Chapter 63: Cultivation

Yan Yushu's injuries were entirely brought upon herself.

Through a voice-transmission talisman, Chen Xuan said, "You've eaten enough lately and will soon become a Dao-storehouse master. There is no need to take such risks."

Yan Yushu's inner voice came back, highly indignant: "That was my first time encountering practitioners of the Solar Qi. Who would have known they explode upon death, leaving a crater hundreds of meters wide right where they stood? It blasted me away—how utterly humiliating. My chest still hurts."

Although Lu Zhuan had departed, he had forcefully requisitioned quite a few Qi-practicing clans to escort Yan Yushu along the way, among them several Dao-storehouse realm experts like the head of the Xie family. A group of out-of-town Daoists who attempted an ambush gained not the slightest advantage.

Meeting a strong counterattack, they left behind one Dao-storehouse realm Daoist whom Yan Yushu attempted to consume, only to be blown black and blue and left in a thoroughly disheveled state.

The Twelve Qi of Mountains and Seas.

The Five Elements Qi were the most common, while the Yin and Yang Qi were relatively rare. In the world of Qi practice, records concerning the Solar and Lunar lineages were scarce, and Yan Yushu, letting down her guard for a moment, suffered a minor setback.

Chen Xuan asked, "Have you figured out the identities of the attackers?"

He was puzzled; in the territory of Crimson Crow City, who would still dare to provoke Yan Yushu?

The Hanging Temple had retreated, Green Deer Mountain had exited, and various tragic events had already occurred—yet there were still reckless experts attempting to snatch food from the tiger's jaws?

"A bunch of mad Daoists whom both humans and dogs detest. Lu Zhuan said they come from Little Azure Sky, a faction far more bizarre and sinister than the Hanging Temple."

Pausing for a moment, Yan Yushu continued, "They should be hunting down a Mandated One. Passing through the territory of Crimson Crow City, they happened to run into me and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to test my strength. It didn't work, so they sensibly retreated."

Believing Chen Xuan to be a Mandated One as well, she had deliberately shared her encounter so that he would remain vigilant and on guard.

"Hunting a Mandated One?"

Chen Xuan frowned slightly. At dusk, when the jade bracelet underwent its transformation, a trace left by True Person Purple Concubine had indeed mentioned Little Azure Sky.

When he had previously consulted the old turtle, he obtained some information regarding Little Azure Sky, an ancient and formidable force.

In this world, the alchemy path had always revered the Wood-Virtue Azure Qi practitioners of the Cauldron and Pill Dao. However, Little Azure Sky carved out a unique path; they excelled at refining "humans" and had elevated the alchemy art of refining "humans" to a grand scale... Rumors had it that they had once successfully brewed a true immortal pill!

Once this faction showed its face, it meant that a Mandated One had emerged nearby.

Walking along the mountain path toward the outer regions of the Southern Wilderness, Chen Xuan thought to himself, "I'll take a distant glance at the situation of this unfortunate Mandated One."

Since the mad Daoists of Little Azure Sky were hunting a Mandated One, he could not remain indifferent, as his Heart Studio relied on destiny to grow.

Yet he knew his own limitations; he would not rashly meddle in excessively dangerous matters. If there was no affinity, there was no need to take desperate risks.

Leaving the mountains of the Southern Wilderness, he stepped into the boundless wilderness.

"A major master can stir the celestial qi of lower-level practitioners. Encountering Qi practitioners, I will simply avoid them."

Being extremely cautious, Chen Xuan rapidly approached the distant location of the mystic cat. With the Heart Studio's buffer range of over eighty miles, no one—not even top-tier supreme masters—could detect him spying on the frontline situation.

Soon enough, he activated the Heart Studio, locking onto the hardworking mystic cat.

...
...

"Whoosh!"

The earth retreated at high speed. The mystic cat ran swiftly, the jade plaque at its neck cutting through the air like a white streak of light while its four small paws kicked up a blur of afterimages.

"Yan Yushu was gluttonous, got blown flying by her food, and snapped a large tree right in half. What a clumsy demoness."

Covering her mouth to hide her giggles, Lady Mystic Cat rolled merrily on the ground.

Chen Xuan happened to possess her at this exact moment. Finding his field of vision turning completely upside down, he jumped in fright, momentarily thinking the mystic cat was in a brawl.

She had just departed from Yan Yushu's location and was rushing to the next crime scene when Chen Xuan intercepted her midway.

"Things in the past month have been more numerous than the last twenty years combined. Meow-meow is getting a bit tired!"

Lady Mystic Cat's joy lasted for mere seconds before she was plunged into distress once more, for she had been given no opportunity to rest, and no one else ever worked a little cat quite like this.

"Hurry up and run!"

Chen Xuan urged inwardly, hoping that the mystic cat—with all four limbs splayed out and lying flat on her back—would resume her journey and quickly reach the next crime scene.

The mystic cat's cleanup work had priorities, focusing primarily on Mandated Ones or other special figures... As long as one followed her every step, there was a high probability of discovering the fleeing Mandated One.

