Zhu Zixuan, upon learning of Xue Ya’s situation, rushed over immediately to laugh.

He laughed so hard his stomach hurt and said with difficulty, clutching his belly,

"Oh my heavens! Xue Youxuan, you’ve lived for more than two thousand years and cultivated the Wúfàng Xínghái yì for over a thousand years! Immortals from all over want to share a bed with you to experience the Observing Emotionless Dao. But in less than three years, that kid crushed your thousand years of effort. Oh, it hurts so much!"

Xue Ya had already returned to her usual attire. She looked at Zhu Zixuan indifferently,

"Had enough of laughing?"

"Not yet, such a funny thing, how could I laugh enough?" Zhu Zixuan wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, taking quite a while to recover. Then, he took a deep breath and carefully examined his colleague.

Their relationship wasn’t very good.

But Xue Ya was almost the only one besides He Youyi who could have casual conversations with Zhu Zixuan.

Zhu Zixuan thought for a moment and asked with a smile, "Don’t you find anything strange?"

"Of course I find it strange." Xue Ya frowned deeply and briefly recounted the events of that night.

Zhu Zixuan squinted his eyes, "Since you sensed something was wrong, why didn’t you just leave?"

Xue Ya sighed, "I considered it. But my principle is to never hurt others’ feelings. I felt that if I ran away at that time, it might upset him."

"Tsk tsk." Zhu Zixuan made a strange face.

"Things have reached this point, I admit I lost to him."

"What do you plan to do? Abandon the Wúfàng Xínghái yì?"

Xue Ya actually moved on quickly. She had entered the Dao not for the sake of being a free spirit, but because she was inherently such a person, unconfined by mundane concepts. She didn’t blame anyone for Fan Wubing causing the loss of over a thousand years of carefree spirit. Lose something and just find it again, simple as that.

"Let nature take its course." She lay slanted on a stone platform, her long hair flowing, and her Daoist robe fluttering in the wind, "Actually, I was a bit intentional. The essence of true free spirit is ’not being bound by any concept and acting with one’s heart.’"

"From what you say, you’re not planning to give up on Fan Wubing?"

Xue Ya placed the Buddhist duster on her chest, gold threads embellishing the snowy peaks, "As the saying goes, where you lose something, you just find it there again. However, this time, I must be myself, why pretend to be someone who doesn’t exist at all."

"I really have to see you in a new light." Zhu Zixuan uttered a tsk.

Xue Ya swung her full, white legs, "People say Immortals have it good..."

Zhu Zixuan laughed, "You Daoist Nun, why are you stealing my catchphrases?" Saying this, he turned and entered the nearby palace of Primordial Transformation Celestial Venerable.

Upon seeing the Primordial Transformation Celestial Venerable, he said, "Sect Leader, this murder phenomenon might be more severe than we thought."

The Primordial Transformation Celestial Venerable calmly said, "He Youyi already told me."

"He also cares about this matter?" Zhu Zixuan asked and answered himself, "Well, he does like meddling in others’ business."

"What does White Jade Capital say?" he asked.

After a slight pause, the Primordial Transformation Celestial Venerable replied, "The Sea-Stabilizing Banner has been summoned, but White Jade Capital now focuses on the Fallen Immortal Land, over at Chuirizhou Continent, the Fallen Immortal Land at the Scorching Heart Volcano is loosening."

"So soon?"

"Everything is accelerating. Things are increasingly out of expectations. If the trial of the Human World Executor Dao cannot proceed smoothly, we might have to end it early."

Zhu Zixuan asked, "Who’s leading now?"

"Zhang Yuan. Ahead of the others by quite a margin."

Zhu Zixuan pondered, "Letting him become the Human World Executor isn’t a problem. After all, he’s a native disciple of Wangxian Pavilion and familiar in all aspects."

"I think so too."

...

After several days of layered searches and comparisons, Fan Wubing finally located the Bixi.

Contrary to what he thought, as an ancient creature, the Bixi’s Fire of Life in the Map of All Living Creatures wasn’t brilliant at all, instead, it was quite faint. Fortunately, the cooperation between the Life Dao and ’Furnace of the Heart’ was excellent.

Upon narrowing down the range to the extent that his spirit could cover, the deeply "hidden" Bixi was finally found.

It was motionless, seemingly in deep slumber.

Such ancient creatures tend to have far more slumbering time than active time.

Fan Wubing arrived at the sea area where Bixi was located. He first habitually analyzed the surrounding aura and Dao principles to ensure there were no unpredictable factors.

Then he submerged into the sea, cautiously advancing towards the seabed.

"Aura normal."

"Dao principles normal."

Fan Wubing kept a constant watch on the changes in the surrounding environment. The farther from the sea surface, the larger and more peculiar the creatures he encountered. Most lacked the spiritual intelligence of monster beasts, acting on instinct, ready to fight at the slightest disagreement. There was never a moment of peace below these deep seas.

Fan Wubing concealed his aura, avoiding provoking these beings without spiritual intelligence.

A quarter of an hour later, he furrowed his brows, "Is it really that deep? Haven’t reached the bottom yet? My speed isn’t slow."

Despite the strong pressure of the deep sea, with aura and Dao principles hard to fully exert, Fan Wubing was sure his diving speed wasn’t slow at all, certainly not taking a quarter hour without reaching the bottom.

The surroundings were pitch black, sunlight completely absent, only some glowing marine creatures occasionally swimming by, adding a bit of light.

The stillness of the deep sea, like a silent nightmare.

After a brief contemplation, Fan Wubing condensed an aura into a uniquely shaped glowing marker, using his ’Path of the Mountain’ fused with ’My Dao’ to fix it in place, and then continued descending.