Between them, a ray of qi began to glow. Countless strands of their qi reached out, tangling with each other, affecting one another and giving rise to endless new transformations.
The strange sight made Gu Pin'er instinctively step back half a pace. At Li Xun’s signal she pulled farther away, though the gleam in her bright eyes showed her guard was still up.
Shui Die Lan smiled slightly. “When our qi mechanisms merge, it inevitably stirs the blood and ties our life force together. If one flourishes, the other flourishes. If one suffers, the other suffers. To put it simply: if I die, you won’t survive. If you die, I won’t survive either.”
Seeing the uncertain look on Li Xun’s face, whether it was doubt or just caution, Shui Die Lan dipped her head lightly. “That’s how I solve problems. Well then, now we should be able to work together without worrying about knives in the back, don’t you think?”
Li Xun found himself holding his breath. His gaze on Shui Die Lan had already changed completely.
This woman is insane! Handing your life over to someone who was just your mortal enemy a moment ago… only a madwoman would do something like that!
And yet… this method really was damn brilliant. Li Xun felt the “heart knot” within him again, using the moment to steady his mind.
The “heart knot” was truly strange. After its initial intricate weaving, it had already settled back into its usual state. Yet he could clearly feel how the mechanism of qi within him, which had always been its own self-contained world, was now connected and resonating with Shui Die Lan’s. The mystery of it was beyond words.
He wasn’t some fool who could be easily tricked. Precisely because of that, he knew the effects of this “heart knot” were no illusion.
Once he’d made up his mind, he quickly pushed aside all useless thoughts. After a moment of silence, he asked the most practical question: “Is there a way to undo it?”
Shui Die Lan giggled, not bothering to hide a thing, “Qi mechanism is tied into too many things, how could it be undone? But when the time is up, the Gu will naturally die off.”
Li Xun brightened and pressed, “How long will that take?”
“If you water it with your heart’s blood every day, it won’t die for a thousand years.”
Having teased him with that nonsense, Shui Die Lan added, “If you slack off, about a hundred years. After a century, the Gu turns to ash and fades away. That’s why it has another name: ‘A Hundred Years of Union.’ Oh, looks like we’ve arrived.”
Before her words had even finished, Li Xun already felt it. From the moment he’d taken that step, the surrounding primordial qi had grown suddenly thick, ebbing and surging like the tide, brimming with a vitality impossible to find in ordinary places.
This feeling... it's almost like being back on the summit of Zuwang Peak.
But shaken as he still was by Shui Die Lan’s genius move, his mind had yet to settle. Sweeping his gaze around, he saw only a narrow path leading straight into a valley. Nothing else stood out, yet instinct told him the closer they got, the fewer restrictions and illusions there seemed to be. Though the ones that remained were even harder to detect.
Shui Die Lan, on the other hand, acted as if she’d left all that behind, or perhaps she really did have confidence to lean on. She clapped her fist into her palm, excitement flashing across her face. “Just from sensing this ‘tide of primordial qi,’ you can tell there’s another world hidden inside. Mist-Hidden Pavilion really is a fine place for cultivation!”
Li Xun and Gu Pin'er exchanged a glance. Seeing Shui Die Lan’s attitude now only made them believe all the more in the power of the so-called “heart knot.”
Li Xun’s thoughts spun like a windmill, weighing the pros and cons of this change again and again. But no matter how he turned it over, he couldn’t find a reason to stay wary.
If things were truly as Shui Die Lan said—that their lives were now bound together, live and die as one—then in a way, she was actually the one at a disadvantage.
She was one of the greatest demons and Grandmasters in the world, with a lifespan that bordered on endless. The odds of her meeting some accident were vanishingly small. You could tell just by looking at the Demon Phoenix.
Back then, when the righteous and demonic sects joined forces and ten thousand cultivators hunted her down, she still managed to escape. A figure as renowned as the Demon Phoenix, Shui Die Lan couldn’t possibly be any weaker.
By contrast, Li Xun carried a body full of troubles and grudges. Any day now, he might end up a corpse in the wilderness. If that dragged Shui Die Lan down with him, it would be more than unfair.
If she wanted to avoid such a fate, wouldn’t she have no choice but to stand on the same side as him? Gaining such a powerful ally, wasn’t that an enormous stroke of luck?
Of course, all of this rested on the assumption that the “heart knot” truly was as marvelous as Shui Die Lan claimed.
With that thought, Li Xun once again went through the mechanism of qi inside his body. Before he reached any conclusion, Shui Die Lan reacted. “What’s wrong, still don’t trust me?”
In the time it took her to say that, the qi mechanisms within their bodies connected. Li Xun realized he now saw not only every detail of his own inner flow, but could also faintly sense Shui Die Lan’s.
He quietly ran through a few scenarios of fatal injuries. And with the clarity of their qi-link, he was finally convinced. Shui Die Lan hadn’t been lying!
“This gu art is truly miraculous.”
The moment he said those words, it meant he had formally acknowledged Shui Die Lan’s claim. From that point on, their relationship was no longer the same.
Li Xun was someone who knew when to pick things up and when to set them aside. Though many details remained unclear, with Mist-Hidden Pavilion right before them, he understood what mattered most. For now, he put the matter of the “heart knot” aside and took out the Cloudmist Stone.
Through the stone, his senses sharpened even further.
He could feel the immense, unmatched primordial qi sealed within. The energy was locked in place by powerful restrictions within the valley, forced to circulate only in a confined space.
