Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Chapter 107 Returning Home (3rd update, please vote with monthly tickets)

After helping Xia Dong resolve the fire poison, Master Gu Yue's usually cold face paled even more, and his originally solid aura became unstable, causing his condition to visibly decline further.

She was slightly out of breath, her gaze fixed on the rock, and said calmly, "Pick up that bottle and put it in your pocket."

Xia Dong glanced at the Yin Spirit Jade Bottle, which exuded an extremely cold aura but contained a terrifying strange fire sealed inside. Although he was wary, he still followed the instructions, stepped forward, and carefully picked it up and put it away close to his body.

He realized that the reason why Master Guyue had not put such a treasure into his storage bag must be because the storage magic tool could not contain the Yin Spirit Jade Bottle that sealed the strange fire.

There seems to be a lot of intricacies involved here.

Glancing at the spot where the red-haired ghost had turned into ice shards after his death, Master Guyue did not tell Xia Dong to search the storage bag on the ground. Xia Dong himself did not even have the slightest intention of "touching the corpse".

He understood that if he were to take it back now for the sake of cheapness, who knew if it might have some strange aura or soul mark left behind? If this completely exposed their whereabouts to the Wusheng Sect demons behind them, they would surely die without a burial place.

Even the best opportunities require being alive to enjoy them.

"Carry me on your back."

The seemingly indifferent words of Master Guyue caused Xia Dong's hand, which was adjusting his clothes, to tremble violently.

He was definitely not afraid of taking advantage of Master Guyue and being held accountable by the senior afterward.

Rather, the information revealed behind those words meant that Master Guyue's current condition was definitely worse than he had imagined.

Xia Dong took a deep breath and without hesitation took out a special "Wind Control Talisman" drawn with his own blood essence from his bosom and slapped it on his leg.

Seeing this, Master Guyue didn't say anything more, but simply raised his hand slightly, signaling Xia Dong to carry her on his back.

Xia Dong bent down slightly and carried Gu Yue Zhenren on his back.

Feeling the lightness and slight chill on his back, he immediately activated the Wind Control Talisman, and his figure sped away like the wind along the direction of the dark river.

Master Guyue lay on his back, taking the time to close his eyes and regulate his breathing, while occasionally sending brief telepathic directions.

This underground river meanders through the land, creating a complex and chaotic terrain. The convergence of the earth's veins also leads to extremely disordered energy flow, making it an ideal place for stealth and concealment.

As they sped along, Xia Dong's mind raced.

Recalling all the details from earlier, he finally understood why Master Guyue had taken such a huge risk to stay in that cave.

She wasn't being overconfident at all; she did it on purpose!

Master Guyue used that brief time to quickly recover his strength, while also lying in wait, deliberately waiting for the enemy in the opposing camp who was most skilled at tracking to come to him.

If this skilled tracker is dealt with swiftly and decisively, the tracking ability of the others will be greatly reduced, and the danger the two will face will be much less.

In order to improve search efficiency, the few heretical cultivators of the Wusheng Sect, relying on their large numbers, boldly chose to search separately.

Now, when they catch up and see the red-haired cultivator's tragic end, where he was utterly destroyed, they will surely be wary and dare not easily disperse again.

Since they were going to search together, their efficiency would naturally drop drastically. What's more, they had already lost a skilled tracker like the red-haired cultivator. Finding the two deliberately hidden individuals in this chaotic underground river was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, Xia Dong thought to himself that there was indeed a considerable element of gambling in this plan.

If the enemy hadn't split up, but instead several Foundation Establishment cultivators had chased after them together, how would Master Guyue have dealt with the crisis?

Xia Dong vaguely guessed that, given this great cultivator's shrewdness and decisiveness, if things really came to that point, she must still be holding some extremely terrifying trump card.

However, such trump cards come at a very high price, and she would absolutely not use them unless absolutely necessary or in a life-or-death situation.

He also has such a trump card.

Thinking of the ancient bronze bell in his sea of ​​consciousness, Xia Dong felt much more at ease.

Next, with the occasional telepathic guidance from Master Guyue, the intricate, maze-like terrain of the underground river posed no obstacle to Xia Dong whatsoever.

"At the fork in the road ahead, take the left path where the water is flowing rapidly."

"Pass over that stalagmite and dive into the underwater cave for thirty feet."

