Chapter 133: Everyone’s Destinations, Poor Relatives At The Door
The few people in the room, their expressions after the slight change were not joy, but vigilance and apprehension.
Especially Fang Shu, his gaze was lowered, and his muscles tensed subconsciously, assuming a defensive posture.
Before he went up the mountain, not only was there a cautionary tale like Xiao Li Li, but the Dojo Master had also specifically instructed that planting a spiritual root was like training soldiers; whoever takes action is the one who plants it, and it cannot be done by a third party.
Of course, aside from Fang Shu and a few others in the room showing deep apprehension, some people also showed hesitation and asked:
“Does Elder Brother Ling have a cultivation method for spiritual roots? Aren’t you a naturally born spiritual root?”
The people speaking were Mai Sheng Er and Hua Xiaqing, and there was a mixture of expectation and hesitation in the eyes of the two women, flickering uncertainly.
Ling Bai Lang cast his gaze upon these two women and grinned:
“With my current appearance, how could I be worthy of a naturally born spiritual root? To be honest, I was simply fortunate enough to receive favor from my esteemed master before coming up the mountain and planted a spiritual root in advance. As for the cultivation method, of course I have one.”
Low murmurs appeared from Mai Sheng Er and Hua Xiaqing, while the others remained silent.
In the end, both women chose to give up.
They forced smiles and politely declined, “Fellow Daoist is currently in the midst of consolidating their cultivation. We won’t trouble you further.”
Ling Bai Lang nodded, showing no disappointment on his face. It seemed he was merely trying his luck, or perhaps he was genuinely offering help out of goodwill.
He then took the initiative to add:
“Since you don’t need my help, why don’t we have a small discussion on Dao here in the room today?
I will share my experience with planting spiritual roots and undergoing tribulations with all of you. It can also serve as my gift. After all, we are all roommates with a good connection, and it’s good to foster a good relationship.”
These words caused the expressions of everyone in the stone house to change again, and this time, they all showed a desire to engage.
Fang Shu also stood up and, without any apparent abnormality, cupped his hands towards Ling Bai Lang:
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ling, for imparting your knowledge!”
Subsequently, several people sat in a circle in the stone house, exchanging their cultivation experiences and posing some questions.
One person talked about the effects of demonic blood entering the body and discussed case studies and rhetorical questions; another discussed external phenomena and pondered the tribulations of the fourth stage of cultivation.
The night passed in a flash.
As dawn broke, Ling Bai Lang, with a swagger, left the stone house accompanied by Fang Shu and the other four, the atmosphere quite harmonious.
Some immortal seeds nearby, having seemingly seen Manager Sun visit last night and now witnessing this scene, began to discuss amongst themselves with envious eyes, likely guessing that Ling Bai Lang had succeeded in refining Qi.
After seeing Ling Bai Lang off, the five returned to the room, and someone couldn’t help but sigh:
“Elder Brother Ling is a benevolent person.”
“Such a benevolent act of imparting knowledge should be remembered.”
Fang Shu, among them, nodded in agreement subtly, but inwardly, he was tense, a feeling of anxiety, even desperation, had arisen.
After all, others had no enmity with Ling Bai Lang, but he had a deep hatred for the death of his younger brother.
Although Ling Bai Lang’s attitude showed he didn’t care about his brother Bai Quan and even wanted to join him in eliminating Old Man Ling, Fang Shu dared not gamble on the man’s character.
In other words, such a person who belittles his brother and disrespects his master, coupled with his abnormal state of mind, must have a cruel disposition and should not be provoked. If he has already provoked him, he must be vigilant and not give him any opportunity to act.
Suddenly, as the people in the room were still immersed in the matter of Ling Bai Lang’s departure, a clear voice rang out:
“Fellow Daoists, as Elder Brother Ling has departed, I shall also take this opportunity to bid farewell to all of you.”
The other four turned to look and saw Er Dai Yuan, the crowned woman, bowing to them.
Hua Xiaqing exclaimed in surprise, “Fellow Daoist Er, you’ve also refined Qi!?”
Er Dai Yuan smiled and shook her head:
“Not at all. With only about twenty days left until the hundred-day descent from the mountain, if I don’t go down, I’ll have to serve as a menial laborer.
