Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 187 Zhen Junzi, a Purebred Landlubber
"Unknown knowledge should be used to trade."

"The same applies to information; to gain something, you must inevitably lose something else."

Jun Chou said, "This is not something I can control, but rather it was decided by the person who forged this precious mirror, and even I cannot go against it."

Shen Yun hesitated and said, "Since you know everything about the Guixu Realm, doesn't that mean you are omniscient? How can we use your unknown knowledge to... trade?"

"That is certainly true for others. If they do not have something they know that I do not, then they can only exchange their three souls and seven spirits for what they want—this is another form of exchange."

Jun Chou sighed as he spoke, "After all, a flawed soul can be restored; it can be repaired through proper nurturing over a period of time. But human greed cannot be cured. However..."

He paused, glanced at the three of them, and then continued, "But for you, there's no need to go through all that trouble. After all, you are visitors from another world, and I know nothing about your world!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Chenxue's eyes lit up, and she immediately raised her hand and said, "Then I'll go first! May I ask where all your fragments are? How are we supposed to find them?"

Then, somewhat embarrassed, she counted on her fingers and said, "Hey? How many questions is this? It should be two, right?"

Jun Chou smiled and shook his head: "You don't have a mirror, so it doesn't count as exchanging 'knowledge' or 'information,' because that's the purpose of the 'Douxuan Treasure Mirror,' not for me, the 'spirit of the artifact.' So you need a mirror—even a fragment will do."

Seeing the disappointment in Bai Chenxue's eyes, he continued, "However, apart from the one underwater, I can tell you, as a favor, that the other fragment closest to here is inside the Crimson Plains Cave."

"This is what I, as the 'spirit of the artifact,' told you, not the answer given by the 'Douxuan Treasure Mirror,' so it doesn't count as a 'transaction.'"

Shen Yun asked, "Is it the one that contains the fox demon's soul?"

Jun Chou nodded slightly: "That's right."

Just then, Jia Xiaoren shouted from the microphone: "Apprentice! Apprentice! We're here!"

From a distance, across the barrier, Shen Yun and the other two could see several blurry figures flying toward the stone island.

Bai Chenxue quickly shouted, "Hey! Stop flying! If you fly any further, you'll enter the barrier!"

Unfortunately, no one outside could hear what was being said inside the barrier. Bai Chenxue also forgot to turn on the group microphone. In a flash, Jia Xiaoren and Zhongzhou Jinli appeared inside the barrier.

Bai Chenxue was speechless: "What are you doing in here! You can't get out now!"

Jia Xiaoren waved his hand dismissively: "Hey! It's nothing! Anyway, there's Brother Mermaid, isn't there!"

Then, he performed an awkward hand gesture, with his right hand on top and his left hand on the bottom, and greeted Jun Chou directly: "This must be the spirit master, right? I've heard so much about you! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Bai Chenxue complained, "Are these two words used together like this?"

Zhongzhou Jinli seemed to have specially learned the etiquette of a cultivator from the Guixu Realm, and very naturally clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Senior Junchou."

Jun Chou did not stand up, but simply nodded slightly politely as a return greeting, saying, "Hello."

Lin Muning asked, "Why didn't you come with Shanhu?" Jia Xiaoren replied, "Their way is a dead end, so they have to go back and walk it again. Our way is directly connected to this road, so we came over quickly. But they'll probably be here soon too, it's not that long!"

Jia Xiaoren had his microphone on at the same time, so as soon as he spoke, he heard Zhen Junzi's voice coming from the microphone: "Almost there! We'll be there soon!"

About two minutes later, sure enough, three blurry figures appeared in the distance.

This time, Bai Chenxue remembered to use her microphone. She shouted, "Wait! Don't go any further! We're almost at the barrier! Once you go in, you can't get out!"

Zhen Junzi braked suddenly, lost his balance, and fell into the water. Bian Yuanzhi, who had been flying cautiously, remained steadily suspended in the air using his wind manipulation technique.

"Gurgle gurgle... Help... gurgle..."

Zhen Junzi, a complete landlubber, immediately panicked and struggled in the water.

Bian Yuanzhi was frantic. He could swim, but for a moment he didn't know why his master had suddenly rushed into the water. That's right, the way Zhen Junzi braked suddenly and fell straight into the water just now looked to Bian Yuanzhi as "Master inexplicably rushed into the water!"
Holding the belief that "Master must have his reasons for doing this," Bian Yuanzhi was deeply shocked despite not understanding the situation. He didn't immediately jump into the water to save the person, until Zhen Junzi called out again:
"Gurgle gurgle... Help me—"

As if waking from a dream, Bian Yuanzhicai plunged into the water with a splash, trying to pull Zhen Junzi up and fly away again.

Unfortunately, most drowning people are irrational. As soon as Zhen Junzi touched Bian Yuanzhi, he held on tightly, not giving him any chance to channel his spiritual energy, which even caused Bian Yuanzhi to choke on several mouthfuls of water.

Fortunately, the players had their only reliable alien "teammate" with them. The moment they saw Bian Yuanzhi fail to save others and even be in danger himself, he transformed his legs into a fishtail, leaped down, and lashed out with his tail at Zhen Junzi, who was clinging to Bian Yuanzhi like an octopus, and at Bian Yuanzhi, who was choking on water and struggling to breathe.

The two men, like baseballs being knocked away, whooshed through the barrier and landed squarely on the stone island with a loud thud.

Although they couldn't see the figures clearly, everyone who had witnessed the whole incident stared in disbelief at Zhen Junzi and Bian Yuanzhi, who were rolling around in a heap—the former still instinctively clinging to his apprentice.

Bian Yuanzhi groaned in pain, then struggled to pry Zhen Junzi's hand off his neck: "Master, Master, I... I can't breathe..."

Jia Xiaoren spread his hands and said helplessly, "Well, the whole army is wiped out!"

Bai Chenxue also complained, "Having Lao Zhen as a master is truly the greatest 'blessing' for Xiaohai Ge!"

Even the koi carp of Zhongzhou couldn't bear to look at it and covered its eyes with its right hand.

"Cough cough cough cough... Ugh—"

His remaining rationality told Zhen Junzi that he was safe. It took him more than ten seconds to regain control of his limbs, then he rolled over, lay on the ground, and began to vomit, his face covered in snot and tears.

Seeing this, Bai Chenxue patted her chest and said thankfully, "Luckily, I can swim..."

Shen Yun, standing to the side, calmly posed a question that struck at the heart of the matter: "So here's the problem: if we're all inside the barrier, who's going to tell Shanhu how to open it?"

(End of this chapter)