Chapter 41: with translation of chapter title

After Xiao Ran woke up, he looked dazedly at the two people before him, then stumbled back in terror: "You you you.... Who are you..."

"All right, you brat, stop stammering. You just need to know that we saved you; as for the rest, I'll ask and you answer—understood?" Wang Tie said coldly.

Xiao Ran widened his eyes, took a deep breath, then glanced around and, with utmost caution, clasped his hands and said:

Venerable Huang Song

Lin Shan City

This mortal actually has some courage; otherwise he wouldn't have appeared in this cave dwelling.

Yellow Pine Mountain

Accumulation Device

"Oh? How do you know we're Immortal Masters?!" Wang Tie narrowed his eyes, his tone suddenly turning grave, as if he would strike and kill Xiao Ran the moment he gave a wrong answer.

Xiao Ran swallowed, then hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying: "Immortal Master, spare my life; Immortal Master, spare my life. I merely happened to enter this... this... this blessed land by chance, seeing that this place is not of the mundane world, so upon seeing the two of you I just just...."

Spiritual Material

However, since he's merely a mortal, there's no need to make a big fuss; we have plenty of time to investigate his identity, but if he dares utter a single falsehood, he will die!

Evolution

"Yes, I originally came here to borrow books for reading, but I've been planning to leave these past two days, so I came over to handle the paperwork." Xiao Ran said, trembling.

Grand Spirit-Gathering Formation

Xiao Ran gave a bitter laugh: "I often study on the mountain peak; yesterday I intended to come up one last time to take a look at the scenery of Lin Shan Cheng before leaving. But who would have thought that a sudden heavy fog rolled over the peak, and in an instant I was swept up here. Since Huang Songshan has long had a legend of immortals cultivating here, therefore...."

Nascent Soul stage

Spirit Transformation stage

Clear Water Sect

This kid really looks like an ordinary person; the trap set for him shows no sign of deceit at all.

Ordinary mortals usually don't know what the term 'cultivator' refers to.

If he dares to keep talking, the spell seal Wang Tie is forming with his hands behind his back will immediately activate and take his life!

Long Yu, finding it boring, directly asked: "Kid, how did you fall in here?"

Xiao Ran suddenly realized, immediately took out that section of clearing-heart bamboo from his bosom, carefully placed it on the ground and cupped his hands, saying:

"Reporting to Immortal Master, after I fell in here I had nothing to eat or drink, just wanted to find a place to sleep first, and then I discovered this thing under the bed above, and as soon as I picked it up it fell down."

Wang Tie looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Xiao Ran's heart kept pounding.

Oh no, this guy won't discover that the cave entrance was dug by himself, will he?!

But just then, a strong surge suddenly erupted from beneath the spiritual pool, sweeping the surroundings!

Xiao Ran, caught off guard, was shaken and flung far, slamming into the wall and spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Meanwhile, Wang Tie and Long Yu widened their eyes and hastily formed hand seals to protect themselves.

"Senior Brother, that is......"

"Ah! My eyesight is poor; this is clearly the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation left by Immortal Master Huang Song for this stalk of celestial material, and the spiritual pool is the formation's hub!" Wang Tie was overjoyed, quickly taking out the Dragon-Seeking Formation Disk and forming a few hand seals.

As a similar surge similarly erupted from the formation disk, streaks of green light suddenly appeared on the surrounding ground and walls.

Long Yu exclaimed in surprise: "Indeed it's a formation! Senior Brother, you said there is actually celestial material in that spiritual pool—is that really true?!"

Wang Tie looked at Long Yu and said solemnly: "Junior Sister, this opportunity is not trivial. It seems we must wait until that stalk of celestial material finishes its transformation before returning to the sect."

Long Yu obviously also knew the importance of the matter, and at once nodded: "Alright, Senior Brother, what should I do?"

"In this way, you guard the entrance for me, take this kid and interrogate his background a bit, making sure not to let him die, for he might still have secrets!" Wang Tie transmitted mentally.

