No Longer Bound

"This is the Supreme Clarity True Art of Qi Control. It is a cultivation method of the Profound Clarity Sect, best suited to people with mixed spiritual roots like yours."

"Unlike Huo Old Freak's Bright Garment Art, it doesn't require me to assist your cultivation."

"You knew? That's right. The Bright Garment Art offends human harmony. Though it can help someone break through a minor realm, further progress becomes even harder afterward."

"Coming from the ends of the earth, you really do know a trick or two."

Du Xingyi imparted the wondrous art, and from then on, Meng Yuan switched to cultivating the Supreme Clarity True Art of Qi Control.

This method truly was different. After one full circulation, his entire body felt comfortable, as though even some of the pill toxins had been purged. Meng Yuan actually experienced a little of the wondrous nourishment of a Celestial Person.

And so Meng Yuan cultivated diligently in the cave on Chaolong Mountain, finding it sweet as honey. He even forgot to tease Du Xingyi beside him.

Two months later, Du Xingyi was leaving again.

"Junior Sister Du, sit down. Let's have a heart-to-heart."

Du Xingyi was speechless for a moment. Don't tell me you're asking me for more things again? I've sunk my entire salary into supporting you. If you ask for more, I'll have to start doing shady business!

Still, this man had given her hope, so Du Xingyi was willing to talk things through with him and soothe him a little.

"Junior Sister, with you and Brother Huo nurturing me like this, I know you're using me."

"Two months ago, you had me test that Candle Flame... I know you never cared whether I lived or died. I know it all."

"Before, I was so poor I had no other choice, so I risked my life and came along with you. I'm sure you know that too."

"But this time, I have a vague feeling that behind the Bronze Gate, there may be the secret I've been yearning for. Not my sister-in-law! Junior Sister! The prejudice in people's hearts really is a great mountain!"

"I know you must already have your plans, Junior Sister. Once that Candle Flame goes out, you'll cook the hound after the hare is dead. Yes, I know you're not that sort of person, but at the very least, you'll keep me confined."

"Here's what I think. From now on, I'll cultivate here in seclusion. Whether it takes eight years or ten, I won't leave until this gate is open."

"I was thinking we could swear an alliance. Supporting each other in the future would be better than guarding against each other. If you don't betray me, I will never betray you."

"I'm not asking you to become my dao companion. Dual cultivation? What sort of person do you take me for, Junior Sister? I regard you as a confidante, and you think I'm some lecherous scoundrel?"

"Junior Sister, I swear upon my Dao heart: if I divulge the secrets of this place in this lifetime, or betray you in this lifetime, may ten thousand arrows pierce my heart and kill me!"

After all that effort, Meng Yuan finally stated his purpose.

This woman was different from her elder sister. With her sister, as long as he sweet-talked her, stroked her fur the right way, and set the mood, he could make his move. But Du Xingyi was different. Sweet-talking her was useless; he had to surpass her, overpower her, and bring her to submission before he could make his move.

Thus, Meng Yuan had never sweet-talked or teased her. He had always been perfectly proper, and even now, he only used the broader situation to persuade her.

Seeing him ramble on at such length, Du Xingyi thought he was plainly measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty man's yardstick!

"I swear upon my Dao heart, with my life-bound Shen and Shang Stars as witnesses: if Yuanyuanzi helps me open this gate, I will treat him as an elder brother! If I break this oath, may my path to the Great Dao be severed, and may I die without a place to be buried!"

Du Xingyi had prospects of attaining the Great Dao. This could truly be called a dire oath.

"I'm leaving. Fine, I'll buy you a few books."

"This is your salary for last year. Fine, another six months."

"Sell this Nightlight Grass? How much could it fetch? What? Another year's stipend in advance? Put it all into the futures market... you want me to buy for you? Heh, with that stuff, you can lose your principal and still end up in debt... how about this: I'll advance you two years' stipend and buy that... fine, you even wrote it down? Everyone else is betting on a fall, and you're betting on a rise? The Soaring Firmament Sect and the Profound Clarity Sect are major sects. They've already signed a Ceasefire Agreement. How could they throw away their dignity and start another war?"

"If there's a profit, I'll only take ten percent. If there's a loss, you'll be my slave. I don't need you to wash my feet!"

Another year passed in a flash. Cultivating the Supreme Clarity True Art of Qi Control and taking pills every day, Meng Yuan had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, entering the middle Qi Refining stage.

At this point, the spiritual power in his Dantian grew ever more abundant, and his sea of consciousness was stable.

He could now project his Divine Sense outward and lock onto enemies. This was also why cultivators could easily suppress mortals: once they directed their Divine Sense to lock onto someone, they gained a suppressive advantage.

The peach blossoms bloomed again, and Du Xingyi came again.

"What do you mean it went up at least three to five times? Oh, right, I forgot to buy."

"Master gave me work to do. I even had to squeeze out time to cultivate, and it slipped my mind. Next time. Next time for sure."

"Here are the books you wanted. They're all introductory texts. Alchemy and artifact refining really depend on talent. You can study them a little in your spare time, but I wouldn't advise wasting your time."

"I'll give you a year's salary out of my own pocket as compensation. Here!"

They entered the Ruins again. This time, Meng Yuan managed four steps. Du Xingyi was not particularly satisfied, but perhaps out of a guilty conscience, she said nothing.

"What are we buying this time?" Du Xingyi asked quietly before leaving.

In his sixth year since arriving in this world, Meng Yuan reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

"I forgot to buy again. Here, this is the Pill Furnace, the Flying Sword, and a letter from Li Nineteen."

