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Chapter 608: Chapter 614: Madness
"The path to transforming the Golden Core into a Nascent Soul is truly arduous and bumpy, no wonder the number of True Lords of Nascent Soul is so scarce." Li Zhiyue sensed that her cultivation had shown no signs of activity for many years, and her eyes were filled with gloom.
She had been stuck at Golden Core Perfection for many years already. Previously, she had been out on adventures and later returned to her family to seclude herself for decades. She believed she had thoroughly understood the Methods organized by Li Zhirui, but still, her cultivation level had not advanced an inch!
Out of helplessness, she left her family once again to seek opportunities outside that could help her break through her bottleneck, but after so many years, there had still been no progress. Li Zhiyue couldn’t even see the hope for her own breakthrough! 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
This made her feel extremely restless and anxious inside; she was already over three hundred years old, and only had a hundred some years left until reaching the lifespan limit of a Golden Core Cultivator.
It seemed like there was plenty of time, but in fact, this matter couldn’t be approached so simply, especially considering how dire Li Zhiyue’s current situation was, still stagnating in place.
Over the years, Li Zhiyue spent most of her time in Green Lotus State, fighting to the death with Demon Cultivators. She had been in peril several times, nearly losing her life, but she didn’t obtain the result she desired; instead, she incurred severe injuries, wasting many years just on healing.
As time passed, Li Zhiyue grew more and more impatient, desperately seeking an opportunity to break the shackles holding her back.
But the more anxious she became, the worse the situation turned. A few years ago, she carelessly walked into a trap set by Demon Cultivators, using up all her life-saving methods before narrowly escaping.
This also left Li Zhiyue with severe injuries that would take years to heal!
However, a blessing might arise from a misfortune. After this ordeal, she calmed down considerably and realized that continuing in this manner not only would not fulfill her wishes but could also cost her life.
"Perhaps, I can take a risk and enter that cave!" After healing her injuries, Li Zhiyue pondered in her rented cave dwelling for several days and suddenly, a wildly crazed idea popped into her mind.
The place she thought of was a cave ruin she had stumbled upon while training in Huanggu State years ago. Inside, a fourth-order puppet stood guard, which implied that the treasure it protected must be extraordinary!
It might just be the treasure that could help her break through her current predicament! Thinking up to this point, Li Zhiyue felt hesitant at first, but she soon became resolute.
Was she unaware of the dangers? Of course, she was! After all, she had faced this fourth-order puppet before and had felt the pressure it emitted up close.
To gauge the puppet’s strength, Li Zhiyue had even had Li Zhirui exert pressure on her, but it was far from what the puppet was capable of, indicating that the puppet’s strength was comparable to a mid to late Nascent Soul Cultivator.
It wasn’t just about her facing it; even Li Zhirui might not necessarily win.
But for the sake of her own path, Li Zhiyue had to take the risk, otherwise as she aged, the possibility of her breaking through to Nascent Soul would become increasingly slim!
By then, she would only be able to die stuck in the Golden Core Realm, waiting for her lifespan to reach its limit.
After coming out of seclusion, Li Zhiyue didn’t rush to Huanggu State but instead started refining third-order Spirit Pills, planning to earn some Spirit Stones to buy a few life-saving Spiritual Objects.
After all, she had used up all these items while escaping the Demon Cultivators’ trap. Li Zhiyue was planning to take risks, not to go to her death. Therefore, she had to make sure she was well-prepared with the necessary Spiritual Objects.
For this purpose, Li Zhiyue spent a whole year acquiring a third-order Earth Escape Talisman, a fourth-order Defensive Talisman, and a third-order Heavenly Thunder Pellet for herself.
"That woman left the city!"
The moment Li Zhiyue stepped out of Immortal City, the news reached the ears of a group of Robbing Cultivators.
Despite her attempts to hide her transactions while buying Spiritual Objects, the other party had their ways to find out effortlessly, particularly since Li Zhiyue’s refined third-order Spirit Pills had already made a name for her over the year.
"Quick, chase her, don’t let her escape! She’s a wealthy one!" the leader of the robbing cultivators shouted excitedly, immediately leading his subordinates to follow the traces left by the target.
And it wasn’t just this group of robbing cultivators who had their eyes on Li Zhiyue, after all, with her obvious wealth, how could these people who lived by robbing cultivators not be tempted?
"A bunch of rats from the gutter!" Li Zhiyue, still in the city but in disguise, spat coldly after noticing the movements of the robbing cultivators.
She was no fool; how could she not be aware of the robbing cultivators’ actions? Thus, the person who had left the city earlier was nothing but a puppet bought by Li Zhiyue.
After the robbing cultivators made their move, Li Zhiyue casually left from another city gate.
When the robbing cultivators caught up with the puppet and found its expression vacant, capturing it after only a few moves, they immediately realized they’d been tricked!
"Damn it! That stinking woman, daring to toy with me! Next time I catch her, I’ll make her beg for life but unable to die!" the leader of the robbing cultivators bellowed with rage.
And the robbing cultivators who arrived later and saw the puppet in the hands of their comrades, what more was there to understand? Their complexions turned incredibly sour.
But since they had come all this way, they couldn’t just leave empty-handed, could they? Even if they hadn’t captured Li Zhiyue, weren’t there still so many cultivators around?
A chaotic battle erupted in an instant!
Unfortunately, this dog-eat-dog spectacle went unseen by most.
----
Meanwhile, Li Zhiyue, having left the Immortal City, had a smooth journey ahead, any minor troubles she encountered effortlessly resolved.
The most serious of them being just two cultivators at the late stage of the Golden Core Realm, who tried to intercept her.
If she had been alone, facing two at the late stage of the Golden Core Realm might have been somewhat tricky, but Li Zhiyue, who practiced the Wanling Sutra, had no fear of being surrounded.
Thanks to her careful nurturing, both spirit beasts she had contracted were third-order, and their cultivation levels were comparable to her own!
With this advantage, the two confidence-filled robbing cultivators instantly found themselves in a fix, not daring to rob Li Zhiyue anymore, instead contemplating how to safely escape.
Unfortunately for them, Li Zhiyue had no intention of letting them go and launched a fierce attack on one, her spirit beasts following suit, one aiding her attack on the robbing cultivator and the other preventing the escape.
Together, they spent some time before they finally managed to slay the two robbing cultivators.
While looting their spiritual objects, Li Zhiyue even discovered one or two fairly precious treasures among their possessions.
Besides that, Li Zhiyue encountered only minor nuisances and didn’t waste much time on them.
It was not until several months later that she finally arrived at Huanggu State!
"I wonder if the ruins I discovered back then have been found by anyone else." Li Zhiyue was particularly worried about this.
Because those ruins were clearly extraordinary, if a cultivator with a Nascent Soul master found them, they might immediately report it, bringing their master to investigate.
