☆, Chapter 44 Manual Rebirth
Borderland.
The evening wind picked up and howled through the sparsely populated town.
On the entire street, only one small teahouse emitted a warm yellow light, which brought a bit of life to the area.
The so-called borderlands are not the borders between countries or cities, but the boundary between the demon realm and the human realm.
The two races belong to different worlds and were originally separated by an abyss that tore through space. However, there are always some places where the barriers separating the two worlds are weak and spacetime is disordered. It is common to see residents of the two worlds wandering around, and malicious smuggling incidents also occur from time to time.
No normal person would want to live in a place where demons appear and disappear unpredictably, where they steal and commit murder and arson one day and the next. Therefore, the borderlands will become increasingly sparsely populated. Even if they were once prosperous cities, once the boundaries between the different worlds become blurred, a great migration will likely occur, leaving only the disciples sent by the cultivation world to guard the borders alone.
Lu Liu poured a bowl of hot wine for the newcomer, and then the others gathered around the stove to exchange pleasantries: "Brother, where did you come from?"
"They came from the south."
"Over there?" The group exchanged knowing glances. "Things aren't going well for them now, are they?"
The newcomer, holding a wine bowl, said with a worried expression, "Who says otherwise? There's a fight every few days. Nobody can withstand this kind of torment."
Someone in the corner chimed in, "The Azure Sky Mountain and the Illusion Flower Palace are both among the four major sects, so why have they been fighting so fiercely all these years? Their disciples always end up fighting whenever they meet. Aren't these two sect leaders going to do anything about it?"
Lu Liudao said, "How many years have you been stuck in this godforsaken place? You've been out of the loop for far too long. It's precisely because the two sect leaders have tacitly approved that the disciples have become even more ruthless in their fighting!"
"Why is that? Sixth Brother, can you tell me?"
Lu Liuqing cleared his throat and said, "This is a very complicated matter. Do you know who is the current head of the Illusion Flower Palace?"
"I heard it's just a young punk."
Lu Liu sneered, "If Luo Binghe can be called a mere brat, then you and I have lived in vain. This Luo Binghe is no ordinary person. He comes from the Cangqiong Mountain Sect and is the top disciple of Shen Qingqiu of Qingjing Peak. Back in the Immortal Alliance Conference, he ranked first, and he was quite the hero."
A bystander asked in confusion, "He comes from Cangqiong Mountain, so how did he become the head of Huanhua Palace?"
"After the Immortal Alliance Conference, Luo Binghe disappeared for three years. During those three years, no one knew where he went or what he did. Shen Qingqiu said at the time that he had died, so everyone was convinced that he was dead. Who knew that three years later, he would make a comeback and become a very important figure in the Illusion Flower Palace, forcing Shen Qingqiu to self-destruct on the spot in Jinlan City."
The newcomer said, "I still don't understand this matter. Is Shen Qingqiu innocent, or does he deserve to die?"
Lu Liudao said, "It's still unclear. The Cangqiong Mountain Sect is definitely united against outsiders; they'll attack anyone who mentions it. That's always been their attitude. Even with the undeniable fact that Shang Qinghua of Anding Peak defected to the Demon Realm, they wouldn't allow anyone else to say a word. After the Jinlan City incident, the Huanhua Palace changed hands not long after. The old palace master retired and disappeared without a trace, replaced by Luo Binghe, who kills anyone who mentions it."
Someone muttered, "Just because of a dead man."
Lu Liudao said, "This dead man has caused quite a stir. Shen Qingqiu is a member of the Cangqiong Mountain Sect and one of the twelve peak masters. His body should definitely be returned to Qingjing Peak to be buried with the previous peak masters—but the problem is that Luo Binghe refuses to return the body."
Everyone thought of things like desecrating and exposing a corpse, and they were horrified: "If they refuse to return it, won't the Cangqiong Mountain Sect just forcibly take it? The Hundred Battles Peak Master is still here."
Lu Liu shrugged: "We can't beat them."
"What?!" Everyone's worldview was shattered. In their minds, Bai Zhanfeng was an invincible war god, which was simply unacceptable.
