Jingyue gritted her teeth. ’How could I possibly fight Master?’

’Do I have a death wish?’

"Come on, spit it out. I’m busy."

Su Qi didn’t waste any time. "I just sent a video to your phone. Take a look. And just so you know, it’s a big deal."

Then, Su Qi added, "It’s serious business. It has nothing to do with my husband."

Most of the time, her Senior Sister would connect anything she said to Jiang Zuo and then give her the cold shoulder.

That was why Su Qi had made a point to clarify.

"Got it. I’ll watch it now."

After ending the call, Jingyue looked down at the Xuanwu and said, "Elder Five, would you please open your mouth? That’s my Junior Sister’s pet. You know, Su Qi? The cute little girl who used to help you scrub your shell and bask in the sun? Sweet Potato is her pet. Can’t you just let it go?"

"This thing is a disgrace to my clan. It cannot be allowed to remain in this world."

"Senior, let’s be reasonable. It doesn’t even have Xuanwu blood, so it has nothing to do with your clan. Besides, Holy Beasts aren’t always on friendly terms. When you see another clan of Holy Beasts produce a duck-like descendant, isn’t that a perfect opportunity to mock them? How could you kill it? If you kill it, how are you going to show off your clan’s lofty status among the Holy Beasts?"

"I don’t believe a word you say. Humans are cunning creatures. You can’t be trusted."

"..."

Jingyue was helpless. She could only watch the video while maintaining the stalemate.

But as she watched, she froze, then exclaimed in shock, "Heavens, something this huge actually happened."

In her shock, Jingyue subconsciously threw her fishing rod away.

Sweet Potato, feeling the pulling force disappear, was instantly bewildered again. "QUACK???"

Endless, tragic squawking followed.

The Xuanwu was also momentarily stunned. ’A human trick?’

In its moment of distraction, Sweet Potato slipped away. Seeing Sweet Potato scrambling across the lake’s surface, it understood. Humans were indeed conniving and unbelievably cunning.

But who in this lake could be its opponent?

"Where do you think you’re going?" With a roar, the Xuanwu gave chase.

Jingyue was no longer in the mood to care about Sweet Potato. She immediately contacted her master and reported the matter up the chain.

’That little complainer is pretty clever, though,’ she thought. ’She just handed it off to me and wiped her hands clean of it, not having to do a thing herself.’

******

By now, Jiang Zuo had already returned to the small house. How could he ever leave a trail that would lead back to him?

It was useless no matter who investigated.

He couldn’t guess what the Holy Land’s next move would be, but the existence of Ghost Cultivators was indeed quite troublesome.

If it were up to him, he had plenty of ways to eliminate the Ghost Cultivators. The only variable was how much control the Holy Land had over its Arrays.

The greater their control, the smaller the commotion and the lower the losses would be.

If their control was too low, they would have to resort to drastic measures.

After muting all his group chats, Jiang Zuo sat on the sofa to wait for Su Qi to come home.

The wait wasn’t boring, nor did it make Jiang Zuo impatient.

An endless, aimless wait was what brought suffering. At least he knew Su Qi would be back.

But to keep himself from zoning out and falling asleep, Jiang Zuo decided to do something.

He took out the Elemental Elixir. About the only thing he could do openly right now was pop some pills.

He went upstairs, found a room, sat down, and swallowed the pill.

Jiang Zuo didn’t use any of his Spiritual Qi. Magic was different from Cultivation, but they didn’t conflict.

In the early stages, they were practically unrelated. Only later would it become clear that they were different paths to the same end.

Magic involved sensing the Elements in the world, mastering magical commands, and then using one’s own Spiritual Magic Power to summon or cast spells.

Spiritual Magic Power was equivalent to a Magic Slot—in short, mana.

Most people had Spiritual Magic Power. The real barrier to entry for Magic was affinity with the Elements.

Jiang Zuo had no intention of practicing Magic; he was just killing time.