At the same time, Chen Xuan split his focus, controlling his physical body seventy or eighty miles away as it sprinted at top speed to maintain the equilibrium of distance between the two.

"We've arrived."

Resuming her work, Lady Mystic Cat arrived less than an hour later amidst the ruins of a dilapidated temple. The collapsed walls and broken pillars left the ground riddled with thousands of holes, as if it had been pelted by a fierce meteor shower, featuring numerous gigantic craters several yards across—this was the exact battlefield where Ye Kui had engaged in magical combat.

"The battle was intense. This Mandated One possesses formidable strength, causing quite a few Daoists from Little Azure Sky to perish."

Following the mystic cat as she strolled through the battlefield ruins, Chen Xuan felt quite astonished, for the terrain had clearly been devastated over a vast area by a Dao-storehouse level master, leaving utter chaos in their wake.

"Oh?"

Looking around to search for remains, Lady Mystic Cat suddenly raised her head, gazed into the distance, and wrinkled her damp little nose with a look of utter disgust:

"It's the Daoists from Little Azure Sky!"

Beneath the dark night in the distance, Chen Xuan saw a ball of pristine white radiance appear as a group of Daoists headed straight toward them.

"This imposing aura—a Dao-storehouse realm master."

Chen Xuan felt a chill in his heart, realizing this group was extraordinary. The two leaders in front—one tall and one short—possessed terrifyingly strong cultivation bases.

The two Daoists wore bright yellow Daoist robes, and their pupils were pure gold like a pair of golden oil lamps. Moreover, the spaces between their eyebrows radiated a dazzling heavenly light, shining like a miniature sun that illuminated the night as bright as day.

The tall Daoist swept his gaze across the scene and chuckled, "Our junior brother of the half-step Dao-storehouse realm has successfully perished, allowing Ye Kui to escape once again."

Nodding, the short Daoist also smiled, "In just a few short months, Ye Kui no longer even fears Dao-storehouse masters; we have all become mere nourishment along his path of Qi practice... You cannot kill the Ultimate God; it only makes him stronger."

The tall Daoist nodded. "He is clever, fleeing all the way while slaughtering every practitioner who witnesses him make a move—good or bad alike, leaving not a single survivor. Moreover, he never spends a second night in the same place... Even top-tier supreme masters find it difficult to track him."

Ye Kui!

Hearing this, Chen Xuan was shaken to the core. The martial arts expert he had met in Peach Blossom Source was actually a hidden Mandated One whom he had missed out on!

"No wonder he was unwilling to spar with me in martial techniques."

Ye Kui must have been worried that engaging in combat would alert superior practitioners resonating with the same Qi behind his opponent, thereby exposing his identity and trail... He had truly gained hard-earned experience from his life on the run.

"Ye Kui killed his way all the way to the Southern Wilderness. Every single Qi practitioner who witnessed him in action was wiped out without a trace... Truly, appearances can be deceiving; I never would have guessed."

Filled with deep emotion, Chen Xuan realized that Ye Kui was treading the path of a lawless, malevolent demonic cultivator, leaving a trail of endless blood and bleached bones in his wake.

His methods were far more ruthless and decisive than those of the demoness Yan Yushu. At the very least, Yan Yushu had not actively murdered the Gold-Virtue White Qi practitioners she encountered on her flight, which was why she was still pursued by the Hanging Temple after fleeing tens of thousands of miles... Of course, sparing the lives of the practitioners she met along the way brought Yan Yushu even greater benefits.

Yet Ye Kui had no better alternative if he wished to survive... He could not gamble on meeting a righteous and kind-hearted major master, for such benevolent souls in the Qi-practicing world were as rare as phoenix feathers and kylin horns—their numbers likely even scarcer than Mandated Ones.

Scanning the surroundings, the tall Daoist smiled, "Ye Kui was forced to break through to the Dao-storehouse realm tonight. From now on, whenever he encounters Dao-storehouse realm practitioners along his path, he will inevitably be drawn by their qi and expose his tracks... Finding him will be a breeze."

"Why does he always want to run?"

The short Daoist seemed to wear only the expression of a smile. He continued, "We calculate the limits of his strength step by step, arranging practitioners of corresponding realms to deliver themselves to his doorstep and die, forcing him to continuously advance his realm... Is there anyone else in this world who does good deeds with their lives like us?"

"Heh heh, every time he narrowly escapes from a desperate situation right at the nick of time, he must surely believe in his heart that he is the protagonist of this world."

"A Mandated One—isn't he precisely the protagonist of this world?"

"..."

Listening to their conversation, Chen Xuan felt his hair stand on end.

Little Azure Sky was setting up one stage after another, using the lives of their own people as nourishment to cultivate Ye Kui step by step into a major master, while Ye Kui remained utterly clueless, kept entirely in the dark!

One didn't even need to guess Little Azure Sky's ultimate intention.

"Once the Mandated One, Ye Kui, is fully matured, they will harvest him and refine him into an immortal pill!"