Druid Fairy

Chapter 200 Pure Cultivation
After seeing off the Fifth Prince, Li Pingcan's gentle smile slowly faded, replaced by an unfathomable calm.

He walked into the secret room, faced the empty corner, and said calmly, "Come out."

The air distorted, and a blue figure quietly appeared—it was the Azure Dragon, whose strength had greatly increased.

"Goodness, little carp, your acting skills are getting better and better."

Qingjiao clicked his tongue in amazement, "Even I, your humble servant, almost believed you just now."

“The emperor’s spies have been removed.” Li Pingcan ignored its mockery, his voice returning to its cold tone, “But the thorn in his heart has only been temporarily smoothed out, not removed.”

He took out a blank jade slip and quickly imprinted the process of his game with the Fifth Prince today, as well as his latest judgment on the emperor's mind, onto it.

"Send this to the capital and give it to Mengze."

"Don't worry, I promise to complete the mission!"

The azure dragon swallowed the jade slip whole, then turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the secret chamber.

With its current strength comparable to the late stage of Qi Refining and the Dragon Clan's inherited Great and Small Divine Powers, it would not be difficult for it to infiltrate the capital and avoid the eyes and ears of those cultivators.

After doing all this, Li Pingcan walked to the window, looked at the bright moon, and his gaze became distant and profound.

…………

As night fell, the sky over the capital resembled an overturned inkstone, with thick, dark clouds pressing down and swallowing up all the light of the stars and moon.

Suppressive rumbles of thunder roll deep into the clouds, and large raindrops begin to fall without warning, quickly turning into a downpour.

In the courtyard of Tingtao Xiaozhu, the plants and trees swayed wildly in the wind and rain.

Li Mengjin, dressed in a blue robe and holding the "Shadow Fang," stood quietly beneath the century-old pine tree.

He didn't raise any protective aura, letting the cold rain instantly soak through his clothes and slide down his angular face.

Ever since the Imperial Preceptor Qingxu's guidance on "following the natural way," he has often fallen into this state of quiet contemplation. He no longer merely pursues the sharpness and speed of the sword, but has begun to feel and listen.

I have received a letter from my father. In order to prepare for the battles to come, I must become stronger.

Li Mengjin closed his eyes, his divine senses becoming one with the raging storm, like an invisible net.

He felt the rage of the wind, which was chaotic yet contained a savage power that could tear everything apart, just like Tuoba Xiong's domineering fist.

He felt the intensity of the rain; it seemed gentle, yet it was continuous, washing over everything in the world with the force of water dripping on stone, carrying a resolute determination to cleanse everything.

His sword spirit was repeatedly forged and refined amidst the storms.

"What is the purpose of a sword's sharpness?"

"To cut through illusions, to protect one's true self."

Why does the wind move?

"To clear away obstacles, to let heaven and earth breathe."

Why does the rain fall?

"To nourish all things, and to cleanse the dust."

Wind, rain, sword... there seems to be some common "principle" among the three.

Rigidity is easily broken, while flexibility can overcome rigidity. Unrelenting sharpness will only turn you into a fragile blade.

True strength is like the wind and rain of heaven and earth, capable of both overwhelming fury and gentle, silent nourishment.

"So that's it."

Li Mengjin suddenly opened his eyes. In that instant, the usual coldness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and transparency, as if reflecting the entire world in the storm.

The "Shadow Fang" in his hand emitted a clear and melodious dragon roar.

He did not swing the sword, but slowly raised it with the tip pointing to the sky.

The countless fallen leaves and raindrops blown down by the gale in the courtyard seemed to be given life at this moment. They no longer flew around in a chaotic manner, but instead formed a visible blue tornado around the "Shadow Fang" sword!

Within that tornado, every leaf and every drop of rain contained a faint yet incomparably sharp sword intent!

"boom!"

At this moment, the magical power within his body seemed to have found an outlet, breaking through the barrier of the sixth level of Qi Refining, advancing all the way, and finally settling steadily at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining!
With a clear and focused mind, breaking through realms becomes as natural as water flowing into a channel!

As the wind and rain subsided, the blue tornado slowly dissipated. Li Mengjin sheathed his sword and stood there, his aura more restrained than before, but the occasional glance he gave seemed to pierce through one's soul.

He was no longer just a swordsman; he had become a part of this storm.

…………

Unlike his second brother's earth-shattering breakthrough, Li Mengze's breakthrough happened quietly, yet it was equally profound.