Master Guyue's voice wasn't loud, but it always rang precisely in his ear at the most crucial moment. Xia Dong pushed the perfected "Crane Shadow Step" and the blood-red "Wind Control Talisman" on his leg to their limits, carrying Master Guyue as he darted and weaved between the slippery rock walls and the rushing water, like a light and ethereal shadow.

All around was silent, save for the dull thud of the underground river lapping against the rock walls. The two of them traversed this dark, sunless depths of the earth, seemingly tireless, for an unknown amount of time.

As time went by, Xia Dong keenly noticed subtle changes in the person on his back.

The delicate body that had been pressed against her back, exuding weakness and bone-chilling cold, gradually regained a touch of warmth.

Master Guyue's previously fluctuating and slightly rapid breathing became increasingly long and stable, like a mysterious breathing technique that perfectly harmonized with the energy of heaven and earth.

What alarmed Xia Dong even more was the invisible aura emanating from Master Guyue.

Despite being severely injured, he still had to use most of his magical power to suppress the strange fire in the sealed jade bottle, while behind him, a group of evil masters from the Wusheng Sect were chasing and searching for him like mad dogs.

This is a true life-or-death crisis; the slightest mistake could lead to utter destruction and death.

Yet, the Lonely Moon Immortal lying on his back maintained an extremely peaceful state of mind.

Her breathing was calm, her heartbeat was eerily steady, and when she occasionally sent telepathic directions, her tone was completely flat, as if she were not fleeing for her life, but strolling leisurely in the back garden of her own cave.

"Truly worthy of being a senior expert," Xia Dong thought to himself with sincere admiration.

This composure, which remains unmoved even when Mount Tai collapses before you, is not something that can be faked.

Master Guyue must have a heart as firm as a rock in his pursuit of the Dao.

Xia Dong took a deep breath of the cold, damp air from underground, her feet moving without stopping, silently making plans in her mind.

He was very self-aware. If it weren't for his talent of "one proof for eternity" to help him firmly stabilize his mind, no matter how calm he appeared on the surface, he would inevitably be flustered inside and would never be as calm and composed as Master Guyue.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time in this dark and sunless underground, a faint ray of light finally appeared ahead.

Xia Dong's spirits lifted, and carrying Gu Yue Zhenren, he quickened his pace, following the direction of the water flow, and slipped out through a hidden gap in a steep mountain wall.

A slightly cool morning breeze and the faint morning light that dispels the darkness greet you.

Xia Dong squinted to adjust to the light, secretly surprised.

Before we knew it, a whole night had passed, and it was already the early morning of the next day.

He gently put Master Guyue down.

Xia Dong looked around and found that they were now on a wide, protruding rock platform halfway up the mountain.

The platform's edges are extremely steep, with a bottomless canyon below and shrouded in mist all around, making it impossible to find a way down the mountain to climb or use as leverage.

Clearly, no matter how good an ordinary martial artist's lightness skill is, without the methods of a cultivator, there is absolutely no way they could leave such a dangerous place safely.

Xia Dong dusted himself off, turned to look at Master Gu Yue who was surveying their surroundings, and asked in a deep voice, "Senior, which way do we go now? Are we taking you back to Qixia Immortal Sect?"

"Return to Qixia Immortal Sect?" Master Guyue sneered upon hearing this. "Go back in my current state?"

She withdrew her gaze, her tone revealing an all-knowing indifference, and continued, "This Sacred Heart Lotus Seed is currently in my hands, and countless eyes within the sect are watching it. Returning in my current weakened state would be like a child carrying gold through a bustling marketplace—it's never a good idea. Moreover, there are traitors within the sect who are colluding with the Wusheng Sect."

Xia Dong nodded in deep agreement upon hearing this.

He had actually guessed this all along, but he was well aware of his own limitations and decided to let Master Guyue direct the next steps.

Master Guyue continued leisurely, "Take me wherever you think is the safest place. As long as we find a secluded spot to rest, and my injuries heal, there won't be any more trouble in Lin Yuan Prefecture."

Xia Dong lowered his eyes, and the image of the hidden cave deep in the Tiger Hill Mountains and the giant snake guarding it immediately came to mind. He pondered for a moment, then spoke truthfully, "I do indeed have an extremely secluded cave deep in the mountains, rarely visited by anyone. If you don't mind the simple conditions there, please come with me to rest."

"Hmm." Master Guyue nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the sea of ​​clouds ahead, and said casually, "Then let's just cast the spell directly. Your talismans, though exquisite, are not as fluid and free as casting spells directly yourself."

