Looking at Prolonging Life Incense's harmless appearance, Zhong Liuyan asked with some confusion,
"I don't know much, just that it seems to prolong human life. What about it? Could that clueless thing possibly cause any trouble?"
"Ji!"
Seeing Feng Yuan teasing Prolonging Life Incense, Xiao Ji directly rushed over and jumped onto Feng Yuan's head, defiantly staring at Prolonging Life Incense,
"Ooh?~"
"You guys don't need something that extends lifespans! Why not let me collect it! You guys don't have the ability to sell this thing! Once someone discovers you have it, you're all going to die!"
Seeing Feng Yuan teasing Prolonging Life Incense and Pei Yu ranting somewhat frantically, Feng Yuan looked at Pei Yu with a bit of amusement and said,
"Extend life? Who told you it has that ability? Prolonging Life Incense's only trick is Fate's Choice."
"You're lying! Both its name and legend say it can save lives!"
Watching Pei Yu become somewhat hysterical, Feng Yuan sighed, scratched Prolonging Life Incense, and then scratched Xiao Ji's belly, who was also getting angry, and said,
"You yourself just mentioned it saves lives. Prolonging Life Incense's Fate's Choice can only force a possibility to definitely happen in the future, and to trigger Fate's Choice, it must consume Prolonging Life Incense's own life to take effect. So, counting on it to prolong life is really wishful thinking."
"How is that possible! I don't believe it! You're lying to me!"
"What benefit do I get from lying to you? If you don't believe it, you can ask the professors. It's called Prolonging Life Incense only by accident. I think 'Wishing Incense' might be more fitting~"
"What about the danger? You said there was danger, didn't you?"
Zhong Liuyan looked at Feng Yuan suspiciously. Seeing Prolonging Life Incense close its eyes and go back to sleep, Feng Yuan clapped his hands and said,
"He was planning to force it to submit, wasn't he? What do you think would happen if he let Prolonging Life Incense make a few Fate's Choices? After all, that's a trick that consumes life to use, so probably just two times would cause him a fatal accident, right?"
Hearing Feng Yuan's words, Zhong Liuyan thought for a moment and involuntarily tightened her grip on Pei Yu's shoulder. Pei Yu looked at Prolonging Life Incense with some fear, and after a while, he leaned despondently against Duomeng.
"Moo..."
Feeling Pei Yu's dejection, Duomeng tried to comfort him. Qi Chen walked over to Feng Yuan and whispered to him as he glanced at Pei Yu,
"Is it really impossible to subdue it?"
Feng Yuan glanced at Pei Yu and whispered back,
"Subduing it by force is out of the question. As for persuading it, considering Prolonging Life Incense has been used as an incense burner here, it was probably the work of that Divine Pact Maker from long ago. Since it has always stayed here, any other form of convincing is likely futile."
"Ji?"
"What's happening?"
"Could it be?"
Seeing Prolonging Life Incense suddenly open its eyes again and hop off the altar, heading toward Pei Yu, Feng Yuan thought of something and looked at the mural in surprise, particularly at the segment where the child met the dark blue dragon.
"Ooh~"
"What are you going to do?"
Seeing Prolonging Life Incense approach his feet, Pei Yu was puzzled. Zhong Liuyan watched the creature warily while Feng Yuan shouted at Pei Yu,
"Silently wish in your heart for what you desire most! That ultimate wish of yours!"
Hearing Feng Yuan's words, Pei Yu hurriedly pressed his hands together and faced Prolonging Life Incense, silently praying. After a while, the long incense on Prolonging Life Incense's head suddenly burned quickly, shortening by a segment,
"Ooh~"
Prolonging Life Incense let out a satisfied cry and walked cheerfully back toward the altar, leaving everyone confounded by its action. Qi Chen asked with some confusion,
"Wasn't it said that using its ultimate trick would consume its life? Then why does it still..."
Feng Yuan, smiling, looked at Pei Yu, who was slowly opening his eyes, and said,
"Fulfilling pure wishes is Prolonging Life Incense's reason for being~ Pei Yu, your wish will definitely come true, of course through various accidents~"
"Really? That's amazing!"
Seeing Pei Yu's excitement, Zhong Liuyan smiled and said to Feng Yuan,
"Then, can we make wishes too? I have many wishes that need to be fulfilled~"
"How can you say that! It consumes Prolonging Life Incense's life!"
