Chapter 452: The Cultivator's Heartlessness and Friendship

"Mom doesn't have the ability, she can't help you."

Jiang Yuan sighed softly.

"I know, it's just… tell Uncle for me…"

Zhou Yun said hurriedly.

"Didn't Uncle already say so?"

Jiang Yuan asked in return.

"That's exactly why I need you to say it."

"It's useless."

"Besides, I won't go."

Jiang Yuan sighed softly: "Big Brother didn't have it easy either. In Ganghan Minor World, in Dayang Dayang Tianchi, every step was a life-and-death blood battle, countless dangers, and only by surviving did he forge his present glory with the fresh blood of enemies like the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace."

"Right now, I rely on Big Brother, and at Foundation Establishment, I spend resources comparable to a Jin Dan."

"How could I have the nerve to beg for favors for each and every one of my children? If everyone were like this, descendants without end, what could even a Jin Dan ancestor do?"

"Am I really supposed to give up my own cultivation for the sake of my clan?"

"That's far too selfish, and unrealistic."

"I…"

Zhou Yun fell silent in dismay.

On the other side, Lin Lin Yuanwang's wife, seeing this scene, was about to say something, but glanced at her own daughter, then cast a reverent look at the Jin Dan cultivator, and fell silent.

……

"Haha, an old classmate is here!"

At the banquet, Jiang Ding, who had been chatting idly with his family, was overjoyed. He flew out personally dozens of kilometers to greet them, and Jiang Yuan and Lin Lin Yuanwang hurriedly rose and followed.

On the horizon, a tall, muscular man, and a wheat-skinned, slender woman, arm in arm with a sunny, handsome middle-aged cultivator, arrived together.

It was none other than Li Li Junhao, his high-school desk-mate from over a hundred years ago. His cultivation was mid Foundation Establishment, his Gong Fa was of the standard grade, and his magic power was far purer than that of peers at the same stage. He likely had no great fortuitous encounters, relying entirely on steady grinding, taking it one step at a time to where he was now.

"Haha, Li Li Junhao, long time no see! Where have you been making your fortune lately?"

Jiang Ding gripped his long-unseen desk-mate's hand firmly.

"Ha, what fortune? Still muddling along at a biotech company in the Magic Capital. Apart from the occasional military service, I just collect my salary and work. Can't compare to you, who takes down a realm a day."

"I'm a total salted fish."

Li Li Junhao gave a wry smile.

Most cultivators were like this.

Collect a salary, work, cultivate, no great fortuitous encounters, relying entirely on the slim success rate of grinding a Gong Fa for over two hundred years, cultivating to the peak, and then in the final decades before lifespan ran out, staking everything on one desperate gamble.

"What salted fish? That's called steady and solid."

Jiang Ding said with a smile: "Don't look at today's so-and-so prodigy or so-and-so prodigy, licking blood off a blade every day. Some rise suddenly, plenty also perish suddenly. Your way is still the best — very little danger, steady and sure."

"Cultivation, in the end, is a matter for the long run. A moment's glory counts for nothing."

"Haha, we love hearing that."

"Worthy of being my desk-mate!"

Li Li Junhao laughed heartily, then his face grew solemn. He bowed with hands clasped: "Congratulations, Daoist Jiang, on attaining the Jin Dan Dao, extending your lifespan by six hundred years, and becoming the sole Jin Dan cultivator of Rongcheng No. 1 High School in three hundred years."

"You're too kind, too kind."

Jiang Ding returned the courtesy.

"Greetings, Ancestor Jiang."

On the other side, the woman said with a smile, leaning on her husband's arm.

"Hello, Class Monitor Hua."

Jiang Ding smiled faintly.

This woman was naturally Hua Bing, who had returned from military service beyond the realm after over a hundred years — the high-school class monitor, late Foundation Establishment cultivation, her body still carrying the lingering battle-fiendish aura of the battlefield.

These years, she must have gone through no small amount of war, danger, and death.

It was not for nothing.

Though her Gong Fa was also of the standard grade, her magic power was far purer than Li Li Junhao's. Military benefits, especially those of frontline troops constantly facing war, were by no means poor.

