“Don’t celebrate too soon. This sword can be used until Ninth Level of Qi Condensation, but you are only at Qi Condensation Level 3 right now. See if you can control it?”
Liu Boli was treating Qian Duoduo as a sword to refine, pouring cold water on his enthusiastic head.
He had figured out Qian Duoduo’s temper: the more he was hit, the more he refused to give up; the more he refused to give up, the more persistent he became.
Qian Duoduo placed the sword on the ground, channeled his Spiritual Qi, and with his right index finger forming a hand seal, pointed. The Golden Rooster Sword wobbled and flew up.
“How’s that? I can do it.” Before he finished speaking, the Golden Rooster Sword plunged from the air and stuck diagonally into the green brick pavement.
“Mistake, mistake,” Qian Duoduo mocked himself. The Golden Rooster Sword, refined from over twenty chicken feet, was unusually heavy.
“Once you master it, I’ll tell you how to activate the sonic attack,” Liu Bo said, delivering another blow to Qian Duoduo before returning to the Golden Toad.
For five or six consecutive days, Qian Duoduo did not leave his small courtyard. He either lit a Meditation Incense and Cultivated on his Spiritual Platform, or he practiced the Golden Rooster Sword in the courtyard.
After a period of arduous practice, he made some progress.
The Golden Rooster Sword, within ten zhang, could now obey Qian Duoduo’s commands.
At noon that day, Qian Duoduo asked Liu Bo, “Is that enough?”
“Far from it,” Liu Bo transmitted from the Golden Toad.
“Then, what counts as good?”
“Flexible and free within fifty zhang.”
Upon hearing this, Qian Duoduo plopped down on the ground. “The goal is still quite far.” Beyond ten zhang, his Spiritual Qi would thin out, and the Golden Rooster Sword would fall.
To thicken his Spiritual Qi, he had two choices: either practice the Eternal Wealth and Nobility Art to strengthen his Spiritual Vein, or practice the Golden Light Technique to break through to Qi Condensation Level 4.
Thinking about the upcoming competition against Outer Sect Disciple, if he remained at Level 3, he probably wouldn't find anyone willing to fight him. Qian Duoduo decided to aim for Level 4 first.
Reaching Level 4 was also the standard for Outer Sect Disciple cultivation. This would prevent people from gossiping behind his back, as a Level 3 cultivator wearing a blue robe clearly indicated he had used back channels.
Just as he was about to return to his room to Cultivate, Qian Duoduo heard someone knocking on his courtyard door.
Opening the door, Huang Guiren stood outside.
His bird’s nest-like hair was back, his clothes were wrinkled like a rag, his small face was sallow as if he hadn’t eaten for three days, and his forehead was so dark it looked like a dark cloud was hovering over it.
“Why are you here?” Qian Duoduo asked. These past few days, Qian Duoduo had been wondering when he would find a few Senior Brother to play with him. “Where are you now?”
“I have nowhere to go,” Huang Guiren said, his lips trembling.
“Come in and talk.” Qian Duoduo pulled him into the room and handed him a few chicken drumsticks.
Huang Guiren gnawed on the drumsticks, recounting his misfortunes.
Huang Guiren’s name was not on the Gold Vault attendant list, so naturally, no one wanted him, a person with a notorious reputation for bad luck.
After all the Senior Brother were chosen, Elder Bi arranged a new batch of attendants. The new attendants politely asked him to leave the main courtyard.
After leaving the main courtyard, before he could even consider returning to the spiritual plant Research Institute, he received a mission from the Mission Hall of the Sect, assigning him as a shop assistant at the Refining Spirit Sect store in Kongfang City.
An Inner Sect Disciple named Shen Yezhen from the hall directly flew him to Kongfang City.
Kongfang City was the most prosperous town Qian Duoduo knew.
It was the convergence point of the Three Sects: Refining Spirit Sect, Ba Ling Sect, and Shengling Sect, where their resources were exchanged.
In short, everything the Sect had, they had there; and things the Sect didn’t have, they also had there.
In the market of Kongfang City, Refining Spirit Sect, Ba Ling Sect, and Shengling Sect each had a shop.
The Refining Spirit Sect’s shop was guarded by an Elder named Song, who sold equipment collected by the Sect, and Magic Treasure, Medicinal Pill, Talisman, Formation, and other items refined by the Sect, while also purchasing necessary items for the Sect.
Upon Huang Guiren’s arrival at the Sect shop, strange things kept happening. Wherever he went, Magic Treasure either disappeared or broke.
According to the shop rules, he had to compensate at the selling price.
After two days, not only did he lose all the hundreds of thousands of gold coins he had painstakingly saved, but he also owed over a million.
Elder Song, who guarded the shop, said he was indeed an unlucky person and, to prevent the shop’s business from being ruined, kicked him out of Kongfang City, telling him to return to the Sect on his own.
If he hadn’t been lucky enough to encounter a cart transporting materials back to the Sect, he might not have even survived.
After returning to the Sect, Huang Guiren went straight to the Outer Sect of Mengyuan Mountain and found his way here.
After listening to his story, Qian Duoduo patted his shoulder: “With me, you’ll be fine.”
