The banquet ended and Xiao Hong quickly left the hall after pacifying a concerned Yun Meng that she did not blame them. She even threw a few more bottles of Blood Surge pills at him to show that no, she really did not blame the Yun Family!

‘Hold on,’ she thought. ‘Why was I the one pacifying him with treasures?’

Xiao Hong paused, balancing herself on the root of a tree that three of her wouldn’t be able to hug. A slightly confused look flashed across her face, ‘In this case, shouldn’t he be the one compensating me for emotional damage??’

‘Eh. Whatever.’ She shrugged, throwing it to the back of her mind. It’s not as if the Yun Family would have anything worthwhile.

After closing her eyes for a bit, she gently pushed off the root, shooting forward, weaving around the trees like a deer. She did not want to attract too much attention in this forest by flying over it like some sort of overgrown firefly. While it was unlikely, who knew if there was a powerful creature or reclusive expert hiding in this place?

Moreover, she did not want to startle her targets. A human-sized lightbulb shooting towards you would be seen by anyone, much less an Earthen Origin Stage Cultivator.

***

‘There you are.’ Xiao Hong stopped atop a branch, staring down at a pair of human figures around a bonfire. One of them sat cross-legged, breathing rhythmically while the surrounding Spiritual Energy around and rippled, signifying his state of Cultivation. The other one stood guard, vigilantly eyeing his surroundings and ensuring no one disturbed the former.

They were the two Tengs that she had scared into fleeing like the rabbits that were currently being roasted over the fire.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, ‘I should follow them for a bit.’

She decided not to reveal herself and continued following them for a while. Even if she was far stronger than them, it did not mean that she could control them completely and have them reveal the whole truth. She also did not have a way to tell if they truly had revealed the whole truth.

There might be methods like the Soul Search Spell, but she would never learn such heinous means.

So, she felt it was better to follow them stealthily in hopes that they would reveal something.

Unfortunately, her plans crashed the moment she had them.

“Esteemed Senior, you might as well reveal yourself now that you are here.” The older man - Teng Kangyun - called out calmly, without even opening his eyes. “Lurking in the shadows like this does not suit someone of your stature.”

‘What?! Did he detect me?! How?!’ Xiao Hong tensed up immediately!

‘Or is there someone else around here? But that doesn’t make sense! How was he able to detect someone else when I wasn’t able to?!’ Her Divine Sense surged out in a wave scouring every inch of space her Divine Sense could detect, only to find absolutely nothing!

‘There is no one I can detect at all! Does it mean that he somehow managed to detect me, who is at a much higher Stage than him? Is that even possible?’ She remained frozen on the branch, wondering if she should reveal herself. During this time, Teng Kangyun remained seated in a cross-legged position, calmly cultivating, seemingly without the slightest care in the world.

Xiao Hong gritted her teeth. Yet another Divine Sense scan later, she was very sure that no one else was around. And that meant this Teng Kangyun fellow had somehow detected her!

Taking a deep breath and calming herself, ‘I must have been careless and let my aura leak out… That or this fellow has some powerful detection-type Artefact, or perhaps some special secret…

She narrowed her eyes. ‘Even if it is the latter case, there must be a high price to use it.’ As for the possibility that there was a greater power involved? It was negligible. If there really was a greater power, they would have taken action. If they had held back because they were wary of Xiao Hong’s background, they would continue to do so until she took action against them. After all, it was really difficult for someone to cultivate to the Stage she had at the same age.

‘Since I’ve been discovered, I might as well confront them openly.’

She had just stepped off the branch, when she heard Teng Xingsen speak up somewhat exasperatedly, “Uncle, do you really think repeating this line every so often would really work? I don’t think anyone would be gullible enough to fall for such tricks, much less a powerful Cultivator like her…”

Thump.

Just as Teng Kangyun was about to speak up, the sound of something falling to the ground drew their attention.

Xiao Hong who had just landed: “...”

Teng Kangyun: “...”

Teng Xingsen: “...”

The three of them stared at each other awkwardly.

‘Fucking… She actually fell for it?!’ Both the Tengs were flabbergasted!

‘Shit, shit, shit! Will she kill me off to wash away this shameful incident?!’ Teng Xingsen shivered like a leaf in the wind. His face drained of colour, his vision blurring at the edges. He swayed on his feet, on the verge of fainting from sheer terror.

