“Senior Brother Gu…..” Li Xunmiao leaned in close to Gu Ze’s ear and whispered teasingly, “You’re not cultivating anymore, right? Will you keep Xunmiao company and chat for a bit?”
This was the fifth day since Gu Ze had moved into Li Xunmiao’s cave residence.
Other than a fleeting spark between them at the very beginning, the two had truly treated each other with courtesy, each busy with their own cultivation.
Unfortunately, with his current accumulation, Gu Ze was still far from breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
If only he could have a bit of help from some pills.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“…Tell me some anecdotes about the Yunhai Immortal Pavilion. Senior Brother, you’ve been out a lot lately—just tell me about anything interesting you encountered.”
Li Xunmiao hugged her knees and sat obediently by Gu Ze’s side, looking as if she was all ears.
She wasn’t that familiar with the Immortal Realm. If it had been her old, solitary self, Li Xunmiao would have wanted to travel all twenty-four peaks, maybe even go see the end of the world.
Becoming an immortal meant never having to live in the Mortal World, worrying and afraid every day, and she could finally enjoy a freedom that was pure luxury to her.
But now, with Gu Ze by her side, the weight in her heart had trapped her firmly in the prison called attachment.
Gu Ze made her feel a warmth and care she’d never known before. The feelings fermented in her heart, and naturally, she didn’t want to stray far from him.
As for the anecdotes of the Yunhai Immortal Pavilion—those didn’t matter. What mattered was who told the story.
Gu Ze, still thinking about pills, casually said,
“Alright, then I’ll tell you about our rival on Biluo Peak.
Among the twenty-four peaks of the Yunhai Immortal Pavilion, there’s actually a lot of competition going on in secret.
With Main Peak Buzhou at the center, our Biluo Peak is situated to the southeast. The peak furthest from us lies in the northwest: that’s Danyin Peak.
Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, Immortal Lord Qingquan once caused an uproar at Danyin Peak—not only stealing a huge amount of pills, but also smashing several precious pill furnaces and even uprooting a few ancient trees that had been nurtured for a hundred years.
After that, Danyin Peak put out a notice to never associate with Biluo Peak again, and refused to supply any more pills to us.
Now, all the pills in the hands of Biluo Peak disciples basically come from Outer Procurement.
This story, though, is just something Gu Ze had heard in passing.
He guessed that at that time, Qingquan was probably stuck at the peak of the Golden Core stage and couldn’t find a breakthrough. Maybe there was some conflict when seeking pills at Danyin Peak.
Li Xunmiao tilted her head, slightly interested when she heard the story was related to her own master: “Was it Master’s fault then?”
“I don’t know. I advise you not to ask her about it either—if you get her angry again, she’ll be tugging at your ear for sure.” Gu Ze shook his head, reminding her.
At his words, Li Xunmiao quickly shut her mouth, looking at Gu Ze, whose expression held a faint disappointment, as if she half-understood, half-didn’t.
A trace of regret flashed in his eyes. If only Biluo Peak still had the pill supply from Danyin Peak, both he and Li Xunmiao’s cultivation progress would be much faster.
The pills purchased from outside the Pavilion were all mass-produced low-quality goods, useful only for quickly boosting cultivation but with significant side effects.
Back when Gu Ze was at the foot of the mountain, he’d received some of those pills—they barely had any effect. For someone at the third layer of Qi Refinement, they were pretty much dispensable.
All medicines are poisonous to some extent; no pill master could completely eliminate natural toxins mixed in the raw ingredients, or the poisonous effects produced by conflicting medicinal powers.
Of course, some people could ignore Pill Poison.
For example, the Li Xunmiao in front of him.
With her Special Constitution of Natural Poison Immunity, and an appetite like a bottomless pit that could never be filled, she could eat as many pills as she liked and never suffer an overload of medicinal power.
According to the book, when Li Xunmiao was about to break through to Foundation Establishment, she had a great stroke of luck at Danyin Peak.
By chance, she slipped into Danyin Peak’s storeroom, where pills for an entire year’s supply for a peak’s Qi Refinement disciples were stored.
***
In a single night, Li Xunmiao ate the entire stockpile clean.
Her cultivation soared straight to the peak of Qi Refinement, then, relying on the residual medicinal power in her body, she shot up to the Foundation Establishment Second Layer.
This opportunity was something Gu Ze was considering whether or not to give up.
Now, Li Xunmiao was no longer that aloof immortal who could just pat her stomach and leave when full, and at worst, fall out with everyone if things went wrong. She was the sapling he’d carefully nurtured.
