txolops Chapter 265 Return to the Western Wilderness
Chapter 265 Return to the Western Wilderness
An eternal glacier.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from inside.
At this moment, less than half an hour had passed since Li Ping entered the secret vault to retrieve the treasure.
Pong!
A black sword shadow, like a dragon, pierced through the thick ice cover and flew out, followed closely by a figure in blue robes.
The figure in blue robes held a storage bag in his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face.
After quickly determining his direction, he sped off towards the south.
……
Several years later, in the northern border of the Yan Kingdom in the Western Wilderness.
A dark silver streak of light emerged from the desert without any concealment, heading towards the heart of the Yan Kingdom.
Li Ping stood at the front of the flying boat, looking down at the scene below, his eyes filled with emotion.
After nearly sixty years away from the western wilderness, he has finally returned today.
For the past six months, he has traveled from the far north across ice fields, deserts, Gobi, and grasslands, passing through the territories of strange peoples such as Yetis, barbarians, fire worshippers, and Turks.
In fact, given the speed of a Core Formation cultivator, this journey wouldn't take that long at all.
The main reason is that two years ago, the Earth Spirit Rat woke up after digesting the Thousand-Year Bloodline Fruit, which further enhanced its bloodline and also greatly improved its treasure-hunting ability.
Li Ping simply led the Earth Spirit Rat forward at a leisurely pace, searching for treasures along the way.
Although he passed through barren lands inhabited by supernatural beings on this journey, he actually managed to find a third-tier earth-attribute spirit ore, which could be used as a material for refining magic weapons and was worth nearly ten thousand spirit stones.
His blatant disregard for concealment naturally led to his discovery by the cultivators among the supernatural beings.
Li Ping has sufficient flexibility in this regard.
He encountered a Core Formation cultivator among the supernatural beings, and ultimately escaped using the Bloodwing Escape Technique.
He also encountered Foundation Establishment cultivators who were extraordinary individuals, and he killed them casually.
It can be said that Li Ping took bullying the weak and fearing the strong to the extreme along the way.
However, after returning to the Western Wilderness, he dared not be so presumptuous.
He killed Hua Hong back then.
If Hua Wuji is still alive, he might come looking for trouble, and he doesn't want to face off against a late-stage Core Formation cultivator right now.
Moreover, since we are not considering switching to a different cultivation method before the Starry Sky Tree planted on Gray Island reaches 100,000 years.
He will only stay briefly in the Western Wilderness on this trip, to open the cave under Xiaomei Mountain and retrieve the treasure.
After seeing off some old friends, I headed straight for the Great Zhou.
After all, the Western Wilderness is not much better than the far north. Its output is too poor, and its resources are controlled by sects and families, making it unsuitable for rogue cultivators to cultivate.
The Western Wilderness cultivation world was too small for him.
He was able to make better progress only after going to the Great Zhou.
He would have to traverse the territory occupied by the four major demonic sects. If he confronted Hua Wuji too early, it would add considerable risk to his journey to the Great Zhou.
In short, this return to the Western Wilderness will be kept low-key.
Thinking of this, Li Ping nodded slightly. As he cultivated the "Nine Tribulations True Spirit Holy Scripture," concealing his aura was naturally an easy task.
The next moment, his aura slowly subsided, eventually revealing only the pressure of someone around the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Foundation Establishment cultivators are considered to be in the middle ranks of the cultivation world in the Western Wilderness.
So that one is neither looked down upon for having too low a cultivation level, nor attracts too much attention for having too high a cultivation level.
"I remember that the Tianyou Sect rules the Yan Kingdom, and their sect is located in Tianshang Immortal City." As Li Ping recalled, long-dormant memories gradually resurfaced in his mind: "Let's go to Tianshang Immortal City and find out what changes have occurred in the Western Wilderness since I left."
As soon as Li Ping made his decision, the flying boat changed direction in the air and flew rapidly towards Tianshang Immortal City, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
……
In the Heavenly City of Desolation, a dark silver stream of light stopped outside one of the city gates.
Li Ping casually put away the flying boat and then headed directly into the Immortal City.
There were quite a few cultivators entering and leaving the Immortal City, but they were mostly low-level Qi Refining cultivators. As soon as these cultivators sensed the aura on Li Ping's body, they were all shocked and distanced themselves from him to avoid offending this unfamiliar Foundation Establishment senior.
As Li Ping slowly entered the Heavenly City of Desolation, he took a closer look at the scene before him.
He could clearly feel that the Heavenly City of Desolation was much more prosperous than when he came seventy years ago, and after a little thought, he understood why.
During the years they lived together, he had learned from Xiao Yunzhi about the great battle between the Defenders Alliance, the Turks, and the four demonic sects.
Xiao Changkong, carrying the Seal of the Common People, headed north and decisively defeated the Turkic tribes that were attacking the two countries, inflicting heavy losses on them.
With their strength greatly diminished, the Turks could no longer frequently raid southwards as they had in the past.
Li Ping guessed that in the past sixty years, there should have been no major wars between the Yan and Liang states, and they had enjoyed a long-awaited period of peace.
As a result, it is not surprising that Tianshang Immortal City has become much more prosperous.
According to Li Ping's previous life, this is called "post-war prosperity"!
……
I walked around the immortal city for a while.
Li Ping saw a large shop on the street called "Immortal Pavilion." A good name is hard to come up with, but for his die-hard fans, the latest chapter of "Eternal Life Begins with Inheriting the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation" has been released! A smile involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
About seventy years ago, he led Yan Hengchuan northward, attempting to enter the grasslands to capture Yan Liming.
