Evolution - Chapter 155

Chapter 155

Was Ten Thousand Swords Peak close to here? Naturally, it was not.

The reason Chu Ci could appear so quickly was that she had torn through space to teleport. After all, this was the Xuan Tian Sect’s territory, a place she was familiar with. She could pinpoint the location by sound, landing with near-perfect accuracy.

Otherwise, if she had to travel by sword, by the time she arrived, the daylilies would have long since withered several times over.

When Chu Ci appeared, she had nothing but a head of silver hair, a set of green robes, and a thunder sword. It was a stark contrast to the dozen or so Mahayana cultivators opposite her, whose bodies shimmered with the light of their treasures. She looked utterly destitute in comparison.

Everyone was somewhat astonished to see her.

She simply stood there, yet no one could ignore her. She was as profound as an abyss and as steady as a mountain, yet she concealed a sharp edge. Although she had broken through to the next realm just before her lifespan ran out, her posture was as straight as a pine, and her face retained its youthful appearance. Her vitality was clearly flourishing, so why did she insist on keeping her silver hair from turning black?

Chu Ci stood in the void, her expression cold and stern. She nodded to the crowd, then glanced at the divine dragon Yazi, whose fully unfurled form blotted out the sky. “Where are they?”

She didn’t deny anything about some juniors being under her care.

This was undoubtedly a tacit admission that the divine dragon was under her protection. The dozen or so Mahayana cultivators felt a bit awkward, forcing themselves to remain calm and act as if nothing was amiss. Having cultivated to the Mahayana stage, their skins were certainly thick enough!

Seeing this unfamiliar yet slightly familiar Chu Ci, the divine dragon Yazi suddenly felt a pang of sorrow for some reason. “How did you end up like this?!” Did she have to make herself so miserable?

Chu Ci abruptly drew her sword. The thunder sword grew from small to large, until it was the size of a door panel, and she brought it down on the dragon’s head. “Get to the point!”

She seemed particularly irritable and impatient.

The dozen or so onlookers secretly suspected the two were putting on a show, the purpose of which was, of course, to intimidate them—My temper is short and my patience is limited, so don’t push me!

However, the divine dragon Yazi didn’t get to the point first. After taking a door panel to the head, it cleverly transformed into a human. A chubby little child of eight or nine, it easily held an object three or four times its current size and handed it to Chu Ci. “Here.”

He puffed out his small chest, taking credit with great pride. “I was fighting star beasts over there when I sensed the fluctuation of your spiritual soul’s aura. I rushed over and saw the two of them. They were on the verge of death. I gave them some life-sustaining medicine.”

Chubby, well-behaved, adorable, and super cute.

The dozen or so Mahayana cultivators felt a slight twinge of conscience. If this divine dragon Yazi had appeared in this form earlier, they… oh, alright, they would still have wanted to make a move. Who could blame them when its entire being screamed “valuable” and “treasure,” while they were all labeled with poverty?!

Chu Ci took a deep look. Inside the battered mecha, Ji Changqing was in a protective posture, holding Yu Zhiyao in her arms through the cockpit partition, shielding her from many of the attacks. As a result, her physical injuries were severe, while Yu Zhiyao had mostly used her mental power to construct a shield, leading to excessive consumption and severe damage to her spiritual soul.

Twenty years ago, upon discovering that the game instance she had co-created with the Star Alliance had been cleared with a “happily ever after” ending, she had been so stirred that she hastily entered the game. She only had time to glance at the two individuals’ spiritual souls and leave a spiritual imprint on them, both as a form of protection and as a way to find them in the future.

At the same time, she sent out two Lingyun Peak Grand Virtue Medals. Anyone in the cultivation world knew this represented a spot for a direct disciple. If they were interested, they would naturally find a way to seek her out.

She had imagined many scenarios for meeting these two people who had achieved a “happily ever after” ending for that long-annihilated cultivation planet again. But none of them were like this: two people on the brink of death, delivered to her like a favor by a divine dragon she had chanced upon thousands of years ago.

She habitually scanned them and found that while their injuries were indeed severe, the reason they remained unconscious wasn’t the injuries themselves. Rather, the idiot Yazi had inadvertently given them a Hundred-Day Drunk potion.

If it weren’t for the fact that the medicine it fed them were all heavenly treasures of potent efficacy, the Hundred-Day Drunk alone, which prevented people from waking up, could have starved the two to death.

