Painting of the Nine Immortals
chapter-138

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Ling Xian was still sitting beneath the waterfall in a lotus position, not moving like a deeply rooted tree and completely immersed in the Liquification of Mana process.

In the past three days, the majority of his mana has transformed into liquid form, and his Qi has strengthened as a result. With only half a day more, the liquification process would be fully complete and he would become a true foundational cultivator.

He said that he would stop at nothing until he reaches the foundational level.

Despite the fact that his capabilities have been comparable to the foundational level for a long time, he was still a cultivator in the meditation level, lowest rank of the cultivation community. Once he reaches the foundational level, his lifespan will increase by 300 years and his social status will dramatically increase. In small cities, he would be considered a dominating cultivator. In larger places like Yunzhou, he would still be considered a strong one.

Once the foundational level is reached, his capabilities will leap forward exponentially. After all, he was breaking through to the foundational level with a tenth leveled Qi. It was not difficult to conclude that once Ling Xian achieves the foundational level, regular foundational cultivators would not be worthy enough to be his opponent. Even those in the intermediate phase of the foundational level will likely lose to him in battles.

This was why everyone in the Taoism community wanted to have a Qi level of 10.

The first stage in the cultivation journey was the most important stage. Like building a home, only with a strong foundation could the upper levels be built with stability and sturdiness. Only a cultivator with robust basic skills could withstand the storms in their cultivation journey.

There was no doubt that Ling Xian’s foundation was solid. This was why he was able to defeat three foundational cultivators while he was in the meditation stage.

Today was a defining moment for him!

If he could break through to the foundational level, he would for sure soar like an eagle and dominate all those below!

…..

In the open field not too far away, Mo Qing Fu and the girls were still enjoying their tea.

This was the Tea of Enlightenment, most cultivators in the Taoism community cannot even get a sniff of it, let alone drink it. Even a Supreme Headmaster was not rich enough to drink it on a daily basis. Only when they were struggling with bottlenecks in training, did they brew themselves a cup. This was all because the Petals of Enlightenment were way too valuable.

However, no matter how good something was, after having too much of it, one gets tired of it.

Mo Qing Fu and the others were like that. They had been drinking so much tea they wanted to puke, but at the same time, they were unwilling to give up something so precious. Forcing the tea down their throats, they were hoping to be enlightened and transform into a feisty dragon.

"Thanks to this brother, I have the privilege to drink something so precious. Nobody in my clan can live as luxuriously as I am right now. Even my clan leader doesn’t have these many petals. Yet here I am, drinking as much as my heart desires," Mo Qing Fu exclaimed, his tone expressed both proudness and bitterness.

Tang Thirteen and Shui Lian Yi behaved the same. They were both reluctant to put the tea down, but at the same time, they were far too stuffed to have any more. They sat there with frowns on their faces and stared into the tea in a daze.

"Whatever, let’s not waste such good stuff. We won’t be getting to the foundational level any time soon. Why not just save it for later." Shui Lian Yi lightly smiled and carefully placed the other 20 petals into her storage pouch.

Before Ling Xian isolated himself, he distributed everyone 30 petals each. If strangers find out how many petals he gave away, they would definitely be enraged with jealousy. Even the Supreme Headmasters would feel their legs quiver at this.

30 petals each means 90 petals in total!

A normal Petal of Enlightenment only has seven petals. How many Petals of Enlightenment was needed to accumulate 90 petals? When did such a rare and invaluable flower become as common as cabbages?

Certainly, to Ling Xian, the invaluable Petal of Enlightenment was just like a cabbage. Now that he has the Purple Dwarf, he possesses an unlimited supply of Petals of Enlightenment. This treasure was a mere lotus, he can get his hands on as many as he desires. He can even afford throwing away a petal or two.

If others knew about this, they would go crazy from jealousy! They would definitely bad mouth Ling Xian and gossip about how much of a black sheep he was to waste such treasured Petals of Enlightenment!

"Why save it? He has so many. If we run out, we’ll just ask for more." Tang Thirteen laughed.

"My skin isn’t as thick as yours. How about you, lover boy?" Shui Lian Yi gave Thirteen a crooked smile.

"I don’t have such thick skin either. I already owe him so much. I definitely cannot ask for more favors." Mo Qing Fu bitterly laughed. He too, put away the left-over Petals of Enlightenment, planning to give it to the Mistress after returning to the Hao Ran House.

