Chapter 59: Couldn’t Afford That Shame
Chapter 59: Couldn’t Afford That Shame
In the living room of the neighboring courtyard’s house, Qian Luoying was chatting with Li Qianxue.
Perhaps the experiences of the past two days made Qian Luoying, who originally thought she had worldly experience and knowledge, finally realize that she did not understand this world as well as she had imagined.
She was straightforward by nature and disliked contact with the opposite sex. It was only by chance that she and Ling Yi became nominal siblings.
Deep down, Qian Luoying was quite a traditional person who highly respected anyone who taught her knowledge.
Therefore, her feelings toward Ling Yi also changed from initial indifference and complexity, along with gratitude, to a degree of fondness.
This fondness was not romantic affection, but more of an appreciation for an outstanding person.
Gender was irrelevant.
Through the interactions over the past two days, she also sensed another side of Ling Yi and gained new understandings of the secular world.
Qian Luoying knew she was not a very likable person. In her sect, she was the youngest Elder and was excluded by some.
Coupled with her aloof nature and overly blunt way of speaking, not many people were close to her.
Now in the secular world, in just a few days, she experienced ups and downs, but it made her feel emotions she had never felt before.
Although she remained aloof, deep down, she did not dislike these few young people.
Especially today when Li Qianxue actually took the initiative to care for the frightened Mo Yunwu, it touched her somewhat.
So while chatting, she even took the rare initiative to ask about Li Qianxue’s situation.
“I may look quiet, but deep down I’m really rebellious, not obedient at all.”
“Since I was little, I loved running after Brother Gu. He had a group of older kids, all boys, and of course they didn’t want to play with me. So I would go complain to his dad, and then Uncle Gu would scold him, hehe…”
Speaking of her childhood, Li Qianxue had a happy smile on her face.
“Like that, it went on until I was around seven or eight and started elementary school, and Brother Gu entered middle school. We gradually grew a bit distant, but every summer and winter vacation, I would still run to find him.”
“As a kid, I didn’t understand what liking someone meant. I just wanted to stick to him, be with him, and I liked seeing him helpless with me.”
“Later, only after growing up did I gradually understand—that was liking. Apart from him, no one else could enter my heart.”
“But by then, he already had a reputation, quite the playboy. My parents had concerns. Though marriages in big families can be like that, many couples do their own thing, you can’t knowingly send your daughter toward a playboy, right?”
“So for several years in between, Brother Gu and I didn’t have much contact. In the past year, my family started getting anxious, introducing various candidates. Finally, I got fed up and said I could get married, but aside from Gu Tong, I wouldn’t marry anyone else.”
Qian Luoying looked at Li Qianxue and couldn’t help but interject, “Didn’t you say he’s very fickle?”
Li Qianxue giggled and said, “Yeah, but what does that matter? Should I find someone I don’t like? Besides, those who seem steady and proper, are they really honest?”
Qian Luoying was speechless. She thought of similar things within Heaven’s Gate Sect. Though she seldom paid attention, she often heard related discussions.
“So, I don’t really mind this kind of thing. If he really cares about you, he’ll naturally change for you. If he doesn’t care that much, forcing it is useless. Anyway, I like him however he is,” Li Qianxue chuckled.
“You…” Qian Luoying couldn’t agree with this view but had nothing to say.
It was like in the Cultivation World. Some people had only one Dao Companion their whole lives.
But some had whole groups of Dao Companions, almost like the harems of ancient emperors.
There were even powerful female cultivators who claimed to have three thousand male companions!
So this kind of thing really depended on personal choice.
Anyway, she had no interest in matters between men and women. Her greatest wish in life was to pursue the Supreme Great Dao.
“Big sister, tell me about you. You say you’re in your thirties, but you look even younger than me. How do you take care of your skin? And you’re already a sect Elder at such a young age. How did you cultivate to such a high realm? The Dao-Entering Experts I know seem to be none younger than fifty…”
It was hard to imagine—a reclusive sect Elder, and a direct daughter of a major secular family, two women who originally should have had no intersection and would struggle to find common topics—could hit it off so well and chat happily.
In Ling Yi’s room.
The Enchantress was somewhat irritable.
