Chapter 29: Do Not Disturb My Taoist Heart!
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Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer!
Before descending the mountain, that was the cultivation realm Su Ping had longed for yet could not achieve.
And now, he had smoothly stepped into it.
This made Su Ping recall the memories of his arduous cultivation and, feeling their current wonderful state, he couldn't help but feel a bit unreal.
Yet this sense of unreality couldn't suppress the excitement bubbling up in his heart, causing Su Ping to stand up and, after opening the door of the cultivation room,
he wanted to announce his breakthrough to the outside world.
So that everyone, especially those Outer Sect brothers and the high and mighty Deacons, would see him in a new light!
However, just as this thought emerged, a night breeze blew in as the door opened.
Su Ping shivered, recalling those high and mighty Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
He also thought of those demons and Evil Cultivators rumored to kill without batting an eye.
His rationality, which had temporarily gone offline due to the breakthrough, reclaimed the high ground.
"Heh, just the Fifth Layer of Qi Cultivation, and yet it made me so proud and forget myself?"
"Twenty years of arduous cultivation really has worn down my ambition, to be so satisfied and joyous over just the Fifth Layer of Qi Cultivation!"
"Announce what? I've made a breakthrough, and that's that. I haven't slept in a long time, tonight I should get a good night's sleep!"
After coming to this realization, Su Ping was hit by a wave of drowsiness and quickly returned to his bedroom, falling into a deep sleep.
Meditation in the midst of cultivation could replace sleep.
But without sleeping at all, one always feels like something's missing when awake.
After the breakthrough in cultivation, and a good rest for the night,
Su Ping summoned the Spiritual Rats White and Grey.
He left Grey to command the rest of the elite rats, and dispersed these locally-adapted controlled rats as his secret scouts around the territory of Golden Sparrow City to gather information.
Su Ping had not advanced these elite rats from Blue Star to the status of Spiritual Rats.
On one hand, they were somehow reserve Self-Destruction Rats with potential transcendent capabilities; advancing them prematurely could lead to the development of self-awareness and introduce variables.
On the other hand, for their current use as scouts, they maintained a subtle connection with White and Grey, communicating directly with their minds.
The spiritual power fluctuations during this process were nearly undetectable.
When surveying beings with transcendent powers, because they were merely mortal rats, they could actually be more covert and effective in reconnaissance.
After all, those high and mighty Cultivators look down upon even mortals, so why would they pay attention to common mortal rats?
Su Ping left some specially treated food for Grey to facilitate its control over the rats.
Then, carrying White, he headed towards a more distant workshop as indicated on his map.
Su Ping couldn't perform Sword Flight, but with Object Manipulation Technique, he could seem to navigate a wooden sword flying through the air.
In fact, without considering subsequent mana consumption, the speed wasn't faster than running.
So Su Ping chose the most unadorned method of travel... long-distance running.
Dressed in a tight-fitting Swordsman Suit, sword sheath on his back, and wearing Cloud-Riding Boots, he sped along the official road.
At first, his body felt a bit awkward, but the more he ran, the more coordinated he became.
And gradually, Su Ping discovered that his running speed was increasing, yet it seemed to barely consume any physical strength.
The physical strength expended in dozens of seconds was restored in a single breath.
This filled Su Ping with greater delight, and he secretly surmised that this should also be the effect of the 10% Sacred Body with Third Layer Body Refining.
It seemed that becoming a Body Cultivator, with the aid of the Red Blood Rainbow Carp, held more promise?
He sprinted for half a day, passing several relay stations.
He even left the territory of Golden Sparrow City and arrived at the jurisdiction of another large city, Golden Spring City.
As Su Ping neared his destination, he abruptly stopped and looked towards a village to his front left.
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It was a village by a government road near a small stream, with about thirty or forty tile-roofed houses.
By now it was noon, typically the time to wrap up work and rest.
As for cooking at noon, that's not done; three meals a day is the standard for wealthy households.
Ordinary landlords and self-sustaining farmers only eat two meals, morning and evening.
But even so... the village was unusually silent!
Su Ping had no intention of entering the village, but instead leapt into the air, rising to a height of fifty or sixty meters.
Through the eyesight of the Spiritual Rat, White, he could clearly see the layout and specific situation of the distant village.
Through White, Su Ping saw bloodstains splattered throughout the village.
What was strange was that apart from the bloodstains, there were no corpses, not even a living creature.
The entire village seemed to have become an object devoid of life...
"This feeling, it's either the work of an Evil Spirit or the encounter with an Evil Cultivator."
"If it were a Demon, the village would have likely been leveled."
Su Ping slowly landed and from his storage bag, he took out a fire candle, lit it, and planted it in the ground.
After lighting the fire candle, it emitted a puff of red smoke that lingered in midair.
This fire candle was distributed by the Immortal Sect to various City Lord Mansions as an early warning signal, capable of producing a red cloud to issue a warning for a long time.
Su Ping naturally carried some with him in case of need.
If the visibility was good, both stations and nearby towns and villages could see this red cloud.
Thus, they would understand that something had happened here! And that it involved a Cultivator!
Under normal circumstances, a Loose Cultivator would arrive to investigate within an hour.
Then they would report to the local City Lord Mansion and the Inspector for processing.
If the Inspector was particularly indifferent and combined with recent reminders from the Immortal Sect, they would likely block the surroundings and wait for someone from the Immortal Sect to arrive.
After doing this, Su Ping turned and left the village.
Just as he was about to leave, Su Ping suddenly felt as if some exotic treasure had appeared in the village.
Turning back, he saw a faint halo emerging from the village, sacred and majestic.
Seeing this, Su Ping took a sharp breath and ran even faster!
Regardless of whether it was truly the emergence of an exotic treasure or the mischief of an Evil Spirit.
He, Su Ping, needed none of these external items to disturb his Dao heart!
Only when he could no longer see the red smoke he had released did Su Ping finally slow down his pace and let out a long sigh of relief.
After straightening his appearance, Su Ping took out a silver-white mask and placed it on his face.
At the same time, he slightly shifted his shape, using the bone-shrinking skills from mortal martial arts to subtly change his body type.
Then Su Ping walked into the large workshop located in a great canyon on the outskirts of Golden Spring City, the Hundred Treasure Workshop!
The scale of the Hundred Treasure Workshop was slightly inferior to the official workshops like Cloud Mountain Workshop, which Su Ping and other Outer Sect disciples frequently visited.
The Spirit Vein and the Array were also of a lower grade.
Yet, there were many members of Immortal Cultivation families doing business here.
Moreover, there were rumors of a black market selling items that were inconvenient to deal with publicly.
This made the number of Cultivators coming and going not much less than that of Cloud Mountain Workshop.
Su Ping had made the long trip here precisely because this place was mixed with all sorts of people, and no inquiries were made about the identities of the Cultivators passing through.
The layout of the Hundred Treasure Workshop looked more like a town in the mortal world.
After paying an entry fee worth a Qi Blood Pill, Su Ping entered the workshop and immediately saw a row of brightly lit, festive shops at the city gate, with beautiful and sexy female Cultivators sitting at the entrance, smiling at him.