Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

If Chen Guanshui were to come here to patch the sky and saw the roc, his first reaction would definitely be to avoid it so as not to be discovered.

After all, this dumb bird's mind isn't very sharp. If it can see someone, it can most likely accidentally tell others that it "saw someone."

Clearly, the Kunlun Mirror didn't think so.

Although she has watched years of spy work and feels experienced in this field, watching and practicing are ultimately two different things.

For example, in dealing with the roc situation, Ah Jing cleverly instructed the dumb bird, "If anyone finds this place, be sure to come and inform me first."

Then, unsurprisingly, the roc led Chen Guanshui, who had found the place, to come and inform the Kunlun Mirror...

Upon seeing Chen Guanshui, the Kunlun Mirror was first shocked, then horrified, followed by panic, and then tried hard to maintain her composure, finally revealing a false smile.

Chen Guanshui himself didn't expect that a person's face could show so many expressions in such a short, fleeting moment—given that her physical form is a broken mirror, this is understandable.

However, due to his profound cultivation, his expression went through no transition at all, directly turning into a hearty laugh as he controlled his sword to approach and said:

"Ah Jing, I finally found you!"

"You, you, you." Even though she had thought about muddling through, she hadn't expected such tension; the other party didn't mention the trickery at all, causing the Kunlun Mirror to stammer at the start out of nervousness.

She bit her tongue forcefully, maintaining her smile and said:

"Guan Shui, why are you here?"

"I missed you," Chen Guanshui said affectionately.

Then he saw the Kunlun Mirror's originally fair and pink little round face suddenly begin to flush red.

"I..." She bit her lower lip lightly and explained, "I came here to refine the Heaven-Mending Stone."

"Of course." Chen Guanshui laughed freely, "This was originally my responsibility, but you stole it and decided to take it up yourself."

"But Ah Jing, did you ask my opinion before taking on this responsibility for me?"

"I, I." The Kunlun Mirror stammered, wondering if she had been too presumptuous at the time.

That's right, she originally considered how he had severed ties with those who loved him deeply because he abandoned his small role to steal the Heaven-Mending Stone fragments, and so she wanted to secretly intervene in his life, unable to bear seeing him sacrifice everything to patch the sky and ultimately become a solitary figure.

She wanted him to be found by his wife, to reconcile with them, and to regain the life he deserved and rightly belonged to him—she was doing it for his good!

(Thinking to this point, the Kunlun Mirror's original guilt and shame vanished)

But why not ask his opinion?

To claim to restore his life to its path without ever asking Chen Guanshui if he wanted it?

In other words, after he'd made immense sacrifices, was I presumptuously completing the last step, robbing his sacrifices of their true meaning?

"Sorry." She said with some guilt, "I just... I just didn't want to trouble you anymore."

"With the theft of the Heaven-Mending Stone fragments, someone will surely cast their eyes in this direction. You've now offended the Three Pure Ones of the Orthodox Sect and the Hell Path. If they find you, you're in grave danger."

"I advise you to reconcile with them; they... after all, truly love you. If all else fails, lay the blame on me."

The Kunlun Mirror proactively offered to take the blame, yet Chen Guanshui was not moved, instead coldly chuckled in his heart.

Ah, so Ah Jing, is it indeed your maneuvering that allowed them to find me despite the obstacles of distance?

"No!" He declared unequivocally, "All sins arise because of me; how could I let you bear the karmic burdens?"

"Ah Jing, listen to me, the Heaven-Mending Stone was stolen by me, so naturally, it should be patched by me."

"As for them wanting to settle scores with me, let them come then! If it's all for the sake of saving the world, why not sacrifice this body?"

His impassioned words carried a stirring momentum, almost making himself believe them. Initially, the Kunlun Mirror was moved, but shortly after, she sensed something was off.

Wait a minute, this feels awfully familiar...

"Guan Shui." The Kunlun Mirror frowned and asked, "Would you happen to be sweet-talking me because you have a favor to ask?"

"What favor could I have?" Chen Guanshui frowned and feigned confusion, extending his finger to poke Ah Jing's chest, "Mirror, you now possess six fragments of the Heaven-Mending Stone. They attract many coveting eyes. If I were driven by self-interest and self-preservation, I should avoid you far away. What's the point of coming over to say nice things?"

Kunlun Mirror covered her chest, retreated a few steps, and turned her head shyly, saying:

"Firstly, talking is fine, but there's no need for physical gesture."

"Secondly, although I don't know what you want to do, every time you speak so sweetly, there is definitely an agenda behind it. Do you think I don't know?"

