Jin Li: I'm... Very Gentle.

Heavenly Venerable Moheng concealed his form and stole quietly toward Duanyue Abyss. Since Heavenly Venerable Motong might be harboring certain problems, he would have Heavenly Venerable Mochi keep watch on him. His figure hidden, he swept past quite a few Yin Gods. Even when he passed within no more than several li of many of them, not one of the Yin Gods of Duanyue Abyss discovered Heavenly Venerable Moheng. After a while, Heavenly Venerable Moheng's figure came to a halt, and his gaze turned toward the depths of Duanyue Abyss. Formations blocked his sight. Although his strength far surpassed Heavenly Venerable Mochi's, he did not possess an ultimate principle like Heavenly Venerable Motong's Observing the Minute. So, at this moment, he could pry out nothing. "Heavenly Venerable Mochi, come out at once and meet me," Heavenly Venerable Moheng transmitted his voice. He was a Yang God of the Ultimate Principle Realm, and both his status and standing were higher than Mochi's. This was naturally not a visit to pay respects. The words had barely fallen when the formation in the depths of Duanyue Abyss rippled, and a man in a gray robe hurried out, seeming somewhat panicked. This naturally displayed panic could serve as a cover to fool cultivators of the same realm, but to an Ultimate Principle cultivator one level higher, it was still easily detected. "I pay my respects to Heavenly Venerable Moheng!" Qi Yuan bowed his head, his expression reverent, a trace of surprise still on his face. "May I ask what matter brings the Heavenly Venerable to my Duanyue Abyss?" At this moment he was acting with everything he had. He did not even have an inner thought left. "Mochi, have you seen Heavenly Venerable Motong recently?" Heavenly Venerable Moheng swept Qi Yuan with a glance. "I have. Some days ago I paid Heavenly Venerable Motong a visit, as is my custom. At the time, Heavenly Venerable Motong even invited me to... launch a surprise attack on the Moon Goddess Palace. But I had a furnace of pills at a critical juncture, so I refused him. Now... could it be..." Qi Yuan went on with the act, shock written across his face. "Heavenly Venerable Motong has taken some injuries." Heavenly Venerable Moheng's expression was deep. "I suspect the wounds the Moon Goddess Palace dealt him are not shallow, and have already affected him. This old man is too far from Jueyue Abyss to keep constant watch over matters here. You will watch him for me." At these words, Qi Yuan's expression turned grave. "Heavenly Venerable Moheng, you suspect Heavenly Venerable Motong..." He swallowed, and did not speak the rest. "You need only watch, and report to this old man at any time." Heavenly Venerable Moheng said no more. "As you command!" Qi Yuan kept his head lowered, not daring to look Heavenly Venerable Moheng in the eye. "Go back," Heavenly Venerable Moheng said indifferently. Seeing this, Qi Yuan hurried back. About a dozen breaths passed. Heavenly Venerable Moheng narrowed his eyes, his gaze complicated. "This Mochi is somewhat off as well. There is no aura of a newly formed precious pill about him." Mochi had just said that he refused Heavenly Venerable Motong because he was refining pills. Then Mochi ought to have been refining pills all along. He had smelled precious-pill qi on Mochi, but on careful distinction it was the qi of a pill completed long ago, not the sort still being refined, or only just finished. So Heavenly Venerable Mochi had been lying about this matter. "He must have some little secret." Heavenly Venerable Moheng's gaze was deep. "A pity. This old man's true body is too far from here. Otherwise, I would rather like to see just what this little secret of Mochi's is." His gaze grew remote, and a sudden impulse struck him. "Moqi borders Duanyue Abyss. I'll have him watch Mochi." Heavenly Venerable Moheng thought a moment, then headed for the region guarded by Heavenly Venerable Moqi. That's right. Heavenly Venerable Moheng was a master of nesting one inside another. …… The Sixth Heaven, Suiyun Pavilion. The armored woman had changed into an everyday robe of jade green, and the baleful aura about her had dispersed somewhat. She walked out of Suiyun Pavilion with a trace of gravity in her