Chapter 248: Chapter 245: A Beauty’s Favor is Hard to Repay

He watched Shi Yutong leave.

Li Ping had a thoughtful look in his eyes.

After a long moment, he looked at Xiao Yunzhi beside him. "Yunzhi, let me see the Jade Scroll."

Of the three tasks Shi Yutong had asked of Xiao Yunzhi, the first two were manageable. It was the third that truly plunged Li Ping into deep thought.

The details of the third task were as follows:

Shi Yutong had requested Xiao Yunzhi to kill Long Jie, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Cloud Sect. She also hoped to buy back a Spiritual Object that Long Jie had plundered from the Flying Snow Sect, offering a high price for it.

From the very beginning, Li Ping had a faint suspicion.

A year ago, during the chaos in Flying Snow City, he had transformed into a beautiful young woman and killed a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who was fleeing the Flying Snow Sect with a precious treasure.

At the time, however, he hadn’t known the cultivator’s identity. And after going to great lengths to kill the man, he had taken his Storage Bag.

He had no intention of returning his spoils to the Flying Snow Sect.

Considering the possibility that the Flying Snow Sect might have placed a tracking mark on the treasure, he sealed the Storage Bag without even inspecting its contents to avoid any awkward encounters. He then hid it in a secluded spot outside the city.

To this day, he still didn’t know what treasure lay within that Storage Bag.

’If the Flying Snow Sect manages to find the treasure using a pre-placed mark, I can only say it wasn’t meant to be mine.’

As for retrieving the Storage Bag?

Li Ping’s plan was to wait until after he reached Core Formation. Before then, he wanted to maintain a good relationship with the Flying Snow Sect and avoid any unnecessary complications.

But now, after hearing Shi Yutong’s request...

Li Ping suspected that the unknown Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator he had killed might just be the Long Jie that Shi Yutong wanted dead.

But he needed to confirm it.

The Jade Scroll Shi Yutong had left for Xiao Yunzhi contained a portrait of Long Jie.

"The Jade Scroll? Here." Upon hearing Li Ping’s words, Xiao Yunzhi didn’t hesitate, handing the Jade Scroll directly to him.

Li Ping took the Jade Scroll and immersed his Divine Sense into it. He immediately recognized the familiar figure.

He could now confirm it: the man he had killed was indeed Long Jie, the Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Cloud Sect!

The moment he recognized him, he also understood something else: the Flying Snow Sect hadn’t placed a tracking mark on the stolen treasure.

After all, if there really had been a tracking mark, they would have followed it and discovered the Storage Bag Li Ping had hidden outside the city long ago.

He had ruled out the possibility of the Flying Snow Sect finding it, but even so, Li Ping still had no plans to go retrieve the Storage Bag from outside the city.

’The treasure isn’t going to run away on its own. There’s no need to rush.’

His most pressing matter right now was to cultivate to the Peak of Foundation Establishment, then use the Flying Snow Sect’s Tier Three Spirit Vein to break through to the Core Formation Stage.

’As for the treasure and all that... it can wait until after I successfully reach Core Formation.’

At this thought, he shook his head slightly, returned the Jade Scroll to Xiao Yunzhi, and said nothing more.

Xiao Yunzhi was completely baffled but didn’t ask any questions.

She knew that with Brother Li’s personality, if he wanted to tell her something, he would just say it.

If he didn’t want to say it, asking would be pointless.

Li Ping smiled and asked, "By the way, Yunzhi, when do you plan to leave?"

From their previous conversation, he knew Xiao Yunzhi was eager to complete the Flying Snow Sect’s tasks and then return to the Western Wilderness to vanquish demons and defend the righteous path. That was why he asked.

As expected, Xiao Yunzhi shared her plan, "Sometime in the next few days."

Hearing this, Li Ping smiled. "In that case, before you leave, I’ll have to ask you to set up an array in the residence that can block Divine Sense."

"Don’t worry, Brother Li! You can count on Yunzhi." Xiao Yunzhi agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

...

