Zhong Da and Wu Xui huddled together in their pavilion. Neither one was willing to let the other go in case the earth turned asunder. They needed anything at all to anchor them, and in the worst case scenario, use as a weight to catapult themselves away from a precipitous fall.

If the earth opened up.

Something had happened outside.

Something took place with the ancient thing they had been living with and his area of the camp. Zhong Da was unsure what it could have been. Nor was he willing to try to find out. Only an idiot would walk to their death when it screamed their names out… metaphorically speaking.

Zhong Da had not thought much when the Hu Ancestor appeared before the entrance and told him of not being available for a fortnight. Ancient cultivator bullshit he assumed. If anything, that was on a minuscule timeline when compared to other monsters and their small seclusions. Those tended to last entire decades and centuries for the highest realms.

Progress was slow at their power scale.

What he had not expected was for the literal Qi in the air trembling and shaking. Shifting in place as though it was a tide that came and receded a moment later. Visibly in the air and surrounding them. The element of choice shifting with the changes in the Hu Ancestors pavilion.

There was no way to find out what the hell was going on in there.

He had tried to convince Wu Xui that it may have been beneficial for them to gather that information. How it would elevate her status before another ancient monster in the form of Zi Zhen, but she was a demonic cultivator just like he was. An experienced one at that had probably the same amount of time as he did manipulating others.

Even if it wasn't at the same grand scale. Wu Xui was not easily fooled into entering a precarious situation.

Not that he expected her to die.

Zhong Da liked her. A lot. They had been together for some time now and her presence was a pleasant one. Her Snake Face and all the body cosmetics she applied on herself had started to grow on him too. He had not been exactly happy with how much she changed, but he wasn't complaining anymore.

It would have been a travesty to lose her so quickly after they had just escaped death not too long ago.

Yes, their current position was a difficult one. Stuck between the executioner's axe and the forest tiger on the prowl. They were likely doomed either way. Unless they played this perfectly as a unified front. Zhong Da had recognized this first and then Wu Xui came to the conclusion later. The only chance they had for surviving was if they used all their skills, abilities, and strengths in tandem. Making up for each other's weaknesses.

His over-thinking and her succinctness.

Zhong Da's ability to create elaborate plots filled with twists and turns and her ability to think clearly on her feet without any plan at all.

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They fit together perfectly.

Zhong Da closed his eyes as another source of power that affected the Qi in the entire forest was summoned. Flooding the area with a myriad of Qi elements he was not entirely sure they constituted as. It was too pure and unfiltered for him to make out, then it was gone a second later. Like it had not existed a moment ago. It could have been any combination on the face of the planet, not that it would have changed anything.

"W-what do you think he's doing in there, Dong Dong?" Wu Xui tried to start a conversation.

He could sense her discomfort and anxiety growing with every moment. She was liable to faint again. Wu Xui had gotten better as time passed with her little issue. Facing so much power pressing down on her had made her more capable of lasting longer every time.

It gave him hope that he would not need to carry her unconscious body after every encounter that shifted the Hu Ancestors emotions even slightly.

Though it did well to garner some sympathy.

Yin Hu was a righteous idiot that fell for their little lie without much questions. Wide eyes and Wu Xui actually fainting had made the process to get his trust simpler than he expected. Or was he being played? Zhong Da had no clue and would not act upon it even if he wanted to. Not when it came with powers that could turn him into dust within moments.

His issue would remain the existence of Zi Zhen and their current mission.

Figure out what the Hu Ancestor was up to and their plans for the future without letting them find out. Navigate with them through the land and give enough excuses to go past just the forest. Somehow they would need to hide his and Wu Xui's cultivation from the current Righteous Cultivators.

They had been given a single Core Disguising Talisman each by Zi Zhen. That was it. A pittance that would not help them in the long run.

It made their roles in this ploy harder.

What the hell were they supposed to do when it ran out? When did it run out? Zhong Da hadn't even been given a second to study how strong it was before the old bag of bones had activated both talismans and disguised their cores.

Zhong Da could have planned better.

Maybe have a better perspective that he could take advantage of and get his job done sooner?

He didn't like that all of his individual agency had been taken from him. Following a plan blindly itched at something in the back of his mind. It did not sit right. Nor would it ever as far as he was concerned. He was a proactive man that did not just blindly do as he was told. In most cases.

"If only I could venture a guess, Xui Xui. Whatever it is, it's dangerous and beyond our understanding. Best we wait this out and see what information he is willing to give us. Otherwise we don't say anything. Not a word." Zhong said as he felt another wave of Qi assault his senses.

They could be grateful for the lessening of the amount of power the Hu Ancestor had been summoning. Doing whatever he did in there. The gradual decrease of power until this point.

Still shaking them to their core, but not crushing their very Dao's with the pressure alone.

He looked towards his core and the Liquid Qi he was so proud of. Zhong Da could not help but feel a certain sense of bewilderment as he noticed the same thing as before. Growth. Development in a way he had not expected. His core had grown sturdier?

Zhong Da could not explain it.

All the power that the ancient being, calling itself Yin Hu, had pressed him with and nearly shattered his core had somehow made it stronger and more durable. Every encounter had healed him greater than before. Something like this could have been torture, it was not meant to be a source of training and development. He could feel the weight of his Liquid Qi increase too.

Something he had not felt in ages after he reached his current limit.

A bottleneck he had no hopes of passing.

Except, now there was hope. He just needed to suffer almost not existing a few dozen more times and maybe, just maybe, he would condense his Liquid Qi enough to solidify it and more into the next realm. Break into the numbers of elites and become a Pinnacle Immortal Realm Cultivator.

The thought was incredulous, but it was the truth.

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