After finding Huang Hailing and completing the resource allocation, Bai Qiu immediately took the teleportation device back to Zone 2233.
After soaking in a hot bath and enjoying a lavish dinner, he sat cross-legged on the sofa to digest his meal while entering a meditative state.
Before long, he had fully recovered to his peak condition.
Bai Qiu then took out the Fragment of the Mountain and River Map and searched for the locations of Hydra Great Serpents and Hydra Two-Headed Serpents.
Under his deliberate guidance, the forum’s latest trending topic was about the monsters left behind by the previous Tide.
Rather than gathering together, the monsters had each claimed a territory rich in spiritual energy as their own lair.
This gave many districts the opportunity to join forces and eliminate them one by one.
With the Fragment of the Mountain and River Map in hand, as long as Bai Qiu possessed accurate information about a target, locating it was remarkably easy.
The same was true for the Hydra Great Serpent and its evolved form, the Hydra Two-Headed Serpent.
After a quick search, he really did discover traces of a Hydra Two-Headed Serpent near the outskirts of Zone 2216.
Since many safe zones near the borders of major districts had been heavily damaged and lacked sufficient territory, it wasn’t unusual for monsters from neighboring regions to migrate over and seize favorable locations.
Taking advantage of the cover of night, Bai Qiu quietly made his way over, slew the Hydra Two-Headed Serpent, and gladly claimed the transcendent item hidden within its spiritual territory.
After finishing everything, Bai Qiu looked at the countless glowing dots on the Fragment of the Mountain and River Map.
After a long moment of hesitation, he finally let out a sigh.
“Forget it. There’s no need to create unnecessary trouble for myself.”
As he murmured those words, he put the Fragment of the Mountain and River Map away.
What Bai Qiu had been debating was whether he should inform the other districts of the monsters’ locations so they could organize hunting parties in advance instead of wandering around like headless flies.
In the end, however, he abandoned the idea.
After all, he had no means of entering other districts, yet somehow knew the exact locations of monsters.
That alone was far too suspicious.
Whether he tried to explain it or not, it would inevitably attract unwanted attention and covetous eyes.
Rather than exposing one of his greatest trump cards over matters beyond his jurisdiction, it was better to simply wait and see.
Little did Bai Qiu know that this single decision would later result in numerous safe zones being overrun during the month-long period of weakened defenses that followed.
By the time Bai Qiu returned to Zone 2233, dawn was already breaking, and only two days remained before the opening of the Shattered Celestial Realm.
Once again, Bai Qiu entered the Tower of Heaven.
After spending twenty-six hours inside, he reached the 72nd floor before voluntarily withdrawing.
The reason was simple: if he continued any further, his equipment would be destroyed.
He left the Concealment Cloak at the tailor’s shop and the Skyward Battle Armor at the blacksmith’s to be repaired.
Even so, the trip had been highly rewarding.
Inside the tower, he also mined plenty of rocks to serve as food for A’Yan.
His Noble Phantasm, Converging Mana Thrust, advanced another level, reaching C++ Rank.
Besides receiving a significant increase in power, its skill cooldown was reduced by 20%.
Now, after activating Noble Phantasm, it would only require forty-eight minutes before it could be used again.
It was also worth mentioning that the second Radiant Star, his strongest defensive item, was nearly finished condensing.
…
At Wang Renfeng’s shop, Bai Qiu—who had not visited for quite some time—appeared once again.
For some reason, two potted plants had been placed outside the entrance.
One was a sunflower.
The other… was also a sunflower.
Sitting across from Bai Qiu was Guinelia, who greeted him with her usual fiery enthusiasm before proudly showing off a newly developed magic potion.
“This is my newest product Precognition Potion, I will give it this potion and sleeping potion to you, if you drink it you can have a dream seeing a fragment of the future” Guinelia said proudly
“Haha. Even so, something like seeing the future is impossible,” Bai Qiu said with a laugh, though he still accepted a bottle.
Originally, Guinelia had intended to refute his claim with a well-reasoned argument and present her own theories.
However, as she leaned closer to Bai Qiu, she caught the lingering scent of another woman.
Her brows instantly knitted together.
Pouting, she looked visibly dejected as she asked, “Bai Qiu, you haven’t come to see me these past few days… Did you get yourself a girlfriend while you were out? It’s the scent of another demi-human girl, isn’t it? Or… does it have something to do with snakes?”
Bai Qiu was startled by Guinelia’s keen sense of smell.
The problem was that it had already been more than thirty hours since he had come into contact with Animia, and he had even taken two baths in the meantime.
Could there really still be a scent?
He hadn’t noticed the change in Guinelia’s expression.
Sniffing at his own clothes, he said casually, “Speaking of that, you’d never guess…”
After Bai Qiu explained everything that had happened, Guinelia asked curiously, “So… are you going to see her again?”
“Of course not. What I said that day was only to get that girl to do her job properly. Hah, I’m not into that kind of thing—getting involved with someone who’s half-human, half-snake.
Everything I said was complete bullshit, just fooling her. Hahaha…”
Bai Qiu laughed as he spoke.
Only when he was with Guinelia could he so easily voice what was truly on his mind.
What he didn’t realize was that while the speaker had no particular intention, the listener took it to heart.
Guinelia touched one of her rabbit ears, forcing an awkward smile.
Originally, seeing Bai Qiu spending so much time with other [Supporters] from the safe zones had made her feel a sense of crisis.
She had finally worked up the courage to make the first move, but Bai Qiu’s offhand remarks completely drained that courage away.
If I confessed to him too… would it just trouble him?
Would he avoid me from then on? Or… would he simply reject me?
Countless thoughts raced through Guinelia’s mind.
Gone was her usual cheerful self, and even Bai Qiu—who was normally terrible at reading people’s expressions—noticed something was wrong.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Guinelia?” Bai Qiu asked.
“Ah! Uh… well, I…” Guinelia jumped in surprise.
When she came to her senses, she stammered, unable to find the right words.
“Hahaha! The food’s here!” Wang Renfeng came over carrying the dishes, unintentionally rescuing Guinelia from the awkward situation.
“I’m fine,” Guinelia said quickly with a smile.
“The food’s here! Let’s eat. I’ve been hungry all morning!”
Bai Qiu didn’t suspect a thing.
He nodded, and the two of them began eating, chatting occasionally as half an hour passed.
After they had eaten their fill, Bai Qiu and Guinelia parted ways at the entrance.
Guinelia looked in surprise at the sunflowers planted on either side of the doorway.
“When did Uncle Wang start growing flowers?” she exclaimed.
Following her gaze, Bai Qiu saw the two sunflowers drooping their heads, looking rather lifeless without any sunlight.
“They’re just ordinary sunflowers,” Bai Qiu said with a glance.
He didn’t want to spoil Guinelia’s enthusiasm, though he wasn’t particularly interested himself.
Just as he was about to say goodbye, Guinelia asked curiously, “You know this flower? Bai Qiu, could you tell me about it?”
“You’ve never seen one before?” Bai Qiu asked, somewhat surprised.
Guinelia was skilled at making medicines and knew a fair bit about cultivating medicinal plants, yet she didn’t recognize a sunflower—a flower that could be found almost everywhere on Earth.
Watching Guinelia shake her head vigorously like a rattle drum, Bai Qiu didn’t wait for her to continue pleading.
He simply began explaining.
A few minutes later…
“Come to think of it, sunflowers have a flower meaning that doesn’t really match their personality. I’ve never been able to understand it.”
“What is it?”
“Silent love.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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