Unexpected Visitors and a Crippled Core

Let us turn back time to a moment not long ago.

Yuan Zhigong sat against the wall, his legs drawn up as he stared blankly. Unable to be more than a hundred meters from He Suosi due to the parasitic restriction of the Twin Love Root Flower, he had simply settled by the entrance of the courtyard.

Even in his daze, he slowly nurtured his body with the faint spiritual energy permeating the surroundings.

Moonlight spilled down like flowing water. Yuan Zhigong found the scene peaceful, until someone interrupted his solitude.

“Kang’er, is this the one?”

A figure stood suspended in mid-air, looking down upon him. Silhouetted against the moonlight, Yuan Zhigong could not discern their face, but he recognized the arrogant condescension in their tone. His upward gaze, combined with the other party’s haughtiness, naturally displeased him.

He narrowed his eyes, finally making out two figures. One was the young man who had led the Azure Light Pavilion disciples during the day, and the other was a middle-aged man, seemingly around forty. This man sported a full beard and wore a Buddha-head green robe. A stone-blue, spider-patterned rhinoceros belt was cinched around his waist, from which hung a large gilded hammer, likely his weapon.

Under the moonlight, Yuan Zhigong’s pale face seemed to glow with the translucence of white jade, breathtakingly beautiful. Dao Pingkang, who had always been uninterested in romantic affections for men, found his heart stirring at the sight of him. He licked his lips.

“Not this one, but this person is their companion. The other one is probably inside the room.” He thought to himself, ‘Perhaps I could ask Grandpa not to harm this beauty. Then, maybe this beauty would be grateful to me?’

Thus, he spoke, “Grandpa, this… this person appears weak and sickly. There’s no need to trouble you; just leave him to me.”

Dao Changxiong felt it was inconsequential and nodded. He observed the other party’s erratic aura and unstable spiritual energy, clearly indicating severe injuries without proper recuperation. Though he couldn’t discern the exact cultivation level, the aura suggested the beauty was merely at the Nascent Soul stage. His grandson would certainly not be outmatched.

Dao Pingkang shared this sentiment. He stepped onto the courtyard soil, about to speak a pleasant word, when several fiery red streaks of light suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Before he could react, a powerful force shifted him aside. Dao Changxiong blocked his path, scattering the golden-red flames with the large hammer at his waist. The flames, upon colliding with the hammer, exploded directly, causing Dao Changxiong to stagger back several steps.

Shielding his grandson, he raised his head with a grave expression, gazing at a ruler-shaped spiritual treasure spinning in the void.

“A Heaven-grade spiritual treasure,” he muttered. An ominous feeling had already settled in his heart. A person possessing a Heaven-grade spiritual treasure could never be ordinary.

However, matters had already reached this point; offenses had been committed. Dao Changxiong looked into the other party’s eyes and knew they were not one for mercy. Immediately, he hoisted his iron hammer, preparing to stake everything on a single fight.

“Ah!” he roared, charging towards Yuan Zhigong. With each swing of his hammer, his momentum grew, and by the time he reached Yuan Zhigong, the pressure was overwhelming, like mountains toppling and seas overturning.

But as he leaped into the air, the heavy hammer slipped from his grasp. Instead, he slapped his forehead, and a swirling mist of emerald green flew out, hurtling towards Yuan Zhigong. It turned out the so-called heavy hammer was merely a diversion; Dao Changxiong’s true treasure was the poisonous mist cultivated within his divine soul.

Yuan Zhigong frowned slightly. With one hand, he formed a spell, and the Heaven and Earth Divine Fire Ruler flew swiftly, striking directly at Dao Changxiong’s face. With his other hand, he formed a different incantation, causing a faint, shimmering barrier to appear before him.

Though Dao Changxiong saw the Heaven and Earth Divine Fire Ruler approaching, he did not evade. He intended to break through with brute force, believing that injuring his opponent first would grant him the upper hand. His expression grew increasingly ferocious, veins bulging, killing intent rampant. Then, his expression froze at that very moment.

The Heaven and Earth Divine Fire Ruler pierced through his forehead as easily as if it were tofu. Blood and brain matter burst forth in mid-air. With a flick of his sleeve, Yuan Zhigong flung both the poisonous mist and the corpse towards Dao Pingkang, who stood dumbfounded in the center of the courtyard.

Dao Changxiong’s corpse collapsed at Dao Pingkang’s feet. Dao Pingkang’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees, his body soiled with excrement and urine.

Yuan Zhigong pressed a hand to his mouth, but blood still seeped through his fingers, staining his sleeve. He appeared frail and delicate, yet in a mere instant, he had slain a Soul Transformation stage cultivator. Dao Pingkang’s teeth chattered, and a gurgling sound escaped his throat, but he couldn’t utter a word.

Just then, they heard a knock at the door.

Yuan Zhigong frowned slightly. He gestured to Dao Pingkang and said, “Go open the door.”

Xie Shiying had never met the Guangyu Immortal Monarch, so when they saw Yuan Zhigong, they were equally astonished that such a radiant beauty could exist in this world.

However, they showed no outward reaction, maintaining their usual elegant and gentle demeanor. They spoke softly, “I am Xie Shiying, an old friend of Qianqiu Daojun. I wonder if Qianqiu Daojun is presently here.”

Dao Pingkang trembled violently in place. ‘Did they mean that Qianqiu Daojun?’ he wondered. But he quickly realized his suspicion was unfounded. How could there be another Qianqiu Daojun in this world? He immediately collapsed to the ground, his eyes already vacant.

