Qianluo Mountain's Qianluo Gate was destroyed in a great fire many years ago. Among the more than 3,000 disciples who survived were Ye Qingxue and Chen Jing. As for whether there were others, Ye Qingxue did not know. The great fire not only burned down Qianluo Gate but also several mountains. When Ye Qingxue returned to the mountain, it was already a scorched earth. She personally cleared away the ruins and rebuilt a wooden house. A new monument was erected in front of the mountain, but no words were engraved on it.

  Since she returned to Qianluo Mountain, no one has come to Qianluo Mountain. However, someone came today, or rather, a shrimp came. This shrimp had broken off one of its claws and some parts of its body were charred as if burned by fire.

  It emerged from the river where Chen Jing fell in and crawled straight towards Qianluo Gate. For this kind of aquatic spirit, as long as there is water, it can generally go anywhere, as long as it doesn't cause trouble for the river god, it won't be difficult. Fortunately, there were no demons or monsters that had become spirits in Mount Qianluo, and it hadn't even learned how to climb clouds, so it could only crawl on the ground in the mountains and forests. Tigers and leopards didn't dare approach it, and wolves and bears also avoided it.

  Striding powerfully through the mountains, he had a dark wolf-toothed club tucked under his arm, and was muttering to himself: "It turns out that everyone in these mountains is kind-hearted; when the River God returns, I'll ask him to make me a Mountain God..."

  When it came to the foot of the mountain where Qianluomen was, before climbing up, he shouted loudly: "Shengu, Shengu, something's wrong... the River God's statue has been smashed by some heavenly killer..." Before he could finish shouting the word 'gu', a figure appeared in front of him. Dressed in white like snow, with clear and bright eyes, but to Hongxia's eyes, it was like a lightning bolt piercing into his heart.

  She didn't ask, just looked at him like that, and the big red shrimp immediately stuttered and said: "River... River God's statue... The statue is broken..."

  He had barely finished speaking when a flash of lightning illuminated his eyes and he vanished.

  It hastily turned around, lifted its head high, and couldn't see anything, but shouted loudly: "Goddess, take me on a ride..." After finishing speaking, it returned to the original road and drilled into the forest, muttering in its mouth: "The goddess is good, but not as caring as the river god." It wanted to walk back along the way again, thinking in its heart: "If the goddess speaks up, I will definitely come to this Thousand Luo Mountain to be the guardian spirit beast..."

  In the temple, incense is still thriving, but the River God statue in front of Ye Qingxue is already damaged. On the altar, a mess of broken stones. One leg was shattered into fragments, and one arm had been severed to the ground. The face of the god statue was covered with moss, among which there were also red ones mixed in.

  Her eyebrows were tightly furrowed and her expression was solemn.

  Misty water rose outside the temple gate, and a blue shell emerged from the mist. The shell came with the misty water and entered the River God Temple.

  Ye Qingxue didn't even turn her head back and asked: "When did the problem with the statue occur?"

  "It was probably about three months ago that the statue's face started growing red moss, and later slowly transformed into a blue color." The voice coming from the shell still sounded like a child's, gentle and soft, as if floating in the mist.

  Ye Qingxue didn't say anything, she just turned her head to look at the shell, and the shell said: "At that time, we didn't know what was going on. Later, the old turtle in the Evil Dragon Gorge said that this was the River God returning to the world of humans, and only then would the River God statue appear like this."

  "What did you say?" Ye Qingxue asked as she turned her head back.

  "The year before last, Cheng Huang borrowed the name of Da Shou to bring the gods who came to celebrate his birthday into the underworld, and He Shen Ye fell in and didn't come back. For a year, the statue hasn't changed at all, but now it's changing because of He Shen Ye's influence. The old turtle said that when the gods enjoy incense and fire, the incense is strong, the temple is immortal, and the statue is lifelike. Now the temple's incense is very good, but the statue has a problem, which means He Shen Ye has encountered trouble."

