Painting of the Nine Immortals
chapter-15

Chapter 15: One vs Ten

Translator: /Tatienne Editor: Tennesh/Rundi

The crescent moon hung high in the star decorated sky.

Inside the Painting of the Nine Immortals however, the sky was bright. The hot sun never seemed to set.

Liao Cang Qiong stared at the “Bible of the Three Flowers” with a frown on his face. He was still thinking hard.

After a long while, his expression relaxed, “No wonder I thought it was familiar. It is a public tactic from the primordial times.”

“A public tactic from primordial times?” Ling Xian froze.

“That’s right. During the primordial times, the cultivation process was drastically different from what we have now. All I know was that they had to freeze spirits in the head and converge them in the chest. As time went on, the system they had was long replaced. It is rare that this bible was preserved,” Liao Cang Qiong exclaimed.

“Does this mean that this is a useless technique now?” Ling Xian was a little disappointed. He thought the book he found was a rare technique. Turned out, it was a technique that was only useful during the ancient era.

“To others it is useless. But to you, that’s not necessarily the case,” Liao Cang Qiong smiled mysteriously.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I cannot tell you right now,” Liao Cang Qiong teased, “It seems like I have to change the plans. We must find a soulful lake as soon as we can to wake the second Immortal. In regards to cultivation, he knows way more than me, especially about the primordial times. If we can wake him, he will be a great help to you.”

“Yes, Master,” Ling Xian suppressed his curiosity and turned it into anticipation.

“If I were to be honest, I would rather wake up an old friend of mine first instead of waking up the other bastard. However, to benefit your cultivation journey, let’s find a soulful lake, turn the Lotus of Three Wonders into Lotus of Three Souls, and wake the second Immortal.” Liao Cang Qiong sighed deeply. He recollected the repressed memories of his, as a horrified expression traced his face.

Ling Xian realized that Liao Cang Qiong was afraid of something, but he did not ask. He couldn’t’ help it but to wonder, who was the second Immortal? What did he do to make Liao Cang Qiong feel afraid?

“Ok, you continue your training. I will go rest now.” Liao Cang Qiong flew away.

Nodding his head, Ling Xian sat down in lotus position and did not move for a very long time.

With the fifth level of qi, he could sustain his life with spiritual energy and skip the eating and drinking processes altogether.

……

The battle arena was built in the middle of the Ling Clan palace. Here, the spiritual energy was trapped to be exclusively absorbed by the Ling Clan. Therefore, this was an ideal place for the Lings to practice.

Right now, the sun was just beginning to set, draping down rays of warm and soft light.

Three rows of Ling apprentices sat in lotus positions, facing the sun. Streaks of spiritual energy entered them ferociously. Every time they inhaled, they transformed this natural energy into their own mana, which strengthened their training.

Among them, was Ling Bai.

Ling Bai’s father was a deacon for the Ling Clan, therefore granting him with more authority than his collateral siblings. Under the protection and guidance of his father, Ling Bai has already reached level four qi, an uneasy accomplishment.

Strictly speaking, majority of the collateral siblings did not have Ling as their last name. These people had ancestors who fought alongside the Lings or were stewards that provided meritorious services to the Lings. Due to their achievements, they were given the right to change their last name to Ling, allowing them to be forever a collateral sibling in the Ling Clan.

This was a very common circumstance in the Taoism community. Ling Bai’s ancestor accompanied ancestor Ling with expanding their home soil. Therefore, the blood in his veins was not the Ling’s. Only on the surface, did he belong to the clan.

It was for this reason, he has always coveted after Ling Tian Xiang, despite the fact that he had to call her aunt. In reality, Ling Tian Xiang and he were similar in age and they even grew up together. Therefore, he never thought of, or treated her as a senior.

As a result, when he heard the news that Ling Tian Xiang was attracted to a handicap, he was beyond angry and sworn that he will beat the living soul out of Ling Xian.

Since yesterday, he had been waiting by Ling Xian’s home. However, even now, there were no signs of Ling Xian. Ling Bai had been so angry he could not even calmly complete his mandatory morning training sessions.

Right at that moment, one of his regular attendant jogged beside him and said, “Boss, look over there, that’s Ling Xian.”

“Hmm?”

Ling Bai felt a lift in energy. He looked at the direction his attendant pointed at and he saw a young man walking towards him.

With a face like jade, eyes like stars, he wore a large black robe and had a smile on his lips. He was in high spirits, looking heroic.

It was Ling Xian, returning from the forest.

“He was definitely born with a good frame, too bad he is a handicap who cannot practice,” Ling Bai stared down at the shadow of a man, in a manner as if flames were pouring out of his eyes.

He has lusted after Ling Tian Xiang for a long time. Not only was he attracted to her perfect complexion, he was also hungry for her status and money as the eldest daughter of the Ling family. He knew well that Ling Tian Xiang was the most honored female member of the clan. Despite the fact that he could not marry her righteously due to their nephew-aunt relationship, he was sure that if he could steal her heart, he would get access to the Ling Clan’s resources, and become one of the best cultivators.

