The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 53

As the red light of the full moon on Qiongdian Peak faded, the deep blue night sky instantly darkened to ink.
The whistling night wind seemed to suddenly halt, and the air appeared to congeal, but the silence lasted only a second. The next instant, violent winds began to rage.
In an instant, countless lightning bolts descended from the sky like winding giant dragons, instantly illuminating various parts of Mystic Crane Mountain. The layered peaks, which were continuous during the day, seemed like demons dancing wildly in the dark night.
Ye Bingfeng looked up at the pouring rain outside her cave abode, her gaze as cold as a knife, like the mountain wind whistling past at that moment.
Another reckless fool, attempting to ascend Qiongdian Peak.
Ye Bingfeng withdrew her gaze from the sky and slowly paced inside. Generally speaking, those with such fanciful notions, attempting to reach Qiongdian Peak, were always newcomers who had just entered Mystic Crane Mountain.
When she was young and reckless, she had also entertained this thought, but it was just a thought. Self-awareness was precious.
Everyone had curiosity, but often, curiosity could be deadly.
Cultivators’ curiosity and yearning for Qiongdian Peak led those with foolish desires to rush forward one after another. However, those who could trigger the red moon taboo were extremely few.
The last time it happened seemed to be a hundred years ago, when a Sword Cultivator elder vainly attempted to visit Saint Dao Rong above Qiongdian Peak.
Truly reckless.
They could not ascend Qiongdian Peak. To see Saint Dao Rong, they either had to wait for him to descend, or possess a cultivation level higher than his, thus replacing him as master of Qiongdian Peak.
Ye Bingfeng sneered. That would require at least ten Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Tribulations.
She had only experienced it once so far, but that single time had terrified her immensely. After barely surviving it, she truly didn’t want a next time.
Ye Bingfeng’s attitude towards cultivation wasn’t always as indifferent as it was now. She once had the dream of ascending to immortality and had worked hard and passionately for it. But after that lightning tribulation, she became afraid.
If becoming an immortal required enduring those terrifying lightning tribulations repeatedly, she chose to give up. Wasn’t it also good to be at the pinnacle of the human realm now? She didn’t want to go any further.
Let alone her, that person on Qiongdian Peak had one foot in the immortal realm for over a thousand years, but couldn’t step in with the other. He himself claimed he was unwilling to leave, but Ye Bingfeng didn’t believe it. If he wasn’t willing, why would he undergo ten lightning tribulations?
The Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Tribulation was an existence that could make one’s spirit tremble with just a single instance, causing extreme fear whenever recalled.
However, none of this concerned Ye Bingfeng. Ye Bingfeng casually waved her hand, and the entire Winter Snow Peak was enveloped in a Four Seasons Spring scenery barrier. Outside, heavy rain poured and strong winds raged, but inside, there was a scene of peace and warm spring light.
On the other side, Summer Shadow Peak Master, Shan Xinci, did not possess such a good state of mind as Ye Bingfeng. She watched as the moon returned to its original state and the heavy rain struck, then withdrew her gaze to look at the reply letter in front of her.
“Observe the situation.”
Shan Xinci looked at the floating cloud message in front of her, gazing at the four characters formed by the shifting clouds. Frowning, she pondered what Saint Dao Rong meant.
Before she could fully understand, the floating clouds dispersed into the heavy rain that slanted into the room.
Shan Xinci’s surroundings were already protected by a defensive barrier; no matter how strong the wind and rain, they couldn’t touch her. She looked at the floating cloud message that had vanished without a trace, seriously interpreting what Saint Dao Rong meant.
“Observe the situation.” Its literal meaning was easy to understand. Was it telling her not to interfere in Shi Qingqian’s matters?
Shan Xinci glanced at the sky. The Saint must have his own arrangements.
Whatever the Saint said, she would do. Her being able to be where she was today was all due to the Saint’s benevolence; otherwise, she would have died long ago.
Shan Xinci decided to observe the situation as stated in the reply and do nothing.
Saint Dao Rong was going into seclusion for a hundred years this time, and now only over eighty years remained. Shan Xinci was worried about her pill refining progress.
