UGB Chapter 58 Dao Soldiers
Chapter 58 Dao Soldiers
Cultivators of Tianqiao City?
I'm just a novice, how could I possibly snatch food from a tiger's mouth?
Zhou Qiuyuan had long anticipated that obtaining the magical artifact wouldn't be easy, but he still couldn't help but sigh, tossing in a copper coin before leaving the teahouse without a second thought.
Staying here will yield no valuable information, and following two body cultivators whose strength far surpasses his own is far more dangerous than rewarding.
Huang Shisan listened intently, but he was no match for Zhou Qiuyuan, who was using the Wind Listening Technique. He vaguely caught a few words about magic artifacts and, with the idea of killing two birds with one stone, he recorded the matter.
Since he had come all this way, he couldn't leave empty-handed. Zhou Qiuyuan planned to memorize the two people's appearances so that the people of Dark Night would pay more attention to them; who knows, they might come in handy someday.
He found a spot and waited quietly for half an hour before seeing the two people come out of the teahouse.
Zhou Qiuyuan caught a glimpse of them and memorized their faces. He took out a charcoal pencil and rice paper and prepared to draw their likenesses.
The charcoal pencil moved across the rice paper, stopping and starting, until it drew a humanoid creature.
The brain thinks it has remembered, but the hands are like decorations, utterly powerless.
It's like having a phoenix, a mythical bird, in your mind, but when you put pen to paper, you end up drawing a picture of chicks pecking at rice.
I ultimately lack the talent for painting...
Zhou Qiuyuan searched the city for a long time but couldn't find a painter. Finally, he came to the yamen (government office) and took out two hundred coins to ask the gatekeeper to paint a picture.
The clerk is responsible for writing wanted posters and is skilled at drawing portraits of criminals; he is very experienced.
After Zhou Qiuyuan described him, Menshu drew a picture of him. The appearance was barely five parts similar, especially the eyes, which were quite expressive. His painting skills were far superior to Zhou Qiuyuan's.
Not bad!
He planned to tell Dark Night about this and ask him to keep an eye on the two of them, hoping for some unexpected gains.
Both of them were experts in the inner city. People from the Dark Night Intelligence Hall were very easy to be discovered, and those two would be able to find them by following the slightest clues.
Out of caution, Zhou Qiuyuan only planned to take action in the future dream realm and instructed the Dark Night Intelligence Hall to keep a close eye on the two of them.
In this way, Dark Night will not lose any manpower, and even if they discover Dark Night, trouble will not come their way.
Zhou Qiuyuan changed back into his previous clothes, restored his appearance, and returned to his sect's villa.
Lu Chengping and Luo Tong were both cultivating in the courtyard, and Zhou Qiuyuan did not go forward to disturb them.
During this period, the two of them practiced very diligently.
"cough!"
A soft cough came from afar. Wei Jin opened the window to let in some fresh air and saw his young apprentice. A smile appeared on his face.
"Greetings, Master." Zhou Qiuyuan quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.
Wei Jin was in a good mood and said with a smile, "Come here, let your teacher check your cultivation progress."
During this period, the frost and cold air of Wei Jin became increasingly severe, and he almost always stayed in the backyard room, rarely going out.
"Excellent! You've achieved minor success in external cultivation! Your talent is truly remarkable!"
"You have forged the Thunder Bone, which allows you to cultivate two secret techniques: Lightning Strike and Thunder Seven Slashes."
Wei Jin's smile deepened. He turned and went into the inner room, taking out two secret manuals, one large and one small. Perhaps because he had walked too fast, he coughed violently again.
Zhou Qiuyuan stepped forward to help him up, saying, "Master, excessive joy or anger can easily harm your health. Let me help you back to your room."
"Good things come in pairs." He pointed to an open letter on the table and said without hiding anything, "Your senior sister just wrote to me."
"I almost forgot, you've never seen your senior sister since you became her disciple."
"She is my daughter, named Wei Xia. She joined the Blackwater Sect at a young age and has been cultivating for many years. She has just broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining."
