Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Trouble Averted

Zong Hao immediately clasped his hands. “Sister Yun Ting is right. If there’s nothing else, I’d like to stabilize my cultivation first.”

His meaning was obvious. The Wei Family group did not argue, especially since even someone with three spirit roots like Zong Hao had reached the late Qi Refining stage. If they did not work harder, they would be left even farther behind. So after exchanging greetings, they left.

The only one still staying in the Outer Nine Peaks was Wei Yun Ying. Her cultivation speed truly could not compare to everyone else’s, and she was still stuck at the sixth level of Qi Refining. So for now, she had not moved to the Outer Three Peaks.

Her speed was slow compared to the Wei Family disciples, but compared to ordinary Outer Sect disciples, she was still above average.

Among those who left, Wei Yun Qing’s expression was the ugliest. She could not tolerate that Zong Hao, with three spirit roots, was cultivating faster than her. What did that make her, the Wei Family disciple with the best aptitude? And how would the Inner Sect elders look at her?

After returning to Pill Peak, Wei Yun Qing went to cry to Senior Brother Ye again.

Ye Shao Tian still liked this charming junior sister. Besides, Yun Qing had water-wood dual spirit roots and really knew how to grow spirit plants. She took excellent care of his herb field. Her talent was also right there, and entering the Inner Sect was only a matter of time. So Ye Shao Tian did not mind investing a bit in advance.

“Junior Sister Yun Qing, your cultivation is only one level lower than his. You’re both still in the Outer Sect, and you’re both Qi Refining cultivators. You should look further ahead,” Ye Shao Tian comforted her patiently.

Wei Yun Qing blinked her reddened eyes. “Senior Brother Ye, what do you mean by that?”

Ye Shao Tian took Yun Qing’s hand and smiled. “My silly junior sister, what you should do now is raise your cultivation to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Then use a Foundation Establishment Pill to break through in one go, establish your foundation, and enter the Inner Sect directly, instead of waiting for the sect tournament eight years from now. With your age and talent, once you enter the Inner Sect, there will definitely be many elders who will take you as a disciple.”

“Once you become an elder’s personal disciple, they naturally won’t dare look down on you, and they won’t dare show you a cold face either.”

Wei Yun Qing sat down beside Ye Shao Tian. Her eyes brightened after hearing this. She truly had been narrow-minded before, only thinking about family disciples surpassing her, and never thinking that as long as she stored up strength and entered the Inner Sect, the Wei Family disciples would have to watch her face.

So she immediately smiled and turned to Ye Shao Tian. “Thank you for the guidance, Senior Brother. Yun Qing knows what to do now. It’s just that this Foundation Establishment Pill…”

Ye Shao Tian picked up her words. “Junior Sister Yun Qing, don’t worry. Would us Pill Peak disciples ever lack pills?”

Wei Yun Qing looked troubled. “Senior Brother, you always know how to comfort me. In the Outer Sect, the Foundation Establishment Pill is something everyone fights over. As soon as it appears, it gets snapped up. Not to mention whether I have enough spirit stones saved, even if I did, I still couldn’t grab one!”

“Junior Sister Yun Qing, as long as you can save that damaged Foundation Establishment Herb, we can gather enough herbs ourselves to refine a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills. Then I can ask an uncle from the Inner Sect Pill Peak to refine them for us.”

Ye Shao Tian finally said what he had been planning.

Wei Yun Qing’s eyes shifted, and she immediately asked, “Senior Brother Ye, is that true? Don’t trick me just because I’m young.”

“Aiyo, my good junior sister. That Foundation Establishment Herb still depends on your care. How would I dare trick you?”

“All right. I’ll work hard to save that Foundation Establishment Herb. Then we’ll establish our foundations together and enter the Inner Sect.”

Wei Yun Qing also knew how to dangle a carrot.

“Good. Then I’ll be relying on Junior Sister Yun Qing,” Ye Shao Tian said.

Now that they had a shared goal, their relationship went one step further. But Ye Shao Tian was smart. To the outside, he said he was taking care of Yun Qing like his own younger sister. And since Yun Qing was only ten, it did not draw much attention.

On the other side, the few disciples in the Alchemy Hall who were watching Yun Xi soon discovered that Yun Xi had left the sect. They said she had accepted a mission to search for her own friend. They also learned that the original Outer Sect mission had been moved to the Inner Sect because the difficulty had increased. After meeting up, they discussed what to do.

“If we’d known she would leave, we should have controlled her in secret. Now we’ve got nothing. All that effort was wasted.”

“Enough. I heard the mission got upgraded. Whether she can even come back alive is another question!”

“Hmph! I don’t know if she’s lucky or unlucky. It would be better to control her and make her refine pills for us than for her to lose her life, wouldn’t it?”

“She’s a Wei Family disciple. I told you before that we had to be careful. There are people from the Wei Family in the Inner Sect. That’s not something we can easily shake. We just want to take a shortcut into the Inner Sect. There’s no need to bet our immortal paths on it.”

“Senior Brother is right, but why do I feel so unwilling?”

“She’s already left the sect. Why don’t we go after her? If we really can’t catch up, we’ll give up for good.”

“Fine. Now that she’s outside the sect, it’s a good chance.”

After they agreed, they formed a team, accepted an outside mission, and followed after Yun Xi, leaving the sect as well.

Yun Xi did not know whether the people watching her in the Alchemy Hall were acting on Yun Qing’s orders, but she believed that as long as she was gone, once they lost their target, they would naturally give up.

Fortunately, Yun Xi had been decisive enough. She spent a huge amount of spirit stones to take the teleportation array out of Hao Ran City, making the Alchemy Hall disciples who chased after her come up empty. That helped her dissolve a disaster before it happened.

At this moment, Yun Xi had just left Xi Zi House. She had gone there to sell some pills and talismans, and a single teleportation array ride had emptied her storage bag.

Fortunately, her disguise was successful. The Qi Refining assistant in Xi Zi House greeted her enthusiastically. Although he could tell that what she sold did not match her cultivation, he did not dare ask.

Wei Yun Xi sold almost half the pills and talismans she had saved up before her storage bag puffed up again.

“Senior, is there anything else you need?” the assistant asked.

“Not for now,” Yun Xi said.

Yun Xi swept six thousand four hundred eighty low-grade spirit stones into her storage bag, then tipped the Qi Refining assistant the remaining four spirit stones. That fit her identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The assistant’s smile became even more sincere. After taking the spirit stones, he escorted Yun Xi to the door and watched her leave before turning back into the shop.

Jiao Zi had been waiting outside the whole time. He did not dare enter a place like this. If he bumped into some immortal cultivator, it would be bad.

As they walked, Yun Xi asked, “Jiao Zi, is there a relatively safe place in Bao Hua City suitable for cultivating and breaking through, and it doesn’t need to cost too much?”

Thinking of her freshly refilled storage bag, she added that last part.

Without hesitation, Jiao Zi said, “Bao Hua City has a place that specializes in renting cave dwellings. A Nascent Soul cultivator sits there, so no one dares cause trouble. Cultivating or breaking through there is very secure.”

“All right. Take me there,” Yun Xi said.

At the corner of the street, Yun Xi immediately removed her disguise and returned to her original peak ninth level Qi Refining cultivation. She was renting a cave dwelling to break through, so there was no need to keep disguising herself.

Luckily, Jiao Zi was a mortal and could not sense any difference. That was also why Yun Xi had chosen a mortal boy as her guide in the first place.

Half an hour later, Yun Xi arrived at the place Jiao Zi mentioned. It was a small shop with a sign that read “Cave Dwelling Rental.” After she went in, she saw an old man behind the counter, dozing off.