She hoped that before the Saint came out of seclusion, she could refine medicine to treat lightning tribulation injuries, so that the Saint wouldn’t have to go into seclusion repeatedly to heal.
Shan Xinci returned to her secret chamber and seriously inspected the pills that failed to refine last time, to see where the problem was.
Besides these two, people from the other cave abodes also witnessed the unusual red moon phenomenon. Those who knew the reason didn’t take it seriously, as they knew no one could reach Qiongdian Peak, and falling down meant death.
Those unaware of the inside story simply considered it a strange celestial phenomenon and dismissed it after seeing it.
When the red moon appeared, Jiang Qiuchun was in a secret discussion with Heng Qingyi and did not see this phenomenon. However, even if she had seen it, she wouldn’t have any extra thoughts, merely hoping it wasn’t someone from the spiritual art cultivators being so reckless.
She was now more concerned about the mutated demonic beasts. Originally, she had thought it was just an ordinary demonic beast mutation, but now, the cultivators who went to investigate first had surprisingly gone and never returned, one by one.
Before, she had agreed to Heng Qingyi’s suggestion to let the newcomers go, but now she was somewhat uncertain.
Heng Qingyi had also come for this matter.
“That Zhuoling Mountain has always been our spiritual art cultivators’ wild training ground. If other cave abodes found out about the demonic beast mutation there, they might use this to cause trouble,” Heng Qingyi said worriedly.
Mystic Crane Mountain was said to be large, and it was indeed large. But no matter how vast any place was, it only encompassed those existing areas; it wouldn’t continue to grow new ones.
It wasn’t the first time sword cultivators had competed with them for territory. This time, the demonic beast mutation was discovered by spiritual art cultivators, so it should be handled by their spiritual art cultivators.
This was originally very reasonable. But even so, after Ye Bingfeng heard that spiritual art cultivators were sending newcomers to handle it, she added a few new sword cultivators to this mission. She phrased it nicely, saying she hoped to give new sword cultivators a training opportunity, but in the end, she still wanted to investigate the truth.
Jiang Qiuchun thought it over repeatedly and still decided to follow the original plan.
“I heard Gu Jingyang has already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage; she should be able to handle the demonic beast mutation.” Jiang Qiuchun felt slightly relieved after knowing Gu Jingyang had broken through. If it was just a demonic beast mutation, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator should be able to deal with it.
Heng Qingyi nodded. “Jingyang is talented, and with Jiang Xue’s former guidance, dealing with demonic beasts should be no problem. However, for the selection of people this time, Jingyang hopes to decide herself.”
Jiang Qiuchun nodded. “Alright, besides the people the sword cultivators forced in, let Gu Jingyang choose the remaining candidates herself.”
She could still agree to this small request.
“I see her relationship with Sword Cultivator Shi Qingqian is good. Does Gu Jingyang also want to bring her along this time? She is indeed talented in spiritual arts, what a pity she didn’t choose spiritual arts cultivation,” Jiang Qiuchun suddenly thought of Shi Qingqian.
Heng Qingyi felt that Shi Qingqian could no longer be described as merely talented; she was already heaven-defying.
Having talent was good, but being heaven-defying wasn’t necessarily so; too much was as bad as not enough. Outwardly, however, she still agreed with Jiang Qiuchun and also sighed in regret that Shi Qingqian hadn’t chosen spiritual art cultivation.
“Jingyang didn’t mention bringing her, but she specifically said she wanted to bring A’Ling.” Heng Qingyi didn’t know which people Gu Jingyang wanted to bring, but A’Ling was definitely someone she wanted to bring.
This was a request she personally made.
Jiang Qiuchun nodded. “Their relationship is good, so if she wants to bring her, then bring her. In daily life, keep a close eye on that A’Ling; don’t let her cause any more trouble that affects the reputation of spiritual art cultivators.”
They already knew about the matter between A’Ling and Heavenly Peace Cave Abode. Although the cause was Zhao Shan’s younger brother bullying a disciple with no sect, and A’Ling stood up for that person, Jiang Qiuchun felt that A’Ling’s way of handling the situation was problematic, which led to personal grudges.
