Is Xiang Zhili a Weakling?

In the night sky outside the cave.

A dazzling red light suddenly flared to life.

This light was not a shooting star that vanished in an instant.

It was an enormous magical artifact radiating immense spiritual pressure, hovering in midair above the cave.

It was a flying vessel engulfed from end to end in crimson flames.

On the deck of the vessel.

Stood a beautiful woman dressed in a grand crimson robe.

She appeared to be in her thirties, with strikingly gorgeous features, yet her brows carried an icy severity that kept others at a distance.

She held a red horsetail whisk in her hand, her sharp eyes staring intently through the thick rock at the hidden cave below.

The pressure of a great Core Formation cultivator was released without restraint.

Like a towering mountain, it descended directly upon the forest.

The instant this pressure arrived, Qian Renxue, inside the cave, shuddered violently and went deathly pale.

She felt as though all the air around her had been drained away, making even breathing incomparably difficult.

Under the suppression of that spiritual pressure, the soul power within her recoiled like frightened mice, all retreating deep into her dantian. She could not mobilize even a trace of it.

"What level of power is this...?"

Qian Renxue leaned against the icy rock wall, her heart filled with despair.

This feeling of utter helplessness was a hundred times stronger than when she had encountered that black-robed young man during the day.

Even when facing her grandfather, Qian Daoliu, she had never felt such terrifying oppression.

In midair, the crimson-clad beauty parted her red lips. Her voice was clear, yet it carried a force that pierced the soul, transmitting directly into the cave.

"Young one inside, come out."

Hearing that voice, Qian Renxue knew there was no hiding from this.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the fear in her heart, and slowly rose to her feet with the support of the rock wall.

The moment she stepped out of the cave.

Qian Renxue looked up at the night sky.

The enormous red flying vessel, along with the crimson-clad beauty standing at its prow, entered her sight.

The crimson-clad beauty looked down at Qian Renxue from above.

When she clearly saw Qian Renxue's peerless face and the unyielding air about her, a flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.

But that surprise was swiftly replaced by wild delight.

"Interesting. Truly interesting."

The beautiful woman flicked the whisk in her hand and drifted down before Qian Renxue as lightly as a falling leaf.

She looked Qian Renxue up and down as though admiring an unparalleled treasure.

"As I passed through this region, I happened to sense a trace of light power here."

"I thought some rare treasure had emerged. I never expected it to be a living person."

The crimson-clad beauty circled Qian Renxue once.

"You clearly do not possess the slightest spiritual root, yet your body is filled with light power."

"Not bad."

Hearing this, Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong inside Spirit Hall on Douluo Continent were both startled.

Light power?

Of course, they knew that Qian Renxue's Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul was light power.

It seemed that the experts of this world regarded such light power as some kind of special physique.

In the scene, the crimson-clad beauty stopped walking and looked at Qian Renxue with blazing eyes.

"Little girl, what is your name?"

Qian Renxue looked at the unfathomable woman before her and calmly answered without servility or arrogance.

"Qian Renxue."

"Qian Renxue... a fine name. It suits that proud spirit of yours."

The beautiful woman nodded, and some of the coldness on her face softened.

"I am a Core Formation elder of Yellow Maple Valley. My Daoist title is Hongfu."

Hongfu!

Upon hearing that name.

Many viewers watching the heavenly screen on Douluo Continent found it somewhat familiar.

Back at that teahouse in the market town, someone seemed to have mentioned that Yellow Maple Valley had an eccentric yet immensely powerful female Core Formation cultivator named Fairy Hongfu.

Hongfu looked at Qian Renxue, her tone carrying an unquestionable dominance.

"Although you have no spiritual root, the power of light within you is perfectly suited to cultivating the techniques of my lineage."

"Meeting is fate."

"Today, I will make an exception and take you as my disciple, bringing you back to Yellow Maple Valley."

"As long as you are willing to endure hardship, I guarantee that within a hundred years, you will have a place in the Yue Kingdom's cultivation world."

"Are you willing?"

Faced with this sudden offer of apprenticeship, Qian Renxue was stunned as well.

She had never expected such a turn of events in the midst of her desperate situation.

A great Core Formation cultivator was proactively offering to take her as a disciple?

Qian Renxue looked into Hongfu's eyes, which held sincerity and expectation.

She knew that this might be her only—and best—opportunity in this cultivation world.

As long as she entered Yellow Maple Valley and had a Core Formation elder as her patron, she would be able to rightfully obtain cultivation resources and seek a way to convert her soul power.

Qian Renxue did not hesitate for long.