Lu Liu said, "You all don't know? Ever since Jinlan City, Liu Qingge of Hundred Battles Peak has fought Luo Binghe countless times and has never won a single battle! And that's not all. Luo Binghe took Shen Qingqiu's body back to Huanhua Palace, and a few days later, he personally intercepted Mu Qingfang of Thousand Grass Peak."
Some people said, "Qiancao Peak has always been aloof from worldly affairs, dedicated to saving lives and healing the wounded. How did it get involved with this troublesome devil?"
Lu Liudao said, "Luo Binghe took the man to the Illusion Flower Palace and made him revive Shen Qingqiu." He sighed, "The man's already hard; what's the point of reviving him?"
The newcomer asked, "When I see the two sides fighting, the Cangqiong Mountain Sect always calls the Huanhua Palace Demon Clan's lackeys. What's the story behind that?"
Lu Liudao said, "This is because the entire Cangqiong Mountain sect, for some reason, insists that Luo Binghe has demon blood. However, several abbots of Zhaohua Temple personally verified that Luo Binghe's spiritual energy circulation is normal. The Cangqiong Mountain sect still insists on calling him that... This back-and-forth of vengeance is making the feud between the two sects grow bigger and bigger. I think one day the two ships will capsize together, and no one will survive. So," he said, not forgetting to console himself at the end, "it's actually a good thing that we, who were sent here to guard the border, are free and leisurely."
The man in the corner said, confused, "I'm completely confused about what's going on between this master and disciple and these two factions."
“A deep-seated hatred is one explanation, but there is another explanation…” Just as Lu Liu was about to gossip with great interest, suddenly, there was a knocking sound outside the door.
The people inside immediately became alert, their previous lethargy and fatigue vanished, and they prepared their weapons and magical artifacts.
The border region is sparsely populated and extremely desolate. The only permanent border guards in the entire town are their team. Those who go out on patrol won't return so quickly, and the few remaining residents certainly won't be so reckless as to wander around in the middle of the night.
There was no response from inside. After a while, the wooden door was knocked on twice more.
Lu Liu shouted sternly, "Who is it!"
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew by, extinguishing the oil lamp and candle on the table, plunging the room into darkness, with only the dim red glow of the charcoal burning in the stove remaining.
The shadow of a man carrying a sword was cast on the paper door and window. The man said loudly, "Sixth Brother, it's me. It's too cold today, so I came back first. Open the door quickly and let me in for a drink to warm up."
The others breathed a sigh of relief and cursed, "Are you trying to die, Lao Qin? You just knocked on the door without saying a word. I'd think you'd been eaten by a ghost!"
The man outside chuckled. Lu Liu sensed something was amiss, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He simply said, "Come in!" and opened the door.
A gust of cold wind blew in from outside, but the room was empty.
Lu Liu slammed the door shut and said in a deep voice, "Light the lamp."
The newcomer's hands trembled slightly. He turned around and made a fire spell. The flickering firelight reflected several figures. Before he could light the candle, he turned back and stammered, "Sixth Brother, I...I want to ask you something."
Lu Liu said impatiently, "What are you dawdling about?"
The newcomer said, "There were originally only six people in this house, right?"
"But why do they look like there are seven to me now?"
Dead silence.
Suddenly, a loud shout rang out. It was unclear who had struck first, but screams and the clash of weapons filled the air. Lu Liu yelled, "Light the lamps! Light the lamps!" Everyone hurriedly cast fire spells, but their movements were too chaotic. The flames flickered wildly, the figures swayed violently, and the light made it even harder to see clearly. Fearing for their own men, no one dared to strike hard, allowing the creature that had sneaked in to take advantage of the confusion, slashing here and there. Just as Lu Liu was getting angry, he was suddenly grabbed by the neck.
His eyes rolled back, his feet slowly lifted off the ground, and he couldn't see what was pinching him. Just when he thought he was about to die, the door suddenly sprang open, and a gust of wind swept in.
A figure stormed in aggressively.
Without seeing him punch or kick, Lu Liu heard a strange cry, seemingly made by pinching something, and then his throat loosened.