Huang Guiren’s eyes immediately reddened.
“This courtyard is so big; I find it too lonely living alone,” Qian Duoduo turned away, not looking at him, “I was just looking for someone to keep me company.”
Qian Duoduo knew clearly that everything Huang Guiren encountered was because of himself.
Because of him, Huang Guiren, who had no background, had his wealth easily plundered by others using the rules.
That Shen Yezhen, that Elder Song, treating Huang Guiren that way, it was all originally directed at Qian Duoduo.
“Just don’t mind that I’m unlucky and talk too much,” Huang Guiren wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“How could I? Look, my courtyard is too big, and no one tidies it up. Now that you’re here, you can do some work, and I’ll pay you.”
Huang Guiren patted his chest, “You forgot where I came from, the spiritual plant Research Institute. These flowers and plants, I guarantee I’ll make every single one of them green-leaved and red-flowered.”
Qian Duoduo didn’t dare to believe him when he said that, but it wasn’t the time to discourage him.
“It’s just that there’s only one Spiritual Platform. We can take turns using it, it’s fine. You can also use mine for your Cultivation. This money was originally partly yours anyway.”
Huang Guiren quickly waved his hand, “Junior Brother, I can’t affect your Cultivation. I’m also about to reach Qi Condensation Level 4, and then I can apply to enter the Outer Sect. Once I enter the Outer Sect, I’ll also have a small courtyard and a Spiritual Platform.”
“Then you can reach Level 4 here with me first.” Qian Duoduo pushed him onto the Spiritual Platform, inserted his own token, and directly set it to the two thousand gold coins per hour tier.
“Don’t come down until you reach Level 4.” After closing the door for Huang Guiren, Qian Duoduo came to the courtyard.
He walked around the courtyard a few times, practiced the Golden Rooster Sword several times. Even though Qian Duoduo kept comforting Huang Guiren, who had come to him for help, there seemed to be a ball of resentment swelling in his chest.
From Jin Buhuan, Qian Duoduo learned the cruelty of the Immortal Cultivation World. From Huang Guiren, Qian Duoduo saw the ubiquitous darkness of the Immortal Cultivation World.
So-called Immortal Cultivation was also Demonic Cultivation.
Leaving the courtyard, Qian Duoduo walked towards the Mengyuan River. There were no people visible here, it was like a wilderness.
Far from his small courtyard, Qian Duoduo pointed his sword art forward, and the Golden Rooster Sword immediately flew out of the Golden Toad, like a golden rainbow, piercing towards a stone in front.
Only by destroying something could that resentment be vented.
“Bang,” with a loud noise, where the sword tip landed, the large stone exploded, splitting into several pieces.
Qian Duoduo was startled and quickly stepped forward to pull out the sword, carefully examining it several times. He was relieved when he found no damage whatsoever.
“If a mere stone could damage a Magic Treasure, I shouldn’t call myself an Artifact Refiner,” Liu Boli said faintly from the Golden Toad.
Qian Duoduo caressed the Golden Rooster Sword, repeatedly saying, “No blame for the ignorant, no blame for the ignorant.”
Since the Golden Rooster Sword was so sharp, he moved his sword art again, and the Flying Sword struck another stone. Sword and stone clashed, and there was another loud bang. A piece of stone was easily sliced off by the sword.
“Why is the commotion so loud?” Qian Duoduo asked Liu Boli in his mind.
“This is the effect of the Rainbow Stone. Sound interference, using intent against no intent, you can gain a small advantage during a fight,” Liu Boli explained.
Controlling the Golden Rooster Sword, Qian Duoduo practiced all the sword techniques he knew by the river: thrust, chop, pull, lift, parry, press, slash, slice. The stones by the river suffered, large ones became small, and small ones became shattered.
After venting his anger, Qian Duoduo felt a little better. He sat cross-legged by the river and took out a Spirit Increasing Pill, swallowing one.
Although the Spirit Increasing Pill was a low-grade Medicinal Pill, its effect was still significant for a Disciple like Qian Duoduo at Qi Condensation Level 3.
As soon as it entered his stomach, it turned into a warm current, rapidly spreading throughout his body. The Spiritual Qi in his Spiritual Vein immediately surged like startled fierce snakes, circulating rapidly.
What a treasure! Qian Duoduo swallowed two more. Immediately, his Spiritual Vein felt like boiling water, hot to the point of swelling and a little painful.
He took too much! He felt a little scared and quickly began to practice the Eternal Wealth and Nobility Art, compressing his Spiritual Vein while it was still hot.
After half an hour, the warm current finally slowly dissipated. Qian Duoduo relaxed, spread himself out, and lay flat on the grassy bank of the river.
The sunlight was warm, and he was physically and mentally exhausted. He squinted his eyes and slowly fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, an hour had passed.
Just as he was about to get up, Qian Duoduo heard splashing sounds from the river.
“Could it be that there’s a big fish in the river?”
Qian Duoduo slowly poked his head out and looked into the river, and indeed, he saw a white-skinned fish swimming in the river.
Only, this fish was a mermaid!
Yu Yixiang
