Upon hearing this, Li Xunmiao immediately puffed out her cheeks and lightly thumped Gu Ze’s chest, saying coquettishly, “Then Master should have told me sooner.”
“Shizun showed me great kindness in discovering me. Even if I can only offer my meager strength, I am willing to help.”
She also understood how vast the gap was between qi refinement and the Nascent Soul stage. No wonder Gu Ze had looked so troubled before.
Gu Ze pondered for a moment before telling Li Xunmiao about the method recorded in the pill recipe regarding sacrificing disciples to plunder opportunities during a tribulation.
Being sharp and intelligent, she instantly understood what Gu Ze was worried about.
Li Xunmiao’s gaze sharpened as she thought it over.
“Wang Xiao has always been at odds with Shizun. I only found out after browsing through some books that the two have almost never stopped fighting over the Dao for 300 years.”
“It wasn’t an accident that we went to Weijin mountain to snatch the divine fire on Shizun’s behalf; almost every time an opportunity related to water or fire elements appears, the two of them fight for it.”
“But water naturally counters fire, and Shizun has always managed to suppress Wang Xiao.”
She continued, “Wang Xiao must have been plotting for this Nascent Soul opportunity for a long time. He doesn’t just want to take this chance to reach the Nascent Soul stage; he also wants to eliminate Shizun in one fell swoop.”
“Otherwise, there would be no need for him to wait until Shizun was undergoing her tribulation. Clearly, other golden core cultivators are weaker than Shizun, and the success rate of plundering their opportunities would be higher.”
Seeing that Li Xunmiao had considered so much, Gu Ze was somewhat surprised.
However, the girl’s analysis made a lot of sense. There was no telling how many opportunities Wang Xiao had lost because of Qingquan.
But when he thought about how Wang Xiao sacrificed his own disciples and used any means necessary for an opportunity, Gu Ze felt that Qingquan’s interference wasn’t necessarily intentional.
For the most part, it was likely that Wang Xiao had done something Qingquan found intolerable.
Fire was inherently a cold, heartless thing; it didn’t recognize people or reason. It only cared whether something was flammable or not, leaving only ashes after the burn. To Wang Xiao, people were categorized only as useful or useless.
Water, on the other hand, possessed emotion, nourishing things silently. It was gentle like silk, yet it could not be severed or crushed, making it the most resilient substance. It was just like Qingquan’s indelible heart of the dao that craved to become stronger.
Perhaps from the moment the two entered the cloudsea immortal pavilion, this struggle over the path had been destined.
If only one of them could remain…
Stepping into Gong Lixing’s perspective, Gu Ze found it truly difficult to choose.
One would become a top-tier combat power for the cloudsea immortal pavilion after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, perhaps even becoming the strongest Nascent Soul in the future.
The other was the preeminent alchemist of the cloudsea immortal pavilion. If she could reach the Nascent Soul stage, there would be very few Nascent Soul stage alchemists in the entire world.
It was a difficult choice.
He could only silently allow the two to fight over the Dao themselves, leaving the victory or defeat to heaven’s will.
Yet, Gong Lixing still favored Qingquan.
Even though she was in secluded cultivation, Gong Lixing was still willing to make a trip personally to give Gu Ze the task of intercepting Wang Xiao’s divine fire opportunity.
In the end, though, Wang Xiao still paid a heavy price to trade for the divine fire.
Watching the flames rising within Li Xunmiao’s body, the luster in Gu Ze’s golden jinmou eyes faded. He did not expose Li Xunmiao’s secret.
If Li Xunmiao hadn’t handed over the divine fire back then, the two of them would likely have brought a fatal disaster upon themselves.
If he had known earlier that Wang Xiao had such plans, Gu Ze would have died before bringing Li Xunmiao deep into the tiger’s den.
Trading with Wang Xiao was truly like bargaining with a tiger for its skin; one mistake could have killed their own peak lord.