Many things that the outside world supplied in limited quantities — or didn't have at all — were easily obtained within the military.

Moreover, with truly meritorious service, one should also be able to obtain some fortuitous assistance in Core Formation, far surpassing Foundation Establishment cultivators living safely within the realm.

"Greetings, Senior Jiang."

Beside Hua Bing was another old classmate from Rongcheng No. 1 High School, Wu Wu Tianli, who said somewhat cautiously and respectfully.

The gap between cultivators of different ranks was far too vast. Even when restrained, there was a natural, invisible pressure on the psychological level. Without long shared experience or very close ties, one would instinctively feel constrained.

This constraint was a survival instinct inherent in living beings facing a superior who could easily destroy them — very hard to control.

Wu Wu Tianli was at early Foundation Establishment. One could see that after entering Foundation Establishment, his subsequent potential was somewhat lacking.

But to have won the hand of the girl he had admired since childhood, and grow old together with her from then on — who knew how many envied him.

"Classmate Wu, you're far too polite."

Jiang Ding said with a smile.

Though they had been classmates, the two had spoken very little, with almost no interaction. But being able to see a high-school classmate again after over a hundred years was itself something worth being happy about, and felt especially warm.

He led the three back to the banquet and seated them.

Everyone reminisced about the tender, youthful high-school days of the past. Over a hundred years had passed without their noticing, and they could not help feeling deeply moved.

"Over a hundred years ago, all the classmates of Senior High Year Three Class One are here now."

Hua Bing looked left and right, full of emotion: "The rest of our classmates — either their lifespan ran out, or they died in battle beyond the realm, or perished at the Foundation Establishment threshold. It's hard to see them again."

"And there's Zhang Laoshi Dingjun—he went beyond the realm to join the army, wanting to stake his remaining years on one last gamble."

Jiang Ding cut in.

He was the one among his classmates who liked staying home the most, returning once every week, so he knew every bit of news from home.

Joining the army.

This was a choice many cultivation practitioners made after their elders passed away one by one and their children were raised to adulthood—none of them lacked courage, fighting for their own Dao.

"Zhang Laoshi is already at such an age—truly admirable."

Li Li Junhao was filled with solemn respect.

Of course, he wasn't tempted in the slightest. He had made up his mind to stay within the realm until he died. Though the outside world had many opportunities, the dangers were great too. Apart from the necessary military service, he wouldn't go out.

"What do you mean 'at such an age'?"

Hua Bing shook his head and laughed: "Zhang Laoshi is only around a hundred and sixty, just a little over thirty years older than you. Among Foundation Establishment cultivators, he's practically the same age—still young."

"That's true enough."

Li Li Junhao felt embarrassed.

They chatted about everything under the sun, laughing and talking, occasionally explaining matters of cultivation—things like purifying magic power and divine sense, inner demons and Tribulation Crossing—and everyone seemed to gain a great deal.

Several days later, the banquet dispersed, and life returned to its former calm.

After finishing cooking for the family, Jiang Ding returned to his room and vanished.

……

Master Tushan Xiancheng.

A youth in blue sat cross-legged, and another youth in blue stepped out from the light of the teleportation array, his gaze as calm as a lake, no longer concealing any fear.

"The timing is ripe."

"There's a matter that needs handling."

Jiang Ding said lightly: "The Blood-Transforming Old Ancestor Mu Mu Tianxue has a fragment of Law-Breaking Steel in her possession. This is something that could alert the Dari Sect and bring Soul Transformation cultivators after my life—it needs to be dealt with."

"Of course, given my previous promise, I won't take the initiative to enter the State of Chu."

"First, I'll set up sword-path arrays for surveillance both inside and outside the State of Chu."

Jiang Ding's eyes flickered: "I'll wait for her forty or fifty years. If after forty or fifty years she still hasn't come out, I'll find a few peak Jin Dan cultivators to go in, drive her out, and finish her off."

As his realm and lifespan grew, his patience grew better and better.

(End of this chapter)