The Immortal Sect's investigation stirs a sudden storm, while Master Yi maneuvers with artful grace.

As the last grain of Star-Pattern Sand slipped through his fingers, Shen Yi heard the rustle of tangled roots beneath the bluestone slabs.

The Night-Blooming Epiphyllum seeds had already tracked the scent of crane feathers across three streets, and now they were pulsing with a crisp, clear spiritual resonance back into his palm.

"My friend, your spiritual plants are of fine quality."

As a frost-colored hem swept past his stall, the mark of the Spirit-Devouring Vine on the back of Shen Yi’s hand suddenly burned with alarming intensity. He calmly hid the flickering emerald glow on his wrist with his sleeve and looked up to meet the newcomer, whose collar was embroidered with a silver crane clutching a lingzhi mushroom—the very direction from which the clouds had dissipated in the southeast just moments ago.

The Cloud Crane leaned over to toy with an Ice-Soul Grass casually stuck in a discarded clay pot, his knuckles rapping against the pottery with a hollow sound. "Ice-Soul Grass can only be cultivated in the three-zhang-deep ice of a cold pool. You are quite generous to keep it in a roadside clay pot, my friend."

"You jest, Immortal Master." Shen Yi tilted the pot, revealing a crack that seeped water. A few fluorescent spores drifted onto the other’s hem. "The heavy rain two days ago washed out the Northern Mountain irrigation ditch; this pot was just molded from the silt that was swept down." As the spores touched the silver embroidery, they burst into tiny ice crystals, staining the immortal sect's insignia with frost.

The Cloud Crane gave his wide sleeves a light shake, shedding the ice dust, but the jade slip that slid from his sleeve emitted a faint glow the moment it brushed against Shen Yi’s robes.

The surrounding cultivators retreated in haste. The bustling market suddenly fell into a three-zhang-square silence, leaving only the crisp sound of the Ice-Soul Grass leaves unfolding in the pot.

"Are you aware, Daoist Shen, of the Netherfire embers in the back alley of the Xuanyue Shop?" The jade slip hovered in mid-air, projecting a map of the ley lines. The dark red spiritual veins were slowly expanding in a circle centered on Shen Yi’s stall.

Shen Yi flicked the clay pot with his finger, and the frost flowers immediately curled into buds. "Look here, Immortal Master, my Ice-Soul Grass is most afraid of the breath of nether fire." Black mist surged violently from the base of the pot, only to be shredded by the suddenly rampant roots of the Night-Blooming Epiphyllum just as it was about to touch the jade slip.

In the distance came the crisp sound of roof tiles falling—it was the Heart-Clearing Vine he had planted on the eaves of the Xuanyue Shop half an hour ago.

The Cloud Crane’s pupils contracted slightly, and the jade slip’s light flared brilliantly. "Three questions." He held up three fingers, each fingertip condensing spiritual energy shaped like a crane’s cry. "First, why do the spiritual plants you grow thrive in waste soil? Second, where were you seven days ago when the spiritual spring of Qingyang Mountain ran dry? Third..." He suddenly leaned in close to Shen Yi’s ear, his voice laced with a secret mental-probing technique: "Are you and the demonic cultivator Gao Yao truly only strangers who met by chance?"

The Spirit-Devouring Vine in Shen Yi’s sleeve was on the verge of erupting from his skin.

The system interface flashed warnings on his retina, the icon of the "God-Level Farming System" flickering with the pressure of the other’s spiritual power. He remembered half a month ago, when Gao Yao had shielded him from the Xuanyue Shop’s pursuit; the blood beads that dripped from her wrist, cut by the Frost-Moon Silk, had seeped into his newly planted Zhu-fruit seedlings, which had sprouted red spiritual fruits marked with moon patterns that very night.

"Does the Immortal Sect also concern itself with the marriages of cultivators?" He laughed, pulled out an oil-paper package, broke off a piece of osmanthus rice cake, and offered it to him. "As for the secret to growing spiritual plants in waste soil..." The aroma of the rice cake, mixed with faint spiritual power, drifted out, and restless sounds from spiritual pets erupted from the shadows.

The Cloud Crane instinctively stepped back half a pace, and the ley line map projected by the jade slip twisted into a vortex.

