txolops Chapter 149 A Lifetime, A Returning Guest
Chapter 149 A Lifetime, A Returning Guest
After Cheng Yao left.
Li Ping returned to the training room and secluded himself for cultivation.
As he diligently practiced, another year passed by unknowingly.
The annual gathering of the Tongzhou Association was held as scheduled.
Li Ping stood in the pavilion, looking at the four people sitting with him, a smile appearing in his eyes.
Needless to say, the other three, even Bai Qing, who had the lowest cultivation level, finally broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Within two to three years, he would probably be able to cultivate to the peak of Qi Refining and then begin to prepare for the trip to the Qingyun Secret Realm.
The Azure Cloud Secret Realm will open four years later, so he still has plenty of time.
The gathering began with the collection of Foundation Establishment funds: 300 spirit stones for Li Ping, 100 spirit stones each for Zhang Tie, Gu Musheng, and Cheng Yao, plus 30 spirit stones for Bai Qing, for a total of 630 spirit stones.
The total amount of the Foundation Building Fund has reached 2,380 spirit stones.
After putting away the storage bag, Li Ping looked at the other four people with a smile: "First of all, I have some good news to tell you all."
"Oh?" Upon hearing Li Ping's words, the other four immediately became curious and pricked up their ears to hear what the good news their eldest brother had in mind was.
Li Ping didn't keep them in suspense and continued with a smile, "Not long ago, I received a letter from Hanmo in Jixia. In the letter, Hanmo told me that he had successfully established his foundation!"
"The foundation of calligraphy and painting has been laid."
"Fifth Brother has reached Foundation Establishment!"
……
Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the four people instantly changed from surprise to delight.
Having spent so much time together, they naturally offered their heartfelt congratulations to Qi Hanmo on his successful Foundation Establishment.
Surprised, Zhang Tie asked curiously, "Hey, brother. In the letter Hanmo wrote to me last time, he said he would return to the Immortal City after reaching Foundation Establishment. Why did he only send one letter back?"
Upon hearing this, the others also looked at Li Ping.
Clearly, Qi Hanmo mentioned this matter in all of their letters.
Li Ping explained with a smile, "Hanmo was indeed planning to come back, but his master ordered him to serve on the Yuan Kingdom's battlefield, so he can't get away for the time being."
"He went to the Yuan Kingdom battlefield?" Gu Musheng was taken aback. "Won't it be dangerous for a cultivator who has just established his foundation to go to the Yuan Kingdom battlefield?"
Li Ping shook his head uncertainly: "Since it's a battlefield, there will definitely be dangers. However, after fighting for so many years, both sides are probably exhausted, and the intensity of the war should have decreased a lot. Hanmo shouldn't be in too much danger."
Upon hearing this, Gu Musheng nodded thoughtfully.
After discussing Qi Hanmo's foundation-building, the group took turns recounting their own experiences from the previous year.
Zhang Tie and Gu Musheng, one in charge of logistics and the other in charge of shops, joined forces and became a rising force in the Immortal City.
As Meng Qingyi's confidants, they were initially somewhat worried about their own position after Dai Sangyu achieved the Golden Core stage.
To their surprise, after Dai Sangyu formed his core, he went into seclusion to stabilize his cultivation. After going into seclusion, he not only showed no intention of interfering in the affairs of the Immortal City, but also left the Immortal City to travel far away.
I have no idea where they went.
In short, for the time being, the demise of Dai Sangyu has not had any impact on them.
In addition, Gu Musheng's wife gave birth to a daughter for him last year, and he has already put the plan to take a concubine on his agenda.
Zhang Tie, needless to say, followed the belief that many children bring many blessings and married two more concubines.
The Zhang and Gu families were beginning to take shape.
After reporting to Li Ping last year, Cheng Yao immediately returned to the Wang family and led all the cultivators, including Wang Xingwei, out of the city to seize territory.
Led by the two, the Wang family cultivators arrived at Yanxia Mountain and directly explained their purpose to the Xue family.
Seeing that the Wang family had two Foundation Establishment cultivators in charge, the Xue family did not put up any futile resistance and surrendered decisively, handing over Yanxia Mountain to the Wang family.
According to the rules set by Master Fenglan, the Wang family did not make things difficult for the Xue family, but allowed them to move out with their family property at their leisure.
Thus, the Wang family successfully occupied the second-tier spiritual vein of Yanxia Mountain.
However, when the Xue family gave up Yanxia Mountain, they also harvested all the spiritual herbs and rice that belonged to them.
Therefore, for the time being, this second-tier spiritual land not only cannot bring any benefits to the Wang family, but also requires them to invest a lot of resources in cultivation and development.
It may be several years before we see any returns.
Cheng Yao also mentioned that many of the Wang family cultivators were dissatisfied with the fact that they could only receive a salary from the family through hard work.
Cheng Yao certainly wouldn't tolerate them. To establish her authority, she directly expelled several strange-sounding cultivators from the Wang family.
Now, the other cultivators in the Wang family are all obediently developing the immortal mountain in Yanxia Mountain.
Upon hearing Cheng Yao's account, Li Ping nodded slightly.
Perhaps because his own sect was wiped out by the demonic path, Master Fenglan was very lenient towards the cultivation families under his rule. While he didn't forbid them from fighting each other, he prohibited them from engaging in baseless killings and forbade any act of extermination!
For example, the battle between the Xue and Wang families at Yanxia Mountain.
For example, the battle between the Xue and Wang families at Yanxia Mountain.
