"Ah, what a pity. I thought we could eat those three together with Big Sister..." Bai Huahua said regretfully.
It's not that I didn't want to eat them, but I get the feeling that wouldn't be punishment for those three—more like a reward. Yeah, almost like they were begging me to eat them. Truly revolting... Bai Zhi thought, its heart crawling with disgust.
After what had just transpired, it had no mood left to admire the waterfall scenery. The spider, the water snake, and the fox had just turned to leave when suddenly, an ethereal voice emerged from behind them.
"Please wait."
Behind them was nothing but the waterfall and the deep valley—how could there be a voice?
When Bai Zhi and the others turned around, they beheld a scene of peerless beauty.
A curved, magnificent rainbow arced across the waterfall. Then, a white deer, having appeared who knows when, slowly walked from one end to the very center curve of the rainbow.
The white deer bore four horns atop its head, and its body was marked with patterns glowing in nine colors—fire-red, gold, purple, cyan, blue, crimson, snow-white, orange, and black. It looked as though a colossal hummingbird had come dancing with the rainbow as its wings.
Bai Zhi sensed that the other party likely harbored no hostility.
"You are?"
As it inquired, Bai Zhi focused its mind, and a string of text materialized before its eyes.
[Target]: Nine Palaces Deer Spirit (Sacred Spirit Body)
[Vitality]: Unknown
[Body Length]: 178cm
[Status]: Unknown
(Relatively strong spiritual response detected)
Bai Zhi was briefly stupefied... what the hell was a Sacred Spirit Body?!
The little snake and the fox were immersed in the intense, pure beauty before their eyes.
"You may call me 'Deer Spirit.' I called out to you because I noticed you seem to have a very deep connection to the Jiuli Religion, and I grew curious." The Nine Palaces Deer Spirit's voice was ethereal, its gender impossible to discern.
Combined with its immaculate appearance, gentle and clean aura, and ethereally graceful bearing, it truly gave the impression of an immortal celestial deer.
"Having heard your conversation with that youth just now, might I address you as Bai Zhi?" The Nine Palaces Deer Spirit transmitted to Bai Zhi.
This beautiful immortal deer actually knew that Bai Zhi had only recently arrived in the Jiuli Grotto-Heaven, and that it had connections to the Jiuli Religion.
The Jiuli Grotto-Heaven, although the dwelling and cultivation place of the Jiuli Religion's followers and named after 'Jiuli', did not mean every living being within it belonged to the Jiuli Religion.
"Go ahead. What do you mean by 'a very deep connection'?" Bai Zhi looked the other party up and down as it asked.
This deer gave it a sense of inscrutability, so there was no need to use honorifics in addressing it.
Right now, Bai Zhi and the Nine Palaces Deer Spirit were communicating through a private voice transmission. No matter how curious the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox and Bai Huahua were, they could not overhear a single word.
"Connection... I mean that I have discovered you carry something that belongs to our Jiuli Religion's supreme treasure."
Ah, wait—you're not thinking of harvesting my kidneys, are you... Bai Zhi couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
"Supreme treasure? You yourself said I'm a guest here. When would I have had time to take your things?" Bai Zhi asked in confusion.
Yang Shining hadn't given it anything either...
The immortal deer atop the rainbow shook its head slightly. "Perhaps you have been here before, or perhaps you obtained it outside this realm."
Bai Zhi grew even more puzzled. "Then what exactly is this supreme treasure you speak of?"
The immortal deer gently uttered five words:
"The Undying Rebirth Gu."
Gu?!
"You mean... inside my body... there's a Gu?!"
Bai Zhi didn't connect the 'Gu' the other party spoke of with the eerie purple light, because the two were fundamentally different things.
The immortal deer nodded slightly. "You can understand it that way, but you need not worry. This Undying Rebirth Gu has already become a part of you. It is beneficial, not harmful—after all, it is one of the Jiuli Religion's supreme treasures."
Undying... Rebirth...
Bai Zhi turned these two words over in its mind, a ripple appearing in its state of mind.
"What use does this Gu you mention have? Also, do you by any chance intend to take it out?"
In truth, Bai Zhi did not fully believe the Nine Palaces Deer Spirit's words. After all, who knew if this immortal deer was just spouting nonsense?
It would probe the truth further and see whether this deer was friend or foe.
"The Undying Rebirth Gu, as its name implies, allows the host, when faced with extreme mortal danger, to escape death once and preserve their original soul and memories, letting the host reincarnate into another lifeform species. And I have no intention of taking it out, because once this Gu is implanted, no one can remove it." The immortal deer explained.
"...Is it really that miraculous?" Bai Zhi was half-convinced.
"Indeed."
The immortal deer continued slowly, "Moreover, I can tell that this Gu has already been triggered once, retaining only some basic Gu characteristics and degrading into 'Poison-Refining Gu'."
Bai Zhi was inwardly startled: "You said... 'Poison-Refining Gu'?"
It hadn't expected the other party to utter those four words so precisely. That 'Poison-Refining Gu' was unmistakably one of its two initial Talents after reincarnation!
The immortal deer's tone remained perfectly steady, like a mountain stream flowing. "The Undying Rebirth Gu is incubated from the Jiuli Religion's 'Nine Deaths Silkworm'. One may not even be born every ten-plus years—it is incomparably precious. If this is your first time entering the Jiuli Grotto-Heaven, then perhaps you obtained this karmic opportunity outside the grotto-heaven. How could you not know that such a precious object was on you?"
After a few seconds of silence, Bai Zhi said with certainty: "I truly have no recollection of it."
By now, Bai Zhi believed the immortal deer's account about eighty percent.
"You must be a guest invited by the Saintess, right?" The immortal deer's gaze swept over the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox. "Since you are a guest, then I shall form another positive karmic bond with you."
As the transmission ended, the immortal deer's pure white mouth opened, its antlers shimmering with light. A grain-sized drop of transparent liquid, radiating a faint luminescent glow, floated out and flew straight toward Bai Zhi.
Form a karmic bond? Just say you want to spit at me, why so roundabout!
Bai Zhi dared not lower its guard. It flung out spider silk, intending to intercept the transparent liquid, but the silk passed right through—the liquid was completely unaffected, as if it had no physical substance.
Bai Zhi's heart tightened. Just as it was about to dodge, the transparent liquid had already fused directly into the center of its forehead. The change was too fast, as if it were instantaneous teleportation.
"What exactly did you give me?!" Bai Zhi transmitted, while carefully sensing any changes in its body. Yet it detected not the slightest abnormality.
The Nine Palaces Deer Spirit offered no reply. Its form, along with the rainbow beneath its feet, dissipated like the illusion of a dream.
Only lingering words echoed in its wake: "Regarding the Undying Rebirth Gu and its deeper secrets, you may seek out the Jiuli Religion Master. The 'Nine Deaths Silkworm' is in his possession, and he will have the answers you seek."
"Why did that long-horned monster suddenly disappear? Did it say something to Big Sister Bai Zhi?" Bai Huahua asked curiously.
"That was a white deer." Bai Zhi corrected. Having grown up in the small mountain, Bai Huahua naturally had no concept of what a fox was or what a deer was.
At the same time, it suddenly realized it had forgotten to ask the other party's identity.
And besides... wasn't the Jiuli Religion Master currently in secluded cultivation? Who knew how much longer he'd be in seclusion.
Then how was it supposed to find him?