Chapter 639: Little Qing

Is Lin Feiyao truly helping me, or has she carefully dug a trap and is guiding me straight toward it?

Wang Sheng walked along the corridor of the Lingdan Pavilion's rear courtyard, his thoughts churning with each step. With every breath, he ran another round of calculations.

He had to decide now.

Should I follow the clear path Lin Feiyao pointed out, which is also aligned with my earlier plan? Or should I withdraw immediately with my senior sister, avoid the risk entirely, and search for another way to enter the mustard seed realm?

Wang Sheng also understood very well that if the person beside him were Lishang or Huai Jing, he would likely hesitate a little before taking the gamble. But the one standing at his side now was Mu Wanxuan. He truly did not wish for his senior sister to shoulder even the slightest risk.

Cha Yue's aura had already appeared at the end of the corridor, likely to receive them. Wang Sheng was running out of time to analyze every possible outcome.

Seemingly sensing how swiftly his mind was working, Mu Wanxuan gently tugged at his sleeve. When he turned to look at her, her veil stirred slightly as she nodded a little.

Wang Sheng could not help but smile wryly. Since Mu Wanxuan had already made her decision, he would simply obey. Other people's Daoist partners could hold up half the sky. For him, his Daoist partner was the sky itself.

Cha Yue soon appeared at the end of the corridor. Her light purple palace gown gave her an air of quiet elegance without seeming gaudy. "Have you two finished catching up with Feiyao?"

Wang Sheng smiled. "Now that I know Fairy Lin Feiyao is doing well, I don't have to worry about her anymore."

Inside the quiet room, Lin Feiyao rolled her eyes.

Cha Yue asked, "Are you still interested in the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill?"

Wang Sheng cupped his fist. "Since I'm already here, I should at least try to trade for such a precious pill. Senior, could you ask the elder who refined the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill what kind of treasure he requires?"

"You should first tell me what priceless item you possess. Only then can I inquire on your behalf."

Wang Sheng nodded slowly. "I am only a minor True Immortal. My elders would not bestow treasures that are too formidable. However, as you mentioned earlier, the Qiling Immortal Sect is collecting cultivation techniques, and I do possess a few techniques that I can trade for a pill or two.

"Cultivation techniques?" Cha Yue's eyes brightened as she smiled. "Would your sect not object?"

"I would never reveal my sect's profound arts. But there are a few divine abilities that I can make decisions about."

Wang Sheng took out a blank jade slip, infused it with strands of immortal light, and inscribed two sections of an immortal art. He then handed it to her.

"This is the Mysterious-Jade Heart Mantra. Using it to cultivate before ascending strengthens soul power, enhances immortal perception, and allows one to better comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth. After ascension, it purifies the Primordial Spirit and clears the Heavenly Abode.

"Upon reaching minor attainment, it prevents heart devils from invading and wards off actual devils. It then becomes a divine ability that calms the mind, purifies thoughts, and protects the Primordial Spirit upon great attainment. Moreover, it can be used alongside other profound arts without conflict. I will provide the complete text in exchange for the pill."

Cha Yue was already reading the mantra within the jade slip. Though only the first two sections were present, she could already sense its extraordinary nature.

Yaoyun had taught Wang Sheng the Mysterious-Jade Heart Mantra and the Seven-Lotus Soul-Calming Method while they were trapped within the Earth Qi Seal. Both strengthened the Primordial Spirit and originated from great members of the Heavenly Court. While they circulated fairly widely among the maidens of the Jade Pool, they were rarely seen beyond that circle.

Naturally, Wang Sheng had gotten Yaoyun's consent first before bringing the art out.

If the other party failed to recognize its worth, Yaoyun could still provide several impressive divine abilities, spells, array arts, or even pill formulas. So many had been recorded during her years of cultivation that she never even got the chance to practice some of them herself.

In truth, Wang Sheng had other techniques he could offer. Yaoyun could simply imprint certain arts into his mind, like the Soaring Heaven Five-Lightning Art, which was a formidable and rare lightning-control art.

The Heavenly Court was long gone, and Wang Sheng had little use for many of these methods. Exchanging them for alchemical pills could seem like a loss, yet considering the situation now, he had few better options.

For a great sect that had existed for a long time, techniques meant for combat were not difficult to obtain. In contrast, immortal arts that assisted sect members and disciples in cultivation were far rarer and often held greater value, especially those like the Mysterious-Jade Heart Mantra, which a powerful member of the Heavenly Court had created and a Heavenly Court princess had once used.

Considering it could improve the aptitude of young disciples to a certain degree, such a method could not be acquired even with vast quantities of Spirit Stones or immortal treasures.

Cha Yue stood quietly for a time, then looked up at Wang Sheng. "Are you truly willing to trade this for the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill? Do you understand that a profound technique meant to assist cultivation is worth far more than one or two alchemical pills?"

"Of course." Wang Sheng sighed. "I have no other choice. Since I come from a poor family, techniques like this are all that I can offer."

Poor family...

Cha Yue was refined and steady, yet even she nearly lost her temper.

Did the Spirit Stones he had used to buy twenty-five Three-Essence Comprehension Pills and two Six-Aperture Dao Comprehension Pellets just fall from the sky?!

In a noticeably gentler tone, she asked, "Could you provide more of the mantra? I will take it to the elder who made the pill and see if I can persuade him to agree to the exchange. If he refuses, I will swear a heavy oath that I will not reveal a single word of this method to anyone else."

Wang Sheng nodded and took back the jade slip. He inscribed roughly a fifth of the complete mantra.

After some thought, he also added a few lines from the ending portion to prove that he possessed the complete technique and was not attempting to deceive them for pills.

