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Chapter 267: Away Again
Hui crossed over the barriers boundary and stepped onto the familiar grounds of his Masters peak. He paused, searching for Xixing and Sis Mei.
A friendly hiss caught his ear. Hui turned and found Zhubi curled around Xixings body in his large form, his scales shimmering in the sunlight. At the sight of Hui, he let go of Xixing and rushed toward Hui. Midair, he returned to his small form and wrapped around Huis neck. In Huis smaller size, Zhubi draped down his chest like an oversized scarf.
Hui pet him distractedly. Wheres Sis Mei?
Zhubi turned. Hui followed his gaze.
Sis Mei laid by the trailside, undisturbed. Hui breathed out, relieved. Thank goodness. I was afraid she might have been injured in the clash earlier. Luckily, me cutting it short kept her safe.
Heavy footfalls caught Huis ear. He whipped around again, eyes wide.
A huge wolf towered over him. It huffed out, lolling its tongue from its jaws, and stared at him. Lifting its lip, it bared its teeth at him.
Llanglang? Hui asked, backing away slowly.
The wolf hesitated. It stepped forward, huge weight shifting, its fur rolling in waves. It sniffed the air around Hui, closing its eyes.
Its eyes opened. It stepped forward and nudged Hui, a happy grin on his jaws. Langlang lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Huis chest.
Hui stood on his tiptoes and reached out as far as he could. Even then, he barely managed to scratch Langlangs ears.
Langlang flicked his ears and stepped back, regarding Hui.
How did you survive? Hui asked, looking at Langlang. That extermination spell was supposed to wipe out the entire sect. Chen Wuya said it was at what, seventh stage? Then, doesnt that imply that Senior Wolf is
Langlang looked at Hui. He tilted his head.
But if Senior Wolf was that high tier, surely he could take on human form by now? If nothing else, he should be capable of human speech. Is it some kind of hobby of his to remain in wolf-form, unable to communicate or
Subconsciously, Hui lifted a hand to stroke Zhubi. Zhubi curled around his fingers happily.
Well, what do I know about spirit beasts? Maybe hes happy like this. Who am I to tell him how to live his life?
Hui approached Langlang slowly. Senior, you could I trouble you to watch over Xixing and Sis Mei while Im gone?
Langlang lowered his head again. He closed his eyes slowly, then opened them.
Hui bowed to Langlang. Thank you, Senior.
Langlang blinked.
Hesitating for a moment, Hui at last took a deep breath. Senior Langlang, I mean no disrespect, but why did you not help in our battle?
The wolf turned away, looking to a distant horizon. Hui turned as well, but whatever Langlang looked at, Hui couldnt see it.
He sighed. In the end, Langlang is a spirit beast, not a cultivator. He cant be expected to act on his own to meddle in human affairs. If he doesnt have a personal reason to join the fight, theres no reason to risk his life and cultivation over it. I might not like it, but I have to accept it.
Bowing one last time, Hui took off for the peak and Mount Mu hovering above. The journey only took him a few minutes, compared to the hours it had once taken him as a child. Speeding through it at child-size, Hui sighed, remembering how hed carried water buckets up and down the mountain. At first, it was a necessity, then it was training, and now now I dont need to drink at all, and that level of training would be a trifle, utterly pointless.
Hui looked up at Mount Mu as he approached it. The tree glowed a gentle golden in the light. Is it, too, an incredibly powerful being with a high cultivation? Or would anything be safe on Masters peak, behind his barrier?
Well, given how much qi Ive drawn out of it without bothering it in the least, and given that its a tree powerful enough to be treated as the central point, if not the foundation, of a sect, I think it isnt a stretch to consider it at least eighth tier. At the end of the day, though, its merely a plant spirit, without much intelligence or much in common with humanity. I cant judge its cultivation from a human standpoint and expect to fully understand it.
But given that I havent seen any living beings on the peak but Langlang and Mount Mu its probably not the barrier that saved them. Master isnt infallible, after all.
He slowed as he reached the peak. The hut stood there quietly, the same as ever. Unhesitatingly, he walked over to Mount Mu and settled into the lotus pose, beginning to circulate his qi and draw Mount Mu's qi into his body. After a few minutes of that, he sighed, and instead killed his qi, using the usual void technique to draw qi into his body instead. Why cant I cultivate like an ordinary cultivator? Why is the void technique the only one that works for me? Is it because I transmigrated? Or am I just weird?
Gold life qi flowed steadily into his body. Hui circulated it, gathering it into his dantian. His lotus body incorporated the life qi readily, absorbing it without the slightest hesitation. He condensed a few songbirds, but there was little point. The same way his ordinary body used qi, and his soul ran on death qi, his lotus body natively processed life qi.
Zhubi crawled out from around his neck and curled at his feet instead, basking in the thick qi and life qi of the peak. Qi circulated through his body. As he laid there, a few flickering pulses of lightning appeared in the distant sky, threatening a tribulation to come.
As he sat there, a thought came to Hui. He gestured, drawing his shattered body out of his storage ring. It hovered over his hand, the pieces held in place by his qi. He guided the life qi into the shattered pieces.
Sparks flew. Hui flinched back, startled. What kind of reaction is
With his hand further from the pieces, fewer sparks flew. Hui frowned, then slowed the flow of qi further. No sparks flew. Instead, the life qi seeped into the crystalized pieces and ever-so-slowly began to bind them back together.
Piece by piece, his body reformed. Hui watched, wide-eyed, then rubbed his eyes with his free hand, breaking himself from his reverie. If I sit here and watch this til the end, Ill have lost months of my precious decade. He waved his hand, sending his body over to the hut. Mount Mus ambient life qi soaked into the pieces, and they continued to slowly bind together.
This much life qi I wonder
Hui closed his eyes and gathered his life qi, sending it toward his hands. He shaped it into an orb, then closed his hands around it and allowed it to merge with his flesh. His hands grew rapidly, and a lotus sprouted out of them. As with Bai Jingwens lotus form, the lotus rapidly matured, then died, giving a single lotus seed.
Huis eyes lit up. Lotus seed clones! If I bury them here, Mount Mu will grow them more quickly than theyd grow anywhere else. Once a few clones grow here, and can create clones growing new bodies, Ill have a near-limitless supply of clones!
Well, that depends on how many seeds Mount Mu can support growing at once, but even so its not a bad idea!
Hui buried the seed under Mount Mu and returned to cultivation. This time, rather than simply draw qi from the mountain, he contemplated it at the same time. Hui sent a qi probe back along the path he used to draw qi from the giant tree, searching into its passages.
A tendril of Mount Mus qi lashed out at him. Hui braced himself, expecting an attack or backlash, but instead, it treated him warmly, wrapping him in life qi. His lotus body trembled, resonating with Mount Mus qi. In return, Mount Mu began to hum, a low, comforting sound. The life qi poured faster into Hui. Knowledge flowed into Huis mind, concepts and ideas he had never thought of, nor considered. He put his hands on his temples and grit his teeth, bearing the pain as Mount Mu forcibly imprinted its knowledge upon him.
Is this an inheritance? But why me? It hates me
But wait, I have the lotus body now. Is this because were both plants, so it likes me, now?
Huis eyes lit up. How wonderful! What a technique! I should keep my eyes open for more ways to trick Seniorsahem, I mean, to get Seniors blessings! Ah, I am still but a disciple on the path of cultivation. I have so much to learn!
