Bu Wei

Rows of wooden shelves were neatly arranged in the hall, displaying a dazzling array of goods. There were all sorts of things like elixirs, talismans, magical robes, treasures, and even roast duck from Chengyun Tower with a freshness-preserving talisman painted on it. In short, it was a feast for the eyes, capable of satisfying the various needs of cultivators. It was quite impressive.

Of course, the prices marked in spirit stones were also impressive.

Many cultivators moved between them, selecting the goods they needed to purchase. At a glance, it seemed endless.

“The rankings of the Sects and Noble Families have been updated!” someone holding a jade plaque exclaimed excitedly.

“Hmph, it only updates once every hundred years, and the ones at the top are always the same. The Ten Great Sects and Eight Great Noble Families, there’s nothing interesting to see.” Someone else said disinterestedly, “The Tianji List, which changes every ten years, is more interesting.”

“The top ten powers on the Tianji List that changes every ten years have also never moved.” The person disagreed, “Every time the Sects and Noble Families List updates, there are big changes.”

“Eh? How did the Jiting Sect become third?” The other person was surprised, “Were they squeezed out by the Wang Family?”

“The Zen Master Bai Yu of the Jiting Sect has fallen. Two months ago, he took a few disciples from the Jiting Sect to Linjiang City to attend the Linjiang Conference and luckily survived. Last month, he took people to a small secret realm, and none of them survived.” Someone sighed, “Such luck.”

“Tsk, it’s probably just fate.”

“Hey, have you heard? The Wushi Sect’s grand selection will start tomorrow!”

“We know, we know. The Wushi Sect’s grand selection happens once every hundred years. Every time the Sects and Noble Families List updates, they hold a grand selection, as if they’re afraid others won’t know they’re ranked first.”

“They have the ability. If our sect was first, the sect leader would probably hold a grand selection every year…”

Listening to the conversations in the hall, Feng Zizhang placed ten medium-grade spirit stones on the counter, “Excuse me, ten Yangyuan pills.”

“Fellow cultivator, you’re here again?” Behind the counter was a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old. She had two childlike buns on her head, each tied with a red string pendant. As she moved, they swayed in the air, looking very cute. “Has the illness of your family member not gotten better?”

“It has improved a lot. This morning, they almost woke up.” Feng Zizhang took the small porcelain bottle she handed over and asked, “Is the Wushi Sect holding a grand selection?”

“Yes, it happens once every hundred years, and many cultivators are waiting for it.” The little girl lowered her head and flipped through the paper at her hand, “Do you want a recruitment notice from the Wushi Sect? It’s only three low-grade spirit stones.”

“I’ll take one.” Feng Zizhang took out more spirit stones to add on, took the thick stack of paper she handed over, and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The little girl giggled, “Welcome to come again next time.”

Feng Zizhang nodded politely, carrying the medicine and recruitment notice as he exited the door of the Wujin Square.

The Gen Prefecture was mountainous, and the two states beneath it were quite different. Liu State was full of towering peaks, while Zhang State was more hilly. Comparatively, the towns in Zhang State were much more prosperous than those in Liu State.

At least Feng Zizhang had never seen such a large Wujin Square in Liu State.

He walked along the winding road with the recruitment notice in hand. Although he patiently noted the shops along the way, he almost got lost a few times. It was not easy to finally turn into the small courtyard they were renting.

As he pushed open the door, he saw Jiang Yizheng practicing her sword.

“Did you buy it?” Seeing him return, Jiang Yizheng sheathed her sword and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“This Wujin Square is really ruthless. Ten Yangyuan pills cost ten medium-grade spirit stones.” Feng Zizhang closed the door and said, “It would be half the price if we bought directly from Qingdan Hall.”

“I heard that the Qingdan Sect doesn’t get along with the Hanyan Sect in Zhang State, so they didn’t open a Qingdan Hall in Zhang State.” Jiang Yizheng glanced at the thick stack of paper in his hand, “What’s this?”

The two of them walked into the house together, and Feng Zizhang handed her the stack of paper in response to her words, “It’s the recruitment notice for the Wushi Sect’s grand selection.”