"Alas, it's all my fault for holding her back. If Xia hadn't been constantly using spirit stones to buy me pills to suppress the cold poison, I would have broken through years ago..."
"She needs a month to stabilize her cultivation level, and then she will come to the outer city."
Luo Tong and Lu Chengping, having stopped their cultivation at some point, came to the backyard and congratulated Wei Jin, saying, "This is a joyous occasion!"
"Congratulations on your great progress in cultivation, Senior Sister. You have a bright future on the path to immortality."
The people of Wei and Jin were shrewd and experienced. Their gaze swept across the three faces, and they sighed silently.
"Your senior sister has reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining, which will create an extra spot for a Dao Soldier..."
Lu Chengping and Luo Tong fell silent, pricked up their ears, and had different expressions.
Luo Tong's lips curled up, as if his long-awaited expectations had finally come to fruition.
As the third young master of the Lu family, Lu Chengping was a man of considerable experience. Upon hearing about the quota for Dao soldiers, his breathing became rapid.
Dao soldiers?
Zhou Qiuyuan recalled the secret conversation he had overheard in the teahouse earlier: the people of Tianqiao City were selling the Chu family's magical artifacts in exchange for a spot as a Dao soldier.
He didn't know what a Dao soldier was, but judging from Luo Tong and Lu Chengping's appearance, he knew that this spot was unusual.
Wei Jin's gaze swept across his three disciples' faces before finally settling on Zhou Qiuyuan's. He had always favored his youngest disciple, but he couldn't bear to let his two longest-serving disciples feel disheartened.
"We'll discuss this further when your senior sister arrives."
Lu Chengping didn't say much, and Luo Tong, not getting the answer he wanted, looked slightly unnatural.
Luo Tong hurriedly stepped forward and helped Wei Jin back to the inner room. "Master, please take good care of your health and go back to your room to rest."
Lu Chengping and Zhou Qiuyuan bowed respectfully before slowly leaving.
Lu Chengping's words carried a hint of probing: "Junior Brother Zhou, your cultivation speed is truly remarkable. You've achieved minor success in external cultivation without us even realizing it. Could it be that you obtained the Thunder Spirit Tool and have been secretly cultivating at home all this time?"
Zhou Qiuyuan laughed and said, "My talent is slightly better, so my cultivation speed is far beyond that of ordinary people."
Lu Chengping disliked hearing this, finding it extremely grating.
"Senior Brother Lu, what is a Dao soldier?" Zhou Qiuyuan didn't know much about Dao soldiers, so he was happy to continue treating Lu Chengping as a know-it-all.
Lu Chengping's lips curled up, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "What? You're interested in Dao soldiers? I might as well tell you."
"Dao soldiers have a long history and are divided into two types. One type is body refiners who cultivate specific body refinement techniques in immortal sects. They are trained from childhood to adulthood and, together with immortal sect artifacts, form an array. At most, they can unleash the power of perfect Qi refining."
"In the war between the Blackwater Sect and the Heavenly Craft Academy, both sects dispatched a large number of Dao soldiers to fight."
"The second type is the protectors of immortal sects. They are trusted by cultivators and are responsible for protecting the Blackwater Sect's formal disciples who have just embarked on the path of cultivation, and handling miscellaneous affairs for them."
"The Blackwater Sect has extremely strict requirements for recruiting disciples; only those with exceptional talent have the opportunity to enter. Unless we obtain a mid-grade or higher acquired spiritual root, we will not have a chance to join the Blackwater Sect."
"Dao soldiers are, in a sense, members of the Blackwater Sect. They receive spirit stones from the Immortal Sect and some of the Immortal Dao secrets every year. As long as they embark on the path of cultivation, they also have the opportunity to become outer disciples of the Blackwater Sect."
"Senior Brother Luo and Senior Sister Wei Xia grew up together. This Dao Soldier spot is definitely in Senior Brother Luo's hands. You can't compete with him."