Who is this?
Cautiously, Wang Chen gave a cupped fist salute, “I am Wang Chen, a new Inner Sect Disciple going to Sunset Peak to reestablish my Immortal Register. Please…”
He stumbled for a moment, unsure how to address the youngster before him.
“I am the Reception Disciple under a True Person.”
The rosy-cheeked youngster said with an air of arrogance, “Since you are a new disciple, what gifts do you have for me? Bring them out quickly, so I can take you to Sunset Peak.”
Huh??
Wang Chen was confused—what gifts? And what “king” was the youngster referring to?
“You can clearly see that you’re not experienced in these matters!”
The rosy-cheeked youngster curled his lip and said, “Just give me some Spirit Stones, and don’t you dare bring out any Low Spirits.”
Contempt was written all over his face.
Dammit!
Wang Chen was on the verge of losing his composure.
He finally understood; it seemed that the youngster was a gatekeeper aggressive for a bribe!
Wang Chen was new here.
With the principle of “better to offend a gentleman than a petty man”, giving a red envelope to the little ghost in front of him was not a big deal.
He still had quite an ample supply at hand.
The problem was that the youngster acted big, demanding “do not bring out any Low Spirits”, with an attitude that didn’t fall short of someone from the Purple Mansion!
Where would Wang Chen get Middle Spirits to give to him?
The commonly used Spirit Stones in the world of Immortal Cultivation are primarily categorized as Fragmented Spirits, Low Spirits, Middle Spirits, and Upper Spirits.
As for the finest Spirit Stones, they belong to the category of natural treasures.
They are not circulated commonly.
In fact, the stones most often used by everyone are Fragmented Spirits and Low Spirits; Middle Spirits are very rare.
The youngster was clearly making an outrageous demand, trying to extort him!
Moreover, Wang Chen suspected that the little ghost was taking advantage of the fact that he looked like he had no backing, hence the brazenness.
But the youngster claimed to be a “Reception Disciple under a True Person”, and had the audacity to openly take bribes at the mountain gate…
Wang Chen couldn’t help but remember the heartfelt words of Senior Brother Cao from yesterday.
Should he give up the bribe, or not?
If he did, his thinking would not seem enlightened.
If he did not, it’s easy to meet deities, but the little ghosts are troublesome!
Just as Wang Chen was indecisive, a thunderous voice came from nearby, “Fire Baby, you’re being naughty again. Watch out, I’ll tell your mom to spank your buttocks with her plantain fan!”
The speaker was the millennium-old Mysterious Turtle beside the stone stele.
The rosy-cheeked youngster immediately started yelling indignantly, “When I get back, I’ll have turtle soup made by my mother!”
Unmoved as a mountain, the Mysterious Turtle replied, “The turtle in the soup is ‘this king’, right?”
“Aaaah!”
The rosy-cheeked youngster instantly turned into a screeching youngster and, with a gust of wind, whirled away.
In the blink of an eye, there was no trace left.
Wang Chen immediately let out a sigh of relief and quickly bowed to the Mysterious Turtle, saying, “Thank you, senior, for helping me out.”
It was proved that the basket of Spirit Peaches Wang Chen had given was not in vain.
Otherwise, why would the Mysterious Turtle speak up for him!
“It was a trifle,”
said the Mysterious Turtle, “but Fire Baby will surely remember you. Next time you see him, just avoid him from afar.”
Wang Chen asked curiously, “Is that individual truly under a True Person?”
“Tssk—”
The Mysterious Turtle snorted from his nostrils, “His mother is the Elder Princess of the Great Qian country, who, during her time cultivating in the Inner Sect, married the Supreme Elder’s Monster Beast servant Niu Dali, and they had that youngster.”
“Then he was blessed by the Supreme Elder with enlightenment, shedding his monster form.”
“After the Elder went into seclusion, Niu Dali’s soul was ensnared by a fox demon, and he built a Cave Mansion on Heaven Cloud Mountain to indulge in hedonism.”
“As for this child without parental discipline, it’s better left unsaid.”
“Everyone just overlooks his behavior in consideration of the Supreme Elder’s face!”
No wonder this character was so irritable!
Wang Chen suddenly realized.
Dinglingling—
At that moment, the ringing of bells drifted into his ears from afar.
A massive horned azure ox, with hooves wrapped in clouds and mist, was charging towards the mountain gate!
“Here comes Little Ox.”
The Mysterious Turtle stopped gossiping and instructed, “You can ride it to Sunset Peak, just feed it some rice grains.”
Wang Chen bowed again, “Thank you, senior!”
The Mysterious Turtle sniffed, “Next time, bring more peaches.”
Then it closed its eyes to sleep.
As the azure ox approached Wang Chen, it spoke in human language, “Immortal Master, where would you like to go?”
Bells were hanging from its huge horns.
Wang Chen quickly replied, “Please, senior, take me to Sunset Peak.”
A Monster Beast must dissolve the crossbone in its throat to be able to speak human language, indicating this azure ox was of no small age.
Calling it “senior” was basic courtesy.
The azure ox tilted its head slightly, “Sunset Peak is a bit far, it will require fifty pounds of rice grains.”
Wang Chen said with a smile, “I didn’t bring any rice grains with me, would fifty pounds of White Jade Rice be okay?”