Simply put, he wanted to use Ling Tian Xiang as a tool to climb up to the peak.

Therefore, when he heard the rumor, he was very envious of Ling Xian and how he might get ahead.

“Follow me, we must teach him a lesson!”

Filled with anger and jealousy, Ling Bai stood up abruptly and marched towards Ling Xian in long strides. Behind him, more than ten of his attendants followed, their qi levels ranging from one to three.

Under the steaming atmosphere of violence, everyone who were training at the time came to watch.

“Is that Ling Bai? Who is he trying to fight against this time?”

“That direction, it’s Ling Xian the handicap!”

“Ling Xian, the one who couldn’t practice since his birth? The handicap that Miss Ling has her eyes on?”

“Hehe, yes, that’s him. Ling Bai has always liked Miss Ling and now he sees his rival, this is going to be fun!”

A crowd was waiting to watch what will happen.

Ling Xian frowned. Watching the ten plus people blocking his way, he was very confused.

“Bastard, I finally found you.” Ling Bai looked at him angrily, a fire was burning inside his chest.

“What business do you have with me?” Ling Xian was more than puzzled. He recognized Ling Bai, the man who used his father’s authority to hog resources and reach qi level four as a result. In his everyday life, he acted like a tyrant and emerged as the “boss” of his crew.

One of them was number one in the collateral siblings, and one of them was a handicap. Therefore, the two of them never crossed paths.

Ling Xian was completely unaware that after Ling Tian Xiang returned home the other day, she immediately ordered people to look for him. As a result, a ridiculous rumor was born.

“What business?” Ling Bai threw the question back, his anger increased even more, “Why, can’t I find you handicap just because I feel like it? I just want to trigger you. I just want to beat you up. What’s wrong with that?”

Ling Xian’s face turned cold, yet he smiled lightly. He was no longer the Ling Xian he was. In merely two days, his dream-like experiences have metamorphosed him into a beautiful butterfly. If someone was here just to trigger him, he didn’t mind punishing that person just to teach others a lesson. He wanted everyone in the Ling Clan to know he, Ling Xian, will no longer tolerate any humiliation!

“What are you smiling at? Was what I said funny to you?” Ling Bai said coldly.

“It was very funny. I laughed at least.”

“Funny, is it? I will beat you until you cry. How dare a handicap talk to me in this way. Fellas let’s go!” Ling Bai waved his hand and his crew stepped up immediately. Nine of them circled Ling Xian and pumped up their spiritual mana. The atmosphere became threatening.

“Ling Xian, you handicap, why are you not kowtowing and apologizing for what you did!” sixteen-year-old screamed from the crowd. He also threw a punch in Ling Xian’s direction as a warning.

“Nice crowd, seems threatening. However, if you want to defeat me, this isn’t enough,” Ling Xian’s eyes remained murky. His fifth level qi was pouring out of him like a rainstorm. He extended his arm, grabbed that young boy’s wrist, and twisted it around so hard that the boy’s head was facing the ground.

The young man’s face turned white. Ling Xian’s strength made him lose balance and he smashed onto the ground harshly, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The other people froze in shock, looked at each other, and began to prepare themselves for battle. In a few moment, fireballs, vines, and other low level techniques were summoned and were aimed towards Ling Xian.

Grinning, Ling Xian gazed at those who circled him. He moved his body fast and gracefully, at the speed of lightning, he moved beside another youth and punched him!

“Puff!”

Level five qi hit the youth’s body repetitively, turning his face white and knocking him out into the air. Immediately, Ling Xian began to move left and right, dancing between the others.

Fist!

Thigh!

Elbow!

Knee!

He used every body part of his weapon, hitting everyone hard and square. The youths he hit started to stagger back, as they saw no opportunity to fight back.

Very soon, everyone was knocked out by Ling Xian and was groaning painfully on the ground.

“Oh my god, am I seeing things right? The one on the ground is not Ling Xian the handicap?”

“So strong! Even though these people are not high in training, but to be defeated so easily, how strong is Ling Xian?”

“Is he really the handicap we knew? Even if I was up there, I would only be beaten.”

The crowd who were watching for fun, were in awe at the scene before them. They couldn’t believe it, even in their dreams, the handicap they mocked at so much had the natural ability!

Astonishment!

Everyone was astonished at the situation!

“Qi level of five!”

Ling Bai gazed at his crew who were all on the ground. A wave of panic flashed across his eyes.

How was this possible?

Wasn’t he born unable to practice Taoism? How could he be a level higher than him?

“Now, it’s your turn.” Ling Xian looked at him apathetically. His block robe waltzed, though there was no wind.

The wind was light; the cloud was thin. The murderous intent was pungent.