Once the Golden Silkworm Gu was completed, Chen Dengming's mission to the Luo Family could be considered over, and the days of carefree, worry-free cultivation in a spiritual vein were likewise coming to an end.
He was soon to return once more to the dilapidated rogue cultivator gathering place, competing with a vast multitude of rogue cultivators for numerous cultivation resources.
Resources were forever the origin of interest disputes.
That was true in whichever world he was in.
Yet in the Cultivation World, it revealed itself with exceptional truth.
Simply because cultivators all required spiritual energy, spiritual items, and the like for their practices, and most of the time they barely had enough for themselves, let alone others.
Moreover, entering seclusion to pursue the Dao easily spanned a decade or more in the blink of an eye.
With the shifting of years, emerging from seclusion only to find things and people changed and times elapsed also caused human emotions to gradually grow aloof. Hence, people of the Cultivation World were mostly detached and self-serving, viewing material resources as exceedingly important.
In this regard, even a family as wealthy and powerful as the Luo Family was no exception.
At least Chen Dengming had never heard of the Luo Family having any extravagant, spendthrift scions.
Someone like Lüo Bing, the premier figure of the third generation, sometimes appeared meticulous to a fault, regarding resource interests with great gravity, which somewhat undermined her fairy-like image, but this precisely made her a real person.
Even more real than Lüo Bing were certain members of the Luo Family. Ever since Lüo Bing's engagement went awry, for instance, the people lingering outside the courtyard had increased. On the surface, they wore smiles to inquire what the "outsider" inside was doing, but in private, they likely sought an opportunity to condemn him at the family meeting.
At this moment, within the temporarily peaceful room.
Inhaling the wisps of spiritual incense drifting from the toad incense burners in the four corners of the room, Chen Dengming carefully observed his own panel attributes and status.
Qi Cultivation Second Level cultivator [Chen Dengming] Lifespan: 162/202 Spiritual Roots: Gold, Wood (Medium-grade 50/100) Martial Arts: Chen Family Martial Arts General Outline (Consummate 99/100) Daoist Magic: Gu Refining Chapter (Master 25/100), Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique (Level 2 197/200), Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique (Level 1 37/100), Great Fireball Technique (Proficient 3/100), Artifact Control Technique (Initiate 67/100), Wood Escape Technique (Initiate 18/100), Golden Spear Technique (Proficient 2/100)
Compared to when he had broken through to the Qi Cultivation Second Level, his various Daoist arts and cultivation base had improved quite a bit by now.
In particular, the Gu Refining Art had jumped straight from Proficient to Master level, which also increased his lifespan by eight years.
Coupled with the first-tier, second-grade Wood Escape Technique advancing from learned to initiate, which also boosted his lifespan by six years, his lifespan limit had consequently reached a full 202 years, touching the lifespan baseline of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
During this period, however, he had also gritted his teeth and consumed sixty years of lifespan to practice the Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique, causing his spiritual energy affinity to increase by 40 points, reaching the intermediate affinity of a medium-grade spiritual root.
As a result, his cultivation speed rose correspondingly along with the tide.
Even though Gold Spiritual Energy still chopped down a major portion of Wood Spiritual Energy upon meeting, after taking Pure Spirit Pill, his cultivation speed had already approached the upper tier of low-grade spiritual roots.
This also led to the result that, even though the second round of Gu refining tasks was considerably busier, his cultivation speed had still not fallen behind much, and he was now nearing the verge of breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Third Level.
As things stood, he only needed to continue cultivating in the Luo Family until tomorrow morning to break through to the Qi Cultivation Third Level.
However, a tree standing tall in a forest would be battered by the wind, and Chen Dengming did not intend to continue his breakthrough within the Luo Family.
Although he believed Lüo Bing would not care about this sliver of cultivation speed from him, let alone discuss whether trees stood tall or not with someone like him whose "days were numbered," the Luo Family was, after all, a large lineage with numerous outsiders present. Instinctively, he wanted to conceal his capabilities and return to the gathering place in a low-profile manner.
This speed of cultivation can actually be considered quite fast. Others are not like me, where as long as I cultivate my cultivation base grows, and once proficiency is reached I break through directly without bottlenecks.
Chen Dengming thought to himself inwardly.
He was already satisfied with his current cultivation progress.
Especially the Golden Spear Technique and Fireball Technique, which could now be cast instantly. These were all the fruits watered by sweat and served as his capital for survival. His frenzy-style cultivation would for now come to a temporary pause.
He opened his eyes, rose from the straw cushion, walked into the living room, and saw Xu Wei busily packing and tidying up to prepare his travel bundle.
From clothing to some daily necessities she had begrudged using herself and thus saved, everything was meticulously arranged inside the pouch, attentive and considerate to a fault.
"What else did I forget?"
Xu Wei muttered with furrowed delicate brows, turning her head unexpectedly to see a figure behind her, and jumped in fright.
Seeing it was Chen Dengming, she patted her chest before turning around, her earlobes slightly flushed, and cast a reproachful look from her pretty eyes. "Immortal Master Chen, when did you appear? You scared the soul right out of this concubine, making it sweat."
"Soul making it sweat" was a dialect from Xu Wei's hometown, meaning her very soul had been frightened right out of her body to the point of sweating.
Yet this dialect, including the dialect Chen Dengming hailed from in Nanxun Kingdom, was not looked upon favorably. It was considered the crude accent of country folk and had not spared them from being sneered at and despised by Xi'er.
From this, it could be seen that in the Cultivation World, even upon becoming a cultivator, one had not necessarily changed one's class.
Certain inherent classes that considered themselves superior would deem themselves noble even in their spoken accents, forming a regional discrimination chain that would require absolute strength in the future to shatter.