These seemingly casual and uneventful words, however, struck Xia Dong like a thunderbolt from the heavens!

Xia Dong's muscles tensed instantly, and his heart skipped a beat.

He suppressed the surging horror in his heart, forced a dry, bitter smile, and said in a hoarse voice, "Senior, what are you joking about? I'm just an ordinary martial artist. Back in your sect, the cultivators clearly verified that I have no spiritual roots whatsoever. How could I possibly be able to cast immortal spells?"

Master Guyue turned his head, a half-smile playing on his lips: "Your concealment technique is indeed quite remarkable. To be honest, I was initially fooled by you."

She paused slightly at this point, then continued, "However, your ancestor's cultivation notes are in my possession. Therefore, in terms of understanding the 'Mysterious Yin Scripture' technique, I am definitely far more knowledgeable than you."

Master Guyue's gaze deepened, and he continued, "You've been very good at disguising yourself, but when you used that demonic sword technique in the cave in a moment of desperation, I finally saw through the subtle traces of your cultivation of the 'Mysterious Yin Scripture'."

So you do have spiritual roots—

At the end, Master Guyue's tone carried a hint of barely perceptible annoyance as he murmured, "It's made me rack my brains trying to figure out how to find you a suitable woman—"

She seemed to realize something halfway through her sentence, and suddenly stopped talking, swallowing the rest of her words.

Xia Dong stood there, suddenly realizing why he had given himself away.

Having figured this out, Xia Dong gave a helpless bitter smile, cupped his hands, and said, "This junior absolutely did not intend to conceal it from you, senior; it's just that my background is special—"

"It's alright." Master Guyue waved his hand, interrupting his explanation, his expression very calm. "It's normal for cultivators to keep some secrets while struggling in this world. If everything is laid bare, they won't live long."

At this point, she changed the subject, a hint of curious inquiry in her eyes: "By the way, now that you've condensed your magical power, approximately how efficient is your spiritual root at converting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

Xia Dong uttered two words with utmost honesty: "20%."

"Oh?" Master Guyue's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of admiration flashing in them. "Only 20% of your spiritual energy was lost during the breathing and refining process? While not a top-tier talent, it's still quite acceptable."

Upon hearing this, Xia Dong couldn't help but cough awkwardly. He touched his nose and said in a hoarse voice, "Senior, you misunderstand. What I mean is—I tried my best, but I could only retain and convert about 20% of the spiritual energy."

"what?"

Master Guyue's eyes widened slightly, and he blurted out, "This—this can be considered having spiritual roots?"

After all, since the great depletion of spiritual energy in the world, major cultivation sects have been extremely strict in their standards for accepting disciples in order to use their limited resources wisely. The spiritual roots of new disciples must have a spiritual energy conversion efficiency of about 50%.

If it falls below this limit, it would be a waste of resources for the sect.

As soon as she finished speaking, Master Guyue immediately fell silent. Looking at Xia Dong's silent expression, she suddenly felt that she had spoken out of turn.

"Was what I said too hurtful to him?"

The mountain breeze on the cliffside stirred up the clouds and mist, and the atmosphere became quiet for a brief moment.

Xia Dong lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while before raising his head and sighing, "Senior, perhaps this is the real reason why the immortal masters of your Qixia Immortal Sect, at Uncle Qin's request, secretly tested my spiritual roots when I was young, but failed to detect that I had spiritual roots."

Master Guyue nodded slightly, and after thinking about it carefully, he found it to be quite reasonable: "That's right. You were younger at that time, and your innate talent had not yet fully developed, so naturally your spiritual root was not apparent. It's understandable that it wasn't detected back then."

Thinking back to how she had even considered arranging for Xia Dong to "breed" with female cultivators in order to obtain the Ascension Token, she couldn't help but shake her head slightly and sigh, "If I had known this would happen, why would I have bothered with so many complicated schemes? I could have just taken you under my wing as a disciple."

Hearing this, Xia Dong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The matter of his spiritual root has finally been resolved.

Regardless of how much Gu Yue Zhenren actually believed, at least the logic held true. Whether she believed it or not was irrelevant; Xia Dong herself was completely convinced.

From then on, even if the King of Heaven himself came to ask, he would only give the same answer.

Now that the atmosphere had eased, Xia Dong decided to seize the opportunity. He brazenly asked, "Senior, do you think I still have a chance?"

"You little rascal."

