Chapter 103: Wealth, Companions, Dharma, Land

Wealth, Companions, Dharma, Land

Because Ruan Ci had used the Dew-Catching Plate to close the illusion array, the Eternal Dao City was gradually extinguishing. She had never been to Hengze Heaven before and didn't know how cultivators still in the array got out when the past illusion realms extinguished. She didn't know if the Nirvana Dao Ancestor would manipulate the illusion array to keep those Langhuan cultivators who had merged deeply with the array. With her ability, she could only stop the illusion array completely, except for hiding the Dao foundation jade pool part. At this time, the surroundings were already pure white, just like when the few of them climbed to the Golden Core Dao foundation. The place wasn't large, with thousands of cultivators mixed in, very noisy and chaotic, and no one noticed Ruan Ci appearing. Even the six people including Li Pingyan were waiting under the Dao foundation platform, and because they were familiar with Ruan Ci's aura, they were able to capture her figure.

After a long separation, the group couldn't help but recount their experiences. It turned out that Ruan Ci had disappeared in the illusion realm for more than four months. Counting on their fingers, Hengze Heaven had been open for nearly ten months. Not only should the Hengze Jade Dew have been generated, but the spiritual power tide returning to Langhuan Heaven should also have begun to surge. However, the Eternal Dao City had not changed in the slightest. At this point, everyone finally discovered that the eight city gates no longer had the function of traversing back to the shore. Even walking out from the eight city gates would only lead to the battlefield outside the city, not the market outside the city where everyone had stayed temporarily a few months ago.

This shock was naturally no small matter. Except for those cultivators whose precious medicines had taken effect and who had already unreservedly regarded themselves as locals, all the cultivators were panicked, trying every possible way to find a way home. Some even had whimsical ideas, wanting to help the Yin-Yang Dao Ancestor kill the local cultivators, reverse the war situation, and break the illusion array. Of course, such crazy actions were immediately killed by the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Eternal Dao City. Because cultivators here could reincarnate infinitely, punishments had always been severe. For example, that Senior Brother Xu who had coveted the silver hairpin at the beginning was sent to the Land of Extinguished Spirit. Since he didn't bring enough spirit jade, he had already died inside when his sentence was up. The Shadow Residents were also accustomed to this.

"I hear that the most severe torture here involves capturing the soul and spirit, killing the victim nine times over, before their sins can be pardoned."

The six people including Li Pingyan had waited for Ruan Ci in the Dao City for four months and couldn't do anything else, so they had inquired about many local anecdotes. Junior Brother Fan clicked his tongue and said, "Although I am ruthless, I also feel that when a person dies, the debt is cleared. What kind of hatred requires chasing and killing nine times like this? It seems that constant reincarnation really has its downsides."

Speaking of this, everyone couldn't help but laugh. Someone shouted in the distance, "The eight city gates! The eight city gates have appeared! Everyone, run!"

Immediately, two bold cultivators jumped into the Qing City Gate. A moment later, they returned and said, "Outside is the market! The illusion array is broken! Run, run!"

Hearing this, how could everyone hold back? They scrambled to pass through the gate. Senior Brother Pu's eyes also lit up, but seeing that the others were not in a hurry, he calmed down and listened to Junior Brother Fan continue, "Of course, all these methods are ineffective. In the past few days, the uneasy atmosphere in the city has reached its peak. Many people are even desperate, preparing to ask for some precious medicine to take, to merge into the Dao City, become citizens of the Dao City, and never want to return to the Langhuan Zhou Heaven again."

Hearing this, Ruan Ci couldn't help but smile, "If someone is impatient and rushes to take the medicine and merge into this place, wouldn't that be throwing away their life for nothing? Just now I was paying attention to the surroundings. Those cultivators we know who have completely merged into this place have all disappeared with the illusion array. This time the illusion array has unique changes, but it didn't give them the opportunity to traverse the city gates in their ignorance and return to the shore."

Senior Brother Pu also said, "That's right. In the past, when everyone traversed, the illusion array didn't extinguish, giving them a chance to leave. But this time, the changes in the illusion array were very different from the beginning. If it weren't for Junior Sister... Junior Sister breaking the array, I'm afraid we would really have been folded here."

He paused slightly when he said "Junior Sister," but in the cultivation world, there is actually no difference between men and women. When many cultivators simulate their avatars, they also point and transform them regardless of gender. In secret realms, changing appearance and gender is common, so everyone just made a few jokes and didn't take Ruan Ci's secret of gender as a big deal.

