Generally speaking, the higher a cultivator’s level, the longer their lifespan, but the cultivation world was filled with constant battles and bloodshed, making it far from peaceful, many cultivators fell in combat, and another large portion perished due to failed tribulations.
Let alone the fact that the path of cultivating immortality meant fighting against heaven for one’s fate, the higher one’s cultivation, the more dangers they faced, and in the end, very few cultivators successfully passed their tribulations and ascended.
For cultivators like Ning Buwei who were four or five hundred years old, if placed in a clan, they could barely be called an ancestor, let alone someone like Chu Jun, a powerful Hinayana Realm cultivator who was over a thousand years old.
Calling him old was not at all unfair to him.
However, seeing Chu Jun lowering his eyes as if he was sulking, Ning Buwei thought this “senile one” was somewhat…adorable.
“Then take a closer look.” Ning Buwei held Ning Xiu, raising his wrist close to his face.
Chu Jun reached out and gripped it, warm scarlet spiritual power flowed from his wrist to his dantian, examining all the wounds on his body.
“Early Soul Transformation stage, your meridians and sea of consciousness have expanded considerably.” Chu Jun frowned and said, “You have been too hasty.”
For someone like Ning Buwei who had restarted cultivation, the most stable approach would be to quietly seclude himself for one or two hundred years and progress slowly, but now in less than a year… According to Chu Jun, even breaking through to the early Nascent Soul stage would have been too reckless, who would have thought he would daringly skip a major realm directly to the Soul Transformation stage.
It was simply reckless.
“My cultivation method is different from yours, the speed doesn’t matter.” Ning Buwei didn’t feel he was taking a risk, and although only the last piece of the Suzaku knife remained to be found, Pei Heguang was an unpredictable person, the cultivation world was full of dangers, and he couldn’t always rely on Chu Jun’s help.
Chu Jun held his wrist in silence.
Suddenly inspired, Ning Buwei leaned close to his ear and whispered something with a low laugh. Chu Jun gave him a calm glance, but the tip of his ear where he was touched turned slightly red, “What impropriety.”
Ning Buwei only smiled at him meaningfully.
Ning Xiu had his arms around Ning Buwei’s neck, looking from one to the other, blinking curiously, “Ah da? Ya?”
What are you talking about? Can I listen?
Ning Buwei and Chu Jun were standing quite close, and they were about the same height. Ning Xiu, being carried by Ning Buwei, turned around and leaned on Chu Jun’s shoulder, pressing close to his ear, asking softly, “Da? Father~”
Chu Jun coughed lightly, gently pushing his little head away, “Don’t learn your father’s mischief.”
Ning Xiu, after being pushed away, tilted his head and turned to look at Ning Buwei, “Father~ Father~ Yi ya?”
Ning Buwei said sternly, “Little children shouldn’t be nosy.”
Ning Xiu grumbled unhappily.
Not happy~
But his unhappiness immediately disappeared when he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. He pointed at the silhouette and exclaimed, “Ah da!”
Big brother is back!
****
The mountain forest was windy, the night dark, with insect chirps and beast howls interweaving near and far. In the dancing firelight, the smell of charred wood spread through the cool air.
Feng Zizhang used his sword to push the nearly burnt-out wood toward the center of the fire, then put the small half of a Jade Spirit Pill into Chu Xin’s mouth.
He had been watching over Chu Xin for nearly half a month, but there was still no sign of him waking up.
Chu Xin’s breathing was very weak. There was a wound extending from his brow bone to his temple, emitting turbid black qi. Feng Zizhang had tried many methods but couldn’t heal this somewhat terrifying wound.
He both hoped that Chu Xin would wake up soon and feared for his own safety when he did, so he very cautiously set up a trapping formation. This formation was taught by Ning Buwei, and it was his first attempt, taking an entire afternoon to complete with difficulties.
Perhaps due to the effect of that small half of the Jade Spirit Pill, the previously unconscious youth struggled to open his eyes, and when he saw Feng Zizhang, his expression was momentarily confused.
Feng Zizhang nervously straightened his back, fingers tightly gripping his sword hilt, ready to flee on his flying sword at the first sign of trouble from Chu Xin.
Sure enough, after Chu Xin recognized him, confusion gradually gave way to gloom. Half his face was covered with strange black patterns, veins bulging on his forehead as he suddenly pounced toward him.
Feng Zizhang turned to jump onto his flying sword to escape, but then tripped over firewood he had placed on the ground, and his suspended flying sword was knocked aside.
Feng Zizhang sat on the ground, looking in horror at the pouncing Chu Xin, then watched as Chu Xin seemed to hit something, staggering back a step.
It was the formation he had set up earlier.
Feng Zizhang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, got up from the ground, patted the dust from his clothes, bent down to pick up his sword, and looked at the disheveled Chu Xin.
Chu Xin stared at him with a gloomy gaze.
Feng Zizhang saw that the wound from his brow bone to his temple had begun to bleed, bit his lip, and tossed him the remaining half of the Jade Spirit Pill.
Chu Xin quickly caught it, thinking it was some kind of hidden weapon, but found it was just a small half of a medicinal pill, and looked up at him again.
“Many of your wounds are beyond my ability to heal, you… you’ll have to find your own way.” Feng Zizhang was so unnerved by his stare that he broke out in a cold sweat, backed up two steps, and gripped his sword tightly, “This formation will fail at daybreak, take care of yourself.”