Matters of social harmony and interpersonal relations were also important.
Li Xunmiao’s cultivation advanced rapidly; even without those pills, she could easily reach Foundation Establishment.
Besides, now that he had the Pixiu True Gold Eyes, he could seek out other opportunities for Li Xunmiao elsewhere.
If, in their generation, he could somehow mend relations between Biluo Peak and Danyin Peak—turn hostility into peace, and restore Biluo Peak’s pill supply—wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
As acting Peak Master, he couldn’t just hold the title and do nothing. He needed some achievements to report to Qingquan.
Still, nothing was more important than improving Li Xunmiao’s cultivation. Both Gu Ze and Qingquan agreed on this.
As he plotted how to advance Li Xunmiao’s cultivation, a strange aura not belonging to Biluo Peak suddenly appeared outside the cave.
Within Li Xunmiao’s cave, one could easily sense everything happening within several li of the surroundings, seemingly thanks to the array inscribed here.
Gu Ze looked outside and saw Lin Tianya’s figure, wandering in front of his courtyard.
“We have a guest, Xunmiao. I’ll step out for a bit.” Gu Ze got up, and Li Xunmiao, unwilling, wiggled her small feet.
Her gaze landed on Gu Ze’s shadow, and she pouted.
“I’m giving you only one incense stick’s worth of time, okay?”
“What if Brother Lin’s looking for me for something really important?”
“Then just call me over, and we’ll help him together.” Li Xunmiao immediately replied.
Gu Ze straightened his clothes and strode outside.
Biluo Peak was vast, but it wasn’t hard to find out where Gu Ze was living. Lin Tianya knocked on the door, waited a moment, then noticed Gu Ze coming from elsewhere.
Sensing Gu Ze’s presence, Lin Tianya’s eyes widened, looking incredulously in the direction of Li Xunmiao’s cave.
He pointed at Gu Ze, then at the cave, then cleared his throat and said nothing more.
“Senior Brother Lin, it’s been a while.” Gu Ze, not noticing the odd look in his eyes, warmly invited him inside for a chat.
Sitting in the small living room, Lin Tianya looked around and confirmed that nobody had lived here for a few days.
“Thanks to you and Junior Sister Li, I also had the chance to bathe in dragon blood and improve my bloodline. Now, an Elder has noticed my potential for Foundation Establishment and taken me as a disciple. I’m now a direct disciple of Songhuo Peak.”
Speaking of this, he couldn’t hide his pride. “I came this time specially prepared with a gift.”
As he spoke, he produced two small jade boxes and, not giving Gu Ze a chance to refuse, pushed them right in front of him.
“These are pills to assist with breaking through the late stage of Qi Refinement. I asked the Elder for them specifically, thinking you two could surely use them.”
His timely help was exactly what Gu Ze needed, so he had no reason to refuse.
“And this—it’s a treasure I forged recently, using some leftover spirit ore from before.”
“This treasure is modeled after that stunning strike you used to repel the dragon vein. It can unleash the power of late-stage Qi Refinement in an instant, though, unfortunately, it can only be used once.”
After introducing the two items, he exchanged a few polite words with Gu Ze, then looked at him as if hesitating to say something.
“Senior Brother Lin, if you’ve got something to say, just say it—staring at me like that is making me nervous.” Gu Ze forced a wry smile.
“I just don’t know if I should ask or not… are you and Junior Sister Li already Dao Companions?” He lowered his voice, even though it was only the two of them inside.
“No way.” Gu Ze denied it flatly.
But Lin Tianya frowned, slapping the table: “Then why did I just see you come out of Junior Sister Li’s cave?”
Crap, now there was no way to explain it. Gu Ze rubbed his head, thinking he had to at least preserve either his reputation or his authority.
“Sigh, it’s a long story. In short, it’s hard for the two of us to become Dao Companions—Xunmiao’s master wouldn’t agree! I only went to her cave to guide her in cultivation.”
Gu Ze chose the most tactful, yet most easily misunderstood, explanation.
Lin Tianya wasn’t so nosy, probably just asking in passing—no need for him to know too much.
Lin Tianya stroked his short, thick beard and sighed: “You and Junior Sister Li really are a pair of star-crossed lovers. If Immortal Lord Qingquan allowed it, would you confess to her?”
There was no good answer to that.
After Lin Tianya’s round of grilling, he left, shaking his head and reciting some poem about tragic lovers.
Gu Ze took out the treasure called the Flying Star Shuttle, activating his Golden Eyes to examine it.