  "You're saying that God's leg was broken and his arm was severed because my junior brother's true body had his leg broken and arm severed?" Ye Qingxue's voice didn't change, still sounding calm and serene as usual.

  "Hmm, at first we didn't know it was like this, thinking someone had cast a spell, so we guarded with the big red shrimp day and night. But the River God statue would still drop stone blocks, which made the big red shrimp go invite the Goddess. I went to ask the old turtle in the Evil Dragon Gorge, that's when I found out something happened to the River God."

  In Bei Ke's eyes, Ye Qingxue was always so calm and composed. The first time she saw her was when Chen Jing rescued her from the Embroidered Spring Bend, when her spiritual power was exhausted and she was on the verge of death. Yet, her face was as tranquil and peaceful as it is now, viewing life and death with equanimity. Later, after Chen Jing's fierce battle with Feng Lin at the River God Temple, Bei Ke was deeply worried that someone would take advantage of the situation, but in the end, no one appeared. This made her curious, and only a few days later did she see a white-clad woman standing on the mountain peak by the riverbank. She remembered that it was the River God's shifu (master), and from then on, Ye Qingxue's image of quietly standing guard in the wind and rain on the mountain peak was deeply etched in her heart. In Bei Ke's heart, this was the true embodiment of a mortal's Daoist elegance.

  Remaining calm and composed in the face of adversity, viewing life and death as trivial matters like passing clouds, yet being resolute and persistent at heart.

  However, when Chen Jing was deeply trapped in the underworld of Qin Guangcheng, Beishell discovered that Ye Qingxue not only had an eternal calmness but also a side that made people's hearts skip a beat. This wasn't just Beishell's feeling, but also many others'.

  Ye Qingxue didn't speak, but the shell said: "The statue is missing legs and arms, so the River God must also be missing legs and arms. Looking at the layers of peeling on the statue's body, the River God's physical body must have suffered extreme damage."

  Ye Qingxue suddenly said: "Since Shidi has returned to the mortal world, have there been any major events in the mortal world over the past three months?" Ye Qingxue had always been cultivating in Qianluo Mountain and did not set foot in the mundane world.

  The tortoise shook its head and said it didn't know, then added: "I've heard that among the gods, there's a method of communicating with heaven and earth. The mountain god of Cuiping Mountain has profound and unfathomable magical powers; perhaps she'll have news about the River God."

  Ye Qingxue shook her head and said, "This person's magical powers are high, but she is a heartless and ruthless individual with an unknown background. In the past when my junior brother was on the verge of losing his soul, he went to ask for her help in borrowing magic, yet she still required him to make a promise to her. If I were to go find her again, even if she didn't have any conditions, I wouldn't want to owe her a favor. If Junior Brother returns, I will definitely make sure he fulfills that promise as soon as possible; otherwise, it will lead to trouble in the future."

  Bai Ke didn't expect Ye Qingxue to have such an opinion about the Cui Ping Mountain spirit, and his impression of Ye Qingxue changed a bit in his heart.

  "But, Heishen has been a god for a short time, he doesn't have many friends, most of them are enemies," said Beike.

  "No friends? Hehe, what am I, I'm his senior sister, he's my Qianluomen junior." Ye Qingxue turned around and stepped out of the River God Temple, a flash of electric flowers, and Ye Qingxue had disappeared without a trace.

  Ye Qingxue didn't go far, but appeared in the city of Balin. In broad daylight, a thread of electric flowers wasn't conspicuous. Under a willow tree by a stone bridge in Balin City, silver threads of electric flowers flashed, and under the willow tree, there was one more person. White clothes were like snow, wind was clear and cloud was light. The pedestrians on the opposite side of the street didn't notice her at all.

  Under the willow tree, there was an old fortune teller with a sparse and slightly yellowish beard. He had his eyes lightly closed, and next to him stood a white banner with two lines of majestic calligraphy: "Gazing up at the heavenly gods, looking down at the spirits of the underworld, if you want to ask about worldly affairs, it will only cost three or four pieces of silver."