「Ten days later.」

Within the residence’s original Tier Two array, Xiao Yunzhi had set up an additional Tier Two Upper Grade array that provided both defense and concealment from prying Divine Senses.

With this array, any Divine Sense below the Core Formation Stage would be completely blocked.

It could even momentarily obstruct the Divine Sense of a Core Formation Stage cultivator, alerting those inside.

The security and privacy had been significantly enhanced, to say the least.

After setting up the array, Xiao Yunzhi immediately prepared to head to the Ice Sea to complete the three tasks Shi Yutong had entrusted to her.

Li Ping reminded her, "Be careful. For two Core Formation Cultivators to perish without even a chance to escape, there’s likely some hidden secret involved."

Hearing Li Ping’s reminder, Xiao Yunzhi smiled and nodded. "Don’t worry, Brother Li. Yunzhi knows."

She was, of course, aware of the point Li Ping had raised. However, after the beast tide retreated, cultivators from the other Main Cities had already explored the ruins of Silver Moon City and found nothing out of the ordinary.

None of the exploring cultivators had encountered any danger. Therefore, the difficulty of her mission wasn’t the personal risk, but figuring out the truth of what happened.

CLAP CLAP~

Li Ping clapped his hands lightly.

At the sound, a shadowy black figure darted out from a corner of the courtyard. It landed in front of Li Ping and began to bow and clasp its hands repeatedly in a human-like gesture.

Li Ping pointed to the small, bowing beast on the ground and said with a smile, "Yunzhi, this Earth Spirit Rat is skilled at finding Celestial and Earthly Treasures. It should be a great help in your search for the thousand-year Ice Jade. Take it with you on this trip!"

"An Earth Spirit Rat?" Xiao Yunzhi looked at the small beast on the ground, her eyes filled with surprise. "Brother Li, I can’t believe you have such a marvelous Exotic Beast."

Li Ping just smiled and nodded, offering no further explanation.

After communicating with his Spiritual Sense and ordering the Earth Spirit Rat to obey Xiao Yunzhi, he took a Storage Bag from his waist and handed it to her. Along with it, he gave her twenty to thirty bottles of Tier Two Beast Feeding Pills.

These were for the Earth Spirit Beast and Xiao Yunzhi’s Blazing Sun Bird, a Spirit Beast.

"Brother Li, thank you so much!" Xiao Yunzhi didn’t refuse. She accepted the Earth Spirit Rat and the Beast Feeding Pills. "Yunzhi will set out right away!"

With all preparations complete, she didn’t intend to delay any longer.

Li Ping smiled and nodded. "Have a safe trip!"

But just as he finished speaking, Xiao Yunzhi’s figure suddenly flashed before him. Before he could react, she pressed her lips against his.

The young woman’s sweet scent instantly filled Li Ping’s nostrils, and his eyes widened in surprise.

But before he could react further, Xiao Yunzhi broke away from the butterfly-light kiss. Blushing, she rushed out the door and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Watching her figure fade into the distance, a wry, helpless smile appeared on Li Ping’s face.

’I can’t believe I was just forcibly kissed by Xiao Yunzhi.’

Xiao Yunzhi had succeeded partly because of the surprise attack, but mainly because her strength surpassed Li Ping’s.

He was well aware of Xiao Yunzhi’s feelings for him; he just hadn’t figured out how to handle them.

He was a man singularly devoted to the Dao. Other than eternal life, everything else was like a passing cloud to him.

Back in Fenglan Immortal City, when his concubine Bai Lin had requested a child, he had refused without hesitation.

Furthermore, his obsession with cultivation led him to neglect Bai Lin, causing her to mistakenly believe he found her old and repulsive.

Due to various factors, Bai Lin eventually left him of her own accord, even personally selecting a younger woman to be his new concubine.

Although Li Ping had been furious with her actions at the time, upon later reflection, he realized his neglect had played a significant part in her decision.

’Women are insecure about their age.’

