Chapter 443 - 42: Planning

After taking his leave of Zhou Yuantong, Zhu Ju sensed Pei Jingque hurrying toward him before he even made it back to the Marketplace.

The Quiet Chamber.

Pei Jingque’s expression was grim.

"Absolutely not!"

She shook her head, her voice stern.

"Qi Baifeng, the Sect Leader of the Joyful Sect, reached the Golden Core realm five hundred years ago. She is a Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivator who lived through the golden age of Righteous Cultivators and has personally witnessed the righteous path’s decline and the demonic path’s rise in recent years."

"Dozens of Righteous Dao Golden Core cultivators have died at her hands!"

"My dear," Zhu Ju began slowly.

"We don’t have a choice."

"Innate Origin Qi is something you can only stumble upon, not seek out. If we miss this chance, we may never find it again."

"That’s still not an option!" Pei Jingque shook her head, her expression resolute.

"My love, you’ll die. We’ll all die!"

"Never mind the power of a Late-Stage Golden Core; the might of a Spiritual Artifact is simply beyond what any Golden Core cultivator can withstand."

"If Zhou Yuantong is proposing this, she must have made preparations," Zhu Ju persisted.

"Qi Baifeng is powerful, but the other cultivators who possess Spiritual Artifacts aren’t weak either. We have to take the chance."

"Then... then we don’t have to do it so soon." Seeing his persistence, Pei Jingque felt a surge of panic.

"In another forty or fifty years, after our Cultivation and strength have improved, it won’t be too late to act."

"Forty or fifty years?" Zhu Ju looked at her.

"My dear."

"Can you really hold on that long?"

At first.

Pei Jingque had said her condition wasn’t so bad, that she could hold on for a century without issue. Later, she said sixty years would be fine. But as time passed, her situation only grew worse.

It was obvious.

She had been deliberately downplaying her condition, just so Zhu Ju wouldn’t worry too much.

That was why her story kept changing.

Perhaps.

Pei Jingque was well aware of how rare the Innate Origin Qi was. Perhaps from the very beginning, she never had any intention of trying to obtain it.

"If I don’t at least try, I’ll never be able to forgive myself."

Zhu Ju gripped her hands, his gaze resolute.

"Even if we die, at least we will have tried. We won’t have any regrets, right?"

"..." Pei Jingque opened her mouth to argue, but seeing Zhu Ju’s solemn expression, she could only sigh in resignation.

"This is the Sect Leader of the Joyful Sect we’re talking about. Aside from the three Nascent Soul True Men, she’s one of the most powerful people alive."

"That’s right!"

Zhu Ju nodded.

"Decades ago, we were still struggling just to survive. Now, we’re able to scheme against one of the world’s top masters."

"Hmm..." Pei Jingque blinked.

"That’s true."

"Things have changed so fast."

"Here." Zhu Ju took out a Jade Scroll and handed it over.

"This is the intelligence Zhou Yuantong gave us. It details Qi Baifeng’s history, as well as her Cultivation Techniques and Secret Skills."

Pei Jingque took it and swept her Divine Thought across it. Her expression immediately sank.

Qi Baifeng.

Sect Leader of the Joyful Sect.

Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivator.

Wields High Grade Magical Treasures: the Joyful Bell, the Funeral Banner, and the Thousand Charms and Hundred Beauties Painting... as well as the Spiritual Artifact, the Yin Yang Dual.

Specializes in Divine Soul Secret Techniques. Her Physical Body, nourished by her Spiritual Artifact, can regenerate from a single drop of blood. She has achieved Mastery in dozens of the Joyful Sect’s top Secret Techniques...

"She has almost no weaknesses."

Letting out a bitter laugh, Pei Jingque shook her head in resignation.

"How are we supposed to fight this?"

......

Leaving Zhu Ju’s Cave Mansion, Pei Jingque pursed her lips slightly, then her body transformed into a streak of fire and shot into the distance.

「Several days later.」

"Elder Fang."

She stopped at the crater of a volcano and threw a Jade Scroll downwards.

"This junior requests an audience."

