Chapter 157: Chapter 153: Du Youqian at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage
"Yes," Du Youqian replied to Fang Hua with a smile. "If I’m not mistaken, you should be breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer soon. It’ll take some effort to catch up."
"Hah! You can take your time catching up. I won’t be stopping to wait for you." Fang Hua sounded a little smug.
When the two first met, Du Youqian was at the Foundation Establishment Second Layer, while Fang Hua had just entered the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
For a Cultivator from one of the Third-class Sects, reaching the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage at her age was already quite remarkable.
And in recent years, she had focused most of her energy on comprehending Sword Intent.
After all, compared to advancing one’s cultivation by a single layer, the increase in combat power from comprehending Sword Intent was far more significant.
Cultivators from the Profound Sects Orthodox Sect might not place as much importance on combat power, focusing more on the improvement of their cultivation and state of mind.
But Demon Cultivators were different.
If your combat power wasn’t strong enough... you would die.
Of course, Fang Hua was actually a highly-regarded genius. For someone like her, the Sect would prioritize her cultivation and a solid foundation, placing the enhancement of combat power in a secondary position.
Therefore, Fang Hua didn’t really need to prioritize a breakthrough in her Swordsmanship at this time.
’Her competitive spirit must be acting up again,’ Du Youqian surmised.
Back at the Hundred Flowers Sect, he had defeated her before she could even draw her sword, and she had resented it ever since.
Thinking about Fang Hua, Du Youqian couldn’t help but think of Lin Sha as well.
According to his intelligence, Lin Sha had reached Foundation Establishment Perfection several years ago. She had been placed on the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect’s priority training list and was being prepared to attempt Core Formation in the short term—this "short term" meaning within five to twenty years.
It couldn’t be helped. The Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect currently had only two Core Formation Masters left. If they didn’t cultivate a new one soon, the sect would be demoted to a Third-class Sect in another thirty years.
Du Youqian didn’t know what Lin Sha’s chances of successfully reaching Core Formation were.
In his opinion, Lin Sha’s state of mind had once been severely flawed—and that flaw was him, or rather, his identity from his previous life, Qiu Yuanqing.
’But now that Qiu Yuanqing is dead, has her flaw been mended?’
Lin Sha’s cultivation path had, for the most part, been quite smooth.
Consider this: in the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect, she was the only person in several hundred years to have cultivated the Lower-Rank Technique, the Emotionless and Desireless Skill, to the Great Success stage. After becoming a True Inheritor, she switched to cultivating the Supreme Purity Emotion Scripture.
One must remember, what Du Youqian was cultivating now was still a "Decision," but what Lin Sha had long been cultivating was a "Scripture"!
As a talent being specially groomed by the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect, her future path had been planned out by the Sect from a very early stage.
You could say that she had been nurtured as a Golden Core Seed ever since she was in the Qi Cultivation stage.
The Sect absolutely forbade her from learning techniques like the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect’s Reverse Blood Qi Transformation Technique.
This was because the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect did not want her risking her life fighting anyone.
The only thing she had to do was continuously improve her cultivation, attempt Core Formation, and contribute to maintaining the Sect’s status—this was the tone set when the two Golden Core masters of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect were nearing the end of their lifespans.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that she had once faced the calamity that was Helan Ruojin.
That was because Helan Ruojin’s master, Mi Master, was pulling strings behind the scenes.
The other high-ranking members of the Sect couldn’t just directly help her deal with Helan Ruojin. After all, Mi Master was also one of the giants of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect, and in a sense, could even be said to represent the Sect’s will.
But just think about the preparations the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect made for her to overcome her ordeal!
They paid a huge price to have "Qiu Yuanqing" take action and help Lin Sha overcome her ordeal.
Those high-ranking members of the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect probably wouldn’t even treat their own daughters this well.
Looking at it this way, when Lin Sha finally attempts Core Formation, she should receive the greatest possible allocation of resources from the Heavenly Emotions and Oceanic Resentments Sect.
Core Formation Spiritual Objects, Core Formation Secret Techniques, and the notes and insights of predecessors on Core Formation would all be provided to her.
Her probability of successfully achieving Core Formation... would probably exceed thirty percent! Even forty percent!
What Du Youqian was thinking was:
’After she successfully reaches Core Formation, should I go and reveal my identity to her?’
’If I do, what are the pros and cons?’
’How could I reveal myself to her while still hiding the secret that I can continuously reincarnate and easily overcome the Mystery of the Womb?’
’It’s a bit of a headache.’
However, this wasn’t Du Youqian’s most pressing matter at the moment.
The most urgent thing for him to do right now was...
...to be transferred to the post of Qi Country Guardian Envoy and seize that fortuitous opportunity!
Du Youqian wrote a letter to his master, Feng Xiaoyi. In it, he briefly mentioned how much he missed her, emphasizing his longing for her and how he wished he could listen to her teachings every day... Only at the end, in just a few words, did he mention that he had reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and hoped his master remembered her promise to arrange for him to become the Qi Country Guardian Envoy.
In her reply, Feng Xiaoyi first chewed Du Youqian out, saying he was all talk and no action, that his words were sweeter than songs, but she hadn’t seen him come back to give his master a shoulder massage or a leg rub, and that his filial piety must have been eaten by a dog.
Only at the end did she ask, "Are you sure? As your master, I can arrange for you to become the Vice Hall Master of the External Affairs Hall right now. But if you choose to go to the Qi Kingdom to be the Guardian Envoy, then for at least ten years, you won’t be able to compete for the Vice Hall Master position—unless you advance to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage within those ten years and make an extremely great contribution to the Sect."