Those sword cultivators, like their Peak Master Ye Bingfeng, were vengeful and liked forming factions. But their abilities were superior to spiritual art cultivators, forcing spiritual art cultivators to avoid their sharpness.
Otherwise, if things blew up, Jiang Qiuchun would also lose face.
“You also remind Gu Jingyang and A’Ling not to get too close to Shi Qingqian, especially openly,” Jiang Qiuchun reminded. “Especially now that Shi Qingqian’s abilities are clearly heaven-defying, and she has become a cave abode master. If our spiritual art cultivators get close to such a person, it would seem like we are fawning and currying favor.”
Heng Qingyi agreed. Gu Jingyang would definitely listen to her. As for A’Ling, her relationship with Shi Qingqian was rumored to be very bad.
A’Ling, who was just mentioned, was currently traveling by sword in the heavy rain.
When the heavy rain came, A’Ling was glad she had experience. This time, she had conjured a protective shield in advance and wasn’t soaked through by the sudden heavy rain.
It was just that the wind was truly strong. As she flew on her sword in the wind, she was like a kite without its string, flying wildly and without any pattern.
It was the same in her previous life. She looked at the end of Goose Head River ahead. At that time, when she was flying on her sword to this place, the wind was so strong it seemed like it would flip her to the ground the next second.
She had no choice but to land to avoid danger, and that was when she encountered that ugly dog.
In her previous life, when she was traveling along the stream by sword, there was no rain at first. If there had been such strong wind and rain, along with lightning and thunder, she wouldn’t have gone out at all.
At that time, she was still cultivating in Soaring Rainbow Tower. Shi Qingqian had long become the youngest cave abode master of Mystic Crane Mountain, covered in glory.
In Soaring Rainbow Tower, she was even praised to the heavens and beyond.
A’Ling remembered that day, when Shi Qingqian was habitually discussed again in Soaring Rainbow Tower.
“Have you heard? Shi Qingqian is about to break through again. This time, when she comes out of seclusion, she might just reach the Soul Transformation stage.”
“No way, that’s too fast. Soul Transformation stage cultivators are few and far between on Mystic Crane Mountain. Even the Peak Masters took thousands of years of cultivation to break through to the Soul Transformation stage.”
“You don’t understand, do you? I heard that Shi Qingqian has a pure immortal physique and innate immortal bone. How can such a person be compared to mortals?”
“You’re too bold! How can the Three Peak Masters be called mortals? If they’re mortals, then what are we?”
A’Ling sneered. “Fools, obviously.”
The people who were originally discussing animatedly heard this mocking sound, ceased their discussion, and unhappily looked to see who was speaking.
When they saw it was A’Ling, their eyes were filled with disgust.
“It’s you again!”
Every time they talked about Shi Qingqian, A’Ling would sarcastically mock her with a few words.
At first, they merely thought it was A’Ling’s jealousy. Later, they heard from other newcomers who had entered Mystic Crane Mountain from Hongjian Academy, and only then did they realize that Shi Qingqian and A’Ling had such a past.
“You’re just jealous of Shi Qingqian, you can’t stand to see her doing well. You’re the biggest fool.”
“Exactly! With an older sister like Shi Qingqian, you should be burning high incense and secretly rejoicing. If she were willing to guide you in cultivation, you wouldn’t have to languish in Soaring Rainbow Tower.”
“Not necessarily. With her pig-headed brain, even if Shi Qingqian tried to teach her, she might not learn.”
As soon as these words were spoken, a burst of laughter erupted.
A’Ling looked at the person laughing the loudest with a darkened face. “How about a bet? Let’s see if Shi Qingqian is truly going to break through to the Soul Transformation stage this time. Heh, just because she’s in seclusion, you think she’s breaking through? If you ask me, she might have been beaten up somewhere and is in seclusion healing her injuries.”
That person was extremely displeased upon hearing A’Ling speak of Shi Qingqian like that. A’Ling’s words made it sound as if Shi Qingqian was asking for a beating. Who would lay a hand on such a brilliant and outstanding person as her?
On the other hand, A’Ling in front of them was unlearned and untalented, completely without talent, but had a very sharp tongue. Such a person would easily get beaten up if they went out.
