Chapter 80 Youthful Spring Robes (Twenty-Six)
Two weeks later.
In the deep, bottomless crevice of the mountain stream in Pingfengzong, a handsome young man sat cross-legged, his body surrounded by complex magic arrays. Seven celestial-grade magic artifacts hovered above his head, constantly absorbing spiritual energy and channeling it into his dantian, while also purifying the mixed resentment within him, which he then reabsorbed.
If others were here, they would surely be amazed by the vast and boundless spiritual power and the powerful purification array, not to mention the rare Heaven-rank magic weapon and the three spiritual veins converging from the ground; but if they saw that the center of this magnificent layout was just a small Qi Refining stage cultivator, they would probably be so angry that they would vomit blood.
Meanwhile, on a mountain peak a hundred miles away from him, Jiang Gu was making a breakthrough.
Breaking through from the early stage of Void Refinement to the middle stage was not difficult for Jiang Gu; it was even the easiest breakthrough he had ever made. It was the first time in his life that he had been forcibly guided through a breakthrough, and he didn't even need to absorb spiritual energy himself. It was all provided by Wei Feng willingly.
Compared to before, his previous breakthroughs to transcend tribulations seemed so difficult and arduous.
Jiang Gu stood on the peak, watching the last lightning bolt slowly disappear. He looked at the great formation where Wei Feng was with a complicated expression. If it weren't for the fact that it was extremely rare and only happened once, he would really want to start his own sect and recruit many disciples.
Another two weeks later.
The lightning tribulation belonging to Wei Feng crashed down.
When Jiang Gu dug Wei Feng out of the ice shards, Wei Feng had already been struck by lightning and was delirious. Leaning against Jiang Gu's chest, he struggled to raise his hand, pointed at the sky, and cursed, "You old thief—"
Jiang Gu grabbed his hand and pressed it down, while covering his mouth with his other hand. The menacing black clouds and thunder stopped in mid-air, flashing a few lightning bolts as a warning, before slowly dissipating after swirling for a while.
Jiang Gu released his grip and looked at him coldly, "You can pull out your tongue if you don't want it."
Wei Feng looked at him with teary eyes, three parts aggrieved and three parts indignant, "Master, I've been struck by lightning for days! In the end, I only broke through from the first level of Qi Refining to the second level! I was already at the second level of Qi Refining when I was eight years old!"
Everyone says a good seedling can be trained at three years old and at five years old, but after half a lifetime, he's still only at the second level of training!
"..." Jiang Gu fell into an eerie silence.
He should have let this guy curse him. The thunder tribulation was so powerful that it destroyed seven of his Heaven-Rank magic artifacts. He thought it would at least have produced a Golden Core.
When Wei Feng saw that he was silent, he knew that he was right. He was so angry that he was about to draw his sword and curse again, but Jiang Gu pressed him back down.
“Your constitution is special, so we can’t judge you by ordinary standards.” Jiang Gu changed the subject without changing his expression. “Have you established your Dao heart?”
A familiar look of guilt flashed across Wei Feng's face.
"Hmm?" Jiang Gu's gaze was icy.
"I've...I've established it." Wei Feng touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly. "The Six Desires."
Jiang Gu's face went blank for a moment, a rare occurrence. "What?"
Compared to the Path of Ruthlessness and the Path of Passion, the Path of Six Desires is much more straightforward and vulgar. Those who cultivate it will be extremely attached to desires. Whether it is greed, anger, ignorance, resentment, love, lust, or passion, they will be exceptionally intense. Without a firm mind, they will usually sink into the sea of desires. Even the cultivators of the Joyful Union Sect disdain this path and often choose the more secure Path of Passion. Those who choose the Path of Six Desires are basically those who are forced to be defiled as lustful lustful creatures, or those who are lowly beasts who crave pleasure and seek only happiness.
It is utterly despicable.
As a master, Jiang Gu naturally wanted to teach a good disciple. He had considered that since Wei Feng had inherited his Dao, he might be able to make the difficult decision to establish a ruthless Dao, or at the very least, a passionate Dao, which wouldn't be contrary to his nature.
But he never expected it to be the Six Desires.
For a fleeting moment, Jiang Gu wanted to chop this good-for-nothing bastard to pieces.
Under Jiang Gu's gaze, Wei Feng's face slowly turned red, and he stammered, "I... I don't know what happened. I didn't think about anything when I was struck. It must be because that ghostly pattern absorbed too much resentment and... desire... that's why it's like this."
He decisively pinned the blame on the ghost tattoo.
