When Sun Xiaosheng hurriedly rushed out, he happened to witness the two of them acting obsequiously toward Wen Jingshu.
He cupped his hands to the three of them in greeting and said, “I was unaware of Miss Shu's distinguished arrival yesterday. Please forgive my lack of manners. I was tied down by some trivial matters, which was why I had my daughter host you in my stead. I have already ordered a banquet to be prepared. I hope Miss Shu, Alchemist Zheng, and Fellow Daoist Xue will not look down on it.”
Wen Jingshu clicked her tongue as she watched Sun Xiaosheng join the ranks of those flattering her.
Making a grand entrance and showing off was fine, but she truly disliked this kind of tedious socializing.
Since she didn't like it, Wen Jingshu refused outright, saying, “No, thank you. This young lady still has other things to attend to. During my stay with your Sun family, there is no need for you to be overly hospitable.”
Even though Wen Jingshu said this, Sun Xiaosheng did not dare to actually do so.
Upon hearing her refusal, Sun Xiaosheng's expression did not change. Instead, he went along with her words and said:
“Yes, yes, of course. It was my lack of consideration. I wonder if Alchemist Zheng and Fellow Daoist Xue are free and would do me the honor of attending the banquet?”
The two thought about it for a moment. They indeed had no urgent matters and were willing to give Sun Xiaosheng this face.
Seeing them nod, Sun Xiaosheng joyfully welcomed them inside.
Outsiders only knew that the Zhao and Sun families held power in Cangwu City.
In reality, aside from these two families, there was another force: the sect disciples from the mainland.
Among them, the disciples of the Four Great Sects were the most close-knit.
The Four Great Sects were usually on good terms, and their disciples training abroad would support one another when they met.
They did not participate in any administration or resource disputes in Cangwu City. But was that because they lacked the strength? No, it was because their minds were simply not on such things.
While it seemed today that only Zheng Jilin and Xue Wanshu were present, there were actually hundreds of their fellow sect cultivators backing them.
It was just that the two of them were the most representative figures of the Qingyun Sect and the Pill Sect on Cangwu Island.
Yet, since even these two representative figures were so respectful to Wen Jingshu, any other disciples who met her would only try to curry favor.
The Sun and Zhao families had always wanted to win over this force, but they had never found a way to start.
Wen Jingshu's appearance might just be their breakthrough point.
Yet, Wen Jingshu, the person in question, had no such awareness at all.
She had truly just accidentally stumbled into this place and happened to encounter the beast tide, planning to leave as soon as it receded!
Wen Jingshu spent today wandering around Cangwu City to experience the local customs, planning to check out the Cangwu Forest outside the city tomorrow.
The Cangwu Forest was where the divine tree appeared.
As for the beast tide, Wen Jingshu had her mustard seed space and did not care about it at all.
She did not mention her decision to anyone else. She simply told Jinyin that she would be in closed-door cultivation for a few days, laid down a defensive formation plate and a concealment formation plate, and entered the Shengsheng Bead, leaving the Sun family residence completely undetected.
Finally free from having to maintain her facade before those people, Wen Jingshu stood outside the misty forest and took a deep, refreshing breath.
With the beast tide fast approaching, there were almost no cultivators in the Cangwu Forest, so Wen Jingshu did not plan to put on another disguise.
After all, her lightning spiritual root and talisman arts were too distinct. Even if she changed her face again, anyone who ran into her would easily link the clues to her.
Releasing her four little ones from the Shengsheng Bead, Wen Jingshu showed the map in her hand to Zhaocai. Zhaocai wandered around the area before finally pinpointing a direction.
Wen Jingshu's goal this time was not to improve her combat power, so she let Suyao and the other two little ones handle any demon beasts they encountered along the way.
Spirit beasts possessed a natural suppression over demon beasts, and they dispatched them as easily as slicing through radishes with a knife.
Seeing the three little ones effortlessly dispatch another mid-grade third-rank demon beast, Wen Jingshu felt a bit of an imbalance in her heart.
They were still just spirit beast cubs with only third-rank strength, yet they were already this formidable. If they were spiritual demons, wouldn't they be even more heaven-defying?
But then, thinking about how difficult it was for spiritual demons to conceive offspring, Wen Jingshu came to terms with it.
Every race had its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, spiritual demons were born with the intelligence of adult human cultivators; they were smart, powerful, lived long lives, and could directly consume natural treasures to painlessly raise their cultivation.
The drawback was their difficulty in reproducing.
High-level human cultivators also struggled to have children—Wen Jingshu was a prime example—whereas mortals reproduced with extreme ease.
Mortals possessed comprehension and wisdom, and they knew how to utilize external aids to refine pills, forge weapons, carve formations, and draw talismans.
Of course, their greatest drawback was that they died easily and had short lifespans.
With all sorts of random thoughts drifting through Wen Jingshu's mind, the travel time seemed to fly by in an instant.
Zhaocai sniffed the air carefully, continuously circling the area.
Seeing this, Wen Jingshu released her wood immortal qi to sense the surroundings carefully.
Almost the moment Wen Jingshu channeled her immortal qi, the Shengsheng Bead reacted once more.
Every time the Shengsheng Bead acted up, it was either because it sensed a sub-bead or a treasure containing immortal qi.
Whichever it was, it was enough to make Wen Jingshu's heart race.
This time, the Shengsheng Bead led the Boundary-Breaking Bead and the Hunyuan Bead to float into the air. The three beads of different colors and sizes flew around, searching for nearly half an incense stick's time before finally hovering in place.
Wen Jingshu walked over quickly, and the Boundary-Breaking Bead immediately sliced open a spatial rift.
No longer hesitating, Wen Jingshu jumped straight in.
Just a second before the rift closed, a black figure suddenly appeared.
After a wave of dizziness, Wen Jingshu rubbed her sore buttocks from the fall and stood up.
Beneath her feet was a lush, vibrant lawn, and the sky around her was a blank expanse of white. She was clearly inside a separate pocket dimension.
The space was about a hundred mu in size. Aside from the lawn beneath her, there was only a giant, flourishing tree rooted right in the center.
The giant tree radiated a seven-colored light, and its body was enveloped in a spiritual aura that seemed like spiritual qi, immortal qi, demon qi, and devilish qi all at once. From afar, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
Could that be the divine tree?
Sensing that the three beads had gathered around the giant tree, Wen Jingshu walked over quickly to investigate.
As she drew closer to examine the giant tree, she saw that its trunk was a whopping ten meters wide. Standing beneath it and looking up, the branches were twisted and tangled, and the foliage was so dense that she couldn't see what was happening up in the tree at all.
Yet, once she was right next to it, she could no longer see the seven-colored light or that mysterious spiritual aura.
Wen Jingshu walked around the giant tree, plucked a leaf of the most ordinary shape, and reached out to touch the trunk, using her immortal power to sense it carefully.
However, no matter how she observed or sensed it, it seemed to be just an ordinary tree that had grown a bit larger.
Or was this just the divine tree's disguise?
Wen Jingshu couldn't figure it out for the moment. With no clues in sight, she thought about simply moving it into her Shengsheng Bead and calling it a day.
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