We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

"These... damned bald monks! Things have gotten this far, and instead of helping the people, they're still so relentless!!!"

Xiao Qing, who had been calm, was like a powder keg when she heard the sound coming from there; the fuse was lit in an instant.

Her eyes were wide open, burning with raging anger, and she exuded a cold and sharp aura. Her clothes fluttered without wind, making a rustling sound.

The wind rippled across the calm, cold pool, creating concentric circles of waves.

However, it was only for a moment.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out, and the rosy color on Xiaoqing's face quickly faded, replaced by a pale face, and blood droplets also stained her blue clothes.

He staggered back a few steps before regaining his balance with Bai Suzhen's help.

But on Xiao Qing's face, blue scales still appeared and disappeared intermittently. She was panting heavily, exhaling large gulps of spiritual energy from the Xuanbing Secret Realm. It took her a while to recover.

"Don't get agitated." Bai Suzhen pressed her hand on Xiaoqing's back and poured her own internal energy into Xiaoqing's body to help her recover from her injuries that had not yet healed.

"Not excited?" Xiaoqing wiped the blood from her mouth, her eyes filled with murderous intent, and said through gritted teeth, "These bald monks have chased us all the way here, how can we not be excited?"
If... if I were in my prime, how could I let this obscure, bald monk be so arrogant?!

After the battle of flooding Jinshan Temple, Xiaoqing's hatred for these bald monks reached an unprecedented level, especially for Fahai.

This is absolutely infuriating!
If it weren't for her own limited strength, Xiaoqing would have loved to tear Fahai apart, boil him in oil, and see him suffer such a fate—that would have been truly satisfying for her.

"Didn't you notice? That voice sounds somewhat familiar." Bai Suzhen frowned slightly upon hearing the voice coming from outside the cave, and said hesitantly in a low voice:
"Who was it again... Right! I remember now, that's Brother Shen's voice, the constable from Lin'an City!"

Bai Suzhen listened carefully to the voice coming from the other side, and she became more and more certain of the identity of the person who came from there. There was no doubt that it was Shen Bailian.

But when did Shen Bailian become a nun? And when did she even receive a Buddhist name?

Thinking of this, Bai Suzhen's heart felt like it was being tightly gripped, rising to her throat, and anxiety welled up within her.

The reason is simple: it all stems from Shen Bailian's formidable strength.

With Shen Bailian's strength, she could easily fight the golden-haired beast to a draw, but what about her and Xiao Qing? They almost paid the price of their lives and burned hundreds of years of cultivation to barely escape with their lives.

Even so, it was only through Xu Xian's desperate struggle that the two of them were able to escape.

The most serious problem is that compared to their previous peak strength, she and Xiaoqing are now only a fraction of their former power. They might not even be able to withstand a single martial artist at the Celestial Realm, which would be enough to make the two snake demons flee in disarray.

Not to mention facing Shen Bailian.

That's like an old man eating poison, having too much time on his life, courting death!

"Shen Bailian?! How could he have joined the Buddhist order? Sister, you must have misheard me, right?" Xiaoqing found it hard to believe. She couldn't believe that Shen Bailian, with his temperament, could withstand the constraints of the various rules and regulations of Buddhism.

Especially those three rules and six regulations.

"No, I can't have misheard." Bai Suzhen shook her head and chuckled helplessly, "It's like a tiger fallen into the plains. Everyone wants to step on us and gain some fame."

However, this is no ordinary place; it is the Mysterious Ice Realm. Even if the owner of Baoqing Workshop were to come, he would find it difficult to discover this hidden world.

Bai Suzhen had to admit that Shen Bailian's strength was indeed beyond his imagination, but even such a powerful person had flaws.

No matter how powerful a martial artist is, he is still just a martial artist. Before he can attain enlightenment through martial arts, he has no way to deal with the mysterious and unpredictable methods of cultivators.

Therefore, without a guide, Shen Bailian had almost no chance of forcing his way into this secret realm.

However, plans are far from keeping up with changes.

"Sister, I feel... he seems to have discovered our location." Through the mirror-like surface of the cold pool, Xiaoqing could clearly see Shen Bailian standing in the sky, arms crossed, thick black hair fluttering in the wind, and a strange smile on his face.

