“Clang!”

“Bang!”

On the training ground, two streaks of spiritual light, one red and one blue, crossed repeatedly. The scattered sword qi quickly swept everything nearby clean…

Sensing the fierce sword intent so close by, a habit formed over many years made An Ning instinctively raise the Moon Viewing Sword before her chest before her mind could fully react.

However, even so, accompanied by a brief roar from the collision of blade and sword, the next moment An Ning was sent flying several meters like a kite with a broken string, struck by the massive sword qi…

Her posture was undeniably quite skilled!

“Bang!”

Countless snow-white pear blossoms fell from the branches, yet in an instant, they were stained with streaks of crimson…

An Ning herself was also soaked in the blood color. On her high-quality sharkskin-woven pure white gauze shirt, the original sleeve cuffs had already been cut off halfway, revealing deep crimson scars on her originally smooth, jade-like arm that stood out conspicuously.

At this moment, An Ning was already accustomed to this.

Rising from the flower-strewn ground, she skillfully pulled out a thumb-sized jade bottle from her qiankun bag at her waist. Swallowing a single elixir, the wounds that had been oozing visibly began to heal rapidly…

If these past years were measured not only by her steadily increasing cultivation and swordsmanship but also by her frequent injuries, her pill refining skills had skyrocketed due to this habitual damage.

“Your reaction today is quite acceptable!”

Seeing her regulate her breath properly, after a long moment, the city lord Xiao Tan, who had silently approached not far off, finally spoke.

Perhaps accustomed to setbacks over these decades, An Ning was surprisingly pleased by the city lord’s rare, mildly approving remark today.

However, the next second, she heard him say:

“Your spiritual energy is unstable, and most importantly, your sword lacks killing intent!”

An Ning: “……..”

Alright, never expect to hear kind words from a strict teacher.

Though it was indeed true.

That fleeting joy of having just broken through mid-stage Golden Core a few days ago instantly vanished.

Taking advantage of the moment the city lord reached out, she precisely pressed on a nearly invisible blood scar on his arm, gritting her teeth with a smile:

“City Lord, I nearly forgot that today is the day for your monthly medicine change…”

Pretending not to notice her small trick, Xiao Tan’s expression remained unchanged, showing little reaction even when mentioning the painful monthly medicinal bath.

He simply draped a mysterious golden-colored outer robe over the clearly torn garment of the person in front of him.

Seeing this, An Ning herself grew bored first.

Indeed, for this man, such pain was probably already a matter of habit!

One hour later, inside the steaming bathhouse, Xiao Tan wore only a thin, dark-colored inner garment. His originally sharp features softened slightly, and his tall, upright figure was faintly visible in the clear jade pool.

After a simple wash and change of clothes, An Ning skillfully placed the previously prepared spiritual medicines into the bath, then gathered her spiritual energy to slowly release the essence of the herbs until the originally clear pool gradually turned a deep blue-green. Only then did she rise and leave.

Before leaving, she only said:

“Call me if you need anything, City Lord!”

From start to finish, she never glanced again at the nearly naked body of the visitor.

To be honest, after all these years, even An Ning could not figure out exactly what this city lord was thinking.

Logically, cultivation was undoubtedly a long and tedious matter, especially decades of consistent hard training. Even An Ning had considered shortcuts to quickly raise her cultivation. However, before she could speak, this man seemed to see through her thoughts:

“Overreliance on external aids, no matter how high the cultivation rises temporarily, results only in a shallow foundation, unfit for great responsibility!”

Fair enough, alright!

Maybe this was the pride of a top expert? An Ning thought.

Recalling when she first advanced to Golden Core, this man had even rejected the almost indispensable pills for breakthrough in the cultivation world.

At that time, she had only thought about it—being an alchemist, she understood pill quality well, but she just wanted to keep a backup plan…

But undeniably, Xiao Tan was right. With the spiritual energy in the cultivation world now, although relying on external forces made the Golden Core breakthrough process harder, after that breakthrough and especially the last thunder tribulation, An Ning could clearly feel the difference between those who relied on pills and those who did not. Even if both were Golden Core cultivators, the spiritual energy showed many gaps…

While pondering, An Ning raised her hand, and the sharp sword qi quickly left a deep imprint on the stone wall in front of the courtyard…

“Lacking killing intent?”

Recalling Xiao Tan’s comment, An Ning couldn’t help but murmur to herself.

As the time approached for her original self to have died in past lives, she wondered how she now compared to “that one” or those others.