Chen Dengming leisurely leaned his shoulder against the beam pillar with a smile and said, "Xu Wei, how many times have I said it? You are now a cultivator as well, so there is no need to call me Immortal Master. Just call me Brother Chen or fellow daoist will do; if all else fails, just call me the fishmonger, and I can accept that too."
Xu Wei gazed at him for a moment with her watery, charming eyes, lowered her head, and softly said, "Understood."
Chen Dengming rubbed his forehead. He could least endure this pitiful appearance of the lass. He walked over, picked up the bundle, and said, "There is no need to pack so many clothes, nor such fine ones. Wearing such fine clothes in a place like the gathering place is not very good."
Xu Wei shook her head. "Brother Chen, you are simply being too cautious nowadays, as if someone is out to persecute you every day. You must remember you are a powerhouse capable of taking down an Immortal Master back in Xiantian, and you are already at the Qi Cultivation Second Level now. What harm is there in wearing a proper set of attire?"
As she spoke, she picked up a set of garments and stepped forward to measure and hold them up against Chen Dengming, a remaining sentence left unspoken in her heart: The important thing is that these clothes were stitched stitch by stitch by her during her spare time over this period.
It didn't matter if Chen Dengming temporarily refused to accept her feelings; putting on the garments she had sewn stitch by stitch with her own hands could still be considered as her heart following closely by his side, failing to let down this lingering, tender affection.
Chen Dengming sighed helplessly, opened his arms, and allowed Xu Wei to change him into the new attire, experiencing the sincere warmth that his seven mortal wives and concubines had never bestowed upon him.
At the very least, those seven wives and concubines had never sewn a garment for him with their own hands.
He did not try to persuade her further, and even on account of the other party's particularly obvious "lingering affection," an instinctive impulse welled up within him.
Yet he suppressed it for the time being.
After all, this was the Luo Family, and they were, strictly speaking, outsiders—not even guests.
Even though their days were somewhat better now than when they were in the gathering place, and even though they had both transformed into cultivators overnight, they remained humble figures at the bottom of this world and were not yet at a stage where they could act wildly and unbridled.
Saying "no" in front of a beautiful girl was truly no easy task.
That required not only great courage, but also a hardened heart.
A man had to go through many painful experiences before he could learn this word "no."
And a man would only know how to cherish this word "no" after undergoing numerous trials of pain.
Therefore, Chen Dengming did not open his mouth to utter "no"!
Longevity was not about forgetting emotions, and cultivating immortality was by no means heartless; otherwise, to possess eternal longevity, living through myriad years while viewing descendants and wife and daughter with indifference, wouldn't one simply be a powerful four-dimensional creature devoid of emotion, hardly deserving to be called a flesh-and-blood human being?
That evening, they brought out rattan chairs and calmly lay together in the courtyard to catch the breeze and gaze at the stars. This was the first time Chen Dengming had slowed his pace without keeping himself tightly strung for cultivation.
He suddenly felt that this wasn't bad either.
With a kindred, sincere person accompanying him by his side, inhaling that familiar subtle fragrance, and chatting about jokes that weren't really jokes, he felt an unprecedented peace and comfort in the Cultivation World—a realm where he had always walked on thin ice and guarded against everyone.
This turned out to be an experience he had never once known throughout his more than eighty years of martial arts life prior to this.
They watched for a long time and chatted for a long time, without ever thinking to define any relationship, preserving a rare and tacit understanding.
They were both alike, sensible people who sometimes even understood things a bit too well. They both knew that once a certain special relationship or ceremony was established, everything might become utterly insipid—even more insipid than after doing certain things—so it was better to simply maintain the status quo. At the very least, it brought peace of mind. While struggling for survival at the bottom of the cruel and unsettling Cultivation World, being able to find a trusted person to huddle together for warmth and feel at ease: wasn't that already a joyous thing?
The stars were numerous tonight, and both of them felt tomorrow might turn out to be a bright, sunny day.
Ah, a sunny day!
At least, Chen Dengming would have a good mood when he departed tomorrow.
"As long as Young Master Chen lives well, that is enough."
Xu Wei gazed at the stars, secretly calling him by his initial form of address in her heart, her eyes narrowing involuntarily just like the blinking of the stars.
She was a clever woman. A clever woman was not manifested in scheming calculations, but rather in understanding and consideration. These two qualities could forever touch one's heart far more than the most enchanting appearance.
(Two consecutive chapters released on Monday, six thousand characters begging for a monthly vote! This week is the second round of recommendations, and next week is quite crucial.)
The reception has been pretty good so far. Old and new readers need not worry too much; just keep up with daily serialized reading. The xianxia theme can also be considered a transition for Jia Nan. In the past, writing wuxia meant that carefree enmity, chivalrous bones and tender affections, the swagger of wandering the world with a sword, and the domineering spirit of defending a lonely city at night—nothing could not be resolved in a single battle, and martial prowess was settled by a clash. Beauties, swords, power, fists, wine cups, and grudges were all encapsulated within the single word of chivalry. Writing xianxia now is vastly different. Xianxia is not wuxia; elements of chivalry can be present, but martial arts must be separated from immortality, which may disappoint old readers who used to love wuxia. However, this is not Jia Nan regressing, but rather an attempt at a different genre. Xianxia has its own scenery. Currently, starting from the bottom, writing with aloofness, the cold and cruel competition, the distinction between immortals and mortals—these are all just a beginning. More will be slowly revealed later, and I hope everyone will give plenty of support. Finally, an apology to the old readers: Jia Nan has tried his best to write well. The transition is over, and continuous excitement remains! Let us embark on our xianxia journey together!
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