‘Every man has his fault, but possessing a jade is a crime in itself.’
Settling into Li Xunmiao’s Dongfu, Gu Ze did not allow her to leave, even though she intended to go out and do something for Qingquan.
Despite this being Li Xunmiao’s Dongfu, where she should have the final say, nowhere in the outside world was as safe as this small area where Wang Xiao could not sense them.
At night, Gu Ze continued to meditate.
Li Xunmiao actually really wanted to say that she had specifically dried the quilts on the sun-facing side of the Dongfu. They were warm and smelled like the sun, and she wanted to share them with Gu Ze.
But seeing how serious her Master was while meditating, she could only lie down in front of him and cultivate while tucked into the covers.
Li Xunmiao even had a faint feeling that Gu Ze’s daily meditation was actually spent thinking of ways to help Shizun with her tribulation.
The truth was close to her guess.
“Qingquan.”
Soon, Gu Ze entered the Tribulation Space in his soul fire state.
Hearing Gu Ze call out to her, Qingquan appeared immediately.
The two had no need for idle chatter. Gu Ze directly brought out a massive amount of Qi Supplement Pills and piled them in front of Qingquan.
“You are truly generous, Daoist friend. With such a massive amount of qi supplement pills, it will be enough for me to deal with this tribulation!”
“Actually, I’m a bit curious. Refining such a vast quantity of qi supplement pills feels like it would exhaust the entire medicinal herb stock of my Biluo Peak. Where did you get so many materials?” Qingquan asked curiously.
“A Daoist friend left them behind,” Gu Ze said without lying. That Daoist friend of his was right in front of him.
“What a generous Daoist friend. I wonder if they are male or female? Would it be convenient for me to pay a visit?” Qingquan asked indirectly.
“A woman. It… wouldn’t be very convenient to visit.” Gu Ze looked Qingquan up and down and teased, “She is quite shy. Even I haven’t seen her appearance with my own eyes.”
“A truly remarkable woman indeed.” Qingquan didn’t sense anything wrong at all.
“Let’s not talk about her for now. Over the past few days, I’ve learned some secrets regarding your tribulation. Someone is pulling strings from behind, planning to plunder your opportunity.” Gu Ze did not forget the main business.
Qingquan seemed to have expected this and gave a cold laugh. “It’s Wang Xiao, isn’t it? My intuition tells me it must be him! The fact that this unknown fire has inexplicably increased by 100,000 definitely has everything to do with him.”
“Correct. Not only that, he plans to use heaven and earth as a furnace to refine you into a pill…” Gu Ze told Qingquan everything he knew in detail.
Qingquan didn’t doubt him in the least.
The two had been rivals for many years. No matter what kind of evil methods he used, Qingquan wouldn’t be surprised.
“Heh, you probably think this is just a struggle over the Dao between the two of us, right? But in reality, I have never viewed Wang Xiao as an opponent. He isn’t worthy!”
“I achieved the golden core at 20 years old and reached golden core perfection at twenty-eight. After that, I discovered that my cultivation method conflicted with my constitution, making it impossible to form a Nascent Soul.”
“I once went to Dan yin peak to seek a pill, but the peak lord of Dan yin peak at the time was also helpless.”
“Back then, Wang Xiao was only a newly promoted Elder at the first level of the golden core stage. He took the initiative to approach me, saying he had a way to help me re-select a cultivation method and reverse my fate.”
“But do you know what kind of method he proposed? He said he needed me to cut off my own flesh to feed a disciple who hadn’t started cultivating yet. Since a golden core body isn’t easily destroyed, it can be regrown at any time.”
“Once the disciple had consumed my flesh and blood and stained themselves with a bit of my bloodline power, he would have them cultivate a method suitable for my constitution until the foundation establishment stage.”
“Then, he would throw the entire person into a pill furnace to refine them into a pill. I would only need to consume that pill to inherit the cultivation method that person had practiced.”
