Translated by Rachel of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Shaking them off had been easier than expected. Without You XiaoMo even mentioning anything, they suggested splitting up. In three different directions they went, and soon they were all gone.

You XiaoMo had to admit he was surprised, but that surprise was soon tossed to the back of his mind. They had decided to put the mission on hold after some discussion. First, they had to head to the business district of Yan City to retrieve the spirit gems. It seemed troublesome, but since news of whatever Ling Xiao had done had already spread, the only thing they could do now was to be more careful.

Do you still want to change into the disguise we used the other time? You XiaoMo peeked at Ling Xiao. He never noticed Ling Xiao actually had an earring. Previously they had some distance between them so he couldnt take a closer look. And that flame symbol between his brows, where did that come from?

Naturally. Ling Xiao pulled out the set of black clothing they wore the other time.

How did you end up looking like that?

I didnt tell you before? Ling Xiao turned his head around.

No Tell me what, that you actually like such a slutty getup?

Ling Xiao took out the earring and said, Thats how I dressed when I was in the Higher Realm. The flame between my brows is the symbol of the QiLin Clans coat of arms. Its the mark of a clan member. As for the earring, its my Mother status symbol in the clan. Every time a Demon Phoenix is born, the demon Phoenix clan will take a drop of the newborns blood and make it into a demon Phoenix earring. The lighter the color of the earring, the higher the status of the person in the Demon Phoenix clan.

You XiaoMo inspected the earring that was handed to him. It was silver and very pretty. Ling Xiaos mother must had been rather highly ranked in the Demon Phoenix clan.

This is your mothers earring? What about yours? You XiaoMo asked.

Ling Xiao might have only been half Demon Phoenix, but he still was a descendant of the Demon Phoenix clan nonetheless.

I dont have one. Didnt I tell you before? Both the Demon Phoenix clan and the QiLin clan are highly particular about the purity of their bloodlines. Thats why they wont acknowledge my existence and give me a Demon Phoenix earring. As for the flame symbol, every descendant of the QiLin clan is born with it. We can choose to hide it or leave it as it is. Ling Xiao explained.

If the Demon Phoenix clan didnt make you one, why do you still wear your mothers?

You XiaoMo didnt understand. To his understanding, Ling Xiao wasnt the type to care about what others thought. He wasnt proud because he had Demon Phoenix blood in him.

Ling Xiao raised his head and revealed a crazed smile. Dont you find this interesting? The Demon Phoenix clan doesnt want to acknowledge my existence and yet Im wearing their earring. How do you think theyll react?

You XiaoMo had nothing to say. If it were him, he supposed he would get mad.

The clan didnt want want to recognise him as one of their own and yet he was prancing around and showing off the symbol that proved him one. That was a greater insult than straight up challenging the clan itself.

But compared to the Demon Phoenix clan, the QiLin clan had it worse. As the flame symbol was something that every descendant of the QiLin clan was born with, even if they hated to admit it, the flame was proof that Ling Xiao was part of them. It wasnt something that could be erased.

Not long after, Ling Xiao had finished changing.

Up close, Ling Xiao was heart-stopping.

You XiaoMo suddenly turned his back towards Ling Xiao,

Whats wrong? Ling Xiao saw his trembling shoulders and asked.

Nothing Im thinking of what to wear.

Anythings fine.

The Deep Mountains were far away from Yan City. They spent half a day and finally reached the city in the evening. Once they entered, Ling Xiao could sense the presence of numerous powerful individuals. Looked like they were waiting for them.

But it didnt seem that the the news had spread too far. The people of Yan City hadnt known that somewhere in the business district, a Divine level powerhouse would come to pay a visit. Not long after, they were standing in front of a familiar inn in the business district.

Seeing the endless stream of people, You XiaoMos mouth twitched.

Why did you pick this location in the first place?

He thought at least there would be less of a crowd.

Because I only remembered the name of this inn. Finishing his sentence, Ling Xiao walked in first.

You XiaoMo hurriedly trailed after him. He knew it would be like this. This inn was the one that Gao-Dage had arranged for Zhao Shixiong when he came looking for You XiaoMo. It hadnt even been a month ago.

Dear guests, are you here for a meal or planning to stay over?

The manager noticed them immediately and when his eyes landed on Ling Xiao, he clearly paused for a moment before he lowered his voice and asked. Are you here to retrieve something from Sky suite number one?

You XiaoMo was surprised and immediately understood. Seemed like the Great Elder had already instructed the manager of this inn on what to do. But he most likely hadnt told him what was the item to collect.

Thats right. Someone told you? Ling Xiao replied.

Three days ago someone reserved Sky suite number one and said another person would come here to pick up something. He briefly described how you look.

Then Ill trouble you to bring me there.

No problem. This way please.

After the manager left, Ling Xiaos eyes shifted to the tightly closed doors of the sky suite number one room.