The six people inside were still in shock, some already lying sprawled on the ground. The man snapped his fingers, and several oil lamps in the room lit up simultaneously.
He looked down for a moment, then stood up and said, "He's alright. He just fainted."
The man was covered in black mud, looking as if he had just been dug out of a grave, and his face was covered with a thick beard that obscured his features. Although he was thin and wiry, his face made him look like a burly, bearded man. Lu Liu stared at him from head to toe for a long time before clasping his hands in a fist and saying, "Thank you for saving me, sir!"
The man put his arm around his shoulder and said, "I have something to ask you."
Lu Liu: "Please speak."
The other person asked, "What year is it now?"
When Shen Qingqiu, covered in mud, tumbled and scrambled down the mountain, he really wanted to blow up Xiang Tian a thousand times over. Whether it was a spirit body or a flower, it didn't matter.
The method he most often envisioned for registering was actually faking his death.
But what's the point of faking death?
The puppet feigns death and escapes like a cicada shedding its shell; TV dramas have taken this to an extreme.
So the method he used was real death.
He literally self-destructed that day, and incidentally transferred most of the rampaging demonic energy from Luo Binghe's body to him. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his spiritual veins were shattered to pieces.
Only by putting yourself in a desperate situation can you survive.
The Sun and Moon Dew Flower Fungus, simply called "Flesh Fungus," is entirely literal. While this fungus isn't particularly useful for cultivation, it is at least formed by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon. If its seedlings are nurtured in a spiritually rich environment, guided and carefully shaped, and nourished with blood and energy, a living body can be grown upon maturity. The physical body can grow, but the soul cannot be created in this way; in other words, what is grown is an empty shell without a soul, making it perfect as a container.
"Plant a small Shen in spring and harvest a big Shen in autumn" is no longer just a dream!
Lu Hua Zhi isn't like cabbage; you can't just grow it by watering it with manure. Shen Qingqiu ruined several seedlings of the meat fungus before finally managing to grow one that didn't grow crooked.
Shang Qinghua and his partner had calculated the coordinates of various locations in advance and were operating remotely. They set up a teleportation array beneath the tallest building in Huayue City. At the height of the sunlight, Shang Qinghua set up another push array on Cangqiong Mountain. Once Shen Qingqiu's soul left his body, he would be teleported to the mature Dew Ganoderma lucidum that had long been buried deep in the border mountains.
Three locations, three magic arrays, when connected in a straight line, form a highly stable equilateral triangle loop, absolutely stable and absolutely reliable.
The only flaw lies with one person.
Chicory is really reliable when it comes to shooting planes into the sky.
Although the problems that Shen Qingqiu had worried about, such as "arms and legs not growing in full" or "a section of the vital parts being broken off," did not occur, the use of chemical fertilizers to accelerate the growth of the Sun and Moon Dew Flower did indeed have side effects.
When she first woke up, Shen Qingqiu waited quietly for a while, but didn't hear that hateful Google Translate-esque notification sound.
He was overjoyed: The system didn't appear, hahaha, the system didn't appear! I've upgraded the hardware, so I won't install your virus software anymore, hahaha! Although he was only temporarily relieved, he couldn't help but dance with joy... Dance with joy my ass.
His entire body is still buried in the ground and he can't move!
After being buried for a day, gathering strength from his fingertips until he could control his limbs, Shen Qingqiu finally crawled out, trembling.
The moment it broke through the soil, before it could even savor the fresh, free air, it collapsed headfirst. Ah, its body wouldn't obey its commands again, and it fell headfirst.
For a whole day, Shen Qingqiu did radio calisthenics while walking until evening, and only then did his movements look like a normal person, at least he no longer moved his hands and feet together.
The humanoid mold used his past life's Shen Yuan's appearance. While not as ethereal as Shen Qingqiu, it was still a decent-looking face, though it had a somewhat decadent, good-for-nothing air about it. However, because some of his blood and bones had been used to nurture Lu Zhi, it would inevitably have some influence. Shen Qingqiu rolled to the stream and shaved his beard with a sharp rock. Looking at it, the face still bore an eight-tenths resemblance to Shen Qingqiu. He silently picked up his beard and stuck it back on his face.
