nChapter 105: Pains

nThree months later, Icestone City.

nWithin a house filled with planted Heart Tranquility Grass, Qin Lie was seated on top of a round mat with closed eyes while adjusting his breath in cultivation.

nThis was Nebula Pavilion’s unique cultivation room—the Meditation Room. Plants such as Heart Tranquility Grass, Mind Calming Balm Flower, and others were planted inside the room, causing a fresh and peaceful smell to circulate inside it.

nThere was even a formation meant to focus the mind and calm the heart drawn on top of the walls. Every arrangement inside the room was to help with cleansing the heart and clearing one’s mind.

nIf a martial practitioner cultivated inside this room, as long as they paid a bit of caution and did not cultivate an evil or extreme spirit art, they normally would not incur a fiendish rebound and turn violent.

nThis place was very useful for cultivating various spirit arts, gaining an understanding of the realm, and deepening one’s knowledge of the martial way.

nOne would need to spend five contribution points in order to cultivate for a day inside the Meditation Room, and it would only take four hundred and fifty points to cultivate for three months in there.

n—As of now, that wasn’t really much for Qin Lie anymore.

nSince he returned from the stone forest, Qin Lie had rented a Meditation Room specifically to stabilize his new realm.

nFor the past three months he had been experiencing the greatness of the Natal Palace while focusing his mind and calming his heart to cultivate. Training hard, he focused on gathering more spirit energy to convert into thunder and lightning energy to, bit by bit, fill up his first palace.

nThe early stage of the Natal Opening Realm required him to form three Natal Palaces, and each one needed to be completely filled before he could qualify for the middle stage.

nCurrently, he had only just formed his first Natal Palace, and this palace hadn’t even been filled yet.

nCultivation wasn’t something that could be completed overnight. Every step of ascension required the accumulation of strength and insight; it required rigorous and repeated cultivation to increase one’s strength bit by bit.

n“Almost there.” Qin Lie opened his eyes, muttered once, and walked out of the Meditation Room.

n“Qin Lie, you came out pretty early today.” Liu Yan walked over from the other side of the cultivation ground while greeting him with a smile. “The situation as of late is pretty good. The elites from Seven Fiends Valley, Dark Shadow Tower, and Dark Asura Hall all worked together. They have fought their way into the Arctic Mountain Range, and we are slowly gaining the advantage. If this continues, then it shouldn’t take too long before we can make a new contract with the spirit beasts.”

n“That would be great. Many lives have been lost; the sooner we finish this the better.” Qin Lie nodded his head and then asked, “Gao Yu hasn’t come back yet? Is it the same with Tu Ze and the others?”

n“After the spirit beasts inside the stone forest had been cleared out, Gao Yu and Tu Ze’s group had gone to the edges of the Arctic Mountain Range to group up with Elder Chu Yan, Wei Xing, and Du Haitian.” Liu Yan smiled and walked over, saying, “It seems that Gao Yu kid is close to breaking through to the Natal Opening Realm, and he has accumulated two thousand and five hundred contribution points. That guy’s pretty good.”

nThe duo talked while heading outside. Just when they had left the wide cultivation area, a Nebula Pavilion martial practitioner who was standing guard called out, “Qin Lie, is it? Elder Han wants you to meet him once you’ve finished. It seems that someone is looking for you and they sent you some stuff.”

n“I’ll be off then.” Qin Lie bid goodbye with Liu Yan.

nA while later, he arrived at Han Qingrui’s place, and the moment he went in, he found a few young men dressed in golden clothes sitting down.

nThere was the picture of a golden valley sewn on the chest pocket on their clothes. It took only one glance for Qin Lie to know that they came from Seven Fiends Valley’s Gold Fiend Valley.

n“Qin Lie, do come and meet our friends from Seven Fiends Valley. They belong to Gold Fiend Valley and are about to participate in the battle at the Arctic Mountain Range. They dropped by Icestone City along the way to send you some stuff.” Han Qingrui’s face was slightly dark, as if he didn’t like these people too much. Once Qin Lie came over, he pointed at a person and said, “This is Li Zhongzheng, the junior apprentice of Gold Fiend Valley’s Valley Master. He is here on an errand for Ling Yushi.”

n“You are Qin Lie? The kid who was once engaged to Sister Ling?” Li Zhongzheng looked at Qin Lie from head to toe before shaking his head with a cold expression. “I don’t understand why Sister Ling would fancy a small fry like you…”

nBefore Qin Lie could say anything, he placed a small bundle on top of the table. Then, he stood up with a full face of impatience.

