Volume 4, Chapter 130 – Different

After Wang Ran came up to report on the progress, and after Zhu Qingluo used her so-called “wandering medicine” to cure Fang Xiaochun’s delusion, Bai Xiang set out for home as well, boarding the flying vessel to return to Zhennan.

This medium-sized flying vessel could still hold about a hundred people. Since the trip from Qiyun to Zhennan counted as short-range travel, Bai Xiang had He Xian and Wang Ran arrange for quite a few professor families to ride together with them. Fang Xiaochun and his daughter were also brought along.

On the way, Zhu Qingluo came to find Bai Xiang with a dark expression. “Aren’t you curious how I cured him?”

Your entrance was that flashy, all green light and vines, and with a name like yours… anyone who had spent ten or twenty years reading web novels on the Chinese internet could guess your Divine Pool probably had something to do with withering and flourishing. Why would I need to ask?

Bai Xiang said nothing, but her expression, especially those golden eyes of hers that were so good at conveying emotion, clearly sent the message across.

Zhu Qingluo clearly received it too. Her confidence wavered a little. Did I really expose that many openings?

“Is a Divine Pool the manifestation of a person’s will?” Bai Xiang asked her.

“More or less.” Zhu Qingluo hesitated for a moment. “For most people, yes. A Divine Pool is basically the thing they desire most deeply and most want to control.”

“But there are exceptions. For example, the Heavenly Dao Divine Pools that stand only below the primary order, some inheritance Divine Pools, and the Divine Pools people create purely to enter the Venerable ranks. The last kind do not deserve to be called Venerables at all. Their combat power is far too weak!”

“And what kind is your Divine Pool?” Bai Xiang asked again.

“I naturally cannot be compared to those mediocrities.” Zhu Qingluo narrowed her eyes proudly as she spoke.

“So that means it can be counted as the manifestation of your own personal will.”

“Of course!”

“Then earlier, you said you wanted to do something big and, along the way, reunite with someone. Something like that, yes? And if I combine that with your outward methods, my guess is that your Divine Pool has something to do with the withering and flourishing of vegetation, or the rise and fall of plant life, and that your goal is to save someone. Is there any problem with that?”

There was no problem.

Zhu Qingluo was stunned numb. Her eyes widened in disbelief that she had really exposed so many flaws.

Bai Xiang could not help giving her another look, then asked in a relatively tactful way, “Have you spent all these years holed up in your cave abode in seclusion, only coming out once every few hundred or thousand years or so?”

“Ah, yes…!” Zhu Qingluo first nodded with an embarrassed laugh, then suddenly became alert. “N-no, wait! Who said I only come out once every thousand years! I… I mean, how long a lifespan do I even have… A thousand years? A lot of Illusory Realms don’t even last that long, all right…”

She still tried to argue for herself, but when she saw Bai Xiang’s half-smiling look, the breath in her chest immediately deflated.

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I got tricked into talking again!

She glared at Bai Xiang through gritted teeth, unable to understand how this person could be so bad. Even her comforting words, even the words that seemed to be excusing her, had hidden probes inside them?

Who could react to that in time?

No. I can’t let her keep drawing me out like this.

Zhu Qingluo made up her mind not to speak to Bai Xiang again. After she left, Bai Xiang was quite happy to have the peace. While leafing through the approximate transfers and appointments of the current officials in Qiyun Circuit, and even all of Qizhou, she called He Xian over and tossed him a handwritten copy of the Shenming Qi-Refining Art.

Zhu Canghai had received one. She could hardly favor one and neglect the other. That was the way to win people’s hearts.

He Xian’s temperament was more twisted and awkward. Unlike Zhu Canghai, he did not immediately bow in thanks the moment he received the method. But judging from his flickering gaze and solemn expression, he too was deeply shaken.

Bai Xiang did not much care what they thought. In a world where supernatural methods held absolute dominance, she was confident in her ability to control and command her subordinates. On top of that, she had long since taken both men’s true spirits. She was not afraid of betrayal from them at all.

And so the group returned to Zhennan, and the sky had only just begun to brighten.

She had Bai Zhuqing, who had come to receive them, escort Fang Xiaochun and Fang Wenya to find a place on the mountain where they could recover in peace. She had Li Sheng and Wang Ran temporarily settle those professor families in the Welcome Residence by the mountain gate. Then Bai Xiang immediately summoned her grandfather Bai Shengju and her master Xiang Xian, and told them the results of this trip.

“I’m not worried about Mr. Zhu and Mr. He,” Bai Shengju said to her after listening, though he hesitated a little first. “But Zhu Qingluo and that old beggar… could they become a serious hidden danger?”

His unease was not without reason. Although he had not seen the situation in person, just from Bai Xiang’s description alone, the fact that he could casually slash open the void with a swipe, was that something an ordinary person could do?

“Since Xiang’er brought them back, that means she is confident she can suppress any hidden danger,” Xiang Xian said. In this regard, she understood Bai Xiang better than Bai Shengju did. “It’s just that this Zhu Qingluo… from your description, she sounds a little foolish. Could that be an act?”

Xiang Xian herself was someone who excelled at calculation. She truly could not understand how a great demon who had survived for thousands upon thousands of years could possibly be so easy to fool.

“It doesn’t look fake,” Bai Xiang said, shaking her head.

Golden-Pupil Illusory God could not control Zhu Qingluo, but Bai Xiang did not believe that under the gaze of those eyes, Zhu Qingluo could lie that freely.

“As for these two, I plan to settle them here for now,” Bai Xiang stated her view. “When I go to the martial exercises, I will bring them along as well.”

