Stealing Immortal

Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Yunshen

Tonight, he had been contemplating the art of breathing.

At this moment, the benefits of cultivating the Great Soul Scripture became apparent. His control and perception of his body were something he had never experienced before.

This method was like a supremely powerful elixir. It didn’t show its strength overtly, but it quietly and fundamentally changed one’s most basic aspect—comprehension.

After an hour of practice, Chen Qingyang could now control his aura. He became just like Xu Yong, appearing as a miscellaneous task disciple who had not yet begun Qi Refining.

As for the Qi Mechanism that constantly emanated from every pore of his body, controlling it was a difficult matter.

He could perceive it, but he just couldn’t control it. Either his cultivation needed to be raised further, or his mastery of the Great Soul Scripture had to improve.

The wind was cold; it was the dead of winter.

The fiery colors on the horizon appeared later and later each day.

Chen Qingyang had stopped his cultivation early. Inside his room, he stoked the charcoal in the brazier, boiled a kettle of water, and carefully wiped his face.

His skin had begun to regain its luster, and his eyes were once again dark and bright. As the saying goes, ”a man grows old and his pearls yellow”—the clouded eyes of an old man were completely gone from him.

He was paying more and more attention to his appearance, and he increasingly looked forward to the day he would regain the body of his youth.

Finally, he tidied up his beard, draped his robes over his shoulders, and went out.

Outside, the sky was a stark, brutal white.

A scholar in white robes paced alone under a tree, his feet leaving a deep trail in the snow below.

”Senior Brother Chen, my greetings.”

’It must have been five years since Lü Yunshen was this polite to me.’

He neither answered nor looked, simply continuing to walk forward.

Lü Yunshen grit his teeth fiercely and took a few more steps forward. ”Senior Brother Chen, please wait!”

Chen Qingyang finally stopped. ”What is it?”

Lü Yunshen wrung his hands, seemingly struggling to speak. ”...It’s about Junior Brother Xu. One day, I argued with him and let something slip... I mentioned the Profound Light Association. I’ve seen you with him these past two nights. Can you tell me about this Profound Light Association?”

Even the most aloof person has desires they can’t suppress.

No matter how great one’s abilities, everyone has a weakness.

’This man never remembers a kindness. His past mockery and ridicule are still fresh in my mind. It’s already generous of me not to hold it against him, so why would I help him?’

Chen Qingyang lifted his leg, about to leave.

At that moment, Lü Yunshen clenched his fists as if he had made a great resolve. With a THUD, he actually knelt before Chen Qingyang. ”Senior Brother Chen, I was ignorant before and offended you. Please, be the better man and don’t stoop to the level of an arrogant scholar like me. I know my talent isn’t poor; all I lack is an opportunity. In the future, I’ll have plenty of chances to repay you, Senior Brother Chen...”

It was surprising, yet not entirely unexpected.

In the beginning, they were all miscellaneous task disciples, with no fundamental differences.

He liked to preach grand principles because it gave him a sense of superiority.

Slowly, he discovered that some had surpassed him, and that some things were beyond his imagination. His own mind wasn’t resolute enough, and with his beliefs collapsing, his knees had simply given way.

This time, it was Chen Qingyang’s turn to sneer. ”Everyone says they’re just one breath away, but is it really just one breath?... Also, you and I are merely fellow disciples. Nothing more!”

Hearing this, Lü Yunshen refused to move aside. He grabbed the corner of Chen Qingyang’s robe and began to kowtow heavily again.

Although his tone was utterly sincere, Chen Qingyang, with his superior perception, still detected a trace of ruthlessness and defiance.

’This kind of person has a deep and calculating mind. In the future, he’ll hold all of this humiliation against you. Helping him will make him an enemy, and not helping him will also make him an enemy.’

Expressionlessly, an idea formed in Chen Qingyang’s mind.

”Get up.”

”Senior Brother Chen, you mean...”

”Follow me inside.”

