Not Going

These past few days, Li Qing Feng's life has been a straight line between dreams and reality.

He practiced boxing in his dreams.

After waking up, he refined Essence into Qi and cultivated his foundational strength.

The Qi stored in his Dantian also increased day by day.

He found that this boxing technique was truly effective.

Sometimes, during his leisure time, he would also practice a set of Demonic Ape Will-Fixing Fist in reality.

The Malice melted away by the Blood Fiend Great Method was immediately reduced by more than half, and his originally restless mind became much calmer.

After getting familiar with the Master Soul Evil Ghost, Li Qing Feng no longer felt the initial nervousness and restraint.

"Brother Ghost, what do you think? Should I go for the test at the Prefect's mansion?"

"The Orthodox Path Immortals in the Prefect's mansion are like dragons – you only see their head, never their tail. Even if I don't go for the test, just catching a glimpse of them from afar would be excellent."

"I really want to talk to people like them."

"Orthodox Path Immortal Masters, upholding justice, guarding a region, taking the head of a demonic figure with a Flying Sword from a thousand miles away... how exhilarating!"

Li Qing Feng sighed with emotion, then looked at the Evil Ghost beside him, who was still practicing boxing repeatedly.

The heroic spirit that had risen in his heart dissipated quite a bit.

The two of them – one a Master Soul Evil Ghost, the other a Demonic Path Brat – if they really encountered an Orthodox Path Immortal Master, they would likely be among those getting cut down.

Such was fate.

Who told him that the first immortal缘 he obtained wasn't an Orthodox Path one?

"Although what I obtained is a Demonic Cultivator technique, with the Will-Fixing Fist, the impact of Ferocious Sha Qi on my mind isn't significant."

"And I've always felt that cultivation techniques don't have good or evil; only people do."

"Who says cultivating demonic techniques means you can't uphold justice?"

"Brother Ghost, how about we go out for a walk?"

Tu Shan Jun paused for a moment, then shook his head.

He continued to swing his fists, not interrupting the young man's reverie.

It's good to have dreams; only with dreams will one pursue them.

Pursuit requires strength.

Tu Shan Jun desperately wanted to have strength.

However, the prerequisite was that Li Qing Feng first possessed the power to protect himself.

Any little ghost could take his life easily. Running around now would only mean losing his life for nothing.

He had to at least reach the Qi Condensation Third Layer.

Therefore, Tu Shan Jun also didn't tell Li Qing Feng how to enhance the power of the Venerable Soul Banner; he had to wait a bit longer.

He hadn't spoken when he first met Li Qing Feng, and it was the same now.

His tongue had been cut off. Even after transforming into a vengeful spirit, his tongue still retained the appearance of being severed.

His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, a muffled buzz, like a vengeful spirit's roar.

Opening his mouth would only scare people; it was better not to speak.

The young man had many thoughts and babbled incessantly.

He didn't miss a single one of the things he dared not say outside on normal days.

He muttered for half the night, finally quieting down.

He probably treated Tu Shan Jun as a tree hollow that only listened.

Speaking so many words to inanimate objects like stones was less effective than speaking to a Mountain Ghost.

Tu Shan Jun also didn't understand why someone this age had so much to say.

He simply ignored him, letting him talk to himself.

"Brother Ghost, I've been practicing martial arts for several days. My body, after being cleansed and tempered by Magic Power, is much stronger than ordinary people."

"There's no one to spar with in reality. How about Brother Ghost helps out?"

It wasn't that Li Qing Feng's head was hot; he felt that he truly needed practical combat experience. Otherwise, if he encountered a Ghost, he wouldn't dare to fight and wouldn't know how to fight.

Tu Shan Jun stopped, his gaze assessing, and nodded slightly.

With a wave of his hand, an Imp Ghost with a human face and monkey body appeared on the training ground.

The moment the Imp Ghost landed, it launched an attack.

Li Qing Feng was defeated very quickly.

It was expected.

When he saw the Imp Ghost, he felt a long-lost fear wash over him.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Tu Shan Jun's eyes.

Cultivating a Banner Master was a long-term endeavor; he didn't have an endless supply of geniuses to choose from.

Ten birds in the forest are not as good as one in hand.

Li Qing Feng, at least, came from a decent family with a good business. He had meat at every meal, which was more than enough to support the initial stage of Refining Essence into Qi.

Many Qi Cultivators weren't lacking in talent, but rather in the nourishment from meat and blood, which hindered their overall progress.

Orthodox Path sects could support their disciples and occasionally bestow spiritual pills, though disciples still needed to go on missions. The Demonic Path, however, was a completely different scene.

In short, he still had to keep working at it.

"I can still..."

