Stealing Immortal

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Yueru

The night was silent, with a few lonely stars hanging high in the sky.

A gentle breeze lingered, rolling up a wisp of a white cloud that wrapped around the crescent moon like a silk ribbon.

Everyone in the small courtyard had extinguished their lamps and gone to bed. By now, not a sound could be heard, even from the alley outside.

Chen Qingyang was meditating with intense focus. He had eaten a bit too much today, and his stomach was very uncomfortable. He had to keep meditating and refining his qi to slowly digest it all. Only after a long while did he finally open his eyes.

Just then, Xu Baoling, who was hovering in mid-air, drifted over like a gust of wind and stood before Chen Qingyang. ”Master, you must have been moved by the three youths’ enthusiasm and eaten a little too much tonight, didn’t you?”

As she spoke, she gave her signature smile, covering her mouth with her hand.

Since she was no longer confined to the Warm Jade Scroll, the two of them living under the same roof had inevitably started talking more. They had grown more familiar with each other, to the point where Xu Baoling would even banter with Chen Qingyang.

”Something like that.”

Xu Baoling continued, ”Qi Refining is all about Refining Essence into Qi. It uses the essence of the five grains, the Five Viscera and Six Bowels, and the body’s Essence Blood, converting them into the qi that circulates throughout the body. That’s the origin of Qi Refining. Master, your Cultivation has progressed remarkably fast. In the blink of an eye, you’ve already reached the Qi Refining Fifth Realm. Your body’s Primordial Energy is now inexhaustible, and you can absorb enough just by breathing. You no longer need to process the essence of the five grains, so when you eat too much, you start to feel uncomfortable.”

Chen Qingyang thought about it for a moment. ”Hm, that makes perfect sense.”

”What you may not know, Master, is that so-called Fasting isn’t something a Practitioner has to do deliberately. Instead, when you reach that stage, you naturally lose your appetite. To be honest, it’s rather dull once you get to that point. You start to forget all the flavors of the mortal world—the sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty—the taste of the Red Dust!”

Yearning for the Immortal Sect, yet reluctant to leave the mortal world—wasn’t this true for every Practitioner?

”But I heard that once you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, you don’t have this concern anymore?”

Xu Baoling nodded repeatedly. ”Master is truly knowledgeable. At that realm, the physical body becomes infinitely profound. Even if you were to discard it and rely solely on your Divine Soul, you could still perceive the five flavors of the world.”

Her beautiful eyes glanced at Chen Qingyang. ”In my two hundred years of cultivation, I’ve never seen anyone progress as fast as you, Master, aside from Li Qianxue. There’s no doubt you will achieve Foundation Establishment in the future. You might even become a Golden Core True Monarch! Why is the Yu Xiao Demon Sect so wary of Senior Sister Li? It’s because they’re afraid she’ll one day reach the Golden Core realm, break the balance of power, and suppress their entire Demon Sect.”

Compared to Liu Tao, Xu Baoling was far more worldly. One could always learn a thing or two from her that was impossible to find out from Liu Tao.

Chen Qingyang recalled what Hu Kai had said right before he died. They weren’t trying to win him over for his own sake, but for Li Qianxue who stood behind him. ’So that was the deeper reason,’ he thought.

”Forget it. If I truly achieve Foundation Establishment in the future, I will do everything in my power to help you cultivate a Yin Spirit!”

Xu Baoling once again covered her mouth and smiled, her posture undeniably charming. ”Do you truly mean that, Master?”

”But in the meantime, you must also help me with all your heart.”

Xu Baoling gave a graceful bow. ”Thank you for your guidance, Master.”

At this point, Chen Qingyang remembered another important matter. ”Are you familiar with Qi Xiuyuan?”

The topic shifted so suddenly that Xu Baoling looked slightly puzzled. ”That depends on what you’re asking, Master. I am indeed quite familiar with certain things about him.”

”I heard that after he came out of seclusion, he didn’t go back in. He just lives a reclusive life. I want to know what he does on a daily basis.”

This gave Xu Baoling pause for thought. ”I’m not sure where to begin. Let’s start with where he lives.”

Chen Qingyang said, ”Very well.”

”If you go past the Golden Summit Grand Hall Complex, you’ll find a White Jade Dao. At every fork in the road, if you always take the right-hand path, you will reach the left peak of the Four Golden Peaks. That is our lineage’s Master’s Dao Field.”

”It’s not just her; more than thirty of our Master’s disciples cultivate there, and Qi Xiuyuan is one of them. Some disciples live in Cave Mansions, others in small courtyards. But Qi Xiuyuan alone built a bamboo courtyard in the middle of a bamboo forest. He claims it’s for ’observing bamboo to cultivate one’s character,’ but I think that’s just an excuse for indulging in pleasure...”

It was clear that Xu Baoling had never liked the man.

”Of course, to maintain a place like that, you need at least four or five Miscellaneous Task disciples. He usually neglects his cultivation, and what little he earns in his Merit Book from the Sect is all spent on that place. This is one of the reasons our Master says he doesn’t have the heart for Immortal Cultivation...”

Xu Baoling said a great deal in one breath—his daily life, his temperament, and so on—all because she had cultivated not far from Qi Xiuyuan back in the day.

”So you’re saying I can find him if I go there?”

Hearing this, Xu Baoling was slightly taken aback. ”Master, your current Cultivation is not as high as his, and our Master is cultivating nearby. Isn’t that too dangerous?”

