Why Aren’t You Cultivating Immortality? (GL) Chapter 30

The sky had been clear, but in the blink of an eye, dark clouds covered it. Fierce wind rose. The rain gathered strength for a long while, and just as work ended, it came pouring down, blocking everyone on their way home.
“Why did it suddenly rain? Did the weather forecast not say there would be no rain today?”
“You still look at the weather forecast? With rain this heavy, even if you brought an umbrella, you still could not walk out.”
Bai Moqing watched her coworkers crowding in the building lobby, chattering and complaining as they waited for the rain to stop. Then she turned and went back upstairs.
An Huaigu looked at her screen, both hands typing on the keyboard, calm as usual. From the corner of her eye, she saw Bai Moqing return. She turned to look out the window. The waterfall-like rain completely blocked the view. From the look of it, the rain could last another half hour.
She turned back and smiled at Bai Moqing. “The rain is too heavy. Wait until it gets lighter before going home.”
“Mm.” Bai Moqing answered and walked to the window. She lifted her head and looked at the heavy rain and the city trapped inside it.
Suddenly, a hazy light appeared inside the dark clouds, as if heavenly light behind the clouds had pierced through the thick cloud layer and fallen into Bai Moqing’s eyes.
Was someone about to undergo a tribulation?
What the naked eye could see was limited. Bai Moqing used divine sense to investigate and discovered that inside the light was not a person, but a mist-white vortex barrier, slowly turning.
It was the Qiongcang Secret Realm!
The Qiongcang Secret Realm appeared once every thousand years. It was said to be an abandoned remnant realm left after one side of the third heaven of the ancient divine realm collapsed. It was vast and boundless, scattered with many divine artifacts and immortal medicines. There were even extinct immortal herbs. As long as one had the chance, one could find them.
Bai Moqing’s Heaven-Shattering Cauldron had come from there.
Xiao Xing, standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, also saw the Qiongcang Secret Realm. She turned her head and looked through the wall at Bai Moqing. Bai Moqing’s face was full of excitement. Xiao Xing knew Bai Moqing was going to enter the secret realm again.
There were many chances in the secret realm, but there were also many dangers. In the collapsed abyss, a black-scaled flood dragon lay coiled. Countless cultivators had been buried in its stomach.
A flood dragon had no horns, so it was not a true dragon. After it devoured enough cultivators and cultivated horns, it could become a true dragon that could freely pass through space.
Another thousand years had passed. Xiao Xing did not know what level that hornless flood dragon had cultivated to now.
If Bai Moqing met the flood dragon, she would likely be in danger. Xiao Xing withdrew her gaze and looked toward the Qiongcang Secret Realm, but she could not stop Bai Moqing from entering.
The chance was rare. Bai Moqing left the office and entered the empty restroom, then used divine thought to return home.
The little orange cat was anxious and uneasy, its fur puffed up as it paced in circles before the window. The air shifted. Bai Moqing appeared beside it and called, “Feiyue.” The little orange cat turned, leaped into the air, and jumped onto Bai Moqing’s shoulder.
“Bai Moqing, did you feel a very powerful and terrifying aura wave?” Animals were more sensitive than humans. When the little orange cat was frightened, all its fur stood up. “Look, look. My soft, smooth little fur is all puffed up.”
Bai Moqing stroked the little orange cat’s fur along its back and pointed at the sky. “The Qiongcang Secret Realm has appeared again. What you sensed is its aura.”
Watching the secret realm’s gate slowly open, Bai Moqing turned and asked the little orange cat, “Feiyue, there are many things inside the secret realm. Do you want to go in and look around?”
Did that even need asking? Of course it wanted to go! The little orange cat meowed excitedly twice, then suddenly thought, Would the secret realm be full of danger?
Then it thought again. With a cultivator as powerful as Bai Moqing here, no matter what danger they met, Bai Moqing would protect it. The little orange cat nodded hard. “Go!”
A streak of flowing light flashed past. Bai Moqing brought the little orange cat into the Qiongcang Secret Realm.
The slowly turning vortex was the gate to the Qiongcang Secret Realm. Astral winds surged coldly, like sharp daggers, constantly scraping against Bai Moqing’s shield.
The little orange cat’s claws hooked tightly into Bai Moqing’s clothes. Its meow trembled. “Qingqingqing, hold me tight.” Bai Moqing held the little orange cat with her left arm, lowered her head to look at it, and said, “Any tighter and you will be strangled to death.”