So she intends to leave Zhu and He behind to guard the dojo?

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Bai Shengju understood and nodded. “You are the Dao Lord. However you arrange things is naturally for you to decide!”

Xiang Xian understood as well. “I’ll take care of the other arrangements. I’ll send some disciples to get close to Zhu Sheng and see what connections stand behind him, and what hidden history the Zhu family of Qizhou may have.”

Only after discussing these immediate “potential threats” did they turn their attention to Qiyun Circuit, and then to all of Qizhou.

A map had already been spread across the long table. Bai Shengju personally took up a brush and marked the territory of Qizhou with a black border as well. Then he raised his eyes to Bai Xiang, and there was clear gratification in them.

Old people were always more traditional.

Although the family had achieved such standing in the new province, Bai Shengju had never forgotten that he himself had once been one of the people of Qi.

For a long time, because of ritual propriety and similar considerations, he had never offered Bai Xiang any advice. Yet in truth, he had hoped she would not forget and would not sever her connection with the Qi lands.

And now Bai Xiang really had done exactly that. Of course Bai Shengju was happy.

This was not mere selfishness, not some private wish that he hoped a younger generation would realize for him. Doing this truly brought huge benefits to Bai Xiang herself.

Whether Bai Xiang intended to carve out one region for herself, or later raise a banner and enter the struggle for supremacy, the manpower and material resources of Qizhou could all become her support.

Take the demonic disaster, for example. When Chilong Circuit suffered the calamity, why had the people of Chilong Circuit not fled to places like Qiyun Circuit, but instead all poured toward Zhennan?

Aside from practical factors like proximity, wasn’t it also because most of them trusted Bai Xiang?

She was not only one of the Qi people. She was also from Chilong Circuit.

That sort of emotional bond was at work.

Not to mention… she had also brought up Returning-to-Origin Purple Qi.

After a moment of silence, Bai Shengju asked, “As for that gourd…”

“I intend to test Liu Yong,” Bai Xiang said frankly. “If his talent is not too dull, then I’ll take him in as a disciple and try infusing him with the purple qi.”

The increase of Returning-to-Origin Purple Qi would affect an individual’s heavenly fate and fortune.

The more karma one formed with such an individual, the greater the blessings one would receive in turn. From that angle, taking the role of master really was the best choice.

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“I’ll handle that as well,” Xiang Xian said with a nod. “Given your status, it really would be hard to justify not having a disciple.”

After saying that, she shot Bai Xiang a somewhat strange look.

There were actually very deep implications here, because whether it was Xiang Xian or Bai Shengju, both were the sort of people who had grown old and shrewd. Naturally, they could tell that Bai Xiang’s decision to take in Liu Yong was also imitating the Demon Court, and could even be said to be imitating the great demon behind the manipulation of the Yu royal family. She was fostering a proxy.

Once things had already reached this point in action, what she was really thinking hardly needed to be spelled out.

And as for that hoped-for future, at least for a position like emperor, what mattered was not whether one had disciples, but whether one had descendants.

But Xiang Xian also knew what sort of relationship Bai Xiang and Bai Zhuqing had.

That was why her look had become strange.

Then again, on second thought, the combination of Bai Xiang and the Bai family was indeed rather strange.

In today’s society, adoptive ties had long ceased to carry the weight they once did in ancient times.

The phrase “rites collapsed and music decayed” was no joke. In ancient times, adopted sons could truly be used to carry on a family line. But in modern times, it was already good enough if things did not end in open enmity.

Normally, a combination like this would develop cracks and conflict as the power behind it expanded. At the very least, factions like a “Dao Lord faction” and a “family faction” would emerge.

It was only because Bai Xiang’s strength was so overwhelming that it left most people unable even to breathe that no one dared harbor such thoughts.

Bai Xiang understood the meaning in Xiang Xian’s expression, but she made no response.

Because she felt it did not matter.

Mortal dynasties valued descendants because they feared the emperor might die of illness or old age.

But in the imperial dynasties of the supernatural world… die of illness or old age?

There was no such hidden concern.

And if she really had to place emphasis on something like cohesion, then she and Bai Zhuqing were not incapable of having children anyway.

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After all, she possessed soul-abilities.

She would not go so far as to change her sex back, but as far as transforming cells or transforming genes went, those kinds of operations did not seem difficult to Bai Xiang at all.

“There is one more matter.”

Bai Xiang intended to change the topic.

“On this trip, I killed Wang Xiu and his group. He was one of the Taixu Monastery’s seeded competitors, and in the future he may even inherit the position of monastery master. They will definitely not let the matter rest.”

“However, I have some evidence here that can prove Wang Xiu was actually a spy for Blood Soul Heaven.”

“Master, write a letter for me. Later, have someone deliver it to Daoist Fengxu.”

After discussing a few more miscellaneous matters, Bai Xiang returned to the Listening-to-Rain Tower to rest.

“She has become more capable of bearing responsibility.”

Xiang Xian stood at the rear gate of the main hall together with Bai Shengju, watching their disciple’s departing back.

“By the way, has Brother Bai settled his family affairs?”

“That needn’t trouble Peak Lord Xiang,” Bai Shengju snorted, though his good mood was still plain to see.

Because things really were different now…

He looked toward the hazy morning light on the horizon.

What Xiang’er had done in Qizhou was as good as laying her cards face-up on the table.

How many people would support her?

Bai Shengju felt it did not really matter.

At the very least, this old wreck of a man would support her. He would support everything she was doing now, not only for Chan’er, but also to seek justice for these shattered common people.