n“This is the item Sister Ling had requested me to pass on to you. She has just entered the middle stage of the Natal Opening Realm and thus cannot participate in the battle at the Arctic Mountain Range. That is why she asked me to give this to you.”

nAfter glancing at Qin Lie coldly, Li Zhongzheng then frowned again. “Give up after you’ve taken this. Sister Ling’s talents are very exceptional, and her cultivation speed is also pretty quick. She is definitely not obtainable by someone like you. Yeah, you just stay in Nebula Pavilion, live a good life, and stop dreaming about Sister Ling ever again. Otherwise, there will be deadly misfortune waiting for you in the future.”

nOnce he finished, he and the rest of the young men from Gold Fiend Valley walked straight out without taking another glance at Han Qingrui.

n“To this day, Sister Ling still constantly bears that brat in her mind, not giving Big Brother Li any chance at all. If we didn’t happen to pass by Icestone City and she just happened to have a use for us, she wouldn’t have even paid any attention to Big Brother Li at all.” One of them whispered, “Dammit. So she really did all this just for this brat, some kind from a Limestone rank force. I can’t believe she still can’t forget about him to this day, what a stubborn woman…”

n“Let’s go. I’m already frustrated that I have to come here for such a small fry, so you guys better shut up about it already,” Li Zhongzheng said with a snort.

nThe group of people gradually walked far away.

n“Ignore them, they’re just a bunch of juniors who do not know the immensity of heaven and earth. Their fathers live in Seven Fiends Valley, which was why they were part of it the moment they were born. They are nothing without their fathers’ glory, and they would not have been able to reach their current cultivation level without relying on that either,” Han Qingrui consoled him.

nQin Lie nodded with a dark expression and replied, “Don’t worry Uncle Han. Such men aren’t enough to disrupt my heart and influence me.”

n“Good, that’s good.” Han Qingrui smiled gladly. “Despite being at Seven Fiends Valley, that girl still misses you, and every month she sends a letter to you which clearly proves her love for you. You’re pretty good at this, aren’t you?”

nQin Lie opened the package and saw a letter inside. There were also many bottles, jars and tens of Common Rank Five or Six spirit stones…

nHe did not ask for privacy and read the entire letter aloud in front of Han Qingrui.

nLing Yushi had found him three kinds of prescriptions to temper his body. These bottles and jars contained the main spirit herbs and could help him temper his body. Besides that, there were also a few pills and medicine that can assist him in breaking through to the Natal Opening Realm and spirit stones to be used during cultivation… this was all prepared for his ascension to the next realm.

nPrescriptions, spirit herbs, spirit pills, and spirit stones. They were all found by Ling Yushi through great effort, and a portion of them were sneakily saved up by her. All this attentive preparation was made solely for Qin Lie’s breakthrough.

nIt could be said that Ling Yushi had only the best intentions for him.

nUnfortunately, Qin Lie had already broken through to the Natal Opening Realm, and after three months of harsh cultivation in the Meditation Room, his realm had already stabilized.

nQin Lie had borrowed the power of lightning to cultivate his newly formed Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body, so he definitely couldn’t use any of the body tempering prescriptions she gave him—it could be said that she had done all this in vain.

nPutting down the letter, Qin Lie thought for a moment before asking, “Uncle Han, where is the Ling Family staying in the city right now?”

n“In the south.” Han Qingrui answered with a smile, then followed up with a detailed explanation, clearly pointing out the Ling Family’s exact location. Then he said, “Because of the spirit beast threat, all of the large vassal forces have moved into Icestone City, so the city is currently overcrowded. The condition over there must be pretty bad, it is possible that there are tens of people squeezing under the same house…”

n“Can my contribution points buy anything inside the pavilion?” Qin Lie asked again.

n“You can buy them as long as it does not exceed your contribution points. There is absolutely no problem at all.” Han Qingrui affirmed.

nQin Lie nodded.

nLeaving, the first place he went next was Scripture Tower. He picked a few scriptures specifically aimed at Refinement Realm martial practitioners, then went to the Spirit Material Room and bought some pills. With that, he had expended almost two thousand contribution points.

nCarrying the scriptures, pills and, the package Ling Yushi had asked people to bring over, he exited Nebula Pavilion and and went southward, where Ling Family was temporarily staying.

nTwo hours later.

nHe arrived at a shabby courtyard entrance, and under the gaze of an old Ling Family servant, he entered the courtyard.

nThe familiar faces of the Ling Family clansmen went in and out of the courtyard, and there were many houses where tens of people were squeezing under a single roof.