“No… no I will not. Tighter. I feel like I am about to slide down, meow!” The little orange cat cried miserably, as if a car had run over it.
Bai Moqing held the little orange cat with both hands. Flying swords swarmed beneath her feet, carrying them through the long gate of the secret realm.
The sound of wind suddenly disappeared. What entered her eyes was lush grass, towering trees, and a world that seemed similar to the outside yet felt completely different.
Bai Moqing wore moon-white Daoist robes. A ring of pale-gold runes floated around her, glowing white. As she landed, the runes slowly faded.
Under her sleeves, the little orange cat, nearly strangled by Bai Moqing, gasped for breath. “Meow, Bai Moqing, you almost killed me!”
Bai Moqing released her hands. The little orange cat jumped to the ground and lay on its back in the thick grass. “So tired, Bai Moqing. I feel like all my bones fell apart. If not for you, I definitely could not have entered this secret realm.”
It turned its head to look at Bai Moqing and discovered that a dark bronze compass had suddenly appeared in her hand.
It had seen this thing before. Feng shui masters used it to find feng shui dragon veins. “Bai Moqing, do we need a compass to find things?”
“This is used to keep time. Time inside the secret realm does not match time outside. Thirty minutes outside is three months here.”
Bai Moqing turned and looked in the direction they had come from. A mist-white vortex hung in the sky. When the vortex’s color turned pitch-black, the secret realm would close and disappear.
After calculating the time, Bai Moqing chanted a formula. Her index and middle fingers formed a sword shape and touched the center of the compass. A stream of spiritual power entered the compass. Then the compass disappeared from Bai Moqing’s palm.
The secret realm was very large. Bai Moqing rode her sword with the little orange cat, flying slowly through the air and looking around for places where divine artifacts might appear.
The little orange cat stayed in cat form, four little paws standing on the sword, tail sticking straight up as it lifted its head and stared into the distance.
“Feiyue, why do you not change into human form?”
“This feels safer.” Once it got anxious, its two legs felt as if they had been broken by sticks, and it forgot how to walk. In cat form, with all four limbs on the ground, it could run almost like a hunting leopard.
The little orange cat climbed up Bai Moqing’s pant leg to her shoulder. Its view became wider.
Suddenly, something flashed ahead, and a ray of light appeared.
“Bai Moqing, look over there, look over there! There is light over there! There is a big treasure!” The little orange cat was so excited it tried to pull Bai Moqing’s hair. But its little claws were not as flexible as five fingers and could not grab Bai Moqing’s hair.
It changed from grabbing to patting. The little orange cat patted Bai Moqing’s head, raised a paw, and pointed due east. “There, there!”
Bai Moqing followed the furry little paw and looked due east. That side seemed to be a cliff and deep abyss.
“Let us go take a look.”
The flying sword stopped dozens of feet from the cliff. The little orange cat jumped to the ground and slowly crept toward the cliff and abyss.
The ground ahead was full of gravel. Several dull weapons had fallen there. Bai Moqing glanced at the little orange cat, walked forward first, crouched, and picked up the weapons.
Magic tools used by cultivators carried spiritual energy. These weapons in front of her had no spiritual energy at all. Bai Moqing held the long sword upright and studied it. The sword had gaps, the edge was curled, and there was not the slightest spiritual energy. It was like an ordinary weapon dropped by a soldier after dying on a normal battlefield.
“They are only ordinary weapons. They are not magic artifacts.”
The little orange cat finally moved to Bai Moqing’s side. It scratched Bai Moqing’s pant leg and said a little sadly, “Qingqing, we have stayed in the secret realm for so long, but we have not found anything. The things we did find are so ordinary we could buy them in the outside world. Is this place really a divine realm ruin?”
Bai Moqing threw the sword back to the ground, looked at the secret realm’s vortex gate far away in the sky, now small as a fist, and said, “If we still cannot find anything, we will leave.”
Searching for treasure in a secret realm was like finding a needle in the sea. It all depended on chance. They had already been in the secret realm for a month and had found nothing. That could only mean they had no chance this time.
They would probably return empty-handed.
“I clearly saw light over here. How can there be no treasure?” The little orange cat stretched its neck and looked toward the abyss. “Qingqing, could divine artifacts or treasures be inside that abyss?”
