Painting of the Nine Immortals

“You have seen my original self. Do you really think I would let you get away?”

After making that statement, Ling Xian transformed into lightning and appeared before the sturdy man.

Instantly, the sturdy man acted as if he had been struck and froze in place.

Then, he fell to the ground with a thump and begged, “Please, let me go. I swear to god that I will not breathe a word about what happened today.”

“I don’t believe in your promise.”

Ling Xian glared at the person and continued, “I gave you plenty of opportunities at the Hall of Exchange. Sadly, you don’t know how to value an opportunity.”

“I know how, I know how. I promise you this time that I will value it. Please spare my life.” The sturdy man kept on kowtowing and began to cry. He looked extremely pitiful.

However, he was undeserving of pity.

Even if this person didn’t see Ling Xian’s original self, Ling Xian wasn’t going to let him go. Now he really had no reason to forgive him since he saw his original self.

“You should self-reflect on your way to hell. In your next life, be a better person.”

Ling Xian spoke softly. Then, he extended a finger. Between the sturdy man’s shocking eyes, he pressed down.

Immediately, a giant bloody hole appeared. The sturdy man collapsed to the ground and stopped breathing.

His widened and unblinking eyes were full of hopelessness and helplessness.

If he could rewind, he never would’ve provoked Ling Xian.

“Today, I finally possess the ability to kill anyone I want.”

Looking at the dead man, Ling Xian exclaimed. Then, he summoned, and the Flame of Purity poured out.

In the next second, the entire forest turned into a sea of fire. The two corpses immediately turned into ashes.

Ling Xian’s real abilities should not be revealed no matter what. Or else the Shang Qing Sect’s upper management would for sure capture him and demand him to say what his intentions were. This was why he had to so ruthlessly kill those two.

Now, he was getting rid of the corpses as a way to get rid of the evidence.

After some time, the flame began to recede. What was left was a pile of burned dust.

Whether it was the ancient trees that were around, or the sturdy man and the elder’s dead bodies, all had disappeared.

“Though this ancient forest is extremely secluded and not a lot of people visit, the disappearance of an elder will for sure cause somewhat of a disorder.”

Looking at the burned piece of land before him, Ling Xian frowned. His handsome face appeared worried.

Though he had gotten rid of the corpses, this was the profound Taoism community and there were many different ways he could be exposed. The most famous way would be if an original leveled cultivator dialed back time.

Though there was a price that comes with such dark arts, that technique could replay events that just occurred. But the prerequisite was that they had to be at the location of when it happened.

For example, the only way for the original leveled cultivators to see the past and determine what happened to the elder would be for them to use the time turning technique inside this forest. Or else it would be useless.

“Hopefully nobody will find out that they were here.”

Ling Xian sighed and stopped thinking about this. Thinking about it was useless anyways. He had done his best, the rest will be decided by the heavens.

“Okay, since I am finished here. It’s time to go back to being a clone.”

As he spoke, he attempted to switch his souls and return to the clone.

However, just as his soul was about to leave his body, the golden Dan inside him suddenly quivered.

“Hmm?”

Ling Xian frowned and then recalled back the majority of the soul he just unleashed.

What could he do? Under the circumstance, he wouldn’t know what will happen next if he doesn’t recall his soul.

“This feeling… is how I normally feel before I have a breakthrough.”

Ling Xian continued to frown and paid close attention to his perfect golden Dan. It was quivering slowly and every time it vibrated, mysterious energy slipped out.

He was very familiar with this feeling. It was the sign that he was about to breakthrough!

“I am really going to have a breakthrough!”

After making sure that he was about to have a breakthrough, happiness flashed across Ling Xian’s face.

To any cultivator, the breakthrough of a level was something to celebrate. Especially to high leveled cultivators, every breakthrough was an extremely difficult feat that should be rejoiced.

Ling Xian had been stuck at the advanced stage of the completion level for a long time. Ever since he exited out of the Imperishable Temple, two to three years had passed. All these years, he was stuck in this level and had no breakthroughs.

Of course, this was slow because he was an insane cultivator.

To other completion leveled cultivators, standing still for two to three years, or even 20 to 30 years, was a very normal occasion.

What could he do? Ling Xian’s foundation was very steady. That plus his top-notch talent, his cultivation journey naturally had been extremely smooth and exceeded the norm.

Even some of the normal Heaven’s Favorites cannot be compared against him. Only those with rare talent and cultivation speed could try and compete with him.

However, just as he was about to feel ecstatic, the speed of his golden Dan’s vibration decreased until it finally stopped.

This made him frown. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

There was no way his judgement was wrong. The quivering of his golden Dan was a sign that he was about to breakthrough. This sudden silence, however, was something he couldn’t figure out.

“I shouldn’t be wrong with my feeling. I have experienced it many times before after all.”

Ling Xian’s brows were tightly locked together. After a moment of silence, he said to himself, “Perhaps I am only a sliver away from reaching my destination. This is why the golden Dan is giving me a sign, but since I am not truly there yet, it calmed down.”

As he spoke, his brows relaxed. He decided to find a place to go into isolation and have his breakthrough before he does anything more.

Originally, he wanted to spend his days at the Hall of Mission in order to make money and trade for the Shang Qing Technique. But that can wait since he could do that anytime he wants.

But having a breakthrough was a big deal. Especially under the circumstance that he was using his clone every day. If he misses the opportunity of his breakthrough, then he wouldn’t even have a place to cry in.

Therefore, Ling Xian decided to change his plans. He decided to bring his original self to the peak of the completion level before he goes and make more contribution points, and waits for the appearance of the great fortune.

What troubled him was where he should go into isolation.

The residence wasn’t a safe place. Plus, he had to share a room with that feminine man, Xiang Ru Gu.

It wasn’t a good place for isolation.

Dong Fang Bi’s palace was safe. But if someone senses his true capability – then wouldn’t he be the lamb that fed itself to the tiger?

Other than those two places, however, he couldn’t think of another option.

“Maybe I should find a random mountain peak?” Ling Xian mumbled but quickly rejected this idea.

Though the Shang Qing Sect was extremely big and had numerous different mountain peaks to live in, none of them could guarantee that he wouldn’t be discovered. Therefore, he couldn’t just find a random place.

Just when he was having some difficulties thinking of a place, he suddenly had an idea and his eyes brightened.

“It will have to be that place. I think other than me, very few people would go there. Perhaps I can also set up a trap or something there, in case I will need it in the future.”

Displaying a faint grin, Ling Xian made up his mind. Immediately, he placed his clone inside the Painting of the Nine Immortals and began to walk towards the terrifying place that had been living in his memory.