Here’s what happened—
Ling Yi happily opened the box, took out a Spirit Stone, and started cultivating.
“Spirit Stones are different, this feeling… smooth as silk!”
Plentiful energy flowed in large amounts from the Spirit Stone in his palm into his body, racing at high speed along a meridian!
Ling Yi somewhat felt like “with Spirit Stones in hand, I own the world.”
Even though most of the absorbed energy would be taken by the Enchantress, he still felt very happy.
Aside from that time using the Soul Spirit Tree leaf, he had never had such a good cultivation experience.
But this cultivation speed, in the Enchantress’s view, was like listening to a sloth tell jokes or watching a snail crawl.
Unbearable!
After an hour, she finally couldn’t hold back and erupted.
“What lousy Cultivation Method is this? Why do you seem quite pleased? Is that all you aspire to? Cultivating like this, it would take at least ten years to reach Dao Enlightenment!”
“…”
Ling Yi was immediately a bit stunned, then his eyes gradually showed pleasant surprise as he counted on his fingers.
“I’m twenty-two this year. Meridian Unlocking has fourteen levels in total. I’m currently at level zero… You mean, I’ll reach Dao Enlightenment by thirty-two?”
“Why does your tone sound so pleasantly surprised?” The Enchantress was furious.
“No, wait. Do you have some misunderstanding about cultivation speed? Do you think Dao Enlightenment in one’s thirties is slow?” Ling Yi found it a bit unbelievable.
He had never heard of any martial cultivator entering Dao Enlightenment before the age of forty.
Oh… that sister next door seemed to have already reached the third level of Dao Enlightenment in her thirties, but she was a sect disciple!
She had been soaking in top-tier resources since childhood, could he compare?
Looking across the secular world, being able to enter Dao Enlightenment before fifty was already considered heaven-bestowed talent.
Even that big enemy Lu Qingming from the neighboring country seemed to have entered Dao Enlightenment in his forties.
So for Ling Yi, if he could enter Dao Enlightenment at thirty-two, that would be an absolutely huge surprise!
“Misunderstanding my ass! Dao Enlightenment in one’s thirties is bearable? Simply pathetic! Your cultivation method is too lousy!” The Enchantress continued her ruthless mocking.
“Then teach me a good Cultivation Method!” Ling Yi retorted. “You can even instruct Dao Enlightenment Masters. For you, a mere Meridian Unlocking cultivator like me should be even simpler, right?”
“What do you know?” The Enchantress fumed. “My mind has no Cultivation Methods suitable for a weakling like you! None! At! All!”
“…”
Adding insult to injury.
The Enchantress’s words were seriously heartbreaking. The key point was she was unhappy — it wasn’t that she wouldn’t give, but that you were too weak, and what I could give, you couldn’t handle…
Ling Yi also got angry: “Then what are you yelling for? All this time, if we were cultivating, there could’ve been significant progress already!”
The Enchantress grumbled: “Save it. Let me think, see if I can create a Cultivation Method suitable for you on the spot…”
Ling Yi: !!!
Could even directly write textbooks now?
Regarding the Enchantress’s inadvertent boasting, Ling Yi was completely speechless.
“Truly too weak… making people worry day after day!”
The Enchantress was still muttering.
“Fine, take your time thinking. I’ll get some sleep.” After saying that, Ling Yi really washed up and went to bed.
Enchantress: “…”
Why did she suddenly feel tricked by him?
But thinking about Ling Yi’s unbearably slow cultivation speed, the Enchantress decided to swallow her anger for now.
Just you wait until the day I can come out.
Early the next morning, Ling Yi got up full of energy, washed up, had breakfast, and went to meet Qin Hao and Gu Tong.
As expected, yesterday’s battle stirred up a huge commotion in Mei City.
Even Sister Zhao couldn’t help but send Ling Yi a message, congratulating him on establishing a foothold in the Chaos Zone while also reminding him with concern: Don’t be too showy, the waters of the Chaos Zone run deeper than you can imagine.
Actually, it wasn’t unimaginable. That dog demon yesterday who barked “Wang!” and slipped away, Ling Yi had seen it.
So he knew that although no demons seemed to appear yesterday, that didn’t mean they weren’t involved.
