Chapter 121: Chapter 117: My Backer Is Heaven
"You think I would stick up for Meng Xiao? Hehehehe..." Feng Xiaoyi seemed extremely pleased with Du Youqian’s honest report. After a few chuckles, she began to lecture him.
"The Secret Technique of Gathering and Replenishing that Xi Mengran learned is called the *Jade Morning Divine Lady’s Cave Profound Flying Immortal Secret Skill*. It was originally a Dual Cultivation Technique of infinite uses, supposedly derived from a fragmented scripture. Gathering and Replenishing, and stealing another’s Spirit Root, are only a small part of its functions. However, this Secret Technique is better suited for a woman to seize a man’s Spirit Root, not so much for a man to seize a woman’s. And just as you said, the probability of success is far too low."
"You must understand, a Spirit Root is a gift from the heavens—formless, intangible, and untouchable. There is no method to strip away the Spirit Root of a Qi Cultivation Cultivator or a Mortal... at least, none that I know of."
"Only after a Cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment and undergoes the process of the Unity of Spirit and Qi does the Spirit Root manifest slightly. It integrates with the Cultivator’s own Essence, Qi, and Spirit to become part of their Dao Foundation. It is only at this stage that an outsider can attempt to seize their Spirit Root."
The essence of the *Jade Morning Divine Lady’s Cave Profound Flying Immortal Secret Skill* is this: during intercourse, at the very instant that pleasure reaches its peak and the spiritual flesh, qi, blood, and divine will are in harmony, the technique is used to violently shake the partner’s Dao Foundation. Within an extremely short window of time, the Spirit Root is then stripped away."
"This technique not only has an extremely low success rate, but it also only allows the caster to assimilate a small fraction of the target’s Spirit Root. Moreover, regardless of whether the Gathering and Replenishing succeeds, the Furnace Cauldron’s Dao Foundation is destroyed. This causes their qi, blood, and divine will to scatter, leading to certain death—in as little as three to five days, or at most, within half a year to a year. When casting, it isn’t just the Furnace Cauldron who is at risk; the caster is in danger as well. One slip-up, and both the cauldron and the caster will perish. That Xi Mengran must have been both audacious and utterly fanciful to dare cultivate this Secret Technique."
"So, I also believe it’s best you don’t use this technique, my disciple. If you want to improve your Spirit Root, you should instead focus on how to make good use of that Demon Core."
Du Youqian bowed respectfully and said, "Many thanks for your guidance, Master!"
’He’d known all this for a long time. Otherwise, he would have never let Xi Mengran off so easily back then. He should have made Meng Xiao pay more.’
Feng Xiaoyi covered a yawn with her fair, soft right hand. "I am a little tired. You may go. From now on, if there is nothing else, come to my cave residence once every ten days, and I will offer you guidance."
"Yes, Master!"
After being politely escorted out of the cave residence by a smiling Hai Tang, Du Youqian looked up at the bright blue sky and felt as if a lifetime had passed.
’So this convenient new master of mine didn’t take me as a disciple because she coveted my good looks?’
’She genuinely wanted to find an heir to pass on her teachings.’
’In that case, are my good days about to begin?’
’The "Denial" hexagram I divined back at the Evil Pool really was accurate!’
HAHAHAHA... Du Youqian just wanted to find a corner and laugh his heart out.
’From now on, I, Du Youqian, have a patron!’
’And who is my patron, you ask?’
’As the saying goes, a Core Formation Cultivator is the sky of Momenan.’
’So my patron is the sky itself!’
’And Chun Xiao Master is my piece of that sky.’
Suddenly, Du Youqian thought of Xi Mengran. Without hesitation, he took out three newly forged copper coins and performed a divination.
He frowned at the hexagram for a moment, but then his brow relaxed.
’It’s fine. A measly Ghost Cultivator can’t possibly stir up any trouble in a Land of the Dead Spirit like Momenan. It’s questionable if she’ll even survive another ten years.’
’Speaking of which, if a person becomes a ghost after death, can a Ghost Cultivator... even be considered alive?’
’Truly a philosophical conundrum.’
「Several days later.」
Luo Jinyu and the Handsome Bearded Cultivator both returned from the Evil Pool.
Neither of them knew that someone had been to the Evil Pool to investigate "Yu Fei." Perhaps their memories had been erased by some means.
It was also possible that the person Feng Xiaoyi sent had used some special method—a Secret Technique or a Treasure, perhaps—to search their memories without them ever noticing.
