Chapter 298: Staying in Wang’an County for a Few More Days

The system fell silent for a few seconds. "I can’t detect anything."

The system could only sense obvious energy fluctuations.

Besides, its capabilities were tied to Song Jiulai’s.

Song Jiulai was relying on her own intuition to sense that something was wrong. Without any obvious fluctuations, the system couldn’t detect it either.

Sometimes, it might just be your imagination.

But a Cultivator wouldn’t have such delusions.

Ever since one began their Cultivation, a practitioner’s mystical senses would gradually sharpen.

Which meant someone was definitely following her!

This person wasn’t just stronger than her; they could also completely conceal their presence.

Their cultivation was unfathomable.

All she could do was stay alert; resisting was out of the question.

’But they haven’t made a move against me. What are they observing?’

Song Jiulai knew full well that she couldn’t fight someone like this. The system’s Energy Pool could save her life, but only once.

And it could only be used in a truly critical moment.

Under these circumstances, all she could do was try to figure out when she’d first been targeted.

’This isn’t right. Logically, no one should recognize this face.’

She had switched to the face of a new female cultivator.

She hadn’t felt this way before. It started when she left Xuanwu City this time.

Song Jiulai arched an eyebrow. "Whatever. I’ll just pretend I don’t know."

After all, if they wanted to make a move, they would have done it by now.

’I’ll just have to be careful when I practice the Moonlight Sword Technique over the next few days.’

It was a lost Ancient Cultivation Technique, but with the precedent of the All Living Beings Skill, Song Jiulai couldn’t be absolutely certain that no one on the Yunzhou Continent knew of it.

But it was highly unlikely anyone had seen a similar technique. Otherwise, would the system really assign a player a Cultivation Technique that was so obviously going to cause trouble?

Using it would get her exposed in a heartbeat.

The Cultivation Techniques on the Yunzhou Continent were strange and numerous. It was best for players to avoid being seen when using them. At least she usually had Palm Thunder to fall back on.

Palm Thunder also had an Advanced Technique, the Thunder Light Illusionary Wing Dance. It was another unheard-of technique, but its requirements were even stricter.

She had to completely master Palm Thunder before she could even begin to practice it.

And Song Jiulai hadn’t even fully mastered Palm Thunder yet.

She would have to reach the Golden Core Stage to practice that.

If this feeling of being followed persisted, her only choice would be to return to Xuanwu City for a while.

-

"Besides those two mysterious cultivators, there’s nothing else wrong with the Feique Sect."

Inside an inn in Wang’an County, Yin Da reported back to Gong Xingsi after gathering information. "This Wang’an County is quite nice, but are we to remain here, Young Master?"

Gong Xingsi was silent.

Yin San, however, was exceptionally curious. "What’s on Feique Mountain? I keep feeling like the Spiritual Energy there is different from everywhere else."

Yin Da frowned. "That is another Sect’s secret. It’s best not to pry."

Under normal circumstances, they could have extended their Divine Sense to investigate.

But recklessly scanning other Cultivators with one’s Divine Sense is considered a grave offense.

Offending a small sect was one thing, but ever since they learned about the two mysterious cultivators in town...

Yin Da and the others didn’t dare to cause trouble.

Even though they were from the Yinxiao Sect, they couldn’t act so brazenly on the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect’s turf.

Gong Xingsi paid that issue no mind. He simply shared his observations from the past two days in Wang’an County. "The mortals and Cultivators here are different from anywhere else."

"Different is an understatement!" Yin Da exclaimed. "Those Cultivators have no self-respect. I hardly see them cultivating. They spend their days messing around with a bunch of mortals, working on strange things. Some even specialize in gourmet food! In all my years of Cultivation, I’ve never seen such unambitious Cultivators."

If a Cultivator doesn’t strive to cultivate, how is that any different from being a good-for-nothing?

Yin Er and the other Cultivators couldn’t understand. "Getting too involved in the mortal world is hardly beneficial for one’s practice. Mortals are inherently inferior..."

Before he could finish, Gong Xingsi suddenly let out a slow smile.

Yin Er immediately fell silent.

He remembered that the Young Master had lost his cultivation. In the eyes of others, he was no different from a mortal.

’Weren’t they basically slandering the Young Master by saying this here?!’

He hurriedly added, "Young Master, you are different from mortals. You were born with a Spirit Root..."

"Mortals are inferior? But before we were born, we were all mortals." Gong Xingsi showed no anger, merely a faint, self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. "It is only the Spirit Root we are born with that separates us from them. If Cultivators are so different from mortals, how is it we are born from a mortal’s womb?"

Yin San stammered, "Young Master, the Palace Master was already a cultivator... The Palace Master is not a mortal..."

"My mother’s parents were mortals," Gong Xingsi said flatly. "She simply joined the Yinxiao Sect in her youth."

At these words, all four Yin brothers fell silent, not daring to speak.

Gong Xingsi ignored their thoughts and murmured to himself, "But I never met my grandparents. My mother was already several hundred years old when she gave birth to me. They had long since turned to dust and entered the cycle of reincarnation."

He stood up and walked to the window.

He watched the mortals passing by below, relying only on his own two eyes.

Most of them had smiles on their faces, carrying all sorts of loads on shoulder poles. Though they didn’t have the long lives of Immortals, they also lacked the numb apathy of those from the Tianyang Sect.

A little girl in a beautiful silken dress ran by, chatting with another mortal girl.

Their voices were loud enough that Gong Xingsi could faintly make out some of their words.

"In class today, the teacher said we can choose lots of careers to help develop Wang’an County. What do you want to be?"

"Umm... I want to be a scientist! I want to research the thing our teacher talked about—a tool that can fly without using Spirit Stones, one that can carry mortals into the sky!"

Gong Xingsi’s gaze fell.

"Does something like that really exist? How can it fly without Spirit Stones? Besides Immortals, can we really fly, too? What if we can’t figure out how to build it?"

"Then we’ll just keep researching! With the teachers helping, we’ll figure it out eventually!"

...

Gong Xingsi didn’t understand what they were talking about either.

But he sensed something.

In his eyes, mortals had always been weak, helpless beings in need of protection.

Their lifespans were too short—a mere few decades, gone in the blink of an eye.

’In just a few decades, what could a mortal possibly accomplish?’

’They couldn’t even protect themselves.’

Those who pursued Cultivation had their own ambitions.

And mortals had theirs.

They were originally the same people. A single Spirit Root determined that they would walk different paths.

He seemed to have thought of something.

’But... a Magic Treasure that can fly without Spirit Stones... does such a thing truly exist?’

’How is that possible?’

’And what kind of people are these teachers in Wang’an County?’

’Why would they teach mortals such things?’

’And where did they learn of it?’

In an instant, many thoughts flashed through Gong Xingsi’s mind.

He suddenly thought that even though he only had fifteen short years left to live, he wanted to stay in Wang’an County for a while longer.

As for the directive he’d been given...

...it was nothing more than a sliver of hope.

Whether he found what he was looking for, whether he had a chance to recover—it was all up to fate now.