Inside the secret chamber of the Alchemy Academy, he sat cross-legged, with the "Nine Aperture Thunder Sound Wood" given to him by Sha Qianli floating in front of him.

This wood had long since withered, its inner energy and vitality chaotic and disordered, like an old man terminally ill. To onlookers, it was nothing more than a piece of worthless wood, neither edible nor worth discarding.

But in Li Mengze's eyes, this was the key to his glimpse into higher levels of alchemy.

"Poison is medicine, and death is life."

His battle with Sikong Jin gave him a deeper understanding of the Druidic way passed down by his father.

The art of alchemy is not just about refining medicinal herbs, but also about yin and yang, life and death, and creation.

He didn't rush to refine it, but instead stretched out his finger and gently touched the withered wood.

A warm, pure golden flame, the true fire of the sun, rose from his fingertips, like the gentlest stream, slowly seeping into the nine orifices of the withered wood.

Instead of using domineering flames to forcibly extract the remaining energy, he "appeased" it.

He merged his divine sense with the flames and sank into the core of the withered wood to listen to the "memories" of this ancient thunderwood.

He "saw" a colossal tree that reached the heavens and the earth, born from thunderclouds, bathed in lightning, and fed on divine thunder from the nine heavens.

He "saw" it endure for thousands of years, until finally, under the calamity of heaven, its branches broke and its spirit was extinguished, leaving only this piece of remains, sleeping in endless loneliness.

"You shouldn't just decay like this." Li Mengze's divine sense transformed into a gentle voice, echoing in the core of the withered tree.

He slowly activated the "Hundred Herbs Spirit Realm" in his sea of ​​consciousness, and a vast and boundless power, filled with the most primal life force, flowed continuously into the withered wood along with the True Fire of the Sun!
This is not refining, but "awakening"!
"Buzz!"

The once lifeless, withered tree suddenly trembled, and brilliant blue lightning simultaneously lit up from its nine holes!

A violent surge of lightning and a pure surge of life force, under the harmonization of this external power, miraculously reached a certain balance, forming a wondrous vortex of life and death.

On the surface of the dead wood, beneath the long-cracked bark, a tender green bud stubbornly sprouted!

Spring comes out of dead trees!

At that very moment, Li Mengze's body trembled. He felt as if his soul resonated with the piece of Thunderwood, and a profound and mysterious Daoist philosophy about "withering and flourishing" and "life and death" surged into his heart.

His cultivation, which had already reached the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining, broke through to the next level as naturally as water flowing into a channel! Eighth level of Qi Refining!

Within the secret chamber, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred. A colossal, ancient tree of life slowly materialized behind him, its branches and leaves unfurling, brimming with vitality. And his alchemical fire, the "True Sun Fire," after absorbing the dissipated lightning energy, transformed from pure gold into a wisp of purple lightning, a mixture of destruction and rebirth!
Breakthroughs in both alchemy and cultivation!

Li Mengze slowly opened his eyes, looking at the Thunder Sound Wood in his hand that had not only regained its vitality but also subtly improved its grade. A knowing smile appeared on his face.

True alchemy is not about following alchemical formulas, but about creating one's own destiny.

…………

Just as the Li brothers were breaking through their cultivation levels one after another, accumulating strength for the impending storm, bad news suddenly arrived.

Chen Qingxuan, the eldest daughter of the Chen family of Qinghe and the designated Crown Princess, has fallen ill.

The illness was dangerous and bizarre.

It is said that this most beautiful woman in the capital, renowned for both her talent and looks, became emaciated overnight. Strange gray patterns appeared on her skin, and her pure magical power leaked out like a flood. Her life force declined at a visible speed.

The Chen family consulted numerous renowned doctors and alchemists, even inviting imperial physicians from the palace, but all of them were helpless and could only shake their heads and sigh.

Everyone asserted that this was a case of heaven being jealous of beauty, an incurable disease, and that Miss Chen would probably not live past the end of the month.

This news was nothing short of a devastating blow to the Crown Prince!
The fact that his fiancée was on the verge of death was a fatal blow to his reputation.

"Waste! All of them are waste!"

Inside the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince could no longer maintain his gentle demeanor. He swept all the documents on the table in front of him to the ground, his handsome face filled with rage. "A bunch of quack doctors who can't even diagnose illnesses! What use are you to me!"

The Chen family was his most important ally.

Chen Qingxuan is a key figure in maintaining this alliance and showcasing himself to the outside world.

If she dies, he will become the laughingstock of the entire capital!

