Chapter 138: Pill as the Wick (I)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
What happened thirty thousand years ago had long gone with the passing time.
Xuan Lingzi didn’t tell Luo Jianqing much. However, the massive amount of Deity Transformation Period cultivators who lost their lives in vain was enough to clutch Luo Jianqing’s heart. The disciple felt that he had touched the rim of an untold secret.
The abundance of Spiritual Power nowadays wasn’t that prosperous compared with tens of thousands of years ago, so the number of high-level cultivators declined drastically. Those once so-called genius cultivators probably weren’t as talented as Luo Jianqing, but they, after all, had achieved Deity Transformation Period. How come...they all died abruptly?
Of course, question like this was out of Xuan Lingzi’s knowledge.
Though he never heard of the Mo Dao Lineage of the direct descendants of Mo Family, Xuan Lingzi pondered for a while and then told Luo Jianqing, “Are you saying that your friend of life and death’s Mo Dao Lineage is awakened? I don’t know much, but, he doesn’t seem like a person who carries the lineage according to essence of his Spiritual Power.”
Luo Jianqing asked, “Then how to explain his incredible cultivation speed, given that he is not a Fiend Cultivator who massacred village after village?”
“Maybe... everything is possible no matter how strange it is?”
Luo Jianqing chuckled. For the first time, he was dazzled by how cute his Master was.
They chatted for a while. Unable to resist Luo Jianqing’s begging, Xuan Lingzi took Luo Jianqing to a Forbidden Place located at the back of Yu Xiao Peak. Luo Jianqing remembered that when he was little, there was one time that he almost stepped in the Forbidden Place while horsing around in the forest. The result of his carelessness was that he was punished by his Master for one day of famishing. Back then Luo Jianqing hadn’t practiced Bi Gu yet; he remembered clearly that he was so hungry that his stomach kept grunting. However, that day, as soon as the clock hit midnight, his Master gave him two steamed buns.
Recalling this, Luo Jianqing had a feeling that his Master was always trying hard to put on a mask of indifference even though he had a heart full of solicitude.
Xuan Lingzi led Luo Jianqing into the Forbidden Place, flitting among different layers of ward. About fifteen minutes later, he frowned and turned back to face Luo Jianqing, “The following ward is too complicated to get through and requires swift speed, otherwise the protective ward will be triggered. Jianqing... do you mind if I carry you in my arms for the rest of the way?”
Luo Jianqing didn’t expect his Master would offer this option, so he thought about it in an odd expression, “Why don’t you carry me around just as you used to when I was little?”
Xuan Lingzi nodded. He stooped and let Luo Jianqing climb on his back.
Circling his Master’s neck with his arms, Luo Jianqing put his chest against Xuan Lingzi’s back. Though his height was almost catching up with Xuan Lingzi’s, laying on his Master’s back like this still made him feel like he was a kid again. Forty years ago, one of his favorite things was falling asleep while his Master was carrying him on his back.
As the disciple of the most power cultivator in the world, Luo Jianqing’s daily routine sounded like impossible tasks – brandishing sword for a thousand times or riving a hundred stones by hand. Luo Jianqing’s pride made begging for a lighter training impossible for him. Therefore, almost every day, he would complete the training without a single complaint and then collapse because of tiredness.
At first, his Master still insisted that he should go back to his Bamboo House on his own so that he could take a rest and have dinner. However, there was one time that Luo Jianqing – a novice cultivator back then – lost the strength to even open his eyes. Having no other option, Xuan Lingzi had to carry his disciple on his back, brought him to the Bamboo House, and put the kid on bed as carefully as possible.
The Master did the same thing several times since then.
Nothing really changed then though forty years had passed.
Burying his cheeks among his Master’s lustrous hair, Luo Jianqing circled his arms around Xuan Lingzi’s neck firmly and tightly, entrusting him his safety. Carrying Luo Jianqing was even less disturbing than carrying a feather; Xuan Lingzi passed layers of protection ward. Soon, they got through the Bamboo forest and entered a cave.
