Volume 4, Chapter 31 – Regal

One day later, Bai Xiang woke up feeling clear-headed and refreshed.

As she moved, the patterned quilt slipped from her skin, white and smooth like satin, revealing a few breathtaking, elegant curves.

Behind her, another young girl lay with her black hair loose, hugging the quilt, lashes trembling. She was clearly reluctant to wake from her dreams.

Bai Xiang didn’t bother urging Bai Zhuqing. She got up, checked her cultivation with an inner inspection, picked up her life-bound sword from beside the pillow, and headed straight to the washroom for a bath.

When she was done, she walked back out completely naked. With a shake of her Qi, the mist peeled away from her body. Not only was she clean and dry, even her white hair returned to a fresh softness, with a subtle, lustrous sheen.

There were, however, some side effects.

Lowering her head, she glanced at the slightly troublesome, faintly quivering thing in the way. Bai Xiang frowned a little, wondering how long this body intended to keep growing.

As unbelievable as it sounded, that was the truth.

Although Bai Xiang had already Returned to Origin and Transformed Qi, gathered her Three Flowers, and attained the level of Immortal Venerable, becoming lord of a Dao, this body of hers had only just passed eighteen. She actually hadn’t finished developing.

Strictly speaking, calling her a “young girl,” as they did Bai Zhuqing, would not be inaccurate. It was only because her battle record was terrifying and her accumulated prestige immense that no one treated her as some tender eighteen-year-old. People showed her even more respect than veterans like Xiang Xian.

“If I didn’t follow ‘the Dao following nature,’ I could flatten you with a single thought.”

After verbally condemning the eyesore of a pair of peaks, Bai Xiang opened the cabinet to get dressed. She reached for the plain white undergarments she usually wore, intending to throw on a black outer robe over them as always and call it a day.

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But just as her hand reached toward the black robe, she suddenly felt restless for no clear reason.

It was like that sudden stirring of the heart before something happens, a vague premonition whispering that something was likely to occur today.

Someone else might not care about that feeling, but Bai Xiang had cultivated Taishang resonance and would not casually ignore it.

Thinking it over, she put on the matching undergarments first, then pulled on the black stockings her little sister had deliberately stuffed into her drawer. Over that, she slipped on a right-front white shirt, and outside that she chose a gorgeous, flowing cloud-patterned robe-skirt, streaked with green and yellow. Only then did she start putting up her hair, fixing it in place with a Buddha-hand hairpin.

She didn’t forget to clip on her pair of cicada-shaped earrings either. After checking herself in the mirror, making sure you could hardly see any black beneath the hem of the long skirt, Bai Xiang finally nodded in satisfaction.

When Bai Zhuqing woke, what she saw was this “dressed to the nines,” truly radiant big sister. She rubbed her eyes at first, thinking she was still dreaming. Once she came fully awake, she looked at Bai Xiang in confusion and asked, “Sister Xiang…? Is there some important guest coming today?”

That luxurious robe-skirt had an impressive origin. Their Grandmaster had copied it from the outfit Tao Shuohua had once gifted Bai Xiang.

Not only was the fabric and stitching even more exquisite, the workmanship finer, many of the embroidered details grander and more imposing. It could already be called a standard ceremonial dress, and Bai Xiang had never liked wearing such “ceremonial skirts.”

Unless something major was happening and she had to observe propriety, she would avoid touching them whenever she could.

“Eat your meat porridge.” Bai Xiang drew Feixiang Heaven and began her routine of wiping and maintaining the blade. Without looking back, she said, “Once you’re finished, come with me to the front hall.”

“Mm!” Bai Zhuqing answered quickly, slurping down the meat porridge Bai Xiang had personally cooked. Her eyes never left Bai Xiang’s neck, never left that pair of delicate earrings that swayed slightly with her movements, and a silly smile kept creeping onto her face.

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This fool.