Li Qing Feng exclaimed in surprise.

With a swirl of clear Qi, he had left the dream and woken up on his bed.

Two or three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Qing Feng finally managed to defeat the newly Ranked Imp Ghost after much struggle.

He also realized that with the Demonic Path cultivation technique he practiced, if he were to be tested, his origins would surely be exposed.

Even if he just observed the ceremony from afar, if by chance the other party used their Spiritual Light Dharma Eye and saw the spiritual light within him, it would inevitably lead to trouble.

Li Qing Feng immediately decided it was better not to go.

He just needed to make up an excuse to appease his parents.

Combining his bizarre experience, he told them he had been taught an immortal technique by an Immortal in his dream.

The Immortal had warned him that they would come to pick him up in a few years and that he must not change his sect now.

With Li Qing Feng's instructions, Five Treasures kept his mouth shut and dared not speak too much.

Then, Li Qing Feng used his Magic Power to perform a divine manifestation.

Father Li and Mother Li immediately gave up the idea of having Li Qing Feng tested.

No matter how great the Prefect Immortal Master was, they had no connection with him.

Regardless of which Immortal Master taught Li Qing Feng, even if it was a Wild Immortal, they could not afford to offend them.

Father Li and Mother Li were still very happy that Li Qing Feng had obtained an immortal destiny.

They would hold a grand banquet to celebrate after the fuss died down.

Now, Father Li and Mother Li also suddenly understood why Li Qing Feng had been so diligent in the past three or four months – it turned out he was cultivating an immortal technique.

His parents no longer urged him, but unexpectedly, several of his close friends came to visit together.

"Brother Qing Feng, are you really not going to today's big event?"

Li Qing Feng put away his book scroll: "You all should understand me. My ambition lies in the imperial court, not in seeking immortality."

"A gentleman does not take away another's ambition. Since Brother Qing Feng has made up his mind, we will not persuade you further."

Leaving the Li residence, the four of them got into an ox cart and headed to the Prefect's mansion.

Li Qing Feng sighed. Mature as he was, he was still a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth. It was just that he had a secret involving his own life and death that was inconvenient to reveal to outsiders.

Even to these friends who had grown up with him, he couldn't say too much.

Saying too much would only harm them.

The Blood Fiend Great Method was a demonic technique. If he didn't practice boxing and read books every day to dissipate the Malice, he might truly be affected.

If he were to pass the technique to these four, and they happened to have better Spiritual Root talent, wouldn't that be misleading them?

He would just see what results they got at the Prefect's mansion.

Tu Shan Jun nodded secretly. Li Qing Feng handled it very well.

Tu Shan Jun didn't think the Blood Fiend technique was a treasure. It wouldn't matter if Li Qing Feng passed it on to others.

But if he were to pass on a technique, it should be the Will-Fixing Fist.

Without the third form of the Will-Fixing Fist, 'Mind Ape Will-Fixing', to strengthen the soul and dissipate Sha Qi, ordinary people who practiced the Blood Fiend technique would truly become withered and vicious, appearing like Evil Ghosts.

Tu Shan Jun benefited from the light, extracting the introductory Cultivation Technique Seed from Zhao Shi Xian's mind. He then cultivated alone for four or five months, gaining his own insights.

Only then could Li Qing Feng come into contact with the essence of the Will-Fixing Fist.

How could an ordinary person have such good fortune?

In front of the Prefect's mansion, there was a constant stream of carriages and horses, and the entrance was bustling like a marketplace.

There were not only youths dressed in long-sleeved brocade, but also those wearing coarse cloth short jackets.

Those short jackets looked relatively loose, not like clothes for young people, but rather like those of adults in the family.

The wealthy gentry of Eight Directions Prefecture had received the news ten days earlier.

No one deliberately blocked the news. Coupled with the posted announcements and people who could read reciting them, everyone knew that the Immortal was looking for fated individuals.

Those from out of town arrived slower.

Among the locals of Eight Directions Prefecture, most of those who met the age requirement had come.

Everything else is inferior; only Immortals are supreme.

Once fate grants a connection, the divide between Immortal and mortal is drawn.

However, the families left behind would receive congratulations and financial support from the gentry, the court, and officials.

Serfs would become landowners, never to be bullied again.

Because there was an Immortal in their family.

Even if the Immortal no longer concerned themselves with the mundane world, a family that had produced an Immortal possessed an inexplicable deterrent power.

This was what they yearned for.

In this world, the gentry were ultimately a minority; the poor were far more numerous.

The gentry hoped to advance further, while the poor hoped to turn their lives around.

Thus, hundreds, even thousands, of youths gathered at the Prefect's manor entrance.

It was estimated that this test would last for some time.