Chapter 78: Master and Disciple, Alike in Nature, Ghost Demon Pass
You Province.
As the region of the Immortal Domain’s nine provinces with the most borders with the Demon Abyss’s four domains, You Province was always considered a remote and desolate land.
Furthermore, the Everspring Pavilion, which governed You Province, was considered the weakest among the nine major sects of the Immortal Domain. Within You Province, demonic and evil cultivators were numerous, and incidents of demonic disturbances were frequent.
Especially in the border regions, it was even more of a mixed bag.
Tens of thousands of years of conflict between the Demon Abyss and the Immortal Domain had left extremely blurred boundaries.
These boundaries were disputed territories, and neither the Immortal Domain nor the Demon Abyss could truly control them.
Or perhaps, it was a tacit understanding not to control them.
If you don’t interfere, I won’t interfere.
But if you want to interfere, I will also interfere.
At that time, whether to use the laws of the Immortal Domain or the rules of the Demon Abyss would inevitably lead to further disputes.
Thus, over time, a three-way stalemate gradually formed, and the border regions became a gathering place for rogue cultivators with questionable backgrounds.
Those who betrayed their sects, those who were exiled, those who offended major sects, even evil cultivators who couldn’t be accepted by the Demon Abyss… etc. Regardless of the reason that made these rogue cultivators unwelcome in both the Immortal Domain and the Demon Abyss, they would gather in these border regions.
The resulting chaos was such that if the Immortal Domain or the Demon Abyss were to take over, it would take at least a thousand years to barely establish order.
Within the forest, a silent sword light flashed, gradually revealing two figures, one tall and one short.
“We’ve arrived.”
Hei Pao said faintly.
This was Luo Xue’s first time riding a flying sword, and she was inevitably a bit dizzy, taking a while to recover.
She looked up at her surroundings, her heart involuntarily clenching.
In just about an hour, she had gone from the green mountains and ethereal peaks of the Immortal Domain to this chaotic border region.
The sky seemed perpetually dark, and the surrounding air was filled with chaotic spiritual energy.
Looking up, she saw a massive, imposing city.
“This place is called Ghost Demon Pass. It’s the only way from You Province to the Nether Spirit forbidden area.” Hei Pao’s voice rang out.
“I was worried that there would be too many eyes and ears of the Peerless Summit Sect at the border between Qing Province and the Ten Thousand Demons forbidden area, so I sent you to You Province, which is the furthest away.”
The nine provinces of the Immortal Domain: Qian, Kun, Ri, Yue, Qing, You, Li, Fan, and Mo. Each province was almost equivalent to a continent on Earth.
Qing Province, where the Peerless Summit Sect was located, was separated from You Province by two entire provinces: Li Province and Yue Province.
This showed the vast distance they had traveled.
“…Thank you.”
Luo Xue whispered.
Hei Pao could have directly sent her to the border of Qing Province, or to the nearby Li Province.
But he went out of his way to send her to You Province, the furthest and the weakest point of the Peerless Summit Sect’s influence, just to avoid the sect’s eyes and ears.
“I just don’t want the friend Guixing finally made to die meaninglessly.”
Hei Pao said, his usually hoarse and deep voice now carrying a rare hint of gentleness.
“She’s a pitiful child, and so are you.”
Luo Xue looked up at Hei Pao.
Suddenly, she saw Hei Pao’s eyes and the face hidden beneath the black mist.
No, not a he…
But a she.
Although her face was covered in shocking scars, and one of her eyes was blind, the feminine contours were still clearly visible.
Uncle Hei Pao… no, Aunt Hei Pao, must have suffered very serious injuries, which ruined her appearance and even irreparably damaged her throat.
That was why her voice was always so raspy.
But…
“What the hell, both master and disciple like to crossdress?” Luo Xue couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, thinking to herself, “And neither of them seems to know the other’s true situation…”
Always calling her Guixing, not knowing her real name was Guijiao.
Always calling him Uncle Hei Pao, not knowing it was actually Aunt Hei Pao.
What an interesting pair of master and disciple.
Luo Xue naturally wouldn’t expose this. Suppressing her thoughts, she bowed respectfully to Hei Pao and said softly,
“Luo Xue, outer sect disciple of Falling Flower Peak, Peerless Summit Sect, accepts this mission. I will not fail you.”
Hei Pao was silent for a moment, then said,
“From now on, you’re on your own.”
As her voice fell, the shadow slowly dissipated.
Luo Xue straightened up. Hei Pao’s figure was already gone.
