Xuanjian: I am the tenth son of Zhenchi, and I plot to seize the throne from Zhenlong.

Lu Jiangxian, who was engrossed in studying witchcraft in Jianzhong, was suddenly awakened. Just now, he vaguely sensed a strange "spirit" lingering by the lake for a moment before quickly disappearing.

This "spirit" resembled a cultivator, yet possessed the "realness" of a demon. Something seemed to shroud its body, making it appear hazy and as if it might disappear from the world at any moment.

If Lu Jiangxian hadn't been researching witchcraft in recent years and hadn't been asleep as usual, she probably wouldn't have noticed this aura.

This aura was truly strange, and it just so happened to be hovering around Wangyue Lake, not venturing in, as if it had come specifically to investigate. His heart skipped a beat: "Have I been discovered?"

He was startled by his own thoughts, but after thinking about it carefully, he calmed down.

If this aura was there specifically to investigate, even if it didn't know its own condition, it should have stayed further away so that it wouldn't be able to detect it. This behavior seems more like it's wary of something, which is why it doesn't completely set foot on the lake.

Lu Jiangxian felt a little relieved. She then carefully sensed the location and status of each of the Li family's talisman seeds and confirmed that they were all following the normal trajectory and had not encountered any accidents.

After that aura completely disappeared from his sight, he secretly paid attention and then continued to study witchcraft.

……

Jiang Shi rode the wind and circled around for a long time before settling down at Huayushan on the west bank. At this point, he was no longer afraid.

The An family's formation was useless to him, and he easily passed through it. He entered a magnificent palace where a banquet was being held. The atmosphere was lively with people clinking glasses and making merry. Sitting in the main seat was a man with a sinister look on his face, who was groping a pretty maid.

Jiang Shi watched and listened for a while, confirming that the person was An Zheyu. He then walked away and soon arrived at a snow-covered mountain on the north bank, shrouded in mist and covered with ancient pines. The Fei family's formation could not stop him either.

"drink!"

Jiang Shi searched around for a short while before spotting a spirited young girl with bright eyes and a naturally radiant charm in a pine forest. She wielded a long spear with great skill, forcing a young man sparring with her into a frantic state.

Jiang Shi breathed a sigh of relief, finally confirming that this world had not been disturbed by his arrival, that the mirror and the people inside still existed, and that everything was proceeding normally.

It should be not long since Li Yuanxiu died, and Li Tongya is currently in seclusion breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. It's just a pity about An Jingming. Jiang Shi originally wanted to take away his true spirit after his death, but now he can't make it in time.

He doesn't plan to see Lu Jiangxian yet, not only because of trust issues, but also because the Li family is at the core of the story and is currently in its early stages. Any impact he makes here will be magnified many times over.

Jiang Shi had pondered this while speeding across the sea: his greatest advantage lay in his foresight, a power far surpassing that of Tian Su.

If he exposes himself before the crucial moment to decide the outcome and constantly interferes with the plot, the butterfly effect will accumulate, and the variables will increase as the story progresses, eventually eroding his advantages.

"Let's secretly accumulate strength first!" Jiang Shizheng pondered.

The two figures wielding guns in the woods had already decided the winner. Li Qinghong, who had only recently come to the Fei family to learn gunplay, was ultimately outmatched. Fei Tongxiao spotted her weakness, deflected her gun, and she lost the contest.

Undeterred, the girl pondered her thoughts for a moment, then smiled and beckoned the boy who had been secretly watching her to compete again. Her spirited gaze made Fei Tongxiao blush.

Jiang Shi watched as the two began to fight again. The fact that these people, who had once been fictional to him, were now living and breathing in front of him made him slightly lost in thought.

He then smiled faintly and left this area. He had plenty of time, so he naturally searched around for cultivation manuals and wondered if there were any outstanding individuals who could help him carry the burden.

……

Southern Xinjiang...

In an unknown river, a black carp was frantically fleeing. Behind it, a catfish as big as a wild boar, at the second level of Qi Refining, was glaring fiercely and was constantly sucking in large gulps, trying to swallow the small carp in front of it along with the river water.

The black carp fled ahead, occasionally manipulating the water to evade the catfish's sucking force from behind.

It leaped up and down in the river, a broken spirit stone in its mouth, and its eyes possessed a spirituality far surpassing that of the catfish behind it.

Most demons are ignorant and foolish. If they were not born into the demon race and taught and enlightened by a great demon from childhood, even if they were lucky enough to cultivate to the Qi Refining stage, they would mostly act according to their instincts, not to mention this simple-minded and stupid catfish.

With a simple trick, Minghua successfully stole the broken spirit stone that it had hidden in its nest.

Unfortunately, they ran into a clam demon in the river when they came out. The demon was greedy for the spirit stone and naturally wouldn't let it go.

Minghua was unable to escape for a while, so the catfish chased it back, which led to this chase. Now it has shaken off the clam demon.

Although things took an unexpected turn, and despite the fact that its cultivation level was one level lower than the catfish's and its size was dozens of times larger, making it impossible for it to defeat the catfish, Minghua showed little panic.

The catfish's already low intelligence had been completely overwhelmed by the rage caused by the theft of the spirit stone, not to mention the stark difference in how the two demons used their spiritual power.

At this moment, it will only follow its instincts and take big gulps, and its movements are extremely obvious. The black carp can easily avoid it by simply stirring the water around it when it opens its mouth.

After a certain moment, Minghua calculated that the distance to its hiding place was not much different, and then suddenly swam to the bottom of the river.

The catfish naturally gave chase. It had painstakingly found that broken spirit stone at the bottom of the river, intending to use it as bait to attract the mother fish. However, it was stolen by the thieving fish when it wasn't looking.

As soon as Minghua reached the bottom of the river, it began to spin around and swim, frantically stirring up the mud and sand. This body could not match the strength of its magic power when it was in human form, so it had to carefully sense the spiritual power in its meridians and use it sparingly.

The catfish arrived in an instant, still sucking in large gulps. The enormous suction force made the riverbed even more murky. Minghua carefully dodged, occasionally coordinating with the flow of spiritual energy to manipulate the water and send the sand and mist flying high into the air.

"Gulp~"

A large amount of mud and sand was stirred up, and two bubbles emerged and collided with Minghua. Moli seemed to be caught off guard and was a moment too slow to dodge, so it was caught by the catfish's suction.

The current carried it straight into the catfish's gaping maw. A flicker of excitement flashed in the catfish's eyes, as if it could already taste the delicious flesh and blood of the carp.

In the blink of an eye, the carp used the force of the water flow to flick its tail and slap its mouth, making its mouth twist. Taking advantage of this, Minghua darted into the flying mud and sand behind it, activated its spiritual power, and disappeared without a trace.

The catfish was left raging at the bottom of the river, frantically stirring up the mud and sand in search of its whereabouts.

In the icy pool, the carp spat the broken spirit stone in its mouth onto two other broken spirit stones of different sizes, rested contentedly on them, and began to recover its spiritual power.

This black carp naturally benefited from the disaster. She couldn't explain why she had turned into a carp, but she vaguely felt that it was related to her junior brother. As a result of the misfortune, she became a Qi cultivator and changed her name to Minghua, meaning to be hidden and waiting to be revealed.

She couldn't explain the events of her past life, but the voice urged her to continue her cultivation, which she naturally couldn't ask for.

Even if it's like drinking poison to quench my thirst, it's still what I want!