Light flickered; it had already reached the peak of a mid-grade treasure, almost touching the threshold of a high-grade treasure.
A single-use item, but its power could even rival a high-grade treasure.
Unfortunately, there was still a huge gap to supreme-grade.
He took out the keepsake from Lian Yue for comparison, and the brilliance they emitted in his eyes wasn’t even on the same level.
Speaking of which, he’d never asked Lian Yue what the name of that treasure was.
The inscription on the exquisite throwing knife was a symbol Gu Ze didn’t recognize, but at the base of the handle was a delicate “Yue” character he did know.
Could it be that all of Lian Yue’s treasures had a “Yue” carved on them? The thought flashed through Gu Ze’s mind.
Since he didn’t know its name, he decided to call it Yuehen for now.
As he toyed with Yuehen in his hand, Gu Ze couldn’t shake the feeling he’d forgotten something important.
“Senior Brother—” An aggrieved voice came from the door. Li Xunmiao, after waiting ages with no sign of Gu Ze’s return, ran over with a dark face to find him.
And here Gu Ze was, playing with a little knife rather than coming back to her cave—was she, Li Xunmiao, really worth less than a knife?!
With a thud, the Zangtian Sword landed in front of Gu Ze.
As if sensing its master’s will, it flashed its sharpness wildly.
Under the influence of his Golden Eyes talent, facing a supreme treasure like the Zangtian Sword, Gu Ze actually felt a primal fear, as if the sword might plunge into his own body at any moment.
“Senior Brother, if you like blades and swords, why not borrow the Zangtian Sword instead? Isn’t it far more impressive than your little knife?”
Gu Ze pushed away the sword’s hilt. Without the guidance of Netherworld Qi, using the sword would just drain his own life force—he couldn’t use it.
“Xunmiao, take these two treasures for me.” He handed both Yuehen and the Flying Star Shuttle to Li Xunmiao, but after waiting a few seconds, there was no response from the system.
It was the same with the Frostdust Mirror—after giving it to Li Xunmiao, there was no system reward.
Apparently, anything the system had already assigned to him couldn’t count as Li Xunmiao’s opportunity.
Or perhaps, to the current Li Xunmiao, these treasures no longer counted as opportunities at all. Either way, it didn’t benefit Gu Ze.
Putting away the treasures, he opened the jade boxes Lin Tianya had left. Inside lay two glossy, high-quality pills.
“These are Senior Brother Lin’s thank-you gifts. They can help a cultivator at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement break through to the seventh. One for you, one for me, Xunmiao—”
He hadn’t even finished speaking, but as soon as the pill reached Li Xunmiao’s hand, she popped it straight into her mouth.
In an instant, she released the aura of the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.
“Breakthrough complete. Oh right, Senior Brother, what were you about to say?”
Gu Ze’s mouth twitched.
What a waste!
And you’re already at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement—did you eat the pill just to flaunt your fourth layer cultivation?
Well, maybe that made sense. The last few days, Li Xunmiao had been cultivating with him and hadn’t had a chance to adjust the cultivation level she displayed.
After all, when a cultivator breaks through, it’s hard to disguise; nearby cultivators can easily sense it.
Back in Li Xunmiao’s cave, Gu Ze also swallowed a pill, using the thick spiritual energy in the cave to speed up his cultivation, relentlessly attacking the bottleneck.
***
Finally, after more than half a month, he broke through on a snowy morning.
The spiritual energy in his body advanced to a new level. Gu Ze exhaled a breath of turbid air, and the heaviness in his heart eased considerably with the breakthrough.
Glancing to his side, he saw Li Xunmiao curled up in the center of the bed, wearing a loosely draped robe half undone, sleeping soundly.
Her soft, pink shoulder and a pale green chest band were exposed, her whole body exuding an inviting, defenseless allure, as if inviting someone to pluck her at will.
Gu Ze swallowed, and quietly covered her up with the kicked-aside quilt.
Out of sight, out of mind—at least he wouldn’t be tempted.
Suddenly, Gu Ze felt a sense of something amiss, and stared at the sleeping Li Xunmiao in shock.
“Qi Refinement…Sixth Layer. You can actually break through in your sleep?”
The sixth layer of Qi Refinement, which Gu Ze had risked danger and paid a heavy price to attain, had been reached by Li Xunmiao just by sleeping.
Well, maybe it was just that she absorbed the medicinal power from the pill a lot better than he did in the last few days. Gu Ze comforted himself with that thought.