Chapter 153: Drop in Cultivation

A warm, damp sensation gently brushed his cheek.

Jiuyou slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a neatly folded white cloth, its damp corner carrying a hint of warmth. Behind the cloth was a delicate-featured girl of fifteen or sixteen, leaning over to wipe the dirt from his forehead.

He stared blankly for a moment, his mind briefly going empty.

His voice was somewhat hoarse as he asked, "Where is this...?"

"This is the Lingxi Tribe." Seeing him awake, the girl's face lit up with joy. She straightened and spoke in a brisk tone. "A few days ago, our young mistress found you by the river. You were floating on the water, barely alive. It took a lot of effort for her to drag you out."

Jiuyou propped himself up to sit and looked around.

The tent was small and sparsely furnished. A beast-skin mattress lay on the ground, with an earthen basin and a few dry cloths resting beside it. Through the gaps in the flap, he could see dusk approaching outside. The slanting rays of the setting sun spilled inside, casting a warm yellow glow across the tent.

He withdrew his gaze and looked straight at the girl, thinking for a moment.

A hint of confusion crept into his voice as he asked, "The Lingxi Tribe? Young mistress?"

"That's right." The girl felt a bit shy under his stare. Lowering her head, she fiddled with the cloth in her hands. "Our young mistress is the daughter of our tribe's Great Elder. Everyone in the tribe calls her Lady Graceful. I am her maidservant, Landuo. Right, what's your name?"

She waited a moment but received no answer. Looking up, she saw the young man had already closed his eyes and sat cross-legged. A faint spiritual light drifted around him, and his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he were inspecting something.

Landuo paused for a moment before gathering her things and retreating quietly. She cast one last glance back just before stepping out of the tent, then dropped the flap and walked away.

Right now, Jiuyou had no time to pay attention to anyone else.

He focused his mind and looked inward. His divine sense sank into his meridians, slowly flowing through every limb and bone in his body.

After a long while, his brow gave an almost imperceptible twitch. The Nether Capital magic power inside his body was as weak as a trickling mountain stream, flowing in halting spurts, far from its former boundlessness. He carefully sensed his condition for a long time before confirming that his cultivation had plummeted to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

He sat in silence for a moment, roughly piecing together the sequence of events.

Before losing consciousness, he had burned a massive amount of magic power to forcibly seal the baleful aura threatening to erupt within him. The price for that suppression was this steep drop in his cultivation. Fortunately, he had already fled tens of thousands of li away from the Heavenly Flame Tribe before passing out. Furthermore, he had disguised himself; they had never seen his true face. But his current situation was still thorny. With his meager cultivation, any random Foundation Establishment Cultivator could take his life.

He let out a sigh and carefully sensed his body for another moment, feeling slightly more at ease.

He had forcibly pinned the baleful aura deep within his dantian. It shouldn't flare up anytime soon. As long as he refrained from unnecessary slaughter, he would be safe for the next twenty or thirty years. Compared to suffering a backlash from the baleful aura and losing his mind entirely, a drop in cultivation was nothing.

After all, his foundation was still intact. It would take a dozen years at most to return to his peak.

He then recalled his greatest harvest from this trip. Sweeping his Nascent Soul level divine sense into his storage pouch, he found the zhang-sized Jinli Stone resting quietly inside. Its spiritual light was restrained, showing no abnormalities.

To obtain this ore, he had infiltrated the Heavenly Flame Tribe's treasury, backstabbed a Great Grandmaster, and fled tens of thousands of li while heavily injured. He had brushed past death several times just to get his hands on it. Now that he had confirmed it was sitting safe and sound in his storage pouch, he breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his divine sense.

Given his current state, leaving the Northern Plains would not be easy. The Heavenly Flame Tribe was undoubtedly searching for him everywhere. Coupled with the fact that he was unfamiliar with this region and its people, acting rashly would be a mistake.

He pondered for a moment before shifting his intent. The Nether Capital Gate silently pulled open inside the tent, painting the interior with a layer of cold, dark-cyan light.

The instant the door opened, a surge of soul power rippled out. A Late Golden Core Nether Soul Puppet flashed out from within and landed on one side of the tent, standing submissively with its arms at its sides. The bronze door then shut, returning the tent to normal.

Jiuyou's face paled slightly, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead. With his current cultivation, opening the Nether Capital Gate for just a split second had completely drained his magic power.

Fortunately, he had successfully summoned the Late Golden Core puppet. Having it by his side gave him at least some measure of protection against any cultivator beneath the Nascent Soul realm. As long as he didn't go out of his way to cause trouble, dealing with ordinary nuisances wouldn't be hard.

He also thought of the body refinement cultivation method he had acquired from the Heavenly Flame Tribe. Though incomplete, its grade was quite high. It was one of the top body-tempering arts in the entire Northern Plains. If cultivated to its depths, it could rival the Nascent Soul Early Stage. However, it required blood vitality to temper the body, making it extremely easy to expose his traces during practice. This place wasn't too far from the Heavenly Flame Tribe; cultivating it recklessly would only bring trouble.

As for the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art, while it could fundamentally resolve the baleful aura, it required him to scatter his foundation and cultivate from scratch. That wasn't a problem he could solve in just a dozen years; it would take at least a century of bitter cultivation to return to his peak. Given his precarious situation, it wasn't wise to act in haste.

It wouldn't be too late to find a hidden location and carefully consider his options after dealing with the matters at hand and returning to Ganzhou.

Just as he was lost in thought, his divine sense rippled. He sensed someone approaching.

He quickly stored the Nether Soul Puppet into his storage pouch. Feigning weakness, he leaned back onto the mattress. Remaining cross-legged, he lowered his gaze and slowed his breathing, making it look as though he were still in a deep slumber.

The tent flap was pushed aside, and a young woman walked in first. She looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, wearing a bright green dress. She had a slender figure, a beautiful face, and a pair of clear, bright eyes. Following right behind her was Landuo, the maidservant from earlier.

'This must be the Lady Graceful they mentioned,' Jiuyou thought. He leaned forward slightly, as if attempting to rise and bow, but a gentle stream of spiritual qi pressed him back onto the mattress.

Jiuyou didn't resist and took the opportunity to sit up steadily.

He let out a soft sigh. "Thank you, Lady Graceful and Lady Landuo, for saving my life. I am Qing You, merely a wandering cultivator. I was passing through the Northern Plains when I was attacked by demonic beasts. I fought tooth and nail and barely managed to escape. If not for the two of you saving me, I fear I would have already perished in the wilderness."

Lady Graceful gave a slight nod. She didn't press him for details about his origins.

Instead, she spoke with a smile. "Fellow Daoist, please don't let it weigh on your mind. When my mother was alive, she always taught me that saving a life earns a share of good karma. Since we stumbled upon you in your time of need today, lending a hand was only natural."

"Your kind heart is truly admirable," Jiuyou said, cupping his fists slightly.

Hearing his words, Graceful's smile deepened, and her gaze lingered on Jiuyou's face for a fleeting moment longer than intended.

She was used to seeing the rough, dark-skinned, burly men of the Northern Plains in her tribe. A foreign cultivator with such clear features and polite speech was indeed a rare sight. He was far more refined and thoughtful than those brutes who only knew how to temper their bodies and throw punches.

Joy blossomed on Landuo's face. Just as she was about to speak, a gruff shout exploded from outside the tent. Dripping with obvious fury, it instantly shredded the peace within.

"Graceful! Graceful! How could you bring a Ganzhou person into our tribe?!"

Both women's expressions instantly changed.