Chapter 235: How Can One Not Keep Up Step by Step

A deathly silence fell over the tent. After a while, another trusted follower offered a plan. “Senior Brother, since we cannot rob him openly, then we shall plot against him in secret!”

“Oh, explain,” Li Jing said, raising an eyebrow.

The follower said, “Senior Brother, you just need to find someone with a bit of strength, have them anger Qin Haoxuan, and then challenge him to a duel. The wager for the duel will be a Qi-Circulating Pill. Then, after defeating him, you can openly obtain the pill!”

The ashen expression on Li Jing’s face gradually softened. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. After carefully weighing the strategy, he felt it was very feasible. He immediately said to the follower, “What is Qin Haoxuan’s cultivation level? Go to the registration office and check.” In the military camp, there was a registration office that specifically recorded the cultivation realms of the Taichu Sect disciples. After returning, Qin Haoxuan naturally had to register as well. Although these fellows were constantly flattering him, Li Jing had not been completely fooled by their praise. He didn’t even know Qin Haoxuan’s current realm; how could he find someone to challenge him?

Before long, the follower returned from the registration office.

“Senior Brother, Qin Haoxuan is at the Seventh-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm!” he replied respectfully. “Compared to you, he is still far behind!”

Hearing that he was at the Seventh-Leaf, Li Jing’s face was filled with astonishment. Qin Haoxuan was just a weak seed. How could a weak seed with no potential cultivate to the Seventh-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm in just one year?

Immediately, his astonishment turned to rage. He roared hoarsely, “Damn it! Qin Haoxuan is just a weak seed, a weak seed with no potential, and I am an Unsurpassed Purple Seed disciple! The cultivation art I practice is a hundred, a thousand times better than his! Yet I am only at the Eleventh-Leaf! On what grounds does a mere weak seed like him have the strength of the Seventh-Leaf!” The pitiful teacup in his hand was crushed to dust in his fury.

Immediately after, the enraged Li Jing’s gaze swept over the follower who had just checked his cultivation level. “Who do you think we should send to provoke him and challenge him?”

This follower bowed slightly and proclaimed, “Please punish me, Senior Brother. My eyes are dull and my judgment is not as precise as yours, so I do not know what kind of person to send to deal with him. But with your wisdom, you surely already have a plan in mind.”

“Senior Brother is a master strategist. You have surely already selected a candidate to deal with him,” the other followers chimed in.

After a round of flattery from his many followers, the anger on Li Jing’s face finally faded slightly. The reason these people had become his trusted followers was not because of their strength or their intelligence, but because they knew how to flatter.

“Who should I send to provoke him?” Li Jing frowned and thought, Although this Qin Haoxuan is only at the Seventh-Leaf, he has always had the ability to fight above his level, and he is very formidable in combat. Before he had even sprouted a leaf, he defeated a Twelfth-Leaf cultivator in the Minor Martial Tournament. The matter caused quite a stir in the sect. Although I haven’t seen him fight since then, I imagine that at the Seventh-Leaf, he is surely even more capable.

Li Jing secretly calculated. All of his own leaves had seven veins. Although he was at the Eleventh-Leaf, he could, by controlling his Talisman Beast, kill a Fifteenth-Leaf cultivator in a direct confrontation. Even if Qin Haoxuan was formidable, so what if all seven of his leaves had seven veins? He couldn’t possibly have all seven-veined leaves. Without them, on what basis could he still fight above his level?

Li Jing did not take him seriously. In his eyes, Qin Haoxuan was just a weak seed, a weak seed with the worst potential. If not for him latching onto Xu Yu and getting her to willingly give him precious things like the Qi-Circulating Pill, he wouldn’t even deign to look at him. For the pre-sprout Qin Haoxuan to be able to defeat a Twelfth-Leaf cultivator did not mean that the Seventh-Leaf Qin Haoxuan could defeat a Twentieth-Leaf one. The difference in strength was simply immeasurable.

So, Li Jing decided to have a Twentieth-Leaf disciple provoke and challenge him. In his eyes, it was a sure-win deal.

“Qin Haoxuan, oh, Qin Haoxuan, for a Qi-Circulating Pill to fall into your hands is truly a waste! If it were given to me, my cultivation speed would be frighteningly fast!” Li Jing’s eyes glinted, as if the pill were already in his hand. “To be on the safe side, I have decided to have a Twentieth-Leaf senior brother take action, to be sure to anger him, challenge him, and defeat him. And then, I will take the Qi-Circulating Pills from his hands!”

His sycophantic followers repeatedly praised him. “With Senior Brother’s plan, Qin Haoxuan has no choice but to obediently offer them up. A Twentieth-Leaf against him will be like child’s play!”

“Exactly! For a mere weak seed like him to occupy such a good resource is a true waste!”

