Stealing Immortal

Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Great Soul

In the small courtyard, on the bed.

His vision was dim.

The surrounding furnishings were a blur. He could only feel a gentle breeze drifting by.

After a long while, Chen Qingyang opened his eyes. He exhaled a breath of Dense Qi, splitting it into three clean puffs. Life surged through his body, and he felt a bit more vigorous.

A single lamp cast a dim glow.

It dispelled much of the darkness.

He stood up and removed his undergarments.

He was gaunt and his skin was slightly loose, but at least he could straighten his back now. The signs of old age were now mostly concentrated on his face.

He had been using many Elixirs lately, so his Cultivation was advancing quickly. His physical body was thus receiving more nourishment and beginning to grow younger. Conversely, if one’s Cultivation progressed slowly, their body would decay more, and they would age with extreme ease.

Therefore, the secret to staying young was for one’s Cultivation to advance by a thousand miles a day.

He pushed open the window.

The peaks of the Jade Mountain Group were beginning to light up, one by one. The cold receded as Yin and Yang converged between heaven and earth. At this moment, all of creation was on the verge of being reborn.

On several peaks, the Golden Summits gleamed with a golden light. Streaks of white, gold, red, and other colors shot across the skyline—Flying Swords or other Magical Artifacts.

’They’re the ones who truly seem to be in an Immortal Sect!’

Qi Refining, Essence Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Life Light, Golden Core...

Only by entering the Foundation Establishment Realm could one be considered a true member of an Immortal Sect, free to soar through the heavens and stir the four seas!

Back in the courtyard, Xu Yong and Lü Yunshen were not yet awake. Chen Qingyang had already gotten himself ready and was heading to the Hongling Token.

The path was deserted. The morning dew had not yet dried on the blades of grass poking out from the roadside, and there were even patches of frost. Walking close to the edge, Chen Qingyang’s shoes and socks were soaked in just a few steps, and he could feel the distinct chill.

He entered the token building and settled into a small cubicle, the carving knife held steady in his hand.

The Refined Iron used for making Dao Rhyme Patterns was extraordinary. It radiated waves of warmth in his hand, its quality as fine as jade.

His heart was not anxious, so his hands were even steadier. Working at an unhurried pace, he completed four pieces in one morning.

”Junior Brother, why work so hard? Even if you had to go to the Golden Summit every day, I, your Senior Brother, would cover for you. What are you worried about?” Wu Boyou sidled up to him and said.

”Alas, I feel ashamed for troubling Senior Brother so often. Besides, my reputation among the Miscellaneous Task disciples isn’t very good, so I must do more.”

Wu Boyou looked as if he had heard the funniest joke, his black robes unable to conceal the jiggling flesh of his belly. ”Is that important? Not at all... The Elixir you gave me was excellent; it was worth a month of my effort. If I had that kind of treatment every day, I’m afraid I would have reached Essence Condensation long ago.”

He sounded like he was asking for more Elixirs, yet also as if he were lamenting his own unfair situation.

This sort of sentiment was common among the Steward disciples.

”I am grateful for Senior Brother Wu’s care. If I get any new Qi Gathering Pills in the next few days, I’ll grab one for you.”

Wu Boyou was instantly overjoyed. ”Do you really mean that?”

”How would I dare deceive Senior Brother Wu?”

”Aiya!” Wu Boyou exclaimed, quite moved. ”Junior Brother Chen is truly a good junior brother to me. I heard the Sword Master is very concerned about his disciple and even specially invited a Peak Master who specializes in the Divine Soul Dao to see her. But alas, Senior Sister Li’s injuries are just too severe. I’m afraid she might...”

Chen Qingyang quickly cut in, ”It’s just an injury to her Divine Soul. All she needs is a Glazed Heaven Repairing Pill. Disciples from the Tai Hao Sword Institute have already gone out to search for one. It’s only a matter of time before she wakes up.”

The news Wu Boyou had heard wasn’t precise, so he could only trust Chen Qingyang. ”Heh, Junior Brother Chen is the well-informed one! I didn’t know any of that!”

With this, there would be no more trouble from the Hongling Token, at least in the short term. He could now focus on dealing with Xu Baoling.

Golden Summit.

Liu Tao’s Alchemy Room.

It was cold outside the room, but a gentle warmth emanated from within.

When Chen Qingyang entered, Liu Tao was reaching into a Pill Furnace and pulling out three Qi Gathering Pills.

”What do you think of their quality?”

Their color was vibrant, their surfaces were flawless, and a fragrant medicinal aroma wafted from them.

”They’re good Pills!”

”Take them all. Remember, it’s best to take one every seven days. Taking more won’t do you any good.”

They were still a bit hot to the touch when Chen Qingyang held them. ”Thank you, Senior Sister!”

”So, tell me. What did you do with that bitch last night?”

