Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Taking It in Stride

「Several months after the celestial signs of Core Formation above the Immortal City had faded.」

Gumu Sheng, having stabilized his realm, emerged from seclusion. At the initiation ceremony, he was formally inducted into the Cyan Dragon Mountain lineage.

During the ceremony, Li Ping made a point of introducing Gumu Sheng to Meng Qingyi. He asked her to help arrange a position for Gumu Sheng, preferably one related to management.

Meng Qingyi naturally smiled and agreed at once, but Li Ping could tell her smile was a bit forced.

Clearly, Dai Sangyu’s successful Core Formation was putting a great deal of pressure on her.

Although Dai Sangyu was still in seclusion stabilizing her realm, once she emerged, her status as a Core Formation Cultivator would allow her to settle any matter with a single command.

Furthermore, as a Core Formation Cultivator, Dai Sangyu could live for over three hundred more years. When Fenglan Master eventually passed away at the end of his lifespan, she would become the undisputed master of the Immortal City.

The Heroic Clans wouldn’t stand a chance against her... unless the Meng family’s own Old Ancestor also achieved Core Formation.

But the resources produced by a single Immortal City were incomparable to those of cultivation nations like the Yue Kingdom and Chi Kingdom. At any given time, they could support the Core Formation of one person at most.

This was why the Meng family’s Old Ancestor had previously tried to suppress Dai Sangyu.

On the Golden Core Path, there could only be one.

Now that Dai Sangyu had achieved Core Formation, she had probably consumed most of the foundation the Immortal City had built up over the past two hundred years. Without some great fortuitous opportunity, he would never achieve Core Formation himself.

Unless he dared to gamble his life by attempting Core Formation without the aid of a Core Formation Spiritual Object, betting on odds of just one in several tens.

Li Ping suspected he wouldn’t dare.

In that case, their only option was to try and mend their relationship with Dai Sangyu. It was no wonder Meng Qingyi’s smile had been so forced.

...

Li Ping had just been thinking about the Meng family’s Old Ancestor when the man himself appeared.

After the initiation ceremony, the Meng family’s Old Ancestor personally came to Immortal Peach Mountain to pay him a visit.

After exchanging pleasantries, he didn’t beat around the bush. He held out a hand and said decisively, "Fellow Daoist Li, I’ll offer you a flat five hundred Spirit Stones as a thank-you gift. In return, I’d like you to act as a matchmaker between one of my descendants and Fellow Daoist Gu."

The Meng family’s Old Ancestor had jumped straight to the offer. What else could Li Ping say? He naturally agreed on the spot.

Then, while the Old Ancestor was still there, Li Ping tentatively inquired about the recent celestial phenomenon of Core Formation.

To Li Ping’s surprise, the Meng family’s Old Ancestor didn’t wear a forced smile like Meng Qingyi. On the contrary, his expression was fervent and extremely excited. "Fellow Daoist Li, you may not know, but that was a senior from our Cyan Dragon Mountain achieving Core Formation! With this senior watching over us, our Cyan Dragon Mountain lineage will become even more prosperous!"

Li Ping inwardly admired his shift in attitude, and he voiced his agreement. "Indeed. With another Core Formation Stage senior watching over us, things like the demon beast tide from a few years ago will pose no threat to the Immortal City’s safety."

The Meng family’s Old Ancestor nodded, seemingly in agreement with Li Ping.

The two then chatted casually about other matters before the Meng family’s Old Ancestor rose to take his leave.

But from the sudden shift in the man’s expression as he stood, Li Ping guessed that he wasn’t as nonchalant as he let on.

’Of course, another Core Formation Cultivator was a wonderful thing for everyone in the Immortal City. But it wasn’t perfect. It would have been best if that new Core Formation Cultivator was oneself.’

As these various thoughts flashed through his mind, Li Ping couldn’t help but give a wry smile. ’Since I’ve already decided to lie low until I reach the Core Formation Stage, what does any of this have to do with me? Why should a simple Loose Cultivator like me worry about such things?’

’Even if I really can’t stay in the Immortal City anymore, I can just pack up and leave.’

