Chapter 160: 160. Chapter 158: The Great Undertaking of Ducheng

160. Chapter 158: The Great Undertaking of Ducheng

"Xinyue, I doubt they'll let you stay."

Ding Huan muttered under his breath, but he knew full well that even the softest words would reach the other's ears.

Yet he had no intention of using telepathy.

He now understood why he had heard Zhi Qi's first telepathic message but not the second—even when Zhi Qi had raised its power by several levels.

Zhi Qi's first telepathy was meant for the old man and the young woman.

It was to inform them that he, Zhi Qi, had outwitted them.

If Ding Huan believed Zhi Qi's telepathic ability was ordinary, he might casually share secret words with Xinyue.

Those telepathic messages would then reach the ears of the old man and the young woman.

But Zhi Qi's true intent was to tell Ding Huan: do not use telepathy here, because others can hear it.

If Ding Huan failed to grasp Zhi Qi's hint, it meant Zhi Qi didn't trust him with Xinyue nearby.

Qi Xinyue whispered to Ding Huan in Chinese:

"Xiaotu, I can feel the old man's gaze—if I insist on staying, they'll definitely kill you and Lou Buzhi."

"Just now, Zhi Qi telepathed me: if I truly didn't want to go with them, there was still a way."

"What way?" Ding Huan asked.

Speaking Chinese to Qi Xinyue, Ding Huan cursed himself for being foolish—even if he spoke Chinese openly, who could understand it?

"Zhi Qi said he can take me to the Dao Cultivation World's Tianqi Sect—he has a way to get me admitted. You just need to go to Tianqi Sect and meet me there."

Qi Xinyue said.

Ding Huan deeply appreciated Zhi Qi's gesture, but they couldn't do this—if they did, Zhi Qi would surely die.

After a brief thought, Ding Huan made his decision:

"Xinyue, if we do this, Zhi Qi will die. Go to the Divine Clan first, then find a way to reach the Dao Cultivation World and meet me—choose Tianqi Sect or its outskirts."

"Alright." Qi Xinyue nodded firmly.

After speaking, she added:

"Don't worry—if I can't get out in time to reach Tianqi Sect, I'll still train hard and strive to seize control of my own fate. I will never be bound by their things."

"Xinyue, you've always been unable to touch the Foundation Establishment threshold—perhaps you need the Divine Clan's cultivation art. Going there isn't necessarily bad."

Even if you can't reach Tianqi Sect in time, as long as we're both on this same star continent, I refuse to believe we won't meet again."

"When my cultivation is strong enough and you still can't leave, I'll go openly to the Divine Clan and marry you—then tell them: what can they do?"

Qi Xinyue gripped Ding Huan's hand and looked at him, speaking slowly and clearly:

"Xiaotu, I love the way you speak. If I can't get out, I'll wait in the Divine Clan for you to come and marry me openly."

"Alright." Ding Huan said only one word, yet it revealed his heart completely.

Qi Xinyue placed her hand on Ding Huan's chest, over the Star House.

"My heart is as resilient as bulrush reed. Take care of yourself."

With that, Qi Xinyue turned and walked toward Zhi Qi.

Though Ding Huan did not extend his spiritual sense, he felt the waves of killing intent from the old man and the young woman as Qi Xinyue held his hand.

Ding Huan stared at the entrance of Xizhan, his eyes never blinking.

Qi Xinyue's emotions seemed utterly plain, like the daily necessities of ordinary life—hidden quietly within calm years, always present, never dramatic.

She was the kind of girl whose inner fire burned brightest when her presence was most tranquil.

Beneath that ordinary calm lay a resolve no one else could comprehend.

Uttering "My heart is as resilient as bulrush reed" was already the most extreme expression she could offer from deep within.

He understood Qi Xinyue. When he promised her they'd marry after her Foundation Establishment, he understood her longing for it.

He also understood the meaning behind her parting words.