Master Guyue smiled upon hearing this: "You can even keep your cultivation a secret from everyone without letting anything slip. You must be hiding many other secrets as well. I dare not take someone as cunning as you as my disciple, lest you become too powerful one day and scheme against me as well, directly betraying your master and ancestors."

Hearing these words, which were half teasing and half admonishing, Xia Dong opened his mouth, then fell silent for a moment.

Seeing his discomfiture, Master Guyue chuckled, and a touch of color returned to his pale face.

She waved her hand and said, "Alright, let me see what kind of travel magic you know later. Just show it to me."

"Then this junior will make a fool of himself." Xia Dong honestly agreed and prepared to use his wind manipulation technique.

"No rush." ​​Master Guyue called out to him, flipping his wrist to take out a mask as thin as a cicada's wing, neither gold nor wood, from his storage bag and handed it to him. "This is a divine sense mask. Once you wear it, unless a Core Formation stage cultivator forcibly scans you with their divine sense, no one will be able to see through your true face. For now, you should conceal your martial arts aura and only reveal the aura of your cultivated magic power."

Xia Dong took the mask and put it on her face as instructed.

The moment the mask touched his skin, it transformed into wisps of cool spiritual energy that seeped into his flesh, fitting him perfectly. He took out the Yin Spirit Jade Bottle containing the Strange Fire and the Sacred Heart Lotus, and used the dark, smooth surface of the bottle to illuminate himself.

Sure enough, the reflection on the bottle had undergone a complete transformation. The once rugged facial features had become plain and unremarkable, as if the person had been replaced entirely.

Immediately, Xia Dong had a thought and completely suppressed the furnace-like blood and qi of the Transcendent Realm. At the same time, he released the suppression on his dantian, allowing the cold and icy magical power of the "Mysterious Yin Scripture" to flow out naturally.

Master Guyue looked him up and down, nodded slightly, and showed a hint of admiration in his eyes: "Although the 'Mysterious Yin Scripture' has a bad reputation, its essence is not actually a demonic art. It's just that some people with evil intentions are eager for quick success and take shortcuts such as 'replenishing the body' and 'blood sacrifice,' which is why they have fallen into the evil path. It's rare that you can stick to your original intention and cultivate your magical power to such a pure level step by step."

She paused for a moment, then gave a very high evaluation: "Actually, in your current state, as long as you don't appear in front of real Xuan Yin Sect members, your magical aura is indistinguishable from that of normal Xuan Sect cultivators in the eyes of outsiders."

"Is that so?" Xia Dong's heart stirred, and he pondered to himself.

With the personal endorsement of the great cultivator Master Guyue, he instantly realized that he could openly fabricate the identity of a "rogue cultivator of the Xuanmen" and travel the world.

When you're out and about, a vest is a must.

As Xia Dong was secretly making plans, Gu Yue Zhenren's voice rang out again: "Turn around first."

Xia Dong was very sensible and obediently turned around to face the towering cliff shrouded in clouds and mist.

He guessed that the senior was obviously also going to disguise himself.

Even cultivators must not casually observe a woman changing her clothes or appearance. Moreover, this is a powerful being capable of crushing him at any moment.

As the saying goes, you should never mess with older women.

After a brief rustling sound, a voice came from behind.

"Turn around."

Xia Dong turned around upon hearing this.

Although he had expected that Gu Yue Zhenren would drastically change his appearance, he was still involuntarily stunned the moment he saw the person in front of him.

The Lonely Moon Immortal, who used to wear a flowing white Taoist robe with wide sleeves, had a cold and aloof demeanor, and whose eyes always held a hint of superiority and the vicissitudes of time, was gone.

Instead, there was a pretty young girl dressed in simple clothes, with her eyes downcast and a gentle, timid air about her!

The contrast between the aloof and detached great cultivator and the gentle and charming girl next door was so great that Xia Dong was stunned and couldn't recover for a long time.

"How do I look? Don't I look younger?"

The Lonely Moon Immortal, now transformed into a pretty young girl, tilted her head slightly. Her voice, which was originally as cold as shattered ice, now revealed a touch of gentleness and liveliness belonging to a young girl, along with the change in her appearance.

Faced with this sudden question, Xia Dong didn't have time to think much and almost instinctively blurted out, "Senior has always been like a fairy from the moon palace, pure and otherworldly, making people only dare to look up to her. But now, she has lost some of her aloofness from heaven and is closer to us mortals."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air on the cliff seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Master Guyue was visibly taken aback when he heard Xia Dong's words.

