“Frost-Sliver, return.”
Shen Qingci barked out, and the Frost-Sliver Sword flew back to its sheath.
He closed his eyes, struggling to suppress the fury surging in his chest. “What do you want in exchange for leaving my sister alone?”
Lizhu said, “I won’t leave her.”
Shen Qingci was nearly laughed into a rage. Was this man planning to drain his sister dry before he’d stop?!
No, there had to be another way.
His sister was merely bewitched by this person for now. Once she saw his true colors, she would surely give up on him!
“Just you wait.” Shen Qingci hurled the threat and stormed off.
Lizhu’s expression remained indifferent—or rather, he had never worn any other expression.
Shen Qinghe trotted over and circled around him to inspect him carefully. “My brother didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“He can’t.”
Shen Qinghe let out a relieved breath, then felt a twinge of guilt. “Sorry about that, making you play such a scummy role. If there’s anything you want, I can find it for you.”
Lizhu looked down at her.
Shen Qinghe blinked in confusion as the young man’s face drew closer and closer.
Just as she thought he was about to do something, Lizhu said abruptly, “Call my name again.”
Shen Qinghe found it a bit odd, but she obediently called out anyway: “Li Zhu, what’s wrong?”
Lizhu stared at her, seeing no change at all. His pale, thin lips pressed tighter together. “Nothing.”
He walked away.
Shen Qinghe scratched her head in puzzlement. What was the deal with that name?
But seeing him walk off, she quickly hurried after him.
The topic had been sidetracked—she’d forgotten to tell him something more important.
Just then, a few Azure Profound Sect disciples happened to pass by. Seeing it was Lizhu, they all lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.
Lizhu stopped one of them. “Say the name Lizhu.”
“Li Zhu, is there a problem?”
A flash of unmistakable bewilderment crossed the young man’s sinister expression.
Another one who wouldn’t die?
Another disciple chimed in, “These days, who hasn’t heard of Young Master Li Zhu? They say he’s chivalrous and righteous, with profound cultivation—slaying great demons and vanquishing ten thousand fiends with ease.”
“Which two characters is it?”
“Why, it’s the li of ‘dawn’ and the zhu of ‘bamboo,’ of course.”
“Wrong.” Lizhu’s eyes gradually darkened. For some reason, the disciples broke out in cold sweat in an instant, not daring to breathe, as if something were gripping their throats.
At that moment, a girl’s sweet voice suddenly rang out.
“Qi An-gege, why are you running so fast?”
The two disciples shuddered at the sound, and that strange, suffocating sensation vanished in an instant.
Shen Qinghe strode over, and the disciples greeted, “Senior Sister.”
By seniority, Shen Qinghe was the senior sister of all the sect’s disciples.
Shen Qinghe waved her hand, and the few of them immediately hurried off, only returning to normal once they were far away.
“Shen Qinghe, you called me wrong earlier. It’s the li of ‘departing’ and the zhu of ‘candle flame.'” A subtle curve lifted the corner of Lizhu’s lips. “Try calling it again, why don’t you?”
“Fine then—Lizhu, Lizhu-gege, the gege who departs from candle flames. Is that to your liking?” Shen Qinghe said with a helpless sigh.
Lizhu’s mood lifted, but when he saw Shen Qinghe still standing there perfectly fine, the smile on his face froze once more.
Still not dead?
Shen Qinghe didn’t think much of it. “Young Master Li Zhu” was just a title spread by outsiders, so a mistaken character was perfectly normal.
None of that mattered right now anyway. She grabbed Lizhu’s hand. “Come on, I’ll take you to buy something.”
At the foot of the mountain was the market—bustling with people, lively and full of noise.
Shen Qinghe walked around for a while before finally finding a small stall in the corner, its surface covered in a pile of pitch-black objects. The vendor enthusiastically introduced them: “These are all relics left behind by ancient great powers, each with its own secret. Once you crack it, you’ll obtain supreme inheritance…”
Lizhu leaned against the side, glanced at them, then looked away, the disdain in his eyes completely unconcealed.
Shen Qinghe rummaged through the items and picked out a jade thumb ring of ancient appearance.
In her previous life, Xiao Jingyuan had worn this jade thumb ring ever after. A great power resided inside it.
This jade thumb ring was also something Xiao Jingyuan had stumbled upon here by chance.
After being reborn, of course she had to snatch away Xiao Jingyuan’s fortune at the first opportunity, cutting off any chance he had of climbing higher in the future.
“I’ll take this one. How much?” Shen Qinghe asked.
The vendor’s face crinkled into a smile full of wrinkles: “The immortal has excellent taste. This jade thumb ring is extremely ancient—just one hundred high-grade spirit stones, and you’ll have the chance to converse with an ancient great power.”
Shen Qinghe had that much money, but she wasn’t a fool. She curled her lips: “Ten low-grade spirit stones, or I’m walking away.”
The vendor said, “No way. This thing is far too precious—you just don’t know quality goods.”
Shen Qinghe turned and started to leave. The vendor panicked: “Fine, fine, ten it is.”
