Chapter 514 - 513: The Past Jiuxi Never Hated Him?

Chapter 514: Chapter 513: The Past Jiuxi Never Hated Him?

In the hot spring of their room, Su Qi leaned against the edge, blowing bubbles.

"Thankfully, Qing Lian told me what Senior Luo Ying looks like. Otherwise, I might have offended him, and that would’ve been bad."

Jiang Zuo was on the other side of the hot spring. Although they were in the same spring, they could barely see each other.

Su Qi had erected a wall of water between them.

’Something about how men and women should keep a respectable distance.’

Well, Jiang Zuo didn’t mind.

This was probably for the best. Besides, this hot spring was at the foot of a mountain.

And the bathing pool for the Saintess Corps was right on this very mountain’s peak.

Jiang Zuo noticed that the mountain was almost completely integrated into the Grand Array. ’No wonder this is where the Saintess Pool is,’ he thought.

The only thing that concerned him was whether this could be considered the Saintesses’ used bathwater.

Jiang Zuo reached out and sensed the water. ’Hmm, the source is deep underground. It’s probably not their used bathwater, then.’

The core of the water source flowed directly up toward the mountain peak, and its overflow created the surrounding hot springs.

Jiang Zuo had also inspected the water. It truly did have skin-restoring properties.

In other words, it was a genuine beauty treatment.

No wonder the Saintesses were known for their beauty.

Jiang Zuo stopped thinking about it and replied, "He’s a senior. Surely he wouldn’t be that petty, right? It’s not like we did anything."

Su Qi poked her head through the water wall and looked at Jiang Zuo. "That’s because you don’t know him. His divinations are said to be incredibly accurate. If something has an answer, there’s almost nothing he can’t figure out.

"Even if he can’t find a direct answer, he’ll find a roundabout way to help, like creating an opportunity or giving a hint.

"He might not retaliate if we offend him, but it would be bad if he held a grudge.

"What if one day he knows we’re in trouble but deliberately says nothing? That would be a disaster."

Jiang Zuo looked at the head she had poked through. "What happened to men and women keeping a respectable distance?"

Su Qi huffed and pulled her head back. "Now look what you’ve done. My hair’s all wet."

Jiang Zuo ignored her. ’She’s the one who decided to poke her head through,’ he thought.

Just then, Su Qi said, "I’m going to start cultivating to absorb the water’s essence. Don’t disturb me, okay? If you do and I turn ugly, you’re still stuck with me."

"Mm," Jiang Zuo replied.

Afterward, Jiang Zuo could feel Su Qi truly begin to cultivate, absorbing the essence of the spring water.

Jiang Zuo tilted his head and saw Su Qi sitting in the water. Her hair was still tied up, and her silhouette and profile were quite beautiful.

Of course, he wasn’t looking just because he found her beautiful.

He wanted to see whether she was cultivating with her eyes open or closed.

For some monstrously talented individuals, it was perfectly normal to cultivate with their eyes open.

Thankfully, Su Qi’s eyes were closed.

Once he confirmed her eyes were closed, Jiang Zuo began to explore the source of the spring water.

With Jiang Zuo’s current Tier Three strength, a brief Spirit Detachment was no issue. For anyone else, however, it would be a major problem.

Most cultivators had to wait until they condensed a Primordial Spirit at Tier Five before their spirit could leave their body at will. Otherwise, it could easily be annihilated.

Leaving a sliver of his consciousness behind as a precaution, Jiang Zuo’s spirit plunged deep into the water.

There was no need to worry about clothes as a Spiritual Body; after all, it didn’t even have a humanoid form.

Jiang Zuo descended, careful not to approach the centermost area. It was part of the Grand Array, and the being there could easily discover him.

The reason Jiang Zuo had come down was that he sensed a familiar aura in the water.

Years ago, when he had tried to obliterate the Holy Land, a single palm strike had nearly wiped it out completely.

Almost no one had survived.

Only Jiu Xi had been left standing amidst the ruins, holding a bead.

Back then, Jiu Xi had stared at him in fury, tears streaming from her eyes.

She was weeping bitterly.

But the Jiang Zuo of that time cared for no one. So, upon discovering that Jiu Xi was somehow still alive, he had sent her to join the others from the Holy Land with a single motion.

