"Mother, I've reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment!" That day, Shi Liuchuan excitedly reported to Song Xia. After staying in this forest for several years, he had long wanted to go out and explore.
Song Xia emerged from the yin energy, casually slaying several evil creatures, and looked at him with satisfaction: "Not bad, you've improved very quickly."
"Mother, when are we leaving?"
Song Xia chuckled: "So eager? Then let's pack up and set off now!"
Shi Liuchuan himself did not expect it to be so fast; he thought he would need to rest for at least two more days.
"We don't have much stuff, so let's just leave. It's still early today anyway."
"What should we do with these evil spirits?"
"We don't have the ability to seal it yet. Let's wait until we're stronger in the future."
Shi Shuangzhi emerged from the Yin Soul Wood. Now she no longer needs to stay inside all the time, but it has become a habit.
"Which way should we go?"
"Head towards the central desert."
Why go there first?
"Because the thing that Frost Branch needs to reshape its body is there." Song Xia slowly explained to them, "It is said that there is a kind of spiritual bamboo in the cultivation world called Myriad Elephant Bamboo. It is resistant to cold and heat, can ward off evil, and is extremely rare. It lives in desert areas with extreme temperature differences."
Their world consists of a single continent, surrounded by oceans in every direction—north, south, east, or west. As for what lies beyond the oceans, no one knows, because no cultivator who has gone there has ever returned.
Because the continent is so vast, the moisture in the center of the continent cannot reach it, thus forming a vast, uninhabited desert. The center of the desert is a forbidden area for cultivators, which is extremely dangerous. Of those who venture into the forbidden area, only one in ten survives.
Shi Shuangzhi had been taught about these things, so she didn't really approve of her mother and brother going now: "Actually, I can cultivate and appear in spirit form now, so there's no rush."
“No.” Song Xia shook his head decisively. “Although we can’t get back the True Phoenix Bloodline right now, every day you lack a body, your chances of consolidating your foundation and restoring your vitality will be one less. After you get the Myriad Manifestations Bamboo, you can use a human body to cultivate again.”
"So, after obtaining the Myriad Manifestations Bamboo, my sister's soul attached itself to it, and she became a real person?"
"Of course, we still need to refine it in advance and integrate it with the bamboo body in the future. If your cultivation level is too far behind Shi Tiankui, you may not be able to compete with Shi Tiankui when we go to obtain the True Phoenix Bloodline in the future."
Upon hearing this, Shi Liuchuan became anxious: "Then let's go. No matter how dangerous it is, I will definitely get it for my sister."
Song Xia's eagerness actually had another reason: according to the course of the previous life, the Myriad Manifestations Bamboo would be seized by Shi Tianning and Shi Tiankui in a few years.
After leaving the jungle, the three finally began to see signs of activity outside, and Shi Liuchuan and Shi Shuangzhi were overjoyed.
During this time, when they encountered ordinary people, seeing their extraordinary demeanor and clothing, they immediately knelt down in fear, constantly uttering flattering words.
Looking at the old man's gray hair, Shi Shuangzhi felt a pang of sadness: "There's really no need for this. We're just passing by. Get up."
"Thank you, thank you for your great kindness, Immortal." The old man kept kowtowing, but still didn't get up.
Seeing this, Song Xia shook her head: "He won't get up unless we leave."
Only after they were out of sight did the old man shakily get up. In fact, Song Xia and the others had not left; they had simply hidden themselves.
"Do mortals all live so cautiously?" Shi Liuchuan sneered. No wonder no one came forward when he and his sister suffered so much ridicule in the Divine Origin Sect all those years. It turned out that those people had already taken it for granted.
"Xiao Ling," Song Xia slowly spoke in her mind, "Will there be cultivators in your space in the future?"
“No,” Xiao Ling said confidently. “In a world where there are no restrictions on cultivators, ordinary mortals should not live there.”
Song Xia recalled some worlds she had visited, where there was evidence that people with abnormal abilities existed. But why had ordinary people never seen them or been affected by them?
It is probably because of the constraints imposed on these people by the Heavenly Dao, such as the punishment that would be incurred if they used their abilities to influence mortals. Therefore, these people with abnormal abilities have either been eliminated by the Heavenly Dao or have gone into seclusion and dare not appear in public.
Song Xia felt that this was the normal way. If there were no constraints, how could there be any fairness? No wonder this world was about to collapse.
As if she had guessed correctly, the atmosphere changed instantly, then quickly returned to normal.
From that day on, Song Xia and his group avoided ordinary towns. In these places where spiritual energy was scarce, they rarely saw cultivators. Even if they occasionally encountered one or two, they were all Qi Refining stage cultivators with low cultivation levels, the kind who would never be able to advance further in their lives.
And upon seeing them, they even voluntarily offered their entire fortune.
Shi Liuchuan frowned: "No need, we're not used to taking other people's things."
The monk was overjoyed: "Thank you for your kindness, senior."
"Even these cultivators are frequently robbed?"
"It's normal. Nowadays, spiritual energy is scarce, and it's not easy for cultivators to find cultivation resources, so killing and robbing are common occurrences."
"No wonder there's no one with the power to do anything about this?"
Song Xia smiled sarcastically: "The most powerful forces in the cultivation world now are the Nine Heavens Palace, the Divine Origin Sect, and the Profound Light Sect. Do you think they will care? It is precisely because the disciples of the major sects started this trend that the rogue cultivators are becoming more and more unscrupulous."
"Aren't they afraid of bringing about their own destruction?"
"That day is not far away."
Because they had a clear goal, the three of them moved quickly, but because they were in a hurry to get there, they had to pass through the territory of the Xuan Guang Sect.
Along the way, they saw nothing but starving corpses everywhere, and the mortals had numb eyes. It wasn't until they entered the territory of the Xuan Guang Sect that the situation improved a little, but the lives of the mortals were still bad, and the cultivators did not treat them as human beings.
Even so, ordinary people still flocked to the cities of major sects, because at least they didn't have to worry about going hungry or their hard-earned homes being ruined by other cultivators.
Since entering the city, Shi Shuangzhi has returned to the Yin Soul Wood. Even though the cultivation world no longer has the lineage of ghost cultivators, she is still afraid that the experts guarding the city will notice something amiss.
Shi Liuchuan disguised himself simply, fearing that the Xuan Guang Sect disciples who had previously visited the Shenyuan Sect would recognize him. As it turned out, his approach was correct. When he and Song Xia went to the shop to exchange the bones of the ferocious beasts they had obtained in the jungle for other supplies, they encountered the people who had bullied him before.
Song Xia followed behind them, but Shi Liuchuan quickly stopped her, asking, "Mother, what are you doing?"
Song Xia snorted coldly: "Of course I'm here to avenge you. I can't stand seeing people who bullied you pretend to be ignorant and indifferent."
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