“Tell me, does a person who can come up with such a method deserve to be called a Daoist friend by me? He simply isn’t human! He’s a demon!”
“In the 300 years since then, he has indeed practiced his unique ‘dan dao.’ As far as I know, at least 3,000 Qi Refinement and foundation establishment disciples have been killed by Wang Xiao.”
“For such a person to become the peak lord of Dan yin peak… as long as I am around, my Biluo Peak will absolutely draw a clear line between us and Dan yin peak!”
Even with the chance to reach the Nascent Soul stage by sacrificing a disciple who had nothing to do with her, Qingquan hadn’t been able to bring herself to kill.
Because Qingquan knew that killing one innocent person was only the beginning; it would become her inner demon.
If she were haunted by inner demons in the future, Qingquan might end up harming even more innocent people because of it.
Gu Ze listened in silence to Qingquan’s indignant tale.
3,000 disciples in 300 years—and that was with Qingquan intervening many times.
“Does the Sect Master not care?” Gu Ze asked the most direct question.
“He does. But the irony is that the number of disciples who died at Wang Xiao’s hands is far fewer than those he has saved.”
“200 years ago, a plague broke out in our pavilion. It was poison planted by a demon sect. Any cultivator who caught it would go through all sorts of pain within three days; their bodies would rot and turn into bloody water, dying a miserable death.”
“All the alchemists and pharmacists were helpless. Only Wang Xiao personally stepped in to refine pills and neutralize the poison, saving the lives of at least tens of thousands of cultivators.”
“Perhaps in his eyes, human lives are just like medicinal herbs. When he needs them, he takes them and throws them into the pill furnace, and if he encounters a pest that causes a large area to wither, he steps in to save and nurture them.”
She added, “After that incident, the voices calling for Wang Xiao’s impeachment within the Zongmen grew much quieter. Gong Lixing could only turn a blind eye to it.”
“Is there any possibility that the poison was planted by Wang Xiao himself?”
After Gu Ze spoke, Qingquan also fell silent.
After 200 years, it was impossible to verify.
Moreover, Wang Xiao’s cultivation was average back then, so it would have been difficult for him to commit such a heinous act under the noses of several Nascent Soul cultivators in the cloudsea immortal pavilion without being discovered.
Although the possibility was small, it wasn’t impossible.
“If you can peer into Wang Xiao’s heart, perhaps you can find the answer.”
“I’ll go search the pill recipes he’s hiding after he dies to see if there are any similar exotic poisons.” Gu Ze didn’t actually care much whether Wang Xiao had any kindness left.
At the very least, the current Wang Xiao was certainly not a good person.
The world before him turned black again, and Gu Ze knew his time was up.
His spirit furnace was empty; all the qi supplement pills had been given to Qingquan.
He wondered if Qingquan would successfully complete her seclusion by the next time they met.
However, the expected scene of leaving the tribulation space and returning to the Dongfu to hear Li Xunmiao say good morning didn’t happen.
He only heard Qingquan let out a small “Eh?”
Crimson runes lit up all around the tribulation space, forming a cylinder that surrounded Qingquan in the center.
Gu Ze was also trapped and unable to leave.
The few remaining wisps of unknown fire around them became agitated, charging toward Qingquan.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Qingquan swept her small hand, instantly shattering the surrounding pills to refine the medicinal power.
This method was much faster than consuming them directly.
The flames were extinguished by the teardrops she flung out, and gradually, Qingquan’s aura grew stronger and stronger.
She had clearly already stepped halfway out of the gates of the Golden Core stage.
However, entering the Nascent Soul stage officially involved not just a heavenly tribulation, but also a human tribulation.
The runes surrounding the entire space transformed into dots of starlight. 365 points of fire light formed a great circumference bewildering array.
Eight brilliant red disaster stars shone, reflecting a deep red light onto Qingquan’s hair.
This place had already become an eight trigrams furnace that sealed off heaven and earth. The person inside the furnace had no way to escape this disaster.