Chapter 379: Juehui

He Pingsheng walked up to the counter at the front.

Cheng Xiaohe jumped in fright: "Master, are you a corpse come back to life…? How did you come out of seclusion without a sound?"

He Pingsheng frowned: "You…"

"You've reached Jin Dan?"

"When did you form your Core?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He Pingsheng's mind was struggling to catch up.

He usually neglected his disciples, but Xiaohe had just been in Qi Refining, hadn't he?

How could he possibly have reached Jin Dan so suddenly?

It didn't make sense!

He Pingsheng quickly recalibrated his thoughts: he'd been in seclusion often lately—since emerging from the Five Dragon Gorge Secret Realm, he'd entered seclusion three times total, lasting twenty-five years.

"Master… do you even know how old I am now?" Xiaohe pouted, glaring at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng frowned: "How old? Wait… let me calculate…"

"Don't bother!" Xiaohe said. "When you cured my illness, I was seventeen. Since then, forty years have passed—your precious disciple is just three years shy of sixty!"

"I'm a single-element cultivator with extraordinary talent, and you've given me countless elixirs—is it strange that I reached Jin Dan?"

Face-to-face with his disciple's rebuke, He Pingsheng grimaced. "Normal… perfectly normal…"

The path of Xiaohe's breakthrough now became clear in He Pingsheng's mind.

After the Five Dragon Gorge Secret Realm ended, he obtained two 【Blood Jade Purple-Skinned Jujubes】; he swallowed one himself and enhanced the other into two—one given to Xiaohe, the other to Old Cheng.

Xiaohe's breakthrough to Jin Dan was no longer surprising.

But… the disciple was Jin Dan Level One, while the master was Jin Dan Level Five—it felt odd.

"Where did you undergo your Tribulation?" He Pingsheng asked, concerned. "What level was the heavenly tribulation?"

Xiaohe said: "Last year, I went to a remote forest outside the city to undergo it. Uh… it was a Six-Nine Tribulation… waaah… you didn't even give me any defensive treasures, Master! Your precious disciple nearly got turned into a ghost by the lightning—thankfully, I held on to one last breath, then the Divine Light of Creation struck me and strengthened my body, saving my life!"

He Pingsheng looked ashamed. "Xiaohe, I'm truly sorry…"

"Don't worry—there won't be a next time. Next time you're about to undergo Tribulation to reach Nascent Soul, warn me ahead of time—I'll make sure you're fully equipped with defenses!"

"Wait a moment—I'll give you something right now!"

He Pingsheng waved his hand and pulled out the Fire Elemental Blood-Reflecting Armor. "This is a top-grade fire-affinity defensive magic treasure with twelve sealing layers. I've erased my spiritual imprint—cultivate it yourself."

"And this—the Nine Radiance Dragon-Slaying Flag. Though it's only a top-grade spirit artifact, you can use it for a while."

"I'm giving you the Soul-Annihilating Bell too!"

He Pingsheng shoved three treasures into his disciple's hands: the Fire Elemental Blood-Reflecting Armor, the Soul-Annihilating Bell, and the Nine Radiance Dragon-Slaying Flag.

These items were precious, but to He Pingsheng, they were now expendable.

First, he had the 【Seven-Clasp Sharp Metal Armor】, so he didn't need the Fire Elemental Blood-Reflecting Armor; second, he possessed the Divine Skill 【Formless Northern Dipper Nail】, making the Soul-Annihilating Bell useless; third, with the Heaven-Defect Divine Spear, the Nine Radiance Dragon-Slaying Flag was unnecessary.

All of them to the disciple.

Xiaohe finally pouted. "That's more like it!"

"Hehehe…" He Pingsheng chuckled. "Keep cultivating hard…"

Xiaohe extended his jade hand.

He Pingsheng asked: "What now?"

Xiaohe said: "I've run out of cultivation techniques!"

Xiaohe's fire-affinity technique only went up to the Foundation Establishment section—he had no Jin Dan section.

He Pingsheng quickly pulled out the Jin Dan and Nascent Soul sections and handed them to Xiaohe.

He no longer needed these Five Elements techniques himself.

He Pingsheng cultivated the 【Five Elements Merged Heavenly Scripture】.

"By the way…" After handing over the items, He Pingsheng asked: "Has your grandfather returned?"

Old Cheng had been sent to Dingxiang Commandery to gather intelligence, but he hadn't shown up yet.

"No!" Xiaohe shook his head. "No news yet… but he's probably not in danger—I check his life tablet every day, and it's still intact."

He Pingsheng said: "Good. If Old Cheng completes his mission, he'll return immediately."

"Oh, by the way…" Xiaohe added. "Master, the merchant guild next door's Ling Zhiwang has come looking for you several times, but I turned him away each time since you were in seclusion."

"He's also reached Jin Dan!"

Xiaohe added.

"Ling Zhiwang is a decent fellow—he's helped me many times," He Pingsheng said. "Go call him over. He might have something important."

A stick of incense later, Ling Zhiwang arrived with Xiaohe before He Pingsheng.

"Congratulations, Brother Ling!" He Pingsheng smiled. "You're a Jin Dan cultivator now…"

"Ugh…"

Ling Zhiwang's face was worse than his ass: "Brother He, don't mention it… I'm… I'm Juehui!"

"What?"

He Pingsheng was stunned: "Juehui?"

This news truly shocked He Pingsheng.

What did Juehui mean?

It meant the Dao path was severed.

It wasn't like a bottleneck—when you hit a bottleneck, even if cultivation and elixirs no longer worked, you could still break through with a specific immortal fruit.

But Juehui meant nothing you consumed would help.

There was only one path: wait to die.

Wait until your lifespan ran out.

Of course, ninety-nine percent of cultivators eventually reached their Juehui.

It's just that some reached it early, others late.

For someone like Ling Zhiwang, reaching Juehui at Jin Dan was already lucky.

At least he still had five hundred years of natural lifespan left.

Some reached Juehui even in Qi Refining!

"Brother Ling, what are your plans now?" He Pingsheng asked.

Ling Zhiwang said: "No plans. I'm done with cultivation. I'll return home, buy land and big houses, take beautiful wives and concubines, and produce heirs!"

"That's all."

"Brother He!" Ling Zhiwang pulled out a storage bag. "These are all the wealth I've accumulated over the years—nothing precious, but plenty of spirit stones."

"I heard you have 【Ice Source Jiazi Dew】, which can extend one's lifespan by sixty years!"

"I'd like to buy one drop. Would you sell it to me?"

"Hehe!" He Pingsheng smiled. "Of course. Brother Ling, if you're interested, come to my cultivation hall—we can talk."

"I'll make sure you're satisfied."

"Alright…"

Ling Zhiwang followed He Pingsheng to a small room behind the elixir shop.

The two sat down, master and guest.

He Pingsheng said: "Actually, I have something better."

"Look."

He Pingsheng waved his hand and summoned a single drop of Ice Origin Divine Dew, letting it hover in the air before Ling Zhiwang.