"No, she is not my friend, just a backup spirit ring."
The beautiful woman dressed in black spoke in a flat tone, but the words she said were cold and merciless.
Su Cheng: "..."
Snow Empress: "..."
"Teacher, where is your innate power? Your injuries..."
As Qian Renxue circulated her own soul power within Su Cheng's body, she gradually noticed the peculiarities within him.
Snow Empress's strike just now hadn't actually caused much harm to Su Cheng.
His body was indeed injured, but his recovery speed was astonishingly fast. In just a few breaths, he was almost completely healed.
However, at the same time, she also noticed something unusual within Su Cheng's body.
His glazed meridians were transparent and flexible, far exceeding those of ordinary soul masters. However, tiny remnants of golden flames still clung to the inner walls, constantly burning.
What was even more terrifying was that his wide meridians were almost empty, with very little energy circulating. There was only a faint, strange power that she couldn't fully discern, flickering in and out of existence.
"Your old wounds..."
Qian Renxue bit her lip lightly, her gaze complicated.
These flames were clearly from the power of the sun that she had used that day.
"Don't worry, it's already healed."
Su Cheng spoke softly, carefully observing the facial features of the two women beside him.
Their facial features were as perfect as ever, even more refined than before.
The gradual improvement in their strength was subtly enhancing every tiny flaw in their bodies.
But they didn't look as beautiful as they used to.
To be precise, their spirits had diminished.
Their eyes no longer held the same spirited gleam, and their lips no longer bore that faint trace of arrogant disdain.
Su Cheng sighed inwardly.
Yes, Xiaoxue was such a proud person. No matter how much she threatened or teased with her words, she probably never truly believed that something like betrayal could happen to her.
However, at this moment, Qian Renxue's mind was temporarily not on these matters.
She clearly did not believe Su Cheng's answer.
Her senses couldn't be wrong.
His body's strength far exceeded expectations, yet his power was almost completely depleted.
Those terrifying golden flames, though not large in scale, contained a power so intense that she was fully aware of it.
That was the kind of fire capable of burning almost anything, so terrifying that even she, after that day, didn't dare touch this power lightly.
It's been over a year since Su Cheng took that sword, yet these flames still lingered within him.
One can only imagine the immense pain he must have endured during this time.
"I'm also training hard. I will definitely cure you. Give me some more time, and I'll be able to fully control this power. By then, I can clear out all these flames for you." Qian Renxue said softly.
She knew what Su Cheng's original strength was like. It would be hard for anyone to accept such a significant disparity.
As the one responsible for this situation, how could she possibly not have any inner conflicts?
When Snow Empress injured Su Cheng today, she wasn't initially this furious.
She wasn't unreasonable. Snow Empress had been arranged to intercept him, and when words failed, it was inevitable that she would take action.
But when she saw Su Cheng injured, she couldn't help but recall the moment when she almost killed him.
Seeing Snow Empress was like seeing herself at that moment when she stabbed Su Cheng.
She couldn't bear it any longer.
"Xiaoxue, come back with me."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Qian Renxue fell silent, her gaze uneasy.
"I searched the continent for a long time, never finding your trace, so I thought I'd try my luck here. I never expected to actually find you. If there's anything we need to discuss, we can go back and talk. I'll explain everything to you."
"You said you searched for a long time... What about Zhu Zhuqing? Have you completely cut ties with her?"
"..."
Su Cheng's expression paused slightly when he heard this, and then he opened his mouth to say, "Xiaoxue, Zhuqing's situation is special. We've been through a lot together, and I can't just sever all those feelings."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Cheng felt the soul power circulating within his body disappear.
The two hands supporting him also left his arms at the same time.
The next moment, Qian Renxue, dressed in black, straightened up and looked down at him. Anger flashed in her eyes as she sneered, "Su Cheng, you certainly have guts, daring to come looking for me alone. What, aren't you afraid I'll suddenly show up in Spirit City and cut down that b*tch with a single sword?"
"I—"
"Teacher, leave. Don't come looking for me again," the other woman spoke as well.
Seeing this, Su Cheng sighed.
He knew that this matter wouldn't be so easily resolved. If it could be solved so easily, Qian Renxue wouldn't have decisively left Spirit City that day.
Fortunately, he had long prepared for a protracted battle and never expected to resolve things quickly.
Being able to meet her, thanks to the opportunity Snow Empress created, was already quite fortunate.
As for Zhu Zhuqing's safety, Su Cheng wasn't too worried.
With Xiaoxue's strength, there's no way she could fully control that overpowered force so quickly.