“It’s useless even if he eats them. He’s a weak seed, destined to fail in cultivation. Sooner or later, he’ll die of old age. But if the pills were given to Senior Brother Li, it would be different. Only in your hands can they be truly put to good use!”

“Even if he is formidable, he is only at the Seventh-Leaf. For you to ask a Twentieth-Leaf senior brother to take action, you are truly giving him too much face. It will be an easy victory!”

Li Jing smiled and said to a follower, “Go and invite Senior Brother Qin Yang here.” Just as the follower was about to leave, Li Jing stopped him. “Wait! I should go and visit him personally.”

He walked out of his tent and went to Qin Yang’s.

“Senior Brother Qin Yang,” he called out politely, “it is your junior brother, Li Jing. May I ask if you are resting?”

Soon, Qin Yang, dressed in a light-green casual robe, lifted the tent flap and said with some surprise, “So it’s you, Junior Brother Li Jing. Please, come in.”

After they were both seated, Qin Yang looked at him and said, “To come so late, is there an important matter?” Although he was at the Twentieth-Leaf and currently stronger than Li Jing, Li Jing was an Unsurpassed Purple Seed, and his cultivation speed was like a dragon soaring to the heavens, completely crushing his own speed back then.

Li Jing had a humble smile on his face. “To visit so late, I indeed have a matter for which I need your help, Senior Brother. I have disturbed your rest; I must first apologize.”

Qin Yang was also a clever person. He knew that for someone with Li Jing’s potential, if it were any ordinary trouble, he could just give an order and someone would take care of it. For him to come and personally visit, the matter must not be simple. However, to have an Unsurpassed Purple Seed with limitless potential owe him a favor was a good thing. Once he grew up in the future, he would surely be able to help him. As long as the request was within his ability, he had already decided to help.

He put on a friendly smile. “Junior Brother Li, you are too polite. We are fellow disciples; we should visit each other more often. What is the matter? As long as I can do it, I will not refuse.”

“Senior Brother Qin,” Li Jing asked with a grin, “do you know of Qin Haoxuan?”

Qin Yang frowned and thought for a moment. “Qin Haoxuan? That kid who latched onto Junior Sister Xu Yu’s thigh and got a lot of Qi-Circulating Powder and Pills from her?”

Li Jing nodded. “I would like to ask you to help me deal with this Qin Haoxuan.”

“Junior Brother Li must be joking,” Qin Yang couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if he is on good terms with Xu Yu, he is just a weak seed. Even if he is formidable, he’s still a weak seed.” For him, a dignified Twentieth-Leaf cultivator, to deal with a weak seed who had only been in the sect for a year?

Li Jing shook his head. “Senior Brother, you may not know. This Qin Haoxuan, relying on the fact that he has latched onto Junior Sister Xu Yu’s thigh, has tricked a great deal of her powder and pills from her. You have surely heard of their medicinal power. With so many high-quality resources piled on him, although he is only the weakest of weak seeds, he has now grown seven leaves!”

Hearing this, Qin Yang was stunned, and a trace of jealousy rose in his heart. He then said angrily, “A weak seed like him has used so many resources to cultivate to the Seventh-Leaf?” He thought of how long it had taken him to reach the Twentieth-Leaf, and yet this Qin Haoxuan, just by latching onto Xu Yu’s thigh, had reached the Seventh-Leaf in a single year. Given time, would he not be stepping on his head? The sour feeling in his heart gradually turned to jealousy.

Seeing the indignant expression on his face, Li Jing smiled with satisfaction.

Qin Yang saw his expression and understood why this junior brother had paid him a sudden visit late at night. Everyone had a jealous heart, and Purple Seeds were no exception. For a Purple Seed’s cultivation speed to be only a few leaves faster than a weak seed’s was too shameful.

“Junior Brother, do you want me to go and deal with him?” Qin Yang’s expression was slightly troubled. “If it were anyone else, it would be easy. But behind this Qin Haoxuan is another Purple Seed. Although she’s a woman, I’ve heard that little girl has a very stubborn temper. It would not be good to offend her…”

Li Jing smiled on the surface, but inwardly he cursed him for being so greedy as to demand a promise. “What you say is true, Senior Brother. But I am also a Purple Seed. Although I am a step behind her for now, I cannot be a step behind at every step, can I?” Pride gradually appeared on his face. “Xu Yu, after all, is just a woman.”

Hearing this, Qin Yang nodded repeatedly. Although he did not agree with his words in his heart, he put on an appearance of full agreement. After all, having cultivated for many years, he knew very well that female cultivators’ strength lay in their tenacity. The master of the Ancient Cloud Hall was incomparably tyrannical and had once been able to suppress the master of the Hundred Flowers Hall. But now? He had heard that he couldn’t even last for the time it takes an incense stick to burn against her.