Gu Ran was starting to feel there was something really off about this Lower Realm. First, were the anomalies even he - with his breadth of knowledge - had a hard time understanding. Then, there was the Dark Abyss Stone, which was not supposed to be anywhere near the Lower Realms.

After that, there was his transmigration.

He turned to Xiao Hong, ‘And this girl is the greatest anomaly of all. Now that I’ve reached the Yang Disaster, not only has the warning from the Heavenly Abyss Scripture not weakened; it has in fact, become even stronger!’ The reason others assumed his cultivation to be at the Earth Disaster was because he concealed his Cultivation Base. 

‘I must establish a good relationship with her as well!’ Tossing the matter with Qiao Xuan to the back of his mind, he turned to Xiao Hong.

“Ahem, Junior Sister Xiao, about the Mysterious Black Stone,” Gu Ran directly got to the point. “I still wish to exchange for it.”

Xiao Hong pondered for a while, “Do you have a Cultivation Technique that can hide my aura while cultivating?”

Gu Ran froze. He felt this girl’s ideas were truly strange!

His mouth twitched, “... Junior Sister, your demands are getting more and more nonsensical. How could there be such an absurd Technique? You can’t isolate your Zhenqi from Spiritual Energy during Cultivation - that is simply impossible.

“The only thing you can do is use an Array Formation to isolate the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth from the Spiritual Energy inside the Array Formation, but that would render the whole point moot - since you would not be able to use the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth to commune with the World, leaving you unable to cultivate.

“It may work in the Body-Refining Realm, but beyond that, it would be utterly useless.

“In short, it isn’t possible!” Gu Ran shook his head like a disappointed Senior.

Xiao Hong was a bit miffed, but there was nothing she could do. ‘Well, it seems cultivating 24/7 is a bust.’

So she asked for the next best thing, “Do you have a Cultivation Technique that can conceal my cultivation from everyone? Including higher cultivators? It should also be easy to learn!”

Gu Ran’s mouth twitched again as he said, “I do have such a technique, but it is quite precious! That amount of Mysterious Black Stone is not equivalent to the Technique.” Gu Ran had a conflicted look on his face as though the Technique really was that precious. It was so well done that Xiao Hong almost believed it! If it weren’t for the fact that she suspected that this fellow was a protagonist, she would have fallen for his acting! There was simply no way a protagonist would suffer a loss!

“There’s nothing else I need for the time being, Senior Brother,” Xiao Hong shrugged. Even if that weren’t true, she still needed a way to conceal her cultivation, and this fellow - who was possibly an old fogie, had a portable grandpa, or was the Inheritor of some Super Awesome Divine Faction that got destroyed because they had to hand over their inheritance to the Protagonist - was the perfect person to rip off!

Gu Ran gritted his teeth with a painful expression on his face as though he were forced to give away his last french fry, “Dammit, alright! I’ll exchange it!”

He took out a Jade Slip and held it for a while in his hand. Xiao Hong, through her overpowered Divine Sense, felt extremely minute fluctuations in his Divine Sense imprinting information on the jade slip.

‘What a stupendous control he has over his Divine Sense!’ Xiao Hong’s eyes couldn’t help but widen slightly. It was almost nonsensical how weak the outward fluctuation of his Divine Sense was! Even the Celestial Bridge experts would not have such perfect control over their Divine Sense.

Moreover, Xiao Hong felt that his Divine Sense was much stronger than her own! It has to be known that she cultivated the Spirit God’s Soul Cultivation Method - allowing her to trump every other cultivator in her Realm in terms of Soul Strength. Because Soul Cultivation Techniques weren’t even heard of! 

According to her, Gu Ran either had a Soul Cultivation Technique that he cultivated to a much higher level than her, or he was an old fogie! With him being able to bring out a Heaven Rank Technique, Xiao Hong leaned towards the latter assumption.

Just as she was marvelling, Gu Ran spoke, “Here you go, Junior Sister.” He stretched out his hand that held the Jade Slip.

“Thank you, Senior Brother” Xiao Hong gracefully reached out and held the Jade Slip. When she pulled, however, the Jade Slip did not budge. “Senior Brother?” her tone uncertain as she looked at him in apparent confusion.

“I-I,” Gu Ran took a deep, shaky breath. With the painful expression on his face intensifying, he let go of the Jade Slip, “Here you go, Junior Sister.”

With the Dark Abyss Stone in hand, he walked away with a vacant look on his face. Anyone who saw him right now would feel that this young man had suffered a great loss!

It was so good, that Xiao Hong almost believed it yet again!

‘What a fucking Drama Queen!’ Xiao Hong was utterly dumbfounded. Her thoughts were filled with spite, ‘Where is your dignity as an esteemed protagonist?!!

‘How shameless of you to try and deceive an innocent Junior Sister!’ Xiao Hong shamelessly labelled herself ‘innocent’. 

‘I curse you to be single all your life!’ 

***

Having gotten a shiny new Technique, Xiao Hong immediately ran back to her private room to cultivate it. 

Ding! Discovered Special Technique: Heaven Concealing Method (Heaven), use a slot for cultivation?

“Dang! Everything this guy takes out is something else. I’m more and more inclined to the old-fogie-in-a-new-body, but it could also be a grandpa in a ring or the Inheritor of some Ancient Force…

“Though, the entire protagonist thing is still iffy…”

Xiao Hong was a bit lost in thought. While there were plenty of similarities to the novels she’d read in her previous life, it didn’t mean all of it was correct! The World had shown her plenty of times that it was not the same Xianxia World that she’d read about in the novels.