His cultivation of the Nourishing Life Skill kept his appearance from aging.

Bai Lin, on the other hand, had been with him since she was nineteen. As she grew older and her looks slowly faded, her heart must have been in turmoil. She couldn’t face it with equanimity.

She could only place all her emotional hopes on the Bai family.

That was why, with little hope of reaching Foundation Establishment herself, she had given the Foundation Establishment Pill to her more talented younger brother.

She herself had gone into seclusion on Gaoji Mountain, no longer seeing Li Ping.

’That was Bai Lin... so what about Xiao Yunzhi?’

Xiao Yunzhi’s aptitude was far superior to Bai Lin’s. She had a promising future of reaching the Nascent Soul stage, making her an excellent choice for a Daoist partner.

Searching his heart, Li Ping had to admit he felt some affection for her. If he accepted her, they could perhaps become a celestial couple, living freely for nearly a thousand years.

But Li Ping hadn’t forgotten that Xiao Yunzhi was a cultivator from the Academy Palace. Moreover, an ancestor of the Xiao family had been killed by Old Demon Lu of the Spirit Control Sect.

It could be said she carried the heavy burden of a family feud!

If Li Ping were to become her Daoist partner, the karmic ties would inevitably draw him into a future confrontation with Old Demon Lu, and even the four major sects of the Demon Dao.

He cultivated for the sake of longevity and had no desire to get entangled in these endless struggles where "one falls and another rises to take their place."

"A beauty’s favor is the hardest to repay... Forget it, forget it... I’ll just let nature take its course."

Standing in the courtyard, Li Ping pondered for a long time before finally shaking his head.

...

After Xiao Yunzhi left, Li Ping returned to a life of routine.

Aside from the occasional cultivator who came to his door seeking his alchemy services, he spent most of his time in arduous cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, three years passed.

At the end of that year, Li Ping stood in his courtyard, his eyes filled with a sense of wistful reflection.

After this year, he would be exactly one hundred and ten years old.

Nearly a century had passed since Daoist Ji first guided him onto the path of cultivation.

In a hundred years, he had gone from a clueless Qi Refining rookie to his current Late-stage Foundation Establishment realm. He could be considered to have gained some renown and established a firm foothold in the Cultivation Realm.

Just as Li Ping was lost in his wistful thoughts, Ji Shu Xuan came to his door to invite him to a banquet.

Ji Shu Xuan was eighty-two this year. Because a severe injury in his youth had damaged his Origin, he now looked much older than a mortal of the same age.

His back was stooped, his hair had turned completely white, and age spots had begun to appear on his face.

Ji Shu Xuan said with a smile, "Uncle Li, Senior Xu and Senior Lin have returned from their monster hunt. The two lovebirds have finally tied the knot; they recently became Daoist partners."

Li Ping smiled and nodded. He wasn’t surprised by this outcome, as he had long since noticed the bond between the two.

"They’ve specially arranged a banquet at the Golden Goblet Tower to celebrate with their friends." As he spoke, Ji Shu Xuan took a gilt-edged invitation card from his Storage Bag. "Senior Xu specifically ordered me to deliver this invitation to you, Uncle Li, hoping you can find the time to attend."

Li Ping accepted the invitation and promised he would attend on time.

After delivering the invitation, Ji Shu Xuan stayed to chat with Li Ping for a while, recounting some interesting recent events in the city before taking his leave in a hurry.

He still had to deliver invitations to other cultivators.

Holding the invitation, Li Ping’s thoughts turned to Xu Guikai.

He was Dai Sangyu’s disciple. After Dai Sangyu’s death, he had secretly fled the Western Wilderness and come to the Land of the Far North to take shelter.

Li Ping knew that Dai Sangyu held great importance in his heart. Judging by how diligently he cultivated, he clearly intended to return to the Western Wilderness to avenge his master once his cultivation was strong enough.

One wants to avenge her family’s ancestor, the other wants to avenge his master.

He and Xiao Yunzhi could form an avengers’ alliance.

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