Chapter 68 – Life Expectancy
“What Lord would like us to do!” After hearing Liu Ming, Guan Lao Da was initially overjoyed, but slightly apprehensive as he inquired.
“Do not worry, I will not make you do anything that you are incapable of completing. You will only have to go to a few places in the mortal world and establish a few small minor powers. Additionally, you will have to collect some information and news for me. That is about it. These things shouldn’t be too difficult for you two Middle Tier Practitioners.” Liu Ming said while giving off a smile that wasn’t really a smile.
“Lord, please be at ease. Perhaps we would not be able to help with other tasks, but something as small as this should not be a problem.” Guan Lao Da relaxed in his heart, immediately patting his chest as he responded.
“Good. The two of you will stay outside the sect for a night. Once I have thought of your tasks, I will come back. When the time comes, the two of you will follow my directions and complete them.” Liu Ming indifferently commanded.
This time, Guan Lao Da and Gu San agreed together.
Thus, in the ensuing period of time, Liu Ming performed a single handed technique and once again condensed his gray cloud. He then brought the two of them back to the watchtower and then rode on toward Nine Infant Mountain.
Not long after, he returned to his residence, opened the door and casually found a chair to sit in. He then grabbed the Bai Clan Clan Leader’s letter and took out the enclosed paper.
“He will let me continue to hold onto Bai Cong Tian’s name, but within the next ten years, I must strive to help the Bai Clan expand its influence. The Bai Clan will also supply me with resources to help me cultivate. It seems like the conditions are not too bad; it is also quite similar to what Bai Yun Er said. However, the last thing mentioned was for me to marry into the Mu Clan. They unexpectedly want me to marry Mu Mingzhu; are they joking? That girl is currently very passionate with Gao Chong. How would she ever approve of a Three Spiritual Pulse disciple? It’s better if I let the Mu Clan convince the girl first!” After reading through the Bai Clan Clan Leader’s letter, Liu Ming suddenly laughed. He talked to himself while rubbing his two fingers and turned the letter into a pile of ash.
He naturally did not plan on writing a letter back to the Bai Clan.
Early in the morning on the second day, Liu Ming left his dwelling and went to look for Guan Da Lao and Gu San.
He brought the two of them to a desolate place again and explained his tasks for them for an hour. After that he personally brought the two of them out of Barbarian Ghost Sect’s mountain range with his Soaring Sky Technique. He subsequently came back to the sect alone.
Liu Ming did not directly return to his residence. Instead he went to the Main Peak’s Returning Spring Hall.
This time, once he entered the wooden door, there was only one person on the first floor. However, this was naturally not Jia Lan but was another average looking girl.
This girl asked him a few questions before gesturing with her hands, letting him enter the second level.
Liu Ming was not polite and with just a few steps, he was already on the second floor. He then walked toward a side room that was emitting a medicinal smell, which he did not enter last time.
As Liu Ming moved to the side rooms pearl white curtain door, he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. From inside, a gentle voice sounded.
“You’ve already come here, why are you hesitating!? Youngster, come on in.”
“Thank you Senior; I am sorry.” Liu Ming heard these words and respectfully replied before opening the pearl curtain and entering.
However, once he entered and glanced around, he jumped in surprise.
Seated on a chair, adjacent to a medicinal furnace, shockingly, it was the green cloaked woman who he had previously seen on the third floor.
“Why is Senior here; shouldn’t you be…?” Liu Ming thought of last time when he had been turned away by the opposition party and couldn’t help but hesitate.
“Haha, it seems you have seen my older sister. Do not worry, we are not the same person, we are only twins. Thus we look the same.” When the cloaked woman saw Liu Ming dither, she giggled and explained the situation in a good natured manner.
“I understand now; I recognized the wrong person.” Liu Ming heard her explanation and realized that this cloaked woman was completely different from the one on the third floor. He immediately relaxed.
“However, youngster, based on your appearance, it doesn’t seem like you have sustained an injury or illness.” The cloaked woman said as she looked over him.
“I have just returned from the Ghost Hell Region and came across a small mishap. I recently felt that something is wrong with my body but after examining myself, I found nothing wrong. Thus, I would like to request for Senior to help me inspect my body and find any abnormal areas.” Liu Ming respectfully replied.
“Huh, your body is unwell? This scope is too broad. Nevertheless, if you really want to undergo a thorough examination I can use a examination formation, but the price is not small.” The cloaked woman didn’t feel like anything was out of the ordinary as she calmly spoke.
“How many Spirit Stones?” Liu Ming asked without the slightest hesitation.
“A hundred.”
Although the cloaked woman’s voice was gentle, the amount she spoke of made Liu Ming’s heart jump.
“May I ask Martial Aunt what the effect of this examination formation is?” The exorbitant price made Liu Ming somewhat hesitant.
“Do not worry, as long as there truly is something wrong with your body, this formation will definitely be able to discover it. Otherwise, how could I possibly take so many of Junior’s Spirit Stones. Honestly, these hundred Spirit Stones are used to operate the formation.” The cloaked woman nonchalantly replied.
