Through the “Light-Splitting Mirror,” Li Xun watched the sect’s disciples greet Gu Pin’er like a hero as they welcomed her back. He took it all in, then smiled. Yet even he couldn’t tell how much genuine satisfaction was left in that smile.
At that moment, he suddenly realized that for most of their reunion, he had been treating Gu Pin’er as nothing more than another Nethermyst Puppet to be used.
But Gu Pin’er wasn’t a puppet. No matter what stubbornness or fixations she carried in her heart, she was still a person. A woman with her own thoughts, feelings, hopes, and ambitions.
Her insistence on returning was, in its own way, just another path toward fulfilling those ambitions. Just like someone else...
Shifting the Light-Splitting Mirror almost absentmindedly, Li Xun looked out across tens of thousands of li, where one disturbance faded only for another to rise. He forced himself to shake off the pointless melancholy.
Before long, he caught sight of something truly curious.
It looked like a square block of wood, no bigger than a palm, its surface pitch-black with a strange, shifting sheen.
The “wood” was circling above the forest like a headless fly. Li Xun raised a brow in surprise. “A Flying Soul Decree?”
Of course he recognized it. It was a spirit tool used within the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect to send messages across great distances, much like the sword talismans of the orthodox sects. By locking onto the recipient’s aura through subtle resonances, it could cross vast distances and still unerringly deliver its message.
But judging by the way it was moving, this Flying Soul Decree seemed to have lost its target. Now that was interesting... wait... lost.
With a single thought, the qi mechanism around Mist-Hidden Pavilion suddenly shifted. It was as if a tiny hole had opened in the void, and the next instant, the Flying Soul Decree from hundreds of li away slipped through and fell neatly into his hand.
Such was the wonder of the pavilion’s restrictions.
What made Mist-Hidden Pavilion one of the Six Forbidden Lands in the Tongxuan Realm, passed down by word of mouth for countless ages, and what drove countless masters to bloody battles over it, wasn’t just its ability to hide treasures away in unreachable pockets of void.
You could say that the moment you stepped into the Southeastern Forest Sea, you were already within the pavilion’s sphere of control.
Of course, across such a vast woodland, that control could never match the effortless precision he had within the sealed grotto-heaven itself. Still, minor feats like storing items in the void or retrieving them from a thousand li away were things he could do with ease.
That little trial run lightened Li Xun’s mood a bit. His gaze fell on the Flying Soul Decree, and just as he expected, it had been meant for him all along.
It was only because he had already entered the Mist-Hidden Grotto Heaven, cut off from the outside qi mechanism, that things had played out as they did.
He wondered how many days had already passed since the message was first sent.
Using a secret technique of his sect, Li Xun instantly grasped the contents of the decree.
It had been sent by Madam Yan seven days earlier. In it, she said she was well aware of his deeds in the southeastern forest and praised him highly for striking a heavy blow against their sworn enemy, the Underworld Monarch Sect. After page upon page of accolades, she finally added that she would soon send her disciple, Yan Cai’er, to the forest to discuss certain matters with him.
“The sect does keep itself well informed. But since there’s no mention of Mist-Hidden Pavilion in here, what exactly are they sending someone for?”
As he mulled it over, the weight in his hand suddenly vanished. The Flying Soul Decree had been snatched away by Shui Die Lan, who had just stepped in.
Over the past few days, Shui Die Lan had been so enthralled with the Mist-Hidden Grotto Heaven that she hardly wanted to leave. After learning the workings of most of the restrictions, she spent her time wandering between the manor houses she had built within, looking for the best places to cultivate.
Her appearance here today took Li Xun by surprise.
Curious about the message on the decree, Shui Die Lan asked, “What does it say?”
There was no need to keep it from her, so Li Xun gave her a simple account. She broke into a mischievous laugh. “Your sect sure does get its news fast!”
At first it seemed they were of one mind, but soon her words carried a different edge. “You know," she said, "I remember you were just prominent disciple from one of the major families in the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect. You might stand out, but there are plenty above you… that could be trouble.”
Li Xun gave her a sidelong glance, a small smile playing on his lips. “I haven’t been in the sect long. It’s only natural that others try to keep me in check.”
“But now that we have this bond, if they control you, doesn’t that mean they’re controlling me too?” Shui Die Lan shot back, full of confidence.