"I still want to go to the Qi Kingdom first." ’The main reason is that Flower Cyan Gang Jade Mine is just too tempting.’
According to Feng Bin’s memories, the profits from that ore vein could reach up to one hundred thousand Spiritual Jade.
One hundred thousand Spiritual Jade might not sound like much.
So let’s put it another way: ten million Spirit Stones.
My god, that was enough Spirit Stones to form a mountain.
You could buy several hundred of a rare item like the Foundation Establishment Pill with that.
He sent this letter, but Feng Xiaoyi didn’t reply immediately.
However, Meng Xiao did rush back for a visit, saying that the Vice Hall Master of the External Affairs Hall, Xi Zhiheng, was pulling strings and would probably get Du Youqian transferred to the Qi Kingdom as Guardian Envoy soon.
"Speaking of which, that Xi Zhiheng is a ruthless character."
"How so?" Du Youqian’s interest was piqued.
"Wasn’t he stuck at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage for over a hundred years? Many people thought his foundation was damaged and his path forward was cut off. But unexpectedly, in the past few years, he rapidly broke through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage and has been advancing at lightning speed. It’s estimated he could reach Foundation Establishment Perfection within a decade or so. It’s truly baffling how he did it."
Du Youqian recalled his master’s brief comment on the matter. Feng Xiaoyi hadn’t said it was a secret at the time, so he smiled and offered Meng Xiao a few pointers, "He’s cultivating an extremely difficult Secret Technique. Once mastered, it allows one to directly comprehend Divine Abilities. I estimate he has already mastered that Secret Technique and has perhaps even grasped a Divine Ability. Next, he will probably try to use that Divine Ability to achieve Core Formation."
Meng Xiao was greatly startled. He shook his head, his beard fluttering beneath his chin.
After some thought, he said, "That would explain it. No wonder, no wonder... A couple of years ago, he suddenly slaughtered the entire Imperial Family of the Yan Kingdom, killing nearly a thousand people. Everyone thought he had gone mad, since those were his own descendants. But if he did it to cultivate a Secret Technique, then it all makes sense. As long as he has grasped a Divine Ability, his combat power might even rival that of a Fake Pill Cultivator. An ordinary Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator would be no match for him."
"Using a Divine Ability to achieve Core Formation... I’ve read about it in ancient texts. It’s an Ancient Technique that has already been phased out. The main problem is that comprehending a Divine Ability within the two-hundred-some-year lifespan of the Foundation Establishment Realm is just too, too difficult. But if one really does succeed in comprehending a Divine Ability in the Foundation Establishment Realm, the success rate of achieving Core Formation that way is extremely high, even comparable to that of a Celestial Spirit Root Cultivator. Xi Zhiheng’s Spirit Root is just an ordinary Middle Grade Spirit Root, right? Even if he was lucky enough to obtain a Core Formation Spiritual Object, his chances of Core Formation would be slim. No wonder he made such a choice."
"This man might just become our sect’s next Core Formation Ancestor. I used to see him acting all crazy and thought he’d never amount to anything. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover."
After this idle chat, Meng Xiao enthusiastically brought up Xi Mengran again.
"Right now, her mental state is almost that of a normal person, though she’s a bit childish in some ways. Ai, it’s a pity she’s never recovered her memories—not even a single fragment. However, her way of thinking, her speech, and her mannerisms are quite similar to how she was before."
Du Youqian no longer had any particular feelings about this defeated foe; it was like talking about a stranger. "Is that so? Then she doesn’t remember you either?"
"She doesn’t," Meng Xiao said with a slightly smug smile. "But she’s naturally very close to me. Fellow Daoist Yu, why do you think that is?"
"Probably because you feed her well. You keep giving her all those expensive materials. She can instinctively tell you’re her big patron, so of course she’s going to cling to you," Du Youqian said offhandedly.
Meng Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Fellow Daoist Yu, that’s going too far."
"Fellow Daoist Meng, I only ever state facts. I don’t embellish."
Speaking of which, the way Du Youqian and Meng Xiao addressed each other was truly difficult to define.
Judging by the generation they joined the sect, Meng Xiao was three generations senior to Du Youqian, so Du Youqian should have called him Great-Grand Martial Uncle.
If they went by Xi Mengran’s line, Du Youqian had defeated Xi Mengran and taken her status, so he should have called Meng Xiao ’Master’.
If they went by Feng Xiaoyi’s side, Meng Xiao was once Feng Xiaoyi’s boy toy, so Du Youqian should have called him... ’Martial Aunt?’
But Feng Xiaoyi was a Core Formation Ancestor, and Du Youqian was her Direct Disciple. By that logic, it was Meng Xiao who should have called Du Youqian ’Martial Uncle’.
In short, it was a messy account that was hard to settle, so it was best for the two of them to just call each other "Fellow Daoist."
As they were parting, Meng Xiao asked, "By the way, Fellow Daoist Yu, you’re now a force to be reckoned with in the sect’s new generation. A Direct Disciple of a Core Formation Ancestor, soon to be the Guardian Envoy of a kingdom, and you even defeated a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Inner Disciple from the Taihe Sect in just three sword strikes. A lot of people in the sect have taken notice of you. They’re also asking about your relationship with the new Emperor of the Wu Kingdom and why you helped him take the throne."
Du Youqian asked with a smile, "Why? Is Fellow Daoist Meng interested too?"
Meng Xiao quickly clarified, "Fellow Daoist Yu, you misunderstand. I have already sworn an oath, so how could I harbor any ulterior motives? The fact that my Dao Foundation is still intact proves that I am not disloyal. I was just asking if you needed me to spread some false information."
Du Youqian said lightly, "There’s no need. Let them guess."
