Chapter 353: 207. Junior Brother Xu, come back with me, let’s return to the Flying Feather Immortal Palace and remodel it.
...
...
Is this... considered the final gift?
To repay the kindness of saving a life?
Standing on the street, Xu Xing gazed at the heavy, goose-feather snow before him. He remained stunned for a long time as a sense of melancholic solitude welled up in his heart.
On the Immortal Path, by this point, so many old friends have withered away. Wu Miao’s determination when she left...
As an emperor well-versed in the ways of the world, how could he not understand her intentions?
Seventy years of holding on to their agreement. Thirty years of persistence for herself. She had offered herself, and after their dual cultivation, he and Wu Miao were now strangers.
It’s... as if we’ve become the protagonists of some stage drama.
Some things need to be said clearly.
Xu Xing shook his head.
He looked inward, examining the pure Yin Element stored within his Dantian.
His gaze gradually shifted from hesitation to determination.
This pure Yin Element is unique to the Profound Female Physique. As long as I refine this Yin Element, I can advance my cultivation to the Dao Pill Fourth Stage without any hindrance. If I hadn’t already broken through to the Returning Core Realm, relying solely on this Yin Element, even without the aid of White Tiger Qi, I could have broken through to the Dao Pill realm. Of course, whether I could condense a First-Rate Dao Pill would be another matter. But... for a Profound Female Physique to lose this much Yin Element... that’s not good. While it might not be a case of vitality being greatly damaged, it will inevitably affect her cultivation somewhat.
Xu Xing flicked his sleeve robe, transformed into a streak of rainbow light, and pursued in the direction Wu Miao had departed.
What he didn’t know was that the scene of Wu Miao parting with him at the Cloud and Flower Building had been entirely witnessed by the Brocade-clothed Man, who had previously shared a stall with Wu Miao. This Brocade-clothed Man had already joined forces with several other Male Cultivators, departed Huge Mastiff Island ahead of time, and was now lying in wait outside the island to intercept them.
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...
「One hundred miles outside Huge Mastiff Island.」
「One quarter of an hour ago.」
"Big Brother, there are plenty of women in this world. Why are you so fixated on Lady Xu?"
"Her Profound Female Physique is broken and no longer intact. It’s too much effort to kill her, and there’s little to be gained... In terms of beauty, the Female Cultivators from the Red Dust Pavilion are not necessarily inferior to Wu Miao. Moreover, the Red Dust Pavilion is also one of the Ten Major Sects."
The azure sea surged with waves. The Brocade-clothed Man and several Male Cultivators hovered in the air.
A yellow-faced Male Cultivator, seeing Wu Miao leave Huge Mastiff Island and head towards the trap they had laid, sighed a few times. He tried one last time to persuade the Brocade-clothed Man.
"A Sect Cultivator of the same realm, in terms of either foundation or combat strength, is leagues beyond what a Freelance Cultivator can match. While Freelance Cultivators often produce powerhouses, we are not among them. Once we confront Wu Miao, even if we manage to capture and kill her, casualties on our side will be inevitable."
"That bitch! She throws herself at a Male Cultivator she just met for the first time, after I’ve been courting her for so many years..." The Brocade-clothed Man’s face was livid with anger.
He was naturally aware that ambushing Wu Miao was a venture where the potential losses outweighed the gains; the effort and reward were not proportional.
However, a man fights for his pride!
"Besides..." the Brocade-clothed Man’s eyes glinted with a cold light, "Lady Xu threw herself at that Cultivator Yao after just one meeting... There are only two possibilities: either she’s inherently cheap and promiscuous, or she and this Yao knew each other from before. That Cultivator Yao—he’s very likely the missing True Lineage of Flying Feather Immortal Palace!" he asserted.
If it were merely a matter of wounded pride, I wouldn’t have been so decisive, immediately resolving to ambush Wu Miao. I wouldn’t have even hesitated.
"That True Lineage of Flying Feather Immortal Palace?" Several of the Male Cultivators were visibly stirred.
The First-class genuine transmission of the Ten Major Sects held a prestigious status. When they went out, their status was equivalent to that of a Sect Master from a medium-sized Sect, and they possessed at least the inheritance to cultivate directly to the Nascent Soul Realm. They, a few Returning Core Lords like themselves, didn’t even qualify to associate with a True Lineage from one of the Ten Major Sects.
"If he really is Xu Xing, the First-class genuine transmission of Flying Feather Immortal Palace," the Brocade-clothed Man said in a deep voice, "then this is our golden opportunity... With the Flying Feather Immortal Palace’s inheritance, we’ll secure our subsequent Cultivation Methods and no longer suffer exploitation by the various Sects."
Most Freelance Cultivators lacked complete inheritances of Cultivation Methods. Even if someone fortuitously obtained a complete method, the Major Sects strictly prohibited its sale or dissemination. Every time Freelance Cultivators broke through to a new realm, they had to endure exploitation by the Major Sects. Only by paying sufficient resources could they obtain the Cultivation Method for the next level.
"Then we..." several of the Male Cultivators hesitated. "Wouldn’t it be more convenient to directly ambush and kill Cultivator Yao? Why waste our strength on Lady Xu?"
Their resources were limited. If they successfully ambushed Wu Miao but couldn’t sustain themselves by plundering enough resources from her, then this battle would be a losing venture. Being Tribulation Cultivators wasn’t easy either. It required dedicated intelligence gathering to pick out wealthy targets.
"A First-class genuine transmission..."
"Are you muddled, or am I?" The Brocade-clothed Man frowned and chided, "This Xu Xing was already at the Returning Core Realm when he left Flying Feather Immortal Palace. So many years have passed. Even if his cultivation is still at the Returning Core Realm, his strength is not something we can compare to..."
After speaking, he berated them again for their lack of brains.
"Intercepting Lady Xu serves three purposes. Firstly, we can ascertain Cultivator Yao’s true identity. Secondly, we can also gauge his strength."
"Thirdly, if Cultivator Yao truly is Xu Xing and his cultivation is formidable, we can sell this information for a good price..." the Brocade-clothed Man revealed his plan.
If Xu Xing’s cultivation was weak, he and his men would act personally—kill him and seize his possessions. If Xu Xing’s cultivation was strong, he could sell the information to the Small and Medium-sized Sects in the Wangchuan Sea, letting them be the ones to ambush Xu Xing... The number of Small and Medium-sized Sects interested in the Flying Feather Immortal Palace’s inheritance was countless.