Not a Bit of Peace of Mind

"Are we just leaving like this?"

Yunxiao looked at Chu Xingchen's completely unattached demeanor and couldn't help but ask in confusion.

Leaving Yuyang and Xu Jin behind on purpose, they had rushed to Jiangyue City, a place incredibly remote for cultivators.

He claimed there was a major matter to attend to, but it turned out to be just finding a sycophantic monk and drinking with him all night.

Leaving at dawn, he didn't take the monk with him, nor did he take the mortal the monk was raising.

To be honest, Yunxiao was starting to feel that Chu Xingchen was just messing with him.

Chu Xingchen looked rather refreshed, gazing far into the distance—this Tribulation Transcendence cultivation base was truly no joke; it felt completely different.

Having leaped across almost an entire major realm, Chu Xingchen still did not fully understand this new power of his and needed some time to adapt.

Moreover, the previously incredibly stingy system was surprisingly generous this time.

He had thought that reaching the late stage of the Mahayana realm would be something to thank the heavens for, and he would have praised the system for being generous, but it directly rewarded him with a cultivation base at the Tribulation Transcendence realm.

To be honest, based on Chu Xingchen's understanding of this system, if he didn't have the Tribulation Transcendence cultivation base for Xu Linglong's final desperate struggle this time, he probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.

"What's the point of taking a Golden Core realm monk with us? To recite the Heart Sutra for you?" Chu Xingchen's steps were light and easy. "What I wanted was the item the monk had hidden away. Now that the item is in my hands, it's naturally time to leave."

Chu Xingchen's explanation naturally made sense, but the probability that he was just spouting nonsense was also extremely high.

Yunxiao didn't have any means to verify it, so he honestly shut his mouth and stopped asking questions. If he was being messed with, so be it; it was still much more comforting than watching Chu Xingchen lead a reckless charge.

However, this comfort did not last long.

Chu Xingchen suddenly spoke up, "Today counts as having rested. Didn't we confirm the locations where Xu Linglong previously appeared? Once we go back this time, I will personally lead a team to capture her. The moment there is any trace, I will pursue her directly."

"Today hardly counts as resting. Why don't we go back and have another drink with that monk?"

"They are currently putting on a grand family drama. Tears might be flooding the floor by now. If I go over there and don't shed a tear or two with them, I'd feel embarrassed. There's no fun in going there; catching Xu Linglong is much more interesting."

"Perhaps a bit too interesting."

Yunxiao sighed helplessly but didn't say anything in rebuttal.

For one, Chu Xingchen basically never listened to advice, and for another, he generally couldn't out-argue Chu Xingchen anyway.

In summary, Chu Xingchen knew that doing this was fraught with danger, but his reason for risking his life to do so was—the common people of the world.

Once those words were spoken.

Any attempt at persuasion seemed incredibly petty.

Two concealed streaks of rainbow light shot up from an inconspicuous corner of Jiangyue City and flew away.

Eastern Divine Continent.

Ye Antao looked frantically at the pile of jade tokens arranged on her desk, suddenly feeling as if her brain was about to undergo a second growth spurt.

How was this completely different from what she originally imagined?

Wasn't it supposed to be a clash of flesh and blood, a collision of divine abilities and evil arts?

How did she end up battling a bunch of jade tokens instead?

It wasn't that no one was helping Ye Antao process the information, but rather that only the jade tokens requiring urgent decisions were placed on her desk after the initial processing.

The rest of the less important and trivial news had long been filtered out beforehand.

Furthermore, these messages had already been specially condensed with Ye Antao's capabilities in mind. However, sometimes when the situation was truly urgent, there wasn't enough time to condense them, so they could only be presented as is.

If you asked Ye Antao to actually go fight a battle, she would be fine, but asking her to handle this kind of stuff was truly impossible even if you beat her to death.

Holding a jade token in her hand, Ye Antao really didn't have the spirit to probe it with her divine sense anymore. She asked aloud:

"Is there any news of Senior Brother Yunxiao? Why hasn't he returned yet?"

"No news for now," someone replied.

Hearing this, Ye Antao sighed softly again.

"It seems Fellow Daoist Ye needs some help."

A new voice came from outside the hall doors. Ye Antao looked up and saw a woman with breathtakingly beautiful features—even Ye Antao had to admit she was gorgeous—standing at the doorway in a white dress. She emanated an extremely righteous and kind aura, giving off the immediate impression of a good person.

She thought back for a moment but couldn't recall who this woman calling her 'fellow Daoist' was.

And if she couldn't remember someone with such striking features, it was highly likely they had truly never met before.

However, anyone who could stand here must definitely be an involved personnel.

Ye Antao asked, feeling a bit embarrassed and a bit suspicious, "Who are you?"

"Bai Qing. My master is Chu Xingchen, and I am his third disciple. Perhaps you've heard of me." Chen Baiqing stepped inside, her gaze sweeping past Ye Antao to look at the jade tokens on the desk. "You don't seem very adept at this kind of work. How about letting me handle it?"

Ye Antao didn't reply immediately, but instead cast her gaze to the side. She quickly received confirmation that the woman in front of her was indeed Chu Xingchen's third disciple.

Although Ye Antao really wanted to dump all these matters onto someone else, it was obvious that none of these were trivial issues. She hesitated and said:

"These matters are top secret, and you are not on our roster."

Chen Baiqing lowered her eyes, took out a Heaven's Derivation Token from her robes, and then said in a gentle tone:

"Guess who asked me to come? And what is the purpose of me being here?"

Hearing this, Ye Antao suddenly understood. So it was Chu Xingchen who arranged for her to come. Thus, she gestured with her hand and said:

"Since that is the case, please go ahead, Fellow Daoist."

Chen Baiqing smiled softly upon hearing this, and then unceremoniously reached out to touch the jade tokens.

She hadn't lied; she had merely asked Ye Antao to guess.

It was just that Ye Antao had guessed the wrong answer—no one had asked her to come, and her purpose for coming wasn't for these matters either.

As for what Ye Antao had misunderstood, that didn't seem to have much to do with her, did it?

Today's luck was quite good; her master wasn't here.

Chen Baiqing didn't expect to get an answer about what he was actually trying to do from her master's mouth, but the jade tokens in front of her could provide it. So many clues could be compiled to reveal her master's ultimate goal.

As she took hold of the jade tokens, Chen Baiqing's gaze became slightly ruthless.

It was very obvious that Chen Baiqing had experience in handling these kinds of matters.

Compared to Ye Antao, who had to ask for an opinion or two after reading a jade token before daring to make a hesitant decision, Chen Baiqing was fundamentally much more decisive.

To put her mind at ease, Ye Antao picked up the jade tokens that Chen Baiqing had processed. After looking over a few, she was completely reassured.

She could only say that as expected of Chu Xingchen's disciple, she truly handled things methodically and reasonably, much better than herself.

While processing these affairs, Chen Baiqing was also compiling the information.

Very quickly, she roughly understood what her own master was doing.

Xu Linglong had set up a grand array, seemingly plotting something, and her master had sensed the crisis, planning to strike first to gain the upper hand, or at the very least, not intending to let Xu Linglong have an easy time.

It was just that...

This method of striking first to gain the upper hand...

Why did it seem like her master was recklessly throwing his life away? Why were there so many danger assessments of her master mixed in with the information assessments of the jade tokens?

The gentle expression on Chen Baiqing's face completely faded away, and her eyes could hardly conceal a trace of anger.

This master.

Truly gave Baiqing no peace of mind at all!