With Bibi Dong protecting Zhu Zhuqing, as long as Xiaoxue doesn't use the previous fusion state, Bibi Dong would be able to hold her off long enough for him to arrive.
Of course, Su Cheng knew her well. With her character, if she wanted to prevent any future troubles, she wouldn't care about taking a life.
But now that it was confirmed that there was an affair between him and Zhu Zhuqing, if she truly wanted to kill Zhu Zhuqing, with her pride and confidence, she wouldn't attack without him knowing.
Otherwise, a year ago, when he took that sword and Bibi Dong was fully focused on saving him, with no mind to guard Zhu Zhuqing, Xiaoxue could have easily killed her.
But she didn't.
Because Qian Renxue knew very well that the problem now wasn't Zhu Zhuqing, the third party, but Su Cheng's attitude.
Her decision to leave afterward was because she hadn't figured out how to deal with the situation.
On the other side, after they spoke, the two women got up and walked towards the forest one after the other.
Su Cheng quickly reached out to grab the sleeve of the woman in white, hoping to say a few more words and give it another try.
Compared to the other one, at least this Xiaoxue had a much better temper.
But what Su Cheng didn't expect was that the moment his fingers touched Qian Renxue's sleeve, she reacted like she was triggered, violently shaking off his arm and shouting sharply, "Don't touch me!"
Her tone and actions were as if the person behind her was no longer the most cherished and admired lover, but some filthy thing that had tainted her, leaving Su Cheng stunned.
After speaking, Qian Renxue's steps paused for a moment, as if she wanted to turn back and take one more look, but she forcibly restrained herself.
Neither of them looked back, and soon they continued walking, disappearing from Su Cheng's sight in no time.
Snow Empress quickly turned around as well, following Qian Renxue into the forest.
Before leaving, she gave Su Cheng a glance filled with a mixture of disdain and glee.
After observing for so long, she had more or less figured out the relationship between these two and the story that had unfolded.
In her mind, she labeled Su Cheng as weak, cunning, and a womanizer.
She thought to herself, "I must find a way to persuade Qian Renxue to stay away from this man. If she gets hurt again by this scumbag, that's one thing. But if it delays her promising future, then that would truly be regrettable."
Moreover, she still had to rely on this unprecedented human genius to help her escape the shackles of the soul beast's heavenly tribulation.
"..."
Su Cheng silently stood in the distance, staring blankly at the disappearing figures, lost in thought.
At this moment, a voice suddenly broke his reverie, "Where is my Sea God Trident?"
Su Cheng snapped back to reality, glancing at the newly arrived Bo Saixi and casually replied, "It's in Spirit City."
"You left it in Spirit City?" Bo Saixi's gaze was suspicious. "Tell me, if I were to capture you and use you as a bargaining chip, with Bibi Dong's attachment to you, do you think she would agree to hand over the Sea God Trident?"
"Go ahead," Su Cheng replied lazily, waving his hand dismissively.
"..." Bo Saixi carefully scrutinized him for a few moments after hearing his words. In the end, she didn't choose to take action. Instead, she asked, "What exactly is your relationship with that angel clan descendant?"
She had been curious about this for a long time.
Or rather, the main reason she appeared now was to ask this very question.
Ever since Qian Renxue arrived at Sea God Island, Bo Saixi had her suspicions. The recent events seemed to confirm what she had been thinking.
"No relationship."
"No relationship?! Do you take me for a fool? The way you two were pulling and tugging at each other just now, it's clear there's a story behind it. What is she, your lover?"
"You already know, so why ask?"
Seeing Su Cheng's dismissive attitude, Bo Saixi couldn't help but feel a bit displeased.
No matter what, he had always treated her with a great deal of respect in the past.
Whether he was lying or playing dumb, at the very least, he had never spoken to her in such a tone before.
"Give me back the Sea God's Scepter."
"I'll give it back, sure." Su Cheng, noticing how fixated she was on the item, grew somewhat impatient. "But it really isn't on me right now. Once I return to Spirit Hall, I'll bring that broken stick back to you."
In a few more months, once his power had fully merged, his strength would break through to the level of a second-tier god. By that time, even if the Sea God himself descended, while he might not be able to defeat him, saving his own life shouldn't be a problem.
Besides, with his current strength, even if Bo Saixi wanted to call for help, it would be difficult for her to do so.
Sacrificing herself to summon a god takes time, and that time would be more than enough for him to interrupt the process hundreds of times.
"..."
After hearing Su Cheng's indifferent response, Bo Saixi was momentarily stunned.
She didn't feel happy about it. Instead, she felt a faint sense of loss.
