Chapter 306

Chapter 306: Orthodox Cultivators

“Hmph! You have poor eyesight. My sister and I are genuine blood siblings from the same parents,” Huang Tongliang suddenly grinned mischievously. “Yingjun, it seems you are still unmarried? My sister’s name is Huang Shiqin. What do you think? If you give a nod, my parents will definitely agree since you’re already a personal disciple…”

“Tongliang, you really care about your sister!” Huang Shiqin put down her chopsticks and said politely with elegance.

“Please spare me, sis! You always threaten to tear me apart like this!” Huang Tongliang exclaimed, scooting away as if he were a mouse confronting a cat.

The oval-faced girl Huang Shiqin looked at Li Hui and said, “Your Mirror Lake faction has been quite active lately. Master just rewarded me with a peach. I’ve had my share of Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures, but holding onto the points is more practical. Two thousand points.”

“Too much! Eight thousand points is the maximum!” Li Hui felt excited; he hadn’t anticipated that a meal could lead to peaches. However, he remained calm in important matters and wouldn’t let a little girl deceive him.

“Too little! I said two thousand points, so it’s two thousand points!”

“Too much! I said eight thousand, so it’s eight thousand!”

Huang Tongliang noticed that his sister and his good friend were locking horns, their gazes colliding and nearly sparking. Just as he was about to intervene, he widened his eyes, seeing the two of them smile simultaneously. This fierce sister of his, who had bullied him since childhood, was actually smiling radiantly. Was she acting so “sly”?

Fine! He must be misseeing things; his sister never smiles, let alone smiles so cunningly.

Before long, Li Hui tossed out his command token, and Huang Shiqin produced a square box. After the exchange, the two surprisingly found a mutual understanding, sitting down to eat and chat side by side, leaving Huang Tongliang feeling like he had turned into air.

“Junior Sister Shiqin is quite the strategist; she tested my limits right from the start. How unfortunate that I’m too focused on the Golden Jade Peaches to think clearly!”

“Charming junior brother, are you still in pain over bargaining so fiercely? I calculated that with this peach, your Mirror Lake faction has now obtained nine peaches. And you know, this faction only accepts one disciple, so Master won’t have use for them. Aren’t they bound to end up in your hands?”

“Have you ever been to Nanxun City? The land prices there are interesting. The official prices are actually low, but if you want to buy land, you have to bear prices over twenty times higher, quite similar to the current situation.”

“No way! You’re sitting on billions of points. Do you still care about that sixteen thousand points? I’ll just double your bargaining offer. Do you know how regretful I am right now? The importance of the Golden Jade Peaches to you exceeds imagination.”

As they ate and chatted, their conversation got more animated and drifted further afield, mostly revolving around their transaction. Huang Tongliang felt quite pitiful, as his sister had stolen away his good friend.

Through their conversation, Li Hui confirmed two things: the elders of the Haotu Sect didn’t have many peaches left, only about seven or eight for this round of discipleship, so if he wanted to trade, he had to hurry. Huang Shiqin could act as a contact, but she would take a ten percent commission.

The second thing was that the Mirror Lake faction was not well-liked in the Haotu Sect and faced many restrictions.

Speaking of commerce, Li Hui set a price of thirteen thousand points for each peach. If Huang Shiqin had the skill to push the price down, the more she lowered it, the more she would gain.

This meal left both of them feeling quite satisfied. As Li Hui got up, he saw Huang Tongliang squatting on the ground drawing circles and laughed, saying, “Next time, I’ll join you for drinks. From now on, I’ll be relying on Junior Sister Shiqin for many things.”

“Pfft! A guy who forgets his brothers for a woman,” Huang Tongliang scoffed, then suddenly remembered the afternoon practice and perked up, asking, “Yingjun, which type of spell are you going to select? Is it the practice at Sitting Forgetting Peak? I heard it’s spectacular when spells pile up like a landslide!”

“Spells?” Li Hui shook his head. The activation of spells was too slow and required visualization, restricted by innate conditions. Each cultivator could only develop a limited number of slots for spells, at most nine. But this was precisely what an Orthodox cultivator was supposed to do.

