Chapter 535 - 15: A Gentleman’s Discourse

Hu Yin did not answer Wang Ping’s question immediately. She raised her head, elegantly placed the Go stone in her hand, and cast a satisfied gaze at the piece on the board with her pale yellow eyes. Only then did she lift her gaze and say:

"Hai Zhou Road has always been Daoist Xiu Yu’s territory. For the past few hundred years, his eldest disciple, Qingjiang, has managed it into an ironclad fortress. Add to that its shared border with the Hu Mountain Country—whether through taxing merchant caravans or secret smuggling operations at the border, they’ve managed to create a self-sufficient system."

Wang Ping showed no particular reaction to Hu Yin’s words. He quickly placed a stone, then lifted his teacup to inhale its aroma. "I have no objection to matters concerning Hai Zhou Road," he said, "but I don’t like the way Zhi Gong Daoist operates. Since she has her eyes on Hai Zhou Road, she should just make a move directly. Why resort to such petty schemes?"

After speaking, he looked up to meet Hu Yin’s gaze. "What? Does Fellow Daoist Zhi Gong want to learn how to manipulate people? That is a very dangerous game to play."

Hu Yin’s hand, holding a black stone, paused in mid-air. She looked at Wang Ping and answered earnestly, "Fellow Daoist, you exaggerate. No one enjoys complicating matters, aside from certain people with a twisted sense of humor..."

Here, she alluded to Zi Luan before continuing:

"If Fellow Daoist Zhi Gong were acting alone, she wouldn’t care about her so-called reputation at all. After a few hundred years, who remembers a bad name? What she cares about is her master. Senior Wan Zhi is a very strict master. Everyone in the Chu Country’s Cultivation Realm knows that Zhi Gong Daoist only rose to her position because of her master."

"Another hypocrite!"

Yu Lian spoke after taking a sip of tea. Hu Qianqian and Xia Wen Yi both pretended not to have heard.

Hu Yin wasn’t angered. Instead, a deep smile spread across her face. She looked at Yu Lian and replied, "Fellow Daoist Yu Lian is right. This world is full of hypocrites, but true villains are rare. Looked at from another angle, the madmen of ’the first day’ might actually possess more goodwill than I do!"

As she spoke, she placed the stone in her hand.

The polite expression vanished from Wang Ping’s face, replaced by a solemn one. He looked at Hu Yin and said, "Though what you say is true, Fellow Daoist, you cannot use ’the first day’ as a comparison. To do so is to negate the hundreds, even thousands, of years of our Human Dao cultivation."

He set down his teacup and placed a hand on the Go bowl. "Though you and I may not be able to save the world, we still cultivate the Righteous Dao. Only the Righteous Dao can maintain the spiritual nature of heaven and earth."

Hu Yin cupped her fists. "You are right, Fellow Daoist. It was a slip of the tongue."

Wang Ping didn’t dwell on the matter. He picked up a stone and looked at the board. The opening pattern was more or less established. After a moment’s thought, he played a move directly against the black stone in the top-left corner.

As he withdrew his hand, he asked, "Will Hai Zhou Road really be forced to rebel? I haven’t heard any news to that effect."

Hu Yin was somewhat surprised by Wang Ping’s move. In response to his question, she said, "This is what’s so frightening about the Hai Zhou Road Cultivation Realm. For outsiders, gathering intelligence on them is harder than ascending to heaven."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping looked at Hu Qianqian and ordered, "You and Zuo Xuan will take charge of this matter. It will also serve as an answer to the cultivators who have allied with us. However, the conversation Fellow Daoist Hu Yin and I just had must not be repeated to anyone."

"Yes, Master!"

Hu Qianqian rose and cupped her fists, then quickly left the courtyard, vanishing in the blink of an eye down the path outside.

Beside them, Xia Wen Yi immediately moved to where Hu Qianqian had been and took her place pouring tea for Wang Ping and Hu Yin.

At this moment, Hu Yin placed a stone and said to Wang Ping, "When Fellow Daoist Zi Luan returns, I must ask you to relay this matter to him."

"A trivial matter."

Wang Ping nodded in agreement.

Yu Lian immediately spoke in his Spirit Sea, ’Do you just believe her like that? Her karmic ties are abnormally clean.’

