Chapter 209: Chapter 98: Liu Shuang Enters the Realm

The Spring Festival quickly passed.

The various courtyards were busy recruiting new disciples, and Wang Ping’s courtyard grew quiet.

Yu Lian must have made a bet with Hu Qianqian; her training of Shen Xiaozhu had become stricter in the past few days.

On the tenth day of the new year, Dan Chen came to Qianmu Temple and brought Wang Ping half a bottle of Sacred Heart Pills. This was what Wang Ping had requested, as Qianmu Temple did not yet have the ability to refine Elixirs.

"Zi Luan raised a lot of money this time, a conservative estimate of sixty million taels. This will continue in the future, but if even a third of this money is put to actual use, it’ll be a blessing from the Celestial Venerable."

Dan Chen again wore an expression of ’worrying before the world worries’. This was probably the Path of Worldly Life he cultivated.

"Someone has to do it. If it were anyone else, they might not even give up one-third." Wang Ping took out a Sacred Heart Pill to observe it. It was emerald green. When he probed it with his Wood Spirit Qi, he could feel a faint coolness—not just a physical chill, but a coolness that touched his soul.

"It’s just as you say. Although Zi Luan has a wicked sense of humor, he’s very capable. And as for his skill in managing subordinates, compared to Xiu Yu, it’s like heaven and earth."

Dan Chen also stared at the Sacred Heart Pill in Wang Ping’s hand and warned, "After using it, your soul will feel as if it’s been sublimated. It’s a refreshing feeling that permeates you from the inside out, so it’s very easy to get addicted. You must remember not to get hooked. After all, this stuff is quite expensive. Even you can’t afford to use it all the time."

Wang Ping nodded. That trace of coolness had just entered his soul, invigorating him. It was like a sudden gust of cool wind on a scorching day—a truly refreshing sensation. A feeling like that could indeed be addictive.

As Dan Chen was leaving, he specifically reminded Wang Ping not to forget the matter he had promised. Wang Ping naturally agreed readily and proceeded to write a personal letter to both Liu Zixiu and Xingshan right in front of him.

"Are you going to try and fuse with the pagoda tree’s soul now?" Yu Lian asked after Dan Chen left, noticing the change in Wang Ping’s state of mind.

"No. I’ll wait for Yuan Zheng Taoist’s Sacred Heart Pills to arrive. I’ll take them all then and try to complete the fusion in one go. Also... I need to wait until after Liu Shuang has her breakthrough."

"Going into Death Seclusion again?"

"Yes."

"In such a hurry?"

"It’s not that I’m in a hurry. It’s that there are too many things in this world that are beyond our control."

"Then should I send Xiaozhu to Baisui Lake during that time?" Yu Lian asked.

"That’s a good idea. And if Wang Li and Su Sea have their breakthroughs while I’m in seclusion, I’ll have to trouble you to look after them." Wang Ping reached out and stroked Yu Lian’s head. This time, she didn’t dodge.

"Don’t worry. But the most I can do is guarantee they won’t die. Whether they succeed or not is up to fate."

"That’s more than enough."

Yuan Zheng Taoist’s Sacred Heart Pills arrived a month after the Spring Festival. Wang Ping kept them on his person and began to adjust his physical and mental state.

「By the sweltering summer of the sixth month.」

One morning, Wang Ping awoke from his meditation with a feeling of premonition. He picked up the Jiaobei blocks and cast three divinations in a row. All were Holy Trigrams.

An hour later, Liu Shuang arrived at the Mountain Peak Dojo.

She was preparing for her breakthrough...

The best place to achieve a breakthrough with the > was, without a doubt, Wang Ping’s Mountain Peak Dojo. And this had been Wang Ping’s plan from the very beginning.

Liu Shuang had already mastered the first two sections of ’Wood Gathering’. The Spirit Vein she had cultivated within her body was now complete. She only needed to take the final step: to swallow the Spirit Vein formed by the aggregation of Wood Spirit from an entire forest into her Qi Sea in one go, merge it with the Spirit Vein cultivated in her body, and complete the leap in her level of existence.

