Aotian and Rihai were running side by side, weaving through the dense jungle.

Their journey, which had lasted over three months, had been remarkably calm.

Aside from mortals and common animals, they hadn’t encountered a single cultivator, which spoke volumes about how spiritually barren the desert continent they were in truly was.

Their only company during that long and boring journey had been each other.

The occasional tales Rihai shared about life in the inner continents only made Aotian more eager to explore them. Those places sounded much more like the stories he had read back on Earth.

Young masters everywhere, countless opportunities, inheritances appearing out of nowhere, cultivators clashing in the wilderness.

Though chaotic, the abundance of opportunity made Aotian’s body crave the action, even if his mind told him such places weren’t ideal.

So, with expectations for the future and Rihai by his side, the boring journey hadn’t been boring at all.

There was another benefit to the journey. Since they couldn’t cultivate, Rihai and Aotian had spent virtually all their time together, drawing them much closer.

‘Thankfully Rihai, being a cultivator, doesn’t get PMS. Otherwise, I would’ve suffered a lot on certain days of this trip, with nowhere to escape…’ Aotian thought with relief, glancing at Rihai’s beautiful profile, slightly amused by his own thoughts.

Rihai turned her head and looked back at him, raising a brow, used to Aotian admiring her from time to time.

Aotian just smiled and blew her a kiss, making her smile in return.

Just as she was about to say something, her heart suddenly raced and she instinctively looked straight ahead.

There stood a man in fine golden robes, his face mature and serious.

His long hair was tied in a topknot, and a long white beard adorned his face, granting him an air of dignity.

But his face was unfamiliar, and she couldn’t sense a hint of his aura, putting her completely on edge.

Rihai immediately stepped in front of Aotian, making him stop.

“May I ask who senior is?” Rihai asked politely, though her body was tense and ready.

The old man looked at her with curiosity.

“Looks like you’re the one I’m looking for,” The elder said.

Rihai’s pupils shrank, her heart began to pound, and she assumed a combat stance.

“Senior, may I ask why you were looking for me?” She asked again, respectfully, though her face was incredibly serious.

The old man just looked at her with a smile, which only made her even more nervous.

But in that tense moment, Aotian’s head popped out from behind Rihai and looked at the old man with curiosity.

“Old man, who taught you to scare little girls like that?” He asked rudely, leaving Rihai stunned by his recklessness.

What followed, however, left her with a strange expression.

“She’s not a little girl, she’s clearly a girl. Don’t make me sound worse than I am, brat,” The old man grumbled, placing his hands behind his back majestically.

“As if that made anything better,” Aotian rolled his eyes and stepped out from behind the surprised Rihai.

“Aotian, is this…?” She looked at him, seemingly having figured it out, seeking confirmation.

“Yep, as you probably guessed, this is our ride,” Aotian nodded, smiling excitedly.

“Brat, who are you calling a ride?!” The old man snapped, but quickly let it go, turning to Rihai with a friendly smile.

“Hello, little girl. My name is Bao Wuji. You can call me Ancestor Bao, if you’d like.” The old man who introduced himself was none other than Bao Wuji, ancestor of the Infinite Dao Sect.

Despite Aotian’s relatively calm appearance, internally he was brimming with excitement—this was the first time he had seen one of his avatars with his real body’s own eyes.

The sense of security in his heart multiplied many times over, and he felt much more at ease.

As for Rihai, she was stunned by the elder’s sincere and polite demeanor.

Based on what Aotian had told her, she assumed this man must be a Nascent Soul cultivator—extremely powerful for that region—yet he was still courteous and humble toward her, a junior. In fact, it was quite strange for an old and powerful cultivator to greet a younger generation first.

She couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Aotian, wondering if this had something to do with his identity and secrets.

If Aotian had known what she was thinking, he would’ve just given her a thumbs-up and said she couldn’t be more right—after all, Bao Wuji was himself.

Rihai thought all this very quickly, and with Bao Wuji’s greeting, she soon responded.

“My name is Liu Rihai. Greetings, Ancestor Bao.” She placed her open palm over her clenched fist and bowed respectfully.

Bao Wuji turned his palm upward and gently waved, sending a wave of invisible spiritual energy to support and lift Rihai.

“No need to be so formal, child,” He smiled kindly at her, and though Rihai was a bit stunned, she nodded softly.

Aotian smiled at the interaction and found it fascinating to speak with Rihai from his avatar’s perspective.

Shaking his head and brushing those thoughts aside, he spoke, interrupting the two.

“With introductions done, let’s get to business. First, old man, give me one of those spirit stones,” Aotian stepped forward and said, holding his hand out to Bao Wuji.

But Bao Wuji froze when he heard that.

Rihai looked curiously at Aotian’s completely casual behavior toward the ancestor of his sect, and also wondered what he was up to.

With a reluctant expression, Bao Wuji turned his hand, making a spirit stone appear out of thin air in his palm.

