Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 266: Chapter 264: Wealth Moves People’s Hearts

He flew the Seeking Truth Ship to a tiger-shaped mountain peak a thousand miles from Danxia Mountain and set it down.

Bai Zichen circled the area and found a high point. After confirming no one was around, he took out the Mystical Immortal Gauze and draped it over his body.

A quarter of an hour later, a Cloud Kite flew over, and a figure jumped down from it.

With a large head and sparse hair, it was none other than Huang Ping Wanderer.

From his hiding spot, Bai Zichen confirmed that the other man had come alone and had no hidden helpers before removing the Mystical Immortal Gauze and revealing himself.

”Little Friend Bai, so you were already here. You gave me quite a scare!”

Huang Ping Wanderer was visibly stunned. It was as if a Cultivator had materialized within the range of his Divine Sense without any warning whatsoever.

”It’s just a minor Concealing Breath Technique. Nothing worth mentioning.”

Bai Zichen waved his hand and said, ”Since Fellow Daoist Huang is here, I assume you’re willing to honor our deal... Let’s make the trade. As we agreed, I’ll add an extra Top-Grade Spirit Stone for you.”

Back at the Pill King Conference, he had wanted to acquire another bottle of Guangling Pills. He happened to notice that Huang Ping Wanderer had no intention of bidding, which gave him an idea.

He had contacted him via Sound Transmission, asking Huang Ping Wanderer to help win the auction for the Guangling Pills. He promised to pay whatever the final price was, plus an additional Top-Grade Spirit Stone as a reward for bidding on his behalf.

It was worth a shot, anyway. If it worked out, all the better.

If the other party was unwilling, or backed out after winning the bid, he wouldn’t lose anything either.

The main reason was that only two Cultivators who hadn’t yet bid remained: a female Cultivator in white robes and Huang Ping Wanderer.

Huang Ping Wanderer had been in Liang Country for over a century, and Bai Zichen had never heard any stories of his misdeeds. He was considered a Core Formation True Man with a decent reputation.

Of course, he had still taken precautions. This was someone else’s territory, after all. If the man had gathered helpers and he just waited foolishly at the appointed location, wouldn’t he be walking right into a trap?

”Indeed, it is time to complete our transaction... However, I feel we should revise the numbers a bit.”

Huang Ping Wanderer said with a sly grin, rubbing his few strands of dry, yellow hair.

Bai Zichen’s voice turned cold. ”It seems you have no intention of honoring our agreement, Fellow Daoist Huang.”

’I’ve been in the Sect so long I’ve almost forgotten what the Cultivation Realm is really like,’ he thought.

His recent dealings with the Tianhe Sword Sect, a rather rule-abiding Sect with a chivalrous spirit, had given him the wrong impression.

Expecting a Core Formation True Man he barely knew to honor a verbal agreement was indeed naive.

”What agreement? I am now reselling the Guangling Pills to you... I won’t ask for much. Just give me the original price plus an additional twenty Top-Grade Spirit Stones!”

A hint of greed appeared on Huang Ping Wanderer’s face, and he sized Bai Zichen up like a piece of meat.

”You’ve got a lot of nerve. To know who I am and still dare to make such a demand.”

The Moonlight Sword Light appeared in his hand. Bai Zichen looked at Huang Ping Wanderer as if he were already a dead man.

’He says twenty Top-Grade Spirit Stones, but if I retreat even a single step and show any weakness, he’ll press his advantage and make increasingly outrageous demands.’

’Eventually, it will escalate to robbery and murder.’

”It’s precisely because I know who you are that I’m even giving you face. Any other newly ascended Core Formation True Man would have been stripped bare, plundered, and burned to ash by now... Only in a place like Liang Country would you be hailed as an invincible Sword Cultivator with Nascent Soul Form. Anyone who’s been to the Central Domain and seen the disciples of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect wouldn’t dare make such a boast!”

Huang Ping Wanderer’s face twisted into a savage sneer as he dropped all pretense.

”I am an Inner Sect Disciple of the Celestial Star Sect! If I hadn’t offended that little wench from the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, would I have fallen so low? How dare a mere Early-Stage Core Formation punk like you order me around! Hand over your Tier Four Flying Sword! I’ll offer it to my master, and he’ll surely absolve me of my crimes and welcome me back to the Sect!”

