Chapter 558 - 390: Divine Incense Aura
’Where did this little girl come from? How dare she act so high and mighty in my presence?’
Fang Qingyuan had intended to go over and say a few words to this girl, to teach her some respect for her elders. But after he released his Mind Divine Technique, his divine soul subconsciously reached out to probe her, only to be deflected by an invisible barrier. It seemed to want to assimilate his divine sense, a sensation Fang Qingyuan had never experienced before.
Even when he had met Chu Hongshang, a Mid-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, Fang Qingyuan had been able to vaguely sense the violent Fire Spiritual Power contained within her body. And yet this seemingly ordinary girl before him... ’Could her cultivation level actually be higher than Chu Hongshang’s?’
Fang Qingyuan began to have second thoughts. He had always tried to be a cautious person, so when faced with a girl he couldn’t see through, he suddenly felt that being ordered around a bit to help pick flowers wasn’t such a big deal after all.
This emotional shift, from confusion to annoyance and then to shock, all happened within Fang Qingyuan’s mind in the span of just two breaths. To an outsider, it simply looked as if the girl had called out to Fang Qingyuan, and after pausing for two breaths, he went over to join the others in gathering the tender buds and flowers scattered across the mountainside.
Fang Qingyuan followed the others’ example and joined the group picking wildflowers. Meanwhile, the girl directed everyone nonstop, clapping her hands and laughing from time to time, exuding an air of innocent cheerfulness.
While bent over picking flowers, Fang Qingyuan sidled up to a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators and asked in a low voice:
"Who is this girl? What’s her background? How did she get all of you running around in circles for her?"
At Fang Qingyuan’s question, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators looked distressed. One of them whispered:
"We don’t know which family’s direct descendant she is. We only know she came with the Ancestor, and judging by the Ancestor’s attitude toward her, he’s extremely respectful. So, whatever she tells us to do, we just do it."
Hearing this description, Fang Qingyuan’s heart stirred. The "Ancestor" these Cultivators spoke of wasn’t Di Qing, but Di Qing’s uncle, Di Yuanpu.
For Di Yuanpu to be so respectful toward her, the girl’s status had to be terrifyingly high, or her power had to be terrifyingly high. It had to be one or the other.
However, Fang Qingyuan had never heard of Yue’e Ancestor having any close, direct disciples. Given Yue’e Ancestor’s age, even if she had borne her own children before reaching the Divinity Transformation Realm, they would have all died off over the long course of several thousand years.
As for the current Yue’e Race, after thousands of years of new blood, it was impossible to know how much of Yue’e Ancestor’s bloodline even remained.
But Fang Qingyuan recalled Lechuan mentioning that Yue’e Ancestor had a Divinity Transformation-level Jade Rabbit by her side, and that it was also female.
It was just that it wasn’t easy for a Spirit Beast to take human form. Even at the Divinity Transformation Realm, many Ancient Beasts of the Wilderness never transform into a human shape. Fang Qingyuan had never seen a transformed ancient beast before, so he hadn’t thought of the Jade Rabbit at first.
But with this suspicion in mind, Fang Qingyuan looked at the girl again and noticed some rabbit-like features. For example, although the girl was charmingly naive and cute, the philtrum on her upper lip was very deep and seemed slightly split.
Furthermore, the girl was constantly hopping and bouncing around, unable to stay still for a moment. Every so often, she would run up to a Cultivator picking flowers, hold out her hands to ask for tender buds and small blossoms, and then stuff them into her mouth.
’Huh!? She stuffed them in her mouth and... ate them?’
That pretty much confirmed it. Fang Qingyuan felt a wave of helplessness. ’So this is the temperament of our side’s Divinity Transformation-level combatant? Where is the cunning one would expect from thousands of years of cultivation?’
’No wonder she was sent to this poor, remote place. With a personality like this, if you expected her to fight other Divinity Transformation Spirit Beasts, she’d probably get herself slaughtered.’
While Fang Qingyuan was still processing this news, the Jade Rabbit’s human form came up to him and held out her hand, asking for the tender buds he had picked.
In that short time, Fang Qingyuan had gathered quite a few. Seeing the Jade Rabbit asking for them, he wisely handed them all over.
The Jade Rabbit took them, carefully selected about half from the large handful, and stuffed them into her mouth in one go. As she chewed, her eyes crinkled with contentment.
"You’re not bad. The ones you picked are much tastier than what those idiots chose. This clear, crisp taste, with just a hint of dew... I’ve been eating it for so many years and I never get tired of it."
With her mouth full of tender buds, the Jade Rabbit’s words were muffled. Watching her chew the buds in her small mouth, which resembled a rabbit’s cleft lip, Fang Qingyuan could only think, ’As long as you’re happy.’
He could tell that the Jade Rabbit was only making everyone pick flowers and buds for her because she was bored and wanted to kill time.
After a little while, the Moon Rabbit seemed to have had her fun. She waved her hand to dismiss the crowd, keeping only Fang Qingyuan behind, and then asked:
"I sense a peculiar aura on you. It’s like an incense aroma, and a very high-level one. Have you been in contact with any Incense and Candle Deities recently?"
The Jade Rabbit’s words sent a jolt through Fang Qingyuan. He never expected her to drop such a bombshell. Back when he had Tu Dai’Er perform the divine descent, allowing the two Divinity Transformation Cultivators to see Jinbao from afar, he had thought he had nothing to do with it. But now, listening to the Jade Rabbit, it seemed he had been tainted by a Divine Incense and Candle Smoke Aroma that refused to fade.
The crucial part was that he had been completely unaware of this. Moreover, Tu Dai’Er hadn’t touched him at all during the process. How did he get marked?
