Chapter 5: Zixi Was Clearly Very Obedient Before
Having lived on the Tianling Continent for over a millennium, Ming Ji was still unaccustomed to the sparse spiritual energy here upon his fresh return.
Yet, this was his homeland after all.
He steadied his mind and used his spiritual sense to inspect his body’s condition. Upon receiving the final results, he couldn’t help but murmur, “Why is the spiritual power within my body so thin?”
Hearing this, System 10086 added, [Host, although you were injured previously, your spiritual power was actually quite abundant. However, ever since that malice occupied your body, not much remains.]
After saying this, it sighed with emotion, [That malice really was incredibly shameless.]
Ming Ji felt a bit helpless upon hearing this news. He raised a hand to rub his temples and said, “Brief me on the current situation of the Nine Heavens Continent.”
10086 complied, its electronic mechanical voice delivering the introduction without emotion.
The Nine Heavens Continent was considered a high-dimensional world.
Here, there were the Human Race, the Demon Race (Yao), the Devil Race (Mo), the Cultivators, and the Ghost Race, which was feared by all living beings.
The Ghost Race was mostly hideous in appearance and tyrannical by nature. Fortunately, they were solitary creatures, so the other races could manage them.
However, an unexpected change occurred later—a tyrannical leader emerged among the Ghost Race a hundred years ago, unifying the previously scattered ghosts.
During his reign, countless members of every race were slaughtered, and the conflict reached a point where only one side could survive.
This situation persisted until the Ghost King was beheaded, prompting all living beings to wave their hands in applause.
“Good, good! I wonder which celestial being did this.”
Even a hundred years later, people were still puzzled as to which mighty figure had stepped in to settle the chaos.
Regardless, it was a tremendous blessing; everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief and recover, allowing the continent to return to its original peace.
Among these races, the Human Race was considered the weakest, yet it possessed the most vast population of living beings.
Humans could test their physical condition at the age of six. Based on their inherent talent, they would consider how to cultivate.
Unless one was born with a soul body containing extremely strong Devil soul power, most people would choose to seek the Dao and ascend to immortality.
After all, this path was easier for humans to tread.
As for the Demon Race, they weren’t particularly powerful either.
In the cultivation world, there was also a hierarchy of levels.
From low to high, they were divided into: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Mahayana, and finally, Tribulation Ascension.
These were further divided into early, middle, and late stages.
In Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, one could still rely on the disparity in spiritual root talent to defeat opponents across levels. However, upon reaching the Golden Core stage, the gap between each level became an almost unsurpassable chasm.
Looking across the entire cultivation world, there were no more than ten cultivators currently at the Nascent Soul stage, and those at the Mahayana stage were even fewer.
But, so what?
Ming Ji let out a light chuckle and extended his hand. In an instant, his palm was coated with a layer of frost.
He possessed a rare mutated Ice Attribute, and was also a Mystic Ice Spirit Body; he feared no flame, and his cultivation speed was several times faster than others, free from rugged obstacles.
Thus, Ming Ji had reached the early Nascent Soul stage long ago, making him a heaven-chosen child with no precedent in history.
In those days, cultivators who came to his sect—whether to admire him or to become disciples—were countless.
And his sect—the Qingmeng Sect—was founded by the previous Sect Leader, Ming Ji’s father.
When Ming Ji’s father passed away, he handed the sect over to Ming Ji’s care.
At that time, Ming Ji had just become the Sect Leader. Although his talent was excellent and his cultivation high, due to his lack of age and experience, some people were unconvinced, throwing the sect into turmoil.
There are many people in the world harboring dark schemes; who can guarantee that everyone they meet is a good person?
Knowing about the internal strife, other sects in the cultivation world wished they could take a bite out of this fat piece of meat, throwing stones down the well one after another.
Coupled with the fact that Ming Ji had been seriously injured slaying a chaotic demon beast a few years ago, for various reasons, the Qingmeng Sect had been in seclusion for nearly twenty years.
Presumably, everyone had long forgotten the name of the Qingmeng Sect, once the Number One Sect.
As for now…
Ming Ji brushed the frost from his hand, seemingly nostalgic for something without cause.
“Ascending isn’t that difficult of a task.”
[But Host, not only has your cultivation regressed, but you have also triggered the Cauldron physique. Figure out how to keep your chastity first, then talk about what to do next.]
System 10086 broke the silence tactlessly; its words were like splashing cold water on a person’s heart.
Ming Ji wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he brought up another topic, asking casually, “Is the sect’s alchemy furnace currently unused?”
The System finally found some use, zooming out to scan the surroundings.
[Currently, no one is using it. Since the alchemists in your sect can be counted on one hand, they are considered rare. There is no one else there right now.]
The System seemed to realize something, its mechanical electric voice pausing for a second. [Aren’t you a Sound Cultivator and a Sword Cultivator? You know alchemy too?]