Jiang Yizheng was surprised, “It’s so thick? I remember the notice from three years ago wasn’t this much.”

“What you’re talking about is the small selection within the Wushi Sect. The small selection happens once every ten years. This is the sect’s proper grand selection, which happens once every hundred years.” Feng Zizhang recalled, “But even the recruitment notice for the small selection wasn’t thin. Last time, my senior brothers and I looked at it for a long time.”

Jiang Yizheng happily said, “I wonder if they recruit menial workers in their grand selection.”

“We’ll see later.” Feng Zizhang lifted the curtain, and the two of them walked into the inner room.

The inner room was filled with a strong medicinal fragrance. A large and a small figure were lying on the bed, both with their eyes closed in deep sleep.

“It’s been almost a month.” Jiang Yizheng worriedly said, “Senior is one thing, but Xiao Shan is just a little kid. What if he doesn’t eat or drink?”

The senior had never told them Ning Xiu’s name, so the two of them simply gave him a nickname, which was at least easier to call.

“I saw Senior move his hand this morning. He should be waking up soon.” Feng Zizhang took out the Yangyuan pill and shared it with Jiang Yizheng.

The two of them were indeed inexperienced and limited in their abilities. They only knew that the senior was very lacking in spiritual power. Coincidentally, Ning Buwei had casually pointed out a few things to them before, so they remembered the method of injecting spiritual power into the Jiuwei acupoint. So for this month, the two of them had been desperately injecting spiritual power into Ning Buwei’s Jiuwei acupoint. The person who was originally at death’s door had visibly improved.

(TL: Jiuwei acupoint is located seven inches above the navel.)

The only drawback was that it was too consuming of spiritual power. The two of them had low cultivation levels, and every time they used their spiritual power to heal Ning Buwei, they were stretched to their limits.

Feng Zizhang sat at the end of the bed, reached out to pick up Ning Xiu, and gently poked his little face, “Wake up soon. When you wake up, brother will make you some porridge to eat.”

The sleeping child smacked his lips.

Feng Zizhang smiled, then looked at Ning Buwei, who was still not awake, and couldn’t help but sigh.

Sitting by the bed flipping through the grand selection recruitment notice, Jiang Yizheng looked for a while and was shocked, “There are more than three hundred pages!?”

“The Wushi Sect has seventy-two peaks, ninety-nine valleys, one hundred and thirty-six cave heavens, three hundred and eighteen blessed lands, plus countless large and small secret realms and spiritual vein mountains. The sect spans across the two states of Jia and Yi in the Zhen Prefecture. The Endless River on the east side is one of the inner rivers within their sect.” Feng Zizhang said gloomily, “Our Yunzhong Sect combined would barely match the number of one of their cave heavens.”

Jiang Yizheng: “…So, so powerful.”

At first, she thought that the Linjiang City and Four Seasons Hall in Zhong State were already outrageously large. It was only after she went to the Yunzhong Sect that she realized how big a regular sect was. Just one Meal Residence in the Thirteenth Peak had shocked her for a long time, until she saw the ridiculously thick recruitment notice from the Wushi Sect.

With an awe-inspiring feeling in her heart, Jiang Yizheng opened the first page. The spirit symbols flashed, and golden light suddenly appeared, projecting a densely packed directory more than a person’s height into mid-air.

Jiang Yizheng: “!!!”

She continued to turn to the next page.

The runes instantly changed, and the projection, reduced by tens of times, filled the entire room. Mountains stretched out, palaces were shrouded in mist, strange and rare beasts were everywhere, purple qi and light condensed. With a casual touch, the mountains and buildings could be enlarged, and even considerately displayed an introduction to this place on the side. For a moment, the room was filled with golden light.

Feng Zizhang was also stunned. This was completely different from the recruitment notice during the small selection! Speaking of which, just this golden symbol alone was worth more than three low-grade spirit stones, right?!

The largest golden character on this page read “Main Peak”. Below it was written in small seal script. Jiang Yizheng touched it, and a few lines of text appeared:

Main Peak Master: Chu Linyuan.

