She would condense a gossamer-thin sheet of water with her spiritual power and attach it anywhere on Lu Mingyi’s body—it didn’t get in the way. She could sense its position in real time, making it easy to retrieve the playful Lu Mingyi from outside.
The sheet was cool by nature, perfect for cooling Lu Mingyi’s forehead or neck in summer. In winter, Xiao Yuxie would warm it to keep her from getting chilled, even using it as a hand warmer.
Back then, Lu Mingyi just had to stroke the smooth sheet three times, and soon Xiao Yuxie would appear to take her home. It gave her a profound sense of security, letting her play freely around the Taiqing Sect every day.
But after Lu Mingyi reached Foundation Establishment Third Layer and learned to fly on her sword, the spell fell out of use. Xiao Yuxie never employed it on her again.
Seeing this water sheet now, Lu Mingyi didn’t think of that nonexistent security. Instead: Just how much does this face of mine resemble her dead wife? She’s not letting me go!
Utterly speechless, Lu Mingyi pinched the sheet between her fingertips, intending to discard it somewhere to throw Xiao Yuxie off.
But unexpectedly, the thin rectangular sheet suddenly transformed into a slender little water snake. It coiled around her wrist, gazing up at her while blinking its eyes and flicking its tail across her skin.
A cool, faintly ticklish sensation spread from her flesh.
Lu Mingyi’s expression shifted slightly. She leaned closer to observe the snake, frowning faintly. “…What are you?”
To her surprise, as she drew near, the snake ducked its head shyly and closed its eyes.
The water’s chill began to warm gradually.
Lu Mingyi: “…”
She examined the snake again. It had formed from Xiao Yuxie’s water sheet; it seemed to have some intelligence, though not much; it emanated spiritual power fluctuations…
Pondering, Lu Mingyi tried channeling a bit of her spiritual power into the water snake. To her shock, it reacted even more intensely, its body trembling lightly, the subtle sensation transmitting from their point of contact.
Seeing this, an answer flashed in Lu Mingyi’s mind like a bolt from the blue.
Staring at the dainty water snake quivering on her wrist, recalling her earlier infusion of spiritual power, she felt both awkward and mortified. Gritting her teeth, she said, “You’re Xiao Yuxie’s Split Soul?!”
Upon hearing Lu Mingyi’s words, the snake finally cracked open its tightly shut eyes timidly. Though made of water, it somehow managed tears welling in the corners.
Lu Mingyi: “…Xiao Yuxie?”
She called out, and the snake snapped its eyes shut again with a swish, coiling tighter and pressing its body closer.
Lu Mingyi: “…”
How could this not be Xiao Yuxie’s thing?!
In the Cultivation World, where people lived for centuries at least, there was always too much to handle, leaving one spread too thin. Thus, high-level cultivators would forge objects—often animals, though some chose unique forms—with their spiritual power to bear a fragment of their Divine Soul. Once the Divine Soul entered, it could be controlled like a partial avatar.
But since it was merely the Divine Soul attached, these were called “Split Souls” in the Cultivation World.
A cultivator’s Divine Soul was exceedingly precious; any damage could cause irreparable harm. Thus, only those with sufficiently powerful and resilient Divine Souls dared to create one. Most avoided it.
Those with insufficient cultivation starting a Split Soul had to begin with a feeble fragment and refine it gradually as their realm advanced.
That Xiao Yuxie, at Nascent Soul Stage, could already forge a Split Soul was surprising enough—but this droplet was clearly in its nascent stage, and she dared to use it?
What Lu Mingyi found even harder to accept was that she had unknowingly channeled spiritual power directly into it!
For cultivators, one Divine Soul receiving another’s spiritual power was something only the most intimate relationships allowed!
Lu Mingyi nearly laughed from sheer exasperation. Who would’ve thought the shrewd, self-serving Xiao Yuxie would one day lose her head like this, placing her fragile Split Soul on a “enemy”?!
She smiled sweetly, though a threatening aura leaked out. “A Split Soul, huh?”
The water snake shrank back at her approach but then poked its head out ingratiatingly, extending a pale blue, transparent tongue with a tiny fork at the tip. It gently licked across the wound on Lu Mingyi’s wrist.
A strong tingling itch surged from her wrist. The spot touched by the snake’s tongue healed in an instant.
Lu Mingyi narrowed her eyes at the sight.
Was Xiao Yuxie’s Split Soul… using its Divine Soul power to heal her wounds?
Using one’s precious Divine Soul to heal another was exceedingly rare.
After licking the wound clean, the little snake opened its round eyes wide. From cool to lukewarm, its temperature now grew even warmer, snugly enveloping Lu Mingyi’s wrist.
It rubbed its head against her, seemingly seeking praise—or a reward.
