Chapter 54 Part 2

She had already learned why Ji Wuxin had appeared in the Merfolk Kingdom.

Recently, a new Return to Ruins Gap at Golden Core level had emerged near Thunder Crack Valley, but the Thunder Spine Sharks had not reported it to the Dragon Palace or registered it in the Tianyan Mirror.

Only after Ji Wuxin intervened did the Thunder Spine Sharks reluctantly open the Return to Ruins Gap to the public per the rules, allowing nearby itinerant demon cultivators, and even visiting human immortal, demonic, or ghostly path cultivators, to explore.

A Return to Ruins Gap was a prime spot for gaining experience, with a good chance of finding a Thunder Dragon Bone—how could Li Ruoshui miss it?

But merfolk and Thunder Spine Sharks were blood enemies, and Li Ruoshui’s hands were stained with their blood. Going to Thunder Crack Valley would be fraught with peril. At first, she had hoped to team up with Ji Wuxin—merfolk were unsuitable companions, but Ji Wuxin was different. As the nominal sovereign of the Origin Sea, the Dragon Lord lent the Young Lord Ji Wuxin some deterrent power. Unfortunately, Ji Wuxin was unwilling to go with her; she had her own plans.

Disappointed by the failed team-up, Li Ruoshui was still grateful that Ji Wuxin did not abandon her entirely, instead lending her an artifact to spare her buying disguise drugs and props from the market.

The artifact was called “Dragon God Transformation,” which could disguise her as any lesser demon under true dragons. Without heaven-piercing methods, Cave Heaven cultivators below that level could not detect the true form beneath Dragon God Transformation. But it had a fatal flaw: it could not be used in combat. Once fighting, the disguise failed to contain the leaking qi.

To true dragons, it was useless. But for Li Ruoshui, it allowed her to transform into the Silver Armor Daoist of the Thunder Spine Shark Clan and infiltrate the Return to Ruins Gap in Thunder Crack Valley. Once inside the chaotic mix, a simple change of appearance—who would know where she came from or what she had done?

The Thunder Spine Sharks’ territory bordered the Merfolk Kingdom, divided by seas grown with bioluminescent green algae.

Though most Thunder Spine Sharks lived in the water, having naturally taken human form, they emulated the Nine Provinces’ human cultivators, building pavilions and towers widely on islands. Yet compared to the merfolk’s exquisite elegance, the Thunder Spine Sharks’ architecture always carried a primal ruggedness and bloodiness, decorated with the hides and bones of prey.

Li Ruoshui borrowed the Dragon God Transformation to shift into her true form and stepped onto a crimson solitary island. It was not far from the Return to Ruins Gap in Thunder Crack Valley, but the island hosted a live volcano that spewed scorching, boiling lava amid fierce gales and blazing fires. The violent energy made it utterly unappealing to the Thunder Spine Sharks, so none of them ever came here. Even so, traces of passing cultivators lingered on the island, and faint strands of qi even halted at the volcano’s base. Li Ruoshui guessed that perhaps some daoists who cultivated fire-element qi had visited.

After circling the island once, Li Ruoshui took out a map and made a mark on it. Besides mountain ranges, waterways, and spirit veins, various cave openings also appeared marked on the map. If she were very unlucky and chased by Thunder Spine Sharks, this erupting volcanic island would become her first choice for hiding—at least for now.

Before heading to Thunder Crack Valley, she needed to scout the nearby seas and islands thoroughly. After all, the preaching standards here were even lower than in the Empire.

The sky was vast and hazy, with a bright moon hanging in the endless firmament, casting speckles of clear glow through the woods, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

The wind blew, causing the tree shadows to scatter and gather.

A bonfire blazed fiercely, and Li Ruoshui sat beside it, turning a skewer of grilled fish back and forth.

These silverfish had been caught from the sea, likely living near Thunder Crack Valley, their bodies tinged with the power of lightning. According to the merfolk recipes, silverfish could enhance resistance to thunder. Unfortunately, the ones that could be caught were just small fish swimming about everywhere, far inferior to a fish king in effect.

After sprinkling on spices, Li Ruoshui flipped the grilled fish again.

The seasonings she had obtained long ago from that daoist in the Taiyi Mountain woods—who looked exactly like Lian Rusu—had long been used up. What remained in her Universe Pouch were either herbs plucked from Yao Changliu or purchases from the merfolk market.

It was probably love at first sight turned lifelong regret; every time she saw the spices, she recalled that terrifying story from that night in the mountain woods.

Yet, that bloodstained face, cleansed by moonlight, seemed to shed a veil, revealing only a purity as bright as snow under the moon.

The mentally unstable Taiyi daoist—Chen Buyan—Lian Rusu.

How had they become completely equated?

Li Ruoshui sighed.

She reached into her Universe Pouch and took out the Tianyan Mirror.

Her consciousness sank into it, and there were a few messages, but none matched what she hoped for.

Lian Rusu still showed no activity.

When she was yearning for her, had Lian Rusu also felt her heart twisting like nine coils, gazing through autumn waters in longing?

After sighing a hundred or so times, a faint burnt smell wafted over.

Li Ruoshui glanced at the charred silverfish; her appetite vanished entirely. She tossed it into the bonfire, took out a talisman that transformed into a mat, and lay down right there. She casually pulled out a book and covered her face with it.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar qi drifted in from outside the woods.

Li Ruoshui instantly went on alert. She grabbed the book covering her face and hurled it like a flying dart toward the rustling in the underbrush. With a leap, she tensed her body, poised to strike.

