"Fellow Daoist Xiao, what's wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing, goodbye." Xiao Wenbing chuckled at him, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and left. Now that Yaqi was back, she naturally no longer needed his big nose.
Long Shi stared at him in bewilderment, touched his nose, and his eyes were full of surprise.
Volume 5, Chapter 2: The Oath
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"Yaqi, what did Baiyi say to you?" As soon as the two returned to the house, Xiao Wenbing immediately asked anxiously.
Zhang Yaqi laughed heartily: "Sister Feng said you're not a good person."
"What?" Xiao Wenbing immediately covered his head and cried out in injustice. He shook his hand seriously and said solemnly, "Yaqi, don't believe Baiyi. I am the number one good person in the world."
"Is that so?"
Xiao Wenbing puffed out his chest and said confidently, "Of course. Look, for your sake, I personally went to the Flame Realm. Even under the siege of those immortals, I did not give up on the Qiankun Ring."
After their conversation last night, Xiao Wenbing knew that although Zhang Yaqi's physical body was unable to move, it did not mean that her consciousness was completely unaware.
She knew everything about it, whether it was Quini and the others risking their lives to retrieve the Universe Ring from the thundercloud storm, or Xiao Wenbing infiltrating the Flame Realm alone to fight against numerous immortals.
However, while inside the Qiankun Circle, the perception of the outside world is like a dream, somewhat hazy.
So when Zhang Yaqi smiled and spoke ill of him, Xiao Wenbing immediately brought up his glorious achievements in fighting against several immortals to prove his innocence.
“I know, Wenbing, you are indeed brave.”
Xiao Wenbing looked at the beautiful woman in front of him with delight. It had been a long, long time since he had heard her praise.
"Well, but..." Zhang Yaqi pouted slightly, as if she had thought of something.
"But what?" Xiao Wenbing pressed impatiently.
Zhang Yaqi covered her mouth and smiled, her eyes sparkling with boundless joy: "However, if Sister Feng hadn't broken through the temple's barrier in time, I wonder what the consequences would have been if someone had faced the five immortals?"
"Well, this..." Xiao Wenbing smiled awkwardly, coughed, and said shamelessly, "It's alright. As long as I reveal my true form a step ahead and activate the divine power within the small golden talisman, I can fight not only those five little immortals, but even the Dark God."
Zhang Yaqi nodded with a smile, not calling out his self-comforting words.
Xiao Wenbing's words make sense. As long as he uses his true form and activates the Lesser Golden Talisman in battle, even if all five immortals gathered together, they would have absolutely no way to defeat him.
With the powerful energy within the small golden talisman, apart from beings of the Dark God level, no one else could threaten his life.
However, under the circumstances at the time, the time it would take to retrieve his true form and activate the small golden talisman while Quini and the others were on high alert would probably have been enough for him to die seventeen or eighteen times over.
As for whether a dead person can still use divine power to fight, Xiao Wenbing had no confidence at all.
Although he was deeply grateful to Feng Baiyi, admitting it to Zhang Yaqi would be extremely difficult.
Seeing the woman in front of him with a serious expression, seemingly completely convinced by his words, Xiao Wenbing noticed a deep smile in her eyes.
With a frown, Xiao Wenbing immediately realized that he had wasted his breath.
His eyes darted around. He reached out and pulled Zhang Yaqi into his arms before she could react.
The five-colored light on the Qiankun Ring seemed to tremble slightly. The wood spirit within the ring pondered for a long time, though it bore the heavy responsibility of protecting the ring's master. Anyone who dared to attack Zhang Yaqi would face its full-force counterattack.
But this time... Mu Ling turned and glanced at the huge stone slab beside her. On either side of the slab were two small holes, like human ears, as if listening to something.
A moment of confusion crossed the Wood Spirit's eyes. It seemed to remember that the White Crane Immortal had once said that the Earth Spirit was the most honest of the Five Elements Spirits.
But is this large stone slab, which is clearly meant to be a spectacle for onlookers, really the honest and simple earth spirit that Baihe Zhenren spoke of, the one most admired by the world?
Wood Spirit swore in his heart that if this big guy was considered an honest person, then he really was a blockhead.
"Fine," Mu Ling finally decided, deciding to ignore Xiao Wenbing's attack.
"Wenbing, what do you want to do?"
"hey-hey……"
He hugged Zhang Yaqi tightly, but Xiao Wenbing did not make any further moves.
As the saying goes, the pleasures of the boudoir are so delightful that one forgets all else. However, such a mood can only be experienced when no one is around, and Xiao Wenbing has absolutely no particular fondness for performing in public.
Whether it's the Mirror God in the Heavenly Void Ring or the Earth and Wood Spirits in the Universe Ring, they are both indispensable burdens.
Xiao Wenbing had already decided that certain restricted scenes could not be shown until he had the ability to deal with these spiritual beings.
Therefore, at this moment, Xiao Wenbing truly behaved like a gentleman.
He gazed intently at the beautiful woman in his arms and said in the most sincere tone, "Yaqi, I want to tell you, I am the best in the world."
"Yes, I understand." Zhang Yaqi smiled quietly and buried her head in Xiao Wenbing's arms.
