Volume 5 Chapter 61
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Volume 5 Chapter 61: Transformation
"Ting’er, I have made you suffer all these years."
In one sentence, freedom holds a thousand words.
Xu Qingfan knew that Ting’er was not good with words. Asking her to speak for more than ten years was truly a torment for her. Xu Qingfan also knew that Ting’er had a solitary and independent nature, preferring to quietly observe rather than participate. She could handle her own tasks but had no experience taking care of others, making it hard for her to watch Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu. Xu Qingfan also understood that Ting’er had just broken through to the Condensed Core Stage, and these days were important for her efforts to improve and understand the Heavenly Way, yet she was assigned to take care of her younger martial sister.
In short, for Xu Qingfan’s retreat, Ting’er truly sacrificed a lot. Thinking about her eager expression when she rushed out of the retreat made Xu Qingfan feel even more pity.
Originally, Xu Qingfan wanted to say some words of thanks, comfort, and encouragement, but seeing Ting’er quietly following him in her familiar way, the words he had planned were stuck in his throat, and in the end, he only managed to say this one sentence. Gratitude, guilt, and comfort were all contained within.
"It’s okay."
Ting’er looked up at Xu Qingfan for a moment and then quickly looked down again, softly saying.
Perhaps to her, helping her uncle, even at the cost of her own sacrifice, felt completely natural.
Xu Qingfan gently nodded, but he did not say anything more. Some feelings are best left unspoken; both sides understand, and the warmth brewing in their hearts is most suitable.
He either matured or became more reserved; calling it cold would also fit. After these years of experience, Xu Qingfan had learned to hide his emotions. In a moment, his guilt and compassion were buried deep in his heart, and his face returned to its usual calm smile as he asked Ting’er, "How long have I been in seclusion?"
Ting’er softly replied, "Eleven years."
Xu Qingfan nodded and slowly said to himself, "Eleven years. So, the disaster happened four years ago, but I don’t know what the cultivation world is like now. Also, in one more year, Jiuhua will be born into the world. Facing this disaster, I don’t know how to respond. It’s time to gather the elders and discuss."
Although Xu Qingfan has reached the late stage of the Real Golden Core Stage and created a unique cultivation method called "Formula of Life and Death," his talent and body have greatly improved, and his three abilities are among the best in the cultivation world. Under normal circumstances, he would be considered a prominent figure. However, facing this disastrous turmoil, he still lacked the confidence to protect himself or Jiuhua. Knowing Jiuhua would be born in a year, despite his increased power, he still felt some anxiety and urgency.
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Perhaps because he felt guilty towards Ting’er and the other two, for the month after his seclusion, Xu Qingfan did not rush to restore his two outer bodies. Instead, like eleven years ago, he would talk to Ting’er about the Dao, teach Zhang Ningmei about cultivation, or instruct Bai Yu in martial arts. He occasionally read various books and enjoyed tea and chess with Zhang Ningmei.
It must be said that although Ting’er is a genius in cultivation, she is not a good teacher. Zhang Ningmei and Bai Yu struggled to understand many things in cultivation and still needed Xu Qingfan to explain everything to them.
During this time, Xu Qingfan also went over the martial arts created by Bai Yu. Although Xu Qingfan believed Bai Yu should focus on cultivation and treat martial arts as a side pursuit, Bai Yu did just the opposite. However, he had to admit that Bai Yu was a once-in-a-century talent in martial arts. While it may sound strange to praise a cultivator this way, it is indeed true. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that after Xu Qingfan and Zhang Ningmei’s intimidating experience, Bai Yu became much more diligent in his cultivation.
Furthermore, Xu Qingfan finally understood why Zhang Ningmei progressed so quickly in her training. When he realized that Zhang Ningmei could use her powerful Divine Sense to draw Spirit Qi into her body without needing anyone to remind her, he couldn’t help but marvel. Although Zhang Ningmei had the least talent among his three disciples, her future achievements might very well be the greatest.
The great calamity was approaching, but in this month, teaching, reading, drinking tea, and playing chess were all that filled Xu Qingfan’s life.
Although Xu Qingfan had experienced this kind of life more than once, he couldn’t help but feel once again that this was the life he desired. However, he also knew that once Jiuhua appeared, such days would be gone, so he cherished them even more.
A month later, while most of Xu Qingfan’s days remained the same, he added a new activity: spending about half his time studying the broken puppet he had obtained from the Treasure Pavilion and reviewing many books about making puppets.
Three months later, the fatigue that had built up in Xu Qingfan after more than a decade of seclusion finally vanished, and he bid farewell to Ting’er and the others once again, flying toward a remote spot on Jiuhua’s back mountain.
This time, Xu Qingfan aimed to restore the two avatars, Xu Zhiyuan and Xu Ying, and he had learned a great deal from his studies on the puppet over these months. He planned to make many improvements based on what he already knew.
