Chapter 715: Two Places of Lovesickness, Showered in the Same Snow

Chapter 715: Two Places of Longing Bathed in the Same Snow

"It's useless telling me this." Zhao Changhe's mind raced, his face expressionless. "Since Ye Wuzong is injured and Xiang Simeng is mediocre, the entire Spirit Clan has no strong warriors—they're insignificant. You've been infiltrating and bribing for so long, why is there still no progress?"

The man was drenched in sweat: "Because the Spirit Clan inexplicably recovered their ancient art of spirit taming, and also unearthed some ancient beast eggs. Over the past half year, strange beasts have risen and demonic gu have hatched. Several beasts now rival the Earth and Human Rankings. If we factor in their secret techniques of beast possession, Xiang Simeng's strength has become unfathomable. Stealing the axe through infiltration and bribery is no longer possible."

Zhao Changhe was stunned for a moment.

The Spirit Clan was this formidable now? He had originally thought Sisi's side was weak, which made the peaceful atmosphere seem strange. If they weren't weak, then there was nothing odd about it—no one would dare provoke a group of Earth and Human Ranking beasts, plus a horde of Spirit Clan experts capable of spirit possession, and an "unfathomable" Saintess.

Ah, right. The Spirit Clan's aspirations had always been different from others—they tamed beasts and refined gu. As long as these external tools succeeded, they grew strong. He had taken the spirit-taming method from Xue Wu and passed it to Sisi, and the Spirit Clan naturally rose.

Although Sisi had once thought relying on external tools was unscientific and that cultivating one's own martial arts was more correct, so she had gone out to learn Han martial arts... But for a short-term surge in strength, their own traditional methods were far more formidable. A mere blood crocodile cub, after two months of growth, could trample an army of ten thousand...

Xue Xiao had probably fallen into the same mindset as Zhao Changhe before, thinking Sisi's side was weak—just send a few strong fighters and some bribes and infiltration, and it would be enough. From what he had seen last time in Miaojiang, Tingxue Tower and Bashan Sword Hut had deep infiltration there. For example, there were Sword Hut disciples among other tribes. This couldn't have been completely uprooted just because Shi Wuding died. In fact, their arrangements here were quite extensive, enough to solve the problem.

Now it seemed they had hit a wall.

But thinking about it, he felt something was off.

Back then, why had Tingxue Tower and Bashan Sword Hut set up so many schemes in Miaojiang? Was it just because Shi Wuding wanted to find the Spirit Clan's secret realm?

The Spirit Clan didn't practice swordsmanship, so the value of sword techniques was low to them. It shouldn't have been a place someone like Shi Wuding, obsessed with swords, would yearn for. The reason he had wandered in confusion to find this secret realm was more likely due to the influence of the Sword Slave, drawn by some unseen force. In other words, it wasn't Shi Wuding who wanted to find it—it was Xue Xiao.

And at that time, the Spirit Clan didn't have the Divine Axe. So why had Xue Xiao targeted the Spirit Clan back then? Judging by this, the Divine Axe was just an additional objective; there had been something else all along.

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment and coldly bluffed: "I'm not here just for the Divine Axe."

After all, the "Sovereign" might have other considerations, and subordinates wouldn't know. He was just bluffing. At worst, this group was only tasked with the Divine Axe, while others handled different matters.

The man wiped his sweat: "We don't know about Lord Yin Kui's progress... Our mission is the Divine Axe, not the same target... Roughly, we only know that His external affairs have just been completed. As for whether He has entered the Spirit Clan's secret realm now, He doesn't report to us..."

Zhao Changhe's heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, another demon god. "External affairs have just been completed"—he didn't know what that meant, but since they were "completed," it was highly likely that this entity had already entered the Spirit Clan's secret realm.

The tight guards outside might work against mortals, but against the power of gods and demons, they were utterly useless. Even if he wanted to enter, using disguise and mind control to infiltrate would be easy, let alone these unknown demon gods.

He took a deep breath: "In that case, I should now enter to coordinate with Yin Kui. Have our people lead me in. Don't tell me there's no way."

"Of course there is, Sovereign, follow me." The man quickly tossed down a silver coin to settle the bill, turned behind the tavern, and led Zhao Changhe on a detour until they reached a side gate of the Spirit Clan's stockade.

A fully armed squad of stockade guards blocked the way, but when they saw the man leading Zhao Changhe over, they showed no reaction at all.

The leading general frowned: "Don't be so blatant. We're not without oversight."

The man laughed: "This should be the last time."

The general looked at Zhao Changhe in surprise and nodded: "Hurry up, don't make a sound."

Zhao Changhe followed him inside without changing his expression. Before long, they arrived outside a stone cave. The general exchanged a glance with the cave's guard: "By the protector's order, I have matters to report to the clan."

The cave guard didn't even check, waving them through.