And those restrictions were faintly linked to the barriers of the “'Stop-At-The-Forest” outside. Clearly part of a deliberate arrangement.
If that primordial qi were ever released, who knew what this place would become?
He cast a glance at Shui Die Lan, drew in a deep breath, and walked into the valley.
Shui Die Lan walked alongside him with a smile, while Gu Piner’s expression was far more complicated. In the end, though, she chose silence, wordlessly following behind Li Xun, falling into step beside Nether One.
After another hundred or so steps, the view suddenly opened up. Ahead, scattered among the valleys, he could already make out man-made structures.
Tucked between the cliffs were thin, rushing waterfalls, and nestled against the mountainside were little six-sided pavilions. In a few spots, water had been channeled into small, clear ponds. You could even see a couple of brightly colored fish swimming around in them. Nothing that lived in a place like this could ever be called ordinary.
At a glance, buildings of all sizes rose and fell with the terrain, nestled between rugged peaks and scattered boulders. Streams wove through them, connecting the landscape with a quiet, liquid charm.
When Li Xun reached this place, he actually felt more at ease. He shook his head with a wry smile. “Mist-Hidden Pavilion? Calling it Mist-Hidden Manor or Mist-Hidden Grotto-Heaven would sound better.”
Shui Die Lan sneered. “Pretending to know what you don’t! A pavilion is only meant to frame the scenery. How could it ever be a whole ‘realm’? This place has always been called Mist-Hidden Grotto-Heaven. It’s the perfect site for a cultivator to establish a dwelling. As for the so-called Mist-Hidden Pavilion, it’s just one of the sights here, and it happens to be the hub of all the restrictions. Only when they’re activated from there does the name Mist-Hidden Grotto-Heaven truly live up to itself.”
Li Xun only smiled at her mocking tone and let it pass.
On the surface, their exchange seemed no different from before. But if you listened closely, there was something subtly different about it.
Words that once sounded “harsh” no longer felt that way. What’s more, Shui Die Lan herself seemed, perhaps unconsciously, to have grown more restrained.
The two of them strolled along as if on a leisurely outing, admiring the refined sights scattered throughout the grotto-heaven. Rare plants and spiritual fruits appeared here and there, the sort that would never be found in the outside world. It only confirmed how abundant the treasures within Mist-Hidden Grotto-Heaven truly were.
Before long, Li Xun murmured, “That must be the Mist-Hidden Pavilion.”
The answer might have seemed underwhelming, but they really had arrived at the pavilion.
Across a shallow lotus pond stood a structure of gray tiles, white walls, and red pillars with handrails. Simple enough in design. Yet the shifting mist that hovered around it, half-real and half-illusory, and the intricate, restless mechanism of qi within that mist, all made it clear this place was anything but ordinary.
And as they drew closer, the Cloudmist Stone in Li Xun’s hand began to tremble, as though it might slip free and fly away at any moment.
A thought struck him, and he let go.
With a low humming sound, the gray-white stone shot forward as if pulled by a magnet, colliding into the pavilion and embedding itself in the corner where wall and tile met.
The crackling sound rose from low to loud, echoing in quick succession. It was the resonance of countless streams of qi shifting and rearranging.
Li Xun glanced around and noticed a narrow path winding along the lake’s edge. Smiling faintly, he strolled onto it, showing not the slightest sign of impatience.
The pavilion itself was small; with four people inside, it already felt a bit crowded.
Its interior was simple yet elegant. The ancients once said: “A pavilion resembles a carriage, with its name implying elevation. It should stand high and open, built for taking in the view.” In other words, a pavilion was meant to be placed on lofty ground to frame the scenery.
On their way here, no one had felt the slope rising. Yet now, standing within, whether looking back through the entrance or gazing out through the windows, their eyes seemed to reach endlessly far.
The sights within the valley were one thing, but even the dense forests beyond could be faintly seen. Only then did they realize the marvel of this pavilion’s placement.
Li Xun gave a quiet word of praise, then quickly collected himself. His eyes flicked toward the Cloudmist Stone. Its color was now identical to the pavilion’s wall, fitted seamlessly into the spot where it had embedded itself. Without having witnessed it before, one might never even notice it.
He understood then that the stone’s purpose had come to an end.
By now the flow of qi was almost fully settled, the crackling sound fading away. But on the stone table inside the pavilion, several lines of crisscrossing symbols suddenly appeared.
They were faintly bluish, resembling natural veins in the stone.
Li Xun’s eyes flickered as he glanced at Shui Die Lan.
Their gazes met. Clearly, she had no idea what these markings meant, so she asked, “Is it finished already?”
“No. There’s one more step,” Li Xun replied, his palm hovering casually above the table. His voice was calm. “We still need to uncover the secrets of the restrictions that govern this grotto-heaven.”
“Ugh, more restrictions? Qu Zhuoyu really makes no sense. Does the heir have to be someone who’s good at restrictive formations?” She frowned hard, but when she glanced at Li Xun, her expression suddenly relaxed. “Well, whatever. Just figure it out quickly, then fill me in afterward?”
She said it so lightly and naturally that it startled Li Xun. It only proved again that the “heart knot” between them was real.
Otherwise, standing here before the greatest treasure of Mist-Hidden Pavilion, how could she be so easygoing?
At last Li Xun felt completely assured. Smiling, he set his palm against the table. The cold touch only sharpened his focus.
He calmed his mind, clearing away distractions, and let his spirit sink into the stone table.