The white-clothed youth Amber sat cross-legged atop the plaque of the Immortal Palace, silent and wordless.
Seeing his appearance, Qin Xi knew Mo Tiange's guess was correct. He transmitted his voice in a low tone, "Where did you see it?"
Mo Tiange glanced at Amber's left hand and said, "Look at his finger."
Qin Xi followed her gaze and discovered that the little finger on Amber's left hand was missing half a segment. Connecting this with the Qilin bone Fairy Fengqing had obtained, he understood.
Mo Tiange continued, "Not only that, but there's a silver ring on his wrist. That's not a bracelet; it's the restrictive formation imprisoning him here. When he stood up just now, I saw the silver ring flash."
Qin Xi looked again and indeed saw a silver ring encircling Amber's wrist. He sighed, "You truly observe with meticulous detail."
Mo Tiange smiled, "I'm very sensitive to restrictive formations. The moment the silver ring flashed, I noticed."
"So, he actually has no ability to take our lives?"
"That should be the case. At most, he could make us suffer a bit." Mo Tiange paused, then added, "However, I wish to befriend him. First, he harbors no ill will towards us. Second, I feel he definitely holds a great secret."
Qin Xi nodded gently. He had already caught the drift of what Amber said earlier, but thinking their lives were entirely in his hands, he hadn't pressed further.
After speaking, the two of them turned their gazes towards Amber in unison.
Amber was sneering coldly at them. Though imprisoned beside the plaque, he was, after all, an existence far surpassing the current cultivation world. Forget mind reading; how could their voice transmission possibly escape his notice?
"Senior," Mo Tiange said, "Have you thought it over?"
Amber replied coldly, "Even if you've both guessed correctly, so what? You neither have the ability to harm me nor a way to release me. Why should I waste words with you?"
Mo Tiange said, "Senior, this junior knows I have no conditions to negotiate with you. So, whether you are willing or not rests entirely on your own thoughts."
Amber continued sneering, "Do you think saying that will move me to spill everything?"
"..." Mo Tiange rolled her eyes. For a Divine Beast, one that had lived for tens of thousands of years, to be so petty and calculative.
Qin Xi spoke up and asked, "Senior, may I ask your origins? As a Divine Beast, why do you linger in the mortal realm? What is the Xumi Sea? And what do the phrases 'Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth' and 'Time of Reincarnation' you mentioned earlier mean?"
"..." This time it was Amber's turn to roll his eyes. He hadn't even said whether he would answer, and this guy had blurted out all the questions in one breath.
He simply lay down on the horizontal plaque, pretending to rest, completely ignoring them.
"Senior?" came the call from below again. Amber curled his lip and played dead.
After several more calls with no response, Mo Tiange said, "Since Senior doesn't want to deal with us, let's rest first."
Qin Xi acknowledged, and the two discussed how to settle down and how to leave, treating the place as their own cave abode. Amber, lying on the plaque, grew increasingly irritated, glaring at them with gritted teeth a few times before finding it pointless and turning his head away, ignoring them.
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi first thought of entering the Immortal Palace, only to find it sealed by a restrictive formation and impossible to open. They had no choice but to find a corner outside to settle in.
At this moment, Fairy Fengqing had already emerged from the illusion. Seeing the two of them, she was first startled, then furious. She stepped forward, standing before them, and asked angrily, "What are you doing here?"
Thinking of the scene in the illusion, Mo Tiange couldn't even be bothered with superficial courtesy. "Why can't we be here?"
Fairy Fengqing fumed, "Did you follow me?"
"What if we did?" Mo Tiange looked at her mockingly.
"You—" Fairy Fengqing flew into a rage, about to angrily rebuke her, when she suddenly saw Qin Xi gazing at her indifferently. Her heart skipped a beat. She had nearly forgotten that Qin Shoujing was already at the Nascent Soul mid-stage. With the two of them here, she was absolutely no match. But should she just let it go? When she, Fengqing, formed her Nascent Soul, these two probably didn't even know where they were. And now she was to be bullied by two juniors...
Mo Tiange said lazily, "Fellow Daoist Fengqing, perhaps you don't know. Besides being a guest elder of the Bixuan Pavilion, the founding ancestor of the Bixuan Pavilion is precisely my Mo family's great-grandfather. Since you used an object from my Bixuan Pavilion to seek an opportunity, how could I not inquire?"
Fairy Fengqing was taken aback. "You must be talking nonsense."
"Fellow Daoist Fengqing," Mo Tiange said coldly, "Even if I am your junior by several hundred years, I am now a Nascent Soul cultivator."
Would a Nascent Soul cultivator talk nonsense? By saying this, Fairy Fengqing subconsciously didn't regard her as a Nascent Soul cultivator. This Fairy Fengqing had no past enmity with her, yet had always been aggressive. Once could be overlooked, twice could be dismissed with a smile, but three or four times—how could she keep yielding? Though young, she was a genuine Nascent Soul cultivator.
Facing Mo Tiange's cold words, Fairy Fengqing was furious in her heart but dared not show it. She had indeed always relied on her seniority, viewing these two as juniors. This mentality had unconsciously influenced her behavior. Now that Mo Tiange directly mocked her, she had nothing to say.
Thinking of this, she felt somewhat indignant and finally snorted coldly, "Having backing behind you, what skill is that?"
Mo Tiange looked surprised, turning to ask Qin Xi, "Backing? Is she talking about you?"