Instantly, joy appeared on Lü Yunshen’s face. He paid no mind to his snot and tears, wiping them away with his sleeve. He shuffled forward on his knees all the way to the door before finally standing up.

Inside the room, a lingering warmth remained.

With a slight movement of his sleeve, Chen Qingyang produced a Qi Gathering Pill, which he then casually tossed to the seemingly dispirited Lü Yunshen on the floor.

”Ah... This... This is a Qi Gathering Pill... Such a high-quality Elixir...”

His excitement was beyond words.

’This Elixir was crafted by Xu Baoling, so of course it wouldn’t be of poor quality.’

”You’re clever enough to recognize a Qi Gathering Pill?”

”Senior Brother Chen, I’ve seen it in a Pill Book. I can smell the distinct fragrance of Nine-leaf Xuan Grass, so it must be a Qi Gathering Pill. Senior Brother Chen, is this a reward for me?”

When he was arrogant, he was arrogant to the core; once he started fawning, he fawned to the very end.

”Yes. You can take it now.”

What was there for Lü Yunshen to doubt? He immediately swallowed it. A moment later, a gentle breeze seemed to rise from his body, and astonishment flickered in his eyes.

’After twenty years in the Tai Xu Sect, I’ve finally consumed something good.’

Chen Qingyang carefully observed, but he didn’t obtain any Immortal Seedling.

’His aptitude is truly mediocre; he has no hope for Immortal Cultivation. Even if I got him kicked out of the Tai Xu Sect, I’d only get a tiny bit of Immortal Seedling. He’s not even worth exploiting that way.’

”I can get you into the Profound Light Association. I reckon Senior Brother Hu will give me some face!”

Lü Yunshen hurriedly asked, ”Senior Brother Chen, what does the Profound Light Association do?”

”Inside, there is a Magical Artifact shaped like a Bronze Lotus. As long as your accumulation is sufficient, you can use it to enter Qi Refining directly and become an Outer Disciple. With its help, Junior Brother Xu will probably break through very soon.”

”No wonder, no wonder...” Lü Yunshen was stunned for a long moment. ”I asked him, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. The hearts of men are not what they once were, truly not... Senior Brother Chen is the most righteous of all...”

Hearing this, Chen Qingyang just sneered inwardly.

”You’ve been in the Tai Xu Sect for twenty years, and your aptitude is quite good. If you accumulate a bit more and get some assistance, a breakthrough is certain. It’s just a pity you’ve lacked opportunities. But opportunities can be found, or they can be asked for, right?”

Lü Yunshen knelt and kowtowed again, the sound of his head hitting the floor resounding loudly.

Once you do something the first time, it becomes easier to do again.

”I beg Senior Brother Chen to show me a clear path!”

Chen Qingyang said, ”I want you to kneel and swear an oath to me. Swear that you will obey my every command from now on, and in return, I will do everything in my power to help you. How about it?”

For the sake of the Qi Gathering Pill, Lü Yunshen didn’t even hesitate. ”Yellow Heaven above, Thick Earth below, I, Lü Yunshen, swear this day to obey Chen... If I break this vow, may I be struck by five thunders from the heavens and die with ten thousand arrows piercing my heart...”

’Such an oath is, of course, useless. If he betrays me in the future, there’s nothing I can do about it.’ Chen Qingyang understood this well.

He took out another Qi Gathering Pill from his sleeve. This one was from Hu Kai—it was non-toxic.

”Eat it. Refine it right here!”

Excitement had already clouded Lü Yunshen’s mind. Without a second thought, he immediately took the pill and meditated for a while.

”The effect of this Pill is incredible! The aura is surging, my cultivation is increasing on its own... Only today do I realize I’ve been wasting my life all this time, completely wasting it...”

Overcome with joy, tears streamed down his face.

”Continue!”

Before he could even wipe his tears dry, another Qi Gathering Pill was handed to him.

