A gentle breeze, like a sigh, swept through the luxurious garden.
Xie Qing sat under a tree, his eyes tightly closed, and his breathing even and slightly weak, as if he had fallen asleep.
Sitting under the apple tree, with his white robe and in conjunction with the surrounding scenery, he looked more beautiful than the immortals themselves.
Suddenly, as if stirred by the wind, one of the apple tree's leaves detached from its branch and began to descend towards Xie Qing's head, spinning as it fell.
But in the mont when the leaf was just ten centiters from his head...
Swoosh!
A sudden sharp gust of wind burst from his body, shredding the leaf into a thousand pieces!
However, Xie Qing remained imrsed in his cultivation and showed no reaction.
This was because his understanding of the Dao of the Sword had reached such a level that during cultivation, an invisible barrier ford around him that instantly killed anyone who tried to touch him.
Such an unusual barrier was generally a common occurrence, but only for cultivators at the Divine Transformation stage.
Therefore, such an effect at a young age and cultivation level was considered abnormal.
However, considering that this was Xie Qing, it was pointless to be surprised by his actions. It was better to just save one's strength.
From a distance of ten miles, a beautiful woman with long black hair and blue eyes stood, Xu i.
As an experienced cultivator and an expert in the Dao of the Sword, she could see this imperceptible aura surrounding the young man.
And she was pleasantly surprised, amazed, and her face reflected strong joy.
"What talent! Moreover, he is so diligent..."
It was rare to find soone as diligent as Xie Qing among geniuses, considering their age.
Most of these young n first wanted to solidify their status and to be fair, many geniuses of his age had more concerns.
However, Xie Qing devoted his heart to cultivation, and although he had taken a few steps, such as controlling the Xie family and the title of imperial censor...
He still preferred to spend his ti ditating and training.
Xu i smiled as she watched him. In her calculations, at this pace, he would catch up to her cultivation level in just twenty years.
"Sigh, if only I could break through..." Xu i felt a sense of despair.
At her cultivation level, ordinary Qi absorption was no longer helpful. She also needed Enlightennt.
Furthermore, each improvent in level required a significant increase in the surrounding environnt.
Starting from the Spiritual Ascension stage, a cultivator transford their Qi into Immortal Qi.
Although the na was unofficial, and according to the accepted version, it was Higher Qi, many practitioners liked to call it that for self-satisfaction.
The Higher Qi emitted by the mortal world could barely cover the expenses of soone at Xu i's level.
Therefore, until they found a valuable treasure or a place with dense Higher Qi...
"I'll have to stay stuck..." The woman's expression darkened, clenching her fists. Her eyes narrowed, and the right corner of her mouth turned up in a contemptuous expression.
***
Xie Qing opened his eyes and felt a slight dizziness. He had been imrsed in cultivation for an entire day, which helped him stabilize himself.
His worries, fears, and doubts disappeared during cultivation, stabilizing his soul.
Checking his body with Qi, he sighed in relief when he discovered minor but present changes.
"I hate my character. Although I haven't been able to break through for a long ti, I can still see changes. I feel like if this continues, it could beco my Heart Demon," Xie Qing thought with a sour expression as if he had swallowed ten boxes of lemons.
His cultivation base was still at the first stage of Soul Integration.
Considering his age, this was still too fast, but Xie Qing had a character trait, and sotis he thought too much.
The fear of returning to his diocre self was what troubled him.
"What if I beco weak again?"
"What if I can't break through in twenty years?"
"What if..."
Many dark and unpleasant thoughts occupied his mind, and it was becoming torture.
During cultivation, from ti to ti, he could even hear a faint, indistinct whisper. This was the first manifestation of Heart Demons.
Although Xie Qing could buy an item that would suppress them, he believed he should overco this himself.
"A person's deadliest enemy is themselves. Anyone can defeat a cultivator, but not everyone can crush them..." Xie Qing thought, relaxing his eyebrows and rubbing his slightly aching forehead due to the headache. "Well, at the very least, my haste is too ridiculous. I can't allow myself such thoughts, or I'll seem like a failure..."
Relaxing his legs, he pushed off his hand and stood up for a second.