"Rest assured, impure wishes won't come true~"
"But I think all my wishes are pure~"
Zhong Liuyan said with a smile, yet she had no real intention to approach the Prolonging Life Incense. Seeing Qi Chen looking somewhat displeased, Zhong Liuyan said,
"There must be some reasons for the Prolonging Life Incense to grant wishes at the cost of life, right?"
Feng Yuan glanced at the Prolonging Life Incense, which had returned to the altar and fallen asleep again, and said,
"That's correct, Prolonging Life Incense is unaffected by the passage of time. In other words, in some sense, it is immortal if it doesn't grant any wishes."
"Ji?"
"However, the Prolonging Life Incense is the reincarnation of a soul with heavy sins from its previous life. It needs to fulfill pure wishes to redeem its own sins. Only when the sins are completely absolved can the sinful soul within the Prolonging Life Incense reincarnate; otherwise, even if it randomly consumes life to make Fate's Choice, it will still reincarnate as Prolonging Life Incense after death."
"There's actually this kind of story? But what if the sinful soul doesn't want to reincarnate normally?"
Qi Chen looked surprised as he gazed at the incense burner on the altar, and Feng Yuan scoffed, saying,
"How could it not? Every second of living as the Prolonging Life Incense is torture for the sinful soul. The one here in Lei Tan Shrine got off easy, receiving forgiveness from the Divine Beasts. At least inside Lei Tan Shrine, it won't suffer much."
"How do you know? Could it be that you can see that somehow?"
"Just a guess, but you can tell from the fact that it can sleep peacefully. You should know that other Prolonging Life Incenses are always running around looking for fateful individuals to fulfill wishes~"
"Redemption of sins?"
"Ji!"
Zhong Liuyan looked at the Prolonging Life Incense on the altar with some sympathy. Seeing that the Dreaming Dragon Baby, which had been staying on the statue and doing something unknown before, had floated to her shoulder, Feng Yuan, while comforting Xiao Ji on his head, pointed at the side door next to them and said,
"Let's go~ take a look in the back~"
"Thank you."
When everyone went through the side door, Pei Yu made a special trip to the altar to express his gratitude to the Prolonging Life Incense.
"You'd better put Duomeng away; if you break something in Lei Tan Shrine, be careful that Yimu Qingling comes after you~"
"Quit the nagging!"
Seeing Duomeng couldn't get through the side door because of its size, Feng Yuan said with a mischievous smile. Pei Yu looked around and realized there was no way for Duomeng to get through, somewhat helplessly returning Duomeng to the Contract Space.
Feng Yuan said with a light laugh, resting his hands behind his head,
"Why make a pact with a Spirit Beast so big~ It makes it inconvenient to enter smaller places~"
"Shut up! Your Xiao Ji isn't much better, right? None of the evolved forms of Eggshell Chicken are small in size!"
"Ji?!"
"Being large is great~ Beast Taming for flying~ Does taming a tiny sparrow for flight make any sense?"
"Duomeng can also be a mount! I'm not going to argue with you! Hmph!"
Pei Yu, finding it pointless to continue the banter with Feng Yuan, coldly snorted and turned his head away from Feng Yuan. Feng Yuan smiled and extended his hand to rub Xiao Ji on his head, saying,
"I'm really looking forward to Xiao Ji's evolved form~ When the time comes, Xiao Ji can take me to other cities without having to pay for high-speed trains~"
"Ji~"
"Don't listen to him, Xiao Ji. With the cities being so far apart, carrying him might wear you out to death."
Qi Chen looked discontentedly at Feng Yuan and said, while Feng Yuan spread his hands and after carefully observing the surroundings, looked up at the mystic realm's sky and commented,
"This layout is so strange, there're decorations but no rooms? Just a small courtyard?"
"And I haven't seen any statues like that of Xuan Shui Blue Jiao or anything. What is the purpose of this courtyard?"
"Ao~"
The Dreaming Dragon Baby on Feng Yuan's shoulder gave him a disdainful look, floated up slowly, and approached a statue by the wall at the back of the courtyard. It coiled around the stele and yawned.
"Eh, the stele for Yimu Qingling is so small? It really does as it pleases."
Feng Yuan, somewhat speechless at the sight of the much smaller Yimu Qingling statue compared to the grandeur of Xuan Shui Blue Jiao's in the main hall, approached the stele with some curiosity to check the inscriptions on it.