Maybe they were all watching them from the shadows right now.
When meeting Gu Tong and Qin Hao, Ling Yi also saw two other people.
One was an old man, precisely the Dao Enlightenment Expert Wang Tingjian who had stopped Cai Chunming the night of their escape.
The other looked quite young, seemingly only in his forties, of medium build, with short, spiky hair standing upright, thick eyebrows and big eyes, full of martial vigor. Ling Yi guessed this should be the Monarch’s personal guard.
But this person had such distinctive looks, unforgettable at a glance. If he had been by the Monarch’s side all along, wouldn’t others recognize him?
Either his original appearance wasn’t like this, and he changed it through means; or he might have always been hidden in the shadows, others simply not knowing of his existence.
Ling Yi speculated inwardly.
Seeing him arrive, Qin Hao looked happy and said to Wang Tingjian and the middle-aged-looking man: “Teacher Wang, Teacher Dong, this is my Ninth Brother Ling Yi!”
Then he turned to Ling Yi: “Ninth Brother, this is Senior Wang Tingjian, the one who helped us stop the other Dao Enlightenment Expert that night, a great Fourth-Level Dao Enlightenment Master! And this one is Senior Dong Ming, a shadow guard who has been by my father’s side for many years, a Fifth-Level Dao Enlightenment Master! Oh, Senior Dong is also an old friend of Ninth Brother’s adoptive father.”
One was Dao Enlightenment Level Four, the other Level Five, both Masters who had reached the Five Qi realm. Though the difference might be just one or two minor levels, they were significantly more powerful than Qian Luoying’s Third-Level Dao Enlightenment!
No wonder he felt that confidence from Gu Tong and Qin Hao last night.
Although Sun Qingbo, Qin Xu, and their group currently held some advantage and initiative, Qin Hao’s side was not bad either!
If Ling Yi were an extremely ambitious young man, now would be his best opportunity.
Wang Tingjian looked at Ling Yi, showing admiration in his eyes, and said, “Good lad, not bad!”
Dong Ming also looked Ling Yi up and down, showing a slight smile: “I heard that on the night of your escape, you personally killed a Fourth-Order Golden Body? At your age, with that strength, remarkable!”
“You both flatter me too much. Ling Yi greets Senior Dong and Senior Wang.” Ling Yi saluted the two respectfully.
The two men’s gazes toward him grew even gentler.
Not to mention their existing friendship with Shen Xiaowu, even without it, facing such an outstanding young man, unless one was narrow-minded, it was hard to feel dislike.
After everyone sat down, Qin Hao looked at Ling Yi and said: “Ninth Brother, Teacher Dong and Teacher Wang both just suggested I return to the capital as soon as possible. So… we probably can’t stay here much longer.”
Dong Ming said gravely: “Correct. That group is jumping around now. The diplomatic missions from Great Chu and Zhao Country are about to arrive. The Monarch’s intention is that we cannot let them mess around like this.”
‘Monarch’ was Dong Ming’s term for the ruler.
Wang Tingjian said: “Although the Monarch has lost that pioneering, enterprising heart he once had in recent years, he hasn’t truly become senile. Moreover, the matter of Eastern Sea City has always been the greatest pain in his heart. How could he just watch that group sign agreements with Great Chu and Zhao Country?”
Dong Ming nodded silently beside him, then looked at Qin Hao: “The Monarch will do his utmost to send you on your final journey. From now on, I will follow beside you, Young Master, and obey your commands.”
“Teacher Dong, please don’t be so formal with me…” Qin Hao quickly stood up and said.
“This is the Monarch’s intention,” Dong Ming said with a serious expression.
From Dong Ming’s eyes, Ling Yi saw a trace of sorrow.
The Monarch’s days were probably truly numbered!
Otherwise, why such urgency?
But this way, before returning to the capital, it seemed his realm would be difficult to significantly improve!
At this moment, the Enchantress’s slightly weary voice came from his mind: “Time is urgent, no time to think too much. This cultivation method is only suitable for Meridian Unlocking. Get to Golden Body as soon as possible first. Otherwise, when you return to the capital, you won’t even be able to fulfill the boasts you made. Couldn’t afford that shame.”