Wang Ping could handle the step of aggregating the Wood Spirit, but everything that followed was up to Liu Shuang herself.

"She’s ready," Yu Lian communicated with Wang Ping in his Spirit Sea. "As long as she maintains her current soul state, the probability of failure is very low. She’s been nurturing her spiritual poise for so long, it’s unlikely to collapse so easily. I’ll go communicate with her Spirit Pet and have it help watch over her soul. That way, we can also intervene in time if needed."

Hearing this, Wang Ping carefully probed Liu Shuang’s soul and Qi Sea, then revealed a gratified smile. "Very good. I can almost see the scene of your breakthrough."

"I can see it too..." What Liu Shuang had cultivated was confidence. Faced with Wang Ping’s affirmation, she wasn’t about to be modest.

"Good!" Wang Ping laughed heartily, reaching out to gently stir the Wood Spirit Qi in the space around them. "Then let’s begin. I can’t wait to see you break through."

"Yes!"

...

Liu Shuang didn’t hesitate. The confidence she had cultivated wouldn’t allow her to.

Once Liu Shuang was seated cross-legged in the core region of Wood Spirit within the Nine Extremes Array, Wang Ping didn’t ask if she was ready. He simply activated the array, gathering the Wood Spirit from the mountain forests in a thirty-li radius.

Having been notified in advance, the Inner Sect disciples weren’t alarmed by the fluctuations in Spiritual Qi. They simply looked towards the Mountain Peak Dojo with expressions of envy.

「A quarter of an hour later.」

The gathered Wood Spirit became visible to the naked eye, forming green auroras in the sky that stretched to the heavens. Down below, the mortals once again fell to their knees to kowtow and burn incense.

"It’s coming!"

Wang Ping shouted, fusing the gathered Wood Spirit into a single point and forming a blinding green pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth.

Bathed in the glow of this pillar of light, Liu Shuang seemed as insignificant as a single grain in the vast ocean. But she showed no fear, nor did she retreat. She decisively connected her Qi Sea to her Spirit Vein and, following the Spell of ’Wood Gathering’, increased the intake and output of her Qi Sea. This created a massive suction force around her, drawing in the temporary Wood Spirit Vein that now connected heaven and earth.

While monitoring the stability of the Spirit Vein, Wang Ping also watched Liu Shuang’s condition. After a dozen or so breaths, when he saw her Qi Sea begin to absorb the Spirit Vein steadily, he could finally relax.

"You look more worried than when you cultivate yourself," Yu Lian teased.

Wang Ping gave a noncommittal smile and turned his gaze to his left. Yu Cheng Taoist had also flown up. Gazing at Liu Shuang, who was now steadily absorbing the Spirit Vein, he reminded them, "The absorption process is very long. This is no time to relax. Many people fail because they can’t endure this lengthy process."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Wang Ping nodded and said no more. Yu Cheng was not wrong. After seizing the fleeting opportunity, the real test was yet to come. The absorption process was tedious, and one also had to face the emotional fluctuations brought about by the Wood Spirit Vein’s occasional mischievousness.

Throughout this process, Liu Shuang needed to maintain the same confidence she had before entering her meditative state. She couldn’t relax in the slightest. Otherwise, she could easily be infected by the Wood Spirit’s mischievous emotions and be assimilated by it, or suffer an invasion from a Spirit Body of the Inspiration Realm and be driven mad.

At this moment, Yu Lian spoke in a human voice, "Don’t you worry. At the critical moment, I can communicate with her Spiritual Dog to influence her."

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Liu Shuang encountered no mishaps during the process of absorbing the Spirit Vein. She remained as confident as she was before her meditation.

The green pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth had already vanished. All that remained were some flowing streams of Wood Spirit around Liu Shuang, which no longer posed any threat to her.

「Three more days passed like this.」

The Wood Spirit Vein inside Liu Shuang’s body completed its transformation. Her body began to purify itself. The writhing distortions bulging beneath her skin were still within normal limits—at least, within the suppressive range of her Qi Sea.

The transformation process lasted for a day, and then she opened her eyes.

The breakthrough was a success...

It seemed simple, but only the one who went through it knew the true difficulty of the process!