With that, he turned and ran into the nearby forest, running for the time it took an incense stick to burn before remembering to use his flying sword. Flying in the air, he kept looking back vigilantly, and only relaxed when he saw that Chu Xin hadn’t pursued him.
As dawn broke, countless rays of light filled the sky. Feng Zizhang jumped from his flying sword to the ground, brushed the moisture from the clouds off his sleeves, took out a glass ball to determine his position, and prepared to follow Chu Jun’s instructions to continue searching for his destiny.
In his peripheral vision, he spotted the little mushroom that had previously helped him find magical items.
This mushroom seemed very timid, hiding at the slightest disturbance, and now it was hiding behind a few blades of grass, pretending to be an ordinary mushroom.
Feng Zizhang took two steps forward and stopped, kneeling on the ground, extending a hand toward it, and speaking very softly to avoid frightening it, “Come here, I won’t hurt you.”
The little mushroom hesitated for a moment, then boldly hopped twice, jumping into his palm, and after finding that the other party had no intention of forcibly taming it, it affectionately nuzzled his thumb.
The little mushroom wasn’t very soft and was somewhat damp, carrying the scent of soil and leaves, but it was quite obedient and cute. After stroking it, Feng Zizhang asked, “Do you want to follow me?”
The little mushroom hopped once in his palm, then jumped onto his shoulder, urging him to move forward.
Feng Zizhang had originally wanted to rest a bit, but he felt somewhat embarrassed to refuse, even though it was just a small mushroom, so he nodded and continued walking, talking to it as he went. “I’ve never raised a mushroom before, but I’ve eaten… ah, no, I mean regular mushrooms, don’t worry, I won’t eat you, you look like you might be poisonous.”
Little Mushroom: …………
“Don’t all you mushrooms grow in soil? How about I make a pot for you?” Feng Zizhang lowered his head and searched through his storage ring, but only found the bowl Xiao Jiang usually used to serve him rice, “Maybe… this will do for now?”
After he dug some soil and planted the little mushroom in the bowl, both man and mushroom fell silent.
The little mushroom jumped out of the bowl and returned to his shoulder, so Feng Zizhang had no choice but to put the bowl back in his storage ring.
After just a few days, Feng Zizhang discovered that this little mushroom seemed particularly sensitive to treasures, always able to find good items he didn’t recognize. In just this short time, several storage rings had been filled to capacity.
After taking inventory of his items, Feng Zizhang used spiritual power to make a bowl for the little mushroom to nibble on, and unknowingly fell asleep.
He dreamed that someone was choking him, the air becoming increasingly thin, and he suddenly opened his eyes, only to find it wasn’t a dream.
“Chu……” Feng Zizhang tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound. Then he tried to use a spell, but belatedly realized that all the acupoints in his body had been sealed tight, and he couldn’t summon even a bit of spiritual power.
Chu Xin slammed him against the wall, his voice having a strange hoarseness, “Where is Ning Buwei?”
Feng Zizhang’s struggles paused as he desperately patted the hand choking him.
Chu Xin loosened his grip slightly, and Feng Zizhang began to cough violently, taking some time to recover.
“Speak.” Chu Xin looked at him impatiently.
“I… I don’t know either.” Feng Zizhang felt his mind racing, thinking he should be able to come up with an escape plan, but in reality, his mind was blank, filled only with the four characters: “I’m going to die.”
Indeed, his father hadn’t been wrong, he would die from his own stupidity.
Chu Xin’s eyes were filled with a bloody color as he asked hoarsely. “Feng Zizhang, why did you save me?”
“I, I…” Feng Zizhang found it too difficult to multitask, unable to come up with a plan, so he honestly answered the question, “Before, in Linjiang City, you took us in.”
Chu Xin gave a cold laugh, his tone mocking, “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. If I hadn’t been blind and saved you all, my master, senior brothers, and junior brothers wouldn’t have all died tragically!”
Feng Zizhang was stunned, “How could—”
“How could it be?” Chu Xin gritted his teeth and stared at him, “You should ask Ning Buwei that!”
Feng Zizhang was startled by the viciousness in his tone, then frowned, “My father would never kill innocent people!”
“Ha.” Chu Xin laughed mockingly, “That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. You actually believe that a vicious demon wouldn’t kill innocent people?”
Feng Zizhang was angered by his mocking tone and retorted, “Do you have any evidence it was my father? Besides, you’re the one who looks like an evil cultivator now!”
Chu Xin’s mocking smile froze.
Feng Zizhang glared at him, showing courage despite his fear.
Chu Xin twisted his lips, “You’re right, I am an evil cultivator now… one who will stop at nothing.”
A cold aura surrounded them from all sides, and Feng Zizhang immediately stopped glaring, “What, what are you going to do?”
“Since you won’t tell me where Ning Buwei is, keeping you alive serves no purpose. I might as well take your golden core and spiritual roots to heal my wounds.” Chu Xin pressed his hand against Feng Zizhang’s dantian, and before Feng Zizhang’s terrified gaze, his form and appearance gradually twisted, transforming into a young man who looked exactly like him.
“If your golden core and spiritual roots are inside me, do you think Ning Buwei would be able to tell?” Chu Xin’s terrified expression matched Feng Zizhang’s exactly, even his tone was identical.
A sharp pain shot through his dantian, and Feng Zizhang’s vision went black as he passed out.
