Chapter 313: Spiritual Sea Genius

Wei Tianxiong arrived quickly. After entering the Lingxiao Courtyard to understand the situation, he couldn’t help but complain, “Sect Leader, do you just fill me in wherever you need me? I have to study Formations, teach Disciples, and lead teams on expeditions, and now you want me to go to some Ghost City…”

Zhang Yuchun and Chu Jing were somewhat embarrassed, and both looked away.

Wei Tianxiong’s words made them feel ashamed of their own inferiority. Unlike their administrative roles, Wei Tianxiong was truly creating benefits for the School and driving its development. Although he had only joined for a few years, they already admired him from the bottom of their hearts.

Li Qingqiu stared at Wei Tianxiong and said, “This Ghost City may involve the Myriad Yin Cult, and Yuan Li is also in the city.”

“Yuan Li is there too? Then I must go. How could you send him to do such a trivial thing? He should be in seclusion cultivating properly. Ghost City, right? Who’s leading the way for me?” Wei Tianxiong’s eyes widened as he shouted.

Chu Jing immediately said, “Senior, please follow me.”

Wei Tianxiong immediately urged him to leave, still muttering about Yuan Li.

Once the two had left, Zhang Yuchun turned to look at Li Qingqiu and couldn’t help but ask, “I’ve wanted to ask for a while, why does he care so much about Yuan Li? Is it just because of his talent? Why aren’t Cloud Color, Zhao Zhen, and Sword Solitary in his eyes?”

Except for Cloud Color, the talent of others compared to Yuan Li’s was truly not on the same level.

Li Qingqiu, who possessed many destinies, could make an objective evaluation of this matter, but he couldn’t say it explicitly.

“Because he wants revenge, and Yuan Li has given him hope,” Li Qingqiu replied.

Zhang Yuchun fell silent. Although Li Qingqiu hadn’t mentioned Wei Tianxiong’s origins, the upper echelon could guess that it was certainly not simple; it was only reasonable that he carried a blood feud.

Judging by Wei Tianxiong’s cultivation strength, his enemies were certainly not simple.

“Alright, you go down and get to work.”

Li Qingqiu stood up and said, then walked towards the back mountain.

Zhang Yuchun looked at Li Qingqiu’s back, and for some reason, he felt a bit lonely in his heart.

Although he was still within the Qingxiao Sect, he felt the distance between himself and Li Qingqiu growing further and further.

The matter of talent was not just something young Disciples would care about; those with seniority like them would also care.

Zhang Yuchun knew his cultivation Aptitude was mediocre. Not to mention comparing himself with Li Qingqiu, he was even inferior to other Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters.

“Perhaps I will be the one among us who dies the earliest. That’s fine too; at least I am the happiest.”

Zhang Yuchun thought silently as he stood up and walked towards the archway of the Lingxiao Courtyard.

The sunlight was dazzling, and everything on Qingxiao Mountain seemed full of vitality. Even the people were high-spirited… The bottommost level of the Demon Suppression Pagoda.

In a dark cage, Yan Qing lay on the ground, squirming like a crawler. His hair was messy and matted with blood, and his robes were dirty and old, emitting a foul stench.

“Little Cultivator, you can’t take it already?”

A contemptuous, mocking laugh came from nearby. The prisoner in the adjacent cell was the Black Fiend Demon Monkey.

Unlike Yan Qing, the Black Fiend Demon Monkey was still hung in the air, unable to move. He tilted his head, looking down at Yan Qing in the darkness.

Since Yan Qing arrived, he felt much better. He didn’t fear pain; what he feared was boredom. Watching Yan Qing suffer was like watching a good play.

“I am no little Cultivator…”

Yan Qing gritted his teeth, fury burning in his heart.

It was one thing to end up in such a state, but to have a demon monkey mocking him all day long next to him.

In the past, he could have slapped such a monster to death with a wave of his hand. How could he endure such humiliation?

He, Yan Qing, was originally a renowned Genius of the Spiritual Sea. Because of a conflict with his Senior Brother, he left the Spiritual Sea alone. He roamed the ocean, full of high spirits. Later, he saw a High-grade dharma ship and thought it was good, wanting to seize it. As a result, a person jumped off the ship and knocked him unconscious with a single punch.

Recalling that punch now, his heart still skipped a beat.

The torture he encountered in the Demon Suppression Pagoda was far less terrifying than that punch. At that time, he felt as if his soul had been knocked out of his body.

Precisely because he was knocked out by a single punch, he received so much contempt. He went along with it, pretending he wasn’t a Spiritual Sea Genius, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

Although it was Endurance, listening to the mountain Demonic Beast he used to despise most mocking him was truly unbearable.

“If you aren’t, then why are you lying there? If I were you, I wouldn’t move. In a moment, that piece of trash called He Jinshu will come to torture us again.”

The Black Fiend Demon Monkey snorted. Mentioning He Jinshu made him furious.

His flesh could heal itself, but He Jinshu tirelessly came to take his flesh and blood, clearly plotting something. Facing such an unknown conspiracy, he also felt apprehensive.

Yan Qing did not respond. He lowered his head and stopped moving.

He calmed down and carefully thought about a way to escape.

This prison was not simple; it had various complex Restrictions. The Black Fiend Demon Monkey even said the Qingxiao Sect was a small School, but this was clearly the foundation of Restrictions that only a great sect would have.

The mountain monkey was ignorant, calling everyone ‘little’!

No matter how he thought, he still couldn’t think of a way to escape.

Gradually, regret began to fill his heart.

If he hadn’t clashed with his Senior Brother, he would still be a Genius of the Spiritual Sea, able to participate in the Genius Assembly and become famous in one battle.

