After Marrying the 'Long Aotian' in Drag to Counter Bad Luck - Chapter 14

Ye Xingchen shook his head. “No, perhaps it is because Rong Nianxue forced me to drink some highly nourishing spiritual medicine a few days ago, and it had a bit of an effect.”

He deliberately emphasized the words “highly nourishing” with particular weight.

Beside him, Immortal Venerable Wuji looked up guiltily and glanced around, acting as though he was not the very person who had given the medicine to Rong Nianfeng.

He cleared his throat. “Since there is nothing seriously wrong, you should rest and recuperate well. Tomorrow is the sect recruitment day, and young junior Nianxue is busy with the minor competitions. She likely will not come looking for you these next few days, so you can rest your mind and heal in peace.”

Ye Xingchen nodded in agreement, thinking to himself that it was no wonder he had not seen Rong Nianxue.

As he was about to leave, Immortal Venerable Wuji let out a sigh and said, “Young junior Nianxue is a good child, and she truly has you in her heart. You must not fail her. I heard from Xiuyuan that you bought the Blood Moon Pavilion?”

Song Xiuyuan, who had just been backstabbed by his own master, stood there completely speechless.

“…”

He hurriedly said, “It could not be hidden for long anyway. You cannot beat me for this!”

Before Ye Xingchen could think of a good excuse to gloss over the matter, Immortal Venerable Wuji simply waved his hand. “Forget it, forget it. These things cannot be forced anyway. Once studies begin, everyone will be busy with cultivation. Where would anyone find the time to talk about love and romance?”

He spoke with some resentment. “If that wretched old astrologer had not made things sound so terrifying, how could the Patriarch and the others have turned to any doctor they could find in their panic?”

Normally, Ye Xingchen would have nodded along repeatedly, but today everything felt strange to him. He actually found certain words rather jarring, such as turning to any doctor in a panic. In the end, he could only attribute this feeling to the fact that Rong Nianxue had stood protectively in front of him.

This Dao companion of his was truly a bit strange.

He could not fathom her reasons for doing so.

Once they stepped out of the room, Song Xiuyuan let out a soft click of his tongue. “Master, your strategy of retreating in order to advance was masterfully played!”

Immortal Venerable Wuji stroked his long beard and smiled. “Distance creates beauty. With how lazy Little Eleven is, even if you leave him to bask in the sun outside for several decades, he still might not know how to win someone’s favor.”

“Achoo!” Rong Nianfeng rubbed his nose, wondering if Ye Xingchen was badmouthing him.

However, he did not have the spare energy to worry about that right now. After breaking through the previous night, he felt that his cultivation was quite different.

Especially his spiritual root.

Originally, he possessed an inferior water spiritual root, but now he was in a completely different situation.

He looked at the spiritual root in his hand, which was wrapped in a faint black mist, and fell into a long silence. He could not have fallen into the demonic path, could he?

If he were discovered, would he not be left without even a place to be buried?

Furthermore, he had never heard of a spiritual root changing after birth.

Fortunately, his body felt perfectly normal, so he could only continue to observe it for now.

Currently, his cultivation was only at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, but being able to break through before the disciple recruitment gave him a bit more confidence.

With this thought, he slowly entered a state of meditation again, recalling the sensation of spiritual energy circulating within his body when his cultivation broke through yesterday.

Without realizing it, he felt that the spiritual energy surrounding him had become entirely different; it was dense and abundant.

This was an experience he had never felt back in the Shuiyun Sect!

After a long while, Rong Nianfeng abruptly opened his eyes. He looked at the thickening mist in his hand with a face full of excitement; the fifth layer of Qi Condensation was indeed entirely different from the first layer!

The next day, at Xuantian Hall.

The once-in-a-decade disciple recruitment was naturally organized with grand solemnity. Aside from the disciples of each peak, elders from various sects were present, and most notably, several mighty cultivators sat in the high seats.

Someone in the crowd whispered softly, “Those four must be the mighty cultivators guarding the Xuantian Sword Sect, right?”

“I heard they have already reached the Body Integration stage.”