They came from a poem: "You shall be as solid rock, I as bulrush reed; the reed's fibers are tough, the rock unmoved."

Clearly, Qi Xinyue had begun studying Chinese characters long ago, just to be with him.

As for her hand pressing against the Star House, it told him: the woven clasp holding the Star House was made by her—she would not leave.

This upset him, but as he had said before, perhaps only in the Divine Clan could she achieve Foundation Establishment.

He himself couldn't even reach Foundation Establishment—how could she achieve it by his side?

"Huan-ge, they're gone."

Lou Buzhi couldn't help calling out to Ding Huan.

Ding Huan forced his emotions to calm, drawing his mind back.

"Friend, we're from the City Patrol. We've come to ask you about the details."

Only now did two City Patrol officers approach Ding Huan to question him.

Ding Huan pointed toward the direction where Zhi Qi and the others had vanished:

"You saw it too—those three people, I don't know them at all. They killed people and took my friend away."

The City Patrol officers nodded; they had clearly witnessed the events.

Moreover, they already knew something of those three's origins, so there was nothing more to learn.

"Bu Zhi, let's go back and talk upstairs." Ding Huan led Lou Buzhi out of the tea room and up the stairs.

The tea room was in disarray—someone would come to clean it.

……

Back in the room, Ding Huan immediately began calculating the identities of these Divine Clan members.

The result was no surprise—he couldn't calculate anything at all; everything remained a blur.

It's not a problem with the Great Computation Art; it's his cultivation level too low. There's also a very likely connection to the cosmic rules he's never been able to understand.

"Huan-ge." A voice came from outside—Lou Buzhi.

Ding Huan opened the door.

Lou Buzhi stepped in and asked:

"Huan-ge, are we staying here anymore?"

He was uneasy—three men who had caused trouble today had left. Would they come back after their injuries healed?

"We're staying. They won't come back." Ding Huan understood Lou Buzhi's thoughts.

He knew clearly that the real backer behind the three men injured by them was the Shopkeeper.

After that Shopkeeper was killed by the Divine Clan, the other three wouldn't dare come—unless they were tired of living.

Besides, he dared not leave here; Zhi Qi's warning didn't seem false to him.

"I'm sorry, Huan-ge. If I hadn't gone out looking for trouble, none of this would've happened." Lou Buzhi felt deeply guilty.

Ding Huan shook his head:

"It has nothing to do with you. You know why they came so precisely to You Shi Xi Zhan? Because they sensed Xinyue's Divine Clan identity."

Whether Lou Buzhi went out or not, as long as Qi Qi Xinyue was of the Divine Clan, they would find them.

Ding Huan still didn't know what the Divine Clan was, or why people here feared them so much.

Whether he knew or not didn't matter. Just as he had told Qi Qi Xinyue before, one day he would go to the Divine Clan and openly marry her—see what they could do about it.

"Should I still go out to earn money?" Lou Buzhi remained uneasy about having no livelihood.

Ding Huan waved his hand:

"No. From now on, focus on your cultivation and prepare for the Sect's recruitment in a month. By the way, what cultivation method are you using?"

Lou Buzhi pulled out a scripture from his chest and handed it to Ding Huan:

"Huan-ge, it's this one."

"The Dao of Pills"?

Ding Huan flipped through it in confusion—it was a cultivation method based on pills to attain the Dao.

It wasn't that Lou Buzhi intended to attain the Dao through pills; rather, the author of this scripture had already attained the Dao through pills, so he wrote it down.

Later cultivators could follow this scripture to forge a new path.

"Buzhi, this scripture is no ordinary thing. Where did you get it?"

Ding Huan had only flipped through it briefly, yet he knew this wasn't common street merchandise.

Lou Buzhi shyly scratched his head:

"I got it from inside the pill cauldron."

Ding Huan understood—Lou Buzhi had obtained both the pill cauldron and this scripture.