So, she was a little sceptical about the whole protagonist thing.

Shaking her head, she tossed that matter to the back of her head. 

To the system, she said, “Use Slot 1 for  Heaven Concealing Method.”

Ding! Set Slot 1: Heaven Concealing Method (Heaven). Time to reach Beginner: 34 Days.

She decided that Grade 3 Alchemy wouldn’t really be all that useful anyway, since the Pills that she was to refine in the Secret Realm were only Grade 2. 

Grade 2 Pills could be used up to Nirvana Realm. Some special pills, like the Heavenly Spirit Pill, could be used even by the higher cultivators of the Soul Palace Realm. So she didn’t really need it for now. But the Heaven Concealing method could not only hide her Cultivation Base, but it could also hide her presence from the Cultivator’s senses. Of course, it wouldn’t fool the Divine Sense, but cultivators did not use Divine Sense all the time anyway - that would put a great strain on their Spirit. 

Moreover, when cultivated to Perfection, things would be different. Upon cultivating the Heaven Concealing Method to Perfection, she could display any Cultivation level below her own. On top of that, she could even conceal her Life Aura and appear as a completely dead object. 

That basically meant she could use Earth Burrow and this technique in conjunction with it to achieve perfect concealment! 

Later on, she could even learn the Elemental Escapes and easily conceal herself in Fire, Water, Metal, Earth or Wood! By then, she could conceal herself wherever she wanted to, whenever she wanted to - and no one weaker than her would be able to detect her. Even stronger cultivators would not discover her unless they checked very, very, carefully.

That would take a long while though.

Xiao Hong realised that, despite being a Heaven Rank method like the Heaven-Swallowing Roc Breathing Method, it was much easier to cultivate! 

By now she had realised that not all Techniques were the same in terms of difficulty. The Star Shifting Steps, for example, was much easier to cultivate than the Spell Arts she had - it took her barely a few weeks to reach Small Accomplishment and then several more to reach Great Accomplishment. And just a few days back, she’d reached Grand Completion (Perfection)!

Xiao Hong guessed it was either because she was talented in using the Star Shifting Steps, or the Ancient God’s Physique Scripture resonated with it. They both had the concept of ‘stars’ in them.

Or perhaps it was the combination of both factors.

***

Soon it was evening, and it was time to set off. Xiao Hong, along with many other disciples went to the Balcony. Scores of disciples had arrived at the valley, either to see off their friends or bid farewell to their family. 

At the Balcony, Xiao Hong looked down at the ground and eagerly searched through the people that had come but was unable to find the person she was looking for.

Just as a feeling of dejection started to creep into her heart, Xiao Hong noticed a figure in the crowd. Instantly, a brilliant smile appeared on her face, dazzling the disciples nearby.

Through her cultivator eyesight, she noticed the figure blushing a red so deep, she might as well cosplay a tomato. Her smile turned into a wicked smirk as she took out her Communication Jade and poured her Divine Sense and Qi into it.

Her eyes glinting with mischief, she spoke slowly, “Hehe~, Sister Ying, you dare play tricks on me? Just wait for me to get back, I’ll discipline you properly.”

Her voice low and sultry, she purred, “Very, very thoroughly~”

She couldn’t care less about the ‘innocent’ image she had built in Qiao Guiying’s heart now!

She flushed slightly and continued, “See you in 3 years, mmwah~” She sent Qiao Guiying who was already flushed to the tips of her ears a kiss and a wink.

The reaction was instant! Qiao Guiying’s face blushed so deeply red that Xiao Hong felt that the twilight looked less red!

“{S-S-Sister Hong! I-}”

She cut off the Qi supply.

But a moment later, she couldn’t resist and sent another message, with a mock angry voice, “I’m very, very angry, Sister Ying. That was my first kiss, you know~? So, when I come back, you better be ready to take responsibility~!”

Xiao Hong cut off the Qi supply and ran away.

***

On the ground, Qiao Guiying’s heart clenched when Xiao Hong cut off the Qi Supply. Just as she was about to send another message, another message arrived and she heard her Sister Hong’s sweet voice.

“{I’m very, very angry, Sister Ying. That was my first kiss, you know~? So, when I come back, you better be ready to take responsibility~!}”

In the few seconds that message played, Qiao Guiying could’ve sworn that her heart did the most intense Body-refining exercise! From a deep dive into the sea, then to floating in the clouds like a hot air balloon, she felt her heart do things she didn’t think were possible.

After a few moments, the meaning of those words sunk in, ‘D-Doesn’t this mean she agrees to our relationship??’ It made her feel so electrified that the Heavenly Tribulation would feel shame.

She felt that her stomach had suddenly cultivated to the Sky Spirit Realm and flown directly into the sky!

‘No, I need to confirm.’ She urgently poured her Divine Sense and Qi into the Communication Jade, almost cracking it with the sheer quantity she poured in.

But before she could send the message, a light shield appeared around the Balcony. The majestic Immortal Ship swiftly rose into the air, reaching up so high up into the sky, that it looked smaller than Qiao Guiying’s fingernail. Then, it turned into a streak of purple light and shot away.

‘Noooo!!’ Qiao Guiying was instantly surrounded by an aura of depression. Now she had to wait for three whole years in maddening doubt!