They entered the Ruins again, and Meng Yuan managed ten steps.

"I keep feeling that you aren't afraid of the Candle Flame... I'm not doubting you. This method of tempering the heart and questioning the spirit points straight at the true heart and sea of consciousness. I can't tell. Don't be angry..."

"What are we buying?"

Du Xingyi stayed for two months, then dusted off her backside and left again.

In his eighth year since arriving in this world, Meng Yuan reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

That year, two years remained before the Soul-Tracking Thread's ten-year deadline.

That year, he was only one step away from the late Qi Refining stage!

"I really didn't buy this time. My venerable master found out what I was doing. She said I was abandoning the real for the speculative, got very angry, and slapped me twice!" Du Xingyi came again, finally telling the truth.

"Your master hits people?" Meng Yuan asked in surprise.

"Ah, don't bring it up. Don't bring it up." Du Xingyi was unusually uncomfortable.

"I already have a feeling that once I enter the late Qi Refining stage, I'll be able to pass the candle stand and push open the Bronze Gate!" Meng Yuan was utterly certain. "I see you're approaching Qi Refining perfection, Junior Sister. I intend to enter the late stage within two years!"

The moment Du Xingyi heard this, she thought it sounded unreliable. Even in the middle Qi Refining stage, he had needed two years per layer. In the late stage, it would probably take three to five years to advance another layer; he might even struggle to reach the late stage in this lifetime.

Besides, he took pills every day and bought this and that. If she hadn't earned Spirit Stones off him, she couldn't have afforded to keep subsidizing him!

"Senior Sister, do you have any methods that could help my cultivation?" Meng Yuan asked sincerely.

"External aids can help with breaking through from the middle stage to the late stage, but those things are expensive and hard to find." Having supported this man for six years, Du Xingyi could no longer give up, like someone whose feet were sunk deep in mud. Helplessly, she said, "The Bright Garment Art is the best at helping people break through. If I'd known, I should have had you nurture a garment."

"Please keep an eye out, Senior Sister." Meng Yuan truly wanted to help Du Xingyi. After all, they had an agreement. If Du Xingyi could reach Foundation Establishment, he would have someone to back him, and life afterward would be much easier.

Half a year later, Du Xingyi brought pills. "These are Origin-Opening Pills. They're excellent for helping cultivation and have remarkable effects on breakthroughs between minor realms. Take one a month, and don't use more."

These pills really were good. After taking one, Meng Yuan felt his cultivation slowly begin to rise again.

And so, half a year later, Du Xingyi came to deliver pills again.

"I've poured in everything I earned over the past few years, and a lot more from my own pocket." Du Xingyi looked rather grim. "If you still can't do it, I'll have to..."

Du Xingyi felt that this Yuanyuanzi had been stringing her along all this time. Every time he made some progress, he could take a few more steps and get a little closer to the candle stand.

This gave her hope, making her invest more and more. He was like an angler, constantly teasing her, the fish!

Previously, with this man's advice, she had made some gains in the futures market, so she could remain composed. But now her master forbade it, and all the Spirit Stones she had earned were gone. On top of that, Origin-Opening Pills were expensive; she could no longer afford to subsidize him...

"Please put a little more effort into it, Senior Sister. I've decided that if I don't break through next year, I'll slit my throat and return to heaven to atone to you, Junior Sister!" The Soul-Tracking Thread would activate next year, so of course Meng Yuan could speak generously.

"There's no need to go that far..." Seeing Meng Yuan's sincerity, Du Xingyi gritted her teeth and went out again.

Another half year later, Du Xingyi actually returned injured. "Here!"

"Senior Sister..." Looking at the bloodstained pill bottle, Meng Yuan wondered whether he had sucked her dry a little too ruthlessly. But he truly hadn't meant to. With his poor aptitude and the accumulation of pill toxins, there was really nothing he could do.

"These are the last Origin-Opening Pills. If you still can't do it, there's nothing more I can do!" In a rare display of temper, Du Xingyi snapped, "I'm such a fool. I've actually wasted eight years on you!"

From then on, Du Xingyi stopped leaving and stayed there to recover and cultivate.

Another half year passed, bringing the ten-year deadline ever closer.

The barrier between the middle and late Qi Refining stages was now only a sheet of window paper, ready to break with a single poke.

Meng Yuan had wanted to press his advantage a little more and suggest dual cultivation or something, but when he saw Du Xingyi's unfriendly expression, he did not dare speak after all.

One day, Du Xingyi suddenly rose. Her opportunity for Foundation Establishment had arrived, and it was actually inside the Bronze Gate.

Three days later, Du Xingyi suddenly sensed Yuanyuanzi's presence grow unstable, then surge abruptly upward-a sign of breaking through to the late stage.

Sitting cross-legged, Meng Yuan suddenly felt the Soul-Tracking Thread unravel. The Gray-Robed Skeleton Guest's voice sounded beside his ear, even giving Meng Yuan a sense of entangled karma.

"On this journey, like a bird taking to the blue heavens, like a fish entering the vast sea, I will no longer be bound!" Through three lifetimes of toil and every scheme he could muster, with his mixed spiritual roots, he had entered the late Qi Refining stage in ten years.

That year, Meng Yuan finally escaped the Soul-Tracking Thread's ten-year deadline.

That year, the peach trees Meng Yuan had planted with his own hands on Chaolong Mountain bloomed again.

That year, Meng Yuan was thirty-two.