Qin Si also believed that Liu Tianyun might have tampered with the mustard layer while the cultivators of Shenqi were not paying attention.
But he said, "Chu Tianle should be fine. His soul lamp at the academy has been lit."
As he spoke, his phoenix eyes glanced lightly at Bai Shengyi.
"What is it?" The perception of the Mahayana cultivator was extremely sharp, and coupled with Qin Si's lack of concealment, Bai Shengyi immediately noticed.
Qin Si said carelessly, "You seem to care quite a bit about him."
"Heaven and earth bear witness, didn't you bring this up yourself?" Bai Shengyi said with a wry smile, "I just guessed a couple of times, and now I care?"
Qin Si let out a soft hum.
"A'si, are you being sulky?"
For a moment, Bai Shengyi found it a little strange. This was the first time Qin Si had shown such an expression in front of her.
She couldn't help but look him up and down. Qin Si frowned and turned his head away.
He knew Bai Shengyi didn't mean anything by it, but at that moment, seeing her finally return and her mouth full of other people's affairs, not mentioning him at all, he couldn't help but blurt out a sentence.
He didn't know if it was because he was worried and pained by everything she had gone through in Lurong but she refused to talk about it, or because he didn't want her to focus too much on irrelevant people.
Bai Shengyi had no idea Qin Si had so many thoughts in his heart.
After all, for her, only a few years had passed since she and Qin Si were separated.
She was about to look again when she heard Qin Si say, "We're here."
Looking up, three large characters, "Shenqi Mountain," were written in a vigorous script on the white jade mountain gate plaque.
Beyond the mountain gate, wisps of clouds and mist drifted, exuding an ethereal aura. Majestic mountain peaks were shrouded in a verdant glow, and the entire academy seemed to appear and disappear like a celestial palace amidst the clouds, looking entirely different from before.
Bai Shengyi was surprised, "When did you guys rebuild the academy?"
When she left, the Shenqi Academy, although exuding an ethereal aura, was incredibly simple compared to sects like the Supreme Sect or the Xuan Nü Sect.
Now, it looked as if a stone Buddha had been gilded with pure gold.
Without waiting for Qin Si's reply, or even to pay respects to her master, she pulled Qin Si and urged him, "Take me to my mother first."
Qin Si said nothing more and, with a teleportation, appeared in the place where Yue Shuxin was recuperating.
Bai Shengyi discovered that Yue Shuxin's recuperation place had also changed. Restrictive formations were set up all around. The moment the two landed, the fluctuation of spiritual energy caused a sharp shout from within.
"Who is it?"
A somewhat familiar cultivator quickly emerged from inside. Upon seeing Qin Si, he stopped, "Mountain Master!"
Qin Si nodded, "Guard well outside. A'yi and I will go in to take a look."
He said it very naturally, and the cultivator didn't realize anything was amiss. Only after Qin Si and Bai Shengyi had both gone in did he slap his forehead.
"Ah! That was fellow Daoist Bai! Fellow Daoist Bai is back!" he muttered anxiously, "No, I must quickly send a message to Dao Monarch Qianying and Dao Monarch Qinglan..."
As he spoke, several messages were sent out.
Bai Shengyi had already matched the person with a face and name from her memory, "Zhan Jiuzhou? How did he become like this?"
From a young and talented individual, he had transformed into a middle-aged man with a full beard.
Qin Si replied, "I'll tell you later when we have time."
After he finished speaking, he saw that Bai Shengyi's attention was already fully focused on Yue Shuxin. With a wave of her hand, three items appeared in mid-air.
One was a petal of the crimson flower plucked from the red boundary wall that Qin Si had contracted, the Lone Flower. Even after being torn off for so long, it remained lifelike, with its immense spiritual energy of heaven and earth still lingering.
Another was a scale of the Azure Dragon that Bai Shengyi had retrieved from the Vast Universe Minor Secret Realm. The moment the golden and lustrous reverse scale appeared, the entire room was inundated with divine power. Fortunately, Bai Shengyi retracted it quickly, otherwise, it might have spread further.