Outside the courtyard, An Ning continued to ponder, unaware that on the other side, inside the bathhouse, Xiao Tan quietly watched the silhouettes flickering outside the window. After a long time, he closed his eyes again.

The deep blue-green water inside the pool soon rose with a crimson hue…

***

That night, after returning to her room, An Ning unsurprisingly received a message from Chen Ping of the Xuqing Sect.

With An Ning, a top alchemist, backing him and his own diligence, even with the disadvantage of having mixed five spirit roots—an inferior innate talent—Chen Ping had succeeded in achieving Foundation Establishment before forty in this body more than ten years ago.

Foundation Establishment stage cultivators could already use spiritual instruments for communication. Having this, their exchanges had become far more secretive over the years.

Knowing where his future lay, Chen Ping had not disappointed. Relying on the sect’s extensive network, many messages had gradually arrived over the years.

“I go, these two are breaking up way too fast!”

Watching the messages constantly appearing on the bronze mirror, the system was somewhat incredulous.

It had been only twenty-some years since that alchemy conference—a long time for ordinary people, perhaps half a lifetime. But for cultivators, especially high-level ones with profound cultivation, it was hardly anything. Sometimes just a short retreat was almost the same amount of time.

Seeing these two breaking up so quickly truly surprised the system…

However, An Ning soon noticed the highlight and casually put down the message mirror filled with information. A smile involuntarily appeared in her eyes:

“Surprised? If I’m not mistaken, Sikong Jing probably just recently failed his breakthrough to Nascent Soul…”

“Hm?”

Really?

The system carefully re-examined the messages countless times, still confused.

“No need to look further; there’s nothing in the letter!”

It wasn’t surprising that Chen Ping didn’t know—matters involving core disciples breaking through Nascent Soul were exceptional. Furthermore, it was well known that during breakthroughs, cultivators dreaded disturbance. Under normal circumstances, if news wasn’t locked down, it wouldn’t be possible for an outer disciple to know.

Especially in recent years, news of breakthrough failures had trickled in.

Even to save face, major sects would not publicize such failures. An Ning’s speculation came from subtle clues in the letters, plus previous thoughts about Shangguan Ling.

By piecing together fragmented information, An Ning successfully listed all Golden Core cultivators recently in seclusion who had yet to emerge.

Among them, besides Sikong Jing, another name quickly caught An Ning’s attention.

Elder Wen, the original master of the first life, also a Golden Core elder of the Xuqing Sect and the peak master of the talisman and artifact division.

Talismans!

When the original owner of this body suddenly fell unconscious and woke up in a room, An Ning had instinctively thought it was caused by medicine.

But now, it seemed uncertain!

What medicine could do, talismans or artifacts might also be capable of.

Marking this person as highly suspicious, An Ning quickly scanned others.

Because many in this world could not break through Nascent Soul, the sect had an abundance of Golden Core elders.

Just among those who might attempt Nascent Soul breakthroughs recently, there were no fewer than a handful.

After brief consideration, An Ning soon gave up trying to investigate one by one.

If it couldn’t be done individually…

Then let’s do it all at once!

Caressing the purple-gold pill furnace in her hands, An Ning quickly made up her mind.

The next day, the long-silent Biling Pavilion suddenly released a bombshell announcement:

At the auction in half a month, a top-grade Nascent Soul Pill would be offered for sale!

***

A Nascent Soul Pill, and a top-grade one at that!

The news immediately caused an uproar throughout the Xuanzhen Continent.

Within half a day, countless top cultivators appeared near the Biling Pavilion.

Though the auction date was still half a month away, it could not stop the enthusiasm of all interested parties.

Everyone knew that pills, especially top-grade ones, were a matter of minute differences that could mean the difference between success and failure.

Even among Nascent Soul Pills, the low, mid, and high grades had vastly different effects.

Especially on Xuanzhen Continent, no top-grade Nascent Soul Pill had appeared for many years!

Even the few remaining grandmasters had only managed mid-grade at best.

With the nearly 100% failure rate of Nascent Soul breakthroughs today, one could imagine how rare this pill was.

Thus, once the news broke, the Biling Pavilion gradually attracted the attention of various forces.

Besides the whereabouts of this pill, the biggest concern was:

“When did the Xuanzhen Continent produce such a master? Can the pavilion master reveal anything?”

One master often meant more than just one pill…

Such a capable person was far more valuable than a top-grade Nascent Soul Pill.