However, restoring Xu Ying and Xu Zhiyuan required a large open space to set up a complex Spirit Gathering Formation, and Xu Qingfan’s cave was not big enough, so he had to seek another location on the back mountain.
This open area was exactly where Xu Qingfan had created Xu Ying and Xu Zhiyuan last time. The marks left by his fierce battle with Feng Qingtian years ago were still very noticeable. Scorched patches were everywhere, and the ground was full of cracks. The trees that had originally surrounded this clearing were long gone, destroyed by Feng Qingtian’s terrifying fire magic, leaving charred wood all over. The once peaceful forest might not recover for a long time.
In comparison to creation, destruction is always much easier.
While setting up a barrier in the open space to prevent others from disturbing him, Xu Qingfan suddenly thought of Feng Qingtian, who had defected from Jiuhua. Where is he now?
Shaking his head to dismiss the thought of "external avatars," Xu Qingfan began to set up a complex "Spirit Gathering Formation" within the barrier after finishing the barrier itself.
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While Xu Qingfan was thinking about Feng Qingtian’s whereabouts, Feng Qingtian was standing in a desolate mountain area, surrounded by anxious-looking cultivators.
In the past four years, the "Eight Wilderness Hall" wreaked havoc in the cultivation world and fought countless battles with the Righteous Alliance. Hundreds and thousands of cultivators clashed, turning the Shenzhou Continent into scorched earth, with both sides losing thousands of cultivators, and many innocent cultivators and ordinary people harmed by the "Eight Wilderness Hall."
Although the Righteous Alliance originally did not care about the "Eight Wilderness Hall’s" rampage, their strength exceeded everyone’s expectations. In just four years, their battles had already affected the essence of the cultivation world and the Shenzhou Continent.
Gradually, with the help of a dozen Mahayana Stage masters, the "Eight Wilderness Hall" found themselves at a disadvantage, as their main and branch temples spread across the Shenzhou Continent were steadily being destroyed, and their once prosperous territory in the western Middle Earth was being reclaimed by the Righteous Alliance.
However, the "Eight Wilderness Hall" possessed the accumulated resources of dozens of absorbed sects for over a thousand years, and they had the means to increase the strength of any captured cultivator, making them loyal to the "Eight Wilderness Hall." For every master the Righteous Alliance killed from the "Eight Wilderness Hall," the "Eight Wilderness Hall" could create another, so even though the Righteous Alliance had the upper hand, they were still helpless.
The desolate mountain where Feng Qingtian stood was exactly where the Eight Wilderness Hall hid after their main and branch temples were destroyed. His identity was that of an unknown rogue cultivator who was captured by the "Eight Wilderness Hall" and was about to be transformed.
Feng Qingtian seemed completely unconcerned as he gazed at the statue resembling Shura standing next to Man Tian in the distance, his eyes shining with brightness. Feng Qingtian knew that the statue was the key to the rise of his Mythical Beast family!
Three months later, the "Statue of Shura" mysteriously disappeared from the "Eight Wilderness Hall," causing great confusion throughout the hall.
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At the same time that the "Statue of Shura" went missing from the "Eight Wilderness Hall," Xu Qingfan removed the barrier outside the clearing and flew towards his cave.
Xu Zhiyuan and Xu Ying, however, followed closely behind him, and after three months, Xu Qingfan finally restored these two external avatars.
However, these two "external avatars" were very different from the first two that Xu Qingfan had created. After carefully studying the methods of stealth and speed from the puppet he obtained and making a few modifications, he applied them to the two puppets behind him. So from the outside, it seemed that only Xu Qingfan was flying towards his cave. Unless someone was a golden core cultivator with higher power than Xu Qingfan, they wouldn’t be able to see or sense the two "external avatars" behind him. Even a golden core cultivator could only vaguely sense them.
Since the "external avatars" increased as Xu Qingfan’s power grew, at this moment, both Xu Zhiyuan and Xu Ying had strengths similar to the late stage of the Real Golden Core Stage of a cultivator. Additionally, after Xu Qingfan applied various methods discovered from the puppet to Xu Ying and Xu Zhiyuan, Xu Zhiyuan’s speed increased, aside from his unchanged ability to attack with the five elements. With the added ability to stealthily hide his presence, he became truly unpredictable. Xu Ying also improved, enhancing his speed while retaining his terrifying defensive and healing abilities.
After Xu Zhiyuan and Xu Ying were restored, Xu Qingfan had completed all five goals he set for himself years ago.
Just as Xu Qingfan was about to fly back to his cave, the front mountain of Jiuhua suddenly echoed with ten melodious bell rings, signaling the Sect Master’s call for all the elders of Jiuhua.