”I couldn’t really do much. I just exchanged the Qi Gathering Pill and listened to her say a lot of bad things about you!”

Liu Tao moved closer. ”The bitch spoke ill of me? So what did you do?”

She didn’t seem to care at all about what was said.

”What else could I do? I could only play along. I don’t think she suspects me for now. She even said she’d wait for me again tonight.”

Liu Tao was angry but also helpless. ”Hmph. Then when you’re doing Alchemy today, add half a qian of this Star Meteor Powder. Feed it to her for half a month straight, and it’s sure to take effect.”

Chen Qingyang shook his head. ”Weren’t you the one who said Xu Baoling is incredibly cunning? I haven’t earned her trust yet. I can’t do that.”

Liu Tao started to get annoyed again. ”Can’t do this, can’t do that. Are you just smitten by that bitch’s good looks and can’t bear to act against her?”

’I’m starting to suspect Xu Baoling stole a man from Liu Tao before,’ Chen Qingyang thought. ’Why else would she be so insecure and possessive?’

”What good is her beauty to me? She was originally planning to kill me that night! If I hadn’t assessed the situation and acted accordingly, I wouldn’t even be standing here!”

Liu Tao picked up her teacup and gulped it down, only stopping when her breathing had calmed slightly.

By now, Chen Qingyang was extremely skilled at processing the raw materials, showing the flair of an Alchemy Grandmaster. His Fire Control technique had also improved, and the three Qi-Introducing Pills he produced were all quite effective.

They waited until the sky was completely dark before the Pill Furnace’s fire was gradually extinguished.

Unafraid of the heat, Liu Tao grabbed them in her hand.

”One for you, one for me, and this one... it’s the ugliest, so we’ll give it to that bitch.” She then spat. ”I can’t believe I’m not putting poison on it. I’m so not okay with this!”

Chen Qingyang ignored her ravings and just took the Elixir.

”Senior Sister, I have another matter to discuss.”

”What now?”

”I’m currently a Miscellaneous Task disciple, so I don’t have a master to teach me Magic. The only thing I cultivate is the Tai Xu Energy-Introducing Technique. I don’t have a single life-saving method for critical moments, and I’m stuck doing this dangerous job. Could Senior Sister perhaps teach me some Life-saving Techniques or something?”

’I’ve wanted to say this for a long time,’ he thought. ’But my relationship with Liu Tao hadn’t reached this stage. Surely we can be considered allies now.’

Liu Tao sneered. ”So now you know fear. Privately teaching a Dharma Gate is grounds for having your Cultivation crippled. My master is extremely strict with her disciples. If she finds out, she will be very eager to strike me dead with her own palm.”

”Isn’t there any other Magic Technique? Senior Sister, we’re two grasshoppers on the same string now!”

The Seven Arts were taught by the Sect and could be obtained at the Cloud Scripture Jade Pavilion. But the True Skills that came after the Tai Xu Energy-Introducing Technique had to be taught by a master after one was promoted to an official Outer Disciple. This is what’s meant by ”skills are not taught lightly.”

This was exactly where Chen Qingyang was stuck.

Liu Tao lowered her head in deep thought, her silver hair hiding half her face. After a long moment, she looked up, suppressing a mischievous smile. ”I actually do have a technique. It wasn’t obtained from the Tai Xu Sect, so teaching it to you won’t violate the Sect’s rules. But this thing is strange. Whether or not you can learn it is up to you.”

Making it sound so mysterious, Chen Qingyang couldn’t help but ask, ”What kind of Dharma Gate is it?”

”I happened to pick it up by chance A Hundred Years ago when I went down the mountain. The Dharma Gate is called the Great Soul Scripture, and it cultivates the abilities of the Divine Soul. It’s said that at a high level, one’s Divine Soul can be split in two, so even if half of you dies, the other half remains. But this thing is also ridiculously dangerous. I only tried it once, and it caused my temperament to change drastically, making me irritable and quick to anger... Heh heh, I think you, with your old bones, had better not mess with it.”

Chen Qingyang studied Liu Tao carefully, making her feel a little uneasy. ”What, has a flower bloomed on my face? Am I that attractive to you?”

”Senior Sister, I want to try it.”

”Suit yourself. If you want to die, why should I stop you? Just remember, if you can’t learn it, don’t force it. You don’t want to end up like me...”

She took out a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. It took her half a day to write out eleven pages, which she then handed to Chen Qingyang. It looked to be four or five thousand words. ”It’s still a Fragmented Technique. This is all there is to it!”

Doubt arose in Chen Qingyang’s heart. ”Senior Sister, are you sure you remember it word for word? Don’t let me suffer a cultivation backlash, please?”

Liu Tao became furious. ”Get out, get out, get out! Take it or leave it!”

He took the pages and tucked them into his sleeve, leaving with the five Elixirs.

