"Is that so?" The man called Divine Venerable raised his head slightly, his brush trembling, spilling ink all over the table.
"Divine Venerable, it is absolutely true." The heavenly soldier's face showed excitement as he presented a scroll: "This is the mortal location I found."
The man reached out to take it with some eagerness, and just as he was about to say something, the sound of a celestial attendant bowing was heard from outside:
"Greetings, Lingruo Shangshen."
As the celestial attendant's voice faded, a maiden with exquisite beauty, dressed in a flowing, gradient pink-blue celestial gown, walked in.
She exuded an ethereal aura, her skin as smooth as congealed fat, her nails dyed a light pink with flower petals, impossibly beautiful.
Upon closer inspection, her features bore an eight-tenths resemblance to the man known as Divine Venerable.
"Oh, the renowned Siqing Divine Venerable, what are you busy with?" the maiden asked, looking at the man. "We've been siblings for so long, can't you still accept me as family?"
"You are not my sister at all," Siqing said with disgust. "Please have some self-respect."
"But this body belongs to your sister," Lingruo raised an eyebrow, her expression arrogant. "Moreover, I've said it many times, I didn't possess her, but destiny willed me to inhabit this body. Your sister's body was destined to be mine. Who told me I'm a transmigator? This world is in my hands."
"I don't understand what you mean by 'transmigrator,' nor do I wish to know," Siqing said with a cold face, channeling divine power into his hand. "If you don't leave, don't blame me for being impolite."
"Siqing, you!" Lingruo clutched her skirt, fearing the divine power in Siqing's hand, and had to take a step back, a hint of anger appearing on her face.
"Are you going to get out or not?" Siqing narrowed his eyes.
Lingruo pursed her lips, her eyes reddening as she turned and ran out crying.
The heavenly soldier stood by, quickly bowing. After Lingruo had run far away, he cautiously asked Siqing, "Divine Venerable, is it truly alright to disregard Lingruo Shangshen?"
"There's nothing that isn't alright," Siqing said, his face icy as he gripped the scroll. "We leave now."
The heavenly soldier hesitated.
"Divine Venerable, is it not improper for you to descend to the mortal realm privately like this? Your sister has now reincarnated as Yan Zhenjing, with the full name Qi Yu. Why don't you also find a way to split a wisp of your divine consciousness into a celestial artifact and use its convenience to visit the mortal realm?"
Siqing heard this and thought carefully, finding it reasonable. He looked around, his gaze finally settling on a round mirror placed on the table. He pointed with his index finger, splitting a portion of his divine consciousness into it, and then cast the mirror, along with the scroll, down into the Celestial Pool.
...
In the cultivation world, at the Beiyuan Sect.
Three days had passed since their return from Mount Buzhou.
Although they had returned together, Qi Yu had been using the persona of Pavilion Master Yu at the time.
Therefore, Li Yu, using the excuse of her having sneaked out to play, had punished her by making her copy the sect rules.
Qi Yu rested her chin on her hand.
She certainly wouldn't copy them diligently.
But she couldn't avoid copying them either.
So, in the end, Qi Yu simply paid money to buy a copy of the sect rules that had already been transcribed from other senior disciples, presenting it as her own work.
However, although the punishment of copying was resolved, to deceive them, Qi Yu had stayed obediently in her room for the past three days, making Li Yu and the others believe she was diligently copying.
This method was indeed effective in avoiding punishment and being discovered slacking off. The only drawback was how incredibly boring it was.
It was so boring that Qi Yu felt like she was losing her mind.
Thinking of this, Qi Yu lay on her couch, hugging a pillow, and rolled over. Her gaze was vacant as she looked up at the ceiling.
On the table beside her, the Divine Flower Mother and Infant Li poked a bud out of a storage pouch on the table. It swayed back and forth inside the pouch, seemingly trying to stretch itself higher. However, its stem was too short, and after trying for a long time, it couldn't emerge from the storage pouch. Finally, it used its side branches to pull itself out of the soil. It swayed precariously, twined around Qi Yu's fingertip, and then shrunk and shrunk until it transformed from a flower into a small finger ring made of vines, adorned with small white flowers.
Qi Yu looked speechless, raised her arm, and wiggled her little finger. "Aren't you a divine flower? You're so clingy... Besides, you didn't need soil before? Won't you wither? Huh, where are your roots? Did you hide them?"
As she spoke, she pinched the vine of Mother and Infant Li and searched everywhere. Seeing that she couldn't find them, she gave up. She tugged at her sleeve, hiding the little finger that the divine flower was clinging to, to avoid being discovered.
Just then, footsteps were suddenly heard from outside.
Someone gently knocked on the door.
Qi Yu called out, "Enter."
Outside, Ming Lou peeked his head around cautiously, a smiling expression on his face. "Junior Brother Qi Yu, there's someone claiming to be your brother over at the Master's place, clamoring to see you. He's said to be a congenital spiritual artifact as well."
"...Brother?" Qi Yu was completely bewildered. Pulled by Ming Lou, she walked out of the room. "How come I don't know I have a brother? Where did he come from?"