On top of a small hill, some distance from the city where Hui Lang was causing chaos, Cang Song lay on the ground with a cloak of leaves over him and his face smeared with mud, observing the entire scene from afar. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his expression tense.
"Damn it, good thing I didn't go with that reckless Hui Lang. Look at the mess he made without even entering the city!"
He muttered with a mix of exasperation and relief at having chosen to stay behind.
"Hmm… is it really that bad? I thought it was interesting. Why don't we go after him to see what's going on?"
A voice sounded beside him, but Cang Song immediately shook his head.
"No, it's better to wait here until Hui Lang gets more information and, at the same time, prepare some escape routes for when he gets chased for causing troub—" as he replied unconsciously, he suddenly froze.
He was supposed to be alone, so who was talking to him?
The color drained from his face, and he stiffly turned his head to the side where the voice was clearly coming from, even though he hadn't sensed anyone's presence.
As soon as he did, he was immediately met with two pairs of curious eyes, one black and one blue.
"AH!" Cang Song let out a startled scream, jumping and rolling to the side in surprise, causing black lines to appear on the foreheads of Aotian and Rihai, who were crouching beside him.
The two looked at each other helplessly.
'Why is this guy screaming when he clearly saw it was us? Are we really that scary-looking?'
Sighing, both of them turned their gazes back to the shriveled-up Cang Song, who quickly composed himself and showed them an embarrassed smile.
"Ahem!" Coughing into his fist, he gave the two a flattering smile, still looking surprised. "Ah! So it's Senior Brother Long and Senior Sister Liu. What a pleasant surprise to see you here," he spoke gently as he stood up from the ground, brushing the leaves from his clothes and then cupping his fists politely.
Rihai nodded, watching with mild amusement, while Aotian, on the other hand, looked helplessly at the camouflaged Cang Song, who looked like an elite sniper in those clothes.
"Senior Brother Cang, what are you wearing?" Rihai suddenly asked, looking curiously at the clothes apparently made of leaves, as well as Cang Song's nearly unrecognizable, mud-smeared face.
"Ah! This? Well… it's just leaf camouflage that my master taught me so I could disguise myself and blend in better," he explained gently, hiding nothing, with an embarrassed smile as he scratched his head.
Aotian looked a little awkward upon hearing that, but quickly recovered.
Yes, in fact, the one who taught Cang Song to disguise himself like that was Aotian himself—or rather, his avatar, Elder Dan Hong—as a joke when Disciple Cang was pestering him about the best methods of disguise. But who would have thought that joke would be useful now?
Rihai didn't notice her husband's reaction and simply nodded, though her brows were still slightly furrowed in confusion.
"But wouldn't it be better to use spiritual energy to camouflage yourself?" Rihai asked, tilting her head, not quite understanding the purpose of it.
Cang Song blinked, surprised by the question, but soon realized that she seemed unaware of the gravity of the current situation.
"Ah, it seems Senior Sister doesn't know. Well, that would normally be true, but the restrictions of this small world seem more severe than we imagined," he shook his head and explained with a serious look beneath the mud mask. "It's not just a matter of being unable to use spells in combat—it applies in any situation. Any spell is restricted by the formations of this small world. The only ones apparently immune to these rules are the spells we found on the thirty stone slabs when we arrived."
He explained in a serious tone, catching Rihai off guard. Previously so wrapped up in her own concerns, she hadn't truly explored the limitations of the small world.
Thoughtfully, she raised her fist and clenched it, forming patterns in her roots to cast a spell. However, at that instant, a wave of energy descended from nowhere, as if it had detected the movement and was trying to disrupt the formation of the patterns.
But as soon as that foreign energy tried to invade, Rihai's golden spiritual roots erupted with fierce force, violently expelling it.
At the same moment, Rihai's fist, after trembling briefly, ignited with blazing red flames that distorted the air around them.
She looked at her flaming fist, one eyebrow raised.
Although it had worked, that wave of energy had not been entirely without effect, and now the spell was about half as strong as it should have been.
Ignoring that for now, she looked at Cang Song, who was staring at the flames in her hand with wide eyes.
"Senior Brother Cang, it seems I can still use my spells normally," she replied calmly, though deep down she knew that this was due to her divine roots, something she couldn't explain as it involved a secret far too great.
Even Aotian was surprised by his wife's feat. Not even he could do something like that at the moment, under the restrictions of the formations and the weak cultivation of his main body.
Of course, if his ancestral avatars stepped in, it would be a different story.
Fortunately, it didn't take him long to conclude that this must be related to Rihai's divine physique.
"T-This…" Cang Song's eyes widened as he opened his mouth, stammering, unsure how to ask.
He also wanted to be able to use his spells, which would make him feel much safer. However, whenever he tried, the formations of the small world would act and scramble the patterns, preventing him from completing the spell.
Only when he used one of the spells from the thirty stone slabs did that energy pass without interference, as if it recognized the patterns in his roots.
At that moment, Aotian stepped forward and patted Cang Song's camouflaged shoulder.
"You don't need to ask. It's impossible to replicate," he explained in an amused tone, shaking his head without going into further detail, making it clear that the matter ended there.
Cang Song immediately understood that it involved something greater, which made him sigh bitterly before nodding at Aotian.
Rihai smiled when she saw Aotian put an end to the matter and then moved to hold his hand.
Aotian winked at her conspiratorially, which amused her.
He watched her for a little longer and realized that she seemed fine. Although he didn't know what had made her tense earlier, at least since he had irritated her great-grandfather and apologized right afterward, Rihai seemed to have forgotten a bit of what was troubling her and returned to acting normally.