The apple tree swayed, and a fruit fell from above, caught by Xie Qing.
"It seems that due to the excellent conditions and the dense Qi in the air, the tree is bearing fruit earlier. This is truly surprising..." Xie Qing thought and took a small bite of the green apple.
The sour juice imdiately touched his tongue and instantly took over the cavity of his mouth.
The taste was amazing, just the way he liked it. Moreover, inside the fruit were barely noticeable but still present Qi particles.
"I should warn the maidservants not to let the estate servants carelessly eat the fruits from the trees. Even a small amount of Qi can be poisonous to them," Xie Qing thought, appetizingly biting into the apple.
Most mortals, except a few, had an intolerance to Qi at the genetic level.
If they were under the direct influence of Qi, which could occur from being near spiritual objects or directly consuming products containing Qi...
It could be fatal. Of course, there were cases where they survived, but it was doubtful that there would be objects or fruits filled with Qi in the places where mortals lived.
Xie Qing had mortals in his estate who had excellent resistance to Qi exposure and, if desired, could beco cultivators.
However, there were still servants with weak health.
***
Days without serious incidents were sweet, like honey, when the soul could enjoy the feeling of peace and tranquility for a long ti.
Xie Qing, although very mischievous and hyperactive, still liked to take things slow and enjoy every second.
A whole month flew by unnoticed. Busying himself with things like satisfying the needs of his won, cultivation, and sword training...
Xie Qing had quite improved his skills. There were still no noticeable changes in cultivation, which was sad, but the young man no longer paid much attention to it.
In the end, peaceful days were good, but Xie Qing preferred to warm up a bit.
And after so ti...
"Regarding your plan. I have a few ideas that we've been discussing for a month."
One day, after dinner in Xie Qing's room, he and Xu i lay naked on the bed after a Dao discussion session.
Xu i's expression looked extrely serious, and her usually relaxed eyes looked sharp and dark.
"We've secured the help of a person... and... This person has agreed to help us delay the devilish cultivators," Xu i said with a strange expression as she glanced at Xie Qing, who was listening attentively.
"I see... It must not have been easy to convince this expert? As far as I know, the strongest in the world mostly spend their days in lifeless places..."
"Ah, well..." Xu i looked a bit strange, and the corners of her mouth trembled. "In any case... We'll discuss the conditions later. The main thing is that this person has agreed, and... For starters, you need to master a few skills. Moreover, Liu Yang is working on a pill recipe that will mask your presence."
"About that..."
Xie Qing noticed Xu i's strange behavior, but he decided to postpone discussing it until better tis.
He stood up and walked to the chair where his clothes lay, pulling a ring out of his pocket.
"I have a pill recipe that will help us with this," Xie Qing said and pulled out a jade scroll, handing it to Xu i.
"Oh? Where did you get it?"
"It's a secret."
"Hm? You little rascal, have you grown so much that you're already hiding sothing from your Master?"
Xie Qing shrugged in response to Xu i's grumbling, who imdiately opened the scroll.
With each paragraph, she read of the recipe and the pill's description, her eyes widened more and more, which looked amusing from the side.
"H-how... What a wonderful ans! A pill that can change one's appearance to such an extent... And also suppress aura and cultivation level! It's even possible to imitate another aura..."
Xie Qing smiled. Of course, he had obtained this item from the system.
The recipe was called "Dao Concealnt Pill," and it cost him over a million Spiritual Stones.
Its purpose was to change one's appearance. However, the catch was that it could change even the aura, which was already the main requirent for hiding oneself.
Before this, when Xie Qing checked for sothing similar, this pill did not appear in the catalog. But after significant successes during training, it suddenly appeared and imdiately caught his attention.
He had to work hard to allocate the money and buy this recipe.
Moreover, the ingredients were so expensive that it would take another year to gather them, and the amount of money spent would exceed a billion.
However, Xie Qing had already inford the Empress about the price issue, and to his surprise, she gave her approval and expressed her desire to help with the financing.
This was why Xie Qing was now more than confident.
Xu i remained silent for so ti and then said with a serious expression, "We'll imdiately visit Sister Liu Yan. I'll also ask Zhang i to co with us."
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