After finally rolling down the mountain, I grabbed this passerby and asked him—holy crap, five years have already passed!
He could understand that when he first woke up, his body was uncoordinated or he was occasionally unable to move because he needed a period of adjustment. But how could he have been buried for five years before waking up?!
Okay, complaining aside, Shen Qingqiu is quite satisfied with the current situation. This body... is overflowing with spiritual energy!
Before, Shen Qingqiu's body, without Wu Jie's occasional mischief, would have been considered to have abundant spiritual energy. However, compared to the feeling he has now, it's like comparing two bars of electricity (enough) to a full bar of electricity (just finished charging and unplugged). Or you could simply say he's a generator! It's even more powerful than a complete transformation or a marrow cleansing.
Is he about to start cheating too?!
Shen Qingqiu felt as if he had regained a little bit of the dignity of a reborn person!
Lu Liudao said, "The border guards actually need your help, sir. I'm truly ashamed. That thing just now..."
After listening to his account of what had just happened, Shen Qingqiu said, "This thing probably doesn't come from the Demon Realm. It can imitate the figure and voice of familiar people, and it can't enter the house without the owner's invitation, so it seems to be an 'uninvited guest' from the Ghost Realm. These two realms are connected, so it's not surprising that it poured in from the border breach."
He could conjure up such obscure ghosts with ease, which drew a mixture of admiration and curiosity from the crowd—how had this person suddenly appeared on the border? Lu Liudao said, "In recent years, the demonic invasion has become increasingly severe, and even other evil spirits have followed suit and poured into the human world. A great war is probably imminent... Oh, may I ask your immortal name?"
Shen Qingqiu's words, "Hehe, I am Shen Qingqiu, the Peak Master of Qingjing Peak of the Cangqiong Mountain Sect in the Central Plains," took a sharp turn before they even reached his throat. What a close call! He almost blurted out his old name. Unable to think of another name for a moment, he pondered for a moment and then firmly uttered four words: "Peerless Cucumber."
It's decided. The past is gone like smoke. From now on, I'll use this ID that I've used for so many years in the book review section when I travel the world.
After speaking, Shen Qingqiu drifted away, leaving everyone in the room petrified in the wind.
After a long pause, the newcomer murmured, "What he just said was... peerless... what was it again?"
Lu Liu guessed, "Peerless...yellow flower?"
"Isn't it an unparalleled crown?"
"No, no, no, it seems to be an unparalleled wild flower!"
Shen Qingqiu walked several feet away when his foot slipped.
Well, I think I'll think about it again and change the title...
Author's Note: Thank you A Liang GN for the diving bomb, NYS for the rocket launcher, Jiu Jiu GN for the grenade, orli, ShinyShyness, Ye Lian, Yi Yu Feng Xing, Ye Mei, Ci Nian Bi Shi, Bi An Jun, Balai, Xi Men Kao Chi 3, Tian Zhao Meng Shen, Zhang Si Wen, Ban Su Chao Fan, Qian Zi Xuan, Bu Zhao Diao De Zhu, Liang Shui, Wang Cheng, Fan Shu, Gui Xiao, Gu Gu, Qing Ren Zhen Zhu Gong Kong, _(:3」∠)_, 829946, Bao Mi Bai, rjgh, Xia Dian, Shi Xu, Xiao Man Tou Da Ren, Xiao Hong's Sister, Bao Mi Bai, Zhao Yun Chu Xiu, Angry Que Ban Ban, Guo Xiao Yuan, Da Shu Shen De Zui You Ai Le En, Shang Yu, Xi, Yu, Sui Hen Zhi Mou, Cang Zi, Xiao Mi Lan GN for the landmine.
Yesterday there were so many typos and omissions, it was unbearable!
The transition chapter is for upgrading Master Shen's equipment.
It's probably better to go it alone from here on out.
Many people are calling for foreshadowing, but some foreshadowing won't be used up so quickly ヾ(●ω●)ノ
It seems there was a slight glitch just now, and two new chapters were published. If you see two identical new chapters, please do not click on them.
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