Facing the eager gazes of many big shots, Pavilion Master Qin remained composed. Wearing a silver-gray long robe, his somewhat slender face still exuded scholarly elegance:

“To be honest, many of you should not be unfamiliar with this grandmaster. He was the champion of the alchemy conference over twenty years ago, winning with a top-grade Refining Spirit pill…”

Just as he finished speaking, a sudden sound of breaking porcelain came from nearby.

Everyone looked up. On the seat reserved for the Xuqing Sect, an elder frowned deeply:

“Sikong? What are you doing now?”

“It’s me, disciple. I’ve been making some mistakes in my cultivation recently, causing distraction…”

Feeling the ambiguous gazes around him and fearing misunderstandings about old grudges with the grandmaster, Sikong Jing quickly explained:

“Twenty years ago, I had the honor of meeting Master Chen. I’m surprised by his achievements in such a short time!”

Indeed, it seemed Master Chen only had Triple Spirit Roots!

Everyone knew that as a high-level alchemist, besides superb pill techniques, sufficient cultivation support was essential.

Meaning, with only triple spirit roots, it was quite remarkable to break through Golden Core at fifty.

This…

But out of respect for Master Chen’s strength, no one thought too much, simply believing his alchemy skills were extraordinary.

With these thoughts, everyone’s enthusiasm grew even stronger.

In contrast, Sikong Jing’s face turned grim, especially feeling the faint pain in his dantian…

Failure to break through Nascent Soul had indeed caused indescribable damage to his body and even spiritual awareness.

Even his foundation…

Thinking of the confident claims that Shangguan Ling would surely break through Nascent Soul, Sikong Jing lowered his gaze, forcing himself to hide his reddening eyes.

Under the wide sleeves, his hands clenched tightly, even bleeding from the palms was noticed.

Nascent Soul…

He originally had a chance to ascend to Nascent Soul…

“Tell me! How do I break through in the future you foresee?”

“Is it because of this top-grade Nascent Soul Pill!”

Gripping the visitor’s fair, slender neck, Sikong Jing’s eyes suddenly filled with bloodshot veins.

The once infinitely gentle brows now overflowed with killing intent and ferocity.

His senior brother really… really wanted to kill me!

Staring blankly at the fierce expression before him, Shangguan Ling could no longer deceive herself.

“Ahem… Senior brother, you’ve long noticed Ling’er’s oddness!”

“Is it… or isn’t it? Senior brother, tell me, was everything before a lie?”

Were all the unique tenderness and care before just deception…?

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Sikong Jing’s reddened eyes flashed impatience, and his outstretched hand involuntarily tightened.

Realizing too late, Shangguan Ling panicked: “Ahem, ahem, senior brother, you can’t kill me! Uncle Sikong has always cared for me, and Master too…”

Fool! Sikong Jing didn’t even raise his brows as he said:

“Uncle? Master?” The visitor’s tone was mocking:

“Not to mention Elder Ye’s complete disappointment in you, don’t forget the ‘Uncle Sikong’ you mention is my father!”

Speechless at the person before him, Sikong Jing was curious where this stray ghost came from.

How naive must someone be to think a foster daughter would be treated better than a biological child?

Some fool had actually taken the usual politeness seriously!

Too lazy to look at the person again, Sikong Jing’s lips curled slightly. In his bloodshot eyes, a flash of cruelty passed:

“Besides, my father loves Ling’er. Ling’er is beloved by all the disciples of Sikong City…”

“Then tell me… are you Ling’er?”

At these words, Shangguan Ling’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

“When… when did you know?”

“No, no, you knew long ago?”

The answer was merciless disgust, as if seeing something filthy:

“Ling’er never maliciously slanders others…”

“Speak!” The hand choking her tightened suddenly, Sikong Jing’s gaze grew cruel: “Tell me everything you know, or don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

“I… I will say…”

At the same time, in West Flame City.

Still unaware that her true identity was about to be exposed, An Ning was leisurely reclining in the chess room, playing with a chess piece made of spiritual jade in her hand.

Meanwhile, Huo Cheng and others at the residence were busier than ever. Since that day, countless visiting cards flooded into West Flame City, including many reclusive elders from major sects.

After finishing the game, An Ning finally looked up at the person opposite her:

“Has all this caused trouble for the City Lord lately?”

The reply was a calm but arrogant: “A mere demon, nothing to fear…”

No wonder. Looking at the calm expression of the person before her, An Ning thought:

No wonder cultivation and power can drive a person so mad, even to the point of losing humanity…

Slowly placing the last chess piece, the misfortunes of her original self spanning several lives were finally about to end.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep