Sui You glanced at Qi Yu sideways, "You little demon, you don't fight or snatch, but you're sensible. Since that's the case, I'll give you something."
As he spoke, he reached out and placed something into Qi Yu's palm.
Qi Yu, seeing his mysterious demeanor, opened it with some curiosity.
She found a red feather in her hand.
Sui You glanced at Qi Yu, raising an eyebrow.
This was a feather he had shed. He had originally intended to collect enough to make a cloak as a gift for his junior brother Qi Yu, but since he was almost done collecting enough for the cloak, giving one away to someone else was no big deal.
Qi Yu snapped back to attention, her eyes showing surprise. She quickly put away the precious feather.
A feather from the Phoenix Lord of the Phoenix clan, impervious to fire and water. If one held it in their hand and silently recited "Phoenix Lord" three times, they could gain an opportunity for the Phoenix Lord to intervene.
Therefore, this feather was not something just anyone could obtain.
Thinking of this, Qi Yu's gaze fell upon Yue Zhiyin's head... her heart began to stir.
While cicada silk made excellent harp strings, it was said that dragon whiskers were incredibly tough and were treasures for musical instruments...
Qi Yu rubbed her hands together with anticipation, wondering if she could find a way to get a few whiskers from Yue Zhiyin's head.
Given her current identity, asking directly would surely be impossible.
This matter would have to wait until they returned to the Beiyuan Sect, where she could ask Yue Zhiyin in the name of her junior brother.
Heh heh...
Yue Zhiyin couldn't help but reach up and touch his head, feeling as if someone was staring at him, making him feel uneasy.
Worried that Yue Zhiyin might notice her overly greedy gaze, Qi Yu quickly averted her eyes, hiding her true intentions.
After the group had walked a bit further, Sui You drew the sword at his waist and pointed towards the mountain range ahead, saying, "The divine flower we need to pick is on the very peak of Mount Buzhou. We can ascend from this mountain range. However, we cannot use magic on this mountain range; we have to climb it with our bare hands."
"It's so steep, can we really climb it with our bare hands?" Yu Zhen placed one hand on her hip and the other over her eyes, looking upwards. "If we fall halfway, it won't be a joke."
Qi Yu's face turned slightly pale.
She was never good at rock climbing. If she fell, her original body might shatter again.
Yu Zhen noticed Qi Yu's less-than-pleasant expression, "What, is Pavilion Master Yu afraid?"
"Mm... a little," Qi Yu nodded. "I have acrophobia."
Yu Zhen, Yue Zhiyin, and Sui You exchanged glances.
Sui You suggested, "Then why don't you just stay here and wait? We've already come this far."
"But," Qi Yu looked at Yu Zhen. Yu Zhen had specifically asked her to come along, so there must be a reason, right? Could she not go up with them?
Indeed, Yu Zhen also frowned hesitantly, "But if Pavilion Master Yu doesn't go, we probably won't be able to pick the divine flower. There are conditions for picking the divine flower: demons cannot touch it, and human and divine cultivators cannot pick it. I only know these two lines. As for whether demonic cultivators can pick it, I'm not sure, which is why I wanted to bring Pavilion Master Yu up to try."
"...If we can't pick it, will the flower wither if we touch it? And even if we pick it, how do we use it?" Qi Yu, despite knowing she wasn't a demonic cultivator, was still a little worried.
"After picking it, place it in a storage pouch. Without its roots to nourish it, the divine flower won't have so many restrictions. As for picking it, you don't need to touch the flower directly. You can first try to probe it with your own unique essence. If the flower doesn't react, it means you can pick it; otherwise, it will attack you."
Yu Zhen finished speaking and looked at Yue Zhiyin and Sui You, "It's precisely because we're unsure if the three of us can pick it that we can't leave Pavilion Master behind. We have to bring her up together."
Qi Yu looked pitifully at Yue Zhiyin and Sui You.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You fell into thought. They exchanged glances, and finally, Yue Zhiyin looked at Qi Yu and knelt down, "In that case, I'll carry you. You hold on tight from behind."
Qi Yu nodded.
Yue Zhiyin knelt on the ground, and Qi Yu carefully leaned down, about to climb up. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she suggested, "Although this mountain range of Mount Buzhou doesn't allow the use of magic, if someone climbs up exceptionally fast and lowers a rope, then others can climb up along the rope, right?"
She actually didn't want Yue Zhiyin to carry her. The reason wasn't for any other purpose than that being too close would allow Yue Zhiyin to sense the aura of the innate spiritual artifact on her, and her disguise would be revealed.
