Qiguan Cheng Da followed Jin Ling outside disgruntled. Why was there always someone who destroyed his opportunities at the last moment? He couldn't be this unlucky!
Jin Ling just walked a little further away. After all, he didn't want any of these humans to overhear what he was talking about lest they disturb his plans. To make sure he cast a simple barrier spell that should prevent any sound from leaking out. Even that Grandmaster shouldn't be able to hear anything now.
Looking at Qiguan Cheng Da's displeased expression Jin Ling smiled brightly. This man was obviously really as narrow-minded as Xiao Li had said. Well, that would make his task easier. "Brother Qiguan."
Qiguan Cheng Da frowned even more. "I doubt that I've ever seen you before. Who told you to come here?"
"Xiao Li. Ah, you might not know that name. It's … the disciple from the Hei Dian Sect you told all about your Junior Martial Brother Zhong Jing Yi."
Qiguan Cheng Da's eyes flew open wide and he hurriedly looked back at the gates of the Sect Master's palace.
Jin Ling laughed. "Don't worry. There's already a barrier in place. They won't find out."
"You … What do you want?"
"Well, it's actually something you might be happy about. I came to know about your grudge against Zhong Jing Yi. You see there are some circumstances that align our goals in that regard. So … How about I help you out?"
"Help me out?" Qiguan Cheng Da frowned. He did indeed like what this man was saying but he wasn't sure yet if he could trust him.
"Mn. Actually, for me, it's enough to break him and his fiance up. Everything else … I'd leave that to you."
Qiguan Cheng Da's furrowed brows slightly relaxed. That sounded exactly like what he had wanted to do all this time. As soon as Zhong Jing Yi couldn't rely on the Grandmaster's disciple any longer there wouldn't be any reason to worry. "That would be enough. But the two of them are in the Hei Dian Sect right now. There is nothing we can do."
Jin Ling's smile got even brighter. "Don't worry about that. I don't know what exactly they were doing there but I have a feeling that they'll be coming back very soon." After all, that guy would never stay in the Hei Dian Sect if he had to fear that he would come over and do something to his fiance. He wouldn't risk that.
"Then what do you propose?"
Jin Ling's eyes narrowed a bit. "It's a little difficult. I don't know much about your Yun Zou Sect. We'd need some kind of opportunity. Something … out of the ordinary."
Qiguan Cheng Da nodded. "There is actually something. The sect discovered the opening of a secret realm. I think they might call those two over."
Jin Ling's eyes blazed. "A secret realm?" Ah, he really wanted to laugh! This was obviously Heaven helping him! His originally bright smile grew twisted in an instant. "That Zhong Jing Yi doesn't have a high cultivation base, does he?"
"No. He's relying completely on the Grandmaster's disciple."
"In that case, visiting such a secret realm should be quite dangerous."
Qiguan Cheng Da responded with a smile of his own. Meeting this person was really a great boon! "Then, how do we want to make sure …"
"Well …" Jin Ling lifted his hand and gently touched the bordered gem embedded in his earlobe. He should have stored something that was exactly right for this situation inside. He had his mind enter the space connected to the gem and searched for a while.
There! With a smile, he pulled something out and handed it to Qiguan Cheng Da. "This should solve the problem."
Qiguan Cheng Da turned the thing around in his hands and furrowed his brows. At first glance, it looked like it was made out of white jade but upon examining it more closely he actually found a pair of eyes staring back at him! He nearly dropped the thing and looked up at the other man.
Jin Ling laughed. "There's no reason to be like this. This cute guy is a demonic beast. It lives off spiritual energy and is even able to collect it for a long time. It's called a Jade Gathering Beast."
Qiguan Cheng Da frowned. "I heard of them. Weren't they used to aid cultivation a long time ago? What am I supposed to do with this?" He would like to keep it though. As far as he knew this was the first time in thousands of years since one of these Jade Gathering Beasts was seen.
Jin Ling chuckled. "Well, it often is used like that. It can be quite dangerous though. It doesn't have a concept of quantity. Thus regardless of how much spiritual energy it is faced with it'll try to devour it all. In some cases, that may lead to regrettable accidents."
"So I should bring it over and see to it that such an accident occurs?"
"Mn. Don't worry. I've kept this one well. It'll definitely be able to achieve our goal. Right, to make sure it works it should be as close to Zhong Jing Yi as possible. In fact, it would be best if you could get him to carry it on his person." He didn't remind him to stay away from it himself though. What did he care for a human? He just had to make sure that Qiu Ling thoroughly lost this person.
Ah, just thinking about it made him smile.
"Is that all?" Qiguan Cheng Da frowned a bit. He really couldn't believe that it was supposed to be that easy.
Jin Ling laughed once more. "You think it's too simple? Oh, you'll see that it's actually quite the hard task. This little guy will start devouring the energy as soon as you get close. So you have to hand it over as soon as possible but not too early either or Qiu Ling might notice something. Your timing will be essential to this task."
"I see."
"Now, I wish you luck. Unfortunately, I can't help you further than this since I'm not part of this sect. I trust that you'll be able to do this." He nodded and then turned around, his eyes fixating a spot not too far from them. He still had to shut up a little mouse that wanted to nibble at the fine thread holding together his plan.