“You’re so twisted by jealousy for Shi Qingqian! No wonder your parents wanted Shi Qingqian and not you. It’s a shame you’re still their biological child; with your foolish behavior, if I were your parents, I wouldn’t want you either.”
A’Ling at that time could not stand others saying she was unwanted. She immediately got up and started fighting with the person.
Unfortunately, she didn’t win.
A’Ling snapped out of her memories and silently sighed. In her previous life, she truly was so foolish it was laughable.
At that time, she had been beaten black and blue, with nowhere to vent her resentment, and traveled by sword wanting to find Shi Qingqian. But on the way, she saw the red moon and suddenly encountered a storm.
Lost her direction in the wind, she made an emergency landing and just so coincidentally picked up that ugly thing.
At that time, that dog was truly pathetic. A’Ling had never seen such a pathetic dog; it looked much more pitiful than her. A’Ling then felt that she wasn’t so pathetic after all.
Looking at the shallow area ahead where she had once picked up the ugly thing, A’Ling leaned forward and descended on her sword.
Heavy rain washed down, and the river water surged and spread, further shrinking the shallow area. A’Ling landed in a place where reeds grew thickly. She remembered that in her previous life, when she lost her direction, she had landed on a patch of reeds and just happened to see the ugly dog huddled shivering nearby.
But this time, after A’Ling landed and looked around, there was no trace of the dog.
A’Ling couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved, thinking to herself that she had indeed overthought it. That ugly thing had no necessary connection with the red moon; it wasn’t that it would be injured every time the red moon appeared.
Perhaps she would only see it again eighteen years later, during another red moon.
A flash of lightning-like thought suddenly crossed A’Ling’s mind. That’s right, if that ugly thing was already injured like that right now, how could it survive until I meet it eighteen years later?
Speaking of which, what was the deal with this red moon? In her previous life, because she had a conflict with someone, she hadn’t asked about this matter, and there was no one to ask, as she had no friends at that time.
Later, she never saw this eerie red moon again. Now that she saw it again, it indicated it wasn’t a coincidence. She would have to find someone to ask about it later.
A’Ling looked around. Heavy rain poured, obstructing her vision, and she couldn’t see distant places clearly.
“Forget it,” A’Ling thought. That ugly thing probably wasn’t injured during this red moon. I’ll wait and come again eighteen years later.
A’Ling was about to walk back when suddenly, amidst the dense sound of rain, a soft whimper clearly reached her ears.
It was so clear that A’Ling wondered if she was hallucinating.
She hurriedly ran towards the sound. Under a reef, an ugly thing, covered in blood, was curled into a ball, appearing to have no rise and fall of breath, barely alive.
Fresh blood mixed with rainwater flowed all the way to A’Ling’s feet.
A’Ling tensed her face, conjured a talisman to completely envelop the area, then took off her outer robe and squatted down. She carefully wrapped the ‘ugly thing’ under the reef in her clothes and picked it up.
Looking at the unconscious ‘ugly thing’ in her arms, A’Ling’s throat felt rough. It was her ugly dog, but this time, it looked even more severely injured than before.
In her previous life, it could still open its eyes and look at her, and even struggle to get up.
Now, this bloody and blurry mass in front of her, when she picked it up, it was as soft as a puddle of mud, and she couldn’t feel a single bone in its body.
How could it be so severely injured? A’Ling’s nose felt sour, and her eyes suddenly reddened.
If she could cry tears, she would definitely shed a tear. This appearance was truly too pitiful.
“Hey, wake up, are you still alive?”
A’Ling didn’t even dare to touch it with her hand, feeling that no matter how small the force, it would be the last straw for the ugly dog at this moment.
Perhaps at this moment, even a straw could kill it if it were to strike it.
On its already ridiculously ugly face, there was only mangled flesh. Some parts were curled up, revealing fragmented bones inside, while others hung directly from its skin, ready to fall off with a light touch.
And its closed eyelids, one of which was actually torn into two halves, the gap revealing eyes that had no light at all.
“Don’t die!” Seeing no reaction from the thing in her arms, A’Ling suppressed her panic and gently swayed it.
The movement was as small as a slight shiver from the cold. Even so, A’Ling was afraid she would shake its last breath away.