Yuan Zhigong remained still, saying nothing.

Xie Shiying cast their gaze towards the room behind, from which a faint scent of alchemy wafted. “Are they refining pills?”

Yuan Zhigong looked up at them, his eyes dark and bright, his voice cold. “What is your relationship with them?”

Xie Shiying’s smile remained unchanged. “Merely an ordinary old friend.”

“An old friend? Then you may leave.”

Xie Shiying did not leave. “Old friends who haven’t met for many years, with rumors swirling about them… not to meet face-to-face when we encounter each other, my heart truly cannot be at ease.”

Yuan Zhigong’s expression remained impassive. “The friendship between gentlemen is as clear as water. Since you already know they are safe and well, you may leave.”

Xie Shiying fell silent for a moment before finally speaking. “What is your relationship with He Suosi, esteemed one? For a guest to arrive at your door and merely be told to ‘leave’ is rather discourteous.”

Yuan Zhigong then revealed a cold, sarcastic smile. “Do I need you to teach me about courtesy?”

Their gazes met, neither yielding an inch, as if cold light shot forth from their eyes.

It wasn’t until the sky began to lighten, revealing the pale belly of a fish in the east and the rising red sun, that the door behind them opened. He Suosi emerged, yawning, and paused mid-yawn upon seeing the people at the entrance.

He smiled delightedly. “Oh, A’Ying, you arrived so quickly.”

“That day at the Immortal’s Rest Pavilion, it has indeed been many years since we last met. Recently, I heard some rumors… In any case, it seems now that indeed, ‘three men make a tiger’ is true.”

He Suosi waved his hand, his expression conveying ‘no need to dwell on the past.’ Simultaneously, he handed a jade vial to Yuan Zhigong. “One pill daily. After taking it, enter seclusion for an hour to assimilate the medicinal power.”

Yuan Zhigong was exceptionally surprised. He had wondered why He Suosi had spent so long refining mere Foundation Establishment Pills, only to realize there were specialized pills refined just for him.

Seeing the slight surprise in Yuan Zhigong’s expression, He Suosi added, “In any case, I only did this because your sickly appearance is truly a huge burden. You’d best…” As the words were about to leave his lips, He Suosi realized Xie Shiying was present, and swallowed the latter half of his sentence. He then changed tack, “Ah, speaking of which, I apologize, A’Ying… this companion of mine doesn’t know his own strength when striking, and killed someone from your sect. This matter is partly my fault as well.”

He looked at Xie Shiying with sincere eyes, yet his hands were busy counting the items taken from Dao Changxiong’s storage bag. After tossing them all into his own storage bag, he asked, “So, what can I do to express my apology?”

Xie Shiying’s expression was gentle. “How could it be your fault? Elder Dao was misguided, misled by a junior. If there’s any fault, it lies with the disrespectful and intolerant junior.” As they spoke, they cast their gaze towards Dao Pingkang, their tone still gentle, but their eyes cold as ice. “Do you know your mistake?”

Dao Pingkang, filthy from his ordeal, was not allowed into the room. He knelt in the courtyard, a limp mess on the ground. “It’s my fault, it’s my fault! Senior, spare me! Sect Master, spare me!” he cried, tears and snot streaming down his face, his entire body trembling like a sieve.

Xie Shiying looked at him with a touch of sorrow, then turned to He Suosi. “This person was once a prodigy of my sect, but now they are ruined. Excessive indulgence in the past leads to such an outcome.” With that, they raised a hand and pointed. A golden light flashed, shooting directly into Dao Pingkang’s dantian.

Dao Pingkang’s body shook violently, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. The next second, he collapsed to the ground, utterly pale.

He Suosi’s expression subtly changed. Xie Shiying had crippled Dao Pingkang’s Golden Core.

Xie Shiying’s expression remained normal, even bearing a slight smile. “Let them cultivate from scratch. Only by understanding the hardships of cultivation can they learn to treat others with kindness.”

He Suosi smiled, offering no comment. Cultivating again after one’s Golden Core has been crippled is entirely different from cultivating from the beginning. With a ruined Golden Core, the human body is no longer complete, and the difficulty of re-cultivating in the future is thousands, even tens of thousands, of times greater than starting anew.

However, Xie Shiying was precisely this kind of person. Their worldview was likely different from that of ordinary people. He Suosi knew some of their past and felt that, having grown up as they had, it was normal for their worldview to be somewhat skewed.

So He Suosi steered the conversation to the main topic. “Actually, there are some things I hope you can help me inquire about.”

Xie Shiying made a gesture of listening intently.

Just as He Suosi was about to speak, he noticed Yuan Zhigong sitting still, his breathing slightly heavy, staring unblinkingly at him. He frowned and said, “You’ve overexerted your spiritual energy, worsening your injuries. Why aren’t you healing?”

Yuan Zhigong did not move. He stared coldly at Xie Shiying, his eyes filled with daggers. After a long moment, just as He Suosi was about to tell him to leave again, Yuan Zhigong finally spoke, “I’m not leaving. I’m worried you’ll have an affair with him.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than He Suosi leaned forward and delivered a direct headbutt. Yuan Zhigong’s eyes glazed over for a moment, then he closed them and softly collapsed.

He Suosi embraced him, then carried him to a long couch nearby. As if nothing had happened, he said to Xie Shiying, “Alright, now we can discuss proper matters.”