That was his Affiliation Skill—Storage Space. He had stocked it with many items before coming here, mainly spirit stones.

To Aotian, the gesture seemed normal, since he was aware of his avatar’s abilities. But to Rihai, it was anything but normal—she was horrified by what she saw.

‘How is that possible?! He doesn’t have a storage ring or any visible storage tool! Was that… Internal Storage Space?! No—if it was, that means he’s not a Nascent Soul cultivator, but above that!’ Her heart pounded as things became far more complicated than she could’ve imagined.

Internal Storage Space was far more advanced than a simple storage ring. It was proof of a cultivator’s deep attainment in their personal cultivation—something far beyond what even a Nascent Soul cultivator could achieve.

She quickly tried to calm herself.

‘Maybe…. even if that’s true, maybe it’s not such a bad thing to have a greater power as backup, but… I’m still worried about what Aotian and I are getting into. But now, I don’t think there’s any turning back. All I can do is try my best to keep us both out of trouble.’ She thought bitterly.

As for Aotian, he was now staring helplessly at the spirit stone in Bao Wuji’s hand and complaining.

“Ancestor Bao, don’t be stingy. This is a damn low-grade stone. Come on, give me the best one you’ve got.” Aotian rolled his eyes, still holding out his hand.

He had just discovered one of the downsides of acting: he had to play the part with his main body too—especially given the stingy personality he had assigned to the Bao family.

Rihai, still recovering from her earlier shock, now looked oddly at the low-grade spirit stone the powerful ancestor was shamelessly offering.

“Brat, don’t you know low-grade spirit stones are extremely valuable too? Haah, what is the world coming to… youth these days, so extravagant…” Bao Wuji grumbled bitterly.

But Aotian just stared at him and continued to hold out his hand.

Bao Wuji hesitated deeply, but finally, with an anguished expression, pulled out a large, radiant spirit stone from his storage.

Aotian nodded with satisfaction, took the stone unceremoniously, and walked over to Rihai.

“Here, Rihai. This should be enough to reactivate your wings and eliminate the impurities that damaged them.” Aotian smiled, handing her the spirit stone. Rihai took it, a bit dazed, and examined it curiously.

But then her breath caught.

“A-Aotian, i-is this…?” She asked, startled.

Aotian was genuinely confused by her reaction this time.

“It’s a perfect-grade spirit stone. What’s the problem?” He raised a brow at her.

Rihai’s eyes widened.

“Perfect-grade?! How is that possible?!” She exclaimed, stunned.

“Rihai? What’s the problem?” Aotian started to worry.

He didn’t think it would be a big deal to give her a stone like that, considering her origins, but her reaction was far stronger than he expected.

Rihai looked up from the stone and stared at Aotian. Seeing his confusion, she felt helpless.

“Aotian, do you really not know?” She asked, incredulous, prompting Aotian to make a strange face.

She then looked over at Ancestor Bao Wuji, hoping he would say something or even reclaim the spirit stone. But what she saw left her so shaken that her lips twitched involuntarily in disbelief.

There was Ancestor Bao—head down, standing upright, and snoring softly.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

Helplessly, she realized that for a high-level cultivator, falling asleep didn’t exist. He was clearly pretending to sleep to avoid getting involved. Which also made it clear that he didn’t care Aotian had given her a perfect-grade spirit stone.

In truth, that performance by Bao Wuji was Aotian’s desperate attempt to cover up—he didn’t want Rihai to know that his avatars were as ignorant of cultivation knowledge as he was.

“Rihai, what’s wrong?” He asked again, still unsure of what was happening.

“Haah… Aotian, perfect-grade spirit stones don’t naturally exist in the Lingxi world. They’re only myths here.” She responded helplessly.

Her words made Aotian’s eyes widen in surprise.

“How is that possible?! Even third-grade spirit veins can produce high-grade stones—how can higher-grade veins not produce perfect ones?” Aotian asked, bewildered.

Seeing he truly didn’t know, Rihai placed a hand on her forehead in distress.

“Aotian, high-grade stones can indeed be born in third-level veins, but they’re very few. As the vein level increases, the number of high-grade stones also increases—but that’s all. The quality remains capped at high-grade. In the Lingxi world, there are no known veins capable of producing perfect-grade stones—at least, none that anyone’s aware of.” Rihai explained, leaving Aotian even more stunned by the revelation.

“Ugh! Well then… our sect can produce them…? Alright, let’s keep that a secret…” Aotian muttered, shifting uncomfortably. Despite her concern, Rihai couldn’t help but find him amusing.

He then thought of something and whispered:

“…well, still, if you want more of these… you can ask me, and I’ll steal a few more from that stingy old man.” Aotian said, lowering his voice.

“Cough!! Cough!!” Two loud, choked coughs came from the side, but when they looked over, Bao Wuji was still there, eyes closed peacefully.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

Aotian and Rihai looked at each other, slightly amused.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep