Nie Kong secretly chuckled. To be precise, the current Tai Yan was incomplete, like a body split into two halves: Tai Yan was one half, and the Great Yan Spirit Venerable was the other.

When they separated, Tai Yan took the majority of the body's power and a blank primary soul, which now possessed independent consciousness; the Great Yan Spirit Venerable received only a small portion of the body's strength and cultivation realm, along with a secondary soul holding all the body's awareness and memories.

Back then, in order for the Great Yan Spirit Venerable to break through to the Grand Supreme Realm, he absolutely had to separate entirely from the medicinal herb body. Thus, he devised the idea of "the incarnation becoming the main body, and the main body becoming the incarnation..." Unfortunately, at the most crucial moment, the "Hui Mou Cao" primary body that the Great Yan Spirit Venerable intended to swap with as his incarnation was taken away by Nie Kong.

Now, Tai Yan and the Great Yan Spirit Venerable are main body yet not main body, incarnation yet not incarnation—the situation is extremely complex. Although Gu Quan is a Ninth-Rank Spirit God, it would be impossible for him to see through the intricacies. If it were his master, the Seven-Colored Grand Supreme, a super-expert of that caliber, it might have been possible.

"This little fellow actually attained sentience from an elixir? Let me see."

Gu Qi looked as if he had discovered some rare curiosity, his eyes sparkling. He snatched the gourd over without regard for the little creature's protests, turning it over and examining it meticulously. His two fingers continuously rubbed and kneaded the gourd, his face alight with fascination.

The gourd opened its tiny mouth and yelled, "Nie Kong, save me..."

Unexpectedly, the more the gourd cried out, the more excited Gu Qi became. He even used two fingers to prop open the gourd's round mouth, peering inside curiously.

Nie Kong shook his head helplessly. He hadn't expected Gu Quan, the disciple of the Seven-Colored Grand Supreme, to possess such a childish heart. Fortunately, he held no ill will toward the gourd.

"Aunt Yue, save me! Tai Yan, save me! Qing You, save me..."

The gourd shouted the names of several people in rotation, but received no response. As Gu Qi continued to rub and knead it gleefully, the gourd grew extremely depressed. It then decisively rolled its eyes, its plump belly rapidly shrinking, transforming in the blink of an eye into an "Imperial Snow Gourd Elixir."

Gu Quan gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at the gourd-shaped elixir in his palm, muttering to himself, "Little fellow, come out, come out, come out..."

After a long while, the gourd-shaped elixir showed no change whatsoever.

Gu Qi suddenly felt bored and tossed the elixir back to Nie Kong, his gaze shifting to Lan Ling.

"Whoosh!"

Lan Ling immediately hid behind Nie Kong, looking ready to bolt back into her beast tablet at the first sign of trouble. Fortunately, Gu Quan only nodded with a smile: "This little girl is also quite good. It seems she's about to pass the Second Stage Spirit Tribulation soon. Before long, she'll be the second Hua Pianxian."

As he spoke, Gu Quan’s eyes landed on Xiang Xiang with lively interest.

"Ah-yah-yah!"

The little creature shrieked loudly, wriggling its roots, stems, and leaves, slipping back into Nie Kong’s body. Feeling that this was still insufficient insurance, it burrowed deep into the core of that mass of chaotic divine power.

"This little guy is quite interesting."

Gu Quan scrutinized Nie Kong’s body, seeming as if he wished he could dig Xiang Xiang out. After a moment, however, his brow furrowed, and he said strangely, "Nie Kong, what kind of medicinal herb is this? I can't sense any trace of its aura? Impossible, let me try again... Still no aura."

His massive spiritual sense swept over Nie Kong’s body again and again. After a long time, Gu Quan still found nothing.

Nie Kong remained silent, letting him fuss about, but inwardly he was blossoming with joy. Xiang Xiang possessed no aura to begin with; no matter how much he sensed, he wouldn't detect it.

Back in the Yin Ruins, the reason the Wood Ancestor could discern Xiang Xiang's existence was primarily because Nie Kong also possessed the bloodline of the Half-Spirit Race, linking him to the Wood Ancestor's bloodline. Furthermore, Nie Kong's cultivation back then was truly too weak; if it were now, the Wood Ancestor might not even notice the little fellow's presence.

Although Gu Quan was a Ninth-Rank Spirit God, he and Nie Kong shared no blood connection, so naturally, no matter how he observed, the results were futile.

"Forget it, forget it."

After a good while, Gu Quan helplessly retracted his spiritual sense and looked at Qing You perched on his shoulder, saying with emotion, "Nie Kong, I must thank you. If it weren't for you, this little thing wouldn't have achieved such profound sentience, let alone becoming a Spirit God, and I don't know how much longer it would have taken."

He suddenly became serious, which caught Nie Kong slightly off guard. Nie Kong smiled after a moment's pause: "My being able to meet Qing You is also fate. If thanks are due, then I should thank Senior. If you hadn't acted out of respect for Qing You to lend a hand, we probably would have been taken to the Grand Supreme Heavenly Mansion."

Originally, Nie Kong had prepared to use the "Fire Tree Silver Flower" from his pet inventory to craft a "Medicine King Incarnation," and then extract a portion of the "Ethereal Fire Soul Dew" generated when Qing You advanced to Spirit God, using it to help Nie Kong separate a portion of his soul and integrate that soul into the incarnation.

This kind of "Medicine King Incarnation" would not only possess Nie Kong's soul aura but could also mimic the divine power aura of a Sixth-Rank Spirit God, achieving true deception. This way, as soon as the sight of Yi Ming and the others slightly shifted away from Nie Kong during the journey to the Grand Supreme Heavenly Mansion, he could seize the opportunity to release the incarnation while his true body completely merged with the void, escaping detection. Nie Kong was highly confident in this method of evasion.

It was only later that Gu Quan suddenly appeared, making it unnecessary for Nie Kong to go through those extra steps.

However, hearing Nie Kong's words of gratitude, Gu Quan smiled broadly and said, "Nie Kong, you are mistaken. The reason I took you away from the siege by those three Spirit Gods from the Grand Supreme Heavenly Mansion was not because of this little thing, Qing You, but because my master truly wishes to see you."

"Ah?"

Nie Kong was momentarily stunned speechless.

Yu Longyue, Tai Yan, and Lan Ling standing nearby exchanged bewildered glances.

Their thoughts were the same as Nie Kong's; they all believed Gu Quan had intervened on their behalf because of Qing You. After all, they were all well aware of the origin of that leaf and knew it could not possibly be a talisman artifact belonging to the Seven-Colored Grand Supreme.

Gu Quan seemed quite pleased with their expressions and laughed heartily: "Think carefully, before today, I didn't know this little fellow was with you, nor did I know which domain of the Grand Supreme Spirit Realm you would appear in. How could I have arrived so promptly to save you? As for happening to pass by the vicinity of Panyuan City, that's even more impossible; the 'Seven-Colored Divine Realm' is hundreds of thousands of miles from here."

"That's right."

Nie Kong nodded dazedly, finally realizing that their previous assumptions had indeed contained many inconsistencies. Hearing Gu Quan say this, it seemed he had specifically come to rescue them? His thoughts turned swiftly, and Nie Kong asked with some disbelief, "Senior, I seem to have no connection with the Seven-Colored Grand Supreme?"

Gu Quan raised a hand to stroke his long beard below his chin and chuckled mysteriously, "You have no connection with my master, but your ancestor does!"

"Wood Ancestor?"

Nie Kong blurted out the name.