She clasped her hands and bowed deeply to Hongfu.

"Your disciple, Qian Renxue, pays respects to Master."

Upon hearing her call her Master, Fairy Hongfu's stern face finally blossomed into a heartfelt smile.

"Good! Good! Good!"

She said "good" three times in succession.

With a sweep of her sleeve, a gentle red light wrapped around Qian Renxue, and the two of them flew onto the red flying boat in the sky.

Boom!

The flying boat let out an earth-shaking roar, its stern spewing a long crimson trail of flame.

In an instant, it became a meteor that tore through the night sky, speeding toward Yellow Maple Valley.

Only the empty cave remained, appearing incomparably silent beneath the moonlight.

The flying boat sped through the night sky.

A tremendous rush of wind howled past their ears, yet there was not the slightest jolt on the deck.

Hongfu stood at the bow, while the raging wind was kept outside by a faint red barrier.

Qian Renxue stood behind her, looking down at the endless mountain ranges below.

Before long, a vast mountain range shrouded in dense clouds and mist appeared ahead.

This was the sect grounds of Yellow Maple Valley, one of the Yue Kingdom's Seven Great Sects.

With a flick of her slender hand, Hongfu turned the flying boat into a streak of red light and flew straight through the formation mist on the outskirts.

It landed steadily atop a beautiful mountain peak within the sect, where spiritual energy was abundant.

Qian Renxue followed behind Hongfu as they stepped off the flying boat.

The two walked along a small path paved with bluish stone, heading toward the cave dwelling at the mountaintop.

They had not gone far when a figure in a faded yellow robe beside the herb garden caught Qian Renxue's attention.

The old man was holding a wooden ladle, attentively watering a spiritual herb.

It was none other than Xiang Zhili, whom she had encountered in the forest before.

Hearing their footsteps, Xiang Zhili set down the wooden ladle in his hand.

He was neither trembling with fear like an ordinary low-ranking disciple meeting a high-level cultivator, nor did he deliberately try to ingratiate himself.

He simply brushed the dirt from his sleeves with practiced ease.

Then he stood by the roadside, folded his hands, and gave a slight bow—the most impeccable salute a junior could offer.

"Xiang Zhili pays respects to Martial Aunt Hongfu."

His tone was neither servile nor overbearing, carrying a calm and serenity untouched by worldly dust.

Hongfu merely glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Sensing the faint Qi Refinement-stage spiritual power within him, she did not even pause.

"These Star Spirit Grasses will soon be mature. Watch over them carefully. If anything goes wrong, you alone will answer for it."

Her cold, stern voice fell.

Xiang Zhili straightened up, and not a trace of emotion appeared on his aged face.

He looked at the few spiritual herbs, his gaze deep and his tone gentle.

"The withering and flourishing of plants all lie within a single thought of heaven and earth."

"Rest assured, Martial Uncle. If they follow the seasons, they will naturally grow well."

Though it sounded like an answer, his words carried an otherworldly, Zen-like air.

Hongfu clearly did not take the words of an old Qi Refinement cultivator to heart. She merely assumed this low-level rogue cultivator was putting on an air of mystery in his old age, and continued onward without looking back.

Qian Renxue walked behind Hongfu. As she passed Xiang Zhili, her steps paused slightly.

Her phoenix eyes fixed tightly on the old man, while turbulent waves surged through her heart.

This peerless expert, who could casually shrink the earth to an inch and cross space itself—

Was willingly serving here as a menial disciple?

And judging by her master Hongfu's reaction, she had completely failed to see through his concealed cultivation.

Even a great Core Formation cultivator could not see through his disguise?

Just what unimaginable realm had this old man reached?

At the same time.

The viewers of Douluo Continent were left stunned by the scene.

On Shrek Academy's training grounds.

Dai Mubai rubbed his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

"Why is this old man still working here as a gardener?"

"Didn't he seem incredibly unfathomable when he faced Qian Renxue before?"

Yu Xiaogang let out a cold laugh, a smug look flashing through his eyes as though he had seen through everything.

"I told you long ago that this old man was just putting on an act."

"Look at Elder Hongfu. She is a genuine Core Formation cultivator."

"If this old man truly were some hidden great expert, could he fool the eyes of a Core Formation elder?"

With his hands behind his back, Yu Xiaogang paced back and forth before the crowd, his tone growing increasingly confident.

"In this cultivation world, there is something called talismans."

"They appeared in the marketplace shown on the heavenly screen before. As long as you inject a tiny bit of energy into them, they can produce all sorts of marvelous effects."