Shen Yi seized the opportunity to scatter the rice cake crumbs, and a dozen scent-seeking mice scurried out from every corner. While the Cloud Crane was distracted by driving away the swarm, Shen Yi quickly formed a seal, causing the roots of the Night-Blooming Epiphyllum to form the prototype of a teleportation array underground. "You see, these little things just love to gnaw on the residual spiritual energy in waste soil."

The lanterns hanging under the distant eaves suddenly turned toward them in unison, stretching the Cloud Crane’s shadow until it looked like chains. Shen Yi felt the system core in his dantian begin to heat up—this was the warning sign that preceded every cultivation of high-level spiritual plants.

Under the guise of packing up his stall, he flicked three Spirit-Devouring Vines, disguised as ordinary grass seeds, into the cracks in the ground—these little creatures would follow the ley lines to erase the traces of the nether fire.

"The last question." The Cloud Crane’s jade slip suddenly transformed into a crane’s beak, pressing against his throat. Fine frost patterns instantly appeared on the side of Shen Yi’s neck. "Why do you possess the breath of both Netherfire and Lunar Essence, which are mutually exclusive?"

The evening breeze carried a crane feather across Shen Yi’s eyes, and deep within his pupils, emerald patterns resembling data streams flashed.

***

The system-loaded skill "Thousand-Machine Transformation" began to take effect. This illusion, purchased for 300 planting experience points, could disguise the chaotic spiritual fluctuations in his body as...

"Of course, it is because..." Shen Yi suddenly began to cough violently, and the spiritual energy leaking through his fingers condensed into the phantom image of half a broken Frost-Moon Silk.

This was the protective charm Gao Yao had secretly tied to his wrist that morning, and it was now manifesting along with the surge of blood he was deliberately inciting.

The Cloud Crane’s expression finally cracked.

The jade pendant at his waist, sensing the aura of authentic immortal sect techniques, suddenly let out a clear, resonant chime. Shen Yi took the opportunity to clutch his chest and stagger backward, perfectly knocking over the clay pot that was seeping black mist.

The moment the Ice-Soul Grass hit the ground, it bloomed with a moon-wheel-shaped brilliance, shattering the remaining traces of the nether fire’s aura.

"Immortal Master, please see clearly." Shen Yi wiped away the blood he had deliberately forced to his lips and pulled out a jade plaque engraved with the character 'Yao'—given to him by Gao Yao at their last parting. "What my partner and I practice is the authentic art of balancing Yin and Yang."

The Cloud Crane’s jade slip suddenly let out a cracking sound.

Shen Yi lowered his eyes to hide his smile; the roots of the Night-Blooming Epiphyllum had already woven a complete anti-reconnaissance array underground. When the last trace of the nether fire’s aura was swallowed by the Spirit-Devouring Vine, he heard the system chime, "Crisis 60% averted."

As twilight completely shrouded the market, the Cloud Crane flicked his sleeve and retracted the damaged jade slip.

When Shen Yi bent down to pick up the Ice-Soul Grass, he did not let the other see the Netherfire pattern emerging on the back of his neck—within that cluster of flames danced half of an undigested demonic inner core.

The crane-cry spiritual energy at the Cloud Crane’s fingertips was nearly piercing Shen Yi’s collar, but it froze abruptly as it touched the phantom image of the Frost-Moon Silk.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Yi caught a glimpse of a bamboo hat swaying at the street corner—it was Gao Yao, disguised as an old woman, with moonlight-white spiritual light seeping from her coarse cloth sleeve.

"Yin-Yang balancing?" The Cloud Crane’s jade slip pressed a bloodstain into Shen Yi’s throat. "Do you know that the demonic cultivator Gao Yao slaughtered thirty people in Qingyang Town half a month ago..."

"Immortal Master, weigh your words!" Shen Yi suddenly raised his voice, and a dozen fluorescent grasses shot out from his sleeves. These inconspicuous spiritual plants exploded into stardust in mid-air, precisely striking the vibrating communication talisman at the Cloud Crane’s waist.

This was a specialty he had mastered after three years of struggling in the market—using the lowest-grade Fluorescent Grass to interfere with high-grade artifacts.