She turned slightly and looked at the giant city behind her, emanating an ominous aura, and the surrounding environment, heavy with Yin energy.
And countless auras, some wild, some sinister, all extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, before leaving, Hei Pao seemed to have cast a barrier around Luo Xue, preventing any prying eyes or ears from noticing her.
This was probably a chance for Luo Xue to prepare.
“It seems that the world of cultivation… is finally back to what I initially thought it was.” Luo Xue sighed. “It seems impossible to peacefully cultivate to the Spirit Condensation Realm.”
But for now, Luo Xue had to enter this city first. Only by passing through Ghost Demon Pass could she truly enter the Demon Abyss.
She couldn’t stay in the border regions forever. From her previous conversation with Senior Sister, Luo Xue already knew that the Demon Abyss wasn’t as dangerous as she had imagined.
Perhaps this chaotic border region was the true test of her journey.
“Pass through Ghost Demon Pass as quickly as possible, find a small sect in the Demon Abyss to live a low-key life, and do everything discreetly.”
Luo Xue quickly formulated a plan. Besides this, she also needed some special preparations.
Firstly, this eye-catching white hair definitely couldn’t be casually revealed, and her small physique also needed to be adjusted slightly to avoid attracting danger.
After all, there were those who had a preference for young children…
Even if they were just small fries, if there were too many, they would still be a nuisance.
Soon, Luo Xue designed a new image for herself.
Short, unremarkable chestnut hair, coarse cloth clothes, an ordinary face with freckles, and sallow skin. She looked like a slave often kept by evil cultivators.
Unfortunately, Luo Xue had only just obtained the Thousand Faces Cultivation Art and had barely mastered the basics, unable to drastically change her appearance or physique.
These changes were just minor modifications based on her original appearance, and she couldn’t even conceal her aura.
Therefore, for now, Luo Xue couldn’t get rid of her child-like appearance…
According to the information from the jade slip, the Thousand Faces Cultivation Art had three levels: “Skin Change,” “Form Change,” and “Body Change.”
Luo Xue had just entered the Skin Change level, which was equivalent to what could be achieved with ordinary disguise techniques.
Li Guijiao had already reached the Body Change level. If she wanted, she could even disguise herself as an adult man, without any flaws.
“Skin Change is even simpler than ordinary basic techniques, but Form Change and above are comparable to Yellow-rank techniques. As for Body Change… it’s probably at least at the Mystic-rank, close to the Earth-rank.”
Luo Xue took a deep breath, realizing Li Guijiao’s high talent.
Divine abilities were divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow. Besides these, there were also basic techniques that didn’t reach any rank and inherited techniques that couldn’t be categorized.
The higher the level, the more difficult it was to comprehend.
The Thousand Faces Cultivation Art was an auxiliary technique that was easy to learn but difficult to master. Luo Xue estimated that even Form Change would be quite challenging for her with her current talent.
However, the Thousand Faces Cultivation Art would be very important for her future life in the Demon Abyss. It was best to reach the highest level.
“I’ll wait until I settle down in the Demon Abyss before upgrading my divine ability aptitude.”
Luo Xue made up her mind. She didn’t upgrade immediately because even if she reached “Barely There,” comprehending divine abilities would still take time and couldn’t be directly converted into combat power.
Moreover, the Ghost Demon Pass she was about to face might be life-threatening, so it was more important to keep some survival points for safety.
Luo Xue’s current disguise… was enough to deal with Ghost Demon Pass, where no one knew her.
After checking her belongings one last time, and using the Thousand Faces Cultivation Art to conceal the presence of her storage ring, Luo Xue walked out of the barrier Hei Pao had set up for her.
Instantly, a sense of urgency and danger assaulted her senses, making her hair stand on end.
This wasn’t because someone was watching her, but because she instinctively sensed that the danger here far surpassed any place she had been before.
Including Mount Fengyin.
“Let’s enter the city first.”
Luo Xue looked towards the city gate, her eyes flickering.
…
As the only passage between You Province and the Nether Spirit forbidden area, Ghost Demon Pass was the most prosperous city within a thousand miles.
After all, even rogue cultivators who were unwelcome in the world needed a place to stay, and a place to indulge themselves.
No matter how pathetic they were, they were still cultivators, not like exiled criminals in the mortal world.
Ghost Demon Pass, although called a “pass,” was filled with places for pleasure and entertainment.