But now that they were in her hands, they would be fine. In fact, there was an advantage: in their deep sleep, their bodies and spiritual souls could repair themselves faster. After the effects of the Hundred-Day Drunk wore off in over three months, and with proper conditioning and treatment, they wouldn’t feel too much discomfort upon waking.

Otherwise, being in constant pain that prevented even proper sleep would be of no benefit to their recovery.

Her senses naturally told her that Ji Changqing was one of the two who had rewritten the ending. The other was not. However, the other person also held some interesting secrets.

Chu Ci took the battered mecha containing the two. “I’ll have Guiqing make you something delicious later. And, I can grant you any reasonable request.”

The divine dragon Yazi’s eyes immediately lit up! This meant she was satisfied! He eagerly made his first not-so-unreasonable request: “Clean my scales for me!”

Chu Ci casually grunted in agreement. Turning back, she politely addressed the dozen or so onlookers who had remained silent. “Fellow Daoists, I must return first to handle matters and prepare a banquet. I will await you all.” She paused and pointed at the divine dragon Yazi. “I’ll trouble you to look after him for the time being. I will send my junior brothers and sisters from the peak to receive you at the mountain gate.”

She could teleport out from within the sect and teleport back. But she couldn’t teleport with such a large group of people—tearing through space to teleport directly into someone’s inner peak? What was she thinking? The sect’s protective array would teach you why flowers are so red!

Most of Chu Ci’s contemporaries, those who could have been her rivals back then, had already undergone their tribulations and ascended. This group of Mahayana cultivators still lingering in this realm were, back in the day, somewhat outstanding, but not outstanding enough to be Chu Ci’s rivals.

Yes, they were unworthy. Simply unworthy.

Unworthy then. And now that this powerhouse had returned as a king, well, um, alright, they were still unworthy.

Even with a full realm difference, her sword intent was complete, and she still possessed the ability to kill across realms. The fact that they had just had a remote confrontation where she had effortlessly neutralized their combined attack with power to spare for a counterattack was clear proof.

And that was a one-versus-many situation!

This scene couldn’t help but spark their imaginations—the rumor that she had challenged eighteen Mahayana cultivators to reclaim Ten Thousand Swords Peak might actually be the Xuan Tian Sect’s forceful attempt to save face. It was just that who they were saving face for wasn’t what they had previously guessed.

Their original assumption was that the Xuan Tian Sect had fabricated the story to burnish Chu Ci’s reputation and enhance her prestige. Now, they felt the truth was likely that Chu Ci had single-handedly challenged and suppressed all eighteen Mahayana cultivators, which was why they had so easily been forced to spit out the meat they had already swallowed.

If they couldn’t beat her together, would they be seeking death by facing her alone? Naturally, they could only pinch their noses and accept it.

What else could they do?

Therefore, they were of course happy to let the host decide. They would take the divine dragon Yazi they coveted to the Xuan Tian Sect’s mountain gate and pay a formal visit through the main entrance.

As for whether Chu Ci was intentionally or unintentionally using them to put on a show and intimidate the riffraff within her sect, who cared?! Even if it was just for a simple meal and a discussion on the Dao, it would be greatly beneficial. Didn’t you see how excited those sword cultivators who had retreated first were? Her sword intent was complete and she wielded it with ease; just exchanging insights with her would be a huge gain!

As for the Dharma cultivation masters, well, they could have a little spar, couldn’t they?

Moreover, they were dying of curiosity. Her Dao heart had collapsed, she had been silent for over six thousand years, and now she had risen from the ashes. Her state of mind must be vastly different.

What were cultivators of their level lacking? Wasn’t it the need to polish their state of mind and refine their cultivation through painstaking effort? In these two aspects, Chu Ci was probably the most authoritative voice right now. They could all discuss it together. Who knew, maybe through discussion, they would gain some enlightenment?

In any case, refusal was out of the question, and they were definitely going to take advantage of this opportunity. Of course, if Chu Ci wanted to borrow their presence for a show, they would certainly cooperate fully!

---

Chu Ci brought Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao back to the main peak of Ten Thousand Swords Peak. She first sent a voice transmission for Gu Jiawen and Shen Guiqing to come over, then had Luo Mingsheng and a managing disciple from Ten Thousand Swords Peak go to the mountain gate to receive the guests.