After a brief moment of surprise, Master Guyue quickly regained her composure. She deliberately hardened her gentle and pretty face, her eyes narrowing slightly, and adopted the imposing manner of a great cultivator, coldly rebuking, "You little rascal, your audacity is truly growing! You even dare to flirt with this humble Daoist!"

Xia Dong's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly lowered his head and clasped his hands in apology: "This junior misspoke, please forgive me, senior! Every word I said came from the bottom of my heart, and I had no intention of offending you in the slightest."

He feigned fear and trepidation, but with his exceptionally sharp eyesight at the Transcendent Realm, he accurately caught, in the instant he lowered his head, a fleeting smile that Master Guyue was trying to suppress.

Seeing that smile, Xia Dong's heart, which had been hanging in her throat, finally settled back into her stomach, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems the old man isn't really angry," Xia Dong muttered to himself.

Indeed, in this world, no matter what level of cultivation or age a woman is, as long as you flatter her and compliment her on her looks and youthfulness, not one of them will truly feel disgusted.

Then, Master Guyue raised his hand.

Xia Dong immediately understood the master's meaning, and hurriedly helped the master up, not daring to show the slightest disrespect, and carefully used the Wind Control Technique.

A gentle breeze helped the two of them up.

The two then took off steadily, and soon they were flying hand in hand in the sea of ​​clouds.

They looked like a young couple of Daoist monks.

This was also the intention of Master Guyue.

The two were very good at disguising themselves.

Along the way, blatant streaks of light and magical artifacts occasionally flashed through the air, but even when divine senses swept over them, they did not detect anything unusual about the two.

Moreover, these streaks of light and magical artifacts came and went in a hurry, clearly indicating that something big was happening in Lin Yuan Prefecture.

It seems that Master Guyue had anticipated this.

"The matter of the Sacred Heart Lotus Seed is just the beginning. Lin Yuan Prefecture will not be peaceful in the future, so let's not get involved for now," Master Gu Yue warned.

Xia Dong understood that experience matters.

It turns out that Master Guyue was also using the matter of the Sacred Heart Lotus Seed to get rid of some big trouble.

These ancient monsters, who have lived for hundreds of years, are indeed all incredibly cunning.

On the way, Master Guyue still had the leisure to instruct Xia Dong on the art of wind manipulation. Although Xia Dong had already cultivated the art of wind manipulation to perfection.

After a few pointers from Master Guyue, Xia Dong realized that his application of the Wind Control Technique was still too rudimentary.

Or rather, his own magical power and divine sense were a sum of money, which he would have spent honestly in the past. However, under the guidance of Master Guyue, he could now carefully calculate every penny of this sum of money. The use of divine sense and magical power had its own intricacies. When he used the Wind Control Technique, it was not only smoother and more natural, but it also consumed much less magical power and divine sense.

This is also Xia Dong's biggest weakness at present.

He cultivated himself in a daze, lacking guidance from a master, and thus his cultivation was not systematically integrated.

In this respect, even ancient bronze bells cannot offer much help.

With the guidance of the Lonely Moon Immortal Gao Wujian, Xia Dong's understanding of cultivation became increasingly profound.

This kind of accumulated experience cannot be compensated for by taking elixirs.

But Master Guyue was also secretly surprised by Xia Dong's solid foundation.

Even though Xia Dong's spiritual root quality was low and his spiritual energy conversion efficiency was not very good, Gu Yue Zhenren still felt a sense of regret for his talent.

Unbeknownst to them, the two of them had safely ridden the wind to the outside of Tiger Hill Cave.

Returning to his long-established hideout, Xia Dong felt much more at ease.

However, this also exposed his secret lair to the Lonely Moon Immortal.

Well, at this point, we'll just have to take it one step at a time.

For now, it seems he has gained a lot of goodwill from Master Guyue.

Hopefully, these positive impressions will pay off in the future.

At this moment, the giant snake sensed Xia Dong's return and came out to greet him.

Upon seeing that Xia Dong was accompanied by another woman, and that it wasn't Xiao Hong who had taken the Xuan Yin Gathering Qi Pill, the giant snake immediately revealed its ferocious nature, opening its blood-red maw and spitting out its scarlet forked tongue.

Subsequently, Gu Yue Zhenren released a portion of the spiritual pressure emanating from him, the aura of a Foundation Establishment Perfection Grand Cultivator.

"Oh, this."

The giant snake collapsed in terror, closing its eyes and feigning death.