After telling Jiang Zuo about Cultivation, Su Qi just kept staring at him.

Jiang Zuo: "..."

Being stared at by Su Qi didn’t feel good, especially when he was hiding something.

He felt as if his secret might spill out at any moment.

"You don’t seem surprised at all," Su Qi said. "Even if you can handle shocking news well, you can’t just have zero reaction, can you?"

Jiang Zuo couldn’t do much about it. He was used to being expressionless, and it was quite difficult for him to intentionally make an exaggerated expression.

Su Qi pinched Jiang Zuo’s face. "You weren’t so shocked your face just froze, were you?"

"..."

For some reason, Jiang Zuo no longer felt like talking to Su Qi.

"Let’s head back," Jiang Zuo said, turning to leave. "Besides, it’s not like you have all the time in the world, do you?"

That reminded Su Qi. "You’re right. Our time is limited, so we need to make the most of it. Oh, right! I have this Elixir Pill that..."

Jiang Zuo simply turned and walked away. ’Nope,’ he thought, ’I can’t listen to any more of this.’

’Couldn’t you be a little more subtle?’

’Can you stop bringing up medicine at the drop of a hat? There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just worn out from staying up late. I’ll be fine after some rest.’

Su Qi caught up to him and said, "What’s the rush? Master said that if you take this medicine, even if you don’t have the aptitude for Cultivation, you’ll be able to slowly generate Spiritual Qi. You’ll even be able to conjure a small Fireball."

Jiang Zuo was stunned. ’Come to think of it, with my lack of worldly desires, I really don’t act like a normal person.’

’But what kind of Elixir Pill lets someone create a Fireball?’

’You need to be Tier Two to cast Magic.’

’It’s basically impossible for a Tier One.’

Su Qi explained, "Master said you’re past the ideal age for Cultivation, so this medicine might help a little, but you shouldn’t get your hopes up."

Jiang Zuo sighed. "Your statements are contradictory. Lacking aptitude and being too old are two completely different things, aren’t they?"

Su Qi lowered her head. "I didn’t want to lie to you."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

That suddenly made him feel a pang of guilt.

Then, Jiang Zuo said, "Where’s the pill? Let me see it."

Su Qi quickly took out a bright red Elixir Pill.

Jiang Zuo knew with a single glance. This wasn’t a conventional elixir; it was a Magic Potion.

To be precise, it was an Elemental Elixir. Taking it would grant a temporary Affinity for the Fire Element. By using that short window to effectively connect with the Element, one could indeed create a Fireball.

But it was only a Fireball. At best, a more talented user might be able to add a few variations to it.

And if one were extraordinarily talented, they might even be able to stabilize their Affinity and eventually unleash a world-scorching sea of fire.

The chances of that were practically zero. Still, a potion that granted Affinity for the Fire Element was very expensive.

Su Qi’s master was truly generous.

"Your master is the ’auntie’ you mentioned?" Jiang Zuo asked, holding the Pill.

Su Qi nodded. "Yeah. Master raised both my senior sister and me. So my senior sister is like a real sister to me, and Master is practically my mom. But she’s not married and doesn’t want to be a mom, so she settled for being my auntie."

"..."

’Can’t argue with that logic.’

Not long after, Jiang Zuo and Su Qi headed back. Su Qi was overjoyed. She felt like she no longer had any secrets from Jiang Zuo.

Plus, Jiang Zuo had accepted her Cultivator identity, so they could definitely stay together forever.

She had even planned out their happily ever after.

But that was a thought best kept to herself.

’Now all we need is a baby.’ That part was a bit more complicated, though. The Holy Land had been under constant attack recently.

There hadn’t been a single day of peace.

When they returned to the cabin, neither Jiang Zuo nor Su Qi saw anyone else.

Then, they found a note on the table:

The duck’s nice. I’m taking it home to play with for a couple of days. Remember to report in on time tomorrow morning.

Su Qi completely ignored the first part of the note. From the second half, she could tell her master had agreed to let her spend the night.

This was great news. She had thought she’d have to go back as soon as it got dark.

Jiang Zuo, however, was indifferent. It wouldn’t be a loss for him if Su Qi went back, but there were certainly benefits to her staying.

The only shame was that he seemed to have done some "Cultivation" again the past two days.

Su Qi tossed the note aside and said, "Come on, I’ll take you for a walk and show you around."

******

「In the shadows」

"Is everything ready? Let’s send the Holy Land a little ’greeting’ first," a deep voice suddenly rang out.

"Isn’t that too conspicuous? They’ll discover us. If they set up their defenses to counter us, will the plan even work?" someone asked.

"You idiot. No one’s a moron. It’s impossible to keep our operation a secret. As far as I know, plenty of people are already aware of our plans. Do you even understand the saying ’feign one thing while doing another’? Anyway, we’ll send our ’greeting’ first and see how they react.

It’s a greeting, but it’s also a smokescreen. Let’s keep them guessing about our true intentions."

"But what if the Holy Land doesn’t hold the sacrificial rite? We came specifically for it."

"This just shows how much you underestimate the Holy Land. Besides, don’t you know that the most critical parts of the rite aren’t controlled by them?

Move out as soon as possible, and remember to clean up after yourselves. Otherwise, we’re the ones who’ll look like morons."

"Yes, sir."

*******

Jiang Zuo followed Su Qi down the streets of the small town.

Now that it was daytime, there were many more pedestrians, but the number of cars hadn’t increased by much.

Moreover, most of the people on the streets were Cultivators. The shopkeepers, on the other hand, were mostly ordinary people.

Su Qi smiled. "The town is actually very safe. There’s rarely any Chaos, since Cultivators are people too, with their own needs.

So you don’t have to worry about a thing here. This town hasn’t had a single public safety issue in over a decade."

The moment Su Qi finished speaking, a massive explosion erupted from a nearby square.

BOOM! BOOM!!!

The sound of the explosions was deafening, and the sight would have been a tremendous shock to any ordinary person.

Su Qi: "..."

It was a blatant slap in the face. She looked at Jiang Zuo in embarrassment and said, "An accident. This is definitely an accident. I mean, with Cultivators around, it’s normal for an experiment to occasionally blow up."

"Enemy attack! All non-combat personnel, please evacuate the area immediately. Armed personnel are intervening. Target identified: outside Cultivator. All non-combat personnel, please evacuate immediately." The town’s broadcast system was now slapping Su Qi in the face.

Jiang Zuo looked at Su Qi, wondering how she was going to talk her way out of this one—or if she even could.

’Still, for the Ghost Cultivators to show up this early is truly unexpected.’

Jiang Zuo looked at Su Qi’s pained expression and felt the urge to laugh, but he managed to hold it in.

Su Qi was looking a little furious, and there was no telling if she might take it out on him.

Finally, Su Qi looked toward the explosion, her voice filled with anger. "You head back first. I’m going to go slaughter those troublemakers."

At that moment, Jiang Zuo couldn’t tell if Su Qi was angry because those people were causing trouble on the Holy Land’s turf, or because they had made her lose face.

But it was clear she was really going to fight. Jiang Zuo then took off the necklace she had given him. "Here, take this. I heard the hotel owner say last night that it’s a Life-Protecting Treasure."

Su Qi looked at Jiang Zuo as realization dawned on her. "So that’s why you were so calm! You already found everything out last night. Next time, you have to play along with me, or I’ll be the only one getting nervous for nothing."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

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