While talking, everyone followed the flow of people back to the outside of the city. Because Ruan Ci wanted to find Qin Fengyu, and at this time the outside of the Qing City Gate was full of people, and Li Pingyan, Little Su, and Junior Brother Fan still had some remnants of their injuries that needed constant effort to clear, and because it was chaotic in the city in the past few days, they hadn't practiced, so now they needed to find a quiet place to make up for their lessons. Everyone agreed to meet again in the future, so they parted ways outside the city and went to their respective destinations.

At this time, the outside of the Qing City Gate was bustling with excitement. Everyone was very happy, looking for relatives and friends. There were also many cultivators doing business with the small cultivators staying outside the city. However, in such a complex aura, Qin Fengyu's aura was still as bright as a light. Ruan Ci released her own aura, and the two sensed each other. A moment later, they met. Qin Fengyu was fine, just very bored outside the city and anxious from waiting. She simply went into seclusion for several months, pondering a divine ability in her cultivation technique, and actually gained quite a bit. It wasn't until more than ten days ago, because the spiritual power tide had already begun, but no one had returned through the city gates, that she felt uneasy. Because of the fluctuations of the spiritual tide, she gave up practicing the technique and focused on waiting for Ruan Ci here.

Ruan Ci and she returned to their lodging. At this time, she no longer had the silver hairpin. Even with the Dew-Catching Plate, it was difficult to talk to the clerk. She couldn't sit on the chair or sleep on the bed. Thinking that Qin Fengyu had waited for nine months in such a situation and had even practiced a divine ability, she couldn't help but admire her. She told Qin Fengyu everything about her experience in the city, except for the last part related to the Dao Ancestor. As for what happened after she obtained the Hengze Jade Dew, she couldn't say it even if she wanted to, just like hearing the true name of the Heavenly Record, but because the Heavenly Record held the Mouth-Purifying Mantra, she couldn't tell others even if she wanted to.

Qin Fengyu was not surprised by this and said, "You finally obtained the Hengze Jade Dew in the Grotto-Heaven battlefield. There are many taboos in Grotto-Heaven disputes, and you are only at the Foundation Establishment cultivation level, so naturally you are restricted. It is natural that you cannot speak of it."

Ruan Ci said, "That's right. I am gradually realizing that many taboos and curse techniques are only useful among those of the same realm, or have particularly strong constraints on cultivators of the next realm. Just like after holding the Mouth-Purifying Mantra to protect a true name, the records of true names in the mortal world gradually disappear. That is the constraint of cultivators on mortals. And the true appearance of a Dao Ancestor cannot be remembered, and the true names of fallen Dao Ancestors will be forgotten by people—these are the invisible constraints of high-realm cultivators on us. And the three major mantras we hold in the Foundation Establishment realm often fail when we are around high-realm experts, which is also because of the all-around suppression of high-realm cultivators on low-realm cultivators."

Qin Fengyu smiled, "It seems you have really gained a lot of knowledge in the Dao City. In fact, the lower the realm, the weaker the realm suppression. For example, although you are now at Foundation Establishment, it is not impossible for you to fight some low-tier Golden Core cultivators. But the gap between Golden Core and Nascent Soul is huge, and the gap between Nascent Soul and Grotto-Heaven is almost insurmountable. As for Grotto-Heaven and Dao Ancestor... that is not something we can know."

She was very interested in the Dao struggle and asked many questions, almost using up the thousand-sentence agreement. Just then, a few people came to visit, so Qin Fengyu had to remain silent, sitting beside Ruan Ci, with a cold and beautiful appearance of being completely obedient.

Among the five, Li Pingyan originally lived next to the two women. Senior Brother Pu had a junior sister with lower cultivation waiting outside the city, and at this time he also went to meet her. The remaining three stayed next to the two women's courtyard. At this time, everything was settled, so they came to pay a visit. Little Su took out a human bag and handed it to Ruan Ci, unable to help coughing a few times before speaking.

Among the five, his injuries were the most serious. Shen Qi used the secret technique of the Qinglian Sword Sect to treat his injuries. Although he recovered quickly, many sequelae remained, and he still looked quite pale. But this Little Su was extremely clever. In fact, his injuries were so serious partly because Ruan Ci forced him to be a medium. Little Su didn't mention this to sell favors, but only said, "Monk Xiu has been in meditation and hasn't come out. I don't know what he looks like now. Junior Sister Ci has the highest cultivation and has high-level protection, so why don't you protect Junior Brother Monk Xiu, and after going out, send him back to the Wugou Sect? It would be worth our friendship."