With trembling hands, he managed to get it into his mouth and began to meditate again. When he opened his eyes a moment later, a sharp light glinted within them, and the Qi Mechanism around his body vented uncontrollably outwards.

He already had the foundation of twenty years of honing his bones, muscles, and vital energy. Now, with three consecutive Qi Gathering Pills in a short time, his improvement was by no means small.

”You can’t take too many of these Qi Gathering Pills. After you continue to refine the blockages in your Meridians, come find me again. Don’t go to your duties today. Just stay in your room and cultivate properly. Wait until you have completely refined the elixir’s medicinal power!”

Lü Yunshen shook his head, unable to tell if this was reality or a dream.

He walked back, chuckling foolishly the entire way.

Watching his retreating figure, Chen Qingyang’s smile gradually faded.

The third Elixir just now had come from the hands of Xu Baoling. The moment it was consumed, Stealing Immortal appeared above Lü Yunshen’s head and stole an Immortal Seedling for Chen Qingyang.

This was enough to prove one thing.

By using the Alchemy Dao to first nurture someone and then feeding them a Poison Pill, it was possible to obtain an Immortal Seedling.

A substance like Star Meteor Powder, as long as it wasn’t taken consecutively, wouldn’t act up in the short term.

One Lü Yunshen was insignificant, but if there were a thousand, or ten thousand, then there were great things to be achieved.

「Inside the Hongling Token.」

When he met Wu Boyou again today, the latter seemed somewhat worried.

”Sigh, I clearly sensed that sliver of a breakthrough opportunity, but in the last two days, it seems to have slowed down. Could it be that my accumulation isn’t enough?”

Chen Qingyang comforted him, ”Don’t worry. With Senior Brother Wu’s talent, reaching the Fourth Realm of Qi Refining is just a matter of course. What’s the harm in a few days’ delay? You absolutely must not let this affect your state of mind, or the loss will outweigh the gain.”

”Ah, you old rascal, you always know what to say.”

”Thank you for the praise, Senior Brother Wu. If I get any Qi Gathering Pills or the like in the next few days, I’ll gift another one to you. I’ll still need your care and guidance in the future, Senior Brother Wu.”

’A single pill probably wouldn’t affect him for long, but by giving him one every so often, I can keep Wu Boyou strung along right here.’

After hearing this, Wu Boyou, in addition to being grateful, was also a little curious. ”You go to the Golden Summit every day and have so many Elixirs, has no one asked when you’ll be able to enter Qi Refining?”

”Sigh!” Chen Qingyang put on a worried expression. ”It’s hard to say, very hard to say. I’m too old, and my vital energy is weak. I have to replenish it first, otherwise, a breakthrough will be forever hopeless.”

”Looks like your talent really isn’t all that great, you old rascal!” He suddenly realized it wasn’t quite right to mock his sponsor like that and immediately changed his tune. ”Hehe, what I mean is, just wait a bit longer. It’ll just take a little more time, that’s all. A breakthrough is a certainty for you.”

’Perhaps right now he’s thinking that all the Elixirs wasted on this old rascal would have been better off saved for himself.’

”Thank you for your auspicious words, Senior Brother Wu!”

Sometimes, even Chen Qingyang himself felt that he was becoming more and more adept at these schemes of feigned compliance.

The guilt he had felt when he first saw Stealing Immortal was also slowly fading.

The path in an Immortal Sect is difficult, and the place itself is cold. There were truly too many people who just used each other.

Having completed his errand in the Hongling Token, he slowly walked toward the Golden Summit.

His mood today was quite good. The dark cloud hanging over his head, Xu Baoling, was also about to dissipate.

Standing atop the Golden Summit, he gazed out in all directions.

The majestic mountains were a vast expanse of white. Pavilions and towers stood in dense rows, like a long, coiling dragon. On the mountainsides, vigorous Cangsong pines grew amidst jagged, strange rocks.

At this very moment, he stood here, the path laid out at his feet.