Chapter 1165 - 332: Feng Zhaoyang Arc (15)
The next period of time, Yuchi was relatively relaxed.
Now that Wang Haoran was handling such matters behind the scenes, as long as he kept a low profile within the state capital, no one knew of any connection between Yuchi and Zong Liangqing. Honestly, being helped like this was heartwarming; the saying goes that true feelings exist among people, but being wanted was definitely not pleasant.
He didn’t aspire to be the man who becomes Pirate King; once there’s a bounty on his head, it mainly affects the development of his commercial association. After all, the members of the association are just ordinary people, which was truly bothersome. So, he planned to wait until the contest ended tomorrow, earn some money, and then head straight back to Ascension Gate.
"Now there are two issues. The first issue is, I don’t know how many elixirs I need to consume to push my talent directly to Ninth Grade."
One opportunity costs a million, and now he has over seven million, which theoretically gives him seven chances to enhance his talent. Although the difficulty of enhancement increases over time, it’s still a matter of luck. Regardless, he had to try first.
Originally, this amount was meant for Ascension Gate to elevate its status, but these plans depended on actual circumstances. If he couldn’t accumulate ten million by the end of this year, he would use some himself and wait until next year to enhance the sect—since ultimately, a Sect Leader needs to cultivate personally.
"There’s also a second issue: If I can cultivate, does cultivating within Ascension Gate count me as its disciple? Do I receive the benefits of my Immortal Stone?"
When disciples of Ascension Gate cultivate, the Immortal Stone allocates Spiritual Qi directly into Yuchi’s body. The speed and quality of Spiritual Qi input are closely tied to the disciple’s own cultivation level. So, if Yuchi cultivates honestly on his own, can the Immortal Stone provide additional feedback?
If it could, then that would be delightful.
His Spirit Root was already quite good; even if he was somewhat slow in learning advanced secret manuals, with the support of his Spirit Root, the disciples’ cultivation, the Immortal Stone, and the mountain gate’s high concentration of Spiritual Qi, his cultivation speed was likely to soar directly.
"And the best advantage of starting cultivation on my end is that I can have a virtual disciple growing alongside me, meaning I don’t have to worry about breakthroughs being difficult. When the disciples’ cultivation speed isn’t picking up, I can push through with my own strength."
"The disadvantage is that once I start cultivating, I won’t have much time to roam around, not to mention the matters in Xufu Town that still need resolution. I might not handle things as carefully as before and can only prioritize efficiency, which naturally leads to mistakes."
"For instance, with the Great Tang Prison, originally the plan was meticulous, requiring a lot of time for such matters. But now, I might need to speed things up, not lingering in the prison to observe trivial things—seizing the chance to exploit the prison and then turning quickly away."
While contemplating these things, Yuchi glanced at the time. It was already February of the year 990 in the ninth cycle of the Nine Provinces calendar, and there were ten days left until the New Year. Tomorrow marks the beginning of private sparring, which would just wrap up in one day. Then he could prepare for the New Year festivities.
For instance, buying some small lanterns in the state capital, getting some new clothes for the disciples to wear for the New Year, and of course, visiting the Immortal Robe Pavilion in Jiangzhou City to see Yuan’Er along with Jiunuan and little Ximo. Last year there was little time, but this year, he could spend a couple of good days with them.
Just as Yuchi was considering these things, the door was knocked upon, and Yuchi responded, letting the person come in. He originally thought it might be Feng Zhaoyang; this fellow was quite nice, and he recently got to freeload quite a bit of beef noodle soup from him, which was incredibly enjoyable.
But the voice outside sounded familiar yet slightly strange. Opening the door curiously, well, wasn’t this Wan Qishang?
This girl in her twenties, now wearing a cyan dress and holding a sword, her soft, fine hair gracefully falling on her shoulders with an exquisite headband on her head—or was it a headband? He couldn’t really tell. But Wan Qishang still appeared to be a clear and bright girl, though she was already a loose cultivator from the Celestial Craft Workshop, even if her talent was tempting. It was better not to poach people from Celestial Craft Workshop.
Better save face for Wang Haoran; this fellow wasn’t finding things easy either.
Wang Haoran: Thank you!
Looking at Wan Qishang smiling, Yuchi asked, puzzled, "Miss Wan, what brings you to me at this time?"
A few days ago, Wan Qishang indeed treated Yuchi to a meal; of course, it was just a regular meal with no further interaction or contact with her, and after that, he hadn’t seen Wan Qishang again.
So what was she here for?
While Wan Qishang’s face reflected clarity, a hint of worry was still hidden, a worry that had been present in Wan Qishang’s eyes all along. Although in the past few days, this worry seemed lessened, as the contest approached tonight, she was completely unable to calm herself, wandering aimlessly in the streets of the state capital. Then, at some point, she looked up and realized she had arrived at the inn where Yuchi was staying.