The scroll of painting unveiled as Shen Lian looked with curiosity. It was blank white.

　　Feeling suspicious, he said, “This is that thing from the Green Bamboo Sect?”

　　“Yes, it was the item Ling Chongxiao took out from Qing Xuan,” Xin Qubing said with a light laugh.

　　“What is the mystery behind this painting?” Shen Lian was curious. This was the painting the man in green could not let go off. There must be something behind this blankness.

　　Xin Qubing showed an odd expression and tossed the scroll into the fireplace.

　　Shen Lian’s expression changed as the scroll fell into the raging flames.

　　However, the raging flames could not light up the scroll. Shen Lian wondered what material was the scroll made of.

　　Xin Qubing’s dried hands reached out to the fireplace and retrieved the scroll. He said, “Mister Shen, please use your dagger to draw this scroll. Don’t forget to use your inner Qi while doing so.”

　　Shen Lian did as he was told. Although the dagger was made of ordinary iron, it was still extremely sharp.

　　Shen Lian’s inner Qi was pretty strong. When he was focused, he could easily generate a force stronger than a thousand pounds.

　　Such force could easily cut through rocks as big as a cucumber.

　　Although when the tip landed on the scroll, it could not even leave a mark on it.

　　“This sure is a foreign object. No surprise that it is related to celestial beings,” Shen Lian said deeply.

　　“This painting may come from Qing Xuan but it seemed that no one cared about it nor bothered to take it back. It’s just like how you started with the Shenzu Scripture and over time, when you eventually achieved Dao, your achievement has nothing to do with Shenzu Scripture. Speaking of which, this painting was actually gifted to the Green Bamboo Sect by someone from Ling Chongxiao’s clan. But I don’t know the reason behind the gift. It was by chance that I heard of these stories while I was roaming around the human world.

　　Also, besides being fire, water, and knife proof, no one knew what other mysteries lie behind this painting.

　　If Yang Xuan did not try to snatch the painting, not many people would have heard of this thing.

　　The Green Bamboo Sect is huge in Stat Capital of Qing, and An Wanli is an experienced strategist. He hid the painting in a way that even if someone knew about the existence of it, they wouldn’t know much about it.

　　If it weren’t for people like Ye Liuyun and An Wanli who hinted about the painting, you won’t be able to improve so quickly and rise to become Jianghu’s number one.

　　I guess he was afraid that he couldn’t protect the painting. Obviously, the painting is no longer at the Green Bamboo sect anymore,” Xin Qubing told the story as if he witnessed the whole process. Nobody knew how much more hidden stories that Xin Qubing had heard off.

　　“Mr. Shaoan, if you’ve known how unique this painting was, why didn’t you take it from them any sooner to study it? Why did you wait for Ye Liuyun to take it and then take it from him?”

　　Shen Lian asked a key question. He could not make sense of why Xin Qubing, a fox deity who was a league of human beings could not get the painting on his own. Unless there was something else that concerned him.

　　“You will understand why in the near future. The painting sure has deep mysteries behind it and I am afraid the people of Qing Xuan might not even know of it. It was by chance that I came across information about the painting. Unfortunately, this painting is useless to me. However, this could be worthy of you.”

　　“Are you giving me this painting?” Shen Lian smiled.

　　“In your wildest dreams,” Xin Shisiniang answered him with a dash of annoyance.

　　“I actually don’t mind giving this to you but it’s not the right time yet. The study of mystical arts comes in different approaches and school of thoughts. The one that suited you the most is definitely Qing Xuan. Also because you’ve heard from Ling Chongxiao about his journey and this is probably the approach that you’re most familiar with. Next year, the ninth day of the ninth month is the day Qing Xuan would open their doors and six months after that, they would have their disciple recruitment ceremony. If you’d like to know more about it, go and look for Ye Liuyun.” Xin Qubing finally got to the main agenda of today’s meeting.

　　“I really have no idea when it comes to Celestialism. I have a rough idea of hearing what you’ve said but I still don’t know what is it that you need me to do.”

　　“If you made it to Qing Xuan, I definitely have a favor to ask. But it won’t be something too difficult. Plus, with Qing Xuan behind your back, if you’ve decided to turn your back against me, what else could I do? But I have faith in your character that you’d never do something like that.”

　　Xin Qubing was sincere with his words. Shen Lian was known to have the best character around. He had also been secretly observing Shen Lian for the past few days.

　　That was the main reason why he did not allow Xin Shisiniang to invite Shen Lian to come uphill immediately upon her arrival at the inn. Instead, he told her to give him a few days to react.

　　“Trust me, sir, I too believe that you would not harm me. If there is nothing else, I would like to excuse myself. I need some time to absorb everything that I’ve just heard,” Shen Lian said apologetically.

　　“You’re so ambiguous, beating around the bushes,” Xin Shisiniang said coldly.

　　“I ‘ve lived in a bustling city with so many choices around. How could I easily decide? I would never ever make a decision against my will,” Shen Lian calmly replied Xin Shisiniang.

　　“If that’s the case, we would not force you to spend the night here. Please leave, sir.”

　　Of course, Shen Lian did not leave empty-handed.

　　The father-daughter fox deities gave him the recipe for the spiritual awakening tea.

　　He would not rush to collect the herbs for the tea.

　　Although they had chatted a lot tonight, it was only the tip of the iceberg of this mystical thing called Celestialism.

　　He felt that the fox deity did not have any malicious intent. But there was something dishonest about him.

　　Whether it was Xin Shisiniang or Xin Qubing, both of them were just so hard to read.

　　Shen Lian questioned himself, if they wanted to harm him, they could have effortlessly toppled him.

　　What made it special was, this fox deity had deep feelings and emotions. He was definitely not simply a monster but someone who was of a higher level compared to Old Master Shen.

　　He looked back at the mountain and it felt like he could still see Xin Qubing’s deep gaze and Xin Shisiniang’s perfect face.

　　Shen Lian’s thoughts were far from the calmness reflected on his face. If Xin Qubing did not deceive him, the opening of Qing Xuan’s gate was the perfect opportunity for him.

　　The only way to learn how to train properly was to enter the celestial gates.

　　The journey might take through thousands of mountain and rivers, and even hundred of mortal years. But he knew that he would never regret it.

　　Although Shen Lian may seem like a slowcoach, he would never look back once he had decided on something.

　　The road to celestial was vast, he would never let go of any opportunities, big or small, that came by.

　　It was already late night by the time he arrived at the inn.

　　Even if Steward Wu were a hardworking person, he would have been asleep at that hour.

　　As Shen Lian stepped into the inn, he indeed did not see Steward Wu. Instead, he saw Bai Yufei.

　　“Are you on the night shift today?” Shen Lian asked. He once saw Steward Wu arranging the staff’s working schedule and if remembered correctly, it was not Bai Yufei’s turn to take the night shift.

　　“I purposely swapped my shift just to wait for you to come back,” Bai Yufei said with a smile.

　　“Is there something that you needed to speak to me?”

　　“I knew that you would be traveling soon and that’s why I’ve requested Steward Wu to pay my wages in advance so I can buy you drinks. I just don’t know if you would drink with me.”

　　“I wouldn’t say no to free drinks,” Shen Lian smiled; Bai Yufei sure was a wonderful person.

　　He was convinced that the inn was in safe hands as long as Bai Yufei was around.

　　“Nothing much actually, I just wanted to have a drink with you. It is even better if I could make you drunk for once,” Bai Yufei laughed cheekily.