Chapter 73: Quietly Departing, Lifelessly Fading, Aimlessly Drifting

For a moment, everyone was speechless.

Such harsh conditions for advancement left them unable to stop their imaginations from running wild.

If it were them, could they survive?

Lin Xiu asked himself, and felt he could not.

Feng Wuyou, however, suddenly noticed something at this moment.

Her brows knitted, "You..."

"Your legs are fine?"

The question was directed at Lin Xiu, who had just stood up from his wheelchair.

Hearing Feng Wuyou's interrogation, Lin Xiu was stunned at first, then turned his head away in slight embarrassment.

He coughed awkwardly.

"... Of course they are fine."

"Although my spiritual roots and meridians were crippled, my body is still intact."

The reason he had been sitting in the wheelchair all along was simply because his heart was as dead as ash.

Besides, he had been kidnapped by Qu Guan in the first place.

Given his master's uncooperative attitude, Qu Guan had no choice but to drug him and push him into the auction on a wheelchair.

Lu Ren, however, had been pondering these words of Ji Shisi the entire time.

This Five Noes Realm sounded like it shared the same origin as Buddhism.

But the ten thousand teachings all lead to the same destination.

For instance, his own Carefree Imperial Dao which he had not yet finalized, Feng Wuyou's Tyrant Dao, and Lin Xiu's original Heartless Dao.

Ji Shisi waited for everyone to digest what he had just said before offering a slight hint.

"As for how to cross over to Ascension and reach the realm beyond the Emperor Realm, that will depend entirely on your own comprehension."

"This old man cannot help you there."

This was only natural.

On the path of immortal cultivation, although one may have companions, they only walk together for a while before parting ways.

In the end, only one can forge ahead to reach the finish line.

At this moment, Lu Ren also said quite bluntly: "Many thanks to Elder Ji for clearing up our confusion."

"However, regarding the matter of the Time Law, I have indeed spoken without reservation."

Hearing this, Ji Shisi was not surprised, but the look in his eyes as he watched Lu Ren became more complex.

He shook his head slowly.

"I am not your equal."

He was old.

There were not many years left for him to live.

He could never do as Lu Ren did, crazily burning his own lifespan to comprehend unknown laws.

However...

Ji Shisi paused and asked: "How many Life Extension Pills do you still have in your possession?"

If there were pills that could extend his lifespan, he was not above giving it a try! After all, they were now barely on the same boat.

Lu Ren naturally had no intention of being dishonest about this.

He said casually: "A lot."

Ji Shisi had been wondering how he would obtain pills from Lu Ren if Lu Ren had none left, or only one or two, and was guarding against him, unwilling to trade or sell.

But he never expected Lu Ren to give him such an answer.

For a moment, Ji Shisi's old face lost its composure.

"What do you mean by 'a lot'?"

Lu Ren waved his hand indifferently: "It means exactly what it says."

He reached out and took out three small porcelain bottles, flicking them into the hands of the three people.

"Inside these are the Life Extension Pills, two pills in each bottle."

"That is two thousand years of lifespan."

"These Life Extension Pills are a gift to you; these two pills for Senior Ji shall serve as payment for just now." Lu Ren first spoke gently to Feng Wuyou and the other, then settled the karma with Ji Shisi without further ado.

He gave a promise: "The matter discussed earlier is of extreme importance to us and cannot be repaid by two pills alone; if Senior Ji gathers the medicinal ingredients for refining in the future, I can have the alchemists in my clan take action for free."

Ji Shisi did not decline.

He had already left the Qingyun Sect and was currently in a position where he had no connections to rely on.

This promise given by Lu Ren was extremely useful.

As Ji Shisi thought this, he took an object out of his Storage Bag.

"Since that is the case, I have nothing else to give you as a greeting gift, so take this."

The object thrown from his hand spun around and landed in Lu Ren's palm.

Lu Ren raised an eyebrow slightly.

Resting in his palm was a moon-white tripod the size of a palm, resembling bright moonlight, yet it exuded an aura of evil and malice as it pulsed in his hand.

It even gathered the rim of the tripod together, shrinking it into the shape of a mouth, and leaned toward his palm...

"Mwah~"

A bright red lipstick print appeared on Lu Ren's palm.

Lu Ren:...

Lu Ren found it somewhat difficult to look directly at this medicine cauldron.

"This is...?"

Ji Shisi's withered and aged skin twitched.

He immediately distanced himself: "This has nothing to do with me!"

After coughing twice, he added: "This object is named the Instant Radiance Cauldron, and its artifact spirit is named Cunmo; it is a treasure that falls only a hair's breadth short of the Shennong Cauldron."

"I have no spiritual cauldron on me to give you, so I shall use a demonic cauldron as a substitute."

Speaking of substitutes, the Instant Radiance Cauldron jumped in Lu Ren's palm, unconvinced, looking as if it wanted to give him a big slap.

Anyone could tell what this medicine cauldron wanted to say.

It was certainly no substitute! "Its spiritual intelligence is this high?" Lin Xiu was extremely surprised.

"For things like these cauldrons or pill furnaces, it is extremely difficult to produce an artifact spirit; I once saw a precious cauldron at the Alchemist Conference, but it was not even thirty percent as nimble as this Instant Radiance."

Instant Radiance enjoyed hearing that.

It pursed its "lips" at Lin Xiu, looking as if to say, "You're right."

"Then I shall accept it." Lu Ren had no reason to refuse.

Ji Shisi's gaze was complex as he looked at the Instant Radiance Cauldron, which was incredibly close to Lu Ren.

What he did not say was that a demonic cauldron would naturally not grow close to a good person.

Moreover, the personality of the master that the Instant Radiance Cauldron rejoiced in must be that of an extremely malevolent demon.

Could Lu Ren... be such a person?

This thought flashed through Ji Shisi's mind, and he suppressed it.

He knew clearly in his heart that regardless of what kind of person Lu Ren was, or what his personality was like, once he chose to board the Lu Family's ship, there was no possibility of turning back.

Furthermore, Lu Ren was not a person of compassionate heart; he should be happy instead.

Good people do not live long.

This is an eternal truth.

Ji Shisi reined in his thoughts; in the end, having nothing more to say to these three Jueyi siblings, he cupped his hands and found an excuse to leave on his own.

His retreating figure appeared somewhat lonely.

Lin Xiu sat back lazily in his wheelchair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest, matching the pitter-patter of the rain falling outside, crisp and melodious.

He was born with a handsome appearance, and his lazy demeanor made him look even more like a well-fed black cat.

Yet, this cat had unsheathed its sharp claws.

"He didn't tell the truth," Lin Xiu said calmly, quite certain, without even a hint of a question.

Feng Wuyou nodded lightly, not surprised, "About seventy percent true and thirty percent false."

"That is still acceptable."

Lu Ren curled his lips slightly.

"But the realm he spoke of should be correct; as for more matters, perhaps he truly does not know."

Lu Ren did not dwell too much on this question.

He slowly turned his head to look at Lin Xiu, who was stretching, and suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"We can put aside the matter of Ji Shisi for now, but Lin Xiu, don't you have something you want to say?"

"I certainly don't recall ever teaching you to shrink away when encountering matters, to leave silently without a sound, to be listless without vitality, or to be sloppy without a sense of purpose."

(End of chapter)