Chapter 153: Answering Questions

Outside the warehouse door, Su Che and Yu Qing searched carefully but still couldn’t locate Tian Yin’s whereabouts.
However, stealing the Ink Crystal from the Earth Demons wasn’t really a wrong thing. Su Che and Yu Qing weren’t afraid of being punished by Tian Yin. At worst, she would take the bigger share, leaving them with just a small portion.
After a while, Tian Yin’s graceful figure appeared before them silently, as if emerging out of thin air. But Su Che and Yu Qing were certain it wasn’t some illusion spell—she had come in person.
“Grandmaster Tian Yin.”
Since she had already appeared, Su Che and Yu Qing felt obliged to pay their respects properly.
Tian Yin wore a smile, her gentle and kind demeanor unchanged as she spoke softly to Su Che, “I heard that you swallowed the Earth-Diving Pill and left first. But we didn’t see you at the cave entrance, so I came to check. Who would have thought… you two would be caught by me.”
She smiled slightly. “Caught.”
Su Che felt embarrassed and rubbed his nose, saying, “Thank you, Grandmaster Tian Yin, for taking such good care of your disciples. But what about those at the cave entrance? Did you leave them unattended?”
“The nightmares outside the cave have been driven away,” Tian Yin replied. “The Foundation-Building disciples I sent combined their spells to hold off the Earth Demons inside. As long as their reinforcements haven’t arrived, there’s no immediate danger.”
Su Che nodded, already imagining the scenes she described: Over a hundred nightmares outside the cave must have been killed by her, with the rest scared away. In that case, it would be quite easy for the dozens of Foundation-Building disciples from the Wuji Sect to suppress the thirty-odd nightmares and hundreds of Earth Fiends inside, preventing them from showing up.
At that moment, they heard Tian Yin scolding softly, “You two are really bold. To take such risks alone just for some trivial wealth. If something went wrong, how would the Wuji Sect explain itself to your sect?”
Yu Qing, being bolder, replied with implied meaning, “Grandmaster Tian Yin, it’s just a few nightmares. My junior brother and I can easily defeat them. It’s not really a risk.”
What this implied was: We’re fine, so you don’t need to worry. Go protect your own Wuji Sect disciples instead.
“What?” Tian Yin turned to look at him. “Are you afraid I’ll take your Ink Crystal?”
Yu Qing smiled faintly, seemingly agreeing.
Only then did Su Che realize that after the power within Senior Brother Yu Qing was unleashed, he seemed much more assertive, even showing obvious arrogance.

However, then again, back in the Tianxuan Sect, he wasn’t exactly a nice guy either. When it was time to get angry, he even dared to compete in arm wrestling with a true disciple named Zhen Zhen.
In fact, Su Che’s courage wasn’t far behind either. When pursued by the Black Fiend Ghost, he not only sang out loud but also dared to argue back with it…
“How about this…”
Faced with Yu Qing’s conciliatory defiance, Tian Yin wasn’t annoyed at all. After a brief thought, she said, “I’ll help you open this door, and I won’t compete for any ink crystals inside. But the two of you must each answer one of my questions—no lying allowed!”
Answer questions? No lying?
Su Che and Yu Qing exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously.
Su Che thought: If she asked me sensitive questions like “Do you have any top-tier treasures?” or “What’s your biggest secret?”, how should I answer?
But Tian Yin still wasn’t annoyed. Smiling, she said, “Well then, I’ll allow you to lie. And even if I detect that you’re lying, I won’t impose any punishment. Is that acceptable?”
“What is this woman scheming?”
Su Che and Yu Qing were puzzled and exchanged glances, unable to figure out her intentions.
However, since she held the status of a sect founder from the Wuji Sect and had a clear advantage in cultivation strength, even without any agreement, they still had to answer her questions directly.
Of course, whether they would lie was another matter.
So, Su Che and Yu Qing nodded in agreement. “Alright.”
“Move aside.”
Tian Yin walked straight over. Su Che and Yu Qing stepped aside immediately.
Tian Yin reached the warehouse door. From start to finish, she paid no attention to the snake woman and Asura demon body summoned by Su Che, nor to Yu Qing’s silver wolf and puppets.
Perhaps it was because she was a great figure who had already possessed top-tier Dao artifacts from birth, and she simply looked down on what Su Che and Yu Qing considered treasures.
It was like a beggar who found a gold ingot and hid it quickly, fearing others would discover his wealth. Unaware that to real rich people, a gold ingot meant nothing—there were plenty at home…
Soon, Tian Yin turned her wrist, and a blank spirit talisman appeared in her palm—apparently one used to create top-quality spirit talismans.