To ensure everything went smoothly, he even came to Tianshang Immortal City to gather intelligence on the grasslands, and eventually bought the necessary information from the Immortal Dao Pavilion.
Li Ping still remembers that he was received by a female cultivator who called herself "Madam Snow" and was at the Foundation Establishment stage.
I never imagined that after so many years and the passage of time, the Immortal Pavilion would still be operating well.
He shook his head and strolled inside.
Faced with the attentive service of the shopkeeper, Li Ping directly instructed him to lead him upstairs.
The services he needed were only available on the second floor.
Upon hearing Li Ping's instructions, the Qi Refining cultivator dared not be careless. He immediately led him to a private room on the second floor, served him spiritual tea, and said that the manager would arrive shortly before respectfully leaving.
Li Ping waited in the private room for a moment, then heard footsteps.
Then the door to the private room was pushed open, and a hearty voice rang out: "Haha... Fellow Daoist seems unfamiliar. You must not be a cultivator from this city. My name is Lin Zhixing. May I ask your name?"
Accompanied by the sound, a slightly overweight man with a square face walked in from outside the door.
Seeing that it wasn't Madam Xue who entered, Li Ping was slightly disappointed, but he still stood up and said with a smile, "I am Xiong Dahai, greetings to Fellow Daoist Lin."
To be on the safe side, he deliberately changed his appearance before entering the city, and is now wearing a disguise.
In fact, when he traded with the Immortal Pavilion to purchase intelligence, he also used the alias Xiong Dahai.
"So it's Fellow Daoist Xiong." Sensing Li Ping's mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, Lin Zhixing was quite enthusiastic: "Fellow Daoist Xiong, is this your first time in Immortal City? I wonder if there's anything our pavilion can do for you?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ping shook his head: "I have been to Immortal City before and even traded with your esteemed establishment, but I was received by Madam Xue at that time."
"So you're a regular customer. That saves me the trouble of introducing you." Lin Zhixing became even more enthusiastic.
But at the same time, he also reminded Li Ping.
Decades ago, Madam Xue's Daoist partner had already formed a Golden Core, which led to her rising status in the Immortal City, making it naturally unsuitable for her to show her face in public anymore.
If Li Ping encounters her again, he must not treat her lightly, lest he offend a Core Formation Realm expert.
Although Li Ping didn't care in his heart, he showed a look of surprise on his face: "So Madam Xue is actually the Daoist partner of a Core Formation cultivator. I was really blind before."
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Li Ping proposed to purchase intelligence on the changes in power and structure of the Western Wilderness cultivation world over the past sixty years.
After Li Ping stated his request, Lin Zhixing couldn't help but glance at Li Ping a few more times, his eyes revealing surprise.
However, he didn't say much in the end, and readily agreed to Li Ping's request.
A few moments later, at Lin Zhixing's instruction, a steward delivered the information that Li Ping needed.
After a quick check and finding nothing amiss, Li Ping emptied a small pile of spirit stones from his storage bag, paid the fee for the information, and then got up to take his leave.
Seeing that Li Ping's figure had disappeared, Lin Zhixing muttered to himself, "He appeared once seventy years ago to buy intelligence, and now he's suddenly reappeared at our pavilion to buy intelligence on the changes in power in the Western Wilderness over the past sixty years. Has this Fellow Daoist Xiong not been cultivating in the Western Wilderness for the last sixty years?"
"The timing of his two appearances is so coincidental, could he be a human spy serving the Turks?" Lin Zhixing was startled by his own guess.
But he quickly shook his head, amused by his own guess.
What kind of spy would be so blatant?
However, he was certain that Fellow Daoist Xiong had left the Western Wilderness nearly sixty years ago and only recently returned. Moreover, judging from his generous spending, he must have gained quite a bit during this time.
Thinking of this, a glint of greed flashed in Lin Zhixing's eyes: "After returning to the Western Wilderness, he came to our pavilion to buy intelligence instead of returning to his family or sect, which means he's a rogue cultivator with no background. Should we make a quick buck?"
The reason he had such an idea was...
One reason why killing Li Ping didn't bring any grievances to the door was because they guessed that Li Ping was a rogue cultivator.
What's more important is the generosity he saw when Li Ping paid the bill. He took out hundreds of spirit stones without batting an eye. How wealthy must Li Ping be?
"Opportunity knocks but once, let's do it!"
Thinking so much was just Lin Zhixing trying to mentally prepare himself.
In fact, he had already set his sights on buying intelligence the moment Li Ping mentioned his request.
He secretly placed a tracking mark on Li Ping so that he could take action after Li Ping left the city.
"However, Xiong Dahai is a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. I may not be able to defeat him by myself. I ask Elder Feng and Fellow Daoist Ruan to join forces!" Lin Zhixing quickly took out a communication talisman and sent a message to the two of them.
Sensing that they were getting closer to the mark, Lin Zhixing's eyes lit up with surprise: "He's stopping in the valley ahead. Let's attack together and catch him off guard!"
The thought that the spirit stones on that person were about to fall into his hands filled him with excitement.
But when the three of them flew into the valley, they saw a figure looking at them with a half-smile, and the words he said made their hearts tremble: "I've been waiting for so long, I thought you didn't dare to come."
"Immortality Begins with Inheriting the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation" ranks highly in readers' poll for the best Xianxia novel!