章 13: Black Stone Mountain
編集者: Atlas Studios
After meeting He Meng, Wang Ping had originally wanted to ask if Gu Feng would accompany them to Black Stone Mountain.
In the end, during their conversation, He Meng had taken the initiative to talk about Gu Feng in an envious way.
It turned out that, from their previous hunt, Gu Feng had already gathered enough spirit stones to purchase Spirit Elixirs. After parting ways with them, he had gone to the Li Clan to purchase the elixirs.
Now that Gu Feng had returned from buying those elixirs, he had been cultivating in seclusion in order to break through to the seventh level of the Qi Refinement stage.
"If Boss Gu can successfully make a breakthrough to the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement stage, I'm afraid that he won't go out to sea to hunt with us anymore. With his cultivation level, he can already form a team with Wanderer Turtle, Granny He, and the other late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators to hunt at even further locations!"
He Meng spoke with a conflicted tone, and he could not help but look at Wang Ping to watch his reaction.
To his surprise, when Wang Ping heard the news, he actually remained very calm. There was no trace of the disappointment he had imagined.
Naturally, He Meng didn't know that after Xiao Feng had awakened his innate talent, Wang Ping had already made plans to hunt demon beasts by himself.
Whether He Meng and Gu Feng were there to lead the way, was no longer important to Wang Ping.
At that moment, Wang Ping saw He Meng staring at him and understood what the latter was thinking about. He said softly, "Wanderer Turtle, Granny Crane, and the others are all well-known late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. It should be quite difficult for Boss Gu to join their group. At the very least, he will have to buy another defensive Dharma artifact before they would accept him!"
Hearing Wang Ping's words, He Meng's spirits were instantly refreshed. He nodded repeatedly as he said, "That makes sense. Brother Wang's words really make sense. That's definitely how it'll go!"
The way he spoke had only happened to reveal the uneasiness and hesitation in his heart, causing Wang Ping to mentally shake his head.
What Wang Ping didn't say was that if Gu Feng advanced to the seventh level of the Qi Refinement stage, even if he couldn't join the top-notch teams like those led by Wanderer Turtle and Granny Crane, he could still team up with other cultivators in the seventh and eighth level.
By that time, it would likely be impossible for him to bring a cultivator of He Meng's strength out to sea unless He Meng was willing to make huge concessions in his earnings like Wang Ping did.
He Meng actually understood this logic as well.
However, in such a situation concerning his own interests, he did not wish for things to develop in a way that was disadvantageous to him. That was why he was so worried about personal gains and losses.
It could only be said that cultivators were still humans. Unless they truly achieved immortality and attained the Dao, other than possessing powerful magic that mortals didn't, they were actually not much different from mortals. In many ways, there was no real difference between them.
Because there wasn't too much time left, Wang Ping stayed over at He Meng's house for a night before heading to Black Stone Mountain with him.
Golden Pearl Island was not small. The longest straight-line distance from the east to the west was 1,200 miles, and the longest straight-line distance from the south to the north was 1,700 miles.
Wang Ping and the others set off from White Sand City, which was in the southeast region of Golden Pearl Island, and headed toward Black Stone Mountain, which was in the northeast. They had to cross thousands of miles of mountain roads and rivers on the way.
Fortunately, they were all cultivators. By using the "Light Body Technique" to ease their travel, they could cross mountains as if they were walking on flat ground, and there was no need to be afraid of wild beasts attacking them.
Otherwise, reaching Black Stone Mountain in seven or eight days would be extremely difficult.
In fact, they could also take the sea route. By setting off from the port of White Sand City, they could reach the port near Black Stone Mountain in six to seven days by sailing around the island.
However, there were many demon beasts in the sea. Even if they were to only circle around the island, none of them would dare to say that they wouldn't be attacked by demon beasts.
With He Meng and Wang Ping's cultivation level, they could still lose their lives if they were attacked by a demon beast at sea, even if it was a low-grade tier 1 demon beast like the Alligator-Tailed Toad.
In comparison, although traveling on land was tough, it was much safer.
