"Is that so?"
Sikong Jing gazed steadily at the visitor's unusually confident expression. In the shadows where she couldn't see, a flicker of darkness passed through his eyes before he finally smiled and said:
"Then as your senior brother, I'll gratefully accept your auspicious words, junior sister!"
Nearly lting under his tender gaze, the young maiden before him blushed once more.
For a mont, the small private room was filled with quietly blossoming affection, the atmosphere extraordinarily harmonious.
After a long while, Shangguan Ling seed to rember sothing, her dark eyes shifting thoughtfully:
"By the way, senior brother, do you know who those people in the neighboring room are?"
Clearly, she still hadn't let go of that cauldron.
Yet upon hearing this, Sikong Jing's tone abruptly turned serious: "A-Ling, be good. There are so people we simply cannot recklessly investigate at our current level."
Fearing she might overestimate her capabilities and cause trouble, he softened his voice to explain:
"Ling'er, you saw it yourself earlier—that neighboring room occupies the best vantage point in the entire Biling Pavilion. Anyone invited there must be soone of considerable status, not soone we can casually provoke."
"In today's cultivation world, apart from the Supre Elders of the major sects, only one person would warrant such careful treatnt."
"Senior brother, you an... the West Fla City Lord?"
For so reason, ntion of the West Fla City Lord made Shangguan Ling's expression visibly darken, her tone carrying an unidentifiable edge:
"But... but senior brother, didn't you say West Fla City has several exceptional artifact forgers? Why would the City Lord himself take interest in a re Profound-grade cauldron!"
Whether it was truly the City Lord's interest or soone else's... and that soone...
As if recalling sothing, Shangguan Ling unconsciously bit her lip. Noticing this, Sikong Jing's eyes glead subtly:
"Oh? Ling'er seems particularly concerned about West Fla City lately, especially matters regarding its City Lord?"
"N-no! Senior brother, don't misunderstand!" Fearful of being misjudged, Shangguan Ling shook her head vigorously. "It's just that you recently broke through to mid-Golden Core stage, with Nascent Soul within reach. In the past century across this continent, only the West Fla City Lord has achieved such breakthroughs, so I naturally paid more attention!"
"Is that so?" Stroking the girl's raven-black hair rhythmically, Sikong Jing maintained his usual gentle expression, though his gaze grew increasingly profound:
"How could I ever doubt Ling'er's feelings for ? But if junior sister hopes to gain advancent insights from him, I'm afraid that would be exceedingly difficult."
"Everyone on the Xuanzhen Continent knows the City Lord operates with utter unpredictability. Not long ago, didn't he visit our Xuqing Sect and specifically take away one of our outer sect female disciples?"
"Who knows what his intentions were?"
His tone carried apparent concern.
Hearing this, Shangguan Ling abruptly lowered her eyes, her normally lively features flashing with barely concealed panic.
Her slender fingers clutched desperately at his sleeve, as if afraid of losing sothing, her tone no longer its earlier cheerful self:
"Just an outer sect disciple—a worthless Triple Spirit Root trash with no background at that! Hardly worth senior brother's attention!"
As if fearing further inquiry, she hastily added: "I've heard she's sowhat attractive though. Perhaps she used so underhanded thod to... to..."
Being just a young girl, she couldn't bring herself to finish, though the implication was clear to anyone.
Gathering her trembling hands in his, Sikong Jing sighed softly. His slightly calloused fingertips gently tapped her delicate nose with indescribable tenderness:
"Enough, Ling'er. We've grown up together—you know exactly what kind of person I am, don't you?"
"So outer sect disciple I've never even t—why would Ling'er trouble herself over this?"
"Senior brother..."
Clutching tightly to him, the normally vivacious girl's eyes now held an uncharacteristic stubbornness:
"Senior brother, you'll always—always stay with , and only , right?"
"Silly girl."
Under his soothing words, the tense girl in his arms gradually relaxed. Pressed against his chest, she failed to see the abruptly darkened expression in his eyes the mont hers closed.
Unaware of how she was being discussed elsewhere, An Ning had just returned to the mansion after the spectacle and couldn't wait to examine her newly acquired cauldron.
The saying "a craftsman must sharpen his tools to do his work well" proved absolutely true. Perhaps due to her elevated spiritual power from Foundation Establishnt, this batch of Foundation Establishnt Pills was completed effortlessly—yielding a full eight high-grade pills.
Before she could celebrate and attempt another refinent, an urgent ssage arrived via spiritual pigeon from Chen Ping:
"A-Ning, I've identified those recently inquiring about you within the sect."
***
"Host, aren't you the least bit concerned? Just within one sect, there are so many secretly investigating you?"
Several days had passed since receiving the news, yet his host continued her routine—studying, cultivating, refining pills, occasionally strolling through town—without the slightest sense of urgency. The system finally spoke up.
Truly, every creature has its survival thods. Even minor figures have their own information channels.
Especially with the lure of high-grade Foundation Establishnt Pills, Chen Ping had exerted maximum effort.
It's just... there were rather too many involved—an inner sect senior sister, a sect elder, so cousin with unknown opportunities, even Sikong City was implicated... Just hearing the list made the system feel suffocated.
No wonder the original host t such miserable ends in previous lifetis.
And with so many players involved, identifying the true culprit from the original's past life beca exponentially harder.
"Fear what?"
Playing with her newly acquired incense set, An Ning remained nonchalant: "Right now, we shouldn't be the ones worrying, should we?"
After all, she wasn't the one urgently needing breakthroughs. No matter how capable these people were, who would dare abduct soone from West Fla City?
As for the original's murderer, a cold smile touched An Ning's lips as her eyes darkened slightly.
On the desk, a wisp of fragrant smoke curled upward, dreamlike and ethereal. Where the sweet aroma drifted, the nearby maids including A-Wan soon grew drowsy.
Before succumbing to sleep, as if rembering sothing pleasant, their faces bore contented smiles.
Satisfied, An Ning finally put away her incense box and cheerfully asked the system:
"Tell , what do you think would frighten a prophet-like figure most?"
"Variables?" the system ventured timidly.
Surprised, An Ning nodded approvingly: "Indeed—variables. Especially changes in key figures!"
"So you see, even if we do nothing, aren't they all gradually revealing themselves?"
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