’With my strength and my skill in the various arts of cultivation, where couldn’t I go?’

’The most important thing is to be able to let things go.’

He summoned Bai Lin and instructed her to deliver the five hundred Spirit Stones from the Meng family’s Old Ancestor to Gumu Sheng. As for Li Ping himself, he returned to his training room and immersed himself in bitter cultivation.

...

「In a mountain forest thousands of miles from the Immortal City.」

A Low-Tier Chi Yan Wolf lay in ambush in the undergrowth, its eyes fixed on several black birds in the distance. Just as it leaped up to pounce on its prey...

"SWOOSH!"

A streak of blood-red light shot directly through its body, and the Chi Yan Wolf’s eyes instantly lost focus.

The next moment—

THUMP!

Only a wolf pelt fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. In that single flash of blood-red light, all of its flesh and blood had been utterly devoured.

Not far away, Yan Hengchuan emerged from behind a green boulder, a trace of viciousness flashing involuntarily in his eyes.

Almost a year had passed. He had completely switched his primary Cultivation Technique to the *Blood Spirit Hundred Transformations Scripture*, eliminating the risk of his body becoming a puppet. He had even successfully refined the Blood Soul Seed left by Yan Liming, absorbing it into his Magical Power.

He had already begun practicing the ’Foundation-Seizing Method’!

Through the faint connection to Yan Liming’s life essence, he could vaguely sense the man’s location.

Moreover, thanks to the rapid cultivation speed of demonic techniques, he had successfully broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Level. This progress was far faster than when he had been cultivating the Righteous Dao.

At the same time, however, Yan Hengchuan was also feeling the drawbacks of practicing a demonic technique.

Cultivating the *Blood Spirit Hundred Transformations Scripture* required the aid of essence blood, so he had been forced to leave Gaoji Mountain to hunt Demon Beasts. In that time, dozens of Low-Tier Demon Beasts had died by his hand.

He had refined away all of their flesh and blood.

An aura of Evil Qi, a remnant of all the Demon Beasts he had slaughtered, now constantly emanated from his entire body.

He could also distinctly feel himself becoming more bloodthirsty.

After he finished devouring the wolf’s flesh and blood, the blood-red light flew back to him like a fledgling swallow returning to its nest, plunging into his body and disappearing from sight.

Closing his eyes, Yan Hengchuan silently gauged the effects of the Demon Beast’s essence blood and shook his head slightly. ’The Demon Beast Essence Blood of a Tier One Early Stage creature is useless to me now. It looks like I’ll have to start hunting Tier One Mid Stage Demon Beasts.’

With this in mind, Yan Hengchuan didn’t venture deeper into the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. Instead, he mounted his magical artifact and flew toward Gaoji Mountain.

He couldn’t control the aura emanating from his body, which made it impossible for him to enter the Immortal City. His Grandmaster had therefore arranged for Ji Shu Xuan to deliver some resources to him, and he needed to return to Gaoji Mountain to receive them.

Before long, Gaoji Mountain came into view. Not daring to reveal his identity as a Demon Cultivator, he took out a bamboo hat to conceal his face, then used the Token the Bai family had given him to enter the mountain.

He knew that his Grandmaster compensated the Bai family with a significant amount of resources each year just so he could cultivate on Gaoji Mountain.

Therefore, he felt it was only natural for him to return to Gaoji Mountain to cultivate.

A few days later, Ji Shu Xuan arrived at Gaoji Mountain as expected, accompanied by a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Bai family.

The two friends were finally reunited after two years.

"Hengchuan!" Ji Shu Xuan cried out in delight upon seeing Yan Hengchuan again.

They had been good friends back in the Jiang Kingdom, and after traveling all the way to the Immortal City together, their bond had become like that of brothers. Ji Shu Xuan had been worried sick when Yan Hengchuan went missing.

He had only been able to rest easy this year after learning from Li Ping that Yan Hengchuan was safe.

A rare smile touched Yan Hengchuan’s lips as he saw his friend. "Shu Xuan."

"Huh? Hengchuan, you’re at the Qi Refining Fourth Level?" Only then did Ji Shu Xuan notice the change in his friend’s Cultivation, his voice tinged with surprise.