Cha Yue then led the two to the main hall of the Lingdan Pavilion. She called over the elderly woman from the neighboring tailor shop to temporarily receive Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan and to oversee the pavilion. Afterward, she headed back to their sect's mountain gate with Lin Feiyao.

What Cha Yue truly valued was not the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill. There were only two or three of those alchemical pills in total. Even if they were to be given to disciples and sect members, it would never be her turn.

What she valued was the immortal arts themselves. She was already considering whether she could persuade that somewhat eccentric elder to keep this immortal art within the Qiling Immortal Sect.

Yaoyun telepathically muttered, "

Could this be a trap?

"

Wang Sheng could only sigh inwardly and sit with his senior sister, quietly drinking tea as they waited.

The mountain gate of the Qiling Immortal Sect was not far from here. After only a short while, Cha Yue returned to the Lingdan Pavilion with a smile.

Has it succeeded?

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Immortal Cha Yue said directly, without any preamble. "Would you be willing to visit our sect's mountain gate? The elder who refined the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill wishes to speak with you in person."

Mu Wanxuan's gaze showed a trace of hesitation, but Wang Sheng laughed lightly. "It would be my honor."

Cha Yue could not help but praise him. "You truly are courageous."

"If your sect intended to detain us, you could have just as easily done it here."

"Very well."

Cha Yue bowed slightly and made an inviting gesture. In response, Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan walked with her. Lin Feiyao was nowhere to be seen, likely because she didn't want to remain involved with them.

Cha Yue removed a hairpin from her coiffure and tossed it toward the cloud road before the Lingdan Pavilion. Immortal light swirled, and a spirit bird cried softly. A spirit beast the size of a yak then appeared before the trio, with a carriage and canopy attached behind it. It was Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan's first time seeing such a traveling treasured artifact. Sitting inside, they found it surprisingly comfortable.

The spirit beast leaped into the air. Arrays surrounded the carriage to prevent even the slightest jolt or the faintest noise of the wind.

When Wang Sheng lifted the curtain and looked through the layered arrays, he saw that they had already left the great city and were heading toward an immortal island hidden high among layers of white clouds.

Upon that island stood countless immortal palaces and pavilions. Mountain peaks were wrapped in arrays and shimmered under the light of the sun.

Beside them, Cha Yue said, "Please forgive us. We are heading to the restricted rear mountain, which guests are not normally allowed to enter. I ask that you refrain from observing too closely. I will seal the carriage with an array. I hope you will not take offense."

"None taken," Wang Sheng replied. He lowered the curtain and sat properly, interlocking fingers with his senior sister.

Cha Yue formed hand signs. Soon, a layer of immortal light enveloped them. It stopped Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan's immortal perception from extending outward and blocked all external probing.

The journey remained calm. Wang Sheng even chatted with Cha Yue about pill refining, as though unconcerned that the Qiling Immortal Sect was scheming against them.

As the ox carriage crossed the immortal island and sped toward a valley, Lin Feiyao stood beneath a tree, watching it pass while using her slender fingers to idly comb two strands of hair at her chest.

"I did not expect Elder Zhuge to truly agree to see him...

Hmph.

I could benefit from him getting closer to that old man as well. At least my advice will not have been wasted."

After mumbling for a while, she turned and drifted toward a bamboo cottage behind her, no longer paying much attention.

***

"We have arrived," Cha Yue announced.

The ox carriage trembled lightly as she opened the two wooden doors at the back for Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan.

They jumped down and found themselves in a mountain valley covered in medicinal fields. Several young attendants stood by a stream, handling medicinal herbs with pestles.

Cha Yue put away the ox carriage. Only then did Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan notice several pavilions in a corner of the valley and the massive alchemy furnace standing before them, towering fifty or sixty meters tall.

Following Cha Yue toward the alchemy furnace, Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan looked around carefully. There was so much to take in that they could barely keep up.

The valley had many herb gardens along with arrays that enclosed rare spirit beasts and celestial birds. It looked very much like an "immortal botanical and zoological garden."

Several elderly men flew about near the alchemy furnace, seemingly preparing to refine pills. Cha Yue led them on a wide detour to avoid disturbing the elders at work.

When they entered a pavilion in the corner, a dense medicinal fragrance rushed toward them, making Wang Sheng feel slightly dizzy. Mu Wanxuan, however, seemed unexpectedly suited to such an environment. She quietly looked at the jars of medicine placed casually around the room, then gazed at the back of an old man in a loose green robe.

The white-haired elder was crouched over a stalk of immortal grass in a corner. His hands trembled a little as he moved them with extreme care, seemingly afraid of destroying a sickly plant.

"Elder Zhuge." Cha Yue stepped forward and bowed gracefully. "The two guests who wish to trade for the Nine-Essence Dao-Condensing Pill have arrived."

The old man did not turn around. Still crouching, he replied, "

Mm,

got it. You may leave now. Close the door behind you."

"Yes." Cha Yue answered respectfully and lowered her head. She then turned to Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan and blinked lightly before stepping out and shutting the door firmly.

The old man raised a finger. Green talismans appeared around the room, activating a highly refined array.

He then sighed softly.

"You bring out a Jade Pool immortal mantra to exchange for alchemical pills. Whose disciple are you? Do you understand how precious such immortal arts are?"

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan were both clearly startled. The old man set down his small hoe and slowly stood up like an ordinary mortal in his twilight years. His aura was completely absent, as though he truly were just an aging mortal.

A Heavenly Court expert?

When the old man slowly turned around, the murkiness in his eyes suddenly burst into sharp brilliance. The wrinkles on his face trembled as he hoarsely cried out, "Little Qing?!"

Wang Sheng was rendered even more stunned.