The small world was located at the bottom left-hand side of the entire plane’s tree. Its shape was different from all the other leaves on the tree. This small world looked like a…

　　“Mushroom?” Lonemoon paused. He took a closer look and noticed that there really was a mushroom growing out of one of the branches of the tree. It was an oddly bright color as well, so that it stood out from the otherwise golden tree.

　　Was this… a small world as well?

　　Why was there a mushroom growing on such a beautiful tree?!

　　Lonemoon was absolutely confused. He activated his divine perception to study the small world. Suddenly, the millions of living spirits in the small world flashed across his eyes. The spirit Qi inside it was extremely rich. This small world was evidently different from the others.

　　“What’s the matter?” Lonemoon turned around to face the other two people.

　　Shen Ying quickly stuffed the last pastry into her mouth and stepped forward stiffly. She pulled up a screen to check the small world’s data. A moment later, she shook her head and said, “According to the data, this small world is not any different from the others.”

　　Could it be that the Godfiend had created yet another deviant world? Lonemoon frowned. “A mushroom has grown on an otherwise healthy tree – there must be a problem somewhere.” What’s more, the mushroom was hidden in an obscure location. One would not notice it if they had not been looking closely.

　　Shen Ying frowned. She was just about to begin explaining, when Yi Qing seemed to have figured something out. In a low voice, he said, “if there isn’t any problem now, that means that something extraordinary only happened in the split second that the immortal spring appeared.”

　　“What do you mean?”

　　“Father Niu…” Yi Qing continued in a low voice. “Do you still remember that image we saw when the immortal spring appeared?”

　　“Image? Wasn’t that caused by the explosion of immortal Qi, condensing to form the spring?” Lonemoon asked, exasperated. “There are many such occasions when immortal Qi condenses in the immortal realm, right? It’s not really considered as anything out of the ordinary. It’s just like when people use a wide-range immortal Qi gathering techniques, or when the Heavenly Tribulation of ascension occurs, or…”

　　He stopped himself mid-sentence, his eyes widening.

　　“Or someone ascending from the lower realm!” Yi Qing finished Lonemoon’s sentence.

　　Lonemoon frowned deeply. “You mean to say that the immortal spring only appeared because someone in the lower realm was going through Tribulation Transcendence!” Lonemoon tried to recall the scene of the immortal spring appearing. Indeed, the way the immortal Qi had condensed resembled what it normally looked like when someone from the lower realm was ascending to immortality.

　　“That can’t be right!” He suddenly exclaimed, recalling something. “If someone was ascending, then an Immortal Ascension Stage should have formed. Why did an immortal spring form instead?” What’s more, the welcoming beam of light did not appear.

　　“Maybe that person failed!” Yi Qing guessed.

　　“Then why is it that the immortal spring coincidentally appears once every hundred years?” It was not like ascension was scheduled – people did not clock in an ascension at stipulated times.

　　Yi Qing frowned deeply as well. This was something he could not figure out for himself either. “Perhaps this is where that small world differs from the rest.”

　　Lonemoon’s expression darkened. “It seems like we do have to go into the small world to take a look.”

　　“I’m not going!” Shen Ying immediately exclaimed upon hearing Lonemoon’s suggestion.

　　Lonemoon pursed his lips and glanced sideways at her. “If you want to figure out the mystery behind this mushroom, we have to go in and take a look. If you don’t want to come along, Chef and I can go ahead without you!”

　　“No!” Shen Ying stepped in front of him, uncharacteristically stubborn. “You’re not allowed to go!”

　　“Why?”

　　Shen Ying paused. Her expression stiffened once again. A moment later, she said, “As my assistants, you have not met the basic standards. You don’t have the right to manage the plane on your own yet.” You have to be obedient!

　　“…” It was almost as if they had not been managing the plane on their own the entire time.

　　Yi Qing glanced at Shen Ying. He seemed to have noticed something as he stepped forward and asked, “Master, did you notice something amiss?”

　　She hesitated. Her expression remained cold and hard, but she cast her gaze downward.

　　“You figured something out?” Lonemoon’s heart fell.