Long Yu looked over and nodded doubtfully.

"Alright, Senior Brother, I'll first take him out to treat his injuries."

"Mm, Junior Sister, remember: if this mortal tells the truth, it's fine to spare his life; but if he doesn't, kill!" A flash of ruthlessness passed through Wang Tie's eyes.

Long Yu's brows slightly rose, obviously also not expecting Wang Tie's killer instinct to be not small either.

In the cultivation world, if a cultivator attacks and slaughters mortals, they will surely acquire turbid qi. Originally cultivators seek a light and pure state unsullied by worldly dust; once turbid qi arises, it will disturb cultivation and moreover easily evolve into inner demons.

Such inner demons are terrifying, especially for cultivators rushing to break through major barriers; they absolutely do not want to encounter them.

Even if their current strength is low, the sect has repeatedly warned them never to easily slaughter mortals; cultivators burdened with heavy turbid qi either fall into the demonic path, hated and hunted by the world, or spend their whole lives stuck at their current realm, unable to break through.

Of course, the current situation has developed somewhat differently.

One stalk of celestial material exchanged for a bit of turbid qi from a mortal's body is truly worthwhile.

Long Yu chuckled, taking the unconscious Xiao Ran to the upper part of the cave dwelling,

Meanwhile, Wang Tie, who remained in the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation, was not thinking about that stalk of spiritual material in the pool.

That spiritual material appears to be the Six-Transform Immortal Material Nine-leaf Ghost Orchid, which is not hard to recognize.

This kind of celestial material has a wide range of applications, is not troublesome to cultivate, and sects with even a little history basically cultivate large quantities as reserves for their Nascent Soul and even Spirit Transformation cultivators' daily practice; calling it precious is only relative to sects like the Clear Water Sect with merely a thousand or two thousand years of history.

But Wang Tie's gaze was fixed on the faintly visible patterns nearby, and he couldn't help but ponder:

"If I can comprehend these formation patterns, I might be able to condense the first natal formation of the Dragon-Seeking Formation Disk more quickly; for this Accumulation Device, the improvement would be considerable!"

At the same time.

Long Yu guarded the cave dwelling entrance, and after a few hours saw Xiao Ran wake up, asking:

"Are you dead or not?"

"No... thanks to your blessing, I barely remain alive... cough cough cough!!!"

"Eat it."

Long Yu threw over a pill the size of an apricot; Xiao Ran hurriedly caught it, holding it in his palm and staring blankly for a moment.

"What? Are you afraid I'll poison you?"

"No no no, Immortal Master, why waste a precious spirit pill if you're going to attack? I'm just... a mere mortal... can you let me leave here?" Xiao Ran said, on the verge of tears.

"If you don't take the medicine, you won't survive tonight."

"Yes!"

Xiao Ran hastily swallowed the pill, and indeed felt the pain sharply lessen, becoming much more comfortable.

Long Yu sat to the side and asked, "What is your origin?"

"I? I am the nephew of the master of the Yan Residence in the city; I originally planned to rely on him, but... I still plan to leave this place." Xiao Ran's expression changed, and they lowered their head to speak.

Long Yu glanced at Xiao Ran a few times and laughed, "How come? Does that big family look down on you, this poor relative?"

"That's not quite right; my uncle treats me very well, and he even sent me here to study, which already counts as having exhausted benevolence and righteousness." Xiao Ran's expression changed, and they lowered their head to speak.

Long Yu stared at Xiao Ran and asked, "Then why do you want to leave again?"

"I... sigh, Immortal Master, my whole family has been slaughtered; on one hand I worry that the uncle's family will suffer because of me, and on the other hand I also want to avenge my family and wipe away the hatred!" Xiao Ran said through gritted teeth.

"Hmph, just you?"

"What's wrong with me? A man's ambition is not limited by age; I believe that someday I will be able to avenge my entire family!" Xiao Ran raised their head, eyes filled with determination.