“Since Ghoul-Devouring Sect split away, the only ones of note on your side were Master Ghost and the Underworld Flame Yama. But Mister Ghost is already dead, and Yama’s life hangs by a thread. And you still have the leisure to worry about being constrained by the rest of them?”
Her words danced between jest and seriousness, and Li Xun couldn’t help but think of the ruthless, life-or-death scheming that had passed between them just a few days ago. The contrast made the moment feel both absurd and oddly amusing.
Whatever foundation this strange atmosphere rested on, he found himself enjoying it all the same.
“It’s just a title. Look around the sect; who can actually control me?” He paused, then added, “Judging by the timing, the messenger should be arriving soon. I’ll go take a look. What about you? Want to come along?”
“Of course. Things outside this hidden domain are a mess, and who knows what might happen. For the sake of my own life, I’d better see it with my own eyes.”
Shui Die Lan made no pretense of politeness, and to Li Xun it seemed her reasoning was sincere. With a great fiend like her traveling at his side, he had far less to worry about, so of course he saw no reason to refuse.
With a single thought, the Splitting-Light Mirror revealed its power once again. Its surface rippled like flowing water, and in an instant the surrounding tens of thousands of li unfolded in perfect detail before his eyes.
Standing there, it felt as though he were perched atop a towering peak, overlooking all beneath heaven. Everything seemed to lie within his grasp. The exhilaration was so overwhelming that no words could ever overstate it.
Suddenly the image froze. Li Xun gazed at a familiar figure on the mirror’s surface, and a smile touched his lips. With a flick of his sleeve, he dismissed the mirror and stepped out of the pavilion.
Silent as a shadow, he appeared deep within the forest, Shui Die Lan following close behind. She clicked her tongue in awe, unable to stop praising the Mist-Hidden Pavilion’s ingenious restrictions. “If I had to fight in the southeastern woods, even if Zhong Yin came flying down from the heavens, I wouldn’t be afraid. Of course, that’s only if I had your kind of mastery over these restrictive arts!”
It was an amusing compliment. Or at least something he could call a compliment. To Li Xun, her words sounded more like a not-so-subtle push for him to hurry up and explain the workings of the pavilion’s mysteries. Clearly, the embarrassment of being at someone else’s mercy was not something she intended to put up with for long.
Already planning a hundred years ahead, was she?
Li Xun only answered Shui Die Lan’s thoughts with a small smile. At the same time, he flexed his wrist, and a clear ding-ding echoed rhythmically through the void. Lifting his hand slightly, he looked at the token that marked his status as a disciple of a great family line. The Seven Ghost Bells.
On its surface, an abstract glyph formed the face of a ghost. The eyes of that ghost cracked open just a sliver, two faint red lights pulsing in a steady rhythm. As a scion of Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect, Li Xun could read the flicker’s cadence, telling him exactly how far away his fellow disciple was.
The target was less than five li ahead.
He wasted no time. Slipping through the dense canopy, he twisted and turned like a silent bat in flight. In the blink of an eye he closed the distance, then burst forward at sudden speed just as he reached his mark.
“Ah!”
A startled cry rang out from the thick branches above.
It ended almost instantly. Li Xun’s long, bloodless hand clamped around the woman’s throat. His fingertips pressed lightly against her windpipe and veins, and with a subtle twist he sealed her Netherring acupoint, leaving her with no strength to resist.
“It’s… it’s me!”
The young woman perched in the tree had gone pale, her pretty face drained of all color.
The yin flame Li Xun had just sent into her body only needed the slightest twist to shred the “Bottomless Nether Ring” she had only recently stabilized. Ten years of bitter cultivation could be ruined in an instant.
No matter how proud she normally was, she didn’t dare show it now.
“I knew it was you. Long time no see!” Li Xun’s expression changed in a flash. The menace in his eyes vanished, and the corner of his mouth curled upward. “Last time, when the Ghost Spirit was reborn, you were still in seclusion. I really did miss you. It’s been two years since we last met, hasn’t it? Congratulations.”
That word of congratulations had reason behind it.
This young woman was none other than the same “Senior Sister Ying” Li Xun had addressed back when he first joined the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect. Ying Cai’er.
Now, though, she had changed her surname. According to sect rules, this meant she had earned the status of a great-family disciple. Following her master’s lineage, she now bore the surname Yan.