It wasn’t Qi Bi who appeared, but Ming Ji!

Sixty years had passed, yet her bearing was just as it had been back then.

Ming Ji wore only a plain, slightly worn blue-green robe, her hands empty, without even the sword she was known never to part with. At first glance she seemed less sharp for it, but now and then her eyes flashed with such piercing brilliance that it outshone the past many times over, as if she could see straight through the world in an instant.

Next to that, her snow-pale skin and striking beauty almost seemed secondary.

She smiled. “What’s this, you're here too? What brings you both here with so much time to spare?”

Strictly speaking, cultivators cared little for worldly rules of marriage. Still, Qi Bi was a married woman, and for her to spend days alone with Li Xun, even under the same roof, was bound to raise suspicion.

But Ming Ji’s nature was unlike most people’s. She had no hesitation about such things, speaking her mind openly and without reserve.

Fortunately, Li Xun himself was straightforward, clear-headed, and without guilt in this matter. So when it came up, he simply mentioned Qi Bi’s situation with Wenhai.

It turned out Ming Ji already knew about it, sparing him the trouble of explanation. He could only sigh and say, “That’s something no one else can help with. Senior Sister Qi will just have to work it out properly with Senior Brother Wenhai… By the way, Fourth Martial Aunt, when did you return?”

Li Xun still remembered what Ling Ji had mentioned a few days ago: that Ming Ji had been traveling in the northwest and had defeated the Rakshasa Vajra of the Demon War Sect. He never imagined that barely three or four days later, she would already be here at Zuowang Peak, millions of li away.

“Yesterday, I suppose. As soon as I returned, I heard you’d come back four days earlier. I couldn’t find you at the foot of the peak, and I certainly didn’t expect you to be here.”

Li Xun was taken aback. “Were you looking for me, Martial Aunt?”

“Not exactly. Just a coincidence. But since we’ve met, I do have something to tell you.”

Seeing that the room was dim, Ming Ji simply called him outside, and the two strolled along the lakeshore beside the bamboo lodge.

The two of them had always been casual with each other. For the past sixty years, they had been neither strictly master and student nor anything else. In a prominent righteous sect like the Mingxin Sword Sect, such a bond was rare indeed.

Now they walked side by side by the lake, chatting and laughing with ease. To any onlooker, they could have passed as friends, as senior and junior, or even as Dao companions.

Of course, that was only how it might appear from the outside. For the two of them, this way of being together was simply the most natural, true to their own hearts. What it “looked like” to others was never something they bothered to think about.

At first, Ming Ji didn’t get straight to the point. After a few steps along the lakeshore, she gave a small smile. “It’s been, what, a little over five years since we last met?”

Li Xun smiled as well. Having left the bamboo lodge, his mood was already much calmer, and now he could speak with her in ease. “Yes. Back then, when I was nearly killed by the Skyhawk Demon King’s desperate counterattack and spat blood, it was Fourth Martial Aunt who arrived first to save me. Otherwise, how could I have escaped with my life?”

“Who wants to hear your flattery!” Ming Ji’s eyes flicked over to him, the glance light but cutting. In that brief flash of sharp brilliance, she saw straight through the little calculation in his heart.

Li Xun didn’t let it show. Having his thoughts laid bare didn’t embarrass him. He only noted quietly to himself that Ming Ji’s piercing intuition seemed to have grown even sharper.

From small signs he could already tell: compared to five years ago, her cultivation had advanced yet another step. At this pace, aside from himself, there was probably no one left in the sect who could rival her.

But that was only natural. She was born with a sharp and perceptive temperament, and when she practiced the Lingxi Art, it was as if the predecessor who created it had designed it just for her.

And because of that, being with Ming Ji was both a joy and a trial.

The joy was in the quiet understanding between them. They were neither master and disciple nor simply friends. But at the same time, he had to guard his thoughts with care, afraid that the smallest slip might betray him.