Ruan Ci had a good impression of Monk Xiu, so she nodded and agreed. She released Monk Xiu from the human bag and moved him to a corner of the hall. Monk Xiu still had no breath. The two palms faced each other, and everyone couldn't tell who was the Heart Demon and who was Monk Xiu's true body. It was said that not breathing spiritual energy for four months while running a secret technique would consume the spiritual liquid of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he should have fallen. But without unbuttoning the monk's robe, no one could draw a conclusion.

Just as she wanted to sigh about the magic of the Wugou Sect's technique, Junior Brother Fan couldn't wait to shout, "Senior Sister Ci, originally this is not a good question to ask, but you have such a high-level dead soldier protecting you, so I asked—did you get the Hengze Jade Dew?"

His eyes were bright, looking extremely curious, "I won't fight with you, and I won't tell anyone. If you are still worried, then wait until the last moment before leaving Hengze Heaven to tell me."

After leaving Hengze Heaven, the ownership of the Jade Dew would be settled and would not cause any more fighting. Ruan Ci couldn't help but smile, "Then why not wait until after leaving Hengze Heaven to tell you?"

Junior Brother Fan pouted and said unhappily, "Then it would be better to wait another two years. Just looking at the changes in the Lingshan, I will know if you have obtained the Jade Dew."

The Lingshan changes sects based on the ownership of the Jade Dew. If no sect obtained the Jade Dew during this opening of Hengze Heaven, it would be postponed for another thousand years. However, the previous sect would not have any benefits. Without dripping the Jade Dew, the Lingshan would not seem to produce spiritual medicine.

Seeing Junior Brother Fan's willful appearance, and thinking of his generous gift of jade, Ruan Ci felt his feelings and smiled, "There is nothing I can't say. Are you afraid you will rob me? I have already obtained the Jade Dew. But you have already said that if I obtain the Jade Dew, you don't want my benefits, so I don't have any good things to give you."

Seeing Ruan Ci let go, Junior Brother Fan was very happy and clapped his hands, "I naturally don't want Senior Sister's things. I am the most practical person. Senior Sister values me so much, so I should return the favor with precious medicine and spiritual materials."

Little Su smiled from the side, "Isn't that so? You once said that if you were a girl, you would kill all your love rivals and marry Senior Brother Ci. Now that Senior Brother has become Senior Sister, I think you should not only return the precious materials but also give yourself to Senior Sister Ci."

Hearing this, Qin Fengyu's phoenix eyes looked at Ruan Ci, her cold and beautiful face showing a trace of doubt. Ruan Ci sighed in her heart, knowing that probably five hundred of the thousand sentences tomorrow would be about this. Junior Brother Fan was blushed by Little Su's words and said angrily, "Senior Brother Su, if you say that, do you want me to give you a dose of medicine, turn you into a girl, and marry you to Senior Sister Ci?"

He had always been smart, but at this time, he was angry and started talking nonsense. These words were very illogical. Everyone was stunned for a moment and then laughed. Even Qin Fengyu showed a trace of a smile in her eyes. Little Su said, "Why do I need to take medicine? I am a man now. Whether it is marrying into the family or marrying, it is just right for Junior Sister Ci."

Junior Brother Fan snorted and forced Ruan Ci, "Senior Sister Ci, then are you going to marry Senior Brother Su?"

Ruan Ci said, "What does it have to do with me if you two want to quarrel? Spare me. If you keep arranging it, everyone here will be my husband or wife."

The two stopped. Junior Brother Fan's words before were just spoken casually when he was excited, and no one took them seriously. If he really liked Ruan Ci, it wouldn't matter if both were men. Little Su made a joke at this time, which just happened to explain this point. After midnight that night, Qin Fengyu came to find Ruan Ci. The first sentence was not to ask about those peach-blossom jokes, but to say, "Is this Junior Brother Fan you just made friends with a disciple of the Poison Sect?"

This was a conjecture arising from Junior Brother Fan's threat of poisoning. Ruan Ci nodded, "It wasn't said clearly, but it should be him. When we were watching the battle from the high building, Little Su said he was a disciple of the Grand Void Gate, protecting the junior brother, but the real owner died on the ship of the Poison Sect disciple. He also said Junior Brother Fan was a disciple of Yanshan. Junior Brother Fan was very excited at the time, and later he was even more hesitant to speak to me. I guessed that he was actually a disciple of the Poison Sect, and he had a way to identify the true identity of the person who died under his poison. He knew Little Su was lying, but he couldn't expose it. Because the Yanshan disciple was only hostile to me, but the Poison Sect disciple was truly unable to see the light. He killed so many people. If his identity was exposed, after walking out of Hengze Heaven, I'm afraid he wouldn't live for three days."