"Sect Leader Pei?" A surprised voice came from the bottom of the volcano, followed by the Fierce Flame parting to the sides as the lava slowly opened a path.

"Please, come in!"

At the bottom of the volcano.

The air was filled with the song of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and Spiritual Plants grew in lush clusters.

It was hard to imagine that such a blessed land could exist in a place like this.

Fang Zhong, a Golden Core Grandmaster from the Celestial Yu Sect, was lounging in a plush chair, rocking back and forth in leisurely contentment.

A young man and woman tended to a pill furnace nearby, stoking its fire and packaging finished Elixirs.

"What a rare visitor."

The white-haired Fang Zhong smiled, the wrinkles on his face crinkling.

"Sect Leader Pei, what brings you to see this old man?"

"Elder."

Pei Jingque bowed with her hands clasped.

"I have come to ask you to take action for me."

"Oh!"

Fang Zhong’s smile vanished as he slowly sat up from his plush chair.

"I’m just a pile of old bones. I’m afraid I won’t be of much use if the fight is too intense."

"Who’s the opponent?"

"The Sect Leader of the Joyful Sect," Pei Jingque said.

"Qi Baifeng!"

?

Fang Zhong rolled his eyes.

"Sect Leader Pei, you really overestimate me."

Although he was also in the late stages of the Golden Core realm, he had spent his entire life on Alchemy. He could count the number of real fights he’d been in on one hand.

He could rely on his Cultivation and skills to bully the weak, but going up against the Sect Leader of the Joyful Sect would be suicide.

"Elder, you won’t need to face her directly. Just providing support from the rear would be enough," Pei Jingque said.

"If things take a turn for the worse, you can retreat immediately. Of course..."

"if you could save my husband, that would be even better."

"Little Friend Zhu wants to go against the Joyful Sect’s Sect Leader?" Fang Zhong looked confused.

"Why?"

"Don’t tell me he’s still holding a grudge from when he was trapped by the Joyful Sect. I’d advise the two of you to drop this idea."

"You two are still young, but Qi Baifeng is as old as I am. She doesn’t have many years left. Just wait eighty or a hundred years. You won’t have to lift a finger; she’ll die of old age on her own."

"That’s not it." Pei Jingque shook her head.

"My husband is doing this for me."

"Elder!"

"For all these years, you’ve refined the Bright Void Sect’s Elixirs. My husband and I have given you dozens of Pill Formulas. I don’t want to use that as a threat, but I hope that you’ll help us, for old times’ sake."

"It’s not that I won’t help, but..." Fang Zhong frowned, then looked over with a hesitant expression.

"Who else is involved?"

"If it’s just the two of you, even with me thrown in, going against Qi Baifeng is a suicide mission."

"There’s also Zhou Yuantong of the Joyful Sect," Pei Jingque said.

"Besides her, there should be other Demonic Golden Cores involved. My husband and I were invited to take part."

"Zhou Yuantong?" Fang Zhong lightly stroked his beard.

"Young lady."

"She’s your husband’s ex-wife, yet you’re planning to help her. I must say, I admire your broad-mindedness."

"There are other reasons," Pei Jingque pursed her lips.

"We also need something from Qi Baifeng."

"What?"

"The Yin Yang Dual!"

"..." Fang Zhong nearly ripped his own beard out. He rolled his eyes, utterly speechless.

"You two sure know how to dream big."

*

*

*

Cultivators have a different perception of time than ordinary people. The higher their Cultivation, the weaker their sense of its passage.

In the world of technology.

New things emerged every day, every month, every year.

Celestial Sound Entertainment’s ’idol stars’ changed with every generation, as did the members of the Security Department and the city council.

Even the shareholders of the major Commerce Association consortiums were in constant flux for a variety of reasons.

But in the Main World.

Years could pass with nothing changing at all.

The number of Golden Core Grandmasters might occasionally increase by one or two, just as a few might pass away after exhausting their lifespans.

Until this day.

Zhou Yuantong finished her preparations. She sent a letter, inviting the couple, Zhu Ju and Pei Jingque, to meet and discuss the details.