And was this mark harmful to him?
It was a technique that neither Fang Qingyuan nor Lechuan could detect. Only a Divinity Transformation Cultivator like the Jade Rabbit could spot it at a glance.
If Tu Dai’Er’s master, Tu Wuzhao, was planning to do something to him, this technique she applied without his knowledge had now been unintentionally exposed by the Jade Rabbit. This was definitely something Tu Wuzhao could not have anticipated.
After all, she couldn’t have predicted that Fang Qingyuan would run into a Divinity Transformation Cultivator so quickly, let alone one who would take the initiative to point out the issue on his body.
Now, Fang Qingyuan wanted to understand: what were the specific implications of this Incense and Candle Deity aroma he was tainted with?
"A Divine Incense aroma means you’ve been marked," the Jade Rabbit explained, looking smug. "This Divine Spirit is of a very high rank, and the technique used is quite sophisticated. Hmph, if I weren’t an expert at blending fragrances, I wouldn’t have noticed it either."
The Jade Rabbit looked quite proud as she spoke about the issue on Fang Qingyuan’s body. Her expertise in Refining Elixir Pills and fragrances was definitely among the top few of all the Spirit Beasts in the Beast Taming Sect.
After all, her Lifebound Magical Treasure was a giant pestle.
Seeing that the Jade Rabbit seemed to be in a good mood, Fang Qingyuan continued to ask:
"A mark? What does it do? I don’t know if it’s good or bad for me. If I wanted to get rid of it, what price would I have to pay?"
The Jade Rabbit was amused by Fang Qingyuan’s worried expression. She laughed and said:
"This mark means that you’ve entered this divine being’s field of vision. When you inadvertently mention this divine being’s name, there’s a high probability that your words will enter its mind.
"For the believers who worship this Divine Spirit, this kind of mark is a blessing they couldn’t even pray for. In their words, it’s ’divine favor’—the gaze of a god. Unfortunately, for us Cultivators who seek only our own perfection, we view these external Divine Spirits as a poison that damages our Dao Foundation. Even if they grant us Divine Techniques and unparalleled combat strength, it comes at the price of our own spiritual essence being dissipated and replaced. Therefore, we do not take this path."
The Jade Rabbit’s thousands of years of experience and her high station gave her thoughts a commanding, lofty perspective. The innocent cheerfulness she had displayed just moments ago had now completely vanished.
’As expected, no one who can cultivate to the Divinity Transformation Realm is a naive fool.’ After hearing the Jade Rabbit’s explanation, Fang Qingyuan had a preliminary understanding of the situation.
Tu Wuzhao had used Tu Dai’Er to plant the Divine Incense aroma on him. This aura was subtle, formless, and colorless. An ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator probably couldn’t see it; only a Divinity Transformation Cultivator could see through it.
’No, wait,’ he corrected himself. ’It seems only a Divinity Transformation Cultivator who is an expert in Refining Elixir Pills, familiar with the properties of various medicines, and experienced with fragrances and medicinal herbs would be able to notice something amiss.’
Fang Qingyuan began to put himself in Tu Wuzhao’s shoes. ’What is she plotting against me for? What do I have that’s worth a Divinity Transformation Cultivator’s effort?’
Fang Qingyuan reviewed his own situation. As long as his Immortal Mansion remained unexposed, he was just a mere Fourth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator, hardly worth a Divinity Transformation Cultivator expending so much effort on.
If he were a Nascent Soul Fourth Level Cultivator, that might be a different story. But as a Golden Core, he was truly insignificant.
After thinking it over, the only answer was Jinbao. Fang Qingyuan began to consider Jinbao’s importance in Tu Wuzhao’s eyes. To her, Jinbao had to be far more important than he was.
Because controlling Jinbao was equivalent to controlling his biological father, that Divinity Transformation Bear Beast. Fang Qingyuan had seen the intense affection Jinbao’s father had for his son that day. He had no doubt that for Jinbao’s sake, his father would make all sorts of compromises with Tu Wuzhao.
A Divinity Transformation-level combatant—that was something worth Tu Wuzhao’s elaborate scheming. He himself was just an accessory to Jinbao.
The Divine Incense aroma on his body was Tu Wuzhao’s method of remote surveillance. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken an excessive amount of items from his Immortal Mansion recently, so he hadn’t revealed any weaknesses.
’Perhaps Jinbao is Tu Wuzhao’s primary surveillance target. He must have a much denser Divine Incense aroma on him than I do. This Divine Incense and Candle Smoke Aroma probably has some other special function at a critical moment. For example, during a battle, could she use it to suddenly descend by force?’
The thought of this thing clinging to both him and Jinbao made Fang Qingyuan extremely unhappy. But since he was up against a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, he could only bury the grudge in his heart and wait for a future day to settle the score.
For now, Fang Qingyuan was paying very close attention to the Jade Rabbit. With an "ancestor" who was relatively close to him as a backer, Tu Wuzhao surely couldn’t act with complete impunity.
Back in the Land of Trial, Fang Qingyuan had witnessed Tu Wuzhao’s methods—she wasn’t one to play by the rules. But to offend two Divinity Transformation beings at once...
’No,’ Fang Qingyuan thought, shaking his head. He wasn’t important enough to have two Divinity Transformation beings stand up for him. But relationships could be cultivated. Since both ancestors were here, and with Lechuan around, how could he fail to win the favor of Yue’e Ancestor and the Jade Rabbit before him?
At this thought, Fang Qingyuan said attentively:
"Would you like to continue tasting these tender buds and fresh flowers? On my Land Realm, within my Spiritual Land, I have many Spirit Plants and Herbs growing. I would be honored if you would sample them and offer your critique."