Seraphine set the jade house down on the far side of the Golden Jade Tower and laid a barrier around it, planning to wait until Echo had fully recovered before heading out for more adventures.

After glancing at the tally of fragments accumulated by the other cultivators on the ranking board, the two of them felt even more at ease.

That evening.

After finishing her medicine, Echo carried the clean little medicine bowl to pick fruits along the pathways. Spring blossoms had given way to autumn harvests—the Twin Dragon Secret Realm was bursting with ripe fruits that birds and beasts nibbled on.

Cultivators focused solely on fragments and opportunities never spared these mundane things a glance. She crouched on the grass with her bowl while two golden birds busily flew back and forth, bringing wild fruits to fill it.

“Master, shall we relocate the secret realm’s spiritual treasures for you?” one golden bird asked.

Echo held her bowl, speaking gently, “No rush. Once the Eastern Continent competition ends, I’ll close the secret realm. We can organize things then.” The Twin Dragon Secret Realm was still serving as Insight Academy Palace’s trial ground. As someone who didn’t find the secret realm or its spiritual treasures particularly precious, she felt quite calm about it.

Being the secret realm’s master didn’t mean the spirit beasts acknowledged Echo as their leader. Uncivilized fierce beasts remained fierce.

Both birds perched on Echo’s shoulders, whispering, “Thank you for your understanding, Master.”

She washed the fruits clean and carried them to find Seraphine. Tonight the stars blazed brilliantly, spreading a hazy light across the earth. In the distance, Golden Jade Tower glowed like a golden candle, bright from top to bottom.

Lights occasionally descended from the sky—cultivators hurrying to Golden Jade Tower. They looked exhausted, covered in wounds, dusty from their journeys as they entered the building.

As Echo passed in front of the tower, a newly arrived cultivator’s eyes lit up. “Senior Sister Xi!” It was Zhu Shiyu from Taiyan Sect.

“Hello,” Echo said, glancing at her clothes. Zhu Shiyu was covered in blood, the stains still fresh.

Zhu Shiyu gripped her sword, bowing properly. “Senior Sister Xi, is Palace Lord Velka……?”

Echo smiled slightly. “I’ve already found Seraphine.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Zhu Shiyu relaxed, also breaking into a smile. “Then once I rest and clean up, I’ll properly greet Palace Lord Velka.”

“Good, you’re welcome to visit,” Echo said, curiosity showing in her eyes as she stared directly at Zhu Shiyu’s face.

Zhu Shiyu touched her cheek in confusion, asking with a laugh, “Senior Sister Xi, is something wrong with my appearance?”

“No,” Echo shook her head, said goodbye to Zhu Shiyu, and returned to the jade house with her bowl, grinning.

As soon as she entered the barrier, a bubble floated up from her head, with a pink flower spinning inside it.

Seraphine was cultivating in the house. Hearing movement, she opened her eyes to see Echo entering with a bright smile, flowers sprouting from her head. Seeing Echo’s expression, she couldn’t help smiling too. “What did you do to be so happy?”

Echo stood by the table, saying seriously, “Seraphine, it turns out even those who follow the Ruthless Path can smile!”

“?”

Did she take a tumble outside and get medicine in her brain? Seraphine raised an eyebrow.

Echo hummed a strange tune while tidying the room, black musical notes scattering behind her before slowly fading. Seeing this, Seraphine chuckled and closed her eyes to continue cultivating. She turned around after taking fresh flower branches from her storage ring to arrange in a vase. In her bubble, the tiny silver system held up a glow stick, waving it encouragingly at Seraphine.

The next day, they encountered Zhu Shiyu again in front of Golden Jade Tower. She’d changed clothes and sat under a tree with her arm bandaged, accepting a medicine bowl from a medical cultivator and drinking it down without even frowning.

The medic then produced three equally black pills, instructing her to take one daily.

“Admirable,” Echo said.

Seraphine snorted. “Don’t feel inferior. You were just as composed and calm drinking medicine last night.” She’d set down the bowl with the same expressionless face—only the tiny system in Echo’s bubble had been wailing.

Echo looked down, saying quietly, “Embarrassed.”

At least outsiders couldn’t see Echo’s embarrassment. Seeing them approach, the Thousand Beauty Valley medic smiled. “Palace Lord Velka, Fellow Daoist Xi.”

Echo straightened up, nodding. “I’m here for my medicine.”

Zhu Shiyu looked surprised. “Senior Sister Xi is injured?”

Echo looked at her thickly bandaged arm, saying calmly, “Just a minor injury.”

Not as much blood as you’ve lost.

“That’s good then.” Zhu Shiyu seemed relieved, showing a gentle smile. Seraphine sat beside Echo, and hearing this, her tongue rolled as she spoke two meaningful words: “Minor injury?”

Echo blinked, suddenly looking at the medic. “Request.”

One bowl of medicine, please.

The medic chuckled. After she left, Zhu Shiyu raised her hand to establish a barrier and formally thanked them.

“These past months, I’ve searched many places in the secret realm and found three unused teleportation tokens.” ZhuShiyu produced a map and three tokens carved with yin-yang fish symbols, handing them to Echo. “I’ve marked the token locations on this map, hidden using Taiyan Sect’s secret methods. You can find the spots and use these keys to reveal the hidden locations.”

Seraphine fingered a fish-shaped jade pendant, saying, “Everyone knows teleportation tokens are near great opportunities. You’re willing to sacrifice those opportunities to give us the tokens?”

Zhu Shiyu quickly replied, “A life-saving debt is impossible to repay. I know these three tokens can’t match your life-saving grace. If you need anything in the future, just ask.”