“I disturbed Fellow Daoist; my apologies,” came the intruder’s mild voice. She caught the book Li Ruoshui had thrown and slowly stepped out from the shadows beyond the moonlight.

Li Ruoshui did not relax.

No malice or killing intent now did not mean there would be none in the next moment. She subtly sized up the daoist under the moonlight.

White silk ribbons bound her jet-black hair, and she wore snow-white robes purer than frost. Her figure was graceful, her steps leisurely and free, surrounded by a pure and righteous dao charm—she was a human cultivator of the immortal dao. Li Ruoshui’s gaze slowly shifted to the utterly ordinary face: young and plain.

A moment later, Li Ruoshui looked down.

She quickly sensed something unusual.

What was off? In just a blink, she could no longer recall the person’s appearance, as if she had never seen it.

This person hid her true visage just like Li Ruoshui did, but her methods were far more exquisite.

The plain daoist held the book in one hand, her gaze dropping to linger on the title for a moment, a subtle expression flashing in her eyes. But she concealed it swiftly. She extended the book forward and said warmly, “Fellow Daoist’s book.”

Li Ruoshui retrieved it with her qi and only then clearly saw the title—Days and Nights with the Vicious Junior Sister.

Li Ruoshui: “…” A weird embarrassment arose, gradually spreading through her limbs.

Something was wrong.

How could she feel embarrassed in front of a stranger?!!

Li Ruoshui looked up again to scrutinize the daoist, but no matter how she tried to recall, all impressions related to her scattered like reflections in water, dissipating completely with a gust of wind.

“How should I address Fellow Daoist?” Li Ruoshui asked with a smile.

The woman claimed to have disturbed her but showed no intention of leaving, instead standing silently—perhaps waiting for Li Ruoshui to continue the conversation? Fine, then, as she wished.

The plain daoist blinked. “Wu… Chen.”

Li Ruoshui’s eyelids twitched.

Her thoughts had been circling Chen Buyan, so hearing “Wuchen” made it hard not to connect them.

A coincidence?

“Meeting by chance is fate; how about exchanging name seals?” Li Ruoshui kept her expression calm, feigning serenity.

The self-proclaimed Wuchen daoist shook her head. “I didn’t bring my Tianyan Mirror.”

“Hm?” Li Ruoshui raised a brow. “Not long ago, the sects of the Nine Provinces reached a consensus: whether secluded in your abode or traveling abroad, everyone must leave their qi intent in the Tianyan Mirror to bind a name seal. You know, there’s only one kind of existence in this world that can completely forgo the Tianyan Mirror. And right now, a new Return to Ruins Gap has opened in Thunder Spine Shark Territory—Fellow Daoist, don’t you think I should suspect you?”

The Spirit Identification Divine Ability could reveal a ruin spirit’s true form. Li Ruoshui knew the plain daoist before her had nothing to do with ruin spirits; she was just scaring her opportunistically.

Wuchen daoist fell silent for a moment before saying, “I was inconsiderate. When I reach the market, I’ll buy a new Tianyan Mirror from the Heavenly Craft Workshop.”

Li Ruoshui paused; this tone of speech, like her name, carried a strangely familiar vibe.

The more she thought… the more this person resembled her former close friend? But she had barely spoken face-to-face with that friend—how could she claim familiarity?

Had she waited too long for news, letting daytime fantasies erode her mind?

What kind of person was Lian Rusu? How could she possibly appear here?

But since she had shown up at the Path of No Return and White Sun Town, appearing in the Origin Sea wasn’t so strange, was it?

Li Ruoshui shook off the absurd thoughts surfacing in her mind, suppressed that trace of anticipation, and continued indifferently, “Could Fellow Daoist be a wild cultivator from some deep mountain forest? Out traveling for the first time?”

Wuchen daoist did not want to lie but also did not speak the truth. She shook her head. “No.”

Li Ruoshui’s eyes lit up with a dogged persistence to get to the bottom of it. “Then which sect? She tapped her silver armor, quickly slipping into the role of a Thunder Spine Shark guard, declaring righteously, “This is Thunder Spine Shark territory; I have a duty to question suspicious passing daoists.”

“I haven’t demanded a road toll, nor peddled Redemption Talismans. Surely Fellow Daoist won’t make things difficult for me.”

Wuchen daoist gazed at Li Ruoshui and said warmly, “Even if I told you my sect, would that clear my suspicion? How would you know if I was lying? Your questioning doesn’t add up; it’s not from the heart.”

Waves surged in Li Ruoshui’s heart. She cleared her throat. “I’d verify with a true person from Fellow Daoist’s sect. Until then, how could I treat you like a criminal?”

Wuchen daoist replied, “As far as I know, the Thunder Spine Sharks haven’t established relations with the Nine Provinces’ land sects. Matters in the Origin Sea have always been handled by the Dragon Palace. By the time you verified, I’d have bought a new Tianyan Mirror to prove myself.”

Li Ruoshui: “…” Too cunning—how was she supposed to counter that!

“I have my ways; don’t worry about it.” After a pause, Li Ruoshui added, “Your tone suggests you’re quite knowledgeable about the Nine Provinces mainland? Then do you know Taiyi Sect?”

Wuchen daoist blinked. “One of the Kyushu Immortal Dao Seven Sects—who on the path doesn’t know?”

Li Ruoshui pressed, “What about the Taiyi Sect Master?”

Wuchen daoist: “One of Taiyi’s four Cave Heaven venerables.”

Such an answer was as good as none, and evasion sometimes pointed to the truth.

Li Ruoshui slowly stowed the storybook back into her Universe Pouch. She stared fixedly at Wuchen daoist and, amid a sigh, asked her final question: “What about Chen Buyan?”