Recruiting one inner disciple, qualification limited to Luo Tian Spirit Body, Golden Core stage, under fifteen years old.

Two outer disciples, qualification limited to Heavenly Spirit Body, Golden Core stage, under thirty years old.

One guest elder, Nascent Soul stage.

Three inner menial workers, qualification B+ grade, Golden Core stage, under two hundred years old.

Five outer menial workers, qualification B grade, Golden Core stage, under three hundred years old.

Clicking further revealed the corresponding generous treatment.

But what is the concept of a Heavenly Spirit Body?

The cultivation world divided cultivator qualifications into four grades: A, B, C, and D. Each grade was further divided into three categories: upper, middle, and lower. Above the upper category of grade A was the so-called Heavenly Spirit Body. The highest among the Heavenly Spirit Bodies was the Luo Tian Spirit Body.

Feng Zizhang, a Foundation Establishment first stage with B grade qualification: “…..”

Jiang Yizheng, a Qi Refining sixth stage with C grade qualification: “..…”

They really weren’t even qualified to sweep the floor there.

After flipping through several pages and looking at the requirements of each peak master, the two of them began to calmly appreciate the beautiful scenery of the Wushi Sect. They no longer looked at the dazzling recruitment requirements. Their eyes hurt, and their hearts hurt even more.

“Three low-grade spirit stones can enjoy such beautiful scenery. It’s really worth it.” Jiang Yizheng smiled.

“Yes…This spirit beast looks so strange, I’ve never seen it before.” Feng Zizhang touched the fluffy spirit beast, and the projection suddenly enlarged.

The two of them were cultivating their spiritual power while happily looking at the beautiful scenery in the recruitment notice. They had completely given up any hope of becoming a menial worker in the Wushi Sect.

“Eh, this page is strange.” Halfway through flipping, Jiang Yizheng suddenly paused, “Why doesn’t this Yijian Peak have the name of its peak master?”

The line for the peak master was blank.

“Why are these three characters silver with a gold border? They look so luxurious.” Feng Zizhang poked at the three characters, and suddenly two lines of text popped up.

Recruiting two menial workers.

“That’s it?” Jiang Yizheng was taken aback, and poked again. A line of text appeared behind the menial workers:

One hundred low-grade spirit stones per month.

Jiang Yizheng: “…I can get a thousand low-grade spirit stones a month at the Four Seasons Hall.”

Feng Zizhang: “One hundred low-grade spirit stones can’t even buy a dish at Chengyun Tower.”

Both of them immediately lost interest.

After all, they wanted to go to the Wushi Sect to sweep the floor because of the good treatment and high spirit stones. This peak was really stingy, and it only recruited two menial workers. It didn’t even clarify whether it was inner or outer door. At first glance, it didn’t seem very good.

Probably because the previous peaks were majestic, noble, and dazzling, it made this peak seem even more shabby.

Just as the two of them were about to continue flipping, the person lying on the bed suddenly moved.

Jiang Yizheng quickly turned her head, “Did our father just move?”

Feng Zizhang, holding Ning Xiu, was stunned, “I don’t know if our father moved, but our younger brother definitely kicked me.”

In the sea of consciousness where the wind was howling, Ning Buwei slowly opened his eyes.

“Ah~” Ning Xiu nestled in his arms, a warm bundle.

Ning Buwei subconsciously held him, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white figure in the distance. But when he looked carefully, there was nothing, only the familiar broken wall in his sea of consciousness.

That’s right, his sea of consciousness wasn’t something that just anyone could enter.

Ning Buwei looked down at the envelope made of spiritual power that his son was holding, and his gaze paused.

At the same time, he noticed that the shattered dantian inside his body had been painstakingly repaired again. This time, even the inside was attempted to be repaired. Not only were the meridians repaired, but they were also being gently nourished with spiritual power. The injuries on his spiritual consciousness had also been almost healed, and even the old injuries were thoughtfully treated…

Even because the wind in his sea of consciousness was too strong, a wind barrier was made for him and his son with spiritual power.