Yue Zhiyin couldn't help but nod when he heard Qi Yu's suggestion.
Yu Zhen, standing nearby, interjected unexpectedly, "What you said makes sense, but who has such a long rope? This mountain range of Mount Buzhou is very long, and who has that much strength?"
Qi Yu opened her mouth.
Indeed, no one had anticipated the need for a rope, so everyone likely hadn't prepared any.
This idea could only be discarded.
"It's fine, I'll carry you," Yue Zhiyin knelt on the ground, gesturing to Qi Yu, "Just climb up quickly."
"Actually, I've never been so close to an external male before, and I feel a bit embarrassed, which is why I've been refusing. How about I try to climb by myself?"
"Alright, but tie this around your waist before you try." Yu Zhen untied a long whip from her waist and tied it around Qi Yu's waist. "If you really can't hold on and are about to fall, I can pull you up by holding the whip."
Qi Yu nodded and said thank you, tying the whip around her waist.
Seeing this, Yu Zhen directly gripped the rock face with one hand and began climbing at the front.
Qi Yu quickly followed suit.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You climbed on either side at the bottom, responsible for covering the rear.
Initially, Qi Yu worried that she would become a burden to Yu Zhen.
After discovering that Yu Zhen's climbing speed was incredibly fast, she shot up several feet in a few moves, forcing Qi Yu to climb along with her, Qi Yu finally put aside her worries about being a burden.
She relaxed completely below Yu Zhen, slacking off for most of the climb, almost entirely pulled up by Yu Zhen. While climbing, she could even free one hand to take out some snacks from her pocket and pop them into her mouth.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You, who were struggling to climb, looked up and saw Qi Yu holding onto the rock face with one hand, climbing with Yu Zhen's speed, and holding snacks in the other hand. Their faces all showed speechless expressions.
"You're eating quite happily up there," Sui You reached out and patted Qi Yu's ankle. "What snacks are you eating? Share some, you're so young, eating alone."
"Mm, dried pumpkin," Qi Yu took out a handful from her storage pouch and gave half to each of them.
Thus, Yue Zhiyin and Sui You also slowed down their pace. The three of them climbed and ate intermittently.
When Yu Zhen, who had climbed to the very peak with great effort, looked down, she saw Qi Yu holding the whip with one hand, completely relaxed and letting herself be dangled, while holding snacks in the other hand and eating with relish.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You below were also eating, occasionally asking Qi Yu for more.
Yu Zhen was so exasperated she almost laughed, "So, out of all of us, I'm the only one working hard to climb up, and the three of you have been eating the whole time, is that right?"
"Shiniang is amazing," Yue Zhiyin gave a thumbs-up.
"Shiniang is the most powerful," Sui You applauded.
Qi Yu was busy stuffing her mouth. Seeing Yu Zhen glare at her, she immediately stopped with a wronged expression, "I've never walked so far before, I'm really hungry."
Yu Zhen: "...A bunch of unmotivated people!"
Hearing this, Qi Yu silently closed her mouth and chewed to herself.
Yu Zhen was truly helpless and simply turned around to search for the divine flower.
But the path had been so smooth and uneventful, how could the divine flower be so easy to find?
When Yu Zhen turned her head, she saw that the entire summit of Mount Buzhou was a sea of flowers, with various exotic flowers blooming side by side in a dazzling display.
Yu Zhen was dazzled by the sight.
Sui You reached out to pick a bunch.
Unexpectedly, as soon as his hand touched it, the flower immediately ignited and then formed a circle, trapping Sui You within a sea of fiery blossoms.
"Petty trick," Sui You struck out with a palm, and the sea of fire was immediately drawn into his palm's gust.
Yue Zhiyin also tried to pick one.
The method of trapping him was the same as Sui You's; the flower suddenly ignited. However, at the end of the ignition, what surrounded Yue Zhiyin was a giant water sphere.
Sui You continued to try.
The reaction of the picked flower was the same as before, the only difference being that the fire was slightly larger.
Sui You withdrew his hand, frowning deeply, and said to Qi Yu and Yu Zhen, "I said this divine flower wouldn't be easy to pick, and it's true. If you pick the wrong one, not the divine flower, these plants will use your own techniques against you. The more you repeatedly pick incorrectly, the greater their power will become, and it could eventually become uncontrollable."
Yu Zhen and Qi Yu both frowned.
Yue Zhiyin knew Yu Zhen's identity as the Demon Lord and understood that her techniques were powerful, so he didn't think of asking Yu Zhen to try. Instead, he turned to Qi Yu and asked, "Pavilion Master Yu, can you try picking one?"