"When that old man vanished out of thin air in the forest before, he must have secretly used a precious escape talisman."

"He only used it to frighten Qian Renxue so he could get away."

Hearing the master's reasoning.

Tang San silently nodded as well, finding it highly convincing.

"Teacher is right."

"If he truly possessed such strength, why would he be here pulling weeds for others?"

"Though he spoke just now with the manner of an expert, in the eyes of a Core Formation elder, it was nothing more than a low-level cultivator consoling himself."

"If even a Core Formation elder could not detect anything unusual, that only proves he truly is a useless Qi Refinement cultivator."

Within Spirit Hall.

Bibi Dong and the several consecrated elders had originally remained wary of Xiang Zhili.

Now that they saw even Hongfu dismissing him with disdain, the stone in their hearts finally fell.

"So he is just an old fraud relying on external items to play tricks."

Qian Daoliu gave a cold snort, a trace of contempt flashing through his eyes.

"People in the cultivation world certainly have plenty of tricks."

"Xue'er has now become the disciple of a Core Formation cultivator. With Hongfu protecting her, she can be considered firmly established in Yellow Maple Valley from now on."

Under Yu Xiaogang's rational analysis, everyone on Douluo Continent completely cast aside their suspicions of Xiang Zhili.

In their eyes, the old man had become a low-level ant surviving on petty cleverness, capable only of uttering a few pretentious remarks to conceal his own incompetence.

In the scene, although Qian Renxue was filled with doubts, she did not dare ask any questions. She could only hasten after Hongfu.

Xiang Zhili remained where he was, calmly watching Qian Renxue's receding figure.

He did not bend over again, nor did he make any unnecessary movements.

A gentle breeze swept past, stirring his grizzled beard.

At the depths of his seemingly clouded eyes, a strange smile flickered.

"She carries the power of light from another world within her body..."

Xiang Zhili murmured softly, his voice almost inaudible.

"This human realm is becoming more and more interesting."

After saying that, he picked up the wooden ladle again.

Like an ordinary old farmer who had truly seen through the vanities of the world, he lowered his head and continued watering the medicinal garden, without the slightest trace of a cultivator about him.

Inside the cave abode.

Hongfu led Qian Renxue into a spacious meditation chamber.

A meditation cushion sat in the center of the room, while several luminous pearls embedded in the stone walls around it gave off a soft glow.

The air carried the calming fragrance of sandalwood.

Hongfu turned around and looked at Qian Renxue, her expression growing serious.

"From this day onward, you are my, Hongfu's, personal disciple."

"Yellow Maple Valley has strict rules. You have only just arrived, and there is still much you need to learn."

"But the most urgent matter is resolving the power within your body."

Hongfu walked over and sat beside the meditation cushion, signaling for Qian Renxue to sit as well.

"Though the power of light within you is pure, the way it circulates is far too crude. You cannot communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at all."

"I will teach you a top-tier conversion cultivation method."

"As long as you can completely convert that power into the spiritual power of our cultivation world—"

"With your unique constitution, your cultivation speed will surely advance by leaps and bounds."

Qian Renxue knelt on the meditation cushion and listened intently.

She knew this was the key to her rise in this world.

As long as she could convert her soul power into spiritual power, she would regain the strength to protect herself—and perhaps even become stronger than before.

"This disciple understands. I will never disappoint Master's expectations."

Qian Renxue respectfully bowed her head to the floor.

Hongfu nodded in satisfaction and took a jade slip emitting a faint red glow from her storage pouch.

"This jade slip contains one of our sect's profound cultivation methods, as well as some basic knowledge of the cultivation world."

"Take it and study it carefully."

"Half a month from now, I will personally assess your progress."

Qian Renxue accepted the jade slip with both hands and gripped it tightly.

After giving her instructions, Hongfu rose and left the meditation chamber, leaving Qian Renxue alone to enter secluded cultivation.

As the stone door rumbled shut—

Only the soft radiance of the luminous pearls remained in the chamber.

Qian Renxue took a deep breath and pressed the jade slip against her forehead.

A vast amount of information instantly flooded into her mind.

She closed her eyes and began following the meridian pathways recorded in the jade slip, little by little guiding the suppressed soul power within her body.

Time quietly passed amid the silent cultivation.

The viewers of Douluo Continent also held their breaths as they watched the scene.

They wanted to see whether the cultivation method of this immortal cultivation world could truly convert Douluo Continent's soul power completely.

If Qian Renxue succeeded, it would mean that soul masters like them could likewise reach higher realms in the cultivation world.