Whether it was brothels for venting desires, music halls for enjoying melodies, or even quiet and elegant tea houses for those seeking solitude, it catered to all the needs of rogue cultivators.
Of course, the prerequisite was… money.
Everything in Ghost Demon Pass required money, even entering the city.
And the money of cultivators… naturally wasn’t mortal gold and silver, but spirit stones, which could be used by any cultivator.
Luo Xue wasn’t worried about this.
Before leaving, Senior Sister had specifically given her two and a half jin of spirit stones, just in case.
As for why it was two and a half jin…
Any more wouldn’t fit in her storage ring. After all, compared to the treasures in Luo Xue’s storage ring, the value of spirit stones wasn’t that high.
But even just two and a half jin of spirit stones was a huge sum for an Innate Realm cultivator.
However…
“We don’t accept spirit stones.”
The guard at the city gate flatly refused the spirit stones Luo Xue offered.
Luo Xue was stunned, and curious and mocking gazes were directed at her, mixed with a few faint traces of greed.
“Why… don’t you accept them?”
Luo Xue asked weakly.
Unknowingly, she had already attracted a lot of attention.
How come, from the very beginning, things weren’t going according to her plan of keeping a low profile…
“We want Qi Condensation Pills, understand?” A hint of impatience flashed through the guard’s eyes. “Do you have any Qi Condensation Pills? If not, get lost!”
“Qi Condensation Pills?”
Luo Xue’s expression turned serious.
It wasn’t that she didn’t recognize Qi Condensation Pills, but rather—she was too familiar with them.
Qi Condensation Pills were pills that condensed spiritual energy from heaven and earth. They were the most basic pills and the most widely used in the cultivation world.
Among the four ranks of pills—Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow—even unranked pills included Qi Condensation Pills. The only difference lay in their potency and purity.
One Yellow-rank Qi Condensation Pill was equivalent to a hundred basic Qi Condensation Pills, a Mystic-rank pill was equivalent to a hundred Yellow-rank pills, and so on.
Luo Xue looked at the spirit stones of various sizes in her storage ring, lost in thought.
“So that’s it…”
It seemed that the currency here was Qi Condensation Pills…
It made sense. Although natural spirit stones contained rich spiritual energy and could be absorbed by cultivators for cultivation, their sizes and impurity content varied, making them difficult to standardize.
Generally, they weren’t used as currency.
Furthermore, the value of spirit stones also differed for different cultivators.
Spirit stones could be directly absorbed, but the efficiency of absorption depended entirely on one’s talent.
If one’s talent was too poor, the efficiency would be very low.
Qi Condensation Pills, on the other hand, were refined from spiritual energy. Regardless of who consumed them, the efficiency of absorption was roughly the same, although there was a slight toxicity—meaning one couldn’t consume too many at once.
For example, the quail egg-sized spirit stone in Luo Xue’s hand, if directly converted, contained spiritual energy equivalent to about fifty basic Qi Condensation Pills.
But if she were to have someone refine this spirit stone into Qi Condensation Pills, firstly, the refining process would consume about 20%, and the alchemist would take another 20% as payment.
What Luo Xue would receive in the end would be only thirty basic Qi Condensation Pills.
For an Innate Realm cultivator, this might be a small fortune, but Spirit Condensation cultivators and above wouldn’t even bother, let alone try to steal them.
“Senior Sister only gave me spirit stones, not Qi Condensation Pills for transactions…”
Luo Xue was helpless. After all, Senior Sister was also a shut-in.
Even when carrying out sect missions, most of Bai Zhanying’s tasks involved slaying demons and monsters, rarely requiring her to trade with others.
“Where did this slave girl escape from? Tsk, she looks quite pathetic…”
“Did she steal that spirit stone from her master? Hehe, such a young age and already learning bad habits…”
The unrestrained discussions around her reached Luo Xue’s ears, making her forehead break out in a cold sweat.
It wasn’t fear, but rather that so many people were watching her, and Luo Xue… was a bit nervous.
Why hadn’t she noticed her social anxiety before…
But to outsiders, it looked like this little girl was frozen in fear.
“Get lost.”
The guard at the city gate finally lost his patience and raised his hand to swat Luo Xue away.
Just then, a fair hand stopped him.
“Wait,” a gentle voice rang out, “I’ll pay the fifty basic Qi Condensation Pills for this little sister’s entrance fee.”
An unfamiliar voice… who was helping her?
Luo Xue looked up towards the source of the sound and was instantly startled.
“Holy crap, squinty eyes!”
Leave a Reply