“The Body Integration stage! It truly deserves its reputation as the number one sect of the Southern Continent. There are barely ten people in the world today who have reached the Body Integration stage, yet the Xuantian Sword Sect has four of them guarding it!”

The crowd continued to whisper in awe.

Rong Nianfeng squeezed into the noisy crowd, craning his neck to see what these so-called mighty cultivators looked like.

“Hey, you kid!”

A burly man grabbed him, but before any words of blame could leave his mouth, the girl in front of him looked up and smiled sweetly, saying, “My apologies.”

He was already quite skilled at cross-dressing by now.

The man with thick eyebrows and large eyes stared blankly, his face flushing red as he stopped speaking.

A soft clatter echoed.

A night-luminescent pearl bumped against his shin. Rong Nianfeng looked down to pick it up and turned around to look, only to see a man jumping up and waving his hand. “Young lady, over here!”

Xie Jingzhi was calling out to him.

Rong Nianfeng ducked his head and squeezed through the crowd to stand before him.

“Keep your voice down.”

Xie Jingzhi nodded. He did not take back the night-luminescent pearl that was handed to him; instead, he reached into his robes and pulled out another handful. “If you like them, I have plenty more.”

Rong Nianfeng, whose eyes were nearly blinded by the pile of pearls, remained entirely silent.

“…”

He had dignity! How could he possibly give in for just a few pearls? Well, forget it, he accepted them from Xie Jingzhi’s hands with a quiet grunt.

Xie Jingzhi asked in a low voice, “Why did you not change back into men’s clothing?”

“Forget it, I am too lazy to change,” he replied.

It was easier to get things done with this identity. Furthermore, if Ye Xingchen suddenly came looking for him later, what would happen if the secret was exposed?

Xie Jingzhi was clearly very excited. “Rong Nianfeng, which peak do you want to join?”

Hearing this, Rong Nianfeng merely looked up at him slightly before lowering his head to continue studying the pearls in his hand, which served as a tacit acceptance of the name. He let out a yawn and said, “Whichever peak wants me is where I will go, I am not picky.”

“Then I am not picky either!”

The pride of youth was still written across his brow; he was truly an eccentric fellow.

Rong Nianfeng withdrew his gaze and patted his shoulder. “If you become rich and powerful, do not forget me!”

According to his experience, Xie Jingzhi was definitely no ordinary person.

The only strange thing was that he had never encountered this name in the novel, The Record of Defying Heaven and Cultivating Immortals.

Before long, a deep and powerful voice resonated from Xuantian Hall, completely overpowering the incredibly noisy crowd. “Silence.”

This was the power of a Body Integration stage cultivator!

Without exception, everyone below felt the crushing pressure. Their reactions varied depending on the level of their cultivation.

Rong Nianfeng was only at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, and a dense layer of fine sweat broke out on his forehead as the pressure weighed down so heavily that he could barely breathe.

On the other hand, Xie Jingzhi showed absolutely no reaction at all.

As if seeing through Rong Nianfeng’s suspicion, Xie Jingzhi smiled and said, “The weapon of the Merfolk clan is sound, so this kind of pressure is a daily occurrence for us. Naturally, we will not feel any discomfort.”

The explanation was reasonable enough. Rong Nianfeng nodded but refused to admit it, saying, “I did not ask anything, you were the one who wanted to tell me!”

The voice of the Patriarch echoed once more. “Everyone, there is a door before you. Only those with spiritual energy may pass through. Those who have never cultivated, please leave now.”

The moment the words fell, a door slowly materialized before Rong Nianfeng’s eyes. Upon seeing this, many people around him let out a sigh, shook their heads in regret, and left the area.

He snapped back to reality, held his breath, pulled open the door, and stepped inside.

What appeared before his eyes was no longer Xuantian Hall, but rather an isolated pocket dimension.

Just as he suspected, that familiar voice continued. “Next, you will pass through the sword array, alchemy, formations, and puppetry. The elders of each peak will choose whether to accept you into their ranks based on your performance. I wish you all good luck.”

The moment the voice ceased, his vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he had already entered the array.

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