Is there a conflict?
Ming Ji sighed, feeling a wave of helplessness.
But his temperament had always been extremely good, and since he and the System were now in the same boat, he explained patiently, “Having lived this long, I am not only proficient in alchemy but also know a thing or two about talismans, artifact refining, and arrays. Otherwise, in a world of fierce struggle like the Tianling Continent, I would have long since turned to dust and ashes.”
Ming Ji paused, pursed his lips, and added, “Coming to the Nine Heavens Continent, I won’t forget these skills either.”
Hearing this, the System’s electric voice was accompanied by the sound of crackling applause.
[You really are amazing. Becoming the Number One person in cultivation is just around the corner.]
Ming Ji didn’t want to pay attention to the System. He went to the Alchemy Room and knocked symbolically on the door.
Looking up, he saw an elderly elder inside fiddling with something. The elder didn’t notice Ming Ji immediately, so Ming Ji coughed lightly.
“Sect Leader.” The Sixth Elder snapped back to reality, bowing with hands clasped in a respectful tone. “Sect Leader graces us with his presence. Do you need this old man to refine some pill?”
Ming Ji looked at the benevolent-looking old man. His tone was much better than when dealing with the ambitious Second Elder. “I’ve had some interest in alchemy recently. I wonder if I could take the Heavenly Star Furnace?”
The Sixth Elder froze for half a moment, unable to speak.
Everyone knew the Heavenly Star Furnace was a top-tier furnace Ming Ji’s father had accidentally obtained while adventuring abroad; its pill success rate was several times higher than other furnaces.
He muttered in his heart: Is the Sect Leader going to use this to practice his first attempt at alchemy?
It wasn’t until the Sixth Elder saw Ming Ji’s serious expression that he realized the other party wasn’t joking. With great heartache, he led him to the furnace, watching helplessly as Ming Ji packed it away into a storage bag.
As Ming Ji left, he caught a glimpse of the little old man looking reluctantly out of the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.
They say a furnace is an alchemist’s second child; it seems that statement is indeed true.
He returned to the Moon-Embracing Pavilion. He even set up a barrier outside to ensure no one would disturb him before taking out the furnace again.
Inside the room, various rare herbs were displayed in the cabinet, most of which he had collected himself during his travels.
Ming Ji silently recalled the medicinal ingredients, then dug out the rare herbs he needed and placed them into the furnace one by one.
The spiritual power in his palm coated the furnace as he calculated the heat and time.
During this period, Ming Ji not only refined medicine to suppress the flare-ups of his Cauldron physique but also refined quite a few other useful pills.
Ming Ji swallowed a Spirit Recovery Pill. Hearing the System call him in his mind, he responded casually, “What is it?”
[You promised to guide your little disciple in his cultivation before. The time is set for tonight. I’m reminding you specifically so you don’t forget.]
Hearing this, Ming Ji looked thoughtful. “Do you also suspect there might be something strange about Zixi?”
The System thought that if it had a brain, its CPU would probably smoke from overworking, so its voice was a bit trembling when it spoke.
[What problem could Wei Zixi have? Isn’t he your little disciple?]
Ultimately, being an AI-generated system, it couldn’t detect the twists and turns of human nature.
Ming Ji didn’t answer the System’s question directly. Instead, he asked rhetorically, “Do you think it’s a coincidence that someone who didn’t appear in the story has deviated from the story’s original development path?”
Although the System couldn’t detect human hearts, it wasn’t truly stupid.
Hearing this reminder, it realized something was wrong—during the apprenticeship ceremony, Wei Zixi had drunk the wine on Ming Ji’s behalf. Everything seemed calculated.
Even so, the System’s sentence carried a hint of hesitation.
[It’s not impossible. After all, when you arrived here, you had already triggered a butterfly effect.]
Ming Ji bent his finger to pinch the bridge of his nose, seeming somewhat troubled. “Two days ago, I suffered a brief backlash from using my Nascent Soul cultivation. At the same time, I discovered a stream of spiritual power wandering in my room.”
“What exactly is his goal?”
The System fell silent, but still asked the question in its heart.
[Why didn’t the Host stop it?]
“I wasn’t sure it was Zixi, but that day, it could only have been him…” A helpless sigh escaped Ming Ji’s lips, his expression showing some conflict.
“I don’t want to suspect Zixi either. No matter what, I raised him from childhood.” Ming Ji’s voice paused, his eyes seeming to drift into a daze.
“Zixi was clearly very obedient before.”
Ming Ji only hoped he was overthinking it. Even though his departure in those days wasn’t intended to abandon Wei Zixi, in the end, Ming Ji had gone alone.
He always felt a sense of indebtedness toward this disciple he had raised since childhood.
“I’ll know after testing him tonight. If it really is Zixi…”
In the end, Ming Ji did not speak the rest of the sentence.
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