The ordinary-looking woman frowned. She wasn’t entirely surprised the Ghost Cultivator had escaped, but the bizarre manner in which it fled did bother her.

Her concern, of course, wasn’t about failing to capture the Ghost Cultivator. It was about not being able to enter that space and take a look.

Just one look might have revealed what the Ghost Cultivator was really doing.

If the Ghost Cultivator had concocted this just to throw her off, she could only admit it had been very successful.

In the end, the ordinary-looking woman sighed and departed.

And the space itself showed no further changes.

The Ghost Cultivator had truly escaped.

Meanwhile, Su Qi returned to Jiang Zuo’s side.

The moment she returned, Su Qi said to Jiang Zuo, "Come on. Let’s get some sleep first."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’What’s gotten into her? I’m supposed to be an ordinary person; this kind of thing is out of line.’

A long while later, Su Qi looked at Jiang Zuo and nodded reluctantly. "I guess you pass."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’So what on earth is Su Qi thinking?’

’I pass?’

’What was she testing?’

Just then, Su Qi, lying beside Jiang Zuo, said, "By the way, things seem a little unsettled outside of town. You shouldn’t go out for a while."

Jiang Zuo nodded but said nothing.

Then Su Qi added, "I feel like it’s not very safe here, either. I’ve heard about fires and explosions happening. I have no idea what’s going on lately."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

Jiang Zuo wisely chose to ignore the topic. ’Everything I did was for a legitimate reason.’

Then Su Qi said seriously, "Oh, right. I spoke with my master. As soon as the event starts, you should head inside. It would be best to go to the second level from the bottom.

The token for entry is the piece of Jade my master gave you. By the way, when did she give you a piece of Jade?

Let me see."

Jiang Zuo said, "I don’t want to get up."

Su Qi said, "Alright, then let’s go back to sleep."

Jiang Zuo said, "Never mind, I’ll get up and grab it."

******

Jiang Zuo was curious about the ritual, but he probably wasn’t going to attend. He needed to find the Immortal Spirit Spring.

He would go check it out later if he had time, if only not to let Su Qi’s good intentions go to waste.

Early the next morning, Su Qi woke Jiang Zuo up.

"Hurry and get up. You’re coming with me to the Holy Land."

Jiang Zuo: "???"

Su Qi said, "We’re going to get Sweet Potato back. If we don’t go now, I’m worried they’ll break him."

"But is it really okay for me to go to the Holy Land? Isn’t it supposed to be all women?" Jiang Zuo asked.

He wasn’t worried about anything else. The main issue was his Cultivation. A High Tier expert could easily see through his disguise with just a bit of their own power.

He would be exposed in an instant.

This was especially true for those who had touched upon the Great Dao; they could sense something was off even with a casual glance.

Take Jiang Zuo himself, for example. Thanks to his Innate Two Qi, he could now see many kinds of energy fluctuations with his naked eye.

That was why he didn’t want to go.

"It’s ninety percent female. Besides, we’re just stepping inside for a bit. It’s no big deal. Perfectly normal." With that, Su Qi pulled Jiang Zuo to his feet.

Then, Su Qi led Jiang Zuo toward the Holy Land.

Su Qi took a more secluded path, so they rarely encountered anyone else.

On the rare occasion that they did, the person would just shoot Jiang Zuo a surprised glance.

The paths in the Holy Land were mostly covered in snow. If not for Su Qi, Jiang Zuo would have probably caught a chill.

"Do they know about our relationship?" Jiang Zuo asked as they walked.

Su Qi shook her head and chuckled. "They don’t. In fact, they probably don’t even recognize me."

Seeing Jiang Zuo’s confusion, Su Qi explained, "You know I left to go to school when I was very young. After I met you, I never really came back.

I would only return for the rituals, and you almost never see the ordinary disciples during those.

They can’t see me during the rituals, either. So, a lot of people only know that a Candidacy Saintess exists, but they have no idea who she is."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?’