A child’s crying suddenly erupted from the crowd. The old woman Gao Yao had morphed into "accidentally" knocked over a sugar-painting stall, and the thick malt syrup flowed along the ground toward the Cloud Crane’s feet.

Shen Yi took the opportunity to step back, his heel heavily crushing the Heart-Clearing Vine seeds he had buried three days ago. The moment the emerald vines broke through the soil, the entire street was filled with the fresh scent of a bamboo forest after rain.

"Is this what you are referring to?" Shen Yi suddenly tore open his collar, revealing half a moon pattern on his chest. This was the Heart-Protection Seal Gao Yao had carved into him with her own life essence last night; it was now resonating with the Cloud Crane’s jade pendant. "Partners cultivating together, our vital energy pulses are linked. If the Immortal Sect does not believe me..." He suddenly grabbed a fragment of the clay pot and sliced his wrist; where the blood dripped, a lotus flower with starlight bloomed.

The Cloud Crane’s jade slip suddenly let out a wail.

***

Shen Yi sneered as he looked at the "Planting Experience -200" notification on the system interface—this "Unity Lotus," which had taken three days to cultivate, was intended specifically for today’s interrogation.

The aura of orthodox immortal sect techniques flowing over the petals made the jade pendant at the Cloud Crane’s waist pale in comparison.

"Enough!" The angry roar of Elder Lingfeng descended from the sky, the pressure of his Foundation Establishment stage shattering seven lanterns along the street.

The moment Gao Yao’s bamboo hat was blown away, the Spirit-Devouring Vines in Shen Yi’s sleeves suddenly surged, weaving into a dense net in the blind spot of everyone’s vision. By the time the rags hit the ground, the old woman was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a few withered leaves spinning in the air.

Shen Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his fingertips quietly stroking the fragment of Frost-Moon Silk in his hidden sleeve pocket. Gao Yao had secretly slipped it to him this morning, and it was now burning slightly under the pressure of Elder Lingfeng’s aura.

He suddenly remembered the rainy night three days ago, the sight of Gao Yao covered in blood as she collapsed into his spiritual field—within her wounds, where demonic energy surged, a Netherfire ember identical to the one in his own dantian was clearly pulsing.

"The investigation ends here." The Cloud Crane suddenly pulled back, the cracks on his jade slip spreading like a spiderweb. He took a deep look at the unhealed wound on Shen Yi’s wrist, where the blood seeping out had condensed into half an Ice-Epiphyllum flower on the bluestone. "In seven days, the Immortal Sect will send someone to re-examine your spiritual fields."

As twilight closed in, Shen Yi slowly tidied up the mess. He deliberately kicked the fragments of the clay pot, stained with the aura of the nether fire, into a dark alley; the Spirit-Devouring Vines immediately wrapped around them as if they were a treasure.

When the last shred of black mist was swallowed by the vines, a system prompt exploded before his eyes: [Crisis 75% averted—detected that the residual embers have been transferred to the cellar of the Xuanyue Shop].

"Young man..." A raspy female voice sounded behind him.

Gao Yao, disguised as a flower-selling old woman, tremblingly held out a withered Night-Blooming Epiphyllum. In the depths of her murky eyes, a moonlight glow that only he could understand flickered. "Would you like to buy a flower? At midnight tonight... the Unity Lotus will bloom..."

As Shen Yi took the flower branch, his fingertips brushed against the demonic patterns on Gao Yao’s palm. That wound, which had been oozing black blood just yesterday, was now glowing with an eerie vermilion red—just like the batch of red-patterned Zhu-fruits he had harvested that morning.

He suddenly understood why the system had suddenly prompted [Demonic energy conversion rate has reached 15%], and his heart tightened violently.

"This flower, Grandma..." He smiled and flicked a Heart-Clearing Vine seed into it, and the withered bud instantly regained its vitality. "I will take them all."

When the bell for the hour of the Dog rang, Shen Yi squatted in front of his stall, counting spiritual stones. The moment the moonlight brushed the back of his neck, the insignia of the Xuanyue Shop flashed within that cluster of Netherfire patterns.

On the system map, the dot representing Gao Yao was flickering violently on the outskirts of the city—it was the precursor to the demonic seed in her body acting up.