I want that Buddha Bone!

The Marquis of Wind was somewhat surprised to hear this from Qin Liuxi. After all, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to take the Buddha Bone out, but at that time, the water level of Green Lake had risen significantly, and to avoid causing a major impact on the people, he hadn’t continued.

Yet the Marquis of Wind didn’t ask why; he looked at his leg, and without hesitation, took out the Buddha Bone and handed it over: "Here."

Qin Liuxi watched as his figure immediately began to fade, the face she had once molded with clay blurred, yet he still smiled at her.

Looking at that smile, clarity returned to her eyes.

"Aren’t you afraid of disappearing?"

The Marquis of Wind smiled and said, "As long as faith exists, so do I, don’t you think?"

Qin Liuxi lowered her head to look at the Buddha Bone, which had already acquired a touch of divinity, and said, "But it’s because of it that you had the chance to become a demigod. It gave you strength. With it removed, not to mention becoming a true Water God, even your demigod body will be weakened or could truly disappear."

"If that’s so, it proves that heaven does not intend for a God like me to exist, doesn’t it?" The Marquis of Wind looked at the ancestral grave of the Yan Family with a profound gaze and said, "I died long ago. My corpse was buried here, and it has long since turned into dispersed white bones with the wind. After a person dies, they either linger in the human world, eventually becoming wandering souls and finally disappearing, or they enter the Yellow Spring to reincarnate. I, however, became a demigod, observing the fluctuations of the mortal world for hundreds of years. In a way, I consider it my fortune."

Qin Liuxi stroked the bone in her hand, which had become warm and moist, feeling an unusual emotion emanating from it, despite the prohibition she had set on it years ago still remaining.

A sudden scream echoed from afar, and with a glance, the two disappeared from the spot, arriving at Yuhang, where they saw Green Lake surging like a tsunami, with water rushing towards the nearby people’s homes, causing panic and cries of terror.

"The Water God is angry."

Someone screamed, while others knelt to the ground.

Qin Liuxi’s eyes sharpened, especially upon seeing a child of just two or three struggling in the water. She disregarded anything else, pressing the Buddha Bone onto the Water God’s body: "Save them."

The Daoist aura surged from her, and with both hands forming a magic formula, it seemed as if there were invisible threads in the air, lifting those struggling in the water to higher ground.

The Marquis of Wind watched her back and jumped into Green Lake, with his heart moving as he wished. The surging water, as if being drawn back by an invisible pot, returned to the lake.

"The Water God has shown his power; we pray for his mercy and are willing to offer sacrifices." Seeing what transpired, some people continuously kowtowed.

Qin Liuxi looked at the Marquis of Wind in the lake, with a flash of anger passing through her eyes.

The Marquis of Wind turned his head, meeting her gaze with a helpless and painful expression, yet Qin Liuxi suddenly disappeared.

Standing above the temple, the Marquis of Wind ignored the believers stumbling and kneeling down below, only looking towards the direction Qin Liuxi had vanished, sighing lowly after a long while: "With such a soft heart, how can one accomplish anything?"

He pulled out the Buddha Bone, observing the divinity flowing from it and the devout believers on the ground, then placing it back inside his body.

...

Boom.

Feng Xiu was blasted away by Qin Liuxi, gray and disheveled, patting the fire off his tail, and said exasperatedly: "One shouldn’t hit the tail; even when angry, you can’t attack my lifeline, don’t you know? Look how you’ve burned my tail! If you need to vent your anger, why not use it to refine a magic artifact?"

What misfortune did he bring upon himself, for her to vent her frustrations on him, conveniently terming it fighting cultivation, when it was in reality just a one-sided beating.

Why harbor anger elsewhere when she could catch some evil ghosts and beat them up? It serves the dual purpose of eradicating demons and ghosts and blowing off steam, so why pick on him, the lone fox, to hit?

Qin Liuxi said, "You’re not exerting your full strength; that’s not okay. Don’t you know to grow stronger when facing strong opponents? Again."

"I won’t. If I had the energy, I’d rather use it for something else; why let you batter me?" Feng Xiu slipped to her side, suggestively saying, "Actually, I know a better way to release the heat, like dual cultivation. After one session, all the fire will be gone, want to hmm?"

Qin Liuxi elbowed him, sneering coldly, "Humans and demons tread different paths; we are impossible, give up on that notion!"

She slumped before a small wooden hut, looking at the valley with its sunken mountain body, knowing that this spirit vein, too, had been extracted.

Feng Xiu sat beside her, saying, "What exactly happened? Did Si Luo provoke you again?"

"He’s more troublesome than I thought, with intelligence and acumen, and he knows how to capture hearts. Being a Buddha’s son reincarnated, he is indeed extraordinary." Qin Liuxi’s gaze turned vacant as she said, hinting at something.

Feng Xiu, somewhat sourly remarked, "I hear admiration in your words for him."

"If he weren’t an adversary, he wouldn’t be unworthy of befriending," Qin Liuxi said coolly, "Pity, between him and me, it’s either his death or mine."

"What has he done now?"

Qin Liuxi recounted the spirit vein incident and pointed to the collapsed mountain body before them, saying, "What we speculated before should be correct: the God Formation. He likely set it up in that Black Desert. Ksitigarbha revealed that place was a secret realm left by a powerful being who successfully ascended thousands of years ago, and when Si Luo first tried to ascend to the sky, it was in that very place."

Feng Xiu frowned, "Falling from there, only to climb back up again. This guy, very persistent."

Qin Liuxi suddenly looked at him.

"What?"

"I’ve said similar words myself." Qin Liuxi smiled.

Feng Xiu poked her face and said, "Doesn’t that show we are of one mind?"

"Get lost!"

"Just like the smile you showed earlier. No matter what it is or how thorny it is, we’ll handle it as it comes. You also said earlier, ’grow stronger when facing strong opponents.’ No matter how formidable he is, achieving victory against him also means achieving ourselves."

Qin Liuxi chuckled, "You’ve learned those lofty principles too."

Feng Xiu lay back, with hands folded behind his head, saying, "The greatest enemy is oneself. Little Xi, if you can’t conquer yourself, how can you talk about conquering others? You shouldn’t become attached, being indecisive won’t do."

Qin Liuxi lay beside him, watching the floating clouds above, and said, "Old Fox, will you change?"

"Hmm?" Feng Xiu turned his head to look at her: "What do you mean by that?"

Qin Liuxi said, "By my side, the master has left, Wang Chuan is missing, familiar faces have died or left or changed. What about you? Would you one day leave me as well, or become someone who is no longer you?"

"Then I’ll just be that familiar fox for you." Feng Xiu extended his hand: "Come, make a mark belonging to you, so if there ever comes a day I’m no longer myself, kill me."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course."

Qin Liuxi held his hand, leaving a mark, a small talisman mark.