As he spoke, Huang Ping Wanderer had already formed two giant hands of cloud and mist. One from above and one from below, they smashed toward Bai Zichen with immense power.

”Such arrogance... A disciple of the Celestial Star Sect, are you? Let’s see what gives you such confidence!”

Sensing the slight, the Moon Xuan Sword in his hand pulsed with an eagerness to be unleashed. Bai Zichen let out a long cry. Without dodging or evading, he sent his sword splitting in two directions.

Of the Five Domains in the Cultivation Realm, the Central Domain was developed first. Long before the other Four Domains existed, its inhabitants were already vigorously pioneering Spirit Veins and expanding their territory.

Strictly speaking, the Four Domains only came to be because the Central Domain could no longer accommodate so many Cultivators, forcing them to expand outward in all directions.

The earliest pioneers of the Four Domains were all Sects that had lost out in the competitive environment of the Central Domain. Left with no other choice, they traveled to distant lands, blazing a trail through the wilderness with great hardship.

Therefore, Cultivators from the Central Domain held a condescending attitude toward those from the other domains.

The two giant hands of cloud and mist before him were not as simple as a Capturing Hand condensed from True Essence. A simple grasping motion from them created the inescapable feeling that no matter how he dodged, he could not get away.

One palm blotted out the sky and the other covered the earth, sealing off the space between heaven and earth.

Bai Zichen recalled the Heaven and Earth Opening Sword Intent stored in his Sea of Consciousness. Ever since he comprehended it before the Sword Mark Jade Disc, it had been gradually integrating into his Sword Dao as he practiced the True Enlightenment Sword Technique.

To manifest true Sword Intent, one had to use a Flying Sword to channel the True Intent of the Great Dao. He was still a long way from achieving that.

Yet now, by merely imitating its form, his sword strike already carried a trace of that unique power.

The Moonlight Sword Light spread like water, neither hurried nor slow, as it sliced across the two giant cloud-mist palms.

With a sound like tearing silk—RRRRIP!—the giant palms were rent in two.

The clouds and mist tried to converge, desperately attempting to merge back into one, but an invisible force held them apart, causing them to fail several times in a row.

”Impossible!”

Huang Ping Wanderer turned pale with shock. The Celestial Star Sect was a Super Major Sect that had produced two Divinity Transformation Great Powers in the last three thousand years. It was a top-tier Sect even in the Central Domain.

As an Inner Sect Disciple, he had reached the Foundation Establishment Perfect Realm and formed his own Pill Discussion on the concept of ’gathering and scattering at will.’ This allowed him to comprehend the Cloud Escape technique, and a Nascent Soul True Monarch had made an exception to take him in as a disciple.

Once he reached Core Formation, he was set to be promoted to a Core Disciple, with a limitless future ahead of him.

But at a critical moment, he had gotten carried away with his success. When a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Five Phoenix Sword Sect came to visit his master, he had disrespectfully flirted with a young girl the True Monarch brought with him.

Who would have known that the girl was no ordinary disciple, but a direct blood relative of this Nascent Soul True Monarch—his most beloved descendant.

His master had been furious and expelled him from his tutelage, though fortunately, he didn’t cripple his Cultivation.

Huang Ping Wanderer knew that without the protection of his status as a Celestial Star Sect disciple, it was only a matter of time before the Cultivators from the Five Phoenix Sword Sect found him. And when they did, death was the only outcome.

And so he fled in disgrace, crossing more than ten countries before finally stopping in the far northern Liang Country.

Relying on the Core Formation resources he had brought from the Celestial Star Sect, Huang Ping Wanderer quickly reached Core Formation and began to thrive in the Liang Country Cultivation Realm.

He looked down on all of Liang Country’s Cultivators, with the sole exception of the disciples from the Holy Lotus Sect.

Whether in terms of Cultivation Techniques, Divine Techniques, or worldly experience, they simply weren’t on the same level.

This was especially true after he had managed to escape with his life from Wan Qi, the Supreme Elder of the Sun Concealing Sword Sect, using his Cloud Escape technique while still at the Early-Stage Core Formation. That feat had only fueled his ambition.

He felt that with his current Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivation, he could already do as he pleased in the Liang Country Cultivation Realm, and might not even lose a fight against one of the handful of Perfect Core Formation Cultivators.

