"—Where have you tracked him?"
"—North of Taizhen. Chixiao shouldn't be far from Taizhen. Once I confirm the location, you can use the Great Teleportation technique. It won't take long for us to arrive."
"—So, Chixiao isn't far from the Four Lodges either?"
"—That's because of my Sky-Piercing Gold Shuttle and your teleportation. If we relied solely on flying, it'd take us a hundred years to get there."
"Wait…" Jian Xiaolou was utterly confused. "Can someone first explain what exactly you're talking about?"
"Xiaolou, we're almost at Chixiao." Ye You's voice grew cheerful. "Su He isn't skilled enough to pinpoint the location accurately. We had to come from the Four Lodges to Taizhen to connect with you so he can lock onto Chixiao again."
"What… what?"
Jian Xiaolou was stunned. Were they really coming for her?
She had sworn to sever all ties and had avoided touching the six-star bone shard for two years.
Just as she was about to forget him entirely, here he was, suddenly reappearing, reigniting that nearly extinguished spark in her heart. What was she supposed to do?
"—Why do you look so surprised?" Ye You chuckled softly. "Didn't I tell you long ago that I'd come to Chixiao? That letter is still in your hands. My curiosity got the better of me—I couldn't resist coming."
Oh, right!
Jian Xiaolou, who was floating in disbelief, finally remembered the letter. She had thought Ye You was simply coming to find her and even conjured up terms like "traveling across a thousand miles for love."
She'd forgotten that Ye You had business in Chixiao—to investigate the connection between the white dragon from ten thousand years ago and himself.
Feeling a small surge of excitement, Jian Xiaolou asked, "When will you arrive? Where will you land? Chixiao's spiritual energy is sparse; will it affect you?"
"—Su He, it shouldn't affect us, right?"
"—Chixiao's spiritual energy is enough for Nascent Soul cultivators. I've just reached Nascent Soul, and you're only in the Golden Core stage. What kind of effect are you talking about?" Su He sounded slightly impatient. "Xiaolou, this won't do. Right now, we're completely reliant on you to reach out to us. It's like we're concubines waiting for the emperor to grant us an audience. How about this? From now on, contact us every ten days until I lock onto Chixiao's location precisely."
Jian Xiaolou grumbled internally, Do you think fire soul crystals come for free? She snapped, "You'll have to compensate me for the loss later!"
"—Your poor little place? I could toss you a six-sided star crystal and it'd be enough for you to live on for half your life."
Jian Xiaolou rolled her eyes and then remembered something important. "Ye You, when you and Su He arrive in Chixiao, don't let anyone else discover you…"
According to her master, Chixiao was still hidden and independent.
If its existence were exposed to the surrounding cultivation worlds, it could be dragged into the Star Domain Wars, with unimaginable consequences.
"—Understood."
The conversation ended, leaving Jian Xiaolou feeling awkward. "By the way, you're in Taizhen now. What's Taizhen like?"
"—It's a powerful major world with hundreds of smaller domains under its rule. It's the overlord of this star domain."
"The treasure used to suppress Little Calabash also came from Taizhen. Could it be the same Taizhen world?"
"—What treasure?" Su He's tone immediately perked up with interest.
"The sword tomb of the Tianwu Sword Sect. Have you heard of it?"
"—Why is that Tianwu Sword Sect everywhere!" With a loud thud, it seemed Su He had smashed something. "They're absolutely disgusting!"
"What's wrong?"
"—The Tianwu Sword Sect is one of Taizhen's top ten sects. It holds a high status but has a terrible reputation! Their founding ancestor, who fancied himself a sword fanatic, spent his life collecting famous swords across the star domain. In reality, he was a ruthless bandit!" Su He sneered repeatedly. "The sect has several sword tombs housing countless treasured swords. These tombs serve as both a repository and top-tier magical artifacts. After we arrived in Taizhen, we kept a low profile and didn't provoke them, yet they kept hunting us down—said they wanted to turn me and that dragon into their sect's pets!"
"Pets…"
Jian Xiaolou's eyelid twitched. The Tianwu Sword Sect was certainly audacious.
Once the conversation with Jian Xiaolou ended, Ye You put away the bone shard. "Let's move out."
Su He activated the Sky-Piercing Gold Shuttle. "Letting them off like this is frustrating."
There was no helping it. The Tianwu Sword Sect had too many elders in the Heavenly Human realm, and the sword tomb artifacts were incredibly powerful. Facing one tomb was manageable, but several together had nearly turned Su He into a pincushion last time.
Ye You placed a hand on Su He's shoulder. "We'll have plenty of chances to deal with them later."
The gold shuttle tore through the boundary restrictions, flying toward Su He's locked coordinates. After about half a day, turbulent currents forced the shuttle to lurch.
Stopping the shuttle, Su He extended his divine sense to investigate. In the starry expanse, swords flew like meteors, as twenty-plus Divine Transformation sword cultivators besieged a Nascent Soul black-clad swordsman.
The black-clad swordsman, who appeared around thirty, had white hair, eyebrows, and lashes, exuding a cold and aloof aura. His spiritual energy was in disarray, indicating severe injuries. Yet, the four-foot sword in his hand kept his attackers at bay.
Su He marveled, "What a formidable swordsman. One-on-one, he'd rarely meet his match below the Tribulation Stage."
Even Ye You, typically reserved, agreed. "He's truly impressive."
Just as the black-clad swordsman was about to break through the encirclement, a rain of swords suddenly fell from the sky like a meteor shower. These weren't illusory sword shadows but actual treasured swords.
A blue-robed cultivator descended slowly amidst the sword rain, a silver sword mark on his forehead glinting faintly. The countless swords swirled around him in a tight orbit.
"—Sword tomb artifact?"
Su He rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge. "It's one of the Tianwu Sword Sect's dogs! I think he was among those who hunted us last time! Ha, only at the Nascent Soul stage? Let's take him out, Dragon!"