darknovel Chapter 20 Qi Cultivation
Chapter 20 Qi Cultivation
Shen Gui felt a chill run down his spine; continuing to pretend would only lead to humiliation.
He simply opened his eyes, gripped the sword hilt tightly with his right hand, sprang up, drew his longsword, and a streak of white sword light slashed straight at the old woman's face!
This sword strike was executed without reservation; the sword's edge surged three feet, its sharp aura tearing through the air and emitting a piercing whistling sound.
The old woman didn't even blink.
She floated up lightly, like a withered leaf blown by a gust of wind, her posture casual, yet her speed astonishing.
The sword's edge swept past her feet, a foot away.
The old woman hovered in mid-air, her feet resting on a faint blue vortex, emanating a sweet fragrance.
Her emaciated body looked even more eerie in the moonlight, like an old owl in human skin.
Ride the wind.
Shen Gui's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart pounded faster.
This is a technique that can only be used by those at the Qi Refining stage!
Those who cultivate the fetal breathing technique can only rely on their legs to walk. At most, they can use movement techniques to make their steps faster and their bodies lighter, but they can never leave the ground.
Only by entering the Qi Refining stage can one ride the wind and fly, truly breaking free from the constraints of the earth.
The unassuming old woman before them was actually a high-level cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm!
Shen Gui tightened his grip on the sword, his knuckles turning white, and the veins on his arm bulging slightly, but he did not make another move rashly.
The gap is too big.
A cultivator at the fourth level of the Fetal Breathing stage would be like an egg striking a rock against a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage, even the weakest Qi Refining cultivator.
Killing him would probably be no more difficult for the other party than crushing an ant.
The old woman, however, seemed completely unconcerned by his hostility. Suspended in mid-air, she tilted her head, her large, beady eyes scrutinizing Shen Gui from head to toe, her withered fingers rubbing her chin, her face full of confusion.
"Strange, strange," she muttered to herself, her voice hoarse. "My Bewitching Butterfly Incense can even incapacitate a Qi Refining cultivator, yet you, a mere fourth-level Nascent Soul cultivator, are unharmed?"
When she spoke, she revealed a mouthful of uneven, yellow teeth, with something dark seemingly stuck between them.
Shen Gui did not answer, but gripped the sword hilt tightly, his left hand secretly pinching the last remaining water shield talisman, the sweat seeping from his palm soaking the edge of the talisman.
The old woman wasn't annoyed. Suddenly, she sniffed hard, her nostrils flaring.
"Hmm?" Her gaze fell on Shen Gui's chest, her beady eyes suddenly lit up, and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips. "It's the scent of [Wood Branch]... So it's the little lover of a certain Foundation Establishment senior."
Shen Gui was taken aback.
Mu Youzhi is the name of Master Miaoyin Daoren's immortal foundation. The sachet that Master gave him contains the mysteries of the immortal foundation and retains Master's aura.
The old woman smelled the fragrance from the sachet.
But the term "little lover" made Shen Gui feel inexplicably awkward.
He certainly knew the real reason why he wasn't smitten.
When the strange fragrance wafted in his mind, the Mingtian Bell in his sea of consciousness trembled slightly, which cleared his mind and rendered the fragrance ineffective.
This was not the first time Mingtianzhong had displayed such power since he set foot in the northern frontier.
When the old Taoist priest of Daling Village used that strange God-Slaying Talisman, Xie San fainted on the spot, but he was unharmed.
Now, the old woman's Butterfly Incense has yielded the same result.
Shen Gui had a vague guess in his mind: the Mingtian Bell seemed to make him immune to all attacks targeting his divine sense.
Neither the brutal soul-shattering attack of the God-Slaying Talisman nor the gentle illusionary technique of the Bewitching Butterfly Incense could affect him.
But the old woman mistakenly thought that it was his master's immortal foundation aura protecting him, which saved him the trouble of explaining.
But... a "little lover"?
Shen Gui smiled bitterly to herself. If her master knew that someone was making up stories about her like this, he would probably come directly to the Northern Frontier and deal with the old man.
Seeing that Shen Gui didn't speak, the old woman took it as a tacit agreement and chuckled twice.
