Wang Qi felt like he just couldn't suppress the million galloping alpacas in his heart.
So he asked Li Ziye, "Senior Li... this Heavenly Sword of yours... is it called 'Fatty', 'Skinny', or 'Little Boy'?"
Li Ziye was stunned on the spot. Xiang Qi frowned and asked doubtfully, "None of those sound like names for a Flying Sword. How did you come up with that?"
"Ah?"
Now it was Xiang Qi's turn to be confused.
Zhen Chan sighed, "This kid is making nonsensical chatter again; don't bother with him."
Xiang Qi asked with a probing tone, pointing to her own head, "Is... that what this is about?"
Xiang Qi's face turned colors, "You Ancient Method Cultivators... does one need to be mad to enter the path? That's disgusting!"
Zhen Chan couldn't help but roar in everyone's Spiritual Sense, "At least I am a sane person!"
Finally, Li Ziye snapped out of it. He stopped Xiang Qi, who was about to argue with Zhen Chan, and retracted his Heavenly Sword, "Alright, Junior Sister Xiang, now that the four seniors have gone after Daoist of Uncertainty, what do you think our next step should be?"
Wang Qi asked curiously, "What task?"
Li Ziye smiled and said, "Speaking of which, it does have something to do with you, young man. Mysterious Palace has exceptional skills in minute investigations, and even Carefree Grandmasters of the same realm would find it hard to infiltrate the vicinity of a Mysterious Palace Grandmaster. Moreover, Daoist of Uncertainty's movement technique is unparalleled, and we cannot capture him unless we trap him in a location. The plan of the Immortal Alliance is to have a low-level cultivator with a direct Immortal Alliance affiliation approach him and draw his attention for a brief moment."
Wang Qi pointed at Xiang Qi, "So Fairy Xiang is here to attract his attention? By selling her charms to distract that old guy?"
A sound of a sharp weapon cutting through the air was heard, and Xiang Qi's Flying Sword suddenly appeared at Wang Qi's throat.
Xiang Qi's voice had a chill to it, "Some things, you can't speak recklessly!"
"Ahahaha, I was only joking. Why take it so seriously, Fairy?"
Li Ziye forced a smile, "You guys... However, we are indeed troubled about how to enter the village without arousing Daoist of Uncertainty's suspicion."
Xiang Qi huffed and recalled her Flying Sword.
Wang Qi, rubbing his neck, asked, "Then why not have Fairy Xiang pretend to be a renegade cultivator who barges into the village in a panic, followed by Senior Li swooping in to capture him?"
Li Ziye shook his head, "We did consider that, but there's an issue. In order not to let Daoist of Uncertainty detect anything amiss and to prevent the few within the Immortal Alliance who sympathize with Daoist of Uncertainty from leaking the information, both Junior Sister Xiang and I were called in at the last minute from nearby. However, I am a disciple of Wanfa Sect."
Zhen Chan inquired, "What is so special about Wanfa Sect?"
"The disciples of Wanfa are the best at strategizing and can fathom thousands of Law Gates," Li Ziye proudly claimed, "When a disciple of Wanfa engages in Combat, if they don't lose, then there's no way they'd let the enemy escape once they have the upper hand."
Xiang Qi continued, "Just then nature's spiritual energy showed a small anomaly, and Senior Brother Li deduced that there must be an Ancient Method Practitioner in Dabai Village who has completed the Heavenly Communication Cultivation... wait, it's called Spirit Body, right? Just as well, the Immortal Alliance has a system specifically for guiding those who unexpectedly inherit Ancient Method teachings. It's the reason I went there."
Zhen Chan again inquired, "How did you figure out my Concealing Breath technique?"
He was now too embarrassed to claim it as a marvelous technique any longer.
Xiang Qi scoffed, "You call that Concealing Breath? Completely isolating internal from external so not a trace of Mana or Qi Intent leaks out? Hmph, you thought you could pass as a Stubborn Stone, but unbeknownst to you, even a stone or rotten wood participates in the minute shifts of Heaven and Earth's spiritual energy. By segregating yourself, you essentially removed yourself from these shifts, standing out like a stone in flowing water."
Wang Qi's eyes widened, "So you're saying that when you were talking to me, you were actually just going with the flow, pretending to be naive to extract information from me, all to linger there a bit longer?"
Xiang Qi nodded, "You're quite sharp."
Damn, who said people from ancient times in otherwordly realms had an IQ of only 9?
Li Ziye said, "Anyway, thanks to the young man here, we've managed to complete our task. Junior Sister Xiang, do we stay here and wait for the seniors to return before we all go to the Immortal Alliance Main Temple to report, or do we head straight to the nearest Immortal Alliance Branch? There's also the matter concerning young brother Wang Qi."
Xiang Qi's large eyes twirled around twice, "How about we wait here for a while first?"
Li Ziye queried, "Why?"
"We came to assist the seniors; it's proper to follow their lead, and it wouldn't be right to return on our own. Moreover, after experiencing this event, Dabai Village must be somewhat panicked. If the two of us linger here for a few days as a form of reassurance, it would be considered a Merit."
Li Ziye smiled, patted Xiang Qi on the head, "Tell me the truth."
Xiang Qi stuck her tongue out, "Having the opportunity to go to the Main Temple with four Carefree True Monarchs, what glory that would be? Besides, after staying in such a remote place for too long, one starts to miss the bustle of the Main Temple."
"And what about young brother Wang Qi?"
"Follow the rules; at worst, it's just for a year."
Wang Qi, hearing the conversation concerned him, could no longer stay seated, shouting, "Hey! What do you mean 'follow the rules'? What's this 'at worst, for a year'?"
Li Ziye explained, "According to the Immortal Alliance's regulations, if one finds an Ancient Method Practitioner, they should help them to switch to Modern methods. Ancient Method Practitioners below the Foundation Establishment Stage should join the mortals Seeking Immortality in the Immortal Alliance's unified Sect entrance trials every June. On the sixteenth of January, every Immortal Alliance Branch and Sect domicile will offer lectures to teach the Law Gates the Seekers of Immortality will be tested on."