Thinking about it, she added, "However, his words today are so careless, I'm afraid he has no intention of hiding from us anymore. We have experienced dangerous situations together, and after all, we have some friendship. Even if we know his true identity, we won't harm his life. We cultivators all pay attention to wealth, companions, dharma, and land. Even if he is a disciple of the Poison Sect, he needs to make a few like-minded Dao companions."

Qin Fengyu didn't comment on Ruan Ci's making friends, but only said, "That Little Su, since he said he was from the Grand Void Gate and said Little Fan was a high disciple of Yanshan, looking at it this way, maybe he is the one from Yanshan, pretending to be a disciple of the Grand Void Gate. The two cultivators who really came to do errands and protect the Grand Void Gate should have been intercepted and killed by him on the way. He wanted Junior Brother Fan to admit that he was a Yanshan disciple and the owner of the Immortal Painting, also to further clear himself and reduce your suspicion."

Because what happened in the fifth-layer Dao foundation was related to Qing Jun, Ruan Ci didn't explain it to Qin Fengyu. Qin Fengyu could deduce this step based on her few words, which showed her agility. Ruan Ci nodded, "I know what Feather Lady wants to say. Yanshan cultivators are my great enemies, but—"

Just as she was about to say her agreement with Little Su, the magic array outside the door was touched. The other party touched and retracted, which to a cultivator was like knocking on the door, and the visitor could be identified by the aura. Ruan Ci made a face and smiled, "Speak of the devil. With Feather Lady here, it would be as simple as killing a chicken for me to kill him now. This person pretends to be very calm in front of people, but in his heart, he must be terrified, right?"

As she said this, she walked out the door and smiled, "Senior Brother Su, I expected you would come to find me."

She deliberately made a mysterious look, wanting to scare Little Su. Little Su raised his hand to his lips and coughed a few times, looking like his blood and energy were failing, but he had no fear at all. Instead, he deliberately made Ruan Ci think of the reason why his injuries were so serious, and said weakly, "Yes, I came here to say goodbye to Junior Sister. My Dao foundation is damaged, and there is no hope for the Great Dao. I am disheartened and decided to quit the world, entrust my feelings to the mountains and seas, and end this remaining life."

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Updated! Sorry for the wait, everyone. I'm sending red envelopes to everyone in this chapter. The pace of this chapter is a bit slower, just a transition~

I don't know what I'm eating for lunch yet, but it smells so good~~~~ I'm going to eat!

(Still in a book drought, sigh)

A friend recommended *The Path of a Cultivation Sect Master*, which I read a long time ago.

Ah, finally, I want to clarify that the old universe has nothing to do with the Cthulhu mythos. The "old ones" in the Cthulhu mythos all come from the Great Old Ones. The old universe in the sword is just the previous universe where the Creation Dao Ancestor stayed before. I originally wanted to call it the past universe, but the word "past" is sometimes easily used redundantly, so I just changed it to another word. I searched yesterday, and *Renegade Immortal* also has this concept, but it seems I didn't see that part and abandoned the book. This is purely a coincidence.

. Thank you to the little angels who cast Overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me between 2020-09-25 12:08:21 and 2020-09-26 12:07:59~

Thank you to the little angels who cast hand grenades: Ming Ji (1).

Thank you to the little angels who cast landmines: Shao Xia (2), Feng Guang, Wu Mingya, Wan Tang, Shen Nie, Xiangri Xiaotian, Yicun Suge, Yu Yu Wan Yao (1 each).

Thank you to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: m (68 bottles), Pie Wan Dao Zi Tritium (46 bottles), Ren Xia Xin, Cao Cong Li De Liu Yin Jiang, zw, Eland, Fitzgerald, jane (30 bottles each), seleces, Yang Yang Da, Fu Lu, Zhuang Sheng Xiao Meng (20 bottles each), bear (19 bottles), Cheng Huang Ju Lv, Qian Lan, July, Xiao Yan, Tuan Zi, Sun~Sun, lhhhl, Feng Sha Du, Zhou Zhou, hilde, Tai Li Sha Xiong Xiong (10 bottles each), Wu Mu, Ji Le, myadam11, Shou Yi Shi Fen Hua Luo Jin (5 bottles each), Marie Maria (3 bottles), doris7788, Mu Wan, 13hades (2 bottles each), 18205385, Cheng Bi, Yisheng's Big Bacteria, oliverfi (1 bottle each).

Thank you all very much for your support, I will continue to work hard! ===== CHAPTER 104 =====