Qin Xi smiled, "Probably."
"Oh." She turned back and said to Fairy Fengqing with a serious face, "Are you envious?"
"You—" Fairy Fengqing's face turned pale then flushed with anger. In her agitation, she spoke without thinking, "Who's envious? Relying on a man to achieve things, how shameless!"
"Then you're jealous." Mo Tiange nodded, looking at her sympathetically. "Over seven hundred years, and you haven't even managed to get a man. That is quite tragic."
"Mo Qingwei, what nonsense are you spouting?!" Fairy Fengqing was both ashamed and furious. She wanted to teach her a lesson but hesitated, wary of Qin Xi, feeling utterly conflicted.
"That's not nonsense." Suddenly, Amber's voice came from the plaque. "If you didn't harbor jealousy in your heart, how could such an illusion appear?"
All three were stunned. Qin Xi was the first to regain his composure and asked, "Senior, you know what our illusions were?"
Amber snorted. "Of course I know. I created the illusions."
"Ah?" Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged glances, utterly astonished. They now knew Amber was imprisoned here. The surrounding array formations and restrictions were likely meant to confine him. If he could control the illusions, weren't they practically useless?
As if knowing their thoughts, Amber snorted, "My Qilin clan possesses innate mysteries. A mere illusion is nothing." After saying this, he tugged impatiently at the silver ring on his wrist. If not for this thing, how could he have been trapped here for so long?
"So it's an innate talent." Qin Xi nodded gently. "Senior, trapped here yet still able to manipulate illusions with ease, your strength must be extraordinary."
Amber turned to look at him, a faint, mocking smile on his lips. "No need to probe. I won't tell you these things."
Qin Xi, however, said, "Senior may speak if willing, or not if unwilling. These old tales, knowing them brings us no benefit."
"Don't act so desireless," Amber mocked. "You cultivators, coming to the Immortal Palace, aren't you all for gaining some treasures? Unfortunately, apart from me, there's nothing else here. Whether you can even leave is a problem."
"Exactly!" Mo Tiange took over. "Since we can't get any benefits anyway, if Senior loves telling stories, we'll listen. If not, it's no loss to us."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Amber couldn't help but ask, "Hey, how exactly did you two break the illusion?" Trapped alone for too long, he was so lonely he could even pretend to enjoy playing with the Nine-Linked Rings. Having someone to talk to for amusement was still quite welcome.
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged glances, both with smiles in their eyes. Mo Tiange said, "Senior's illusion failed on two counts. First, the actions performed in the illusion didn't match our experiences and personalities. Second, Senior overlooked our feelings."
Amber was startled and sat up. "What do you mean?"
Mo Tiange said, "Take me, for example. Senior, do you know my background and origins?"
Amber waved his hand. "Seeing you so young and spirited, you're probably from a prominent family, right?"
Mo Tiange pointed at Qin Xi. "What about him?"
Amber glanced over and said carelessly, "Not old, but acts like a little old man. Must be from a poor background, always worrying day and night."
"..." Qin Xi was speechless. This was the first time someone had mistaken him for a child of a humble family.
"..." Mo Tiange was also quite speechless. Just as she was about to speak, Amber exclaimed in surprise, "Ah, I guessed wrong?"
Mo Tiange frowned, displeased. "Senior, could you please not use mind reading? Using mind reading, what's the point of chatting?"
"...Fine." Amber urged, "What exactly is the story?"
Mo Tiange said, "I was born in a mundane village. I lost my father early and my mother in childhood. Before adulthood, I wandered with my uncle. Only later, after taking a master as my teacher, did I ascend to heaven in a single step."
"..." Amber scratched his head, then pointed at Qin Xi. "What about him?"
Mo Tiange: "As a mortal, he was a son of a princely mansion. Upon entering the immortal gate, he became the beloved disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator."
"Nascent Soul... not that high either..." Amber muttered, only to be glared at again by Mo Tiange. Not high? Did he think this was the Ancient or Primordial Era?
Mo Tiange continued, "See, what kind of lousy identities did you set for us? And that lousy plot? It completely didn't match our personalities, okay?"
"Why not? A loving couple turning against each other overnight, struggling internally—isn't that fun?" Amber asked, opening a pair of curious, innocent eyes.
Mo Tiange was exasperated. "...We're cultivators, okay? We cultivate our mental states, okay? Simply put, if he truly bore a blood feud, he wouldn't have married me, because that would implicate the innocent. If my husband truly betrayed the sect, I wouldn't be struck down half-dead, nor would I take up arms against him."
"Why?" Amber pressed relentlessly. "Because the feelings are deep, betrayal is even more intolerable, right?"
"Not for me."
"Then what would you do?"
"I..." Mo Tiange paused. "Why should I tell you, so you can make the illusion more realistic next time?"
"Tch." Amber said, "This time was just because I was too rusty. If there's a next time, I'll definitely trap you in the illusion so you can't get out."
"Unfortunately, there's the second point. No matter how real Senior makes it, feelings can't be faked. In the illusion, I felt no emotion towards the illusory parents. It would be the same even if done again."
"Hmph! Next time I won't write it like this. I'll..."
"Senior!" Fairy Fengqing suddenly spoke up.
Amber's gaze sharpened, and he said coldly, "You junior, interrupting recklessly, how impolite." He flicked his sleeve, about to administer a light punishment, when he heard Fairy Fengqing say loudly, "Senior, this junior has an object to offer you."