It's definitely not because when he was struck by lightning, all he could think about was his master.
Jiang Gu took a deep breath, "You—"
Wei Feng looked at him pitifully with her bright and clear eyes, the corners of her eyes drooping and wet, and she quietly clenched his sleeve.
Jiang Gu was speechless for once. He wanted to kill the man with a sword, but he also felt it was a real pity to lose his master.
"Fine." He coldly pulled out his sleeve, his brows furrowed. "The six desires are not necessarily incompatible with the great path."
Wei Feng visibly became happy.
He didn't care what path he cultivated, whether it was the path of ruthlessness or the path of the six desires, as long as Jiang Gu could keep him by his side, any path would do.
"Master, rest assured, I will definitely study hard." Wei Feng said confidently.
Jiang Gu thought of the chaotic and filthy cultivation methods of the Six Desires Path, gave him a disgusted look, and ignored his words, saying, "Let's go."
Wei Feng's eyes seemed to be filled with thick, dark ink as he stared intently at Jiang Gu's back, the ghostly markings on his back baring their fangs as if they wanted to lick him.
Jiang Gu seemed to sense something and turned to look at him.
Wei Feng stood clean on the ice, a bright smile on his face, and ran towards him, "Master, wait for me!"
——
A month later, Qu Fengyu and Wu Hezhi had naturally disappeared without a trace.
But Qu Fengyu left something at the place where they had previously hidden.
Wei Feng picked up the brocade box from the magic array and opened it. Inside lay a pale purple Ganoderma lucidum. He lowered his head and smelled it. Several ghostly patterns emerged from behind his ears as if trying to lick it, but Jiang Gu drew them away with his sword sheath.
"The Marrow Cleansing Ganoderma," Jiang Gu said, "is poisonous if eaten raw."
Wei Feng trembled twice from the slap, then obediently handed the brocade box to him. "Master, where did Xiao—Qu Fengyu and the other two go?"
"I don't know." Jiang Gu examined the Ganoderma lucidum and, after confirming that there were no marks or magic array talismans on it, threw it into his storage bag.
“Qu Fengyu said she can sense the location of the Qu family members, so I should be able to sense her location as well,” Wei Feng said.
Jiang Gu lifted his eyelids and gave him a cold look. "Nonsense. She only imprinted a location mark on your primordial spirit."
Wei Feng was stunned. "Then... Master, you already knew?"
"Hmm." Jiang Gu used magic to eliminate the presence of him and Wei Feng in the cave.
"Master, why didn't you tell me?" Wei Feng asked, somewhat saddened.
Jiang Gu said indifferently, "Don't make random claims of kinship in the future."
He turned and left without offering any explanation.
"Master, from now on you will be my only family." Wei Feng's tone was sincere, but he couldn't help but worry, "But is that brand still there?"
“It’s gone,” Jiang Gu said.
“Master, I used to be able to smell the emotions on other people, and later I was also able to sense them through the ghost mark.”
"Um."
"Master, did you already know all along?"
"Um."
“But I can’t sense your emotions anymore.” Wei Feng was a little disappointed. He could only smell a very faint fragrance on Jiang Gu’s body. But even so, he still wanted to go up and lick his master.
But I dare not.
"It's sealed in reverse." Jiang Gu didn't like having his emotions constantly exposed.
Wei Feng was even more disappointed, but he couldn't refute it. He quietly leaned in and sniffed Jiang Gu, swallowing hard. "Master, I can now control most of the ghost patterns and can shut down my senses in one direction. You won't need to seal me anymore."
Jiang Gu glanced at him coldly, clearly not believing his nonsense.
Wei Feng guiltily looked away, but followed closely behind him. "Where are we going next?"
Now that Jiang Gu is on the wanted list, the Linglong Sect, Jiang Linzhou, and Zhou families are all looking for them. It seems that there is no place for the two of them, master and disciple, in the entire Pingze Continent.
However, Wei Feng did not regret shouting that sentence back then. If he had not reached this point, he would have only drifted further and further away from his master, instead of ending up like he is now.
Having received enlightenment from his master, he clearly sensed the subtle change in Jiang Gu's attitude—if it were before, his master would have directly severed his ghost markings.
And Master always has a way.
Jiang Gu did have other plans, but he didn't need to explain to Wei Feng. When he led Wei Feng to the Pingfeng Sect's mountain gate, he sensed an unfamiliar aura.
"Master, someone's here!" Wei Feng, with his exceptional sense of smell, became alert almost simultaneously.