Gu Jiawen and Shen Guiqing arrived quickly. They carefully examined Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao, who had been taken out and separated. Gu Jiawen pondered for a moment before proposing a treatment plan for Ji Changqing first, since she was considered one of their own.

With every pill or medicinal herb he named, he felt his heart bleed, and his wallet bled along with it.

Chu Ci’s sudden breakthrough had nearly emptied their meager savings, all to allow their Big Sister to consolidate her cultivation in the best possible state and to repair the peaks that had been damaged and split apart.

Big Sister had reclaimed Ten Thousand Swords Peak with just her sword, but it wasn’t as if she could dredge up two thousand years of old debts and force people to spit out all their past earnings. So they had only gotten a little back, equivalent to perhaps a hundred years of income.

This had made the perpetually poor Ten Thousand Swords Peak slightly more affluent.

But then Big Sister started developing Ten Thousand Swords Peak just as she had developed Lingyun Peak back in the day. A group of sword cultivators who only knew how to squander money were useless, only good for spending money and wrecking the place!

And then Big Sister spent all day thinking about poaching formation masters, spirit plant cultivators, and artifact refiners…

They all felt that Big Sister had gotten carried away, truly carried away. Research was a spirit-stone-burning endeavor. Did they have the resources for that?

It wasn't until Big Sister extracted the full video recording of the game instance—the money pit she had conceived through meditation and created in collaboration with the Star Alliance for thousands of years—being cleared with a “happily ever after” ending and showed it to them.

For them, watching the memories of a game instance that lasted less than two hundred years was a piece of cake. Their divine sense delved in, and countless pieces of information flooded their minds. When they came to, their eyes were filled with tears, and they could barely contain their emotions.

So there really was another way out. There was no need to slaughter each other until heaven and earth grieved together and the entire realm was annihilated.

For thousands of years, they had to earn spirit stones to keep it running while also focusing on their own cultivation. After all, when they first arrived, a Nascent Soul cultivation base couldn’t earn much. For the first thousand years or so, it was Big Sister, whose Dao heart had collapsed, who gave them her share for their cultivation. For the next nearly five thousand years, they advanced to the Integration stage one by one, which was barely enough to protect Big Sister after her master ascended through tribulation over two thousand years ago.

After all, a talisman cultivator, an alchemy cultivator, and a culinary cultivator were quite capable of earning money. With a capable sword cultivator added to the mix, the four of them together were just barely able to protect a temporarily incapacitated sword cultivator under the shelter of the Xuan Tian Sect.

After Gu Jiawen finished, Shen Guiqing silently added a complementary medicinal diet plan to his proposal.

Both of them felt heavy-hearted. They had a strong premonition that they had just gotten rid of one money pit, and in the next ten years, they would very likely be supporting two more.

In a daze, they felt that perhaps poverty was their destiny, and they might never be wealthy in this lifetime.

Chu Ci’s view was the exact opposite! She rubbed her hands together, looking at Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao as if she were seeing countless adorable immortal stones—spirit stones weren’t even enough to highlight their preciousness!

Her eyes sparkled with the vision of future wealth!

The Lingyun Peak that had achieved the “happily ever after” ending was truly rich!

With a grand wave of her hand, she declared magnanimously, “It’s fine, just follow this plan. Treat them well, and make sure to take good care of them.” These two were the beacon of hope for the peak’s future fortune. As for being dirt poor right now and having no money for the rare spirit medicines needed, her profound gaze turned towards the Xuan Tian Sect’s mountain gate.

Wasn’t the divine dragon Yazi still there? She could fleece it, use its dragon scales, dragon blood, dragon tears, and its personal collection to trade with those dozen or so Mahayana cultivators who coveted it. Wouldn’t that solve the problem?

Thanks to the “selfless” contribution of the divine dragon Yazi, the two severely injured individuals, who were barely clinging to life, received the best possible treatment and care.

The first to wake up was Ji Changqing. She opened her eyes in a daze, then shot up into a sitting position with a look of shock, frantically looking around.

What met her eyes was a familiar, simple, and utterly bare space. There was nothing but a bed and a few meditation cushions—a distinctly atypical cultivation world cave-dwelling layout.

She couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.

This damned, familiar, aura of poverty!

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