Sikong Jing gazed steadily at the visitor's unusually confident expression. In the shadows where she couldn't see, a flicker of darkness passed through his eyes before he finally smiled and said:
"Then as your senior brother, I'll gratefully accept your auspicious words, junior sister!"
Nearly melting under his tender gaze, the young maiden before him blushed once more.
For a moment, the small private room was filled with quietly blossoming affection, the atmosphere extraordinarily harmonious.
After a long while, Shangguan Ling seemed to remember something, her dark eyes shifting thoughtfully:
"By the way, senior brother, do you know who those people in the neighboring room are?"
Clearly, she still hadn't let go of that cauldron.
Yet upon hearing this, Sikong Jing's tone abruptly turned serious: "A-Ling, be good. There are some people we simply cannot recklessly investigate at our current level."
"Ling'er, you saw it yourself earlier—that neighboring room occupies the best vantage point in the entire Biling Pavilion. Anyone invited there must be someone of considerable status, not someone we can casually provoke."
"In today's cultivation world, apart from the Supreme Elders of the major sects, only one person would warrant such careful treatment."
"Senior brother, you mean... the West Flame City Lord?"
For some reason, mention of the West Flame City Lord made Shangguan Ling's expression visibly darken, her tone carrying an unidentifiable edge:
"But... but senior brother, didn't you say West Flame City has several exceptional artifact forgers? Why would the City Lord himself take interest in a mere Profound-grade cauldron!"
Whether it was truly the City Lord's interest or someone else's... and that someone...
As if recalling something, Shangguan Ling unconsciously bit her lip. Noticing this, Sikong Jing's eyes gleamed subtly:
"Oh? Ling'er seems particularly concerned about West Flame City lately, especially matters regarding its City Lord?"
"N-no! Senior brother, don't misunderstand!" Fearful of being misjudged, Shangguan Ling shook her head vigorously. "It's just that you recently broke through to mid-Golden Core stage, with Nascent Soul within reach. In the past century across this continent, only the West Flame City Lord has achieved such breakthroughs, so I naturally paid more attention!"
"Is that so?" Stroking the girl's raven-black hair rhythmically, Sikong Jing maintained his usual gentle expression, though his gaze grew increasingly profound:
"How could I ever doubt Ling'er's feelings for me? But if junior sister hopes to gain advancement insights from him, I'm afraid that would be exceedingly difficult."
"Everyone on the Xuanzhen Continent knows the City Lord operates with utter unpredictability. Not long ago, didn't he visit our Xuqing Sect and specifically take away one of our outer sect female disciples?"
"Who knows what his intentions were?"
His tone carried apparent concern.
Hearing this, Shangguan Ling abruptly lowered her eyes, her normally lively features flashing with barely concealed panic.
Her slender fingers clutched desperately at his sleeve, as if afraid of losing something, her tone no longer its earlier cheerful self:
"Just an outer sect disciple—a worthless Triple Spirit Root trash with no background at that! Hardly worth senior brother's attention!"
As if fearing further inquiry, she hastily added: "I've heard she's somewhat attractive though. Perhaps she used some underhanded method to... to..."
Being just a young girl, she couldn't bring herself to finish, though the implication was clear to anyone.
Gathering her trembling hands in his, Sikong Jing sighed softly. His slightly calloused fingertips gently tapped her delicate nose with indescribable tenderness:
"Enough, Ling'er. We've grown up together—you know exactly what kind of person I am, don't you?"
"Some outer sect disciple I've never even met—why would Ling'er trouble herself over this?"
Clutching tightly to him, the normally vivacious girl's eyes now held an uncharacteristic stubbornness:
"Senior brother, you'll always—always stay with me, and only me, right?"
Under his soothing words, the tense girl in his arms gradually relaxed. Pressed against his chest, she failed to see the abruptly darkened expression in his eyes the moment hers closed.
Unaware of how she was being discussed elsewhere, An Ning had just returned to the mansion after the spectacle and couldn't wait to examine her newly acquired cauldron.
The saying "a craftsman must sharpen his tools to do his work well" proved absolutely true. Perhaps due to her elevated spiritual power from Foundation Establishment, this batch of Foundation Establishment Pills was completed effortlessly—yielding a full eight high-grade pills.
Before she could celebrate and attempt another refinement, an urgent message arrived via spiritual pigeon from Chen Ping:
"A-Ning, I've identified those recently inquiring about you within the sect."
"Host, aren't you the least bit concerned? Just within one sect, there are so many secretly investigating you?"
Several days had passed since receiving the news, yet his host continued her routine—studying, cultivating, refining pills, occasionally strolling through town—without the slightest sense of urgency. The system finally spoke up.
Truly, every creature has its survival methods. Even minor figures have their own information channels.
Especially with the lure of high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, Chen Ping had exerted maximum effort.
It's just... there were rather too many involved—an inner sect senior sister, a sect elder, some cousin with unknown opportunities, even Sikong City was implicated... Just hearing the list made the system feel suffocated.
No wonder the original host met such miserable ends in previous lifetimes.
And with so many players involved, identifying the true culprit from the original's past life became exponentially harder.
Playing with her newly acquired incense set, An Ning remained nonchalant: "Right now, we shouldn't be the ones worrying, should we?"
After all, she wasn't the one urgently needing breakthroughs. No matter how capable these people were, who would dare abduct someone from West Flame City?
As for the original's murderer, a cold smile touched An Ning's lips as her eyes darkened slightly.
On the desk, a wisp of fragrant smoke curled upward, dreamlike and ethereal. Where the sweet aroma drifted, the nearby maids including A-Wan soon grew drowsy.
Before succumbing to sleep, as if remembering something pleasant, their faces bore contented smiles.
Satisfied, An Ning finally put away her incense box and cheerfully asked the system:
"Tell me, what do you think would frighten a prophet-like figure most?"
"Variables?" the system ventured timidly.
Surprised, An Ning nodded approvingly: "Indeed—variables. Especially changes in key figures!"
"So you see, even if we do nothing, aren't they all gradually revealing themselves?"