662: Chapter 73 Black Hair Turns Gray

After the flying boat officially took off, Meng Li's group split into two factions.

Xu Changqing had to pilot the flying boat, standing outside to cast his spells.

Jing Tian, driven by curiosity, was also outside.

Meng Li, Hong Kui, and the others weren't as curious and didn't want to deal with the wind, so they entered the cabin.

Xu Maoshan, seeing there was nothing to do, found a corner to sleep in.

To pass the time, Meng Li set up a chess board and took turns playing against Hong Kui and Lan Kui.

Tang Xuejian was quite interested in the process of how Xu Changqing won back Zi Xuan, so she pulled Zi Xuan aside to start gossiping.

Zi Xuan was a bit embarrassed at first, but after some persistent pestering from Tang Xuejian, she reluctantly began to speak.

The matter wasn't complicated, and the development was almost identical to the original story.

Under the guidance of Pure Subtlety, Xu Changqing found Zi Xuan on an island. He then briefly recounted the stories of his and Zi Xuan's previous two lives, calling himself a fool who had failed her, and promised to treat her well in this life.

Zi Xuan had already been hoping he would come find her to rekindle their past love, and they soon reconciled as if nothing had happened.

After listening, Tang Xuejian felt the story wasn't what she had imagined. Somewhat disappointed, she couldn't help but complain a bit.

During this process, she accidentally noticed a strand of gray-white hair among Zi Xuan's tresses and couldn't help but find it strange.

“Sister Zi Xuan, what's wrong with your hair?”

These words were filled with surprise, drawing the attention of Meng Li, Hong Kui, and Lan Kui.

Zi Xuan, however, thought of something and was startled. She quickly followed Tang Xuejian's gaze and then spotted a gray-white hair in her own hair.

Her heart sank, but she feigned composure on the surface, saying, “It's nothing, it must have just caught some dust earlier.”

As she spoke, Zi Xuan pinched that hair and gently stroked it, secretly casting a spell to turn it back to black.

Tang Xuejian's cultivation was insufficient to notice Zi Xuan's secret maneuver. Knowing that Descendants of Nüwa could live forever but being unaware of Lin Qinger's situation, she didn't think any further of it. Seeing Zi Xuan say this, she believed her and turned the conversation to other topics.

Meng Li, Hong Kui, and Lan Kui also looked away and continued their game.

However, Zi Xuan became distracted.

That single gray-white hair brought to mind something she—and indeed most women—were unwilling to face: aging!

Although Xu Changqing had changed his mind and decided to be with her, he insisted on completing this mission.

This was something Zi Xuan could not stop.

And Xu Changqing's mission included collecting the five spirit orbs, among which the water spirit pearl was inside Lin Qinger's body; it was unavoidable.

Once the water spirit pearl was removed, the Seal on Lin Qinger would be released.

At that time, as Lin Qinger grew up, she would age and die at a rate even faster than an ordinary person.

Meanwhile, Xu Changqing had achieved success in his cultivation. Even if he gave up Immortal Ascension, his aging process would be much slower, and his lifespan would be longer than that of a commoner.

With one decreasing and the other increasing, the gap was obvious.

In a few short years, a situation would arise where his youthful elegance remained while her beauty had faded.

Just thinking about such a scene was hard for Zi Xuan to accept.

Therefore, she had to solve the problem of aging before Lin Qinger was unsealed.

Thinking of this, Zi Xuan glanced out of the corner of her eye at Meng Li, who was playing chess with Hong Kui and Lan Kui nearby, but soon shook her head inwardly.

She did not want Xu Changqing to know about her aging.

Meng Li was too close to Jing Tian and Xu Changqing. If she asked him for help, it would be difficult to keep the matter of her aging a secret.

Most importantly, although Meng Li had helped the Fire Ghost King and Tang Xuejian solve their appearance issues, she was a Descendant of Nüwa, belonging to the God Race, unlike the former two.

Zi Xuan was unsure if Meng Li's methods would work on her.

Compared to that, she trusted the method proposed by the Holy Maiden more.

It was just that the method wasn't easy to succeed with either.

Furthermore, the Holy Maiden had also said that this Daoist Meng practiced the path of the ancient True Immortal and possessed unfathomable abilities...

For a moment, Zi Xuan was somewhat conflicted.

After a long while, she made a decision: when the flying boat docked for rest, she would find an opportunity to go to the Nüwa Temple to seek guidance from the Holy Maiden.

And the opportunity soon arrived.

That night, the flying boat landed.

Everyone found their own places in the cabin to rest.

Zi Xuan took the chance to quietly slip out of the cabin, transforming into a streak of light and flying toward the Nüwa Temple.

However, as soon as she left, three figures appeared on the deck.

“Aren't we going to follow her and see?” Seeing Zi Xuan fly into the distance while Meng Li remained unmoved, Hong Kui asked.

Meng Li shook his head: “Given her relationship with Xu Changqing, she won't do anything detrimental to us. Her choosing to leave at this time means she definitely doesn't want to be known. In that case, prying into it might not be a good thing.”

Hearing this, Lan Kui nodded: “That makes sense.”

Hong Kui, however, looked suspicious: “Is that really it? Why do I feel like you seem to know something?”

Meng Li couldn't help but laugh: “As expected, I can't hide anything from you. But it's not that I know exactly what's going on; I just have a faint feeling that her departure is related to what happened during the day.”

“What happened during the day? What was it?” Lan Kui hadn't caught on.

Hong Kui was thoughtful: “Are you referring to the issue with her hair?”

“The hair? The one Sister Xue Jian mentioned?” Lan Kui suddenly realized, but she still didn't understand: “Didn't Sister Zi Xuan say she accidentally caught some dust? What's the problem with that?”

“At first glance, there's indeed no problem, but if you think carefully, there is.”

Hong Kui responded and then explained: “When a practitioner's cultivation reaches a certain level, their body undergoes a transformation, gaining traits that Mortals do not have.”

“A body pure and untainted, clothes that do not gather dust—these are among the most basic traits.”

“The three of us have this trait, so our clothes basically don't get dirty and can be worn continuously without needing to be changed frequently like ordinary people.”

“Zi Xuan is a Descendant of Nüwa and has lived for over two hundred years; she should also have this trait. Logically, it's impossible for her hair to catch dust as she claimed.”

“Unless a special situation has occurred.”

“For example, if she were seriously injured and her cultivation declined, causing the trait to disappear.”

“Or if she actively suppressed the trait for some purpose.”

Only then did Lan Kui understand, and then she said in confusion: “But the situations you mentioned couldn't possibly happen. Sister Zi Xuan's previous injuries have all been healed. Without being injured, her cultivation wouldn't just decline for no reason.”

“As for the last point...”

“A woman dresses for the one who pleases her. She just reconciled with Daoist Xu; she wouldn't have enough time to make herself beautiful, so how could she possibly let herself get dirty?”

Hong Kui was equally puzzled by this and could only look at Meng Li: “Do you know?”

Meng Li sighed: “Have you two never considered that she was lying when she said her hair caught some dust, intending to cover something up?”

Hong Kui and Lan Kui: “??”

...