  Ye Qingxue looked at him, and before she could speak, the old Taoist stroked his sparse and slightly yellowish beard and said leisurely: "Immortals do not enter the divine realm, Ye Palm Door is indeed bold."

  "I am not an immortal, but a mortal who yearns for immortality and seeks the Way." Ye Qingxue said as she turned around.

  "Refine the essence, transform it into energy, refine the energy, and transform it into spirit. Once the spirit is transformed, one can be called an immortal. Ye Zhangmen's realm is beyond the transformation of spirit, so why isn't he an immortal yet?" The old fortune teller didn't even look at Ye Qingxue, his expression as if everything was already within his grasp.

  "Is it called Xian just because of the transformation of the god? I heard that only when the original spirit is revealed and reflected in the void can it be said to have entered the path of Xian. When did this humble transformation realm become worthy of being called Xian?" Ye Qingxue's voice was clear and crisp, but also calm and gentle. It had already attracted attention from some people on the street, many young dandies stopped in their tracks to take a peek, trying to get a glimpse of Ye Qingxue behind the dense green silk willow branches.

  "Ye Zhangmen is so arrogant, just a mere Nascent Soul stage cultivator. In the world, how many Nascent Soul stage cultivators are there? It's said that to refine one's spirit, one must first refine their Qi, and only then can they enter the gate of cultivation. How difficult it is to reach the Nascent Soul stage, let alone the Void Refining stage! I've never even heard of it." The old Daoist finished speaking, then continued: "It seems that the rumors are true. Otherwise, Ye Zhangmen wouldn't have dared to come to this city of Balin."

  Ye Qingxue didn't respond to his words, but instead said: "I came today to ask the old master to calculate a fortune for me."

  The old Taoist stroked his mountain goat whiskers again and said, "Please speak, Ye Zhangmen."

  "My junior brother is in trouble, I'd like to ask Master to calculate where he is now." Ye Qingxue asked quietly.

  "However, when it comes to divination, one must have a lead, a spark of intuition, and then one can track down the answer from thousands of miles away. Divining the will of the gods is especially difficult; whether or not you can find the answer depends on yourself."

  "Oh, what's going on?"

  "The affairs of the world, no matter how obscure they may be, will always have a trail to follow. Therefore, one must first obtain the subtle signs from the palm of the hand, and only then can one search for the truth and find what is in one's heart." The Taoist said slowly. Ye Qingxue walked out from behind the willow tree, came to the front of the Taoist's desk, sat down, and asked: "How do I reveal the signs?"

  "Ask the hexagrams as if asking heaven and earth, words are the shape and language of heaven and earth. You can calm your mind and write down a character according to what you think in your heart, I will then search for the obscure intention of heaven and find the answer you want in your heart."

  At this time, the eyes of those young men on the street almost popped out, and they all involuntarily puffed out their chests, trying to shake their folding fans more elegantly. When Ye Qingxue sat down, they all gathered around her. Among them was a rather handsome young man who gently shook his lotus-leaf fan and said: "If this young lady wants to have her fortune told, there is a descendant of Fuxi in my mansion who specializes in the Eight Trigrams and can predict everything under heaven. Although Baoling City is peaceful, there are still many swindlers and deceivers."

  The old Taoist sat still and unmoving, completely unbothered by his own claims of deception.

  "Is that so?" she said lightly, picking up the black brush on the old Taoist's table. Her slender hand grasped the brush with a light and airy motion, not touching any dust. The young master's eyes widened in surprise, swallowing his saliva involuntarily, and said again: "Miss must be looking for someone, our humble abode has a divination master who is skilled in finding people, please wait a moment, I will send someone to invite the divination master to come and calculate your fortune."

  He finished speaking and nodded towards a person beside him. That person immediately ran off quickly, apparently to invite that certain Fu Xi's diviner.

  PS: Wish you all a happy new year, and may your heart be forever engraved with kindness.