The last item was the Heart of the Divine Wood that Bai Shengyi had obtained in the Lurong Small World, the本体 of the Heavenly Dao Tree of the Lurong Small World. It was unremarkable, like a piece of dry wood, without consciousness. However, if one's divine sense swept over it, one would detect the dense vitality contained within.
Any one of these items would cause people to vie for them if they appeared in the world, yet Bai Shengyi was using them all to save one person.
Qin Si, who had initially intended to remain silent to avoid disturbing Bai Shengyi, could not help but speak, "A'yi, can Mother's body truly withstand such a massive medicinal potency?"
Even if these were all refined into pills, pills could not completely reduce the impact of the medicinal properties.
"Boy, Bai girl, have you forgotten about me?"
Daoist Zhu Xiao strode in from outside, adjusting a bamboo twig in his hair. A clear dissatisfaction appeared on his refined face.
"Bai girl, aren't you going to use your Summer Night Plum Forest?" he snorted, and with a flick of his long sleeve, the splendid golden Summer Night Plum Forest also appeared in mid-air.
After Bai Shengyi retrieved the Summer Night Plum Forest from the Bai family, she had handed it over to Daoist Zhu Xiao for safekeeping. As for the Red Skull Snow, it had long been given to Yue Shuxin.
Bai Shengyi naturally wouldn't not use the Summer Night Plum Forest. She didn't stop her movements and said, "Don't blame me. Refining these spiritual herbs takes some time, and I thought you could rest a bit longer?"
"Wait! Hey! Why are you refining the Azure Dragon Scale directly like this?"
Daoist Zhu Xiao, who had been about to scold her a bit, could no longer remain calm upon seeing Bai Shengyi's method of refining spiritual items and eagerly stepped forward.
"Stop! Stop quickly! What a waste of good materials..."
In the blink of an eye, Qin Si saw Bai Shengyi and Daoist Zhu Xiao engaged in a very heated discussion.
Spiritual fire and spiritual energy flowed everywhere, emitting crackling sounds.
Qin Si frowned slightly, raised his hand to set up a barrier around Yue Shuxin to prevent any interference. Sensing another barrier, even more potent than his own, covering the area, he had a thought. He stepped out of the room and saw a young cultivator in a flowing green robe looking indifferently at him.
"Uncle-Master," Qin Si cupped his hands in greeting. He wasn't surprised that Dao Monarch Qinglan had emerged from his seclusion.
Dao Monarch Qinglan asked, "Inside?"
He hadn't specified who, but Qin Si understood who he was asking about.
Qin Si nodded.
"Very good." A flicker of emotion appeared on Dao Monarch Qinglan's calm face. He let out a soft sigh, and the surrounding clouds drifted and dispersed.
Seeing that Dao Monarch Qinglan did not leave, Qin Si also stood opposite him.
"Uncle-Master's Heaven-Defying Tracking Formation hasn't been set up yet, has it?" he observed Dao Monarch Qinglan. Unfortunately, even at the time when Dao Monarch Qinglan had divined Bai Shengyi's whereabouts and suffered a backlash, he couldn't clearly discern Dao Monarch Qinglan's cultivation level, and it was still the same now.
Qin Si clenched his fingers slightly but soon relaxed them.
There was no need to rush. He was still so young, and it was normal for his cultivation to be inferior to Uncle-Master Qinglan's.
However, even as he said this, Qin Si still felt a lingering resentment.
Back in the Vast Universe Minor Secret Realm, he had already torn open the space connecting to the ancient Azure Dragon's cave dwelling secret realm and intended to chase after the spatial turbulence to find Bai Shengyi. But he was knocked unconscious by an unguarded palm from Dao Monarch Qinglan and thrown back to Shenqi Mountain...
"Not yet."
"That is fortunate," Qin Si added.
Neither of them was particularly talkative, and neither wanted to leave the place. After a few dry exchanges, they had nothing more to say.
Just then, a crimson stream of light flew over in a hurry from not far away. Judging by its outline, it was the phantom of the mythical beast Vermilion Bird.
Within two or three breaths, the silhouette of light landed before Qin Si and Dao Monarch Qinglan, transforming into a seductive woman dressed in an orange-yellow outfit. The white tassels hanging from her waist refracted dazzling light in mid-air.
"Where is my junior sister? Didn't they say junior sister is back?"