He scratched his head and didn’t deny it, only grinning. “After not seeing each other for years, I had to bring back a bit of our old atmosphere. With Fourth Martial Aunt saying that, it really does feel the same as before.”

They exchanged another smile. Ming Ji chose that moment to finally get to the point, her timing as precise as ever.

“These past two years, I’ve heard quite a lot about you. It seems you and that Hundred Ghosts have been crossing swords?”

“Yes. Back then he coveted my Jade Bixie and even struck me with a palm. How could I not avenge that?”

Li Xun said that with a fierce edge, but when he caught the half-smiling look in Ming Ji’s eyes, he scratched his head again and admitted, “I can’t really hide anything from you, can I? That guy’s restrictive techniques are truly formidable. Among those with cultivation on par with mine, he’s exactly the kind of worthy opponent I need.

“Good and evil may not stand together, but with such a rival to sharpen myself against, how could I let him go?”

It was an answer carefully chosen. Li Xun knew Ming Ji loved battle above all else. All her life she had fought countless foes, never tiring of it.

So this reply fit her nature perfectly.and it was phrased so subtly that not even her keen intuition could see through it.

Ming Ji really did smile. “For you to think that way shows your cultivation has truly progressed. But that Hundred Ghosts fellow has been making waves lately. He’s actually cut down several Nether Generals of the Underworld Monarch Sect in succession. Clearly, he’s advancing too. You mustn’t take him lightly.”

Hearing someone in front of him speak of the deeds of another “himself” was a strange feeling, hard to put into words.

But what Li Xun cared about more was the hidden meaning behind Ming Ji’s words. Maybe he was overthinking it, but caution never hurt.

So he played along with her tone and said, “This disciple actually witnessed it firsthand.”

When he saw the flicker of surprise in her expression, Li Xun let out a quiet breath of relief. He knew then that she truly was concerned for him, and he felt a small warmth in his heart.

He went on, “This year I’ve fought Hundred Ghosts many times. From Mount Mang in the north all the way down to the southeastern Forest Sea, and then back to the Mocang Range... I know the situation fairly well. Especially in the southeastern Forest Sea…”

He recounted parts of his experience to her, then added, “I saw him join forces with Shui Die Lan. Realizing it was a fight I couldn’t win, I pulled back. After that, things got a bit unclear. I think later the Heavenly Vigorous Sect got involved, and Ti Wujiu as well…”

He had deliberately muddled the order of events. Otherwise, if people heard the story straight, they might well think, “That guy saw a fellow cultivator in trouble and just stood by without lending a hand.”

That little twist was clearly the right move. Sure enough, Ming Ji didn’t dwell on it. Her expression only dimmed slightly as she nodded, confirming the news.

“But on the righteous path, new talents keep rising. This time, a disciple of the Heavenly Vigorous Sect named Gu Pin’er made a decisive move. Not only did she save Ti Wujiu from total annihilation, but she even managed to slip away from the likes of the Heart-Consuming Concubine. Her cultivation is clearly nothing to take lightly.”

Li Xun couldn’t help but feel a touch of pride. After all, Gu Pin’er could be counted as one of his own, and having her praised like this reflected well on him.

Ming Ji’s digression lasted no more than a few words before she returned to the matter at hand. “It’s certainly best that you know both yourself and your opponent. But since the Hundred Ghosts can be spoken of in the same breath as you, it means his scheming and methods are no weaker than yours.

“Even if his sect is wracked by infighting, the Six Core Techniques they’ve passed down still stand at the peak of the demonic path. Some of those arts contain powers outsiders can’t easily fathom. As it happens, I came across something a little while ago…”

With that, she unclasped the ornament at her waist and gave it a gentle wave in front of Li Xun.

The ornament looked like an iron carving in the shape of some strange beast he had never seen before. Years of rust had warped it out of shape, and it hung from a half-worn silk cord. It hardly matched Ming Ji’s graceful air.