Magic might be decent in the early stages, but it would get absolutely crushed by Cultivation later on. There was no helping it; the casting times for powerful spells were just too long.

When Jiang Zuo consumed the Elemental Pill, he faintly sensed the throbbing of the Fire Element.

The Fire Elements were like a group of mischievous children, chattering noisily all around him.

Now, as long as he could gain the recognition of these Fire Elements, Jiang Zuo would be able to use them to cast Magic.

Jiang Zuo’s consciousness looked at these Fire Elements and then spoke. "You’re very noisy. Could you be a little quieter?"

"CHIRP, CHIRP, CHATTER." The Fire Elements were very displeased with Jiang Zuo’s attitude. ’How did this kind of person resonate with us?’

Jiang Zuo had no intention of communicating with them anyway. They didn’t speak the same language.

Within his spiritual consciousness, Jiang Zuo directly stomped on the loudest little elemental Fireball.

It got much quieter after that.

Jiang Zuo’s action provoked the indignation of the Fire Elements. The faint trace of affinity instantly turned into hostility.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t care less about this change. He was just here to kill time, and he hadn’t expected them to be so noisy, so he had subconsciously wanted to quiet them down.

Then he stomped on another one. It didn’t die, it just got flattened.

"CHIRP, CHATTER-CHIRP, CHATTER." The Fire Elements began to resist Jiang Zuo. This person should be burned to ashes by the Elements.

A simple translation would be: "Brothers, charge!"

Jiang Zuo was actually quite interested in the Fire Elements’ reaction. A little fight wouldn’t be bad.

And so, he started fighting the swarm of Fire Elements. The Elements were very weak. A casual stomp or a careless squeeze was enough to make them submit.

Jiang Zuo’s Spiritual Power wasn’t actually that great, but his Spiritual Resilience was unparalleled—a trait he carried over from his past life.

So, to these Fire Element particles, he was like a giant.

After fighting for a long time, a pile of defeated Fire Elements had accumulated behind Jiang Zuo. But he was getting bored; his opponents had no new tricks.

Then, Jiang Zuo looked at the Fire Elements behind him and said, "Get up. Go beat them."

At Jiang Zuo’s command, those Fire Elements obediently got up and charged at the surrounding Fire Elements: "CHIRP, CHATTER-CHIRP, CHATTER."

Jiang Zuo sat to the side, watching them fight relentlessly. It was a bit noisy, but at least it wasn’t just noise for noise’s sake. A battle without sound wouldn’t be much of a show anyway.

At this moment, flickers of fire were constantly erupting around Jiang Zuo. It was as if two fireballs were locked in a fierce battle, neither able to get the upper hand.

But the two fireballs grew larger and more vigorous, as if they were about to erupt into a full-blown inferno.

What Jiang Zuo saw was more and more Fire Elements being beaten into submission. However, more and more external Fire Elements were also joining the fray. At this rate, who knew how long the fight would last.

Jiang Zuo yawned. "I’m done playing. You all do as you please."

With that, Jiang Zuo’s consciousness vanished from the spot.

Then, the group of Fire Elements was dumbfounded. ’Big Bro, don’t! If you just up and leave like this, it puts us in a really tight spot! We need your support!’

’Otherwise, we can’t win!’

Without Jiang Zuo present, these Fire Elements were beaten back again and again. Finally, they had an epiphany: a wise man knows when to yield, and it wasn’t impossible to bury the hatchet.

And so they surrendered. Then, they once again became a pile of Fire Elements, chattering and playing around.

When Jiang Zuo came to his senses, he felt that he could now control the surrounding Fire Elements.

With a single thought, a wisp of flame flickered to life on his fingertip.

These Fire Elements were answering their Big Bro’s call, ready to go through fire and water for him.

********

Thank you to Xingkong Ge, Reader 20170615192814954, and Reader 161106235213480 for your generous tips.