Chapter 59: The Trajectory of Fate
Inside Hongxiu Zhao, the storyteller waved his hand impatiently.
“Return to the sect? What’s the hurry to go back?” he asked.
The burly man looked helpless. It was clear that Junior Uncle wasn’t tired of having fun yet.
But they had already been down the mountain for a year.
You haven’t had enough fun, but I, who have been serving by your side, am exhausted!
This Second Elder of the Daoist Sect felt bitter and habitually wanted to bite his nails.
The burly man decided to try persuading him again.
“Junior Uncle, look, Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing must have already gone up the mountain. Don’t you want to go back and see?” he asked.
The Second Elder of the Daoist Sect had been following Junior Uncle. When he approached Han and Xu in the guise of a storyteller, the burly man was actually present, but he stood far away.
According to Junior Uncle’s words: “You look like a farmer. Stay away from me at this time. If you follow me, I won’t appear as immortal and dignified.”
The storyteller waved his hand when he mentioned these two, “What’s so good about going back to see? I’ve already done all the necessary preparations.”
“Ah? Is there something I don’t know?” The burly man was a little curious.
“It’s nothing, I just prepared a cultivation technique for both of them,” the storyteller said nonchalantly.
The burly man pondered for a moment and said, “Han Shuangjiang has a Profound Yin Physique. At the Meridian-Opening Stage, it’s most suitable to practice the ‘Art of Icy Purity’.”
“As for that Xu Ziqing…” The burly man couldn’t think of anything.
A False Spiritual Embryo, too weak. He couldn’t answer this question.
This Second Elder of the Daoist Sect couldn’t understand why Junior Uncle, who descended the mountain based on the Dao Ancestor’s prophecy to find the savior of the world, would think it was this Xu Ziqing?
“Can’t think of it?” The storyteller chuckled, “I knew you couldn’t.”
Dressed in white robes, he continued to look in the mirror without looking at the burly man, his tone carrying a hint of smugness. “I let Li Chunsong go down the mountain to pick them up because, like you, Li Chunsong isn’t very clever.”
“He’ll definitely only choose one ‘Art of Icy Purity’ and start thinking the problem is tricky.”
“In this situation, given his personality, he’ll definitely let the False Spiritual Embryo choose his own cultivation technique.”
“In his eyes, it doesn’t matter what the False Spiritual Embryo chooses,” the storyteller said with an air of foresight.
The burly man nodded repeatedly. Even though Junior Uncle called him and the sixth junior brother not clever, he didn’t get angry and even agreed with it.
The Second Elder of the Daoist Sect knew very well that he was a slow-witted person.
As for the sixth junior brother, he lost every bet and loved gambling so much, wasn’t that foolish?
The burly man even understood that Junior Uncle liked to bring him, the Second Elder, down the mountain precisely because he was stupid and could highlight Junior Uncle’s intelligence.
So, he asked sincerely, “Junior Uncle, which cultivation technique did you deliberately leave behind?”
“It’s nothing, just an evil technique called ‘Sword Refining Art’. I stumbled upon it in my early years. It’s quite interesting and very suitable for a False Spiritual Embryo.”
The storyteller continued, “Xu Ziqing comes from a family of swordsmen. Among so many Meridian-Opening Stage cultivation techniques, this one has ‘sword’ in its name, so he’s bound to choose it.”
Upon hearing this, the burly man nodded earnestly and said, “It must be so. Although Junior Uncle is not in the sect, it’s as if he is in the sect, and everything is under your control.”
This Junior Uncle of the Daoist Sect continued to play with his dragon-whisker-like long hair, saying proudly, “Naturally.”
However, the burly man still had some worries.
“But, Junior Uncle, you said the ‘Sword Refining Art’ is an evil technique. Is it really okay to let the savior of the world practice this?”
The storyteller put down the mirror and replied, “Although this cultivation technique is unorthodox, it’s actually very interesting. It involves practicing with the mindset of refining artifacts, cultivating both internally and externally. This is beneficial for the False Spiritual Embryo to absorb the Meridian-Opening Pill. His progress will be slightly faster than practicing other cultivation techniques.”
“It just requires a trivial price to pay.”
“Moreover, this kid was born for that evil sword!” His gaze sharpened, as if recalling the sword on the peak of Hidden Spirit Mountain, a hint of solemnity and coldness flashed in his eyes.
“What’s the big deal about someone who wields an evil sword practicing a bit of an evil technique?” the storyteller reverted to his nonchalant demeanor.
As soon as the burly man heard the words “evil sword,” he immediately said, “Junior Uncle, speak carefully. That is the sword left by the Dao Ancestor.”
“So what? Do you still not think it’s an evil sword?” The storyteller sneered, “An evil sword is an evil sword!”