She didn't know why, but her heart was pounding.

Even though Shen Bailian wasn't looking in their direction at all, Xiaoqing felt for some reason that his dark, abyss-like eyes were watching her every move.

"How could that be?" Bai Suzhen scoffed upon hearing this, glanced at Xiaoqing, and said with a smile:

"This Xuanbing Secret Realm is a cave world that is independent of the main world. Except for one entrance and exit, it is almost forever isolated. How could a martial artist possibly discover this place?"
"Don't worry, as long as the two of us don't leave, no matter how much he razes this place to the ground, he won't find the entrance to this Mystic Ice Realm."

As long as it's something unrelated to Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen's mind becomes extremely sharp and her insight becomes incredibly keen.

"Alright then." Upon hearing this, Xiaoqing thought for a moment, and realized that it was indeed as Bai Suzhen had said, so she suppressed her anxiety.

No matter how powerful a martial artist is, he is still just a martial artist. Before he has cultivated a certain amount of magical power, he will find it difficult to discover even one of the many caves in the mountains.

Not to mention discovering the entrance to the Mysterious Ice Realm.

However, did Shen Bailian really not notice the two of them? That's impossible, of course.

"What? I'm already here, aren't you two going to come out and greet me?" A voice as ghostly as a ghost suddenly rang out in the Xuanbing Secret Realm.

"Xiaoqing." Bai Suzhen heard the voice beside her, a helpless smile appeared on her face, she shook her head and said lightly, "Don't make jokes like this at a time like this, it's not funny."

"not me."

"Still being stubborn? Who else could be here besides the two of us?"

"But it really wasn't me!"

"Are you sure?" Bai Suzhen turned around helplessly. When she saw Xiaoqing's solemn expression, her heart suddenly skipped a beat: "You're really not joking with me."

In fact, she realized something was wrong the moment she first saw Xiaoqing's expression.

Although Xiaoqing joked with her, it was usually just for fun, and after the joke, she would never act like this to deliberately tease her.

Never before!

"Sister, don't you understand me?" As she spoke, Xiaoqing's expression became increasingly serious. She kept her eyes open and ears attentive, and moved closer to Bai Suzhen.

His muscles were taut, as if he were fully prepared for battle.

Seeing this, Bai Suzhen immediately realized the seriousness of the situation, but she suppressed her shock and confusion and tried her best to remain calm as she spoke:

"Which fellow cultivator dared to trespass into our sister and mere burial place? Such behavior is taboo in the cultivation world. If we don't give an explanation, this matter may very well..."

As he spoke, a wave of air rose up without wind, making a whooshing sound, and stirred up the liquid in the cold pool, which was nearly two hundred degrees below zero.

The commotion was immense. "Sister, you..."

"Don't speak." A hint of confusion appeared on Xiaoqing's face. Just as she was about to say something, Bai Suzhen interrupted her directly: "Concentrate. If anything happens later, I'll cover the rear, understand?"

"But……"

"No buts!" Bai Suzhen interrupted Xiaoqing again without hesitation, her voice this time tinged with a hint of anger.

He seemed angry at Xiaoqing for being so tactless.

"Why are you two so nervous? Don't you even recognize me and Shen Lian?" A slightly helpless voice suddenly rang out once again in the Xuanbing Secret Realm.

Upon hearing this, Bai Suzhen was stunned. She had been too nervous just now, and she also had full confidence in the Xuanbing Secret Realm.

Therefore, she never imagined that it would be Shen Bailian's voice.

"Sister, this is what I was just about to say." At this moment, Xiaoqing said cautiously, continuing to add insult to injury from the side.

And in the outside world.

"As expected of a divine skill, even a place like this is no longer a place to hide from me." Shen Bailian's vision pierced through layers of barriers, and in his eyes, he clearly saw the two snake demons, Xiaoqing and Bai Suzhen, poised to attack.

After his divine skill [Eye of God] was upgraded to [Divine Sense], he still hadn't reached the limit of this divine skill.

Every new experience brings a unique and different reward.