His Master had said that he was a Genius rarely seen in a hundred years in the Spiritual Sea. With a cultivation of the Fifth Layer of the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, he could defeat Seniors of the Eighth Layer of the Spiritual Consciousness Realm. How radiant that was.

Foolish!

Truly foolish!

Yan Qing shed tears of regret, but fortunately, he was in the dark.

“The Dharma Battle Assembly is about to start again. Who do you think will be first?”

“It’s definitely Hu Yan. He’s only twenty-four and already at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Origin Realm. His cultivation speed is terrifying.”

“What if he Breakthroughs to the Spiritual Consciousness Realm early?”

“There’s no need for that. He can wait a bit longer. If it were you, wouldn’t you want to participate in a Dharma Battle Assembly to show off?”

A burst of discussion came from outside the cell door.

A twenty-four-year-old at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Origin Realm can be considered the number one Genius?

When he was twenty-three, he had already undergone tribulation to achieve the Spiritual Consciousness Realm!

Yan Qing was disdainful in his heart. Once he returned to the Spiritual Sea, he would definitely call for reinforcements to trample this School he had never heard of!

Just then, the cell door in front of him opened.

He looked up and found that the Disciple he feared most had come again!

It was He Jinshu.

He Jinshu lived up to his name, emitting a scholarly aura. He looked gentle and refined, with a smile often on his face, but in Yan Qing’s eyes, he was a complete demon with extremely cruel methods.

“I’ve discovered that your flesh and blood absorb Spiritual Qi more easily than ordinary people. Perhaps I can learn from you why there is a gap in Aptitude between people, and where that gap lies.”

He Jinshu came to Yan Qing and looked down at him as he spoke.

These words made Yan Qing shudder, but he had already said words of pleading before. Now he could only endure all the pain in agony.

He had to persevere, otherwise the previous suffering would be in vain!

Yan Qing closed his eyes, preparing to let He Jinshu do as he pleased… There was still a year and a half until the Dharma Battle Assembly, but news about it had already spread across the Nine Provinces Land and the North Border. The Emperor of the North Border also sent word, hoping to bring his children to watch the Qingxiao Sect’s Dharma Battle Assembly, and Li Qingqiu agreed.

The enmity between the Nine Provinces Land and the North Border was deep, but after experiencing the decades of turbulent life before, the people of the world today yearned for peace even more.

The friendship between the two places made the common people happy, but the nobles might not feel the same.

Li Qingqiu often heard that the Xuan Dynasty and the North Border were secretly assassinating each other’s officials. The grievances that couldn’t be settled in the imperial court were moved to the Jianghu.

Regarding this, Li Qingqiu had no intention of interfering.

He couldn’t satisfy everyone. As long as both dynasties honored the Qingxiao Sect and were obedient, they could fight openly and secretly under the rules set by the Qingxiao Sect.

It was now August.

Sun Moxing, who had returned to Ziyang Island to report, finally came back.

He had been gone for several years. Had Li Qingqiu not seen that his loyalty was increasing rather than decreasing, he would have truly suspected him of defecting.

More accurately, defecting repeatedly.

Returning to the Qingxiao Sect again, Sun Moxing was very excited, and Li Qingqiu seeing him in person made him even more overwhelmed by the favor.

“I went back and reported the mission. They didn’t ask in detail and just brushed it off. For Ziyang Island, the Demon Land is very far and doesn’t threaten them. They are just taking precautions and will occasionally send Disciples north. For the next few decades, they won’t send Disciples north again.”

Hearing this, Li Qingqiu was relieved.

Cultivation Schools weren’t necessarily enemies, but he didn’t dare to gamble. Before becoming strong enough, he hoped the Qingxiao Sect wouldn’t appear in the eyes of other Cultivation Schools.

Recently, he felt this was becoming increasingly difficult because, as the School grew and expanded, the Qingxiao Sect also needed to go to further places to find resources. There was a reason why the Nine Provinces Land was considered a barren land.

After Sun Moxing finished reporting the official business, he hesitated.

“What’s wrong? Speak your mind,” Li Qingqiu stared at him and asked.

Sun Moxing took a deep breath and asked, “Sect Leader, does the Qingxiao Sect need me to recruit people? I can bring a group of Ziyang Island Disciples to switch to the Qingxiao Sect!”

As soon as these words came out, Li Qingqiu frowned.

Wei Tianxiong’s existence proved the benefits that mature Cultivators could bring.

But not everyone was as powerful as the Shenyuan Cult Elder.

Li Qingqiu asked, “Why?”

Sun Moxing gritted his teeth and said, “My Spiritual Root Aptitude is mediocre. I have some friends whose Aptitude is like mine, or even worse. They don’t have a good life on Ziyang Island and see no hope for Immortal Ascension. They can only live in a daze. They don’t have much of a sense of belonging to Ziyang Island either. I think they can be turned. Although their Spiritual Root Aptitude isn’t good, they have been at Ziyang Island for so many years after all. What they have learned and gained can all benefit the Qingxiao Sect.”

After returning to Ziyang Island, that feeling became even stronger—that Ziyang Island did not have the people’s hearts.

The distinction between immortals and mortals was too profound within Ziyang Island; Aptitude and strength determined everything.

But the Qingxiao Sect was different, and all of this stemmed from the Hunyuan Scripture.

Sun Moxing had already revered the Hunyuan Scripture as a Divine Skill. He knew that if this scripture were to spread to the Tianming Sea, it would definitely set off a bloodbath. Therefore, he did not reveal the Hunyuan Scripture, which was also what Li Qingqiu had warned him about.

Once he brought those friends to the Qingxiao Sect, he believed the Hunyuan Scripture could win their hearts.

His words made Li Qingqiu fall into thought.

Whether to accept them or not, there were pros and cons.

Still three updates!