expression. "Aunt, aren't we enemies of the Moluo Clan, and still in the middle of a great war? Why are we going to them for a loan?" The girl Mu Bihua wore a puzzled look, quite unable to understand. Today she had followed her aunt to the region run by the Moluo Clan to borrow. The Immortal Jade borrowed was an astronomical sum. The Moluo Clan would deliver this Immortal Jade to the clan in successive shipments. "War is war, and business is business," the tall man said. "Don't look only at how, within the Demonic Abyss, the Moluo Clan and the Moon Goddess Palace have already been at war for nearly several hundred thousand years. Even now... those who have died are nothing but Yin Gods. Not a single Yang God Heavenly Venerable has fallen." As the tall man spoke, he was somewhat moved. In his view, the feuds of these great powers looked especially ridiculous. The dead and the wounded were only the lower ranks. The upper echelons sat high in the firmament, and the enmity never fell upon their own persons. At any moment, a single written order might turn enemies into allies. "So of course this business can be done," the tall man spoke, a puzzled look appearing on his face. "I simply can't understand why Her Highness the Yue Nü ordered us to borrow from the Moluo Clan. The interest is hardly low." Because they were enemies, the interest the Moluo Clan charged them was a cut higher than usual. Every ten years, the interest they repaid the Moluo Clan was an astronomical sum. Indeed, every ten years the interest alone required handing several Immortal Jade mines back to the Moluo Clan. A single Immortal Jade mine was enough to carry a Yin God Venerable into Great Venerable. "Right. So much Immortal Jade—the greater part of our family property will have to be returned to the Moluo Clan as interest!" At the thought of shouldering the debt, the girl pulled a bitter face, thoroughly unwilling. Just then, a slightly mocking voice came, and a man with a fat head and large ears walked over. "Don't tell me you still don't know. That Yue Nü of yours has become infatuated with a little charmer and voluntarily given up her identity as Yue Nü of the Moon Goddess Palace. Now... she's probably short of resources for cultivation, and so... she's borrowing Immortal Jade from the Moluo Clan." Seeing the fat-headed, big-eared man, Mu Tianshui gave a cold snort. "Even if the young miss has lost her status as Yue Nü, she is still not someone your petty little Zhao family can afford to offend!" At this, the fat-headed, big-eared man's face stiffened. Indeed, because of the Yue Nü, the Zhao family was far inferior to the Mu family. But even if Jin Li lost her status as Yue Nü, the Mu family as it now stood was still not something they could presently match. Even so, the fat-headed, big-eared man could not help saying, "Our Zhao family can still send daughters to the Moon Goddess Palace, and have a chance of obtaining the status of Yue Nü. Your Mu family gave up the Yue Nü status of its own accord, and cut off the qualification to send the clan's daughters into the Moon Goddess Palace! This loan from the Moluo Clan is already more than you can swallow. Wait a thousand years, or ten thousand, and once that one of yours fails to break through to Yang God, your Mu family... will be finished for good!" The fat-headed, big-eared man naturally believed that, having lost her status as Yue Nü, Jin Li could no longer receive support in resources. Wanting to break through into the legendary Yang God Heavenly Venerable and defy the heavens to change her fate, she had taken a desperate risk, borrowing Immortal Jade from the Moluo Clan for one last all-out gamble. Such attempts at miracles were hardly rare, yet the outcomes were all wretched. How could a Yang God be achieved so easily? The five realms around them were still territory of the Sixth Heaven, and from ancient times until now, not a single Yang God Heavenly Venerable had ever emerged. With that, he swept his sleeve and left. "Damn it! Those ugly misfits of the Zhao family are really dreaming!" the girl Mu Bihua said in anger. "Her Highness the Yue Nü will definitely break through to Yang God and slap that fellow hard across the face!" The tall man looked toward Mu Tianshui then. "That Dao companion