Bai Xiang had Jade Spirit passively active and could see her every little reaction. She couldn’t help sighing inwardly, wondering if her little sister was just a bit too easy to keep happy.

All it took was giving her this level of “being needed,” and she was this delighted.

And as long as she made a point of keeping Illusory God in check, Bai Zhuqing wouldn’t over-focus on those other areas anymore.

This was exactly the picture I’d imagined back then, so why… do I feel a bit regretful?

Is it because I’m not satisfied with only keeping her like a pet?

Like some kind of Pokémon trainer…

Then again, she had indeed picked up a few novel “skills” lately…

Thinking of how her little sister had gotten clever during their dual cultivation last night—how, once the sword core entered, it suddenly split, from one to two, then from two to four, racing along different paths through her Qi Sea—Bai Xiang’s cheeks warmed slightly and her brows knit without her noticing.

I’ll have to rein her in on that front from now on…

The outside world could be given more leeway, but inside, at least, she couldn’t allow herself to get lost in that feeling…

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Bai Xiang’s change lasted only an instant, and Bai Zhuqing didn’t catch that fleeting trace of charm. After eating, she put on her shoes with Bai Xiang and went to the front hall, where they ran into Xu Shu and the others.

Xu Shu had brought the disciples and civilians to beg for purification, exactly as Bai Xiang had instructed. By now she was already very practiced at this. With just a sweep of her Golden-Pupil Illusory God over everyone, black miasma streamed out of them and they returned to normal. There was no need to keep them bound with ropes anymore.

“Dao Master today…”

Xu Shu also noticed Bai Xiang’s outfit and felt rather puzzled, but he didn’t voice it directly.

Once he was sure Bai Xiang had no other instructions, he quickly led the group away, leaving the space clear again.

He completely failed to notice a tiny mosquito slip in quietly through the window, utterly silent as it zigzagged toward Bai Xiang and settled on the step in front of her.

“Since you’re here, fellow Daoist, why not show yourself and talk face to face?”

Bai Xiang had been looking at her phone, about to message Aurora to bring her the sword embryo first, when she suddenly raised her head toward the mosquito. Her voice rolled out in void-shaking ripples that enveloped the insect at incredible speed.

A ghostly light flared on the mosquito’s body but shattered in an instant. It was blasted into the air by the vibration and fell to the steps below, where it slowly stood up as a handsome Daoist.

“…Immortal Venerable Shenming’s vibration arts are unmatched. I have heard of them even in the Upper Realm.”

The Daoist’s figure was somewhat indistinct. Clearly this was not his true body. In a strange accent, he cupped his fists toward Bai Xiang. “This humble one is Cui Yuanhao, Dao Steward of Tianfu Mountain. I have come to seek Immortal Venerable Shenming and discuss a great matter.”

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Bai Xiang covered him with her Taishang resonance and sensed what felt like a mass of surging flame burning there, the heat soon shifting into chill, ice and fire intertwining and crossing over one another.

That sort of Qi presence meant he was indeed an Immortal Venerable.

Recalling the list of names Sun Yaoming had provided, she quickly located the information corresponding to “Cui Yuanhao” and at once understood this man’s basic character.

Cui Yuanhao, who styled himself “Immortal Venerable Hanrong,” was a long-renowned Immortal Venerable within Tianfu Mountain. He was proud and aloof by nature, cold toward everyone in daily life, and rumored to care only about shutting himself away to cultivate.

For them to send someone like this, Tianfu Mountain’s thinking was quite dangerous…

“What great matter?”

Bai Xiang chose to play dumb for the moment.

“Why, the future of the human path, of course.” Cui Yuanhao spoke with righteous solemnity.

“Perhaps Immortal Venerable does not yet know how wondrous the Path of Qi you created truly is.”

“For that, my Tianfu Mountain is willing to lend Immortal Venerable a hand, so that you may use the Path of Qi as a foundation… and aid the human path!”