　　“…. No!” Shen Ying retorted. She scanned the duo and firmly said, “Hmph! Both of you can stop questioning me. I’m not as stupid as you two. Don’t jump to conclusions so quickly. You would never catch me saying something like, ‘There’s something strange about that world, so stay away from it just in case.’ Everything is about the data. If your theories are not backed by statistics and facts, you cannot treat your theories as true. As opposed to trusting something as malleable as your sixth sense, why not do some additional research? So both of you should refrain from doing anything before you do proper research. I’m not disallowing either of you from going in just based on my gut feeling alone. All of this is happening because you raised that flag earlier. Yes! That is indeed the reason!”

　　o( ̄ヘ̄o#)

　　She said all of these in one breath. Then, she started nodding furiously, with a determined expression.

　　Lonemoon, “…”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　Was she… stopping them because she was worried for their safety?

　　She could just say that properly – where did she learn to beat around the bush?

　　Lonemoon and Yi Qing exchanged a meaningful look, not knowing what else to say. A moment later, they both sighed. We’ll give in to you on account of your young age!

　　“Then we won’t go!” Yi Qing nodded.

　　“Mm, I’ll think of other ways!” Lonemoon shook his head. He had no choice but to trust the cheat’s gut feeling.

　　“…” They took her word for it?

　　Shen Ying’s eyes twinkled. She heaved a sigh of relief and said, “That’s up to you!” She tutted and turned around so they could not see her expression, which read: This is your own choice – it has nothing to do with me!

　　The two of them: “…”

　　——————

　　Shen Ying said that the mushroom-like small world was not normal, and that they should not enter it. But they could not even figure out why the small world looked like that.

　　“What do you think we should do?” Lonemoon asked Chef, who was beside him. “It’s true that the mushroom doesn’t look like it’s that big of a problem… and that small world has been around for such a long time as well. I’ve told Yu Hong to ask around – that immortal spring has been appearing since the ancient times.” Now that the Godfiend had fallen, even Lonemoon could not tell whether this was a trap set up for them on purpose.

　　“Although we can’t enter it, it wouldn’t be difficult for us to go and find out more about this small world,” Yi Qing said.

　　“You mean… send a part of us down there?”

　　“A part of us, or a puppet, or a form of our consciousness – anything works,” Yi Qing answered in a low voice. “it’ll only be a part of our sentience. We can retrieve it at any time.”

　　Lonemoon nodded. “That’s true. I’ll go and ask Boss Lan to refine a dharmic artifact that can carry our divine perceptions. Perhaps that would be safer.” As he spoke, Lonemoon frowned more deeply. He studied the stove that was almost overflowing with different cooking equipment and ingredients. “Anyway… the next time you want to talk to me, can we not talk in the kitchen?” Chef was freaking cooking chillies; Lonemoon was about to choke to death.

　　“No!” Yi Qing objected seriously. “Master has not yet recovered. I want to cook more food so that she can recover speedily.”

　　Lonemoon glanced outside of the kitchen, at a certain someone who was sitting upright at the dining table with chopsticks in her hand. She looked ready to dig in. Are you sure you’re not trying to fill a bottomless pit?

　　Yi Qing followed Lonemoon’s line of vision. As if thinking of something, his gaze softened, and his face flushed red. As long as Master enjoyed his cooking, Yi Qing did not mind cooking more for her.

　　Lonemoon pursed his lips. “Hey, hey, hey, that’s enough from you! Can you at least mind your image?” Lonemoon scanned Chef from head to toe and continued, “Can you stop making eyes in front of me? Try to have some empathy for y single self – I’m sick of looking at the two of you act this way, alright? How long have the two of you been together already? Do you really have to keep acting this way?”

　　Yi Qing paused. He loosened his grip on the green chilli he was holding, dropping it onto the ground. Then, he lowered his gaze and said, “Master and I… are not like what you think we are.”

　　“Like what?” Lonemoon stared blankly at him. Suddenly, he widened his eyes. “You’re not saying that you weren’t together in the past, are you?”

　　Yi Qing picked up the green pepper and responded, “Hey.”