of Her Highness the Yue Nü... what is he like?" He was somewhat curious. Mu Bihua looked over as well, expectation in her eyes. Because of a man, Her Highness the Yue Nü had given up her status as Yue Nü, raising a tremendous uproar in the Mu family. One clan elder had even pulled out his own Divine Infant on the spot, intending to present it before Jin Li and make her abandon the decision. Others had wept bitter tears. Those who clearly recognized their own place were actually few. After all, some who were long accustomed to leaning on their seniority were extremely obstinate. Still, Jin Li had not needed to lift a hand. Mu Tianshui had dealt with those clan elders herself. The young miss's decision was the will of the Mu family. Now, recalling the man at the young miss's side, Mu Tianshui's gaze grew complicated. To tell the truth, it was the first time she had ever seen the young miss so soft and maidenly. "He... has outstanding looks." Only after thinking a long while did Mu Tianshui come up with this single virtue of Qi Yuan's. She could not think of any others. "Huh?" Mu Bihua blinked. Was Her Highness the Yue Nü this shallow? Looking only at a face? "Anything else?" Mu Bihua asked again. "The way he talks... is witty and humorous, wildly imaginative." In the end, Mu Tianshui chose the emotionally intelligent answer. In truth, hearing Qi Yuan's words, she had found them ridiculous, unhinged, and utterly baffling. Something about adding an egg to noodles. Something about eating beef? And the fall of the Moluo Clan, borrowing at ruinous interest? What did any of that have to do with anything? If Qi Yuan were not the one the young miss favored, she would even have suspected he was a mad cultivator lost to qi deviation. "Outstanding looks, plus a mouth that can win a girl's favor. No wonder Her Highness the Yue Nü gave her heart to him," the tall man sighed. Mu Bihua did not want to speak. She felt it would be better if Qi Yuan did not talk. Talking lost him points. "Who knows whether this move of Her Highness the Yue Nü... is calamity or blessing," the tall man said with a sigh. Borrowing so much Immortal Jade from the Moluo Clan had saddled the Mu family with an extremely heavy debt. The only way to break the deadlock was for Her Highness the Yue Nü to break through into Yang God. There was no other way. Surely they could not be counting on the Moluo Clan simply ceasing to exist? …… In Duanyue Abyss, Qi Yuan, in a blood-red robe, lounged lazily with one leg crossed over the other, an Exquisite Jade Tide in his hand. "Acting is so boring. Sigh. I have to play someone else every day. I'm not going to get depressed, am I?" "The worst part is, nobody's paying me." "I've thought for a long time and still can't figure out who exactly owes me my wages!" "I can't think about it anymore. My brain will swell." "Still, heh, it's not bad. These past days the harvest has been rich. I've already caught two little idiots, though both were only Yang Gods of the Heavenly Position Realm." "What are you doing? Come on, turn on the video and let me have a look!" Qi Yuan felt as if he were back on the Moon Gazing Continent, chatting with Jin Li. The new Exquisite Jade Tide had a video-call function added to it. This was not very difficult. But because of the Creation Treasure, communications of this sort were all sealed off. So, when he left Jueyue Abyss, Qi Yuan had sought out Heavenly Venerable Longyue and had her open permissions for him and Jin Li, so the exchange between them would not be blocked. On the Duanyue Abyss side, Qi Yuan also held partial authority. Granting himself permission was all it took. "Is there anyone beside you?" From the Exquisite Jade Tide came Jin Li's voice. "No one. Why?" Qi Yuan was curious. Just then, white light flashed across the Exquisite Jade Tide, and a hazy watery mist appeared before Qi Yuan. Jin Li's lotus-pale arm held an Exquisite Jade Tide. Not a stitch of clothing was on her as she sat in the bathing tub. The hazy mist veiled her figure. Everything below her delicate, fragrant shoulders was hidden beneath the water. Water like white broth could not stop Qi Yuan's gaze. Soft, creamy flesh showed through in glimpses, faint kiss marks still lingering upon it. Qi Yuan's memory