'If I had known it was that easy, I would have kicked the grumpy old man's ass earlier,' he thought, amused.
Even so, despite that thought, he still kept Rihai's previous state in his heart and would later try to ask what was going on with her.
Setting that aside for now, he turned to Cang Song, who looked thoughtful.
"Senior Brother Cang, Rihai and I are also heading to the city. I don't think it makes sense to waste time here. How about coming with us?" Aotian offered sincerely, smiling lightly.
Hearing this, Cang Song involuntarily twitched an eye, then quickly composed himself to look hesitant, and then shook his head with a bitter sigh.
"Ugh! Senior Brother Long, I'd like that, but I think it's better if I stay here. After all, I made plans with Senior Brother Hui to wait for him here, so it wouldn't be good to leave now," he replied helplessly.
Aotian and Rihai struggled not to roll their eyes. After all, they knew his history of cowardice well, and the lie couldn't have been more obvious. The truth was that he just wanted to stay there hiding.
Unfortunately for Cang Song, this time, the one he was talking to was actually his own master, who knew him better than he knew himself, and a mischievous glint crossed that same master's eyes.
"Well, I think Senior Brother Hui Lang wouldn't mind," Aotian said, and when Cang Song started waving his hands, trying to refuse, he concluded, "Besides, I tend to get very, very angry with those who refuse me," Aotian finished, a cold glint crossing his eyes as the smile on his lips vanished, replaced by a frown.
Cang Song, who was in the middle of waving his hands to deny, froze in place, his face pale.
He knew Aotian well enough to know that the normally gentle young man was probably just joking, but who would dare to bet on that? Well… not him.
Rihai, watching the conversation between the two, couldn't help but cover her smile with one hand, amused as her eyes narrowed into crescents.
…
In the line to enter the city, the crowd was still chatting animatedly about the events that had happened earlier.
"Was it really a dragon seed? Are you sure?"
"I saw it with my own eyes. He was an elderly-looking but heroic man, and his hand turned into a powerful aquatic claw. There can't be any mistake."
"Damn it, damn it. I shouldn't have missed it. I could have bragged about telling this story to my children and friends for many years if I had witnessed it. Haah…"
At the end of the line, a man was talking with some acquaintances who had seen the scene earlier.
He sighed bitterly at having arrived late and missed the spectacle by just a few minutes.
As he sighed, he ended up looking back and realized that, at some point, three people had arrived silently and were now waiting in line behind him.
Blinking in surprise, he imagined that he had been too engrossed in the topic earlier and hadn't noticed them arrive.
But for some reason, as he examined those three people, a sense of familiarity began to grow in his heart.
"Hey, guys, how did you say that cultivator who was a dragon seed was dressed again?" he asked his companions without turning his head, blinking in confusion, as if he were letting something slip by.
His friends found nothing strange, still inattentive, remembering only the spectacular scene they had witnessed.
"His clothes? They were actually quite beautiful, made of a snow-white fabric, with golden details and patterns running across the cloth. I don't understand much about clothes, but that was definitely a piece of extremely superb quality…"
The friend explained, and the more he spoke, the stranger the face of the man observing the three behind him became. Until he began to turn pale and, in shock, called out to his companions.
Finally, raising his trembling hand, he pointed toward the people at the end of the line.
"I-It wouldn't b-be like that… w-would it?" the man asked, stammering.
When his friends turned around, they jumped in fright.
"AH! Dragon seeds!"
The alarmed shout immediately silenced the crowd that had been chatting animatedly.
Hundreds of eyes turned in unison toward Aotian's trio, and upon recognizing them, chaos erupted.
As if the sea were parting, the crowd desperately leapt to the sides and knelt frantically in humility, shouting almost religiously, "Dragon seed!"
Aotian and Rihai frowned, while Cang Song looked shocked and completely helpless under the sudden attention.
"You don't need to kneel," Aotian's voice cut through the crowd, firm.
But when his words echoed, those people only trembled slightly as they fell silent, yet no one moved, continuing to kneel and keep their faces turned toward the ground.
Helpless, he looked at Rihai, but she only shook her head, equally powerless.
With no alternative, they simply quickened their pace to leave the area.
As they passed through the kneeling people, Aotian couldn't help but reflect with his companions.
["These people are strange. It's very difficult to force a cultivator to kneel, since we always cultivate an unyielding and defiant spirit."]
["So I think they're probably natives of this place, born in this small world. That's why they kneel before someone so easily—simply because there's a possibility that the person might be a dragon seed. It's behavior likely conditioned over thousands of years."]
His voice reached the two beside him, who nodded thoughtfully.
They had also found that behavior incongruent, but didn't know the reason. Only after Aotian spoke did they truly understand.
["That makes sense. But what exactly is this dragon seed they're talking about?"]
This time it was Rihai who asked, confused by the term.
Aotian shook his head in response, while Cang Song also maintained a confused expression.
["I have some suspicions, but I can't say for sure. We should find out soon…"]
As soon as Aotian's words fell, a squad of guards arrived and immediately knelt respectfully before them.
Even so, the three noticed a hint of fear, reverence, and apprehension that those men couldn't completely hide in their eyes.
"Esteemed guests, we would like to extend our invitation for you to meet the city lord and be received with the greatest honor we can offer. Your companion is also heading there at this very moment," the leader of the guards spoke, his head lowered humbly.
Aotian thought for a moment before looking at his wife and at Cang Song, who 'seemed' to have no objections.
Then, ignoring Cang Song's nearly tearful face, which clearly held an obvious objection, Aotian looked seriously at the leader of the guards.
"Lead the way."