However, the bead in Jiu Xi’s hand had vanished along with her.

That had surprised Jiang Zuo slightly.

But only slightly.

All that mattered was that the world fell silent.

Looking back now, Jiang Zuo sighed. Though Jiu Xi had been furious back then, there had been no trace of hatred in her eyes.

Even in her relentless attacks against him later, he had never sensed any hatred.

Now that he thought about it, it was truly strange.

Jiang Zuo pushed the thoughts aside. He was more interested in that bead.

And this hot spring contained an aura similar to the one from that bead.

That was why Jiang Zuo wanted to investigate.

’Perhaps I’ll find something,’ he thought.

If Su Qi hadn’t started cultivating, he would have given up on the idea.

Soon, Jiang Zuo arrived beneath the source.

One moment, Jiang Zuo’s spiritual form was still in the earth; the next, he found himself in an open cavern.

He had just passed through some kind of Barrier, and this space lay beneath it.

In this space, Jiang Zuo saw a well overflowing with water, which then flowed out through a channel.

This was the water that led to the Saintess Pool.

Jiang Zuo paid that no mind. What he cared about was the bead resting on the well.

It was a Stone Bead, about half the size of a chicken’s egg.

The familiar aura Jiang Zuo had sensed was emanating from this very bead.

’The aura is similar, but it looks different.’

Jiang Zuo remembered that the bead Jiu Xi had held was translucent and clear.

Jiang Zuo moved closer, wanting to see exactly what this thing was.

But just as he reached out, Jiang Zuo pulled his hand back.

’The Grand Design of Heaven and Earth?’ Jiang Zuo frowned.

Although he couldn’t see it, he could sense it. The Grand Design was at play here.

A crucial part of it, at that. No, it might even be the final piece of the endgame.

Jiang Zuo remained where he was. With his current strength, it was practically impossible for him to interfere with the Grand Design.

However, something else was at work within the well. He waited to see what would emerge.

Just as he anticipated, things began to emerge from around the well.

They were objects that looked like Runes, swimming about and continuously arranging themselves into a sequence.

Jiang Zuo took one look and immediately began to help sort them.

The sorting was equivalent to decryption, which was not difficult for Jiang Zuo.

Under his guidance, all the Runes found their proper places.

Once every Rune was in its place, the well suddenly emitted a faint glow. Then, it felt as if a Seal on the well had been broken.

This was all within Jiang Zuo’s expectations. He just wanted to see what was inside.

After Jiang Zuo released the well’s bindings, a powerful Immortal Spirit Aura instantly erupted from within.

The aura billowed out like a surging tidal wave.

The moment the aura escaped, it immediately triggered the Grand Array and alarmed the entire Holy Land.

It wasn’t just an alarming presence; it sent a physical tremor through the entire Holy Land.

Jiang Zuo was speechless.

’This Immortal Spirit Aura is precious stuff,’ he thought. ’It contains a wealth of things.’

But he had no need for it. What frustrated him more was that he hadn’t intended to cause such a huge commotion.

At that moment, Jiang Zuo knew he had to leave. The commotion was so great that Su Qi was bound to wake up.

’It’s a shame I couldn’t get that bead,’ he thought.

With that, Jiang Zuo departed.

---

The moment the Immortal Spirit Aura erupted, the men in Silver Armor were the first to detect it.

"What’s happening? Why did the Immortal Spirit Aura erupt so early? It’s not time yet, is it?"

"Where’s Number One? Go ask him."

"His clone died outside. As soon as the information synced back to him, he went silent."

Just then, the Silver Armor Leader emerged. "It’s chaos," he said. "Everything has been thrown into disarray."

"Then what should we do?"

The Silver Armor Leader said, "We’ll adapt as the situation develops. The Immortal Spiritual Qi was originally prepared for the one in the Forbidden Land.

"Since the one from the Forbidden Land hasn’t emerged, the Saintess will naturally be the one to absorb the Immortal Spiritual Qi."

"But can one person absorb that much Immortal Spiritual Qi?"

The Silver Armor Leader said, "Mm. Then all six of them will go."

At this, another man in Silver Armor asked, "What did you see when you went out?"

The Silver Armor Leader didn’t try to hide it. "The Battle Spirit Stele," he said directly.