But Chen Qingyang just smiled. ”It’s fine. I’m just a Miscellaneous Task disciple. I imagine there are many other Miscellaneous Task disciples around there, so I shouldn’t attract any attention.”

Xu Baoling asked again, ”But what if you run into Qi Xiuyuan?”

Chen Qingyang shook his head. ”Heh heh, right now, my only fear is *not* running into him. If I meet him, everything will fall into place.”

She had no idea what he was planning, but as his servant, Xu Baoling knew her place. She didn’t plan to ask any more questions and simply said with concern, ”Master, you should still be cautious. If possible, should I go with you?”

”No need. Just focus on your cultivation.”

...

A night of cultivation passed, and the next day arrived.

As Chen Qingyang was tidying up his room, he heard a commotion outside.

He pushed open the door to see that seven or eight people had entered the courtyard. He had seen the young man leading them a couple of times before; he was from the Law Enforcement Hall. Since he had never asked for the man’s name, he didn’t know what to call him.

Beside the young man was a woman whose face was veiled by a light scarf, obscuring her features. However, her posture was sharp and confident, and she had a graceful figure.

”How strange! How strange!” The woman spoke impetuously. She sized up Chen Qingyang with a single glance and cried out, ”How can a one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old man look like this?”

Chen Qingyang, too, wished his appearance wouldn’t stay so youthful, but he had no control over it. ”Might you also be a Senior Sister from the Law Enforcement Hall?”

He bowed deeply, his posture humble.

The woman didn’t dwell on it, however, and just repeated herself: ”How strange! How strange!”

The black-clothed young man beside her asked, ”Senior Sister, is there a problem?”

”In one small courtyard, three have left, and two have gone missing. One of the missing even had a Qi Refining Cultivation. And although we’ve checked the background of this Qi Refiner and found nothing wrong, he was always slumming it with the Miscellaneous Task disciples. Wouldn’t you say that’s strange?”

The young man thought for a moment, then pointed his finger at Chen Qingyang. ”Now only this one is left. Senior Sister, are you saying he’s not simple either?”

That wasn’t what the woman was thinking. ”I just find it a little strange. And more importantly, Wu Boyou also had a connection with him.”

”Senior Sister, are you saying...” The young man trailed off, hesitating to finish.

The woman waved her hand, cutting him off. ”Heh heh, or maybe he’s just an unlucky star, destined to never keep anyone by his side.”

It was unclear if she was joking or truly believed it, but as the two went back and forth, Chen Qingyang, who stood to the side, remained expressionless.

The Law Enforcement Hall had come for routine questioning before, but they had never connected all these incidents. This woman’s arrival was sudden.

”You’re Chen Qingyang?”

He bowed again. ”I am. May I ask for Senior Sister’s name?”

The woman was surprisingly courteous and returned the bow. ”Leng Yueru. We recently discovered the death of a Miscellaneous Task disciple, Hu Kai. It seems he had some interactions with you before, and was also a member of the Profound Light Association. Are you aware of this?”

As she said this, all four people in the courtyard had been gathered together, Li Sheng naturally among them.

Chen Qingyang simply said, ”I did indeed interact with him twice, but it was just casual chatting while I was with a junior brother from this courtyard, Xu Yong. After Junior Brother Xu Yong left the mountain, we didn’t have much contact.”

Leng Yueru asked, ”Is that true?”

”It is absolutely true. As for the Profound Light Association, I’ve heard it’s just a group of Miscellaneous Task disciples banding together for support. I don’t know anything else.”

What Chen Qingyang had said was mostly true. He had only interacted with the Profound Light Association once.

Leng Yueru thought for a moment, then glanced at the young man behind her. ”The three newcomers probably don’t know anything either. It looks like another Miscellaneous Task disciple has died for nothing.”

Seeing that she couldn’t get anything out of him, Chen Qingyang asked in return, ”How... how did Junior Brother Hu Kai die?”

Her face was not visible, but one could feel the seriousness in Leng Yueru’s tone. ”Burned to death.”

Chen Qingyang added, ”I see. It must be the Profound Light Association causing trouble, right?”

After hearing this, Leng Yueru ignored him. ”Never mind. Let’s go back.”

The accompanying Outer Disciples heard this, and the entire group immediately withdrew.

The three youths exchanged glances. In the end, it was Lin Qingxuan who couldn’t hold back and asked in a low voice, ”What does Hu Kai’s disappearance have to do with us?”

Zhang Ping made a hushing gesture. ”Don’t talk nonsense. If they find out he came looking for Senior Brother Chen, they might come back to investigate again.”

Li Sheng took the opportunity to change the subject. ”Senior Brother Chen, when a Miscellaneous Task disciple goes missing, how does the Sect usually handle it?”

Chen Qingyang said nonchalantly, ”How else would they handle it? After some questioning, there’s usually no follow-up. Some run away, some accidentally fall off a cliff and die while gathering herbs. All sorts of strange things happen. You’ll understand once you’ve been here longer.”

Li Sheng looked at the other two behind him. ”In that case, we should avoid contact with those strange people, so the Sect doesn’t come questioning us again.”

Lin Qingxuan, being the most simple-minded, was the first to nod. ”That’s true.”

Zhang Ping thought for a moment and saw nothing wrong with that. ”Makes sense.”

Chen Qingyang said, ”I appreciate your hospitality last night. In a few days, I’ll figure out a way to get some meat and wine, and we can have another feast.”

The three youths were naturally delighted, and soon after, they hurried off to work.

Chen Qingyang stood there thinking for a while before heading to the Golden Summit.