Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“Young people these days, their mental fortitude is honestly lacking. They’re so easily overwhelmed.” The Nine-Layers Immortal shook his head, having roughly guessed why Dai Bufan had fainted.

“Back in the ancient era, though I kept a low profile, the Heaven Mandate Immortal would often drag us along to display immortal miracles, and I couldn’t refuse. The people were always overcome with excitement, prostrating themselves in worship, and there were those like your senior brother who were so overwhelmed that they fainted.”

Lu Yang remarked inwardly, By keeping a low profile, do you mean the time you went out of your way to expend countless treasures creating auspicious omens and unusual phenomena to celebrate becoming the first immortal?

At the sight of Dai Bufan, the Nine-Layers Immortal was reminded of the good old times in the ancient era, and it brought a smile to his face. “The matter today shows that your senior brother and I have an affinity with each other. Since he has a Water Spirit Root, I can bestow upon him a small fortuitous opportunity.” He extended his hand and tapped a spark of spirit light into the unconscious Dai Bufan’s brow.

The Water Spirit Root was of a yin nature and fell within the domain of the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit.

“After he wakes up, he’ll find water-type spells far more intuitive.”

Meng Jingzhou looked at Dai Bufan with envy. Something good like this can happen? At the thought of his own spirit root, he turned to the Nine-Layers Immortal with a pitiful expression and pleaded, “Immortal Venerable, do you think there’s still hope for my spirit root?”

“Your spirit root?”

At first, the Nine-Layers Immortal didn’t pay him much attention. But after a closer look at Meng Jingzhou, he tilted his head slightly and spoke hesitantly, as if uncertain how to phrase it. “Your spirit root... is rather extreme. If I’d known you in the ancient era, I could have condensed the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit two days earlier.”

The Nine-Layers Immortal sighed ruefully. What a perfect subject for observation. Why didn’t I ever encounter one in the ancient era?

Meng Jingzhou. “...”

“Is there still hope?” Lu Yang asked on his good brother’s behalf.

The Nine-Layers Immortal pondered. He had never encountered a case like Meng Jingzhou’s before. “Actually, there is a way.”

“How?”

“I can reverse yin and yang to turn your Pure Yang Spirit Root into a Pure Yin Spirit Root...”

Just as Meng Jingzhou was about to say that the Pure Yin Spirit Root wouldn’t be so bad either, the Nine-Layers Immortal continued, “Spirit roots are intimately connected to the body. Once it becomes a Pure Yin Spirit Root, your gender will also change.”

“A change in temper? That’s not completely unacceptable... Wait, gender?[1]” Meng Jingzhou suddenly grew alert mid-sentence. Something’s wrong here. “I’ve heard of male cultivators with Pure Yin Spirit Roots in history. At worst, they just acted a bit effeminate. Why do I need to change my gender?!”

“History has never seen a Pure Yang Spirit Root as extreme as yours either. Moreover, with the Double Pure Yang Golden Core, Double Pure Yang Nascent Soul, the yang-boosting Nirvana True Fire, and all that, if I turned your spirit root into a Pure Yin Spirit Root, it would be an unprecedented Pure Yin Spirit Root as well.

“What did we use to call a situation like yours in the ancient era? Oh yes, it was called ‘bearing and raising children.’”

After agonizing over it for a moment, Meng Jingzhou figured that his Pure Yang Spirit Root was fine as it was. At the very least, I won’t have to suppress myself anymore after becoming an immortal.

Seeing that Dai Bufan wouldn’t be waking anytime soon, the three decided to leave the Great Mission Hall. Before departing, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou kindly moved Dai Bufan from the ground to a chair.

That way, if anyone came looking for Dai Bufan, they would just assume that he had fallen asleep from exhaustion after handling sect affairs.

When Dai Bufan woke up, he winced and rubbed the back of his head. What happened earlier?

Oh right, I was listening to Junior Brother Lu and Junior Brother Meng reporting on the Extreme North.

“Why does it feel like I always end up fainting every time I see those two? They are so uncanny; maybe I should visit Xitian Temple and pray.”

He quickly dismissed the thought. What Xitian Temple? Lu Yang had already become an immortal in the Buddhist Kingdom. The place is like his own backyard.