The azure ox rejoiced, “Excellent!”
Given white, glistening rice to eat, who would want the hard, unshelled rice grains!
The ox readily bowed its head, prepared to serve.
Wang Chen climbed onto the ox’s back and gently patted its neck.
The green ox shook its head and swayed its body, accompanied by the jingling of copper bells, it made its way towards the northwest.
Riding on the ox’s back, he admired the boundless scenery of the Inner Sect as they journeyed along.
Gazing at the mist-shrouded immortal mountains in the distance, observing the lush grass close by.
Wang Chen took a deep and long breath.
He felt thoroughly invigorated!
This was not merely psychological.
The Inner Mountain Gate of the Cloud Sun Sect was situated atop the spiritual vein of Heaven Cloud Mountain, and here, the concentration of spiritual energy greatly surpassed that of the Outer Sect.
Moreover, the deeper one ventured into the heartland, the more abundant nature’s spiritual energy became!
Years of cultivation in such a place truly yielded twice the result with half the effort.
This fact alone justified a hundred thousand Outer Sect disciples breaking their heads trying to squeeze their way in!
Wang Chen sincerely thanked Lv Defang.
Without this cheap contributing “head,” where would he have had the chance to step over this insurmountable threshold!
As for the Heaven-Ensnaring Anti-Evil Net, that went without saying.
Wang Chen had already made up his mind, on the anniversary of Lv Defang’s death next year, he would definitely offer a stick of incense for him.
But pleasing as it may be, Wang Chen had not the slightest intention to squander his time.
Not only could he not afford to squander, in the Inner Sect, he must be even more cautious and steady than in the Outer Sect!
That was what Senior Brother Cao told him.
Sunset Peak’s lineage was the weakest among the nine peaks of the Inner Sect, ranking last in the Nine Veins Debate every year.
As a result, they received the least amount of immortal cultivation resources.
Yet, paradoxically, Sunset Peak had the most Inner Sect disciples, making internal competition extremely fierce.
For cultivators like Wang Chen who lacked both background and wealth, a moment of inattention could get them crushed to smithereens!
Furthermore, Sunset Peak was rife with Purple Mansion Aristocratic Youngsters who continuously engaged in both overt battles and hidden stratagems against each other, and other cultivators could easily be dragged into it, making it difficult not to take sides.
Hence, the survival tactics in the Inner Sect summarized by Senior Brother Cao were quite valuable for Wang Chen.
He called up the immortal cultivation panel.
[Stealth Breath Technique (Great Perfection)]
Just last night, Wang Chen maxed out the experience value for the Grandmaster-level Stealth Breath Technique.
Then he spent 100 points of Human Virtue.
He completed the skill’s advancement once again.
This was the only spell among all the skills Wang Chen had mastered that had broken through the Grandmaster level!
Great Perfection!
However, after reaching full level.
Perhaps due to it being an auxiliary spell, Wang Chen didn’t feel anything particularly special.
The most crucial part was that he currently could not accurately estimate.
Under the enhancement of the Great Perfection-level Stealth Breath Technique, what level of cultivator’s Spiritual Perception Technique could he deceive!
Wang Chen guessed that under Purple Mansion, there was absolutely no one who could see through it.
But Purple Mansion Realm was a different story.
After all, there was a huge difference between someone just at the Purple Mansion level and the Great Perfection.
Moreover, the cultivation level of Spiritual Perception Technique varied greatly.
So it could not be generalized.
To reduce the chance of being discovered, other than keeping a low profile around the Purple Mansion Superiors, he would also need to maintain his spell’s enhancement at all times during his daily activities.
Wang Chen was helpless in this regard.
His background and identity were easy to investigate.
If people found out that in just over a year, his cultivation had advanced from Qi Cultivation third level to Qi Cultivation seventh level.
It would definitely attract huge trouble!
Someone would certainly want to know what opportunity Wang Chen had stumbled upon that allowed him to progress faster than the geniuses.
And whether it was possible to seize this opportunity from him!
So even after entering the Inner Sect, he still needed to keep a low profile.
Even more so!
As he thought about it, he subconsciously activated the Stealth Breath Technique.
Hiding his presence even deeper.
“Moo~”
The great green ox that was galloping at full speed suddenly felt that the person on its back “disappeared.”
This sensation was extremely strange; although the weight of its rider was still pressing down, in its perception, Wang Chen’s existence seemed to be entirely absent, not a trace detectable!
The great green ox instinctively raised its head and called out.
Its voice was filled with confusion.
But it was really not very smart; despite its confusion, it didn’t dwell on these intricacies.
It continued to run headlong.
And it ran even faster.
Wang Chen, sitting atop the ox, felt almost as if he was riding on clouds and drifting through mist.
He saw the distant mountains getting ever closer, and a magnificent peak towering into the clouds surrounded by white mist, appeared in his sight.
Sunset Peak was near!
Despite the rough road ahead, Wang Chen still harbored a great sense of excitement at this time.
Would that place become the new starting point for his cultivation?
“Ying ying!”
At this moment, Yuanyuan poked its head out from the Spirit Beast Pouch hanging at Wang Chen’s waist.
Its tiny eyes sparkled with breathtaking brilliance!
———
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