Seeing no reaction from the ugly thing in her arms, A’Ling no longer cared. She held her breath, leaned her head closer, and gently pressed half her face against its bloody body, placing her ear to listen for its heartbeat.
A heartbeat!
That’s great! A’Ling heard a faint sound from within that mass of flesh and blood. Although very faint, it was a truly existing heartbeat.
A’Ling didn’t bother to wipe the blood off her face and hurriedly infused some true energy into the ugly dog in her arms to protect its heart meridians.
While infusing true energy, she looked up at the strong wind and heavy rain that showed no signs of weakening.
A’Ling knew her spiritual power was limited. The wind and rain were too fierce; if she were to fly on her sword like this, she might be blown down by the strong winds.
She looked at the ugly thing in her arms, furrowing her brow. She freed a hand, forming hand seals, and placed a full protective barrier over the ugly thing in her arms. No matter how strong the wind and rain outside, as long as she still had spiritual power, it wouldn’t be touched by the wind and rain.
A’Ling then gathered all the inner energy in her body into her palm and placed a true energy chain on the iron sword on the ground, to prevent herself from being blown away by the strong winds during sword flight later.
After doing all this, A’Ling removed the protective shield from her own body and used all her inner energy on sword flight.
The heavy rain pouring down instantly drenched A’Ling completely. A’Ling didn’t bother to wipe the rainwater that seeped into her eyes, glanced at the ugly thing in her arms, seeing it was fine, then rose into the air on her sword and headed towards Mount Panyan at the fastest possible speed.
Inside the Zhenpu Medicine Pavilion on Mount Panyan, Apothecary Mu Ling had just blown up an alchemy furnace and was in a very irritable mood. When she detected someone approaching the Alchemy Pavilion, her face immediately darkened.
At this late hour of the night, she wanted to see who was so bold, knowing full well her habit of not receiving patients at night, and still dared to disturb her.
She released her divine sense to look outside the Alchemy Pavilion. In the heavy rain, a drenched person holding something was approaching her door.
Zhenpu Medicine Pavilion was covered by a silencing barrier above. She had just been focusing on refining pills, so she hadn’t known there was such heavy rain outside.
In this kind of weather, someone actually went out, and didn’t even use a protective barrier. If they weren’t seriously ill, then they were just looking for trouble.
Regardless of which, Mu Ling didn’t want to bother with them. Just as she was about to stop the person from approaching, a gust of strong wind blew open the person’s dripping wet hair that was stuck to their face.
Mu Ling raised an eyebrow. It’s her?
Thinking of her master’s instructions, Apothecary Mu Ling hesitated for a moment, but still opened the barrier, allowing the person to enter smoothly.
A’Ling smoothly rushed all the way to the outside of Zhenpu Medicine Pavilion’s door, dismounted her sword, and shouted inside, “Apothecary Mu Ling, help! Please open the door!”
Mu Ling quickly destroyed the alchemy furnace she had blown up, and then used spiritual arts to clean up the scattered dust and debris in the room.
Seeing that the room no longer looked abnormal, Apothecary Mu Ling then went to open the door.
A’Ling saw the door open and rushed inside holding the ugly dog. She carefully placed the ugly thing in her arms onto Apothecary Mu Ling’s gilded white jade examination bed, then turned around and anxiously shouted at Apothecary Mu Ling, “Apothecary, quickly, look at this dog! Please save it, it seems like it has no heartbeat!”
Just now in the air, A’Ling could initially still feel a pulsing heartbeat where the two of them were pressed together, but later, gradually, she couldn’t feel it anymore.
She didn’t know if it was because the wind and rain were too strong, causing her senses to fail due to being drenched by the icy rain, or if the ugly dog in her arms was truly dying.
Her heart was beating faster than the dense sound of raindrops from anxiety. Several times she wanted to stop and check, but she was also afraid that stopping would delay the ugly thing’s treatment.
Apothecary Mu Ling heard that A’Ling had suddenly burst in at this late hour for a dog, and the anger in her heart flared like the flashing lightning outside.
“I don’t treat dogs here; go somewhere else.” Mu Ling suppressed the anger in her heart. For her master’s sake, she swallowed back her curses.