“It is possible.” Bai Moqing walked to the cliff edge and used divine sense to examine the situation below.
Black mist filled the abyss. She could not see anything. Farther down, her divine sense touched water. The abyss water was as cold as the dead of winter. Bai Moqing’s body stiffened. In a panic, she retreated half a step and withdrew her divine sense.
Seeing Bai Moqing move, the little orange cat quickly changed into human form and held her, asking with concern, “What is wrong, Qingqing? What did you see?”
Bai Moqing shook her head. “Below is full of black mist. Under the black mist is water. There is nothing.” She came out of Feiyue’s arms and steadied herself. “That water is very cold. Even divine sense can feel its chill.”
She had entered the secret realm twice before. This was the third time. But this bottomless abyss in front of her was the first time she had encountered it.
She looked at the weapons around them. A faint bad feeling rose in her heart. “Feiyue, let us leave this place.”
“Okay.” Feiyue was very obedient. She changed back into the little orange cat and jumped onto Bai Moqing’s shoulder.
The flying sword hidden inside Bai Moqing came out at one call. She leaped onto the sword and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, behind her, the deafening sound of surging water rose. It rolled and churned like ten thousand horses galloping. A dragon roar came from the abyss.
“Qingqing, there is a dragon!” The little orange cat burrowed into Bai Moqing’s arms and hid.
Just as the little orange cat finished speaking, a dark flood dragon flew out from the abyss, dripping water. It was more than thirty meters long, strong and massive. After circling twice in the sky, it stopped. Its two golden eyes stared straight at Bai Moqing as if looking at prey.
Bai Moqing immediately summoned the Soul-Shattering Sword and watched the flood dragon warily.
This was the terrifying aura. The little orange cat poked its small head out of Bai Moqing’s arms and said, “Qingqing, the powerful and terrifying aura I sensed before came from it, not the secret realm.”
Bai Moqing patted the little orange cat’s head, telling it to hide back inside.
A deep dragon roar fell from above. The flood dragon opened its bloody mouth, preparing to swallow Bai Moqing and the cat in one bite.
Bai Moqing chanted a formula. A domineering sword energy suddenly formed. With one swing of her long sword, the sword energy slashed toward the flood dragon. The flood dragon raised a claw and slapped. The sword energy scattered at once.
Bai Moqing grabbed the little orange cat from her arms and threw it far away. “Feiyue, go first!” After failing her tribulation, she had luckily survived, but only half her cultivation remained. Not long ago, to save Xiao Xing, she had used up more than half of what was left.
After that exchange just now, she knew that with her current cultivation, facing the flood dragon meant a narrow escape from death.
“I am not leaving! I will scratch this beast to death!” The little orange cat’s body swelled sharply. It showed its sharp claws, raised them, and prepared to scratch the flood dragon.
The flood dragon looked at the little orange cat with contempt. Its tail swept toward it. Just as the little orange cat dodged, the flood dragon’s claw pressed toward Bai Moqing, as if it wanted to slap her into meat paste.
Just as the claw was about to touch Bai Moqing, a sword energy slashed straight onto the flood dragon’s claw. In pain, the flood dragon pulled back its claw and let out a long cry. It opened its mouth to bite the person who had slashed it, but when it saw who had come, it hurriedly stopped, turned with a whoosh, and hid back in the abyss.
Bai Moqing was swept by the strong wind and fell from the flying sword. Just as she was about to command the sword to catch herself, she unexpectedly fell into a soft, warm embrace.
The voice was clean, clear, and cool as water, yet still gentle as it had been back then. “It is all right now.” Warm breath carrying a faint quiet fragrance passed through Bai Moqing’s nose and poured into her heart.
Bai Moqing stared blankly at the person holding her. “It is you.”
Their eyes met. After their gazes touched, Xiao Xing looked away. She knew what Bai Moqing meant by those words. She released Bai Moqing, put distance between them, and admitted, “Mm. It is me.”
Xiao Xing wore black immortal robes, her long hair tied behind her. A black mask covered most of her face.
Bai Moqing should not recognize her.
She should not recognize her as Xiao Xing. She should only think Xiao Xing was the person who had saved her on the day her tribulation failed.
Not daring to stay with Bai Moqing for long, Xiao Xing turned to leave. Bai Moqing stood where she was, watching Xiao Xing’s departing back. Suddenly, she called out, “Xiao Xing!”