Yan Hengchuan’s Cultivation had already caught up to his own.

Yan Hengchuan nodded but said nothing more.

’It’s only natural that my Cultivation caught up to Ji Shu Xuan’s. Otherwise, what would be the point of practicing a demonic technique?’

After they exchanged pleasantries, Ji Shu Xuan took a dozen or so Jade Bottles from his Storage Bag and handed them to Yan Hengchuan. "Hengchuan, the senior asked me to bring these for you. These four bottles are Qi Gathering Pills to improve your Cultivation, these four are Blood Qi Pills to strengthen your physique, and the rest are Carefree Pills to calm your mind and spirit!"

’Cultivation, Blood Qi, peace of mind... Grandmaster has arranged everything for me.’

At this thought, Yan Hengchuan nodded and put all the Pills into his Storage Bag.

The two young men then fell into casual conversation, but after all they had experienced in the past two years...

...as they talked, Yan Hengchuan found the topics his childhood friend brought up to be somewhat childish. He could only sigh to himself, ’Shu Xuan, we live in different worlds now.’

...

The Meng family moved quickly.

Perhaps worried that Gumu Sheng would go back on his word after Dai Sangyu emerged from seclusion, the Old Ancestor quickly arranged a meeting between Gumu Sheng and a young woman of the Meng clan as soon as he had a firm commitment.

In less than a month, a wedding was held for the two, and Gumu Sheng was thus tied to the Meng family.

Shortly after the wedding, through Meng Qingyi’s arrangements, Gumu Sheng also successfully secured the position of manager at the Ten Thousand Laws Tower, giving him a stage on which to display his talents.

...

「The Wang Family’s Ancestral Land.」

Within the Spiritual Land owned by the Grand Elder, Wang Xingwei was bidding farewell to Cheng Yao.

Although she had secured the right to use a Foundation Establishment Pill, Cheng Yao didn’t think it was a sure thing.

They had recently recovered nearly eight thousand Spirit Stones that had been swindled from the Wang family. Cheng Yao kept a tight grip on all of them, leaving none for the rest of the Wang family.

Buying the Foundation Establishment Pill had cost thirty-seven hundred, leaving her with over four thousand Spirit Stones.

After much thought, she decided she had to put the remaining four thousand-plus Spirit Stones to the best possible use.

She had also learned how Gumu Sheng had achieved Foundation Establishment. Therefore, on her instructions, Wang Xingwei would take the four thousand-plus Spirit Stones to Jixia Immortal City to purchase a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object for her, something similar to the Jade Heart Liquid.

Wang Xingwei was more than happy to carry out Cheng Yao’s command. He smiled and said, "Cheng Yao, I’ll be back before the end of the year."

Cheng Yao nodded. "Go and come back quickly. At the latest, don’t delay past the end of next year."

She estimated she could reach the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Level by the middle of next year. Then she could go to Cyan Dragon Mountain and apply to use the Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt her breakthrough.

It would be best if Wang Xingwei returned to the Immortal City before then.

Watching Wang Xingwei’s retreating figure, Cheng Yao sighed to herself. ’It’s a shame that in all these years, the Immortal City has only produced a single portion of Jade Heart Liquid. If I could just buy a similar Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object here, it would save Xingwei the trip to Jixia.’

’However, Jixia is the most prosperous hub in the Western Wilderness’s Cultivation Realm. He’ll definitely be able to buy a similar Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object there.’

Cheng Yao’s spirits soared. ’I already have Three Spirit Roots. With a Foundation Establishment Pill, my chance of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage is already thirty to forty percent. If I can add another Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, my chances will be close to fifty percent!’

But then another thought occurred to her.

’Because they swindled those Loose Cultivators, no one from the Wang family can hold a position in the Immortal City. But after I succeed in my Foundation Establishment, I’ll have to take Fenglan Master as my master.’

’At that point, how will I handle my relationship with Wang Xingwei?’

’First, I’ll focus on Foundation Establishment. I’ll worry about that later,’ Cheng Yao thought, pushing the concern aside.

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