was yanked back at once to that day of lingering intimacy with Jin Li. He swallowed. This water was truly vast, and truly white. If one spoke of Ning Tao's and Canary's, each was a slender handful. Jin Li's were not like his little junior sister's, the sort that "needed no cover," but they could still smother him. "This isn't quite proper, is it?" Qi Yuan blinked. Fortunately, this was the cultivation world. The Exquisite Jade Tide had been made by him, and its principles were different from those of Blue Star in his previous life. He did not have to worry about his privacy leaking. A look of recollection surfaced in Jin Li's eyes. "Back then, when you wiped out the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground and were chatting with me, I was bathing. At the time, hearing you say you had wiped out the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground, I was doubtful in my heart. That feeling was very much like hearing you just now say you had caught two Yang Gods." As Jin Li spoke, she smiled. Back then, she had not taken Qi Yuan's words seriously, and had even treated them as a joke. Now, what Qi Yuan said about catching two Yang Gods was even more exaggerated than wiping out the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground. Indeed, if it were spread about, no one would believe it. But this time, she believed him. "People ought to be sincere with one another. I rarely tell lies!" Qi Yuan said earnestly. One of Jin Li's hands rested before her chest, which only made it tremble more. A tremendous upheaval. "What do you want to do to me now?" A bright smile lay in Jin Li's eyes. Back then, with the Exquisite Jade Tide between them, they could not even see each other. Now, it was different. "A kiss?" Qi Yuan's gaze moved from top to bottom, pausing briefly at her lips, her snow-white neck, her fragrant shoulders, her soft chest, and he spoke with perfect sincerity. "Anything else?" Jin Li went on, expectant. Qi Yuan's gaze moved farther down and paused upon her slender waist, its outline graceful, its line distinct. He continued downward, and disappointment showed in his eyes. "You're wearing underpants even while you bathe?" Jin Li's face reddened. She covered her mouth and laughed, though the view before her chest was revealed in that moment. But in the next breath, the smile on her face froze, because Qi Yuan's voice was somewhat... grating? "Why don't these underpants have an elastic? Otherwise, I'd pull them off, take out the elastic, and tie up your hair. If you don't tie your hair while you bathe, it gets wet very easily!" Qi Yuan very much wanted to give his high emotional intelligence ten likes in a row. Someone with low emotional intelligence, at a time like this, would think only of his own desire. He was different. He was a warm, considerate man. He could notice details others had never noticed. As Jin Li was now, because she had no elastic to tie it with, quite a lot of her hair had already fallen into the tub, soaked through. "...How about we turn off the video call?" "Ah? Right. You're bathing. This really isn't appropriate. Turn it off." Qi Yuan was very considerate. As the saying went, appetite and desire were human nature. He wanted not only to look, but also... Still, there had to be mutual respect, no? "No." On the other side, Jin Li shook her head. She gathered up her black hair, her expression gentle, her gaze intent, her eyes soft and full. "I want to look at you a little longer." "Mm... Jin Li, shall I teach you a cultivation art?" Just then, Qi Yuan looked at Jin Li and said, thinking seriously. "What cultivation art?" "Qi Yuan's Improved Resplendent Sword!" Qi Yuan said earnestly. "All right." Jin Li nodded gently. Whatever Qi Yuan said, she did not press him. More often than not, she agreed. "This sword art is extraordinarily formidable. It can disguise one's own dense killing intent and turn it into a sword of righteous light! The moment this sword comes out, anyone can see you're a big shot of the orthodox path!" Jin Li's limpid eyes blinked, and droplets splashed upon her snowy face. She bowed her lovely head. A flush rose over skin creamy-white as jade, adding a touch more tender allure. Jin Li looked somewhat aggrieved. "I'm... very gentle."