It wasn’t unheard of, you know! There were many cases where Cultivators severely maimed or killed over an insult. He had even heard of some particularly cruel Immortal Cultivators or Martial Artists exterminating entire families over some small, unintentional slight.

And now, they were all alone in the presence of an Immortal Cultivator they could not fathom the depths of. How could he not be terrified?!

“Ahem. Great Immortal Xiao, I’ve been awaiting your illustrious presence to brighten the dreary ambience of this wretched, desolate…” Teng Kangyun, being more mature and level-headed than the younger Teng, launched into a barrage of endless praise, nearly equating Xiao Hong to the Way of Heavens.

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“Alright, shut it.” She couldn’t help but snap. The Heavens hate me enough already, there’s no need to draw even more agro for me!

Teng Kangyun immediately shut up.

“Let’s get straight to the point: what the hell is a peak-stage Earthen Origin Cultivator like you doing here, mucking around in this small city without a single Immortal Cultivator?” She completely glossed over the whole debacle. She was just a really straightforward and honest person! Hiding and tailing? Hmph! That’s for cowardly, dishonest people! She truly disdained such a morally bankrupt action!

‘I could ask the same, what the heck are you doing here?’ Teng Kangyun almost rolled his eyes before he controlled himself. If he really did, the next time they rolled would be on the ground rather than inside of his skull.

At the same time, though, he let out a relieved sigh inwardly, ‘At least, she doesn’t intend to hurt us. For a Disaster-Stage Great Immortal like her, there are far easier ways to extract information.’ The Spirit Void Finger - a glorified sneeze in the arsenal of a powerful cultivator - was essentially just a blast of compressed Qi.

And he could easily evaluate based on the properties of the Qi that it greatly surpassed any Divine Sea Stage Cultivator’s Qi. Therefore, in Teng Kangyun’s view, Xiao Hong was probably a Disaster Stage Cultivator - and definitely not a weak one among them.

With the difference of nearly two major Cultivation Stages, she could easily rip the memories out of their heads before blowing them into cosmic dust.

Then, he felt confused. “Great Immortal Xiao, are you not here for the Nine-Petaled Lotus Formation’s Minor Node?”

“What is that?” Xiao Hong raised an eyebrow. She suddenly recalled Elder Song’s mention of Nine Petal Lotus Islands and some opportunities there.

“And what does it have to do with the Nine Petal Lotus Formation?” she pressed, a hint of curiosity creeping into her voice.

Teng Kangyun’s expression grew even more confused. ‘You know about the Nine Petal Lotus Islands but not about this?’

But he did not dare let his thoughts slip out. Instead, he simply decided to reveal the whole thing from start to finish. “‘Nine-Petaled Lotus Islands’ is the name of an archipelago consisting of ten islands.

“On a map, it greatly resembles the form of a nine-petaled lotus flower - one main island at the centre representing its receptacle and the nine smaller islands its petals.

“Usually, though, four of these ‘petals’ remain submerged underwater - not too deep, but enough that the mortals and weaker practitioners truly believe that there are only four islands - naming the islands differently.”

Teng Kangyun paused for a moment and continued solemnly, a feverish excitement surging through him, “However, every half a century, during the Great Tide when the sea recedes and the remaining submerged islands surface, a Great Opportunity appears!

“An opportunity where one can gain immense benefits! It is said that the Ancestral Emperor of the Radiant Star Kingdom achieved the mythical Celestial Bridge Stage thanks to an opportunity he received there!”

‘Oh? A Celestial Bridge Stage? Not bad. But what use is it to me?’ Xiao Hong shrugged. ‘I might as well hide here obediently until the Sect comes to rescue me.’ She had no intention of running over to cause trouble and draw attention to herself. So, she simply nodded slightly before gesturing to him to continue.

Teng Kangyun carefully surveyed Xiao Hong. ‘W-Why does she seem so indifferent?’ This was the Celestial Bridge Stage they were talking about, would it kill her to show more excitement?!

‘Dammit! What the hell is her background? Why doesn't she seem to care about it at all?’ Teng Kangyun shivered in his boots. He had already guessed that this young woman was the direct disciple of a powerful being or at least the disciple of a very powerful Sect. That was obvious enough.