This person is worth befriending. Seraphine smiled warmly. “No matter. We’ll consider these three tokens full payment. Don’t mention any debt again—from now on, we’ll be friends.”

Zhu Shiyu looked surprised, then smiled. “Good.”

“But there’s something I must mention.” Zhu Shiyu looked somewhat embarrassed, fidgeting. “Though everyone says there are treasures near the tokens, this past half-year there have been many cases of sought-after opportunities being…… taken by someone who got there first. These three tokens haven’t been used, but perhaps the nearby treasures were also…… taken by someone who got there first.”

Seraphine’s feelings at this moment were indescribable. She looked at Zhu Shiyu’s embarrassed expression, struggling to suppress her smile as she looked away. When she turned her head, the particularly intense gaze beside her quickly shifted away, avoiding eye contact. Seraphine narrowed her eyes.

“Fuuu, fuuu, fuuu……” Echo pursed her lips, making “fufu” sounds as she tried to whistle. Since she couldn’t actually whistle, she used her vocal cords to produce “fu” sounds.

“……” Seraphine shot Echo an imperceptible glare, then turned back with a gentle smile. “Senior Sister Zhu, please don’t worry. I seek nothing in particular. Whether there are opportunities near the tokens depends on fate—I simply want to befriend you.”

“Fufu……”

Zhu Shiyu smiled. “Excellent!”

Seraphine took out a tea set from her storage ring to brew tea. Under her skirt, her toes lifted and pressed down on Echo’s foot nearby. Heh, don’t think I don’t know what you are thinking!

Echo stopped making “fu” sounds and inhaled sharply.

Zhu Shiyu dispelled the barrier. Hearing Echo’s sharp intake, she quickly asked, “Senior Sister Xi, what’s wrong?”

Before Echo could answer, Seraphine said leisurely, “She’s looking at flowers.”

Echo quickly looked up at the wisteria tree, where flowering vines swayed in the wind. Several wisteria blossoms drifted down, and her eyes followed one flower as it fell to the ground.

Seraphine’s skirt moved slightly. Echo took a deep breath, sighing, “Ground to dust!”

“Senior sister has poetic sensibilities,” Zhu Shiyu also looked up at the flowers. “Purple jade vines are spiritual objects, but they concentrate all their spiritual energy in the flowers. Besides ornamentation, they have no other use.”

Echo smiled. “Of course they have other uses.”

She suddenly reached out to cup a strand of Seraphine’s hair. “Pick the flowers to wear in Seraphine’s hair. Fellow DaoistZhu, don’t you think Seraphine looks beautiful?”

“Cough.” Seraphine nearly choked, giving Echo a warning look. Getting bolder?

Echo was indeed bold and brazen, her sparkling eyes fixed on Zhu Shiyu. Not understanding why she asked this, ZhuShiyu answered honestly: “The path I cultivate sees all things in heaven and earth as mere floating clouds, but my cultivation is still shallow—I haven’t reached such a realm. Seeing you two fellow daoists is like seeing a garden of flowers, leaving me amazed.”

Seraphine picked up her teacup, unceremoniously pressing it to Echo’s lips to block her mouth, saying coldly, “Did you hear? Senior Sister Zhu complimented your beauty.”

With the teacup stuffed in her mouth, Echo rolled her eyes, sensing the weight on her foot. To avoid being ground to dust, she made two “mm-hmm” sounds. Just then, the Thousand Beauty Valley medic brought medicine over. Seeing Echo holding tea, she said in surprise, “Senior Xi, you’re still taking medicine—you shouldn’t drink tea carelessly.”

“Didn’t drink any,” Echo said. The moment she spoke, a pale hand reached over to snatch the teacup from her. Seraphine’s ears turned slightly red as she calmly drained the last bit of tea, tossed the cup on the table, and stood up. “I’m going back to cultivate. After you finish your medicine, come find me and wash the tea set too.”

“Understood,” Echo said obediently, watching Seraphine leave.

Both Zhu Shiyu and the medic’s gazes fell on Echo, thinking that Palace Lord Velka was truly unceremonious with Fellow Daoist Xi. But it was precisely this lack of ceremony that showed how close their relationship was.

She held her black medicine bowl, quietly waiting for it to cool.

“Many cultivators have been injured this month. I’ll head back to work.” the medic bowed to them both and hurried away. Echo tilted her head, seeing a cultivator fall from his sword, coughing up blood as the medic helped him into the building.

Zhu Shiyu said quietly, “Now that we’ve reached this point in the trial, all the easily obtained fragments have been taken. What remains are in extremely dangerous places. In my view, the real test is just beginning.”

Echo nodded, tapping the medicine bowl before drinking the cooled medicine in one gulp. Setting down the bowl, she said, “Yes, we can’t let our guard down.” Seraphine and she had agreed to take first place in the second round. According to Golden Jade Tower’s estimates, first place Meng Xiangfei was a very capable human. She believed Meng Xiangfei had far more than the estimated eight hundred fragments—if she calculated a thousand, the gap between Meng Xiangfei’sfragments and their combined total was only fifteen hundred fragments!

What seemed like a large gap was easily breakable in Echo’s assessment. Seraphine had gained two thousand fragments from her fall into Brocade City. Others could obtain large quantities through different opportunities. And there was still a protagonist in this secret realm.

“I’m finished. Goodbye,” Echo politely bid farewell to Zhu Shiyu and headed to the well behind Golden Jade Tower with her dirty dishes. Once out of everyone’s sight, two golden birds flew down from Golden Jade Tower’s eaves to perch on her shoulders.

“Are there other changes coming in the later stages of the trial?” Echo whispered.

One golden bird flapped its wings. “We have prior agreements with Ink-Trace Venerable and cannot reveal details.”

So there were changes coming.

She smiled with curved eyes.