With the Wang family's army pressing in, the Xue family, knowing they were no match, simply admitted defeat and surrendered, giving up the second-tier spiritual land of Yanxia Mountain.
Once they admit defeat, surrender, and hand over the spiritual land, according to the rules set by True Person Fenglan, the Wang family will not be allowed to kill any more Xue family cultivators; instead, they should all be allowed to leave.
Of course, if the Xue family cultivators resist stubbornly and are killed in the battle, then they deserve to die, and the Immortal City will not hold the Wang family responsible for it.
In the various kingdoms of the Western Wilderness, each spiritual vein has a master.
Cultivation families who want to manage spiritual veins must either rent or buy them; they are absolutely not allowed to seize them by force.
Under the rule of the demonic path, the law of the jungle prevails: the survival of the fittest.
As long as one is strong enough, one can plunder other people's property at will, kill cultivators at will to refine treasures, and those with strong spiritual energy can occupy the land.
Under the rule of the Immortal City, things are not as orderly as the various kingdoms of the Western Wilderness, nor are they as unscrupulous as the demonic cultivators; they are somewhere in between.
At the end of the gathering, the four sworn brothers and sisters, all at the Foundation Establishment stage, turned their attention to Bai Qing.
After Qi Hanmo achieved Foundation Establishment, Bai Qing was the only one among the six siblings who had not yet achieved Foundation Establishment.
With such a powerful support group, it would be theoretically easy to obtain a foundation-building resource for Bai Qing.
Bai Qing couldn't help but sigh, "Why am I a clan cultivator? If only I were a rogue cultivator!"
……
After the battle of the Jade Dragon, three million of them were defeated, their broken scales and armor flying everywhere!
The snow fell thick and fast; the goose-feather-like snowflakes were no longer "falling," but rather being poured down.
The entire city was covered by a thick layer of snow, and only its outline could be barely seen.
On such a cold day, a child who didn't look very old resolutely went out of his house to deliver food to his older sister who was washing clothes by the river.
The child carefully held the cake in his bosom, closed the dilapidated wooden gate, and walked towards the river.
Unbeknownst to him, a figure dressed in a gray robe was standing right next to him, watching him.
The figure looked at the child struggling through the snow and smiled: "The sword of spirit communication is pointing at him. He is the reincarnation of Master Xu."
As she whispered, a wisp of her magic power probed into the child's experience, examining his spiritual aptitude.
"Five spiritual roots?" She looked surprised, finding it hard to believe the test results.
Seemingly worried about making a mistake during the check, she checked it again, and the result was correct; it was indeed a five-elemental root.
Dai Sangyu was speechless: "How could Master Xu's reincarnation have five spiritual roots? Such aptitude..."
While she was pondering, the child had already reached the street corner and was almost out of sight.
With a sigh, Dai Sangyu took a step forward and followed.
After turning the corner and walking a few hundred steps, you'll find a small river.
The riverbank was also covered in snow, but upon closer inspection, several figures could be seen appearing and disappearing.
Under Dai Sangyu's watchful gaze, the child quickly ran to a young girl of similar age and presented her with the cake he had carefully held in his arms: "Sister, have a cake."
"Didn't I tell you not to go out? I'm not hungry." The girl couldn't help but show a reproachful expression when she saw the child.
Upon closer inspection, her face was flushed an unnatural red, like a frozen, congested radish, with a faint bluish-purple tinge visible beneath.
Clearly, doing laundry work in this kind of weather is not a good job.
While scolding, the girl also shook her hands to shake off the chill from her swollen, red fingers.
The girl took the cake the child offered her and began to swallow it in small bites; she must have been extremely hungry.
The reason she didn't go home wasn't because she wasn't hungry, but because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to finish her work and earn enough money to support her and her brother.
Dai Sangyu revealed herself, walked to the child's side, and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"
"what!"
The child was startled by Dai Sangyu's sudden appearance, and the girl also looked at Dai Sangyu warily.
"This isn't the place to talk, let's go somewhere else!" Seeing the two of them looking startled, Dai Sangyu nodded dismissively.
She then enveloped the two of them with her magic, and a flash of light appeared on the spot. When the two could see their surroundings clearly, they found themselves in a magnificent palace.
"A celestial being!" The girl and the children were both surprised and delighted to see her use her powers.
He answered all of Dai Sangyu's questions.
A question and answer session.
After a long silence, Dai Sangyu nodded slightly, her expression unchanged: "You are the posthumous child of the deposed crown prince, and you are not allowed to have a name. Your name is Ayun, and you are the adopted daughter of the deposed crown prince."
"How about I give you a name?" she said with a smile to the child.
The two were overjoyed to receive a name from the immortal and readily agreed.
"Your name is Xu Ping..." Dai Sangyu suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence.
At this moment, she thought of her master sitting in the immortal city for more than two hundred years, waiting patiently for his master to return.
Upon seeing the 'immortal' remain silent, the children and girls couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Just as they were feeling uneasy, they suddenly heard the immortal in front of them murmur: "A city of mist and rain has been spent in my life, and I await the return of the guest in the depths of the green mountains. You... shall be called Xu Guike."
"Xu Guike." The child was overjoyed; since birth, he finally had his own name.
Ayun, standing to the side, bowed deeply in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, immortal, for bestowing this name upon me."
The immortal's words are golden: no one may take away His Highness's name again.
Dai Sangyu nodded with a smile, her voice calm: "Guike, Ayun, there are many people in this city who have bullied you. I'll kill them, is that alright?"