"Nan Gongwan, you're the most quick-witted one here. Come with me to Yellow Sand City to gather some information," Li Xuanxiao said.

As the young mistress of the Nan Gong family, Nan Gongwan initially found it hard to adjust to being ordered around like this. But now she had grown accustomed to submitting to his authority. After all, when it came down to it, he had saved her life. If not for Li Xuanxiao, she would have been killed back then. Now that he had planted a gu worm in her, he hadn't made any excessively unreasonable demands either. She'd heard stories about beautiful female cultivators falling into the hands of villains - usually they'd find life worse than death.

"Understood. May I ask what information we're gathering?" Nan Gongwan inquired.

"Investigate Huang Chengqian, the sect leader of Yellow Sand Sect."

"Yes."

By now, Nan Gongwan had come to understand Li Xuanxiao somewhat. His goal seemed to be instigating war between the Snakefolk Tribe and Yellow Sand City.

......

In Yellow Sand City.

When Xiao Qing woke again, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. She sprang up like a carp leaping from water, warily surveying her surroundings. Cautiously pushing open the door, she saw an extraordinarily beautiful woman lying on a daybed outside, flipping through account books while muttering to herself.

"Why is so much money missing? Did someone steal from me?"

Xiao Qing froze, unable to help sizing up the woman. She was stunning. The most beautiful woman Xiao Qing could remember seeing before was the Snake God's wife, but this woman surpassed even her. However, now wasn't the time to focus on such things. Seeing the woman completely absorbed in her account books and paying no attention to her, Xiao Qing tried to tiptoe away.

"Li Xuanxiao said you're not allowed to leave." Di Nü Feng's voice suddenly rang out.

Xiao Qing glanced at her, but the woman remained focused on her account books. After hesitating a moment, Xiao Qing turned and ran. Although snakefolk rarely cultivated human legs, their natural movement speed far surpassed that of humans. Xiao Qing was confident in her speed.

But the moment this thought occurred to her, an overwhelming pressure pinned her to the ground like a hammer striking a nail, welding it firmly in place. Xiao Qing couldn't move a muscle - not even a finger. How could this person be so powerful? This pressure felt even more terrifying than facing the Snake God himself. And yet the woman still paid her no mind, completely engrossed in her account books, not even bothering to look at her.

For Xiao Qing, time crawled by like years. She finally endured until Li Xuanxiao's return, when the pressure abruptly vanished. Collapsing to the ground, she gasped for breath like an ox, sweat pouring from her entire body.

"News has spread outside. I have bad news for you - your family has been killed by the Snake God," Li Xuanxiao said.

"Wonderful!"

This was the best news Xiao Qing had heard recently.

After a moment of silence, Li Xuanxiao continued: "Many are searching for you now. Numerous snakefolk have recently entered Yellow Sand City, and others are monitoring all exits nearby. One of your tribal leaders has declared that if you return with the fragment now, they'll let bygones be bygones and pardon you."

"Pfft!" Xiao Qing scoffed. "Only an idiot would believe that. If I went back, they'd make sure I regretted being born." She paused, giving Li Xuanxiao a meaningful look. "Besides, the fragment isn't even with me now."

Li Xuanxiao said, "If you don't want to be captured, I can offer you a way out."

"Oh?" Xiao Qing raised an eyebrow. "You want the Dust-Burial Reincarnation Mirror?"

"Clever." Li Xuanxiao didn't bother hiding it.

Li Xuanxiao had planned two paths to advance to the Transformation Spirit realm. The first was to slay his self-corpse. All he needed to do now was wait for it to appear. But Li Xuanxiao had never liked leaving things to fate. If the self-corpse came here, well and good. But the world was vast - what if it developed other ideas? Would he have to wait here his whole life?

Thus Li Xuanxiao had come here with another purpose - to obtain the Snakefolk Tribe's sacred treasure, the Dust-Burial Reincarnation Mirror. After carefully studying ancient texts, he'd learned the mirror could obscure heavenly secrets and withstand heavenly tribulation. If he failed to find his self-corpse, the mirror left behind by the ancient Snake God would be his best alternative.

He hadn't expected to be so lucky as to encounter Xiao Qing, who had fled with a fragment of the mirror.

"Our Golden Family has a legend that the ancient Snake God never actually died," Xiao Qing began recounting the entire story. Li Xuanxiao listened with great interest - these secrets weren't recorded in Mount Shushan's archives.

"Legend says the Dust-Burial Reincarnation Mirror can help its holder achieve immortality. Every thousand years, the mirror absorbs surrounding life force to repair itself, requiring the sacrifice of tens of thousands of lives. With each shedding of its skin, the ancient Snake God would have three-tenths of its cultivation and life essence merge into the mirror while its physical body gradually dematerialized, eventually shedding all mortal form to ascend. After completing several such sheddings, it could become a true immortal... And our Golden Family are the ancient Snake God's most loyal guardians."

Li Xuanxiao frowned. What an unusual legend. Simply by shedding skin and making sacrifices, one could achieve immortality?

Just then, drumbeats sounded outside. The thunderous drums shook the heavens, drawing the entire city's attention. Along with the drums came horn blasts. Countless spiritual senses from throughout Yellow Sand City probed toward the sound's origin.

The Yellow Sand Sect's headquarters floated mid-air, displaying divine marvels to the city's ordinary citizens. Now the crowd saw the enormous sand sculpture in the city center suddenly begin moving, its features becoming animated as if coming to life. Many commoners immediately dropped to their knees in worship.

This was the statue of Huang Chengqian, leader of the Yellow Sand Sect. Now this hundred-zhang-tall sand sculpture burst into hearty laughter. "My people, I have something quite amusing to tell you all!!"

Inside the inn, Li Xuanxiao narrowed his eyes, staring at Huang Chengqian's statue.

"I've received confirmed reports that remnants of Mount Shushan are currently in Yellow Sand City!!"