The characters 'Fengyue' inscribed on the front of the white jade token represented the Fengyue Small World.
And the image of a jade rabbit on the reverse side represented a person—Bai Susu, an elder of the Fengyue Small World.
In other words, this was Bai Susu's identity token.
The name Bai Susu was absolutely known to everyone in the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain.
She was a demon immortal.
A demon immortal who was smooth and tactful in all situations.
She was also an unfathomably profound demon immortal.
And she was a demon immortal who had great influence and connections within the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain.
Bai Susu's status in the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain was extremely high—so high that the major figures of the many secret realms within the domain dared not refuse to give her some face.
Because she was an elder of the Fengyue Small World.
One must know that the Fengyue Small World was the largest trading center in the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain. Moreover, it had a long history, passed down since ancient times, with an excellent reputation and impeccable credibility, maintaining long-term cooperation with all the major secret realms.
If one offended the Fengyue Small World, could they still sell their secret realm's resources?
Could they still buy the resources they needed?
Could they still spend their immortal stones?
If a secret realm offended the Fengyue Small World, perhaps it wouldn't be completely unable to survive in the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain, but its future days would definitely be filled with frustration.
After all,
Cultivation was inseparable from resources.
If one couldn't buy or sell the necessary resources, cultivation would become extremely difficult, making every step forward a struggle.
Under such circumstances,
Who would dare to offend the Fengyue Small World?
The answer was certain.
No one dared.
Let alone Li Fengyan, who was merely a descendant of an immortal family backed by the Jinnwu Secret Realm. Even if he were a descendant of the Jinnwu Lord himself, whether he would dare to offend the Fengyue Small World was an unknown.
Moreover, Bai Susu's identity was not limited to being an elder of the Fengyue Small World. She herself was also a Nine Heavens Immortal appointed by the Immortal Dao, making her status extremely noble. Even the ancestor of Li Fengyan's immortal family, who had been appointed by the Immortal Court, was only of similar standing.
How then would he dare to offend Bai Susu?
This was also the fundamental reason why Li Fengyan was so shocked upon seeing Bai Susu's identity token.
However,
He couldn't understand or figure it out. Qiānlíng was merely the master of a minor secret realm like the Xiaoluo Secret Realm. How could she possess Bai Susu's token?
Throughout the Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain, there were at least eighty thousand, if not a hundred thousand, existences like the Xiaoluo Secret Realm.
He truly didn't know why Qiānlíng would have Bai Susu's identity token.
Not only did he not know, but even Qiānniǎo, who had always followed Qiānlíng on her external ventures, wore an expression of utter disbelief.
"You! How... how do you have Bai Susu's token?"
"I'm sorry, that's my private matter."
After saying this, Qiānlíng led the dozen or so people from the Xiaoluo Secret Realm away. The over a hundred people surrounding them no longer dared to block their path, stepping aside one after another to let Qiānlíng leave.
Li Fengyan's face turned livid with rage as he stared fixedly at Qiānlíng's retreating back, gritting his teeth and saying fiercely, "Qiānlíng! Don't think that just because you have Bai Susu's token you can look down on me! I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. Sooner or later, you will be mine, Li Fengyan's woman!"
However, by the time Li Fengyan uttered his threat, Qiānlíng and the others had already flown far away.
"Líng'ér Jiě! You... how do you have Bai Susu's token?"
After they had left, Qiānniǎo could no longer hold back and asked immediately, "Where did you get it? It couldn't be a fake one you used to scare Li Fengyan, could it?"
"This is Bai Susu's token. How would I have the ability to forge it?"
"Then... then it's real? But how do you have her token?"
Qiānlíng responded lightly, "She gave it to me."
"She gave it to you? Why would she give it to you?"
"This happened a few years ago. When I was outside, I once helped her with a matter. That's when I got to know her. At the time, she wanted to thank me, but I declined. Later, we met a few more times and gradually became familiar. Once, when I went out on business, I ran into trouble with people from the Yunhe Secret Realm. Bai Susu happened to see it and gave me her token. I couldn't refuse, so I accepted it."
"Heavens! When did this happen? How come I didn't know anything about it?"
Qiānniǎo was extremely surprised. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she said, "I was in closed-door cultivation for the past few years. Could it be... it happened during that time?"
"Yes."
"So that's it!" Qiānniǎo said excitedly, "Líng'ér Jiě, you're so unfair! Why did you keep such a good thing from me?"
"A good thing? What's so good about it?"
"What's not good about it? This is Bai Susu's token! Who is Bai Susu? She's a Nine Heavens Immortal appointed by the Immortal Dao, and also an elder of the Fengyue Small World! In our entire Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain, who would dare not give her face? With her token, our Xiaoluo Secret Realm won't be bullied anymore in the future!"
Qiānlíng shook her head slightly and said, "Qiānniǎo, you must remember this: if our Xiaoluo Secret Realm doesn't want to be bullied in the future, the only way is for us to become strong ourselves. If we grow up under the protection of others, we can never truly become strong."
She looked at the identity token belonging to Bai Susu in her hand and said, "This time, when I go to the Fengyue Small World, I plan to return this token to her."
"What? What? Líng'ér Jiě, did I hear you correctly? You're actually going to return the token? Are you crazy!"
"I only helped her with a small matter back then. I truly don't deserve such a great favor from her."
"Heavens!" Qiānniǎo felt like she was about to collapse. She knew Qiānlíng's character very well and understood clearly that Qiānlíng didn't want to owe anyone a favor. If Qiānlíng said she would return it, she would definitely return it. This was both what she admired most about Qiānlíng and also the most frustrating aspect of Qiānlíng's personality. She tried to persuade her.
"Líng'ér Jiě, I know you don't want to owe Bai Susu such a big favor. You just said that if we don't want to be bullied, the only way is to become strong ourselves, and that if we grow up under the protection of others, we can never truly become strong. I agree with that principle."
"But... but our Xiaoluo Secret Realm is like a fledgling bird that has just left the nest right now. Its wings haven't even fully grown yet. We really, really need the protection of a token like Bai Susu's. How about this: when our Xiaoluo Secret Realm, this little fledgling, has grown slightly stronger and its feathers are a bit fuller, then we'll return the token to Bai Susu. Okay?"
"Qiānniǎo, do you know?" Qiānlíng looked at Qiānniǎo and said earnestly, "The reason I want to return the token as soon as possible is precisely because I'm afraid that you, and I, and everyone in our Xiaoluo Secret Realm will develop this kind of dependency mentality. We cannot rely on others; we can only rely on ourselves. A fledgling bird doesn't only grow up under protection. It can also grow up by falling down again and again, and its feathers will become even fuller that way."
"But... but..." Qiānniǎo still wanted to say something more, but Qiānlíng interrupted her: "No 'buts.' My mind is made up."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Nine Mystic Star Elephant beneath Qiānlíng's feet let out an elephantine roar and charged forward at great speed.
"Líng'ér Jiě! Líng'ér Jiě! You... you... you're really going to drive me crazy!"
Qiānniǎo chased after her for a while but couldn't catch up, stomping her feet in anger.