Slightly taken aback, she hadn't expected that he could make her understand so easily. It seemed that in her mind, his words were far more useful than Feng Baiyi's.
“Wenbing”.
Zhang Yaqi softly called out her beloved's name, and felt a dreamlike illusion.
"Um."
"I'm so glad you've returned to the Xiao Wenbing you used to be."
"What?" Xiao Wenbing was taken aback. What did this mean?
“I heard from Sister Feng that ever since you entered the Flame Realm, you've been like a completely different person. You're silent and withdrawn every day, and always seem unhappy. Hmm, it's only now that I've found the competitive Xiao Wenbing I used to know.”
Xiao Wenbing felt a warmth in his heart; so that's how it is.
For the sake of the cultivation world, Zhang Yaqi voluntarily entered the thundercloud storm to restrain chaos with the power of order.
This outcome was certainly unacceptable to Xiao Wenbing. Therefore, during the period before finding the Qiankun Ring, he did become quite depressed, and to outsiders, he seemed to have aged overnight.
However, this was not Xiao Wenbing's true nature. His true nature was cheerful, and only with this nature could his creative power be fully unleashed.
The power of creation represents life energy, and life energy is naturally vibrant.
Life is precious and full of joy; death is tragic and full of sorrow.
Is it possible to create life using a dark mindset...?
This life form is probably inclined towards the dark side.
"Yes." After a long silence, Xiao Wenbing finally sighed, "You're right. Fortunately, you're back. And I'm back too."
"You promised me that we would cultivate together, go to the Immortal Realm together, and be together forever."
“Yes, Yaqi, I promised you. I would cultivate with you, go to the Immortal Realm together, and be together forever, so…” Xiao Wenbing gazed into her beautiful eyes, took out an ancient jade pendant from his bosom, and gently hung it on her fair, swan-like neck: “So, I want to put this love knot on you myself, to bind you to my side forever.”
Stroking the jade pendant on her chest, Zhang Yaqi had returned it to Xiao Wenbing when they were about to part ways on Zhenmo Star. Now, he had hung it up for himself once again.
"Wenbing, let's never be apart again. Okay?"
"Okay, let's never be apart again."
Xiao Wenbing stroked the beautiful hair in his arms and solemnly made the most serious vow of his life.
In the side room, Xiao Wenbing jumped up from his chair and let out a long breath, as if all the hard work and frustration of the past month had vanished with that exhale.
Looking around, there was no one there.
He casually patted the Heavenly Void Ring and whispered, "Mirror God, you can come out now."
A ray of white light rose from the ring and formed the shape of the Mirror God in the air. It lazily stretched its limbs, as if even this illusory energy body would rust, and even made a few loud "crackling" sounds.
"Finally, they're gone." The Mirror God said with deep emotion, "With these two spirits of all things by your side, I can't even come out for a moment."
Xiao Wenbing smiled slightly and said, "Alright, stop complaining. We're out now, aren't we?"
For some time now, the Universe Ring had been in his possession, and in order to prevent the Earth and Wood Spirits from discovering the Mirror God's existence, the Mirror God had only peeked out briefly at the gate of the Flame Realm Temple and had not come out again.
For the Mirror God, who is used to taking a stroll from time to time, this kind of life is really not what a spirit of a divine artifact should live.
Why is there such a big difference in treatment between the spirit of this divine artifact and the spirit of heaven and earth, even though they are both spiritual beings?
For this reason, Xiao Wenbing was complained about by the Mirror God many times, but Xiao Wenbing was indeed not at ease handing the Qiankun Ring over to others.
Therefore, between his girlfriend and the Mirror God, Xiao Wenbing ultimately chose the former without hesitation.
Fortunately, upon returning to the cultivation world, Xiao Wenbing immediately rescued Zhang Yaqi with the help of the Treasure God. And with Zhang Yaqi awakening, the Qiankun Ring naturally had to be returned to its rightful owner.
Without the surveillance of the Universe Ring, the Mirror God could once again swagger out without any scruples.
"Mirror God, I've called you here to discuss something."
The Mirror God abruptly stopped, and said indignantly, "I thought you were being so kind as to let me out, but it turns out you have something to ask of me."
"Don't mention it." Xiao Wenbing immediately changed the subject, saying, "Mirror God, I want to go to the Underworld."
Sure enough, as soon as he said that, the Mirror God's attention was immediately drawn: "Great, there's a water spirit there, we have to go no matter what."
"But……"
"But what?"
"But my current cultivation level is not high enough."
“No way, you’ve already reached the Nascent Soul stage…” The Mirror God looked at Xiao Wenbing carefully, but couldn’t say what level he had reached. He could only sigh, “Anyway, with these magical treasures, you can even go to the Immortal Realm. As for the Underworld, as long as it’s not too dangerous, it should be fine.”
Volume 5, Chapter 3: Seeking Strength
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Upon hearing the Mirror God's deduction, Xiao Wenbing, contrary to his usual behavior, shook his head repeatedly and said, "Not enough."
"So what do you want?"
"Help me think of a cultivation method that can quickly improve my cultivation level," Xiao Wenbing said irresponsibly.