Su Che and Yu Qing both felt a stir in their hearts, for they both sensed the spatial fluctuation when she took out the item—a ring on her left middle finger.
“A storage ring!”
Generally, the smaller the storage device, the larger its internal space; it is said that the highest-grade storage rings in the cultivation world can hold an entire mountain.
Su Che had only seen such a treasure once, on the hand of the supreme leader of Tianxuan Sect. Even his own master, Venerable Xuanji, only had a storage bracelet.
Of course, Su Che didn’t think it was anything to envy—his own Immortal Prison space was even larger, covering an area of a hundred miles, and could hold several mountains…
Moreover, given his status and strength, even if he obtained such a storage ring, he wouldn’t dare wear it. Likely, it would be stolen within a few days, bringing trouble instead.
At that moment, Tianyin quickly pressed her delicate fingers together, tapping a few spells into the blank spirit talisman. Soon, the talisman emitted colorful light and transformed into an elite-grade spirit talisman.
Su Che and Yu Qing exchanged a glance, both showing shock in their eyes.
“It’s that easy? Just a few simple moves and already an elite-grade spirit talisman is created. Even my master, at the late Golden Core stage, couldn’t do this… Who exactly is this Tianyin?”
Still in shock, the two continued to watch her actions…
Holding the spirit talisman, Tianyin slowly approached the warehouse door. Then, with a light tap of her index finger, the talisman stuck to the door. It emitted light, like a clear spring, which was absorbed by the “dry” door.
With a series of creaking sounds, the two massive warehouse doors slowly opened, revealing a dark entrance.
“Go in. Hurry up,” Tianyin said casually as she turned around.
Swish! Swish!
Su Che and Yu Qing disappeared and rushed into the door together.
In just a dozen breaths, they came out again. This was because Black Glowing Ink Crystal was heavier than gold. Although thousands of pounds sounded like a large amount, it was actually just a pitifully small pile.
After entering, Su Che and Yu Qing didn’t need to count carefully. They simply divided it into roughly two equal parts, stored them, and could leave.
“Elder Tianyin, if there’s any question, please ask,” Yu Qing said respectfully.

Tianyin paid no attention to those Black Shining Ink Crystals earlier. At this moment, she quietly sent a message to Yu Qing with a question.
“No,” Yu Qing replied immediately without hesitation.
Tianyin didn’t respond either. After a brief pause, she turned her gaze toward Su Che.
Su Che had already prepared himself mentally: no matter what astonishing question she asked, his expression must not reveal the slightest hint of suspicion…
Then, Tianyin’s whispered words reached his ears: “I ask you, have you ever seen a golden command flag with the words ‘Mi Xian’ embroidered on it?”
“The Mi Xian Command Flag!”
Su Che’s heart skipped a beat, especially the drop of the Witch Clan’s essence blood in his left atrium began to tremble slightly…
“Reporting to the Grandmaster, I haven’t seen it. However, a few months ago, I did enter the Little Mi Xian Realm once,” Su Che replied calmly, controlling all his emotions.
The fact that he had entered the Little Mi Xian Realm was a well-known secret within the sect; he couldn’t hide it even from himself. Besides, since she had already asked about matters related to ‘Mi Xian,’ deliberately concealing that experience would only seem suspicious and arouse her doubts in the future. It was better to confess it openly.
“Oh?”
Tianyin’s expression changed, and she continued to ask via message, “So you’re one of this batch of disciples who entered the realm… Well, inside the Little Mi Xian Realm, have you seen anything related to that command flag?”
Su Che pretended to recall carefully before answering after a while, “I think so. I once saw a mural on the wall of a temple showing someone holding a command flag. That’s about it.”
This was also the truth—he had indeed seen such a mural in the temple of the Little Mi Xian Realm.
Tianyin stared intently into Su Che’s eyes. After a short while, she nodded and said, “If you remember anything else in the future, be sure to inform me right away, okay?”
“Okay,” Su Che nodded.
Earlier, there had been a strange magical aura in her gaze that almost revealed the true thoughts hidden deep in Su Che’s heart. Fortunately, the Soul Tower of the Immortal Prison in his mind kept his spirit steady.
At this point, Su Che realized that this terrifying woman kept sending sect disciples to the underground demonic realm for training, actually waiting for one person—him!
It was said that some highly skilled great cultivators could predict the will of heaven and deduce when a matter of great importance to them would occur, or in which general area it would happen.

Although it’s impossible to be entirely precise, it’s still possible to get a rough idea. For example, my master, Venerable Xuanji, had long ago calculated that the opportunity for him to advance to the Yuan Ying stage would come from nothing other than a fairy crystal. However, he couldn’t predict exactly when or in what way he would obtain such a crystal, nor was it certain whether he would even get one in his lifetime. So, he could only wait patiently for that opportunity to arise, until my arrival…