"Yes, I indeed have an agenda." Chen Guanshui chuckled, "Right now, all I'm thinking about is how to stop my mirror from being foolish and secretly refining her Heaven-Mending Stone here."

His expression turned serious again, and he earnestly said:

"If I'm discovered by the immortals of various sects, the worst outcome is nothing but death and reincarnation. But you, Ah Jing, as an innate divine artifact, would be captured and refined, even enslaved for eternity."

"For mending the heavens, even if I risk giving up my life, I'm willing; but if I lost you, then never mind mending the heavens, even if it meant perishing with the world, I wouldn't hesitate!"

Kunlun Mirror was left speechless by his words, her emotions were intensely stirred, and she silently thought that although Guanshui's methods were flexible and changeable, inside he was actually such a stubborn and obdurate person. Could he be willing to go so far for me?

Yes, even when acting in the Eastern Emperor Realm, when he truly left Long Hu, he was sad for quite a while!

Regarding the duration of companionship, the depth of emotion, who among them could compare to me? Guanshui worries about not being able to let go of me, so it's normal for him to take risks to find me here.

"Let's not talk here." Chen Guanshui looked around and said to Kunlun Mirror with gentle words, "Take me to the place you're hiding first, or do you plan to reminisce with me here in broad daylight?"

"Hmm, okay." Kunlun Mirror, feeling lost, turned and led Chen Guanshui to dive into the water.

Strangely, as soon as she turned away from Chen Guanshui's face and was stimulated by the cold water upon entering, Kunlun Mirror suddenly became clear-headed.

Wait, could this guy... possibly have come running to me for protection because he couldn't handle those women?

On closer consideration, it's not impossible.

Xu Yinglian's temperament is proud, An Zhisu is clear in love and hate, Jiang Lian is arrogant and self-important, all three are intolerant of lies.

Even the gentle and docile Shi Liuli has a strong sense of control, and if she found out the person she loved had defected, she might not forgive so easily... Of course, with that guy's silver tongue, coaxing them into returning to him might just be a matter of time.

But if they discovered each other's existence, that wouldn't be something a smooth talker could handle, there might even be bloodshed!

Of course, to Kunlun Mirror, it didn't matter who among them survived in the end, as long as there was a victor to accompany Guanshui.

But now thinking about it, perhaps this guy is really afraid of bloodshed, which is why he risked coming to me for shelter?

Thinking of this, Kunlun Mirror couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah Jing, what are you laughing at?" Chen Guanshui asked curiously.

"Nothing." Kunlun Mirror quickly suppressed her expression, "I wasn't laughing."

"You were clearly laughing just now!" Chen Guanshui said suspiciously, "Your lips are still bubbling!"

"Not laughing," Kunlun Mirror insisted, "I just ate too much at noon and burped a few times."

"You're a mirror, how can you eat?" Chen Guanshui persisted.

"Guanshui." Kunlun Mirror held up her skirt, spun gracefully and lightly in the water, "Now that I've assumed a physical form, I'm no different from ordinary humans, right? Having a desire to eat is normal, isn't it?"

Seeing her chubby little face, Chen Guanshui almost believed her lie but then frowned and said:

"Even so, there's not much to eat in the sea, is there?"

"There are fish." Kunlun Mirror smiled, "Sister Golden Wings catches them for me."

"Of course I catch them." A voice sounded above.

Chen Guanshui looked up to see that silly bird dive into the sea, agile as a huge fish eagle.

"Alright." Despite still not believing, Chen Guanshui, unable to find a point of doubt, awkwardly changed the subject, "In the matter of refining the Heaven-Mending Stone, I think I can help you. After all, I've studied the artifact creation school."

"I didn't doubt your intentions." Kunlun Mirror softly said, "But Guanshui, the Heaven-Mending Stone is different from any magic artifact you've seen before."

"Each fragment of the Heaven-Mending Stone is a naturally sealed and suppressive divine artifact. Since it has sealing abilities, it means it resists any external interference, attempting to re-melt them is extremely difficult."

"Since Nuwa had a way to forge the Heaven-Mending Stone, it surely means it's not unsolvable." Chen Guanshui calmly stated the obvious.

"Hmm, in the past, Nuwa used heavenly fire for the smelting process." Kunlun Mirror nodded, "But back then, the heavenly dome was broken, stars fell frequently, and heavenly fire was readily available."

"But now, with the heavenly dome intact, heavenly fire is hard to come by, so I switched to using earth fire for smelting."

"So far, it's feasible, but just really slow."

She led Chen Guanshui to an underwater volcano and plunged into a gap spewing hot steam.

The Golden-Winged Roc, however, stayed outside, fearing the boiling water and dared not enter, just catching crabs on the sandy bed outside with its claws.