Jiang Gu stopped in his tracks.
Indistinct dark shadows rustled and appeared on the strange rocks on both sides of the mountain gate, and several familiar figures appeared in front of them.
“I told you I wouldn’t be mistaken.” Jiang Lin held a folding fan to cover half his face, revealing a pair of long, narrow, scarlet eyes. When he saw Jiang Gu, he smiled and his face curved. “His concealment formation is superb, but it can’t escape my nose. After all, we came out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood together.”
“No wonder he’s a fox.” Zhou Huaiming stood beside him and sneered, then turned to look at the woman next to him. “Ning Jiang, my grandson Zhou Xiuyuan also died at his hands.”
“That’s right. If Jiang Gu hadn’t interfered, I could have resurrected your sister. She wouldn’t have ended up in this inhuman state.” Zhou Xiuyuan followed closely beside Zhou Huaiming. He was wearing a black cloak typical of ghost cultivators, and the half of his face that was exposed was as pale as paper.
Zhou Ningjiang looked much more haggard than before. She looked at Jiang Gu and slowly said, "Young Master Jiang, it's been a long time."
Jiang Gu smiled slightly, "The Zhou family hasn't given up on you yet?"
These words instantly darkened Zhou Ningjiang's face. She had been exceptionally talented since childhood and was being groomed as a saintess. She was about to set off for the Moon Gazing Continent when, for the sake of a divine artifact, she was betrayed by a good-for-nothing like Jiang Gu, resulting in the shattering of her Dao heart. Now, the Zhou family had already chosen a new saintess, and she had long since become a discarded pawn.
Now, her only hope for repairing her Dao heart lies in the divine artifact on Jiang Gu's body.
"Hand over the divine artifact." Zhou Ningjiang stopped playing games with him.
Jiang Gu's gaze swept over the group. He wasn't surprised that Jiang Lin was able to escape from Lu Zhenyi's clutches, and it was normal for Zhou Huaiming to survive being chased. However, he was somewhat surprised that Zhou Xiuyuan was still alive.
Noticing his gaze, Zhou Xiuyuan crossed his arms and sneered, "Didn't expect I'm still alive, did you, Jiang Gu? If it weren't for the Spirit Gathering Pill left to me by my grandfather, I wouldn't be alive today. Oh, by the way, speaking of this Spirit Gathering Pill, it has something to do with you—"
His expression was smug, tinged with a hint of malice. "I took a liking to your spirit pet named Chixue and wanted to trade with you, but you wouldn't agree no matter how much I pleaded. So I begged my grandfather to capture it for me, but the beast was so loyal that it refused to acknowledge me as its master. So I had my grandfather skin it, break its bones, and grind its primordial spirit into powder bit by bit and put it into the alchemy furnace..."
"Alas, that poor little beast, so majestic and handsome, it could even vaguely take shape before it died. It looked like a beautiful young man. When I cut out its heart, I transformed into your appearance, and it obediently stopped resisting, only shedding tears as it looked at me. Tsk tsk tsk, it was truly pitiful. Thank goodness I used it to refine the Spirit Gathering Pill, and it saved my life in the Chaolong Secret Realm."
As Zhou Xiuyuan spoke, he seemed to see that majestic, snow-white spirit beast again, which remained indifferent despite all the torment it had endured, but it was not his!
He stared intently at Jiang Gu, trying to find anger or sadness on his face, even the slightest hint would be enough to make him feel good.
But it just didn't happen.
Jiang Gu stood there expressionless, his grip on his sword not even tightening.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin smiled and said, "Jiang Gu, you've been searching for your spirit beast for three or four years, and then you chased Zhou Huaiming for three years. You even used Chi Xue's bones to imprison him in the deep sea of the far south for ten years. I heard that he has even regained his spiritual consciousness. How about this, I'll be the middleman. You hand over the divine artifact, and the Zhou family will use that spiritual consciousness to help you revive Chi Xue. What do you say?"
"No good!" A cold, youthful voice suddenly rang out from behind Jiang Gu, and then thousands of ghostly patterns swept towards the group. He raised the Moon Gazing Sword and slashed at Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin blocked with his folding fan, and the sword and fan clashed, producing a piercing clang.
"It's you again." Jiang Lin looked at him, his eyes instantly filled with anger.
Wei Feng bent his arm and pressed down hard on the sword, forcing the man back several steps. He glared at him fiercely and said, "A beast that's been dead for over ten years dares to ask my master to exchange it for a divine weapon! Dream on!"
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