Chapter 53 – The Guardian

No joke.

Daoist Qingxuan felt like his mother was about to be gone.

It was an incredibly strong premonition.

But he dared not disobey the Qingyun Patriarch’s orders.

Even though his injuries hadn’t fully healed, he had no choice but to follow orders.

“I really didn’t expect that person to be a Fusion Realm grand cultivator,” Daoist Qingxuan sighed and shook his head. Since he was a Fusion Realm cultivator and had chosen to spare his life, it was clearly an act of mercy—out of consideration for the Qingyun Sect’s reputation.

With this thought, he felt at ease.

So what if he was instantly defeated by the sword of a suppressed Fusion Realm grand cultivator?

Under that earth-shattering strike, an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would’ve been reduced to dust.

“Master, my dantian…”

Lu Changtian staggered toward Daoist Qingxuan, his face pale.

“There’s nothing I can do about your dantian.” Daoist Qingxuan’s brows furrowed with impatience and disdain.

“All things in this world follow the law of cause and effect. If you had known this would happen, why did you and the others bully that girl, Qingran? You even claimed she deliberately tried to harm Mu Baishuang and wanted me to cripple her spiritual root! Now what? You regret it? You come begging me now?”

Lu Changtian hung his head, speechless.

In the end, Daoist Qingxuan couldn’t bear to watch his favorite disciple be completely ruined. He shook his head and said, “You have two paths before you.

First, you can switch to body cultivation. Body cultivators refine their bones and flesh to break through all techniques with sheer strength. With your talent, you could achieve something. However, the Qingyun Sect doesn’t have many body cultivation techniques, and they are scarce even across the entire Cangyun Realm. This path is narrow, difficult, and requires you to figure out a lot on your own.

The second path is to prepare for the upcoming Zhongzhou Secret Realm expedition. This time, there will be both a major and a minor secret realm.”

“Master, I choose the major secret realm!”

Lu Changtian immediately bowed with a firm expression.

Daoist Qingxuan smacked his forehead with the hilt of his sword and scolded, “Idiot! The major secret realm is for Nascent Soul and above. If you go in, you’ll die for sure!

I brought up the secret realm to tell you that this time, the great Holy Lands will be selecting talents. If you perform exceptionally in the minor secret realm, you might catch their attention. If that happens, you could gain a fortunate opportunity—perhaps even a way to heal your dantian.”

Lu Changtian’s eyes lit up with realization.

The three great Holy Lands of the Cangyun Realm: Yaochi, Zhenwu, and Fanjing.

They were filled with powerful cultivators, including many legendary figures in the realm’s history.

Among them, some might possess a Primordial Heaven-Mending Pill, or even a complete body cultivation system!

If so, his dantian issue could be resolved.

Daoist Qingxuan looked at the joy on Lu Changtian’s face and felt a pang of sadness.

The Holy Lands had strict standards for selecting prodigies.

For a cultivator with a shattered dantian like Lu Changtian to stand out, he would have to be exceptionally extraordinary.

Difficult. Difficult. Difficult.

Not far away, Mu Baishuang, who was meditating to heal, perked up her ears and eavesdropped.

Of course, she knew about the Zhongzhou Secret Realm—it was an annual grand event where many ancient cultivation techniques, artifacts, and elixirs would appear.

It was no exaggeration to say that if one could obtain a great treasure from within, even an ordinary person could instantly rise to become a genius sought after by major sects.

“Li Qingran should be heading to the Zhongzhou Secret Realm too, right?” Mu Baishuang pondered.

The Taiyin Dao Body and the Black Gold Cold Jade on Zhang Hanxiao were crucial to her young master.

Getting the Black Gold Cold Jade would be easy.

Zhang Hanxiao was currently injured, so she just needed to cozy up to him a little more. Once she had him wrapped around her finger, the treasure would basically be in her hands.

As for the Taiyin Dao Body…

Back in the sect, she couldn’t make a move on Li Qingran directly. Originally, she had planned to let Li Qingran die outside so she could use the Heavenly Demon Bone-Devouring Secret Art to strip away her Taiyin Dao Body for herself.

But fate had other plans.

Li Qingran encountered that mysterious expert. Not only did she survive, but her dantian was restored, and the Heart Demon Curse Mu Baishuang had planted was broken.

Still, every cloud had a silver lining.

Outside the Qingyun Sect, if they met in the secret realm, wouldn’t a mere Li Qingran be easy to handle?

That Fusion Realm grand cultivator surely wouldn’t be idling around, watching over Li Qingran forever.