In the past, he had clearly cared a lot about matters related to the Sea God.
"Why have you suddenly become so agreeable?"
"Good advice is hard to offer to a stubborn ghost. If someone insists on dedicating their life to guarding an empty and illusory temple, what can I do?"
Bo Saixi's eyes flickered, but she didn't get angry at his words—perhaps she had already grown used to it.
"You've become quite arrogant."
"I've always been this arrogant."
"This is my territory. Your strength isn't what it used to be, yet you still speak so brazenly. I could kick you out right now."
"Why don't you just kill me then? Otherwise, I'm not going anywhere." Su Cheng glanced at her and responded casually.
Bo Saixi didn't reply. She simply raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down.
"What are you looking at?"
Su Cheng wasn't really in the mood to joke around with Bo Saixi right now.
The brief exchange he had with Qian Renxue earlier hadn't gone well at all. Her attitude had been very resolute.
Given the situation, he still hadn't come up with a good plan for what to say or do next.
"Is that little girl really so important to you? I've never seen you this anxious before."
"Really? I don't feel anxious."
"You're very anxious."
"..."
Su Cheng was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Alright, maybe I am a bit anxious. She's very important to me, so this time, no matter what, I have to take her back with me."
"Does that mean you're planning to stay here and wait her out?"
"That's the idea."
"Then you'd better show me some respect."
"..." Su Cheng didn't respond. He simply looked at her with a strange expression.
The meaning behind his gaze was clear: "What can you do to me?"
Bo Saixi, however, seemed unfazed and casually asked, "Isn't Bibi Dong the current Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall? I wonder how the descendant of the authentic Six-Winged Angel Spirit from Spirit Hall gets along with that official Supreme Pontiff. But I guess she doesn't know about your relationship with Bibi Dong..."
Hearing her pause mid-sentence and seeing her meaningful gaze, Su Cheng's expression changed slightly.
It wasn't surprising that Bo Saixi could guess that he had a close relationship with Bibi Dong.
She still had memories of that simulated world, so it wasn't hard to deduce that Bibi Dong might have experienced something similar.
In that simulation, the story between Su Cheng and Bibi Dong had been anything but simple.
Given that Su Cheng was now part of the Spirit Hall faction, it made sense to assume there might be something more between them in reality as well.
But that wasn't what concerned Su Cheng.
He and Bibi Dong were perfectly innocent, so what was there to be afraid of?
The issue lay with Qian Renxue.
Because of Zhu Zhuqing, there was already a severe trust crisis between him and Qian Renxue.
If Bo Saixi casually mentioned something now, who knew how deeply Qian Renxue might start overthinking things?
The situation was already troublesome enough, and Su Cheng really didn't want to add more complications.
"Alright, alright, you win. Esteemed High Priestess of Sea God Island, may I be allowed to stay here for a while longer? Is there anything you need me to do?"
"There's nothing you need to do for now. You should focus on healing your injuries first."
A faint smile played at the corners of Bo Saixi's lips, and her beautiful face lit up with a hint of triumph.
For the past two years, the faint cloud of worry that had weighed on her heart and the tangled emotions that refused to settle seemed to suddenly clear.
She felt as if she had become much younger, and even her long, red ceremonial robe seemed lighter.
At this moment, she glanced in the direction of the forest. "That little girl seems very wary of me. She's been watching us closely, as if she's afraid I'll do something to you. Did you tell her about me?"
"She knows that you once captured me and brought me here."
"..."
Hearing Su Cheng say this, a flash of embarrassment crossed Bo Saixi's face.
That trip from Sea God Island to the mainland hadn't just been a waste of time; she had also been thoroughly fooled by this "disciple." It was far from a pleasant memory.
The resolute words he had spoken when he left still lingered in her mind to this day.
"Follow me," Bo Saixi said after a long silence.
"Where to?"
"You don't need to ask. What, do you plan to stay in this spot forever?"
"What else? Wait a minute..."
Su Cheng glanced at her, then at the direction of the island's core forbidden area. "You're not planning to take me up Sea God Mountain, are you?"
It seemed like there weren't many other places on Sea God Island that would require the High Priestess herself to escort him.
Thinking of this, Su Cheng's expression grew somewhat odd, and then he chuckled knowingly.
"What are you laughing at?" Bo Saixi frowned, displeased by his reaction.
"It's nothing. I just thought of something funny."
It seemed that the High Priestess in front of him had undergone quite a change in mindset as well.
Even the sacred Sea God Mountain didn't seem off-limits to her anymore. What was she up to?