"Go! Summon Li Mengze! Tell him to get over here right now! If he can't cure Qingxuan, I'll take his life!" the Crown Prince roared at the chief eunuch beside him.

When Li Mengze was half-invited and half-carried to the Chen family mansion and entered the boudoir filled with the smell of medicine, even with his calm and composed nature, he couldn't help but be shocked by the scene before him.

The woman on the bed, pale and weak, bore no resemblance to the graceful woman who once played the zither by the lotus pond.

He stepped forward, took her pulse, and a wisp of life force entered her body.

His pulse was erratic, his breath was faint, his magical power was exhausted, and his soul was like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

This is indeed a terminal illness.

Just as his divine sense was about to withdraw, an extremely faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of divine sense precisely entered his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Saving me is also...saving yourself."

Li Mengze's pupils suddenly contracted.

He looked up and met Chen Qingxuan's eyes, which, though dim, were filled with determination and a hint of pleading.

He understood instantly.

This illness is real, but it was also a choice she made herself!
She actually used a tragic method that was almost self-destructive to break free from the glamorous shackles of being the "Crown Princess"!

“Master Li, my daughter…” Chen Boyan, standing to the side, was in tears, his voice hoarse.

Li Mengze slowly withdrew his hand and remained silent for a long time, so long that everyone thought he was about to be sentenced to death.

He slowly opened his mouth, his voice extremely solemn: "Miss Chen's illness is not an ordinary ailment, but rather... a sign of 'the three souls leaving the body and the seven spirits scattering'."

"What?!" Chen Boyan was shocked.

"This condition arises from a cultivator's soul having an excessive connection with the Heavenly Dao, yet being bound by the mortal world and karmic forces. The conflict between these two factors ultimately leads to an unstable soul that attempts to leave the body to pursue the Great Dao."

Li Mengze's half-true, half-false "diagnosis" left the Chen family members bewildered, yet also felt it to be profound and impressive.

"Then...is there a solution?" Chen Boyan asked in a trembling voice.

"A solution?" Li Mengze shook his head, then changed the subject, "There's no cure with medicine, no solution with any method. The only hope is to let nature take its course."

"Let nature take its course?"

"good."

Li Mengze looked at Chen Qingxuan on the bed and said, word by word, "Sever all worldly desires and sever all karmic ties. Find a quiet place, with a lamp and ancient books, and cultivate in peace. In this way, her scattered soul may be able to return to its place. If you forcibly disturb her with worldly matters of marriage, she will surely perish and her soul will be scattered within three days."

These words struck the heads of everyone in the Chen family like a thunderbolt!
Severing ties with the mortal world?

Quiet contemplation and spiritual practice?

Does that mean she'll still be the Crown Princess?!

This is no longer an illness, this is a desire to become a monk!
When the news reached the palace, the crown prince was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He knew he had been tricked!
Chen Qingxuan refused to marry him in this way, and he couldn't even utter a word of reproach!

You can't force a woman who is "devoted to Taoism and about to lose her soul" to marry him, can you?

So, what did he become in the eyes of the people as the crown prince?

Ultimately, after the Chen family's tearful petition, arguing that "their daughter is afflicted with a serious illness, which may tarnish the royal family's fortune," the emperor had no choice but to issue an edict to annul the engagement.

The crown prince not only lost the powerful Chen family as an ally, but was also labeled as "unlucky".

With the help of the "soul-regulating" pills prescribed by Li Mengze, Chen Qingxuan's health miraculously improved day by day.

However, from then on, she devoted herself to the Dao and never concerned herself with worldly affairs again.

…………

The night was cool and still, and the moonlight shone through the windows of Tingtao Xiaozhu, casting a soft glow on the ground.

Inside the study, the brother and sister sat facing each other.

Li Mengyue's small face carried a trace of melancholy beyond her years. She twisted the hem of her clothes and sighed softly, "Brother, is Sister Qingxuan really destined to spend her whole life facing the ancient lamp and Buddha? Every time I go to see her, I feel like she's both happier and more lonely."

Li Mengze remained silent, refilling his sister's cup of warm herbal tea. What could he say?

Chen Qingxuan's choice is both a way of breaking free and another form of imprisonment.

She severed her marriage ties with the Crown Prince in the most tragic way, but also exiled herself to another isolated island called "Qingxiu".

"For her, this may be the best ending."

After a long silence, Li Mengze finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, "In that glamorous cage, at least she could live for herself."

"But..." Li Mengyue raised her head, asking directly and innocently, "Brother, do you like Sister Qingxuan?"

(End of this chapter)