Chapter 66: The Little White Fur That Can't Leave

Lu Xingzhou silently paddled his wheelchair to the edge of the pool, watching the ripples where Shen Tang had dived spread out and vanish, unsure of what he was thinking.

That momentary impulse had not only left Shen Tang unsettled to this day; had he not felt the same?

Previously, he had suppressed his desires mainly because almost all his thoughts were focused on healing his legs, leaving him with no mood for anything else.

But now that his legs were healed... it seemed he could consider a few other things...

In fact, for a man, whether there is someone in his heart is not that important...

Moreover, the shadow of that person had grown fainter and fainter these past days.

Lu Xingzhou sat blankly for a while, his mind somewhat empty, before finally shaking his head, taking out the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and attending to business first.

Everyone had left; what was the point of sitting here in a daze? The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was half-damaged, and he needed to repair it.

For magical treasures like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, the focus is on the soul spirit; the material itself is relatively fragile, at least at this lower level, and damage over the years has been common. This damage was heavier than usual, but the repair was not difficult; attaching a powerful main soul would allow it to self-repair, though it might be a bit slower.

This banner had never had a good main soul; Lu Xingzhou had always used whichever Yin spirit was strongest as a temporary main soul, but this time he did not intend to use fourth-grade cultivators like Jin Mingxiu or Bai Jingtian.

Because this time there was an interesting soul spirit... the Flame Demon.

Killing to take a soul results in a spirit of whatever strength the deceased possessed; it cannot be raised. But this Flame Demon was itself a soul body, growing while residing within the essence of fire; this is a soul spirit that can continue to grow indefinitely.

It was just that after being drawn into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and having its consciousness erased, its attributes would have to change.

That scorching Yang fire could not exist within the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; the banner itself would be burned... but it could transform into soul fire, or possess attributes similar to Nether Fire.

Lu Xingzhou once again recognized the greatness of the Yin Yang Ultimate Intent Art; this transformation from Yang to Yin also fell within the scope of the technique. Just one day ago, he had been completely unable to perform this operation.

Now, however, it was something he could attempt, and after breaking through to sixth grade, it could be done even more easily.

Lu Xingzhou extended his finger, pressing it against the small Flame Demon's brow within the soul banner; the flame breath that had originally been out of place within the banner slowly transformed, turning into eerie black flames.

An indistinct pattern of black flames appeared on the Bai Fan, looking quite cool.

The black flames formed a ghostly face, its voice respectful: "Master..."

Lu Xingzhou tested it, somewhat surprised: "This is not soul fire; I seem to have never seen this kind... what fire is this?"

He had merely reversed Yin and Yang; he could not create any fire himself. What it turned into depended entirely on the Flame Demon.

The black flames answered obediently: "This is black fire... its final form should be... Skyless Black Fire."

Lu Xingzhou pointed to the vine by the pool that had once shattered his leg bones: "Try burning it."

The black flames within the Ten Thousand Souls Banner silently swept over, and the vine quietly vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Lu Xingzhou himself secretly drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

It was not necessarily that the black flames were incredibly powerful, but their attributes were extremely eerie; though no heat could be felt at all, they were actually scorching hot, and an unprepared ordinary person would be killed by the coldness.

Once it evolved into its claimed "Skyless Black Fire," what then?

Lu Xingzhou silently placed the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the pool water and gave the Flame Demon an order: "Absorb spiritual energy to self-repair; how long will it take?"

The Flame Demon answered honestly: "Self-repair takes forty-nine days; with the help of this pool water, about ten days."

Ten days... Lu Xingzhou sensed his leg, which was still numb and itchy beyond endurance; aside from still being unable to exert force, the discomfort of alternating cold and heat had not yet been adapted to, and he did not know what state it would be in after ten days.

For a cultivator, ten days is merely the blink of an eye.

The pills and talismans Lu Xingzhou had accumulated previously had been almost entirely consumed in the various battles of these days; ten days spent solely on refining pills and making talismans to replenish his reserves would barely be enough, and he still needed to set aside time to refine Melting Snow Return Origin Pills to flood the high-end pill market for the Tianxing Sword Sect.

After breaking through to sixth grade, Lu Xingzhou could refine even more types of pills.

The pill-refining notes and formulas left by the original owner of the cave dwelling were also precious data; among them were many types of instant-healing medicines. Lu Xingzhou directly abandoned his previously standard healing pills and Qi-benefiting pills, switching to refining higher-grade instant-healing pills for reserve.

And he had already begun attempting to refine soul-spirit pills.

This time, when his soul spirit was injured, he had no medicine to treat it; instead, the pills given by A Nuo had only barely provided some effect. This reminded Lu Xingzhou that future enemies would involve more soul-spirit attacks, and it was better to be prepared.

As for talismans, there was no rush for now; after all, one could simply buy higher-grade ones from others, which were easier to use.

In fact, after breaking through to sixth grade, Lu Xingzhou could already instantly cast spells of the lower three grades, so the reserves of those low-end talismans could be reduced, keeping only a labor-saving stock.