He had always hidden his true strength. His original plan was to win Master Zhu’s trust, then lure him out with the pretext of having discovered some ancient ruins to explore together.

Then he would kill Master Zhu, confident that the wealth of an Alchemy Grandmaster would be enough to support his Cultivation all the way to the Late-Stage Core Formation.

But Bai Zichen’s appearance had made him change his mind. He saw a direct opportunity to return to his Sect.

’This lucky kid managed to get a Tier Four Flying Sword to acknowledge him as its master.’

’If I just kill him and seize the Tier Four Flying Sword... although I certainly won’t be able to make it acknowledge me, just bringing it back to the Celestial Star Sect would be a great achievement.’

’Master would surely forgive that trivial matter from a hundred years ago and accept me as his disciple once more.’

A Super Sect like the Celestial Star Sect had a fair number of Tier Four Spiritual Treasures, but not a single Tier Four Flying Sword.

At least, not publicly.

But the moment they clashed, Huang Ping Wanderer realized things were not going as he had anticipated.

This Cloud Dragon Mist Tiger Grand Capturing Hand was a derivative Magic of the Cultivation Technique he practiced; the deeper his Cultivation, the stronger its power.

Furthermore, he had integrated High-Tier Spiritual Materials into the cloud-mist giant palms—enough to refine several Magical Treasures. Since they could reform at will no matter how they were damaged, he had no need for ordinary Magical Treasures.

But against a single sword strike that emulated the Heaven and Earth Opening Sword Intent, the cloud-mist giant palms were rendered unable to reform, effectively crippling them.

”It is impolite not to return a gift. Fellow Daoist Huang, please offer me your guidance on this next strike!”

As moonlight cascaded down, Bai Zichen discovered that when wielding the Moon Xuan Sword, he had many more possible variations in his Swordsmanship.

Beneath the endless moonlight, the unique properties of the Tier Four Flying Sword allowed him to launch an attack from any point he desired, free of all constraints.

Meanwhile, the existence of the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box provided the support for his various Sword Control concepts.

If the Sword Box hadn’t reduced the Flying Sword’s toll to a mere one-hundredth, the Tier Four weapon would have drained all his True Essence after just a few strikes. He would never have been able to wield it so freely.

This was also a major reason why Huang Ping Wanderer had dared to confront him. In his mind, Daoist He must have been slain in a single strike because he had underestimated the power of a Tier Four Flying Sword.

But he possessed the Cloud Escape technique and could come and go as he pleased; dodging a few strikes from the Tier Four Flying Sword would be simple. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Once Bai Zichen was too weak to wield the Moon Xuan Sword any longer, he would be just an ordinary Early-Stage Core Formation Cultivator, ripe for the picking.

But Huang Ping Wanderer quickly discovered that every single one of his estimations about Bai Zichen was dead wrong.

The Moonlight Sword Light was relentless. The attacks were wild and untraceable, like a heavenly steed soaring through the sky or an antelope hanging by its horns, striking from every conceivable and inconceivable angle.

This forced him to constantly activate his Cloud Escape technique, using the clouds to weave about nimbly and dodge the unending streams of Sword Light.

’How many strikes has that been? Why isn’t he stopping?!’

Cloud Escape was no ordinary Escape Technique. As a powerful technique on par with Thunder Escape and Star Escape, it was incredibly difficult to cultivate and consumed an astonishing amount of True Essence.

Combined with Huang Ping Wanderer’s Pill Discussion Talent for moving at will, even the Tier Four Flying Sword was a step too slow, unable to lock onto his position.

But to Huang Ping Wanderer’s horror, just as he was beginning to feel the strain of his dwindling True Essence, he saw that Bai Zichen’s expression was unchanged, still commanding the Tier Four Flying Sword to dance through the air with ease.

Moreover, the Moonlight grew ever denser, and each successive sword strike was faster than the one before.

’Damn it, something’s not right with this kid... I have to get out of here. If I stay any longer, I might really get injured by that Tier Four weapon.’

Fear sprouted in Huang Ping Wanderer’s heart. He didn’t dare take a single hit from the Tier Four Flying Sword.

With a single thought, his body dissolved into a patch of cloud and mist, passing through the blockade of the Moonlight Sword Light.

When he reappeared from within a cloud, he was already over a thousand feet away, his face now much paler.