She didn’t seem to notice the contrast. She dangled the piece before Li Xun almost as if to show it off, and smiled. “Well? I won this off Sect Master Li in a wager. They call it the ‘Sea-Swallowing Rhinoceros.’ I thought the name was amusing, so I claimed it.

“According to Sect Master Li, it restrains demonic ghostly yin qi and even has a few other uses. It’s the perfect treasure against sects steeped in yin qi. Sects like the Shadow-Devouring Soul, the Underworld Monarch, or the Ghoul-Devouring. I’ll pass it on to you. How about that?”

The Sect Master she spoke of was, of course, Li Douliang of the Soul Suppression Sect, who ruled over the “Fallen Soul Sea” in the far south.

As the most senior True One grandmaster of the righteous path, ever since Zhong Yin’s passing he had been acknowledged as the number one figure in the orthodox world. A treasure that came from him... how could it be anything but extraordinary?

At the very mention of the “Sea-Swallowing Rhinoceros,” Li Xun’s eyes lit up. As one who fell squarely among those it was meant to restrain, he knew perfectly well that Ming Ji’s words were not only accurate but still didn’t capture the full extent of its wonders.

This unremarkable little trinket was once a demonic beast that Li Douliang himself sealed away in his early years. The creature’s name was the Sea-Swallowing Rhinoceros. Its power was immense. For years it stirred up storms across the Soul Suppression Sea, bringing misery not only to the Soul Suppression Sect but also to the Underworld Monarch Sect of the “Seven Ghost Reefs” just across the waters.

What made this beast so dangerous was its ability to devour all manner of demonic yin qi to strengthen itself.

At the same time, its body could transform that very yin qi into a kind of toxin, which it unleashed in battle. The effect was no less deadly than the poisons of the Venom Veil Sect.

After Li Douliang stepped into the True One realm, he used his divine powers to defeat and refine it. Then, employing his sect’s signature “Soul-Suppressing” technique, he locked the beast’s spirit inside this ornament. He erased its ability to create poison while amplifying its capacity to absorb yin qi.

Through certain secret techniques, that accumulated yin qi could even be distilled and drawn out to strengthen one’s cultivation. On the surface it resembled a demonic sect’s treasure, but considering Li Douliang’s iron-blooded style—and that of the Soul Suppression Sect as a whole—it was hardly surprising they would refine something like this. Still, what use would Ming Ji have for such a thing?

In more than sixty years of cultivation, her progress had been steady. She had long since reached the realm of True Person, and on Mount Lianxia her strength ranked easily within the top five, surpassed only by a few such as Qingming, Qingxu, and Ming Je.

Unless it was someone on the level of the Underworld Flame Yama or a handful of others, she feared no one. So why would she risk criticism for “disrespect” by wagering against Li Douliang just for this trinket?

Li Xun only had to think for a moment before he understood what was on her mind.

Looking at Ming Ji’s easy smile and gentle manner, his chest swelled tight. For a moment, he couldn’t get a single word out.

In that instant, he saw it more clearly than ever before. Perhaps Qingyin had betrayed him, Zhong Yin had betrayed him, and perhaps even more of his fellow disciples would betray him in the future.

But Qingming, Ming Ji, so many elders and friends, and the entire Mingxin Sword Sect... they would never betray him.

The one who had truly betrayed others was Li Xun himself.

The sudden realization left a bitter taste in his heart. Yet in front of Ming Ji, he couldn’t let the slightest trace of it show. That tangle of gratitude, guilt, and fear twisting inside him weighed no less than the wound Qingyin had dealt him.

Forcing a smile, he took the pendant without hesitation and replied with a laugh, “Then I thank you, Fourth Martial Aunt. This disciple gladly accepts.”

As he held the pendant in his hand, his gaze brushed lightly against Ming Ji’s. Almost at once, his eyes dropped.

His heart sank, and he couldn’t summon the courage to meet her eyes again. Letting it slide, he bowed his head instead. Carried by the knot of feelings inside him, he gave a soft sigh. Fourth Martial Aunt…