Only by pushing spells to the level of Dao arts would they become interesting—quite interesting, indeed. Unfortunately, such cultivators were rare, with only three or four found among thousands.

“Yingjun doesn’t even practice spells? Then how will you utilize Spirit Motion marks?” Huang Shiqin leaned in, her gaze filled with curiosity.

“Ahem, you should call me Senior Brother! I’m the head of the Dao arts classroom!” Li Hui cleared his throat and said, “I’ve never practiced spells.”

Huang Shiqin and Huang Tongliang widened their eyes in astonishment. They thought to themselves, “He hasn’t practiced spells yet dares to claim he’s the head of the Dao arts classroom? I truly doubt how he got here since spells can not only attack but also enhance the power of artifacts through the best methods.”

At that moment, a voice rang out, “Disciple heading to Sitting Forgetting Peak for practice.”

“Great! Sitting Forgetting Peak is where the spiritual energy is abundant—the best place to practice spells!” The disciples cheered, wiping their mouths and hurriedly moving on.

Huang Shiqin released a plain-colored ribbon and lightly stepped onto it, while Huang Tongliang whistled toward the sky. Soon, a black shadow swooped down, revealing his black eagle.

Li Hui leaped into the air, leaving the siblings dumbfounded. Huang Shiqin laughed and said, “Senior Brother! You’re not being honest; this is a spell, isn’t it? And to use it to such an extent, being able to stay airborne for a long time is unbelievable!”

“This isn’t a spell; it’s using an artifact!”

Buried within his body were over four hundred aura treasure talismans. If he couldn’t glide through the clouds, wouldn’t that be pathetic? Furthermore, these talismans had formed a formation.

Many disciples were still racing along the mountain path, while the three had already left Shuxiu Peak, gliding swiftly southward. In front of them loomed a high mountain of deep black. The words “Sitting Forgetting Peak” could be seen from quite a distance.

Suddenly, someone called out, “I heard you’re Li Yingjun, who made quite the impression during morning class. How about a little competition of spells later?”

Looking up, they saw a bald youth standing on a large wooden sword, arms crossed, wearing a disdainful expression. He seemed familiar from the Xuanwu Great Hall.

A bald head! Such an unusual person; a glance at him was enough to leave an impression.

Huang Shiqin whispered, “His name is Yan Jinglun. His father is a monk, and his mother is a nun. They both returned to secular life after having him; quite interesting. But this guy is aggressive and often challenges others, claiming he’s close to pushing spells to the Dao’s realm. He is a personal disciple of the Southling faction.”

“A monk and a nun?” Li Hui replied, slightly surprised and then amused.

It’s said that the Haotu Sect’s hundreds of lineages are in constant competition. Just like the Jade Symbol Sect, miscellaneous disciples and outer disciples are at the Spirit Motion stage. Entering the inner sect is extremely difficult and requires passing trials. Most inner sect disciples are at the Gather Spirit stage, while true disciples are at the Condense Essence Stage. To enter the Bosa stage, they must leave the sect and travel widely until they reach the All-Manifestation Realm before being allowed back to oversee a lineage.

Personal disciples are special cases in any sect, clearly indicating they are true heirs, with the potential to inherit the teachings. They live in a completely different world from regular disciples, though there is still competition among personal disciples.

The Mirror Lake faction is very unique, allowing only one disciple each generation, and their surname must be Li. Not merely akin to family, it feels more like kinship. Taking over massive enterprises from the moment they enter showcases such privilege, a situation that knows how to stir envy in countless disciples.

Other personal disciples must compete and win their master’s favor, facing long lines of senior brothers ahead of them. When the master passes away, it’s uncertain how many enterprises one may inherit, and it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say it’s akin to entering a wolf’s den.

Thus, among the disciples, the Mirror Lake faction is the most envied. Yan Jinglun is only aggressive by nature, yet he’s still considered quite bearable, since at least thirty disciples challenged him on the way. They were simply acting in their own interests. Li Hui casually agreed, thinking to himself, “Isn’t it foolish to compete in spells with body refining cultivators?”