Chapter 193: Legacy

Because Zhou Qing had no intention of killing him, the ghost cultivator began to plead for mercy. His tone was sincere, each word spoken with utmost humility and caution, all in hopes that Zhou Qing would spare him.

“I refrained from attacking you precisely because I knew how difficult it is for your evil spirits to open the ghostly aperture. But the fact that you nearly killed my disciple cannot be so easily overlooked.”

“Yes, yes, friend, please tell me how this matter should be resolved. As long as you spare my life, everything else is negotiable.”

After the ghost cultivator spoke, a faint smile curved Zhou Qing’s lips. He reached into the treasure pouch at his waist and drew out the Illusory Twin. With a flick of his hand, the weapon transformed into a radiant whip, coiling around the ghost cultivator’s spiritual form.

“Friend, you—”

Startled, the ghost cultivator began to cry out, but before he could finish, Zhou Qing pulled him close and struck the top of his head with a powerful palm.

The ghost cultivator’s spiritual form shuddered and collapsed, losing consciousness. At the same time, a green glow appeared in Zhou Qing’s palm.

“This little demon sought your life, so I’ll take his ghostly root to help you advance your cultivation. That settles our scores.”

Holding the ghostly root, Zhou Qing glanced at Yin Mao and then sent the green radiance flying through the air, directly into Yin Mao’s body.

As the green ghostly root entered, Yin Mao felt a chill spreading through his body. The coldness gathered within his spiritual altar, transforming into a dense energy.

Having practiced for ten years, Yin Mao’s cultivation was marked by great diligence. The servants thought he was lazy in his room, but in truth, he was practicing breathing and energy absorption every morning, feigning sleep.

Over the decade, it took him more than five years to open his aperture successfully, and then another four years to barely ascend a single stage within the Fasting Realm.

Now, with Zhou Qing’s infusion of the ghostly root, he instantly felt a surge of potent spiritual energy flooding his altar.

He absorbed this concentrated power until no more could be drawn in, only to realize with astonishment that he had leapt seven or eight stages within the Fasting Realm. Counting ten stages as complete, he was now just one step away from perfecting the realm and entering the Great Essence Refinement.

The ghost cultivator’s root was taken by Zhou Qing to give his disciple a fortuitous blessing, but the ghost cultivator himself suffered greatly, his cultivation plummeting. A blue light barrier now surrounded his spiritual form.

“You have opened your ghostly aperture once before, so I believe that with determination and years of hard cultivation, you will be able to regenerate your ghostly root and reopen your aperture. From now on, the grudge between you and my disciple is settled. What say you?”

Hearing Zhou Qing’s words, the yellow-clad ghost, once a great sage, cursed inwardly, “Shameless fool, what choice do I have? You’ve already taken my ghostly root; is there really anything left to negotiate?”

Though burning with rage, he forced a smile and said, “It’s only fair. I almost took your disciple’s life, so compensating him with my ghostly root is reasonable.”

“Very well, since all is settled, I will not trouble you further.”

With these words of farewell, Zhou Qing led his senior disciple down the mountain.

As they descended, a piercing scream echoed from the mountaintop—the voice of Zhang Zhiming, whom they had spoken with earlier in the ancestral hall.

From the scream, it was clear that Zhang Zhiming’s life had been taken by the yellow-clad ghost, a fitting reminder that evildoers often meet their match.

“Master, I am grateful for the blessing you have bestowed. If I had cultivated alone, I fear I would never have broken through the Fasting Realm in this lifetime,” Yin Mao said with deep emotion as they made their way down.

Originally, Yin Mao had followed Zhou Qing to West Mountain solely for revenge. Now, not only had he avenged himself, but he had also gained a great fortune of fate.

After spending a day in Jiayu County, Zhou Qing departed once more, with Yin Mao seeing him off beyond the city limits.

“All good things must come to an end. I’ll leave you here,” Zhou Qing said, stopping at the city’s edge. He patted Yin Mao’s shoulder and added, “I don’t know if we will meet again. The ‘Wandering Chronicles’ and Illusory Twin I gave you are the legacy of the Tianyi Sect. Guard them well.”

At this farewell, Yin Mao felt as if Zhou Qing were bidding a final life-or-death goodbye.

“Master, you are much younger than I, and your cultivation rivals that of a deity. Why entrust me with the sect’s legacy?”

“From generation to generation—that’s the eternal truth. Besides...” Zhou Qing’s voice trailed off. He sighed softly, said no more, and turned away.

Yin Mao understood his master’s nature well. His unwillingness to speak meant there was a reason. As Zhou Qing left, Yin Mao knelt in the snow and bowed deeply toward his departing form.

Outside Jiayu County, white snow stretched boundlessly. Yin Mao watched Zhou Qing’s ghostly figure vanish into the distance before sorrowfully rising from the snow and returning to the city.

Upon his return, Yin Mao took Jiu Jin, Chang Shou, and Ji An as his disciples, thus making them, in effect, Zhou Qing’s grand-disciples.

Previously, Yin Mao had refrained from accepting disciples because of Zhou Qing’s words. Now, for the same reason, he took them in. The Tianyi Sect needed to be passed down, and as the sole fourth-generation heir, it was his responsibility to find the fifth generation.

...

The snow at the western window was just beginning to melt; how many years had passed since the face beside the peach blossoms?

Outside the small town of Wujiang, under the jurisdiction of Tianyue Kingdom, flowed a great river named Spirit River.

At this season of thaw and renewal, a gentle rain pattered softly on the riverbank’s newly sprouted grass.

Along the riverbank wound a curved dirt path. On this path, Zhou Qing’s figure moved steadily, neither hurried nor slow.

He still wore a light, thin red robe that emanated an aura of otherworldly detachment, as if untouched by the mundane world, carrying an ethereal, immortal grace.

Wujiang Town fell under the administration of Yingtian Prefecture, at the border of Tianyue Kingdom.

Years had slipped by—Zhou Qing had been away from Tianyue for over a decade.

During these years, he traveled widely, visiting many places and breaking through to the Agile Realm. Along the way, he encountered numerous opportunities, acquiring extraordinary elemental spirit pearls of water, fire, and earth, and made many friends among fellow cultivators.

Of course, he also faced great dangers, narrowly escaping death time and again.