He couldn't keep the pill cauldron, so he gave it away.

Probably even the few who got the pill cauldron never imagined Lou Buzhi had kept this scripture.

In fact, wasn't Ding Qi also left behind something better?

The Heaven-Earth Mirror—that was the true ultimate treasure.

Ding Huan specifically checked the Foundation Establishment section of "The Dao of Pills"—it was vastly different from his expectations: using pill Dao as the foundation to forge the Dao body.

For him, it had almost no reference value; he casually returned "The Dao of Pills" to Lou Buzhi:

"Buzhi, this scripture is extraordinary, but hard to cultivate—it requires pills to progress."

Every realm of this method requires pill support. Lou Buzhi had no pills and couldn't even refine them himself, so he couldn't advance at all.

Lou Buzhi nodded:

"I know. So when Xiujie Sect comes to recruit disciples this time, if I get the chance, I plan to join a pill Dao sect."

Ding Huan strongly approved of Lou Buzhi's idea.

……

Ding Huan had expected someone to come ask him about the incident in the first-floor tea room of Xi Zhan.

To his surprise, he had fallen into silence.

No one came looking for him, and Ding Huan certainly wouldn't seek trouble.

With nearly a month left, he decided to spend his time in the room studying the Great Computation Art.

The Great Computation Art was too vast and complex; whether or not his low cultivation level caused some things to be uncomputed, Ding Huan felt his understanding of it was still far too shallow.

This only drove Ding Huan to focus entirely on the Great Computation Art.

The iron pot in his backpack, after absorbing two pots of Zhan Shen Crystal, began absorbing slowly—or stopped altogether.

Ding Huan began using the iron pot to cook meals, just as he had predicted.

After absorbing the Qi of Zhan Shen Crystals, the iron pot made everything it cooked delicious. Moreover, it seemed to return cosmic Qi.

What surprised Ding Huan was that this feedback of cosmic Qi seeping into the food slowly increased over time.

Did this mean that, given enough time, eating meals cooked by the iron pot would eventually surpass cultivation through absorption?

Days passed one by one. On this day, as usual, Ding Huan first performed a computation for himself.

When he vaguely saw himself falling from the upper floors of Xi Zhan, a sense of dread struck him.

He wouldn't fall for no reason—he must have been blasted down.

If so, better to leave here early.

After all, he'd eventually have to go to Daye City for the Sect's disciple selection; why not go now?

He called Lou Buzhi and Lao Liu, quickly checked out, and left.

Qi Qi Xinyue had left; Lao Liu remained as heartless as ever, asking not a single question.

This made Ding Huan almost not want to bring this guy along.

Ding Huan and Lou Buzhi chose not to ride a vehicle, but to walk.

After spending a night resting in the wild, they arrived at Daye City by the evening of the next day.

Before coming to Daye City, Ding Huan had thought Hecheng was fairly prosperous.

After arriving at Daye City, both Ding Huan and Lou Buzhi marveled—Daye City was true prosperity.

Even entering the city was difficult; the gate was packed with people.

"Huan Ge, I'm worried I won't be chosen by the sect."

Seeing so many people pouring into Daye City, Lou Buzhi grew uneasy again.

These guys came to Daye City, probably to join the sect recruitment in a few days.

Ding Huan himself had even less certainty; he could only say:

"Take it one step at a time—who can know what will happen before it begins?"

He had calculated his fate many times, yet could not determine whether he would join the sect.

It seemed he still lacked the qualifications to calculate matters concerning the Xiu Sect.

Fortunately, inside Daye City was spacious; once inside, it wasn't as crowded as at the gate.

"Shall we look for a place to stay?"

He said that, but Lou Buzhi, seeing the flood of people in Daye City, knew finding an inn would be hard.

"Forget it—let's sleep in the corner. Look at how many people there are; even if we found a place, we couldn't afford the Zhenye coins."

Ding Huan knew perfectly well they wouldn't find lodging.