Bringing some shocking pranks to the Cultivation World

It was clear that even a mystical artifact like the Eight Trigrams Fate Spinner, which was shrouded in utmost mystery, would find itself perplexed by certain things in this world.

For example... Zhou Li's thought processes.

"You've given up the chance to transform into a dragon and become immortal to script a story about Young Master Bai Xue and the seven little princesses?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

However, the Eight Trigrams Fate Spinner was always just a spiritual artifact. It had a certain level of sentience, but it could only express its emotions. The final interpretation still rested in Zhou Li's hands. Soon, the specific details of that Fate Line appeared before Zhou Li.

[Intruding Destiny Line: Young Master Bai Xue and the Seven Little Princesses]

[You have given up the chance to transform into a dragon and attain immortality, though, this might not be such a bad thing. For example, you've disrupted the situation that the Golden Snake Lady tightly controlled, turning the "chess game" she painstakingly set up into a joke. The Seven Trials, which would have involved the theft of a fruit, will yield unexpected gains. Of course, your greatest gain should be the seven uniquely skilled little princesses who will soon be by your side. Are you happy?]

As expected.

Zhou Li, looking at the introduction to the Fate Line before him, had a look of unsurprised affirmation. He had known that the Serpent Demon was definitely up to no good.

Although he didn't have much knowledge of ancient secrets, he was certain that a bloodthirsty monster's path to becoming immortal would be millions of times more difficult than for an ordinary person, let alone for a Serpent Demon skilled in divination, which was akin to the saying, 'Alive by thirty, and you're on to a success story.'

Therefore, Zhou Li concluded that this Serpent Demon would not follow the rules and truly undergo the so-called Seven Trials. She must have already set traps, waiting for the destined one to enter and help her become immortal. Now that Zhou Li had refused to transform into the dragon, it meant that the Serpent Demon's plans had failed from the very beginning.

So...

Zhou Li narrowed his eyes and tapped his fingers lightly against his robe, a subconscious gesture when he was in thought. After a moment, he brushed aside a portion of the Eight Trigrams Fate Spinner's timeframe and returned to the real world.

"What's wrong?"

Although Zhou Li had spent several minutes pondering in the small world, in Tang Wan's eyes, he had merely bent down to pick up a dagger, then paused like a shrimp halfway through boiling, which made her somewhat concerned. She looked at Zhou Li and sincerely said,

"I see nothing wrong with your back, do you need me to take your pulse and check on your kidneys?"

For a moment, Zhou Li felt like swearing but didn't. Knowing Tang Wan fully, he knew that her comment wasn't an intentional dig at him because she simply didn't filter her words and said whatever came to mind. It was a deliberate mockery.

So, after clenching his fist briefly, Zhou Li relaxed it again, turned his head, and said to the Pangolin Spirit beside him,

"You tell me how many subordinates the Golden Snake Lady has. Don't be nervous, just say what you know."

Perhaps due to the presence of Earth Escape Technique, the Pangolin Spirit had gathered quite some useful information while serving under the Serpent Demon. After a brief reflection, he laid out everything he knew about the Serpent Demon's followers clearly.

According to the Pangolin Spirit, there were two kinds of monsters under the Golden Snake Lady. One kind was her direct subordinates, who each controlled a group of monsters and were of a commanding level. The other kind were monsters like the Pangolin, who had been captured by Monster Hunters commissioned by the Snake Spirit and had become slaves to the Golden Snake Lady after being afflicted with the Snake Gu.

The former were few in number but all powerful Great Demons. The latter, although weaker, possessed unique abilities to some extent, just like the Pangolin.

"The Golden Snake Lady's most trusted have six Demon Kings. Among these six Demon Kings, there are two toad demons, two bat demons, one Scorpion Spirit, and one butterfly spirit. The most trusted by the Golden Snake Lady is that Scorpion Spirit. I once saw a blueprint under the command of the Scorpion Spirit. It marked the expanse of the Golden Snake Lady's power. I didn't dare to look too closely, only glanced at the outline, and knew that most of the Golden Snake Lady's minions were in the Northern Prefecture. It seems like... there are also some in the Central Plains."

After listening to the Pangolin Spirit's description, both Zhou Li and Tang Wan fell into deep thought. Zhou Li was wondering why such a powerful being with influence spread across the Northern Prefecture would only send a Pangolin Spirit, akin to a sacrificial pawn, to attack him. Tang Wan was considering whether bringing Zhou Li home now would allow her to die in a less ignoble way.

"Let's go, back to Beiliang first."

"Let's go, I've come to terms with it."

Looking at Tang Wan, who smiled resignedly and faced death as if returning home, Zhou Li, who had simultaneously opened his mouth to speak, froze.

"What?"

Zhou Li had a question mark written all over his face, "What's the situation?"

"Of course, it's time to pack up and head into the mountains with me," Tang Wan said.

Tang Wan hugged her arms, her smile serene, as if she had already resigned herself to seeing her late great grandmother, saying, "It's late summer now, perfect timing since the poisonous herbs in my home have just been harvested. I can still catch the last batch."

"No, no, no, no, no, wait a minute."

Zhou Li waved his hands, hurrying to say, "You're going back to Tang Sect?"

"Of course."

Tang Wan nodded matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, are we going to stay here and die together?"

Zhou Li could hear that Tang Wan intended to return to Tang Sect with him and knew she must have made a considerable decision to come to this resolution. His lips twitched, feeling warmth inside, but seeing the expression on Tang Wan's face, as if she had seen her great grandmother, he could hardly keep a straight face.

"It won't come to that."

Zhou Li gestured with his hands, saying, "We'll head back to Beiliang first. Even if we really want to return to Tang Sect, we have to bring our big sister."

"Ah."

Realizing her oversight, Tang Wan scratched her head and said, "Right, I forgot about Sister Xiao Yao."

At this mention, without concerning herself with the Pangolin Spirit who stood trembling, not daring to run or speak, Tang Wan curiously asked Zhou Li, "How is Sister Xiao Yao's health?"

"Much better."

Speaking of his big sister, a smile inevitably surfaced on Zhou Li's face, "Out of the Sixteen Prescriptions of Elixir, she has taken twelve. After four more, her body will completely recover. This time, we took on this mission for the thirteenth elixir."

"What a pity."

Tang Wan sighed, her tone one of regret, "If not for this unexpected event, I could have gathered quite a lot of herbs at home, but now..."

"Don't even think about it."

Zhou Li waved his hand, laughing, "You know what our big sister is like. She wouldn't take things from you."

"That's true."

Nodding, Tang Wan seemed to recall something joyfully, "Fortunately, I've learned quite a bit about medicine at home in recent years. When we get back, I'll check if Sister Xiao Yao needs further treatment."

"Sounds good."

After a few words, the two turned their attention to the Pangolin who hadn't dared to move an inch. Now, a problem lay before them.

What should they do with this Pangolin?