"How is that being thick skinned? He is my junior brother. Do you guys understand what it means to be a junior brother? Of course he needs to pay me respect by giving me all the good stuff," Tang Thirteen said matter-of-factly as her chubby cheeks proudly lifted up. She felt very wise to have taken Ling Xian in as a student of hers.

"You really think he’s a junior brother of yours? You simply cannot see clearly because you are part of this situation. Everyone can see that he simply wanted to humor you by agreeing to be your junior. He has also been treating you with nothing but kindness and niceness. I wonder how good of a person you were in your past life for you to meet someone like him in this lifetime," Shui Lian Yi exclaimed as her eyes flashed with complexity. "Honestly, I envy you. He’s handsome, capable, and talented. He’s such an exceptional young man. There isn’t anyone else like him here."

"Envy?"

Tang Thirteen was a little startled. Very quickly however, her surprised face turned into a smile. She wrapped her arm around Shui Lian Yi’s shoulder. "He’s my junior brother, which means he’s your junior brother as well. What’s there to be envious of?"

Looking at Tang Thirteen’s ignorant face, Shui Lian Yi sighed. "You are still too young. You don’t know why he’s treating you differently like you are special."

Ignoring Tang Thirteen’s dumbfounded look, she turned to Mo Qing Fu and questioned, "You keep on calling him ‘brother’. Could it be that you don’t know his name neither?"

"I don’t know. He never mentioned it, so I didn’t ask." Mo Qing Fu frowned lightly. Noticing that Shui Lian Yi used the word ‘neither’, he asked, "You also don’t know?"

"We actually don’t know. He never told us." Shui Lian Yi bitterly smiled, "This person sure is mysterious. Being in the Undefeatable Realm in the meditation level is impressive enough. On top of that, he’s managed to hide his identity? I’ve never even seen him around in Yunzhou. Did he hop out of a rock?"

Mo Qing Fu groaned. "Hearing you say this is making me remember a rumor I heard a while ago."

"You mean…" Shui Lian Yi raised a brow.

"That’s right. It’s regarding the three drum beats made by the Drum of Eternity. It was rumored that the entire Wan Jian house was alerted because of the disappearance of a genius," Mo Qing Fu’s expression was serious as if he confirmed that his guess was correct.

"Maybe… Hmm, it’s actually a real possibility," Shui Lian Yi thought about it before finally agreeing. "Logically, someone this strong should be well-known in the city. However, none of us have even heard of him before. This means he is not someone educated and guided by a powerful clan. Rather, he is a Heaven’s Favorite from a small city or town."

Pausing for a while, Shui Lian Yi continued her analysis, "Also, based on his age and appearance, it suits the description of the genius the Wan Jian House is looking for."

"It must be him. A Heaven’s Favorite this powerful does not just appear out of nowhere. After all, the entire Yunzhou is controlled by just a few Clans and Houses. If a genius is born somewhere, the different forces would definitely fight to win him over." Mo Qing Fu exhaled deeply, trying to get rid of all the shock he was feeling.

Even though he has seen Ling Xian’s terrorizing abilities, he was still very much surprised.

A little cultivator from the meditation level!

He made the Drum of Eternity beat three times, and his disappearance alerted the entire Wan Jian House!

How big of an honor was this?

"If it’s really him, then he is already prominent. All 11 Peak Leaders of the Wan Jian House showed up and even the Supreme Headmaster personally asked Team Xuan and Huang to search for him. He really is… him…" Shui Lian Yi wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry. She was now so surprised she reached a level where she no longer knew how to react.

Just as the two of them were silenced from astonishment, a voice laced with mockery and coldness appeared.

"Mo Qing Fu, I have finally found you. There is no way you can run away this time."

Hearing these words, Mo Qing Fu jolted up from the ground. He watched as a beautiful and youthful girl walked toward him slowly. His face was extremely rigid.

Shui Lian Yi and Tang Thirteen frowned as they secretly summoned their spiritual energies to defend themselves. Though they could not exactly identity where in the cultivation journey this stranger was at, they were smart enough to recognize that if she can make Mo Qing Fu jump, she was not easy to deal with.

"Mo Qing Fu, I had such a hard time finding you."

Yue Lian Han’s visage was near perfection, and her figure was slim. Nothing was threatening about the way she walked, but at the same time, she gave off the feeling that she was a beast who was deeply asleep. Once awakened, she was deemed to shake up the world.

"Yue Lian Han, I didn’t think you’d find me so fast."

Mo Qing Fu’s expression remained heavy. Feeling a sense of simplicity from her, he felt like there was a gigantic rock on his heart, stopping him from breathing.