She didn't ask any more questions and slowly descended from mid-air. The blue vortex beneath her feet gradually dissipated like smoke and dust blown away by the wind.
She didn't look at Shen Gui again, but went straight to the white wolf lying unconscious at the cave entrance.
Shen Gui didn't move; he simply stood there, his eyes fixed on the old woman's every move.
The old woman walked to the white wolf's side, squatted down, and stretched out her withered right hand.
Her movements were slow, as slow as if she were caressing a fragile piece of porcelain.
But the next moment, her five fingers pierced the white wolf's skull silently, as if inserting into tofu.
The hard skull was rendered useless in her hands, not even making a sound.
There was no blood splattering, no screams of agony.
The white wolf trembled slightly, its limbs twitched unconsciously, and then it became completely still.
The old woman slightly bent her five fingers and lifted the huge white wolf up as if it were a chick.
The white wolf's body hung limply, its tongue dangling from the corner of its mouth, and its dusty fur lost its luster in the moonlight; it was clearly dead.
The old woman, carrying the white wolf, turned her gaze to the boy lying on the straw pile inside the cave.
She watched for a few moments, her large, beady eyes sweeping over the boy as if examining a piece of merchandise.
The old woman sniffed, her nostrils flaring again, as if she were sniffing for a scent that only she could detect.
A moment later, her brows furrowed, the wrinkles on her face deepened, and she muttered, "Did Master make a mistake again...? The [Demon Shepherd] Qi cannot be formed."
She pursed her lips, chuckled, and tossed the item to Shen Gui.
"Although it cannot obtain any spiritual energy from heaven and earth, it is still a rare wild creature. It is quite interesting to use it for pleasure. Take it to your ancestor to enjoy."
"It wasn't a wasted trip," the old woman muttered, as a blue whirlwind rose beneath her feet, and she slowly ascended into the air, carrying the white wolf.
She said nothing, not even glancing at Shen Gui again, before her figure transformed into a streak of azure light and vanished into the vast night, along with the sweet, exotic fragrance.
The mountains and forests returned to their usual chirping of insects and birds, as if nothing had ever happened.
Shen Gui stood still, motionless.
He waited for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and when he felt that the old woman had not returned, he let out a long sigh of relief. He felt that his back was soaked with cold sweat, and his clothes were clinging tightly to his skin.
This is a high-level cultivator at the Qi Refining stage.
This was the first time in over four years since he arrived in the Northern Frontier that he had directly encountered a cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm.
The suffocating feeling of being crushed by absolute power made him deeply realize how insignificant he was on this land.
While at the Canglan Sect, he had never faced such life-or-death pressure.
Now, in this northern frontier, he truly felt for the first time that there was an insurmountable chasm between the Qi Refining Realm and the Fetal Breathing Realm.
The sword light that he was so proud of couldn't even touch the hem of a true expert's clothes.
Shen Gui took a deep breath, suppressing his sense of defeat, sheathed his longsword, and squatted down to check on Zhao Laowu's condition.
Zhao Laowu remained unconscious, lying on his back on the withered leaves, his bald head covered in debris.
His breathing was steady, his complexion was normal, and his chest was rising and falling rhythmically. He had only been knocked out by the old woman's bewitching incense and was not in any danger to his life.
Shen Gui didn't rush to wake him up, but stood up and walked towards the cave entrance.
Inside the cave, the boy lay on a pile of straw, still holding half a raw chicken he hadn't finished eating in his arms. His mouth was full of blood, but he was breathing evenly and was fast asleep.
The tattered cloth that had been tied to the white wolf's back was now covering him, barely concealing his body.
Shen Gui squatted down beside the boy and observed him carefully.
The boy was about seven or eight years old, shirtless, but he was quite strong, with broad shoulders and some muscle definition on his arms. It seemed that he had been well cared for by the mother wolf over the years.
His hair was a mess, and his face was unrecognizable.
Shen Gui hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently placed his fingertips on the boy's neck, extending a wisp of magical power to check the condition of his meridians.
The boy's skin was rough and hot, and his pulse was strong and powerful, as if a small wild beast was hiding inside.
The moment his fingertips touched the boy's skin, a familiar flow of information surged directly into Shen Gui's consciousness.
"Find talented individuals and recommend them for inclusion in the imperial clan."