When he returned to the same spot today, he didn’t see Xu Baoling. Chen Qingyang couldn’t help but wonder, ’Could she have been delayed by something?’

As he neared the mountainside, a gust of wind suddenly blew, and a figure descended before him. It was Xu Baoling.

Chen Qingyang understood at once. She had been observing him the entire way, checking to see if Liu Tao was secretly following him.

’This level of caution is truly hard to deal with!’

”Senior Sister Xu, I was starting to think you wouldn’t come today.” He bowed respectfully and then presented the Pill.

Xu Baoling flicked her sleeve, and the Pill flew into her grasp. ”Was the Pill Formation difficult today?”

”Not difficult, but I was held up by Senior Sister Liu. She wanted me to explain the Alchemy method to her in great detail.”

Xu Baoling sneered. ”As if one can learn it just by listening. If it were that easy, she would have broken through long ago. If you ask me, it’s better to let someone who’s actually good at it do the job... By the way, do you know what the first thing she’ll do is, once she learns how to refine Qi-Introducing Pills?”

Chen Qingyang shook his head.

Xu Baoling covered her mouth and smiled, looking radiant for a moment. ”Naturally, she’ll throw you into the Pill Furnace. Because you’ll have outlived your usefulness.”

Chen Qingyang’s expression turned to one of shock. ”Th-then what should I do?”

Xu Baoling didn’t answer, but instead said in a soft tone, ”Junior Brother Chen, if I were to ask you for the secret to refining Qi-Introducing Pills, would you tell me?”

”...I would.”

Smoothing her long skirt over her hips, Xu Baoling sat down on the steps and pointed to the spot beside her. ”Then sit down and tell me, slowly.”

For some reason, Chen Qingyang saw a faint golden light emanating from her, and a sense of reverence and worship instantly rose in his heart.

When he was very young, he would often go with his grandmother to burn incense at the temple. One time, after kneeling and kowtowing, he looked up and suddenly saw the majestic, several-zhang-tall idol. The feeling that welled up in his heart then was exactly like this.

’Liu Tao, oh Liu Tao, you’ve really gone senile. How could you not tell me something so important? This must be some kind of Magic that Xu Baoling is using.’

He pinched his thigh, which helped him steady his mind slightly.

”What are you spacing out for? Speak.”

Her voice was like a Brahma Sound, resonating as it descended from the Nine Heavens.

Chen Qingyang’s mind trembled. He even began to feel that the person before him was a Goddess, while he himself was sinful and full of guilt, wanting to confess all his dirty secrets at once.

He secretly pinched himself again and slowly began to speak about the Alchemy Dao.

This went on for nearly an hour. Seeing Chen Qingyang’s gaze constantly roving over her, Xu Baoling seemed extremely pleased.

”...Senior Sister, did you understand all that?”

”Mm, I understood. You explained it very well. I’ll wait for you here again tomorrow.”

”Okay, then I’ll head back first.”

Walking down the mountain, Chen Qingyang was drenched in a cold sweat.

During that hour, he had nearly lost control countless times, wanting to confess his and Liu Tao’s plot to harm her.

It was only because of his hundred years of memories as a Miscellaneous Task disciple that he had developed an extraordinary willpower.

’What in the world is Xu Baoling’s Evil Technique?’

He could only ask Liu Tao tomorrow; he didn’t dare go back up the mountain now.

In the small courtyard. Inside his room.

Chen Qingyang lit a candle and carefully read through the eleven pages of the Great Soul Scripture twice. Its complexity was beyond his imagination, almost incomprehensible.

”South Radiance, Taiyin... At the time of Taichu... by Nourishing the Yin Spirit, Opening the Mud Pill, Concealing the Spiritual Sea, and Splitting the Three Souls, until one can create thousands of incarnations, making one difficult to kill and impossible to extinguish...”

Just as Liu Tao had said, this technique was about Soul Cultivation. At its most profound level, one could split their Three Souls and Seven Spirits. Even if the body perished and their Dao died, the soul would not be extinguished. If he could truly learn it, it would be like gaining an extra life. But if he couldn’t comprehend it and tried to force it, he would end up even worse off than Liu Tao!

[Chen Qingyang]

[First Realm of Qi Refining]

[Tai Xu Energy-Introducing Technique: (5/200)]

[Tier One Qi-Introducing Pill: (22/100)]

[Great Soul Scripture (Fragmented): (0/100)]

[Available Immortal Seedlings: 2]

The Great Soul Scripture had indeed appeared on it. Since he couldn’t comprehend it at all on his own, he might as well take a shortcut.

With a thought, he used both Immortal Seedlings. A refreshing feeling washed through his Divine Soul. When he focused on it, he could vaguely feel that his Divine Soul had been strengthened.

’I wonder if this will be enough to resist Xu Baoling’s methods a little.’