’It sounds a little fake, doesn’t it?’

What they didn’t know, however, was that Su Qi’s presence had always been deliberately downplayed—an intentional act by her master.

The goal was to prevent Su Qi from becoming the Saintess, or even to have her removed from her position as a Candidacy Saintess.

Su Qi led Jiang Zuo toward the altar. Halfway there, they suddenly ran into Jingyue, who exclaimed in surprise, "Little Miss Mopey, have you lost your mind? Are you planning to take your husband to the altar? Are you trying to get him killed?"

Su Qi replied, "We’re not going inside. Anyway, hurry up and give Sweet Potato back."

Jingyue’s face twitched. Finally, she said, "He’s with Master. Go ask her for him. It has nothing to do with me, anyway."

Jiang Zuo: "..."

’Shirking responsibility?’

’Was Sweet Potato tortured and maimed?’

Su Qi had the same thought and asked, "Where’s Master? What did you do to Sweet Potato?"

Jingyue immediately said, "Oh dear, I’m running late. I have to go. By the way, Master is at the Holy Beast Lake. She’s fishing for Holy Beasts."

’Jiang Zuo was surprised. ’You can fish for Holy Beasts in the Holy Land, not just regular fish?’’

’He had never heard of this before.’

’Was the Holy Land that impressive?’

’He had always sensed that the hidden Arrays in the Holy Land were incredibly powerful, but he’d never heard of anything else remarkable about it.’

Watching Jingyue leave, Su Qi said, "Judging by my senior sister’s guilty expression, she was definitely up to no good."

Jiang Zuo said nothing, but he was somewhat interested in the idea of fishing for Holy Beasts at the Holy Beast Lake.

’If he got the chance, he wouldn’t mind reeling in a couple—one for a spicy dish, and one seasoned with cumin.’

After that, Su Qi dragged Jiang Zuo off toward the Holy Beast Lake.

"I don’t have much time left. I’ll have Master send you back to town later."

"Okay, but I can get back on my own."

Jiang Zuo wasn’t in the habit of having elders escort him.

He wasn’t much of a talker, and his auntie was, which was always a bit trying.

Before long, Jiang Zuo arrived at the shore of the Holy Beast Lake, where he finally saw what ’fishing for Holy Beasts’ entailed.

It was a truly ingenious method of fishing.

Using the ’Shame of the Holy Beasts’ to fish for other Holy Beasts... it was certainly novel. At least, he’d never thought of it.

As for the Sweet Potato of today, his feathers were nearly all gone. While there were no visible wounds on his body, his aura was incredibly faint.

His haggard appearance was enough to make one feel a pang of guilt.

’A duck shouldn’t have to bear such a heavy burden.’

However, neither Jiang Zuo nor Su Qi seemed particularly moved.

They might not have felt anything, but Sweet Potato was ecstatic. It finally understood.

’Its two masters were practically angels, paragons of kindness.’

’It had been so wrong before. Only after leaving home did it truly appreciate how good its masters were.’

Sweet Potato was now living proof that you don’t appreciate home until you’ve left it.

"QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" Sweet Potato cried with all its might.

It was impossible to describe how wronged and miserable it sounded.

It sounded utterly desperate.

’It wanted to go home. It would even give up apples. It just wanted to go home.’

Hearing this, Su Qi couldn’t help but feel a little pity. She then said, "We’ll get you home soon. Just hang in there."

Hearing Su Qi’s words, fat tears rolled down Sweet Potato’s face. Finally, its life in Hell was about to end.

Then, Jiang Zuo and Su Qi walked up the slope.

"Master, give Sweet Potato back to us," Su Qi said, not bothering with pleasantries.

Yue Xi looked at Su Qi and said, "You’re going to be late. If you are, don’t bother coming back tonight. As for Sweet Potato, I’ll discuss it with Jiang Zuo. Now, hurry up and go."

Su Qi was unconvinced, but there was nothing she could say. She could only stomp her foot and leave in a huff.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

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