But what was more terrifying was that she might causally squash them to death if she did not get anything useful from them!

So he squeezed out even more information. “I-It is even rumoured that one can increase their Innate talent there.”

“What?!” Xiao Hong who was carelessly wondering how she stave off boredom snapped her head towards Teng Kangyun, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.

She ignored his reaction and stared at Teng Kangyun with narrowed eyes. She demanded, “Increase Innate Talent? What do you mean? Explain clearly.

“I-I-It is exactly as I said. There are rumours that some Opportunities gained by cultivators can increase their talent. The greatest example is the Ancestral Emperor of the Radiant Star Kingdom - it was said that he was merely an ordinary Qi Gathering Cultivator with exhausted potential. But after accidentally acquiring an opportunity, he rapidly rose through the Stages and attained his current Stage as Celestial Bridge Cultivator!”

Xiao Hong’s eyes glowed intensely as she scanned Teng Kangyun for any sign of falsehood. Everything about Teng Kangyun was laid bare under the intense scrutiny of her Divine Sense. His frantically beating heart, his quick, shallow breaths, the staggered flow of his Qi streaming through his body, the fine cracks along his bones and ruptured blood vessels resulting from her Spirit Void Finger…

‘He doesn’t seem to be lying.’ Xiao Hong concluded. ‘Then, it must be true. Or at least, he must believe it is true.’

Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. Should she check it out? After all, there might really be a way to increase one’s Innate Talent. It is very likely not possible and going there to check it out would only put her in more danger.

But… What if? What if it really was true? Then… Then, she could not afford to miss it!

Gu Ran had told her it was impossible to strengthen one’s Innate Talent before Nirvana. ‘But, he does not know about everything now, does he?’ He wouldn’t have to reincarnate if he did, right? And if her assumption of him being an old-fogie reincarnated was false, why should she even pay attention to his words?

‘What do I do? What do I do…?’ Xiao Hong suppressed the urge to wring her hands. She knew the most stable way was to simply hide until she was rescued. There was no sense in pointlessly endangering herself for a mere possibility. Yet, she truly hoped that Teng Kagyun was right. Because, while she already knew of a way to break the limits of her talent, she hated every moment of treading that path.

She refocused her eyes on Teng Kangyun. “How do I get there?”

He was intimidated by that intense stare, but also relieved. It seemed that the rumours he heard had indeed interested this terrifying woman. He cleared his throat and replied, “Uh… we’re already there.”

Xiao Hong: “???”

“What do you mean we are already there?” She frowned.

“I mean that we’re already on one of the islands.” Teng Kangyun’s expression was strange as he looked at Xiao Hong. She had sneaked through the guards assigned by the Five Sects to prevent unrelated personnel and she did not know what was going on. What the heck?

“Huh?” Xiao Hong was confused. “Aren’t we in the Golden Star Province?”

“Indeed, we are.” Teng Kangyun confirmed. “The Golden Star province is among the most remote provinces of the Radiant Star Kingdom - lying towards the edges of the kingdom. The only reason the Radiant Star Kingdom even considers the desolate Golden Star province their territory is because of this island. And we are currently in the Southernmost edge of this territory.”

Xiao Hong stared at him, a single question mark hovering over her head. “This island? You mean this dusty, backwater, good-for-nothing place is actually part of some legendary archipelago?”

“Uh, yes?” Teng Kangyun replied, his expression becoming stranger.

‘Eh? Eeeeehhh?! I’m already on the Nine-Petaled Lotus Islands?!’ Xiao Hong was surprised! She almost laughed out loud! ‘Being thrown smack dab into the middle of an Immortal Opportunity after some freakish thing like a Realm Collapse… Haha! Do the Heavens finally favour me?!’

Hardly had she begun to revel in her newfound protagonist status when Teng Kangyun decisively poured several gallons of ice-cold water over her head! “Actually, with the Radiant Star Kingdom’s strength, it wouldn’t be able to hold on to this Island. It is only because of the Flowing Cloud Sect that the Radiant Star Empire is able to hold on to this Island!”

Xiao Hong froze. Her smile evaporated faster than a snowflake thrown into a blazing furnace. She stared up at the Heavens, feeling the violent sea of some very disturbing expletives ready to burst from between her teeth!