He knew this girl here has broken through to the foundational level. Not temporarily like last time, this time she has completely merged with the Golden Pages!

"There are many things you do not expect. The Golden Pages and I have combined as one. In the entire ancient ruins, nobody can fight me anymore." Yue Lian Han faintly smiled as her eyes shone with confident.

"Oh really. I wonder who it was that got beaten up by my brother then," Mo Qing Fu mocked.

"There is no need to provoke me. I came this time to end your lives," Yue Lian Han raised her eyebrows and gazed down at Ling Xian, who was still under the waterfall, "If he has broken through to the foundational level, then maybe I would be somewhat afraid. Sadly, he is still stuck in the crucial step of breaking through to the next stage. Right now, there’s no difference between him and a handicap."

As she spoke, she fanned her sleeve casually. The wind howled and the mana she unleashed turned into a sword that dashed toward Ling Xian!

"Stop her. We cannot let her intrude his training!" Mo Qing Fu shouted. In lightning speed, he dashed in front of Ling Xian. The Hao Ran Scroll appeared in midair, and the golden character "fix" flew out of the scroll, carrying a mysterious amount of energy with it.

He has underestimated the new Yue Lian Han. Within a few seconds, the sword she created shattered the character he summoned.

The blade of the sword howled and raced forward in the shape of a rainbow. In an instant, it pierced through Mo Qing Fu’s shoulder and speedily flew toward Ling Xian.

"Flood of the Holy Water!"

To combat the overpowering stranger, Shui Lian Yi formed a hand seal and performed the strongest technique she knew. Instantly, the space shook, and golden holy light emanated from another dimension materialized into sea water and swept the sky!

Sadly, though this technique was considered to be one of the six unbeatable techniques, it was no longer effective against the foundational leveled Yue Lian Han. Any casual punch Yue Lian Han throws out would be enough to combat this technique.

Under the divine light of the sword, the water that flooded the sky immediately dispersed. Shui Lian Yi was thrown backward and slammed onto the ground, forcing her to cough up blood.

"I can’t believe she’s this strong!"

Tang Thirteen’s face was full of shock as well. The sword in front of her eyes was not weakening at all and continued its mission to slice Ling Xian in two. Panicking, she called upon her Crazy Soul Crusher, jumped in front of Ling Xian and hammered directly down onto the blade!

Dong!

A horrifyingly gigantic wave poured out. Tang Thirteen’s face paled as she too spat out blood and collapsed onto the ground like Shui Lian Yi.

The only fortunate thing was that after three separate attacks, the sword finally lost its light and no longer threatened Ling Xian.

Three Heaven’s Favorites with Qi levels of 10 had been defeated after merely one casual attack from Yue Lian Han. It was not hard to imagine the extend of her power and capability right now!

This was the terror of a foundational Heaven’s Favorite!

"I told you, in the entire ancient ruins, nobody can stop me anymore," Yue Lian Han glared at the three of them and bellowed, "Not bad of you to break down an attack of mine. Pity though, with the state you are in now, can you block my second attack?"

"Even if I have no more strength left in me, I will still have to stop you. I would never let you interrupt his break through!"

Mo Qing Fu gritted his teeth. He was fully aware of the fact that this woman was undefeatable. However, for Ling Xian, he was willing to forfeit his life to gain more time.

"If that’s the case, then I will kill all of you first. When that happens, who can block me?"

Yue Lian Han’s steps were still feather-like. Slowly, she walked beside Mo Qing Fu and grinned. "Don’t worry. I will allow you to die painlessly. After all, my achievement today is somewhat attributable to you."

"Yue Lian Han!"

Mo Qing Fu’s anger was boiling. Remembering his stupidity back in the cave that helped Yue Lian Han acquire the Golden Pages, he clenched his fists and swore to himself that he would kill this maddening woman.

"Angry? Sadly, anger doesn’t grant you the ability to kill me." Yue Lian Han casually waved her arm and an invisible amount of mana seeped out of her, lifting Mo Qing Fu off his feet and pushing him away.

Retch!

Mo Qing Fu sputtered out blood. He knew that in the ancient ruins, this woman was now considered undefeatable. With just the three of them, they have no way of winning against her. If all three of them go all out and bet their lives on it, there was a sliver of hope that they can gain some time.

Just as Mo Qing Fu was about to burn away his training once again by summoning more restrictive characters from the Hao Ran Scroll, a voice appeared.

The murderous tone that stirred the air brightened Mo Qing Fu’s eyes with hope and faith.

"Stop it, Yue Lian Han, your opponent is me."