Chapter 49: The Maiden Bai Lin
Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Maiden Bai Lin
As the thought of practicing a demonic technique—the kind that would "injure the enemy by eight hundred while losing a thousand"—arose in his heart.
Li Ping immediately recalled the few Demon Dao Cultivation Techniques he had seen in the Wang family’s Secret Skill Pavilion. It was possible one of them contained a Secret Technique that injured oneself before harming the enemy.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t thought of it at the time and had missed the chance to acquire them.
Now, if he wanted to find a similar demonic Secret Technique, he would probably have to go to the black market.
The Immortal City was within the sphere of the Righteous Influence; no one dared to openly sell demonic techniques.
However, it wasn’t convenient for Li Ping to leave the city at the moment, so he could only put the matter on hold.
Shaking his head, Li Ping walked out of the Alchemy Room and returned to his training room. He sat cross-legged and resumed circulating the Nourishing Life Skill to refine the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Based on his usual rate of cultivation, he estimated it would take him about thirty years to reach the peak of Early-stage Foundation Establishment.
Since he had no bottlenecks, he only needed to focus on accumulating Magical Power.
With 199 years of life remaining, he had more than enough time to reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment and attempt to break through to Core Formation.
...
While Li Ping was engrossed in Alchemy, a tense scene was unfolding in the Wang family’s ancestral land.
Under the hopeful gazes of the Wang family Ancestor and numerous other clan Cultivators.
In the distance, above a small courtyard, the Spiritual Qi vortex spanning over a hundred feet in diameter suddenly shuddered. Then, with a mournful cry, it instantly collapsed.
Upon seeing this, they all knew what had happened.
The genius of the Wang family, Wang Xingwei, had failed his second attempt at breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
"Hmph, a useless waste!" the Wang family Ancestor snorted coldly, flicking his sleeves before turning to leave.
When the other Wang family Cultivators saw their Ancestor leave, they too began to mutter amongst themselves as they departed.
Only the Patriarch, Wang Quyan, remained. He sighed, his gaze turning to the distant courtyard, but there was still no movement from within.
’Not good! Could something have happened to him?’ The thought spurred him to action. He hurried to the courtyard, pushed open the unlatched gate, and went inside.
The courtyard’s protective Array wasn’t active—they were in the Wang family’s ancestral land, after all, with the Ancestor presiding over everything. This was why Wang Quyan was able to barge right in.
As he entered the courtyard, he immediately saw a frail figure slumped on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Seeing that Wang Xingwei was physically unharmed, Wang Quyan breathed a sigh of relief. ’As long as he’s okay.’
He called out softly, "Xingwei?"
But Wang Xingwei seemed not to hear him, continuously muttering phrases like "Foundation Establishment Pill," "I can’t do it," and "something’s wrong..."
Seeing him in this state, Wang Quyan couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of pity.
He didn’t pay much mind to Wang Xingwei’s broken muttering, assuming the young man was simply hysterical after being unable to withstand the blow of his failure.
He especially didn’t consider the idea that ’there was something wrong with the Foundation Establishment Pill.’
After all, the Ancestor had mobilized the entire clan’s resources to gather the materials for these two Foundation Establishment Pills. They had personally watched the Alchemist refine them, and they had carefully inspected the Pills after receiving them, confirming there were no issues.
’This boy... he can’t stay with the clan anymore.’
Looking with pity at the frail figure collapsed on the ground, Wang Quyan couldn’t help but sigh again.
The Ancestor had acquired those two Foundation Establishment Pills at the cost of nearly emptying the clan’s entire treasury.
The hopes of the entire clan were pinned on these two Foundation Establishment Pills. The entire Wang family had hoped that these Pills would produce another Foundation Establishment Cultivator for the clan before the Ancestor passed on.
One can only imagine the immense pressure.
And now, Wang Xingwei, the vessel for the entire clan’s hopes, had failed—twice in a row.
Without a doubt, he had become the clan’s pariah. Though... he had never wanted to bear such a heavy burden in the first place, the choice had never been his.
If Wang Xingwei were to remain with the clan, facing the daily scorn of the Ancestor and his clansmen, Wang Quyan was truly afraid the boy might do something drastic.
Although he too was worried about the clan’s future, he knew that the blame couldn’t be placed entirely on Wang Xingwei. The pressure from the Ancestor had simply been too great.
At this thought, he offered a smile. "Xingwei, our Spirit Medicine Garden over in the Immortal City’s Fishing Square needs a manager. Go and manage the Medicine Garden there."
The Fishing Square Spirit Medicine Garden was dozens of miles from the Wang family’s ancestral land. It was also in the Outer City, which was mostly populated by Loose Cultivators. Wang Xingwei wouldn’t know anyone there; it would be a completely unfamiliar environment for him.
Wang Quyan believed.
Living for a time in an unfamiliar environment, undisturbed and without any acquaintances around, would help Wang Xingwei emerge from his despair.
...
Bai Lin was carried by Patriarch Bai Mingde on his Flying Sword, swiftly passing through layers of thin clouds.
Soon, a majestic city, shrouded in a hemispherical, cyan barrier of light, appeared in her vision. It grew steadily larger as they drew closer.
As they neared the Immortal City, a continuous whistling filled the air as Cultivators shot past them, some on Flying Swords, others riding on the backs of Demon Birds.
From time to time, the gaze of a passing Loose Cultivator would fall upon Bai Lin’s face, followed by an involuntary gasp of surprise, apparently struck by her beauty.
But a second glance at Bai Mingde and his Peak of Qi Refining Cultivation would make them quickly lose their nerve and accelerate into the distance.
Seeing this, Bai Mingde’s expression remained unchanged, but he sighed inwardly.
Soon, their Escape Lights descended before the gates of the Immortal City, which towered over three hundred feet high. Cultivators streamed in and out.
Bai Lin’s Cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Third Level. Having spent her entire life cultivating within her clan, she had never visited the Immortal City before. The sight of the magnificent city filled her eyes with awe.
Compared to the Immortal City, the Bai family’s Gaoji Mountain was basically the countryside.
At this moment, without even realizing it herself, a subtle change had begun to creep into her gaze.
After Bai Mingde registered Bai Lin’s information and obtained an Identity Token for her, the two of them followed the flow of people into the Immortal City.
...
「Immortal Peach Mountain, inside Li Ping’s cave residence.」
Li Ping gazed quizzically at Bai Mingde and the beautiful young woman standing demurely behind him.
The young woman wore a light-colored dress, her silky black hair loosely bound by a pink ribbon. She had the pure and elegant air of an orchid in a lonely valley, yet also the bright, cheerful beauty of a songbird on a branch.
’In reality, my position as the Bai family’s Honored Guest Elder is purely nominal. I agreed to let the Bai family use my name as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but I have no real intention of doing anything for them.’
’What is Bai Mingde doing here?’
Waving for the two to sit, Li Ping smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Bai, is your esteemed Ancestor well?"
Bai Mingde quickly replied with great respect, "Thank you for your concern, Elder Li. The Ancestor is doing well. In fact, before I left, he specifically instructed me to pass on his greetings to you."
Hearing their conversation, Bai Lin, who had been standing silently with her head lowered, secretly sized up the Patriarch and this "Elder Li" out of the corner of her eye.
’In my eyes, Elder Li is just an ordinary-looking young man who speaks without any airs.’
’Yet my Clan Leader, a man of lofty status within the clan, seems to be unconsciously fawning over him.’