Du Youqian was deeply wary of this, but he dared not show it.
The Handsome Bearded Cultivator intended to befriend Du Youqian and invited him to banquets several times, but Du Youqian only went once, politely declining all other invitations.
Ever since he became an Inner Disciple and displayed his Sword Intent, countless other Inner Disciples had tried to befriend him, but Du Youqian ignored them all.
Wherever there are people, there are cliques.
People always have the need to band together for warmth.
The Demon Sect was no exception.
But without a clear understanding of the situation, rashly picking a side was the fastest way to get oneself killed.
And now that Du Youqian had a patron, he was in even less of a hurry. He might as well wait until this generation’s True Inheritor was decided.
When the time came, he would simply befriend whoever survived.
He wouldn’t waste his time on the dead.
Besides, in the Cultivation Realm, as long as you possessed great power yourself, you would never have to worry about a lack of people trying to ally with or recruit you.
Therefore, he had no need to invest early in supporting a "Hidden Dragon."
He didn’t need to gamble at all.
If he could reach Core Formation, or possessed Core Formation Combat Power, then no matter who became the True Inheritor, they would have to try hard to win him over.
The following period was calm and uneventful.
Du Youqian went to see Feng Xiaoyi every three to five days.
This was despite Feng Xiaoyi saying she would teach him once every ten days.
But she seemed to have a penchant for being a teacher.
The more frequently Du Youqian visited, the happier she seemed to be.
Du Youqian mused, ’Perhaps it’s because most of the disciples she took in before were just pretty faces.’
’She has never properly taught a disciple before.’
’So I must be a novelty to her.’
During her lessons, Feng Xiaoyi never held anything back. Although she wasn’t very skilled at teaching, couldn’t explain profound concepts in simple terms, and was even a bit clumsy.
Her saving grace was her patience.
And Du Youqian’s comprehension was not bad either.
So, after a few months, Du Youqian had learned a great deal.
His cultivation had also improved considerably.
Once one reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, each advancement took a long time.
With his Middle Grade Fire-Wind Spirit Root, advancing from the Foundation Establishment First Layer to the second would take at least two or three years, even with a large supply of Elixirs and access to a high-quality Spirit Vein.
This was a task that required patient, persistent effort, and there were no shortcuts. Du Youqian had no intention of using tricks to advance, as that would make his foundation unstable.
What Feng Xiaoyi found rather regrettable was that Du Youqian’s main cultivation technique was not one of the familiar Demon—Holy Sect techniques.
Regarding his cultivation technique, although she could offer some high-level guidance, she couldn’t help Du Youqian much with the finer details.
However, even she had to admit that with Du Youqian’s Fire-Wind Spirit Root, cultivating the *Shangqing Purple Qi Divine Pill Creation Technique* was indeed more suitable.
When attempting Core Formation, it could also increase the success rate by five percent.
"A five percent increase in the success rate is extremely important for Core Formation. Moreover, based on my understanding of the *Shangqing Purple Qi Divine Pill Creation Technique*, cultivating it gives you a chance to comprehend a Divine Ability when you break through. The type of ability depends on your Spirit Root Attribute. For instance, since you have a Fire-Wind Spirit Root, you might comprehend a Fire or Wind Element Divine Ability."
Du Youqian was overjoyed. "I’ve heard that mastering Divine Abilities is an incredibly difficult matter. Many Core Formation Ancestors have been at that realm for over a hundred years and still haven’t mastered one. I never expected this cultivation technique to have such a benefit! Why has no one ever mentioned this?"
Feng Xiaoyi giggled. "*The Shangqing Purple Qi Divine Pill Creation Technique* was the Zhongxuan Sect’s Foundation Technique two or three thousand years ago. But the Zhongxuan Sect was demoted for some reason, so when our Sect went to depose them, we brought this technique back. It’s a Profound Sects Orthodox Sect technique, so almost no one within our Holy Sect cultivates it. That’s why, after several thousand years, very few people know of its miraculous properties."
"But speaking of which, our Holy Blood Sect’s *Red Phoenix General’s Qi Circulation Technique* also has all sorts of wondrous aspects. And the *Crimson Scripture of Profound Mystery and Spiritual Mechanism* is even more profoundly mystical. My good disciple, you should seriously consider vying for a True Inheritor position. If you could really cultivate the *Crimson Scripture of Profound Mystery and Spiritual Mechanism*, it would be of immense benefit to you."
Du Youqian simply replied, "My ambitions do not lie there."
Feng Xiaoyi didn’t press the matter.