Zhao Changhe thus entered the entrance to Taoyuan Town and the Spirit Clan's secret realm as openly as if he were in his own living room. His heart was extremely gloomy, because the leading general was Han and the cave guard was Spirit Clan—infiltration had penetrated every ethnic group, and every place was bought off. The seemingly ironclad defenses were actually as leaky as a sieve.

The Spirit Clan had only risen for half a year, and it was already like this. Of course, Sisi had to manage two vast maps, inside and out, and couldn't oversee every detail. At the same time, Tingxue Tower had long laid its groundwork in Miaojiang, and with such targeted infiltration, few forces could avoid being gnawed open.

The man had said "this should be the last time," meaning many had already slipped in before. He had no idea how many.

Lost in thought, the next moment the space shifted, and he had already entered the Spirit Clan's secret realm.

The entrance here was different from the one he had used before from the snowy mountain—it led directly into a hollow of the Spirit Clan's sacred mountain. Zhao Changhe's first reaction was the cold, an unnatural cold.

From what he knew, the Spirit Clan probably didn't have seasons; this was a fake sky... But now it was as cold as the north.

Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, as if a heavy snow was about to fall but hadn't yet. The weather... likely had some problem.

At the mouth of the hollow, there were internal guards, but in such an open area, the guards were practically useless. Zhao Changhe didn't bother pretending; his figure flickered and vanished into the mountains, heading straight for the back of the summit's temple, where Sisi lived.

But just as he reached the temple, before he could circle to the back, he happened to see the temple doors open.

From inside came the familiar blood aura of the Jun Tian Blood Jade, and another power he was less familiar with but had seen before—like thunder tearing through the sky, wild and violent, with the roar of lightning splitting the heavens and the crackling sound of electric currents.

The Changsheng Heaven Divine Axe!

It seemed it had been enshrined in the Spirit Clan's temple. From the looks of it, the Spirit Clan truly believed this artifact was deeply fated with them.

As the doors opened, Sisi, dressed in exotic ceremonial attire, wearing a beaded crown, a short skirt, and barefoot, slowly walked out. The guards on either side bowed: "Saintess."

Sisi waved her hand and looked up at the sky: "This sky... it actually looks like it's going to snow..."

The guards all said: "Could it be an anomaly from the Divine Axe?"

Sisi nodded: "Perhaps. After all, it tears through thunder and affects the weather—it's not strange..."

Her tone was gentle, tinged with melancholy. The guards were somewhat puzzled, exchanging glances before saying: "In that case, Saintess, you should return early to rest. You've only just recovered from your serious illness a few days ago. Don't catch a chill..."

Zhao Changhe was stunned.

Serious illness?

How was that possible? Someone at the Profound Gate late stage could hardly fall ill, unless it was like Wan Zhuang's case—a cultivation mishap or an injury. By all rights, Sisi should be at least at the First Secret Treasury level. If she used the spirit-taming secret technique, she might even be at the Heavenly Ranking level—"unfathomable," as they said. How could someone at that level fall ill? Catch a chill?

But Sisi smiled faintly: "I'm not ill..."

A young guard girl stomped her foot: "You say you're not ill, but you suddenly get in pain, sweating all over, curling up and convulsing... And it happens every now and then, no one knows when it will strike."

Sisi's eyes sharpened as she glared: "Silence! My condition is confidential. How can you speak recklessly?"

The girl was startled but muttered unconvincedly: "These are all our own people."

"Then it only proves how he, every so often, falls into danger, covered in wounds..." Sisi murmured to herself, smiling faintly: "It's fine. This way, he and I... will feel close."

The girls were dumbfounded. What were you saying?

Zhao Changhe stared blankly at Sisi's pretty face, his thoughts frozen.

Snowflakes finally began to fall from the sky. Sisi seemed pleasantly surprised, reaching out to catch them. The tiny snowflakes melted in her palm almost instantly.

The young girls around were also delighted. Besides the snowy mountains outside, they had never seen snow inside the realm. They laughed and jumped: "So beautiful!"

Sisi gazed absentmindedly at the thickening snow, a smile unconsciously curling at the corners of her mouth: "He's in the capital now. It's the twelfth month, so there must be snow filling the palace city. I never thought I could experience what he feels here too."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Back when we studied couplets, we were a pair of geniuses. But after some time apart, how had you become so poetic?

The girls were also stunned: "Saintess, you say you're not ill, but we think you're seriously ill—sick in the head."

"What can I do about it?" Sisi smiled faintly. "He has so many affairs; he won't come all the way to this remote Miaojiang to look after me. With us separated by the ends of the earth, with no hope of meeting again, what else can I do but find some connection on my own?"

She spread her arms, bathing in the thickening snow, and laughed: "I've been studying poetry lately and came across this line: 'Two places of longing bathed in the same snow, this life counts as sharing white hair.' Don't you think so?"

The girls tilted their heads, thought for a moment, and said: "That only works if it's mutual longing. What about unrequited love? Does he think of you? He's just a heartless man!"

Sisi: "..."

The girls all sighed: "Our old traditions were right—we should have put a gu on him. But you were tricked and refused to do it. That's just you being foolish!"