“If the Dao Ancestor hadn’t suppressed it back then, who knows how much trouble this sword would have caused.”
The burly man did not dare to respond this time. After all, this was still the Dao Ancestor’s sword.
He was not as heretical as Junior Uncle, and he could not utter such presumptuous words.
However, he did not voice his disagreement, which actually represented something.
After some thought, the middle-aged man, who looked like a farmer, finally spoke, “Junior Uncle, can this Xu Ziqing really take this sword from the mountain?”
“I found him based on the Dao Ancestor’s prophecy, so it should be possible,” the storyteller replied.
The burly man was somewhat perplexed, “That sword is so proud, even you and the Sword Venerable couldn’t tame it. When this child went up Hidden Spirit Mountain, he was only at the First Realm. How could he tame this sword?”
The Junior Uncle, who had started looking in the mirror again, put it down and said dismissively, “You don’t need to flatter me or that guy from the Sword Sect. We couldn’t defeat it means we couldn’t defeat it. Don’t say ‘untamable’.”
The Second Elder of the Daoist Sect lowered his head slightly, not daring to respond.
The storyteller continued, “Besides, why do you think that taking the sword means taming it?”
“Uh.” The burly man was stunned.
“I told you, this is an evil sword!” the storyteller’s tone was calm yet firm.
Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately said, “Junior Uncle, if that’s the case, shouldn’t we go back to the Daoist Sect already? After all, we need you to oversee things, right?”
“Hmm? You again!” The storyteller showed displeasure, “Xu Ziqing isn’t Han Shuangjiang. He’s a False Spiritual Embryo, and he cultivates so slowly. If I have to wait until he reaches the First Realm to go up Hidden Spirit Mountain, I’ll die of old age!”
“Don’t mention this again. We’re not in a hurry to go back,” he declared decisively.
“But can’t we give him the Profound Heaven Fetal Respiration Pill?” the burly man was still confused.
“His current situation perfectly matches the Dao Ancestor’s prophecy. Before he goes up Hidden Spirit Mountain, let’s not try to gild the lily,” the storyteller stated his personal opinion.
He hadn’t killed enough demons on this trip down the mountain!
Within the Daoist Sect, Medicine Mountain, and the Secret Realm.
Chu Huaixu climbed out of the pond once again.
“This time, there’s only less than 400 experience points.”
“And in the last few minutes, the experience points stopped increasing completely,” he said regretfully.
Based on his guess, the four holes should contain at least ten portions of body-tempering medicinal liquid, and likely more.
When he and Han Shuangjiang were “splashing around like mandarin ducks,” it was equivalent to consuming two portions and gaining over two thousand experience points.
The first time he entered the water tonight was equivalent to absorbing one portion of medicinal liquid and enduring one portion of water blades, but he only gained 850 experience points. The third time, it dropped to 350.
“This instance is useless to me now. It doesn’t even give experience in the last five minutes,” Chu Huaixu sighed. The water blades and body-tempering medicinal liquid were no longer beneficial for his cultivation.
“What a waste.” He was still staring at the four holes.
The next moment, Chu Huaixu’s mind moved, and he suddenly thought of his younger brother back home.
“I almost forgot about little Xu. This thing must have some effect on him too!” Chu Huaixu slapped his bare thigh.
“He’s a False Spiritual Embryo. If we let him cultivate slowly like this, when will he reach the peak?”
“I just don’t know if the bonus from this third trial will be significant for him,” Chu Huaixu mused.
After all, everyone’s constitution is different, so the medicinal effects and cultivation efficiency will also differ.
“However, his pain threshold hasn’t increased. I guess he’s going to be in a lot of pain.” He even felt a little sorry for the kid.
Chu Huaixu put on his robes and left the Secret Realm.
When he returned to the bamboo house, he even lingered outside Xu Ziqing’s room for a while.
He could faintly hear the sound of heavy breathing, “hiss-huff, hiss-huff,” from inside.
“He must be in a lot of pain,” Chu Huaixu thought.
“I wonder which cycle he’s cultivating now?” he wondered.
After standing there for a while longer, he returned to his own room.
Xu Ziqing, who had just finished a circulation, curled up on the meditation cushion again, in so much pain that he was about to roll on the ground.
To his disappointment, his acupoints were still severely blocked, and he didn’t know when they would loosen.
“If you’re weak, train harder. If you’re weak, train harder…” He clutched the note tightly in his hand, treating his senior brother’s words as golden advice.
When his body gradually adapted and returned to normal, he sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and looked at the note again.
Suddenly, he grabbed the booklet on the table and turned to the third page.
Then, he placed the note on top of the booklet.
The young man lowered his head and began to compare their handwriting.
(End of this chapter)
