Chapter 165: Is it a Coincidence or Intentional?

The other two Golden Core Cultivators, after emerging from the town, hurriedly rode their Swords to rush back to the Sect.

One of them was an old Cultivator wearing a Confucian robe and a square cap, with sallow skin and graying hair at his temples; the other wore a Daoist robe with white hair and beard, but his face had fewer wrinkles, making him appear younger than the one beside him.

The Confucian-robed Cultivator asked in confusion, "Shixiong, why did you stop me just now?"

The Daoist-robed Cultivator shook his head, "You only reached the Golden Core stage recently; you don't understand the world outside. Within the Xumi Realm, there are still national laws to rely on, but in the world of Cultivation, the strong are respected. The peace in the towns is due to the rules set by the various Sects that govern them; if one violates them, it means offending the Sect behind them, so low-level Cultivators naturally dare not act recklessly. However, the person just now deliberately released the pressure of the Nascent Soul Stage, proving he has the strength to challenge the rules, yet he did not cause us harm, which was a gesture of goodwill to avoid inciting conflict."

He said earnestly, "The Cultivator senior we met today must be from a proper Sect. The larger the Sect, the more they value etiquette and face, which is why he did not mind our offense. In the future, do not be so reckless."

"So that is how it is, thank you Shixiong for clearing my doubts." The Confucian-robed Cultivator felt a lingering fear, "Since he is a Cultivator from a righteous Sect, he should not be the one destroying the barrier, so why did we not continue to stand guard and investigate?"

"It is true that he is a righteous Cultivator, but he is not someone you or I can question. Regardless, since such a Cultivator appeared in the area we are responsible for, we must return to report it to the Hall Master first."

The two returned to the Sect together to report to the Hall Master.

At that time, Cai Wen was organizing documents in the book pavilion.

This was originally his teacher's business, but Cai Wen had always been diligent and intended to cater to his teacher's preferences, so he was very attentive in serving him.

And his teacher, although letting Cai Wen handle the trivial matters, did not trust him entirely; at this moment, he was lying on a soft couch at the other end of the book pavilion, closing his eyes to rest.

"B-36, three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones; B-27, two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones; B-50, three thousand five hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones..."

Cai Wen recited while organizing the records.

The teacher suddenly spoke, "Did A-19 still not send the Spirit Stones this year?"

"No, teacher." After answering, Cai Wen asked cautiously, "Is there some problem with the business over there? Should we report to the Hall Master to send someone to check?"

His teacher was responsible for managing the various business dealings of the Sect at the foot of the mountain. The Sect's location was poor, the spirit vein was too small, and the gathered Spirit Qi was far from enough for the Cultivators in the Sect; it relied entirely on the teacher's proper management to maintain the Sect's needs.

It was just that Cai Wen did not understand that business always had gains and losses, so why was the amount of profit in Spirit Stones collected every year exactly the same? However, his teacher did not trust him completely and had never told him what kind of business the Sect was actually doing. He spent his days on the mountain and did not know much about the world of Cultivation, only guessing it might be some kind of specialty of the Cultivation world.

Moreover, he had never even seen these Spirit Stones.

"No need, once you finish organizing, seal them into a Jade Slip and put it in the secret room." The teacher lifted his eyelids.

After Cai Wen finished the tasks he was ordered to do, the teacher said, "You went down the mountain today?"

Cai Wen's hand paused, "Yes, I went down the mountain to see my poor little granddaughter..."

"Out of consideration for your parental heart, I gave you the privilege of going down the mountain. You have only gone down twice in these two years; it seems your attachment to the mortal world has faded, and I am very satisfied." The teacher said, "The Hall Master ordered inspections everywhere, so I thought of your granddaughter and specifically asked the Junior Martial Brother responsible for that area to go and look after her. By rights, you should have met them and known about this..."

"And after hearing their report, there is one thing I have not understood. You went down the mountain twice in total. The first time, some high-level Cultivators fought in that town and destroyed half of it. The second time, the Junior Martial Brother responsible for that place reported that a strange Nascent Soul Cultivator appeared in the town for no reason. Tell me, why is it such a coincidence?"

Cai Wen's breath hitched, his mind went blank, and as he looked up, his teacher's smiling yet not-smiling face was reflected in his murky eyes.

Early in the morning, Ruan Xing came out of the quiet room and took a breath of the cold air, dispelling the unease in her heart. She did not know why, but she had felt restless all night.

It couldn't be that something would go wrong with Ruan Tao's tribulation today, could it?

After returning to reality, she must prepare things for Ruan Tao's tribulation in advance.

Taking Ruan Tao with her, Ruan Xing found an uninhabited place outside the town, set up an Array Disk barrier to isolate mortal interference, and then let Ruan Tao relax her suppression of her cultivation, waiting for the arrival of the tribulation clouds.

Ruan Tao also seemed not to have rested much all night and was very nervous, but seeing Ruan Xing's calm appearance, she was not so afraid anymore.

Soon, the sky was covered with dark clouds, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, looking as if it were about to crash down.

"There are three bolts of Tribulation Lightning in total, and there will be a short pause between each one. Don't be reluctant to eat the Spirit Returning Pill I gave you; you must maintain a state of abundant Spiritual Power. Also, those Dharma Artifacts are all Low-grade Magical Artifacts and aren't worth much; they are meant for you to use as consumables."

Ruan Xing gave Ruan Tao a few final instructions, looked at the sky, and retreated a hundred zhang away.

Within the range of the Tribulation Lightning, one cannot get too close to the person undergoing the tribulation, otherwise, they will be regarded as an equal target by the Tribulation Lightning, and the power of the lightning will be increased according to the cultivation level of the participants.

Therefore, Ruan Xing could not directly help Ruan Tao resist the lightning tribulation, and she also had to guard the array for her to prevent other Cultivators from entering the range.

The first bolt of Tribulation Lightning fell.

Although Ruan Tao was prepared, she was still a bit uneasy, intimidated by the majestic power between heaven and earth. The Dharma Artifact she raised was destroyed quickly after absorbing half the power of the lightning. Ruan Tao was startled and hurriedly used the second Dharma Artifact, but she was still burned on her shoulder and arm by the lightning.

A moment later, when the Tribulation Lightning faded, she hurriedly followed Ruan Xing's previous instructions, took the Spirit Returning Pill and Healing Pill, and sat cross-legged to regulate her breath.

Ruan Xing watched from afar, feeling that Ruan Tao had a high chance of successfully passing the lightning tribulation.

Half an hour later, the second and third bolts of lightning fell one after another. Eight out of the nine Dharma Artifacts in Ruan Tao's hands were destroyed before she finally withstood the lightning tribulation.

The lightning tribulation passed, rosy clouds appeared on the horizon, and the dark clouds were about to disperse. Ruan Tao took the Breaking Boundary Pill she had prepared and compressed the Spiritual Power in her body into a Golden Core.

There was a look of joy on her face, "A-Xing, I have successfully formed my Golden Core!"

"I should be able to help you solve the trouble together now, and I won't hold you back!"

Ruan Tao said excitedly.

"Good, I will give you a chance to show it." Ruan Xing laughed, but she had no confidence in her heart.

Three Nascent Souls and dozens of Golden Cores... that is a bit tricky.

If she used all the Self-destruct Puppets in her Storage Bag, perhaps she could heavily injure one Nascent Soul and kill a dozen or so Golden Cores, and then she and the Sword should be able to deal with one.

As for the remaining one, what should she do? Let the Demon Lord and the Fairy go? Not to mention whether the two of them could win, it was hard to say whether they would even listen.

(End of chapter)