She turned to go to the inner room. “You leave quickly, don’t waste my time.” She still wanted to try again to see if she could refine that muscle-hardening pill.
A’Ling had also encountered this situation in her previous life and was already prepared. She stepped forward and grabbed Apothecary Mu Ling, dragging her to the gilded white jade examination bed.
“Apothecary Mu Ling, please look at this dog, it’s really pitiful.”
A’Ling remembered that in her previous life, Apothecary Mu Ling had also initially refused to treat the ugly dog’s injuries, but after seeing the ugly thing’s pitiful state, she softened.
Who wouldn’t soften? Such a small creature, and who knew what injured it to this extent?
Even if this dog was a bit ugly, if you didn’t like it, you didn’t have to look. Why use such cruel methods, even peeling its skin?
“I don’t know either. When I found it, it was already in this state.” A’Ling sniffed and wiped away the rainwater sliding down the sides of her cheeks.
After Apothecary Mu Ling just asked the question, she started examining without waiting for an answer.
A faint green light gathered in her palm, which she held directly facing the bloody and blurry Mutated Beast on the bed. She examined it bit by bit, from head to tail.
“How is it? Is the dog alright?” A’Ling anxiously asked. “Will it die?”
Mu Ling’s hand movements suddenly paused. She turned her head to look at A’Ling, realizing a serious problem. “You call it a dog?!”
A’Ling brushed her wet hair behind her ears. In her previous life, Apothecary Mu Ling had also asked the same question, and they had even argued over it. A’Ling now didn’t want to repeat that conversation from her previous life.
She remembered the name Apothecary Mu Ling eventually accepted. A’Ling replied, “Mhm, Sky-Dwelling Hyena.”
That was the most formidable-sounding type of dog she could find after searching through ancient texts.
At first, she had called it “dog thing,” but Apothecary Mu Ling never seemed pleased whenever she heard it, and also said that this ugly dog was not an ordinary Mutated Beast, telling her to change its name.
She searched through ancient texts and found the best-sounding name for a dog. Coincidentally, this type of ancient divine beast was now extinct, so if she insisted it was one, no one could refute her.
However, Apothecary Mu Ling initially still refused, saying it wasn’t a dog but an Mutated Beast. A’Ling thought her eyesight was problematic. Even if it mutated, it’s still a dog, isn’t it?
“You go out first; I will do my best.” Apothecary Mu Ling knew this wasn’t the time to say these things, so she turned her head and said to A’Ling.
A’Ling nodded. In her previous life, Apothecary Mu Ling had also told her to go out first like this.
A’Ling assumed Apothecary Mu Ling didn’t like others present during treatment. Since she was willing to save it in the previous life, it should be the same in this life. She quietly retreated outside and closed the door.
“Phew—” A’Ling let out a heavy breath. Since Apothecary Mu Ling said she would do her best, there should be no life-threatening danger.
If she couldn’t treat it, she would only say ‘don’t die here’.
A’Ling’s suspended heart could finally relax. Looking at the ground, which was wet from the rainwater dripping from her body, A’Ling activated her spiritual art and began to clean up her disheveled self.
Inside the room, seeing the door closed, Apothecary Mu Ling hurriedly formed hand seals, activated spiritual arts using her spiritual power, and placed the highest level defensive barrier on the room.
“Master, what happened to you?” Apothecary Mu Ling looked at the ‘person’ on the gilded white jade bed with a worried expression.
If it weren’t for her master’s gaze just now, and the demonic patterns in her eyes, she wouldn’t have recognized that this was Shi Qingqian.
How could she have become like this? Who injured her master like this? If she knew, even if it meant a fight to the death, she would flay the other party.
The ‘person’ on the bed forcibly lifted her eyelids, but only managed to open a slit. She looked at the closed door, unable to hear the sounds outside, but also knew that person was still there.
Just now, she was protected in her arms and heard her heartbeat through the clothes. At that moment, she knew she was safe.
Shi Qingqian used all her strength, mumbling with her mouth, but the sound she made was truly faint.
Apothecary Mu Ling pressed her ear close to her mouth and barely managed to clearly hear the hoarse, weak breath sounds.
“Don’t… tell… her…”