Seeing as he hadnt made a move, You XiaoMo extended his hand and felt something thin and soft. It was a barrier, most likely set up by the Great Elder himself. That was why even if others knew of the treasures in the room, it was useless if they couldnt break the barrier. Furthermore, they didnt have to worry about someone daring to break it. The Great Elder had everything thoroughly thought out.

Ling Xiao didnt spend much effort breaking the barrier.

You XiaoMo pushed open the door and walked in. The bag that stored the spirit gems was left on the table and he saw it as soon as he walked in.

The two of them didnt stay for long and quickly left the inn.

You XiaoMo originally intended to shop around a bit more in the business district but with Ling Xiaos distinctive getup, heaps of people stared at them wherever they went. They had no choice but to return home.

After spending some time to complete their mission, the two of them met up with Feng ChiYun and his group at the place they agreed on and heaved back to Ward A together.

After submitting the task, the both of them went back.

Recently, DaoXin Academy had this celebratory, happy mood going around, but there were some that were feeling dead on the inside. Namely the Chai, Tang and Teng families.

Rumor had it that after Ling Xiao blasted half the life away from the Chai Elder, he had tried many methods but wasnt able to recover. It was even said that he had entered into a coma which caused chaos within the family. Chai Zheng had it rough for the past few days.

While the Teng elder didnt get injured, he had been desperately finding ways to help the Chai elder to recover. In the short span of a few days, the BaiLi and Tong families had already joined hands to suppress them.

In the next few days, You XiaoMo heard that Teng ZiXin had left the Academy because of her Shifu. As her Shifu was QiuRan, the traitor, Duan QiTian announced that he had banished him from their master-disciple relationship not long after he returned. Furthermore, he put out a bounty on Qiu Ran at Xian Ji building and in just one day, this news spread far and wide.

And then, You XiaoMo heard some exciting news. For some unknown reason, Xian Ji Building cancelled all the tasks with rewards that QiuRan had put up many years ago. In the next half a month, the nosy urge had started to die down.

This was the third time You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao went to the inn to collect the spirit gems. When they returned, You XiaoMo suddenly remembered the spirit gems he dug out previously were still randomly piled up in his dimension.

He went to the trade corner and used up a hundred points in exchange for two rather large storage bags. Then he emptied three bags full of spirit gems into the larger storage bag which filled up one bag nicely. Having a previous encounter with his storage bag stolen by Teng ZiXin, he opted not to carry the bag on him.

Thinking about it, the gems in the pocket dimension needed to be packed too. You XiaoMo shouted at Ling Xiao who was standing outside, Ling Xiao, Ill be in my dimension for a while.

Without waiting for Ling Xiaos reply he entered his dimension. In the past, he didnt have to tell tell Ling Xiao he was going into the dimension. But ever since he did some stupid things and got himself into some family meeting, coupled with Ling Xiao constantly bringing up that event, it ended up how it was now. Now, You XiaoMo occasionally had thoughts of digging a hole and burying himself.

You XiaoMo stood beside the spiritual lake and sighed.

Master, the pair of Hidden Dipper Stink Bugs in the magic herb fields have already entered their third metamorphosis. MaoQiu walked over and reported.

You XiaoMo perked up and quickly asked, Whats the situation like now?

The Hidden Dipper Stink Bugs third metamorphosis is the most crucial one, and also the hardest. Many Hidden Dipper Stink Bugs dont make it past this stage but this is also largely due to the Dipper herbs. But that is not a problem for us.

You are referring to the quality and quantity of the Dipper Herbs? You XiaoMo immediately guessed what MaoQiu was implying.

By ensuring a continuous supply of the seven star plant for the bugs, it could increase the chances of them surviving the metamorphosis. Many Hidden Dipper Stink Bugs couldnt even reach the third stage because there was a lack of Dipper Herbs. The quality of the plants were also of utmost importance. He had checked various books and its said that if one continuously fed the worms with high grade Dipper herbs, the chances of the Hidden Dipper Stink Bug making it through the change could jump from ten to fifty percent. The difference was huge but also very difficult to achieve, resulting in many taking alternative approaches.

Yes, but with just a fifty percent chance of surviving is not enough. The probability of failure is still too high. I know of another method to raise the success rate by another twenty percent.

What method?

MaoQiu instantly looked in a certain direction.

Following her line of sight, You XiaoMos eyes landed on a pile of glittering spirit gems.

Dont tell me youre thinking of using the gems?

Worried that he wouldnt agree, MaoQiu tried to explain herself.

The third metamorphosis requires a large amount of spiritual energy. We could put them in the spiritual lake

Stop. Use as many spirit gems as you need. You XiaoMo interrupted her and agreed without hesitation.

If the spiritual lake shrank by half again, he would jump into the lake and drown himself.

Unnoticed by You XiaoMo, a faint smile spread across Mao Qius face.