Xuan Lingzi whispered, “You can get down now, Jianqing.”
What replied him was Luo Jianqing’s chuckle.
Confused, Xuan Lingzi tilted his head, but before he could open his mouth, Luo Jianqing gently stroked his lips by his own.
Cheeks blushing all of a sudden, Xuan Lingzi threw off Luo Jianqing right away. The latter reeled back and approached his Master again once he managed to kept the balance, “Master, why is that your face always blushes so easily? It was nothing but an accidental touch. We’ve already done things that are much more dissolute.”
All right, now Luo Jianqing had successfully made his Master so bashful that his face was red like a ruby. Xuan Lingzi wanted to teach his bold disciple a lesson, but discarded that idea when he recalled Luo Jianqing had just experienced life-threatening danger. Failing to persuade himself to behave like a strict Master, Xuan Lingzi closed his eyes and questioned himself, “What did I do wrong regarding teaching manners to Jianqing? How could he behave so... bold?!”
Xuan Lingzi’s introspection lasted for the rest of the road. They got deeper and deeper into the cave and finally reached a vast stone chamber.
The chamber was at least a thousand feet wide and had a massive dome. Luo Jianqing had no idea that a place like this existed on Yu Xiao Peak all the time. A crescent-shaped river surrounded the center of the chamber. There was no need to take a closer look. Luo Jianqing distinguished it solely by its aroma, “Am I crazy? These are Fifth-Grade Jade Liquid?!”
Jade Liquid was a fifth-grade Spiritual Ingredient. If it was added into the furnace, there would be sixty percent chance that the grade of the pill would be raised.
The Jade Liquid here was so abundant that it formed a river! How luxurious! A single drop of the Jade Liquid could worth a hundred Spiritual Stone on the market, but here at the Yu Xiao Peak, they composed of a Jade Liquid stream. There was nothing else on the river except nine bice lotuses.
The lotuses were slightly withered, not blooming vibrantly. The petals were barely hanging on the calyx, as if it could fell down at any time. The river, using its Spiritual Power, saved the flowers from dying out.
Transfixed, Luo Jianqing gazed at the scene. Reaching out to hold Luo Jianqing’s hand, Xuan Lingzi took him flew across the river and landed on the round stone platform at the center of chamber. Luo Jianqing clearly felt a force of resistance when he entered it, but the Nine Heavenly Seizure Record inside him operated voluntarily, dispersing a familiar invisible power, letting Luo Jianqing enter the stone chamber.
Xuan Lingzi explained, “You cultivate on True Nine-Petaled Lotus Record, and that’s why you can enter this Grand Nine-Petal Lotus Ward without facing resistance.”
Slightly nervous, Luo Jianqing couldn’t let go his curiosity about the mysterious Nine Heavenly Seizure Record.
Following Xuan Lingzi, Luo Jianqing approached the rostrum set at the center of the stone platform. There was nothing but a lamp that was barely kindling. The lamp was made by a special kind of Life Jade that was unique on Tai Hua Mountain, so, even after thirty thousand years, the lotus-shaped lamp was still shimmering lustrously. Despite of a gash which almost breaking it apart, the lamp looked like a brand new one.
The flame on the wick was long quenched, but if one looked closer enough, there were small sparks still scintillating.
Gazing at this lamp, Luo Jianqing already knew what Xuan Lingzi was going to tell him. Exchanging a look, Xuan Lingzi nodded, “This is the Life Lantern of Yu Xiao Peak’s Great Elder – Sir Jiu Lian. It has been kept here since thirty thousand years ago when Sir Jiu Lian was suddenly nowhere to be found. Every generation of the Peak Master of Yu Xiao Peak carries on the duty of guarding this Life Lantern.”
Yu Qingzi once told Luo Jianqing that the Life Lantern of Sir Jiu Lian wasn’t died out yet. Today, Luo Jianqing finally saw it.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