"Who's there? Show yourself!"
By a mountain stream, a man and a woman stood facing each other from opposite sides.
The man was dressed like a martial artist from the mundane world, even wearing a straw hat, but the sword in his hand was clearly an artifact. It was completely blue, with a faint ripple of water flowing over it.
The woman, on the other hand, was beautiful with a seductive figure, holding a palm-sized copper mirror. She gazed warily across the stream, looking rather pitiful.
Both of them simultaneously looked up and fixed their gaze on the same spot upstream. The woman even let out a startled cry.
At the stream's edge, there was a rustling sound in the grass. Moments later, Qin Sang emerged from it, his face showing no embarrassment at being discovered. He calmly nodded at the woman.
It turned out that this woman was a fellow disciple from the Kuiyin Sect, a senior sister named Shen Jing, who, like Qin Sang, had a cultivation level at the sixth stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Although they had never spoken, they had seen each other once when Senior Uncle Yue was giving a lecture.
However, Qin Sang hadn't revealed himself because of Shen Jing's identity.
In fact, he had little choice. The Falling Cloud Wings, being a top-grade artifact, consumed a large amount of spiritual power, making it unsustainable for long periods. If he kept it active, he wouldn’t be able to maintain it for much longer given his current cultivation.
He had been cautious enough, stopping periodically to scout from mountaintops and using Cloud Evasion to travel. Yet, he hadn’t expected to stumble upon two people hiding in this unremarkable mountain stream.
The towering trees on both sides of the stream obscured the area entirely. When Qin Sang discovered the two, he was both surprised and pleased, immediately attempting to use the Falling Cloud Wings to hide himself, hoping to profit from their confrontation.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Shen Jing and her opponent were on high alert, their lives hanging in the balance. In such a tense state, even the slightest disturbance couldn’t escape their notice. Cloud Evasion was just a basic evasion technique and insufficient to conceal him at such close range. He was easily detected.
Qin Sang decided not to hide any longer and walked out boldly.
When Shen Jing saw that it was Qin Sang, her eyes lit up, and her wary expression turned into one of joy as she exclaimed, "Junior Brother Qin!"
"Senior Sister Shen."
Qin Sang acknowledged her with a nod, then turned his gaze toward the man in the straw hat across the stream.
Yue Wu had not placed any strict restrictions on their behavior, and the Yuanzhao Sect couldn’t monitor the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground.
Qin Sang didn’t even need to use the Purple Soul Bell.
He used the tip of his blade to pick up the Mustard Seed Pouch and the sword from the straw-hat man’s body, then looked up at Shen Jing, praising her, "Senior Sister Shen, your treasure mirror is truly formidable."
During the battle, the straw-hat man, uncertain of Qin Sang’s strength, had initially chosen to break through on Shen Jing’s side. However, he was tightly bound by Shen Jing’s copper mirror.
Each time the man thrust his sword, Shen Jing’s mirror emitted a golden ring that firmly blocked him, giving Qin Sang ample time to prepare his spell. By the time the man realized his mistake and turned his attack toward Qin Sang, it was already too late.
Qin Sang recalled that this copper mirror was Shen Jing’s reward from the sect leader’s cave dwelling—a top-grade artifact, as expected.
"Junior Brother Qin, you overpraise me," Shen Jing said, a hint of shyness flashing across her face.
It seemed that the recent battle had drained her strength. Shen Jing’s breathing was slightly hurried, her cheeks flushed, and the sweat on her forehead had dampened her bangs. She curled her finger to brush her hair aside, her delicate lips parting as she softly said, "If it weren’t for your help, no matter how sturdy this mirror is, it would have only been a matter of time before he wore me down. It’s your Guishui Yin Thunder Spell that’s truly impressive."
As she spoke, Shen Jing naturally began to move toward Qin Sang.
"Senior Sister Shen, stop right there!"
Qin Sang suddenly retreated, putting some distance between them before calmly saying, "It’s better if we maintain some space between us."
Shen Jing looked stunned, a trace of grievance in her expression. "Junior Brother Qin, what do you mean by this? I haven’t taken anything from him at all. Isn’t that enough to show my sincerity? Do you still not trust me?"
Qin Sang cupped his hands in a polite gesture. "It’s not that I don’t trust Senior Sister Shen, but the ascension conference is too brutal, and I’m merely taking precautions. Please forgive me."
"Junior Brother Qin, are you saying... you don’t plan to team up with me?"
Shen Jing asked in disbelief. "Have you forgotten Senior Uncle Yue’s instructions? Aren’t you afraid of punishment from the sect?"
Qin Sang smiled slightly, "As long as I can enter the Yuanzhao Sect and complete the sect’s mission, why would Senior Uncle Yue punish me for such a trivial matter?"
"What Junior Brother Qin says does make sense."
Shen Jing muttered, but she still seemed reluctant. She spoke softly, her voice tinged with sorrow, "But... don’t you realize how difficult it is to obtain a jade token? I’ve been here for so long and only managed to snatch one, using up all the talismans I accumulated as a rogue cultivator. If it weren’t for my treasure mirror, you’d be looking at my corpse right now. There are five of our fellow disciples who’ve broken through to the seventh stage of the Qi Refining Realm, and even among the rogue cultivators, there are experts at the seventh stage. How can the two of us compete with them?"