After all, grand cultivators like him spent most of their time in closed-door cultivation.

She dared to stay in the Qingyun Sect because the Qingyun Patriarch only emerged from seclusion once in a blue moon. As long as she didn’t flaunt herself before the Patriarch, she could hide her true intentions with ease.

“You are Qingxuan’s disciple?”

Just as Mu Baishuang was lost in thought, an aged voice suddenly rang out beside her.

She shuddered, her skin crawling with goosebumps.

Without even daring to glance at the speaker, she immediately knelt and kowtowed.

“Disciple Mu Baishuang greets the Patriarch.”

The Qingyun Patriarch’s eyes remained calm, saying nothing.

Mu Baishuang bit her lip. In her vision, all she could see were the Patriarch’s shoes and cane. Sweat dripped down her cheeks, each second feeling like an eternity.

Just as she began to wonder if the Patriarch had seen through her schemes—whether she should go all out and resist—he finally spoke.

“I know a little about the matter with Li Qingran… Mu Baishuang, if you wish to cultivate, then do so properly. But if you harbor impure intentions again, I won’t mind helping my unfilial disciple clean up his mess.”

With that, the Qingyun Patriarch tapped his dragon-headed cane on the ground and bounced away with a sprightly gait.

Like a lively young maiden.

She had seen plenty of scheming female disciples like Mu Baishuang.

Back when she was still just a disciple, her own tricks weren’t any less crafty.

Right now, she was too busy enjoying her second youth to care.

A mere Qi Refinement disciple? A simple warning was enough. No need to waste effort.

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Chen Huai’an emerged from the Thousand-Mile Divine Travel Talisman with Li Qingran.

He glanced at the map.

From the looks of it, they hadn’t actually left Qingyun Sect by much.

“What the f***? How huge is this Taoist’s map?!”

To avoid being chased down by the Qingyun Patriarch, Chen Huai’an grabbed Li Qingran with remote control, let out a biu!, and jumped onto his Blackscale Sword.

With his Nascent Soul Experience Card still active, he had to fly as far as possible.

How fast could a Nascent Soul cultivator fly?

Chen Huai’an felt like he was on par with a fighter jet.

Not that he had ever flown on a plane—so he had no real comparison.

Just as he was marveling at how awesome this game was—

Behind him, Li Qingran was being blasted by the wind, unable to keep her eyes open.

She looked at her senior’s back, wanting to speak up for help.

But the moment she opened her mouth—

Whoosh!

Her lips puffed out into a trumpet flower from the sheer wind pressure.

To avoid being seen in such an undignified state, she quickly shut her mouth.

Still, she was perplexed.

Did senior cultivators not use wind-shielding formations when flying?

Or…

Did he think having his hair blown back made him look cooler?

No!

There was no way Senior was that shallow.

Senior must have been feeling the rhythm of the wind.

Sensing the ever-present Dao laws of nature.

Li Qingran, oh Li Qingran, compared to someone like Senior, you’re still far too lacking. And you actually dream of becoming his disciple?

Sigh…

I wonder if Senior has any disciples.

Any female disciples?

How many female disciples…?

Li Qingran gazed at the wildly dancing white hair in front of her. Even though her own hair had been whipped into her face and mouth by the wind, her heart still felt warm and soft.

What was the point of overthinking?

Senior was always right. Even if he had a hundred female disciples, that was perfectly natural.

Hee~ ♥

"Hiss—! This wind is actually kinda cold."

Chen Huai’an rubbed his hands together and slowed down slightly.

They were cultivators now—why couldn’t flying swords come with built-in temperature control?

What if his precious Qingran caught a chill?

Not mystical at all.

—【Congratulations! You have assisted your Virtual Girlfriend in completing Main Quest 1.0】—

—【You have received: 10 Thunderfire Talismans (delivered)】—

Tch, just 10 Thunderfire Talismans?

Were they giving out scraps to beggars?

Chen Huai’an curled his lips in disdain.

Did he, Lord Immortal Chen, look like he needed this kind of thing?

Meanwhile, in his hotel room—

—Thud!

The door made a dull sound.

Inside, the black cat peeked its head out from the shoebox, cautiously sniffing the aura of whatever lay outside.

Its body suddenly stiffened.

Its round cat eyes widened in shock.

And then, shivering, it shrank back into the shoebox.

—【Main Quest 2.0: Help your Virtual Girlfriend establish herself in the new "Guardian’s Home."】—

"G-Guardian’s Home?"

Lord Immortal Chen’s mind blanked out.

He almost fell off his flying sword.

…

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