I intend to rent a quiet room and try my luck. I won’t be returning here in the future.”
This statement made Hua Xiaqing secretly breathe a sigh of relief, but her face was still full of envy, and she said with a hint of sourness:
“Being able to cultivate in seclusion naturally means that the cultivation method and materials are all prepared. Fellow Daoist Er’s background is not shallow; you’ve hidden it from us for so long.”
Er Dai Yuan smiled without offering an explanation.
After bowing to Fang Shu and the others again, she also left with a flourish.
In an instant.
In the seven-person stone house, including Wu Dan, three people had already left, leaving only four, two men and two women.
The people remaining in the stone house looked at each other.
The smiles that had been on their faces silently vanished. Hua Xiaqing, the most eloquent among them, had no heart to speak.
They had all arrived on the same boat, ascended the mountain in the same batch, and were roommates of similar ages.
Suddenly, two people had refined Qi, and one was about to refine Qi. Even if they were true friends, discovering such news would take time to process.
Suddenly, Mai Sheng Er, seeing the silence of the others, murmured:
“It’s good that they’ve left. Now, the four of us can each have a small stone house and no longer have to take turns, which is too troublesome.”
These words were heard by Hua Xiaqing.
Her brows creased with displeasure, and she immediately retorted with a cold laugh, “This little broken stone house, as if anyone treasures it.”
Mai Sheng Er remained silent and did not argue with her.
The four stood awkwardly in the room for a long time, and the atmosphere was strained before they eventually dispersed.
Fang Shu walked into the small stone house in the corner nearby, closing his eyes slightly and breathing in and out.
However, after a hundred breaths, he still couldn’t immerse himself in meditation. His mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts.
With a sigh, he simply opened his eyes, leaned against the stone wall, and stared blankly at the two-foot-wide stone slab in front of him.
Before going up the mountain.
He had originally believed that with the solid foundation he had built and his Dao Talisman, he would surely achieve prosperity and refine Qi within a hundred days on the mountain.
Now, being in the mountains, he felt constrained everywhere and realized that compared to the other immortal seeds, he was not completely useless, but more like a grain of millet.
Not to mention him, even the disciple of the Black Tiger Hall known as “Rat Lord,” whose ranking in the Spring Examination was first, was now like him, “lost in the crowd,” with no progress.
While contemplating, Fang Shu stroked the Gold Seeking Insect on his forehead, his gaze shifting.
He thought to himself, “How can I easily accept fate like this? If I cannot refine Qi within a hundred days, once I become a menial laborer, I will have to endure at least three years of hardship…”
Moreover, the longer one served as a menial laborer, the greater the risk of physical damage and a bleak immortal path.
And menial laborers were different from immortal seeds; the latter had some status and were protected by the sect.
The former were genuine expendable resources. If any Refining Qi Immortal had an excuse, they could kill them and simply pay the sect some money as compensation.
Although this sum of money was not small, and the remains of menial laborers were collected by the sect’s Utility Hall, generally, no Refining Qi Immortal would be so capricious.
However, Fang Shu did not want to take such a risk, especially now that Ling Bai Lang had taken the lead in refining Qi.
Slowly, his face tensed, and a fire lit up in his eyes.
Within a hundred days, he had to refine Qi, and even if he didn’t succeed, he had to try.
Otherwise, one step slow means every step is slow!
………………
Although he had made up his mind, Fang Shu did not wander aimlessly on the Toad Mudflat, asking about notice boards and tasks like a headless fly.
Instead, he continued to cultivate in an orderly fashion, honing his Qi and Blood. In his leisure time, he would go to Toad Street to buy some odds and ends and brew and refine something in his small stone house.
Hua Xiaqing and the others saw this and curiously asked if he was preparing rouge and powder for someone.
This was because the thing he was brewing was made from cochineal insects, had a vibrant red color, and looked like something used by women.
Fang Shu casually replied that it was a medicinal prescription from his own dojo, and he planned to make some and test the waters on Toad Street.
Seeing that he was unwilling to elaborate, Mai Sheng Er and Black Rat asked no further questions.