At this moment, the great demon, a person who made a lot of noise and acted unreasonably, felt a bit subtle.

He suddenly felt that the envelope in his hand was a bit hot.

“Ah!” Ning Xiu, holding the thing Bai Bai mother left behind, wanted to share it with his father happily.

It’s just that his father’s expression was a bit strange.

“Did you bring your mother here?” Ning Buwei poked his little belly expressionlessly.

“Ah~” Ning Xiu looked at his dad with a smile.

Ning Buwei: “…You little fool, if your mother wasn’t such a kind-hearted fairy maiden, you wouldn’t have a father.”

Letting others into one’s sea of consciousness casually was a big taboo, especially for him, a stranger. If he had a bit of strength, he would definitely strangle the other’s spiritual consciousness.

But the other party healed his injuries without asking for anything in return. Their kindness was so incredible that it was even tender… Ning Buwei rarely felt a bit awkward.

He touched his nose a bit irritably, stared at the letter for a while, and then slowly opened it.

It better not be some silly words about confessing feelings and wanting to become his Dao companion. Although this fairy maiden is kind-hearted, gentle, virtuous, and deeply in love with him, he absolutely won’t…

Ning Buwei looked at the upright and imposing handwriting on the letter paper, slightly stunned.

Why…was there a sense of righteousness unique to the orthodox sects coming?

When he saw the contents of the letter, his face fell even more.

[Within half a year, do not use spiritual power.]

[This child’s three souls and seven spirits are unstable, you can recite the Peaceful Mind Mantra to temporarily alleviate it, once in the morning and once in the evening.]

[You can come to the Wushi Sect to discuss the child’s affiliation.]

The signature was a single character, Chu.

Ning Buwei’s expression suddenly darkened when he saw the character “Chu”.

Turns out the Chu of the Wushi Sect— He caught a glimpse of his chubby son out of the corner of his eye, and the great demon swallowed the words he was about to curse.

He extremely despised the Righteous Alliance, especially the Wushi Sect, and within the Wushi Sect, he despised those with the surname Chu the most.

The mother of his child, on the other hand, had managed to take up all of them.

He couldn’t figure out how, among the group of rigid people in the Wushi Sect with the surname Chu, who were full of righteousness and morality, there could be such an unrestrained woman. Not only did she “give birth” to a child for him, but she also healed him three times, and even boldly invited him to meet at the Wushi Sect.

Could this all be a conspiracy planned by the group of people with the surname Chu?

Ning Buwei’s dark and malicious thoughts ran wild in his heart, but when he thought about it, since the mother of his child could enter his sea of consciousness, and didn’t kill him right away, but instead painstakingly healed his injuries and repaired his meridians…

Could it really be a fool in love, deeply in love with him?

The mother of his child was beautiful, gentle, virtuous, kind-hearted, bravely pursued her love, but was bound by the rigid doctrines of the Wushi Sect, was incompatible with him, and out of desperation, she tried everything to give birth to a child for him. She didn’t want him to be burdened by the child, so she left him a letter inviting him to meet, carefully choosing her words and feeling anxious?

Hiss… Ning Buwei, feeling the spiritual power nourishing his wounds inside his body, felt very complicated.

Ning Xiu nestled in his father’s arms, bit the envelope, and his eyes lit up.

Eh, it tastes the same as the little steamed bun that mother kneaded~

His father was there, lost in thought, and he was here, gnawing on the envelope. After he had gnawed off more than half of it, his overly imaginative father finally remembered the envelope, reached out and pulled out the half-gnawed envelope, reached in, and sure enough, pulled out a one-way positioning talisman.

“The Wushi Sect’s Yijian Peak?” Ning Buwei’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

He had never heard of it, it should be an inconspicuous small peak.

As soon as his words fell, he heard Jiang Yizheng’s voice in his ear, “…Why doesn’t this Yijian Peak have the name of its peak master?”

 

TN: previously I used ‘third middle tier’ which originally was C middle grade, guess I have to revert back…