Before starting the scan, Shen Bailian hadn't expected that he could pinpoint the exact hiding places of the two snake demons, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, so easily.

It turned out to be a precious hidden world.

However, while this grotto-heaven world is indeed precious, it is not enough for Shen Bailian's current level; it is not even icing on the cake.

Having it or not having it makes absolutely no difference.

"However, there should also be a small amount of world origin within the core of this kind of small world, right?" Shen Bailian thought to himself and began searching without hesitation.

Unfortunately, it was not found.

Although Shen Bailian was slightly disappointed with this result, it was understandable given the maturity of the Heavenly Dao's will in this world.

If this loophole existed, he, as a latecomer, wouldn't have had a chance at all; all the gods and Buddhas would have stolen everything long ago.

"It's a pity that although we can see Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, we can't go in." Shen Bailian looked at the Xuanbing Secret Realm with a slight sense of regret.

Given his temperament, if he could go in by himself, he wouldn't be here pretending to be a ghost.

Inside the Mysterious Ice Realm.

"Sister, since he discovered our hiding place but didn't come in, it's highly likely he's showing us goodwill." Xiaoqing looked solemnly at Shen Bailian in the ice mirror and transmitted her voice to Bai Suzhen beside her.

"Or should I test him to see if he came here with good intentions or bad intentions?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Suzhen remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding. Looking at Xiaoqing, she instructed, "Alright, but you must be careful. If you notice anything amiss, prioritize your own safety."

As she spoke, she placed her own cracked jade hairpin into Xiaoqing's hand.

"Sister, we don't need this."

"Listen to me, if I tell you to take it, then take it properly!"

“Okay.” Xiaoqing grasped the jade hairpin in her hand, nodded solemnly, and continued, “Sister, don’t worry, I will definitely bring this magic treasure back to you intact.”

After saying that, Xiao Qing didn't waste any more time. She took a deep breath, and with a flash, she transformed into a streak of azure light, flying towards the direction where Shen Bailian was outside the Xuanbing Secret Realm.

It was so fast that it exceeded the speed of sound in less than a tenth of a second, leaving no trace in its wake.

Completely different from Shen Bailian's violent flying style.

After a while.

At an altitude of about three thousand meters above the ground, Shen Bailian and Xiaoqing stood facing each other, hidden among the white clouds.

"Are you sure you've become a monk?" Xiaoqing looked at Shen Bailian's appearance with deep doubt in her eyes, because Shen Bailian's attire did not resemble that of a monk at all.

Putting aside his tight-fitting clothes, just his jet-black, glossy hair alone makes him look nothing like a monk.

While inside the Xuanbing Secret Realm, Xiaoqing thought Shen Bailian had used some kind of disguise technique, but now it seems that there is not a trace of magical power fluctuation on his body.

This is not a disguise at all, but the real deal.

“Of course.” Shen Bailian smiled calmly and said, “Didn’t you hear what I said? My Buddhist name is Jiechi. I have a Buddhist name, so how can I not be considered a monk? I am just an outer disciple of Jinshan Temple.”

Xiao Qing nodded, but the more he looked at Shen Bailian, the less he felt that Shen Bailian was a Buddhist disciple.

What Buddhist disciple is like this?

Even that old bald monk Fahai would chant "Amitabha" before capturing a demon, but Shen Bailian has been chanting it ever since he first saw her.

However, they showed no intention of taking any action.

"Then what is your purpose in coming here to find us sisters? You wouldn't be..." As she spoke, Xiaoqing crossed her arms over her chest, revealing an extremely terrified expression. She took two steps back in fear.

"Stop pretending, your acting is terrible." Shen Bailian noticed Xiaoqing's little movements and said with a smile, "If I really wanted to make a move against you, no matter how far you retreat, you wouldn't escape my grasp."

"Besides, I have no interest in a girl like you with your chest pressed against your back. We're more like brothers."

"Front chest to back?" Xiaoqing scratched her head, not understanding what that meant.

"That's not important." Shen Bailian didn't respond and continued, "I came here today to find you two because there's something I need your cooperation on."

"whats the matter?"

"Come with me to Leifeng Pagoda."

"???" (End of chapter)