Only Hua Xiaqing didn’t believe him. Instead, she chuckled:
“Brother Fang, you’re thinking of giving gifts now, but it’s too late. All the immortal seeds in the various rooms are vying to give gifts. The threshold of Manager Sun’s place is almost trampled flat.”
Seeing Fang Shu still unmoved and ignoring her, she narrowed her eyes and sighed, “A month ago, I reminded everyone. But you all treated me like a sell-smile, shameless person, someone from the lowest class. Who can dislike whom?”
Hua Xiaqing, similar to Wu Dan, often went out since coming up the mountain.
Wu Dan wanted to find good formulas to remedy his physical flaws, while Hua Xiaqing, adorned in colorful attire, was active everywhere, claiming to be developing connections and forging good relationships.
The atmosphere in the stone house was somber.
Her roommate Mai Sheng Er suddenly spoke softly:
“Sister Hua indeed has foresight.
But a month ago, we were all diligently cultivating and truly couldn’t spare the time.”
She seemed to be explaining for herself, and also making excuses for Fang Shu.
Hua Xiaqing saw this.
She crossed her arms, cast a sidelong glance at Mai Sheng Er, and said with a smile, “Time is like a valley; if you squeeze it, you’ll find some.”
The woman looked at Mai Sheng Er, her eyes slightly bright, and said gently, “Speaking of which, Sister Mai, we are different from others; we have capital.
If you want to seize an opportunity, I know some people and can introduce you. At the very least, we need to secure our future menial laborer tasks, so we don’t end up being assigned to some unknown corner.”
Upon hearing this, Mai Sheng Er hesitated and raised her pretty little face.
Her appearance and figure, while not as alluring and seductive as Hua Xiaqing’s, possessed a demure and unblemished aura of a young lady.
However, this Mai surname woman did not often go out and was not well-known among the batch of immortal seeds.
Just then, Fang Shu, who had been reluctant to pay attention to Hua Xiaqing, finally spoke:
“Fellow Daoist Mai, weren’t you curious about a magic technique I possess?”
Mai Sheng Er looked towards him, her expression bewildered.
Without waiting for her to speak, Fang Shu smiled and stuck out his tongue, saying, “This is the Secret Mouth-Sword Technique, specializing in cold, unseen stabs, difficult for outsiders to comprehend.”
As soon as he said this, Mai Sheng Er’s gaze flickered, and she vaguely understood something.
Hua Xiaqing’s face turned cold, and she immediately glared at Fang Shu.
But when she saw Fang Shu staring at her with a grin, her eyelids twitched, and she deliberately averted her gaze, not daring to meet Fang Shu’s eyes.
With a light laugh, Fang Shu then picked up his belongings, ignored the person in the room, and walked out of the stone house, disappearing into the mist outside.
Afterwards.
Mai Sheng Er politely bowed to Hua Xiaqing and then entered her own small stone house, sealing the stone door.
Only Black Rat remained in the room, sitting on the bed and continuing to play with his pet rat as if no one else was there, not even glancing at anyone.
Hua Xiaqing stood in the room.
Realizing she had been suddenly snubbed, she cursed inwardly, “They don’t appreciate good intentions.”
Suddenly, her gaze shifted. She went to Fang Shu’s small stone house where he made medicine and bent down to sniff the residual red paste in the pot.
Picking up a bronze mirror and looking at her radiant reflection, her eyes lit up.
Then, Hua Xiaqing elegantly pushed open the door and went out to continue planning and networking for her immortal path.
On the other side.
Fang Shu was indeed preparing rouge and powder as Hua Xiaqing had said, and it was specifically for someone.
The value of this item was not high, but it was time-consuming, especially the cochineal insects, which had to be bought on the street and required luck.
Therefore, although he had the idea early on, he could only start now due to time and materials.
Walking outside, Fang Shu made a round and spent spirit stones to facilitate things.
He finally arrived at a valley with flying eaves and brackets and knocked on the door of a hermitage.
He had come here to find his Senior Sister Fang Lu from their dojo, to seek advice and preferably some financial support.
Fortunately, someone was in the hermitage.
A lazy voice rang out:
“Who is it?”
Fang Shu raised his voice:
“An old friend visits.”
“Old friend! Old friend gets an 80% discount.”
“Old friend! Old friend, twenty percent off.”