Lu Xingzhou had always felt that the threshold between seventh grade and sixth grade was the one that brought a qualitative change; the previous three grades of eight, seven, and nine had not felt like a very obvious qualitative shift. The Yin Yang Ultimate Intent Art did not even mention any ninth-grade classification; when mentioning this threshold, it repeatedly used a term called "Qin Xin."

The meaning of this term is difficult to explain; if compared to the cultivation web novels he had read, it seemed this threshold corresponded more to Foundation Establishment.

So, does that mean the upper three grades count as Jin Dan? It's just that there was no clear manifestation of forming a core, so the concept gradually faded.

Thus, figures like Shen Tang, Jin Mingxiu, Bai Jingtian, Wu Jiuchen, and True Person Xuan He were all stuck at fourth grade; it seemed very difficult to rush toward the upper three grades. Dugu Qingli needed to experience the world to seek the path to the upper three grades, showing that even Holy Lands must be cautious about this threshold.

The upper three grades are also the standard for entering the Great Qian Heroes List; no matter what, fourth grade can only be called a new talent, and when one gets older, it becomes an old man stuck at fourth grade.

If the upper three grades count as Jin Dan, these phenomena make sense, since that is a typical major threshold in any worldview.

The reason super-grade techniques are super-grade is that one important manifestation is that they break out of this artificially divided nine-grade system, pointing toward a more correct cultivation core. Under the overview of a super-grade technique, the so-called sixth grade is just the beginning.

"I have come to collect today's share of Melting Snow Return Origin Pills; have they been refined?" Dugu Qingli's voice came from afar.

Lu Xingzhou turned to look; Dugu Qingli walked along, and the pool water on her body automatically turned into ice mist swirling around her; paired with her white hair and blue eyes, the scene looked exactly like an ACG animation, truly beautiful.

Shen Tang had not come these past days; it was unknown whether the sect was truly busy or if it was due to her little temper after being kissed on the face that day. A Nuo was responsible for delivering medicinal materials and collecting the finished pills; it was unknown why Dugu Qingli had come to steal A Nuo's job today.

Lu Xingzhou looked back at the pill furnace: "You broke through?"

"Mm." Dugu Qingli stood beside him, her tone very flat: "I wish to resign. Shen Tang refused, so she sent me to come tell you. I will also collect the pills for her on the way."

Lu Xingzhou said: "Did Shen Tang tell you there will be a conflict with the Incense Pavilion soon? The Incense Pavilion is a third-grade sect with a wide network of contacts; without you, Shen Tang would lose almost without a fight."

"She told me."

"Then you still want to leave?"

Dugu Qingli fell silent for a moment: "Such sect conflicts will happen constantly in the future. Even if the Tianxing Sword Sect rises, it will continue to face other third-grade, second-grade, and even first-grade sects endlessly; when will it ever end?"

"Are you sure it is only this factor, and has nothing to do with me?"

"... It has nothing to do with you."

"Since it has nothing to do with you, why did Shen Tang ask you to come ask me, and you came?"

Dugu Qingli's slender hand gripping the sword sheath tightened slightly.

She did not know either.

Originally, her mission had not a single copper coin's worth of connection to Lu Xingzhou; she only needed to resign to Shen Tang, regardless of what Lu Xingzhou said.

Yet Shen Tang had asked her to come ask Lu Xingzhou, so she came.

Lu Xingzhou still gazed at the alchemical fire, speaking lightly: "Your master sent you out to gain experience, saying you must experience worldly sentiments?"

"Yes."

"Then traveling alone, what worldly sentiments can you experience? Merely observing others' grievances and love-hate from afar? You might as well find a storybook to read; the effect is much the same."

Dugu Qingli fell silent.

She herself had never understood why her master wanted her to experience worldly sentiments; in any case, these past two months felt useless.

No... there was one use...

At least that day of wheeling the wheelchair and later being pinned beneath him, those two scenes had flashed repeatedly in her mind these days, nearly preventing her from maintaining a tranquil heart even during her breakthrough.

Does this count?

For a cultivation like hers, where her entire being was like a frozen river, a heart as clear as ice without ripples was the most basic requirement, needing no deliberate operation of any heart-calming technique. Even a deep grudge from being stabbed by a sword would not affect her thoughts in daily life. Advancing from fifth grade to fourth grade was not some special major bottleneck; by all rights, her breakthrough should not have required seclusion at all; she could have simply sat in her room and broken through.

Yet this time she actually had to seek the Sword Sect's secret chamber, suppressing all thoughts amidst the most biting sword intent, just to cast aside those messy images in her heart.

Lu Xingzhou turned to look at her dazed expression and delivered a conclusion: "So if your experience is not here, then where is it?"

Dugu Qingli opened her mouth, wanting to say something but nothing came out.

Could her master's "experiencing worldly sentiments" mean finding a man? Where does such an interpretation come from!

Then why doesn't her master find one herself!

(End of this chapter)