A quarter of an hour later, in the tavern.
Shen Qinghe held the jade thumb ring, weighing it carefully in her hand, pondering how to make contact with the great power inside.
The best method was—blood!
“I’m stepping out for a moment. I’ll be right back.” Shen Qinghe said quietly to Lizhu, then left.
Lizhu watched her retreating figure, his gaze deep and unreadable.
Shen Qinghe asked the waiter for another room, closed the door and windows tightly, confirmed no one was around, then took out a small knife. Gritting her teeth, she sliced open her middle finger.
A single drop of blood fell onto the jade thumb ring.
She waited quietly.
After a long while, the jade thumb ring still showed no reaction.
Shen Qinghe refused to give up. But recalling that in some novels, it took a lot of blood to awaken such things, she gestured with her hand, about to cut a gash on her wrist to try, when the jade thumb ring was picked up by a broad palm.
“What are you doing?” Lizhu toyed with the unremarkable jade thumb ring, fiddled with it a few times, found it boring, and tossed it back onto the table.
Shen Qinghe quickly caught it, instinctively glancing around—but the door hadn’t opened, the window hadn’t opened. How on earth had this man gotten in?
“I’m doing something very important. Go eat something next door first; I’ll be there in a moment.”
Lizhu said, “Do you want the storage space inside this ring?”
Shen Qinghe stared at him, dumbfounded. “How do you know?”
Wasn’t the setting for this kind of ring supposed to be that it looked like an ordinary ring before being awakened?
Lizhu said, “I can help you.”
He gently squeezed the ring. There seemed to be no change at all, but in that instant, Shen Qinghe vaguely heard an old man’s scream, fleeting and gone—perhaps her imagination.
Lizhu handed the ring back to her. “The first person to open it becomes its master.”
Shen Qinghe looked at him in astonishment.
This kind of treasure that the entire Cultivation World clamored for—he was giving it to her without even blinking?
It made her earlier behavior of renting a separate room and closing the doors and windows seem so petty!
She had been too narrow-minded. A cultivator as righteous and noble as Lord Lizhu would never covet such a small advantage.
Shen Qinghe gripped the ring and tried touching it with her Divine Soul. Sure enough, this time she smoothly entered the ring’s space.
Outside, Lizhu watched the wound on her fingertip, his brow gradually furrowing. The next moment, a wisp of black energy gathered in his hand and swept across her wound.
The injury quickly returned to its original state.
Only then did his expression ease slightly.
He had said that no one could harm her except himself—and that included her.
Shen Qinghe’s consciousness was inside the ring space, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
She glanced around. Inside was a vast expanse of white, empty of everything. She called out several times, but the old man who had been in the Jade Thumb Ring never appeared.
She could only exit, looking dejected. “Did we grab the wrong ring? Maybe it’s not this one after all?”
Lizhu said flatly, “That stall only had this Jade Thumb Ring as something special. Everything else was ordinary.”
“But there’s nothing inside at all.”
Lizhu said, “I wiped it clean for you. There was a lingering remnant soul barely clinging to life and some junk inside. Since you wanted the ring, I cleared out the unnecessary things for you.”
Shen Qinghe: “…”
Was it possible that she also wanted the lingering remnant soul and that little bit of junk?
But seeing Lizhu’s indifferent attitude, Shen Qinghe once again wondered if she was being too short-sighted.
She hung her head, a little disappointed. “Other people get spirit springs, bamboo groves, and little houses in their space. I got nothing—and the old man is gone too.”
Lizhu vaguely realized he might have done something wrong.
He pressed his lips together, and a wisp of black energy flowed from his fingertip into the Jade Thumb Ring. “Take another look.”
Shen Qinghe didn’t hold out much hope, but she still instinctively obeyed and sent her Divine Sense into the Jade Thumb Ring. The moment she did, she froze.
Before her lay a bamboo grove, with a bamboo cottage deeper inside, and a Spirit Spring.
Shen Qinghe initially thought it was an Illusion Art, but when she scooped up the spring water, she could clearly feel the Spiritual Power surging within it. After taking a sip, her whole body felt refreshed.
This was a real Spirit Spring…
Shen Qinghe then ran into the bamboo cottage. There were no treasures inside, but there was a soft, comfortable bed, a spacious room, and a crisp, refreshing scent…
Returning to reality, Shen Qinghe couldn’t help but reach out and hug Lizhu. “Lizhu, you’re amazing! How did you do it?”
Lizhu said flatly, “These are all from my Sea of Consciousness. Though the physical body can’t enter, the effect should be the same.”
“You’re incredible. I love it.” Shen Qinghe praised him, already more than satisfied with what he’d done.
Lizhu’s ears turned slightly red.
For such a small matter, did this human woman really need to be this happy?
He didn’t mention that because these things came from his Sea of Consciousness, he could enter freely at any time, and even sense every change within.
But none of that needed to be said.
After all, this human woman coveted the Spirit Spring in his Sea of Consciousness.
He could eliminate her whenever he wanted.
So there was no need to rush.