Wang Ping wasn’t particularly concerned about this. As always, his priority was his own cultivation—to break through to the Fourth Realm as soon as possible. As for other problems, so long as they didn’t infringe upon Qianmu Temple or his own interests, he didn’t want to be bothered.

But he also didn’t like being used as a pawn!

Thus, he stated his position bluntly, "If I discover that you have deceived me in this matter, don’t blame me for turning hostile."

Upon hearing this, Hu Yin’s ears flattened back, and she extended her tongue to lick the fur at the corner of her mouth. She cupped her fists and pledged:

"Everything I just said is everything I know. If there are any unexpected developments, I will certainly give you a proper explanation, Fellow Daoist. I would never damage the alliance between our two families. Even if you don’t believe anything else, you should believe in my sincerity. In my eyes, the alliance between us is more important than anything."

Wang Ping gave a noncommittal smile and didn’t continue the topic.

The Go game ended an hour later with Wang Ping winning by one and a half points. They didn’t play a second game. After another Half an Hour of idle chatter, Hu Yin rose to take her leave.

She still needed to visit Zhi Gong Daoist in Jinhua Prefecture City. She left alone, leaving the elders and disciples of her tribe at Qianmu Temple.

The moment Hu Yin left, Yu Lian rose up on a cloud and flew to Shen Xiaozhu’s Dao Field to check on her cultivation status. She then returned to the Mountain Peak Dojo and said to Wang Ping, "Xiaozhu’s condition is still stable, but time is pressing. A decade could pass in the blink of an eye. She must complete her entry as soon as possible."

After listening, Wang Ping admonished her, "You spoil Xiaozhu too much. Her condition can be checked clearly with just a sweep of Primordial Spirit Consciousness. Why go to so much trouble? Teaching a disciple isn’t just about doting on them."

Upon hearing this, Yu Lian swung her tail directly at Wang Ping’s chest. It looked fierce, but it landed so lightly it didn’t even make a sound. She then shot Wang Ping a glare and flew off on a cloud to lie down by the fishpond.

Wang Ping didn’t take back his words. He looked at Xia Wen Yi beside him and, taking advantage of the free moment, checked on his current cultivation progress.

It seemed Xia Wen Yi hadn’t been diligent in his training over the past seven years; his marrow washing was less than a third complete. However, with his aptitude, if he practiced diligently every day, he would only need about five or six more years to finish.

Wang Ping just didn’t know if Xia Wen Yi’s innate aptitude could be improved again. Fortunately, Qianmu Temple now had Yuan Zheng Taoist, a Third Realm Alchemist, so he could just ask him directly.

His Primordial Spirit swept over the mountains of Qianmu Temple.

Yuan Zheng Taoist had just finished entertaining the Demon Race elders and had returned to his Alchemy Room to attend to his own affairs. After Wang Ping’s promotion to the Third Realm, he appeared calm and steady in Wang Ping’s presence, but in reality, his personality was as impatient as ever. If he had a task at hand, he had to deal with it immediately.

Faced with Wang Ping’s question, he didn’t answer directly. Instead, he began to explain the relationship between a cultivator’s innate aptitude and their cultivation:

"The quality of a cultivator’s innate aptitude determines how open their meridians are during marrow washing. This, in turn, directly affects whether they can successfully plant a Spirit Vein in their body before their breakthrough, their compatibility with that Spirit Vein during the breakthrough, and whether the transformation of their physical body into a Spirit Body will be smooth when they reach the Third Realm in the future."

"Theoretically, a medium-grade aptitude is sufficient to successfully complete marrow washing and plant a Spirit Vein. A high-grade aptitude increases the success rate of the breakthrough, but this is all relative. Based on my research into pharmacology and cultivator Spirit Veins, what I know is that once one’s aptitude reaches a high grade, there is no need to improve it further. Unless, that is, you have a method to simultaneously increase the body’s affinity for a certain type of Spiritual Qi while improving the aptitude, much like a Spirit Pet."

Hearing this, Wang Ping thought of his disciple Su Sea’s own disciple. Seven years ago, when he returned from Shangjing City, his grand-disciple had written a letter saying he wanted to return to Qianmu Temple, but he still hadn’t come back. So, he asked, "Last time I returned, Master mentioned a Demon Race array. Is there any news on that? Hasn’t that disciple of Su Sea returned from the north yet?"