Yu Zhen and Sui You also looked at Qi Yu.
The three of them had a simple thought. Since these flowers could replicate techniques, they should choose someone with particularly weak abilities to pick these flowers.
Qi Yu's heart skipped a beat. The first thing that came to her mind was the problem of her disguise.
Let alone whether her disguise would be revealed.
If she tried, and these flowers used her Mirror Realm or Ten Thousand Transformations, wouldn't that be disastrous?
She pursed her lips and silently changed the subject, "Actually, I think it would be great if we had someone who knows about flowers and plants, isn't afraid of poison, and is knowledgeable in this area to help."
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You exchanged glances and both looked at Yu Zhen.
Yu Zhen instantly understood their meaning. She made a gesture of "leave it all to me" and turned to walk away.
Yue Zhiyin and Sui You followed closely.
The three of them took out their magical artifacts and began a long-distance transmission.
About half an incense stick later.
Li Yu, with his hair a mess and his clothes unkempt, rushed over on his sword.
He flew on his sword, and after arriving at Mount Buzhou, he flew upwards all the way, climbing with his bare hands, which took three incense sticks.
Finally, panting, he climbed up, looked around, and ran towards Sui You, Yue Zhiyin, and the others, asking, "A Zhen, Yue Zhiyin, Sui You, I'm here, I'm here! What happened? Why did you send me such an urgent message? When did you decide to come to Mount Buzhou, and why didn't you tell me?"
As he spoke, he held Yu Zhen's hand and found her fingertips ice-cold, so he quickly warmed them with his own.
"Shizun," Yue Zhiyin bowed to him. "This is a long story. We'll explain it to you later. Let's talk about the important matter first. We came to Mount Buzhou to pick a divine flower, but there's an illusionary barrier set up near the divine flower. If we pick the wrong one, we'll be attacked. Shizun, do you know what that divine flower looks like?"
Li Yu looked at him in astonishment, "...Divine flower? You traveled all the way to Mount Buzhou just for me to help you pick a divine flower? What do you plan to do with it after picking it? Or are you giving it to someone?"
"We picked it to give to junior brother Qi Yu," Sui You replied obediently.
Yu Zhen nodded beside him, "Young Qi Yu has been in our sect for so long, I thought of giving him a gift, so the three of us decided to come and pick a divine flower. But none of us expected it to be so hard to find."
Li Yu's face turned dark, "You called me back from such a distance just to give junior brat Qi Yu a divine flower? Then why didn't you have him come and look for it with you?"
"Shizun, do you understand what a surprise is? If we had junior brother help us look, would it still be a surprise?" Yue Zhiyin rolled his eyes helplessly.
"Heh, you know what a surprise is? Why don't you give me a few more surprises?" Li Yu crossed his arms. "By the way, who is this little flower demon next to you? Why does she look so much like Qi Yu?"
"Also, since the three of you are here, where is Qi Yu? I thought he went out with you before. Now it seems this kid has snuck out to play by himself."
"She is the Pavilion Master of Yuqing Pavilion. Pavilion Master Yu, this is my Shizun, Venerable Li Yu." Yue Zhiyin briefly introduced Qi Yu, then frowned and asked Li Yu, "Is junior brother Qi Yu not at the sect? When did he leave?"
"A disciple said that he left when you all left, and you all haven't returned since." Li Yu spread his hands with a Buddhist serenity, "This kid is becoming more and more disobedient, sneaking out to play without saying a word."
After speaking, Li Yu looked at Qi Yu again, "Hey, I remember that the Pavilion Master of Yuqing Pavilion was once honored as the 'Omniscient' of the cultivation world many years ago. I wonder if Pavilion Master Yu can help me find the whereabouts of my disciple Qi Yu?"
Yue Zhiyin was stunned, "Is that so?"
Sui You scanned Qi Yu from head to toe, "I can't tell, you've got some skills."
Qi Yu looked at Li Yu, her heart struggling, "...I have been called that, but it's actually just flattery from guests. It's not as powerful as you all think, and I don't know everything."
"But doesn't your Yuqing Pavilion have tracking formations?" Li Yu narrowed his eyes. "Putting aside the title of 'Omniscient' for now, you should be able to help me find someone, right? Is it a matter of money? How much gold does it cost to find someone?"
Qi Yu: "...It's not a matter of money, it's just..."
It's just that she hadn't figured out how to search for herself without being discovered...
And how to fabricate the excuse of not being at the sect without revealing her disguise...