Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

146: Qinglan Sect Inner DiscipleHis magnificent, overwhelming sword intent was irresistible, like an invisible, ten-thousand-foot iceberg crashing down, instantly freezing the entire scorched earth.

The air was thick as mercury; every breath tugged at their lungs, carrying a rusty, bloody stench mixed with the smell of charring, settling heavily on everyone’s hearts.

The sword intent was pervasive, piercing the skin, invading the bone marrow, and freezing any thought of resistance deep within the soul, leaving behind only the primal urge to prostrate oneself in fear.

Amidst this suffocating pressure, the slightly plump cultivator Xu Shousheng leaped smoothly down from the sword-rainbow, resembling a nimbly rolling ball of flesh.

He landed feather-lightly, without stirring a single speck of dust, demonstrating a sophisticated movement technique that seemed contradictory to his size.

After settling, he immediately cupped his hands and bowed to everyone. His plump face was wreathed in genial smiles, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling into benevolent, chrysanthemum-like patterns.

His voice was loud but not grating, sounding like a good-natured, plump neighborhood shopkeeper greeting customers:

”Greetings, fellow Daoists! I am Xu Shousheng, an Inner Disciple of the Qinglan Sect—just an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator, nothing more.”

He raised a hand, casually pointing his thumb toward the hovering flying sword above his head, his tone as familiar as if introducing his own brother:

”That cold-faced grim reaper up there is my Senior Brother, Xu Li. He’s also an Inner Disciple.

May I ask which one of you is the notorious Fourth Boss of Black Wind Stockade? Your reputation precedes you; it rings like thunder in my ears, haha!”

”Swish!”

Dozens of gazes, as if pulled by invisible threads, instantly shot in unison toward a single direction.

A hundred paces away, a staggering white-robed figure was desperately scrambling across the charred ground, stumbling and uneven with every step.

Gong Yunyu’s carefully selected, snow-white long robe, which was meant to highlight his ”elegant” demeanor, was now as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark amidst the surrounding devastation.

He looked even more like a white piglet that had accidentally wandered into a slaughterhouse and was scared out of its mind.

He scrambled desperately, his heart already overflowing with despair and absurdity, complaining wildly to himself:

”It’s me again? Why is it always me? Did I step in dog shit or poke a wasp nest when I left today? What terrible luck, terrible luck indeed!”

His mind was a tangled mess, his footing unstable, and he stumbled, nearly face-planting hard into the dirt.

Xu Shousheng’s figure shifted slightly, as if he had merely wobbled in place, yet the next moment he appeared like a phantom directly in front of Gong Yunyu, perfectly blocking his escape route.

The Maitreya Buddha-like smile on his face remained unchanged. He still held his hands cupped, his tone so sincere it could drip honey:

”Fellow Daoist must be the Fourth Boss? Oh my, my deepest apologies! Seeing you today, your reputation is truly well-deserved. You possess the features of a dragon and a phoenix, an extraordinary demeanor, and that white robe makes you stand out like a crane among chickens—truly a dragon among men!”

The flattery sounded so heartfelt that it should have made the listener feel utterly comfortable.

Gong Yunyu slammed to a halt, nearly running headfirst into Xu Shousheng.

Still shaken, he looked up, meeting Xu Shousheng’s seemingly smiling but actually bottomless eyes, while simultaneously feeling the bone-chilling cold radiating from the flying sword overhead, a coldness that threatened to freeze his very soul.

His heart instantly sank to the bottom of an icy abyss.

The strained smile on his face instantly crumbled, twisting into an expression that mingled fear, despair, and forced joviality.

He bowed so low his waist nearly snapped, his forehead almost touching the cold scorched earth, his voice shaking beyond recognition:

”Se-Senior! You humble me too much, far too much! I... I am just a mere errand runner for Black Wind Stockade; how could I possibly deserve such excessive praise!

Do... Do you have any instructions? I... I will definitely carry them out, even if it means spilling my guts and brains!”

Cold sweat streamed down his temples like a small creek, soaking his sideburns and running down his neck into his collar, bringing with it waves of biting coldness.

He frantically calculated in his mind whether he had inadvertently offended yet another cultivator with a profound background.

”Oh, fellow Daoist, you exaggerate! Forget about whether I’m a Senior or not, let’s treat each other as equals, as equals!”

Xu Shousheng waved his hands repeatedly, the smile on his plump face remaining as warm as a spring breeze, but the fleeting, icy sharpness deep within his eyes...

...was like an invisible blade silently held against Gong Yunyu’s neck, making the hair on his body stand on end instantly.

”It’s nothing major, just fulfilling a request someone entrusted to me.”

He rubbed his hands together, as if discussing a minor business transaction.

”Patriarch Liu of the Liu family asked me to come and request a favor from the Fourth Boss. You see, that three thousand spirit stone ransom... could you perhaps be magnanimous and waive it?

And could you also be so kind as to spare the Liu family cultivators?

We all make a living in this area. We often cross paths; the mountain doesn’t turn, but the water does. It’s wise to leave some room for future relations so we can meet again amicably, isn’t it?”

His voice was gentle and his pace unhurried, but every single word was like a barbed nail, aggressively stabbing into Gong Yunyu’s heart.

Gong Yunyu felt a wave of icy despair instantly seize his heart, leaving him barely enough strength to even whimper.

The Lin family already had a ’Senior Thunder Cultivator’ capable of crushing a seventh-level Qi Condensation cultivator like an ant using a bestowed talisman; this had already plunged him into an abyss.

Now, even the Liu family, whom he had intended to bleed dry, had managed to summon a major figure—an Inner Disciple of the Qinglan Sect!

What kind of dragon’s pool and tiger’s den was this broken, desolate backwater?

He felt like a fat sheep that had stumbled into a circle of wolves—small, helpless, and trembling, about to be gnawed until not even bone fragments remained.

In a daze, it almost felt as if the villainous Black Wind Stockade had become the weak faction, open to being bullied by everyone.

”I wouldn’t dare! Absolutely not!”

Gong Yunyu bobbed his head against the ground like a chicken pecking rice, speaking incoherently.

”The Liu family... the matter of the Liu family is entirely up to you, Senior! I... I have absolutely no objection! None whatsoever!”

He now had only one thought in his mind: to quickly escape this cursed place.

Since the spirit stones on him had already been handed over, if necessary, he would simply give up the remaining magical artifacts and pills as well.

As long as he could save his life, anything was negotiable.

”Mhm, that’s the right attitude! Harmony brings wealth; peace is paramount in all things!”

Xu Shousheng nodded contentedly, his smile broadening further, like a sunflower blooming toward the sun.

His gaze slowly swept over the scene of devastation like a searchlight, passing over the terrified, pale-faced bandits of Black Wind Stockade, sweeping over the crestfallen Liu family members who looked like beaten roosters, and finally pausing briefly on the Lin family disciples whose eyes held complex emotions after surviving the ordeal.

When his gaze landed on Lin Jingyu, who stood in the center of the scorched earth—his clothes stained with blood but his back still ramrod straight—a flicker of almost imperceptible surprise quickly crossed the depths of Xu Shousheng’s eyes.

This young man seemed quite extraordinary.

Finally, his gaze locked firmly onto Liu Chengcai, who was deathly pale and trembling like a sieve.