“And there’s the matter of the Heartless Creed; that’s a bit troublesome. Although the creed leader has been dealt with, there should still be plenty of Heartless Creed followers scattered across the Extreme North. They wouldn’t be easy to root out.”

Dai Bufan was about to take a sip of water when he noticed ripples in his teacup. Suddenly, he felt a flash of enlightenment. The many challenges he had faced with his spells were resolved in this moment. Even his cultivation showed signs of stirring, poised for a breakthrough.

“Strange. Why has my comprehension suddenly improved so much?”

~~~

Great Xia, Imperial City, Luoshui Guard Headquarters.

The Luoshui Guard was specifically tasked with handling the lingering issues from the Great Qian and Great Yu eras as well as hunting down the three Great Diabolic Creeds.

Recently, they had shifted their focus to the Heartless Creed.

The Meng Family had captured quite a few of the Heartless Creed’s higher-ups in the Buddhist Kingdom, including a vice creed leader. Although these captives had no idea where their creed leader was, many Luoshui Guards were former constables, experts at piecing together clues from the tiniest traces.

A cross-shaped world map hung on a wall in the Luoshui Guard headquarters. Yu Qian pointed at one section and said with conviction, “To summarize, the Heartless Creed Leader is most likely hiding in the East Sea!”

Yu Qian was one of the Nine Palaces in charge of the Luoshui Guard. Once hailed as one of the Four Great Divine Constables of the Imperial Capital, he was experienced, had a sharp eye, and had cracked hundreds of knotty cases.

“Old Yu has a point. Our investigations in Great Xia are so thorough that Creed Leader Yang wouldn’t dare hide here. The Buddhist Kingdom has already conducted a joint operation and found no trace of him. The Demon Region used to be chaotic enough for him to hide, but since the Demon Kingdom’s establishment, all races are governed by the Demon Monarch’s Law of the Jungle Incipient Dao Fruit, leaving him nowhere to hide either.

“According to the past analysis of the Heartless Creed, they prefer to take root in densely populated areas. The Extreme North has too few cities and people. Although the East Sea has the Dragon Tribe, it’s never had a unified government, and the administration is riddled with loopholes. It’s the perfect hiding place for Creed Leader Yang and his remaining followers!”

The speaker was Luo Changhe, ranked second among the Luoshui Guard’s Nine Palaces and a powerful veteran Transcendent Tribulation cultivator. It was widely circulated that he had single-handedly cracked the “Secret Faction Rebellion Case” and the “National Treasure Theft Case,” which had once shocked Great Xia, and subdued the culprits.

The other Nine Palaces nodded in agreement. To put an end to the Heartless Creed once and for all, they had sifted through cartload after cartload of case files, staying up through the night to search for clues. Dark circles ringed their eyes, and they were mentally exhausted.

It should be borne in mind that they were Fusion and Transcendent Tribulation experts. The fact that they were this drained spoke volumes about the workload’s intensity.

“His Majesty has arrived—”

The Xia emperor entered the Luoshui Guard headquarters.

The Nine Palaces bowed deeply. “We pay respects to Your Majesty.”

At the same time, they were puzzled. His Majesty rarely visits the Luoshui Guard headquarters. Why is he here today?

The Xia Emperor noticed the tables covered in notes filled with analysis. They were evidently working on the Heartless Creed case.

“The Heartless Creed remnants, including Creed Leader Yang, are in the Extreme North. In fact, the Dao-Seeking Sect has already engaged Creed Leader Yang in battle.”

“What?!” The Nine Palaces exchanged bewildered looks.

Luo Changhe couldn’t help but ask, “How is that possible? We’ve gathered so much intelligence and just preliminarily concluded that the Heartless Creed remnants are in the East Sea. How did the Dao-Seeking Sect manage to locate Creed Leader Yang?!”

The Xia Emperor let out a long sigh and replied, “Because the Dao-Seeking Sect has Lu Yang.”

1. The more accurate translation will be “personality.” Gender is “xingbie” and personality is “xingge.” Temper sounds closer to gender in English, so I opted for it instead. ☜