When the two of them crossed the mountains, they would occasionally be seen by woodcutters and hunters. After witnessing the two of them traversing the mountains as though they were walking on flat ground, these people would immediately kneel on the ground and kowtow from afar.
On Golden Pearl Island, the legends of cultivators were spread across various cities and villages. There were also no rules that prohibited cultivators from casting spells and using their powers in front of mortals.
However, the vast majority of cultivators would not reveal their identities in front of mortals so as to not get stared at every day and be secretly gossiped about.
Wang Ping and He Meng were used to this kind of situation. They would not stop because of any mortal's actions, opting to instantly disappear from their sight and never be seen again.
However, to those mortals, the experience of meeting a cultivator in the mountains could easily become their lifelong topic of conversation.
They would tweak the story a little when they were old and add details such as an "Immortal Master defeating a tiger" to make all the children in the village surround them every day.
Wang Ping and He Meng spent almost eight days rushing about, finally reaching Black Stone Mountain before the full moon.
Black Stone Mountain was located on the north-eastern coast of Golden Pearl Island. It was actually a stone mountain that was more than three hundred meters tall. There were many strange rocks on the mountain and little vegetation. On the side that faced the sea was a cliff that was tens of thousands of feet high.
If not for the fact that there was a spirit vein in the mountain, no one, even cultivators, would want to live in such a place.
Ever since the "Black Shark Drifter" had occupied this mountain, the area halfway up the mountain had been covered by an array formation. From the bottom of the mountain, one could only see a flattened stone mountain that was less than 2,000 feet tall.
When Wang Ping and the others arrived at Black Stone Mountain, there were already quite a few cultivators who were there earlier than them.
Some of the more enthusiastic ones had even laid out a piece of beast skin or linen cloth on a part of the area that served as a temporary market and placed the items that they wanted to put up for trade.
Wang Ping looked over and saw many familiar faces he had interacted with before.
When those people saw him and He Meng's arrival, some immediately greeted them and invited them over for tea.
When the two of them saw this, they separated and walked toward the crowd that had called out to them. They began discussing their earnings and experiences during this period.
Wang Ping was carrying Lin Xiao'e on his back as he quickly walked to the side of the three secret cultivators who called him.
The three cultivators were Yang Fei, Zhou Yu, and Li Yun. Li Yun was a rare female cultivator among the itinerant cultivators of Golden Pearl Island. She was single and was rather attractive.
The person who called Wang Ping over was also Li Yun. In the past, Wang Ping had teamed up with the three and had also helped Li Yun with a small favor.
When Wang Ping came over, Li Yun sized him up with her big, bright eyes for a moment and soon detected the change in his cultivation level. She could not help but remark in surprise. "It has been more than a year since we last met. Wang Ping, you have actually broken through to the third level of Qi Refinement. Not bad. It seems that you have spent a lot of effort in your cultivation this year!"
Hearing Li Yun's words, Wang Ping was about to respond with a few humble words when Zhou Yu, who was beside him, looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "I remember that, Wang Ping, you are not even twenty years old, right? You have already reached the third level of the Qi Refinement Stage at this age. It seems like your spiritual core constitution is pretty good. Could it be that you have a triple-elemental spiritual core constitution?"
The spiritual core constitution of a cultivator was also considered one of their top personal secrets. Ever since Wang Ping understood the importance of the spiritual core constitution to a cultivator, he basically never revealed his mixed spiritual core constitution to anyone else, fearing that he would encounter a situation like this.
As such, when faced with Zhou Yu's question, he only smiled. Then, he repeatedly cupped his fists and said, "Brothers, please let this little brother go. This little brother's cultivation is nothing compared to you. You must not tease this little brother like this!"
If itinerant cultivators wanted to survive in the cultivation world, they had to understand the ways of the world.
It was even more so in a closed circle like on Golden Pearl Island.
Cultivators who did not know the ways of the world were simply unable to find friends in such a small circle.
Thus, after Wang Ping's response, even though Zhou Yu and the others were curious, they wisely did not continue to probe.
Yang Fei, who had yet to speak, jumped in to ease the tensions. He laughed and said, "Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Wang is still young and shy. Let's all let him go."
-- 贈り物
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