“Then I will use it once.” Liu Ming weighed his options before biting his teeth and replying.
“Good. Come over here.” The cloaked woman was somewhat surprised by his response and after deeply looking at Liu Ming, she stood up and walked to a corner of the room.
At this time, Liu Ming discovered that the floor over there astonishingly contained a foot long light yellow formation inscription.
The cloaked woman grabbed a few snow white crystals and put them into a notch at the edge of the formation. She then indicated for Liu Ming to enter.
Liu Ming casually took off the Cultivating Soul Pouch on his waist and left it at the edge of the formation. He then entered the formation and sat down cross-legged.
The cloaked woman flipped her hand and a light yellow-colored method tray appeared. She then thrust it at the formation.
A droning reverberation was sent around the entire formation as a misty golden light rose into the air, encompassing Liu Ming within it.
The cloaked woman started to mumble to herself; one of her fingers continuously pushed something on the formation tray. From within the tray, there were occasional bouts of light or inscriptions rushing out. It made one’s vision become extremely blurred.
“Your body is extremely healthy, your blood essence is sufficient and bone structure is exceptionally dense. It seems to be another level above that of normal people. Huh? Your Fa Li is extremely pure. You have already purified your Fa Li?!” The cloaked woman operated the method tray for a moment while muttering to herself, exposing a surprised expression.
“My Fa Li truly has been purified.” Since it had been discovered by the Martial Aunt, Liu Ming didn’t bother trying to hide it.
“Unfathomable! Youngster, it seems that you are someone with incredible will power. According to my knowledge, when younger people purify their Fa Li, it requires a lot of time and effort. It further requires one’s faith in advancing to the next levels quickly to be ample, not caring about wasting time. Either that, or they are trying to take short cuts, and willingness to risk their lives.” The cloaked woman said with a somewhat inquisitive expression.
“I do not actually know what sort of person I am. Nonetheless, has Martial Aunt finished the examination yet?” Liu Ming ambiguously replied before asking a question pertaining to himself.
“Not yet, just wait a bit longer. Mhm, there is nothing wrong with your Spirit Sea and your mental state is very steady, so there shouldn’t be anything wrong…” The cloaked woman controlled the formation tray while proceeding to talk.
However, once Liu Ming heard the woman say “there is nothing wrong with your Spirit Sea”, his eyes couldn’t help but emit a slightly disappointed expression.
“Huh, there seems to be something wrong with your life expectancy, it appears to have shortened!” Suddenly, the cloaked woman’s voice changed and a slightly astonished tone surfaced in her voice.
“My life expectancy has been shortened? If this is truly the case, could Martial Aunt look more carefully?!” When Liu Ming heard the woman, he naturally jumped in fright.
“Okay, I will look once again… mmm, I am correct. Your life expectancy really is showing signs of having been recently shortened by external factors. However, you do not need to be too worried because your life expectancy has not been shortened by that much. It seems like it has only been shortened by a few years. All you need to do is take some Spirit medicines and we can probably find a method to recover your lost years. Apparently, when you were in Ghost Hell Region, you came across a demonic ghost that specializes in absorbing a human’s life force. Next time you go into that area, as long as you prepare a few restraining techniques, there should be no problem. Okay, there’s nothing else wrong with you.” The cloaked woman gazed at the formation tray again before laughing slightly.
“My life expectancy has shortened. It seems that this I unwell feeling stemmed from this. Thank you for your directions; the next time I go to Ghost Hell Region, I will definitely take more care.” Liu Ming let out a light sigh and bitterly smiled as he replied.
However, Liu Ming suddenly thought of when the bubble devoured his Fa Li, he had sensed something, as if a certain thing was being peeled away from his body. He couldn’t help but feel his heart sink.
When the bubble ran out of Fa Li to absorb, it unexpectedly used his life force as a replacement. This was the same as taking one’s life!
Nonetheless, in front of the cloaked woman, even if he was deeply troubled, he couldn’t expose this. He stood up at once, leaving the formation and grabbing his Cultivating Soul Pouch. He once again gave his thanks and left.
After Liu Ming’s silhouette disappeared, just as he entered the flight of stairs, the cloaked woman retracted her golden formation tray. She wore a trace of suspicion as she said to herself:
“Don’t tell me that an Absorbing Soul Beast has appeared in Ghost Hell Region again. If this really is the case, we must make sure that the disciples are more careful when traveling there.”
Subsequently, the woman shook her head before she sat in her original chair. It seemed as if no one had ever visited.
……
After the time it took to eat a meal, Liu Ming returned to his dwelling.
He immediately entered his cultivation room and sat down cross-legged on his praying mat. He then closed his eyes and started to seriously consider a solution to the mysterious bubble.
Otherwise, according to the current situation, the bubble would start absorbing his life force once the Fa Li in his body ran out. If so, he would not be able to survive very long.
He had arduously walked the path of cultivation and naturally did not want to end his journey so quickly.
Liu Ming sat like this for an entire day and night.
On the morning of the third day, he finally opened his eyes. His expression had loosened a bit and it seemed as if he had come up with a plan.