nThe old men, children, and wives were categorized as a single household unit, and they could only stay inside a single room. The courtyard inside was dirty and messy; the environment absolutely terrible…

n“Qin Lie!” Ling Chengzhi exclaimed softly.

nHis face was thin and pallid, and he helplessly walked out of a house and said, “There’s no helping it. The Ling Family has been arranged at this location, and naturally, it’s not going to look too good for an entire town of people to live inside a single courtyard. Sigh, well it’s good enough we can make it into the city; at least the safety of our lives can be guaranteed this way. If we continued to stay inside Ling Town, then it may be a different matter…”

nQin Lie knew that because the people of every large vassal force had entered the city, every room in Icestone City become incredibly valuable. The Ling Family was lucky they could find a courtyard to stay in; many people did not even have a place to sleep in and could only find a place on the streets or under the trees to survive.

n“Uncle Ling, are Ling Feng and the others around?” Qin Lie nodded.

n“They are. You came at the right time since they’re all here. But in three days, they’ll be departing from the city. They’ve been assigned duties by the pavilion and will be heading outside the city for combat.” Ling Chengzhi gave a weak smile and said, “My big brother has gone out to ask people to work on some matters, so he’s not here right now. About… last time, it is the Ling Family who have disappointed you. We wish for your forgiveness.”

n“I am here to look for Ling Feng and the others,” Qin Lie said with a cold face.

n“I know, I know.” Ling Chengzhi’s expression was awkward. He understood that Qin Lie hadn’t gotten over the matter yet. Then, he yelled out, “Ling Feng! Ling Xing! Come over and see who’s here!”

n“Who is it?”

n“Can it be that the First and Second Miss has come back?”

nLing Xing and Ling Xiao muttered before poking out their heads from a crowded room. Then, their expressions immediately brightened as they exclaimed, “It’s Qin Lie!”

nLing Feng and Ling Ying walked out of their respective rooms and laughed brightly.

n“I’ve been cultivating in seclusion when I came back from outside the city three months ago, so I didn’t have time to visit you. Sorry.”

nQin Lie gave a brief explanation, then brought out Ling Yushi’s package and passed it to them. Next, he took out the scriptures and pills he bought with contribution points to Ling Feng, Ling Xing, and the crowd and said sincerely, “I hope that you guys can enter the Natal Opening Realm sooner with the help of these spirit materials.”

nLing Xing, Ling Xiao, Ling Ying, and the others looked at the spirit pills, spirit herbs, and spirit stones inside the bag, plus the body tempering prescriptions and scriptures appropriate of their cultivation. Their expressions were excited, and there was even light shining out of their eyes.

n—If they used this properly, it would definitely help them ascend to the next realm at a much earlier date!

nThese spirit pills, spirit herbs, spirit stones, prescriptions, and scriptures were definitely a dream come true for the currently distressed Ling Family clansmen.

n“So many spirit pills, spirit stones, and cultivation scriptures; there’s even prescriptions for body tempering…”

n“Those kids had a deep relationship with Qin Lie, so they can be counted as having found the savior in their life. How enviable.”

n“Perhaps they can really enter the Natal Opening Realm before reaching twenty years old with these spirit materials and enter Nebula Pavilion to cultivate.”

n“Sigh, the treatment of Nebula Pavilion martial practitioners is different alright. This is one case of it. If we were the core members of Nebula Pavilion, why would we need to squeeze inside this place? We would have been training hard inside the pavilion’s cultivation rooms a long time ago…”

n“The Patriarch treated him like that, and yet Qin Lie did not forget us. Sigh, the Ling Family really has let him down.”

n“Sigh, it really is the Ling Family’s fault. Him and his grandfather have helped us in the past, and yet, for the future of the two misses, the Patriarch had even dissolved their engagement.”

nEvery clansmen in Ling Town was gathered inside this courtyard, and they all came out when they heard that Qin Lie had come.

nWhen they saw Qin Lie bringing out the spirit materials, spirit pills, spirit stones and scriptures, they all wore shocked expressions and began whispering amongst themselves. Their gazes were filled with envy when they looked at Ling Xing’s group.

nLing Chengzhi’s old face suddenly blushed as he stood there, and with a cough, he awkwardly went back inside the house.

n—He was too ashamed to continue staying there.

n“Th-this is way too valuable. We can’t accept this.” While Ling Xing, Ling Ying, and the others were engulfed in excitement, Ling Feng was the only one who frowned and seriously said, “Qin Lie, you should keep this to yourself. We can slowly cultivate on our own.”

n“Urk, in that case, Qin Lie, you should… you should keep these to yourself. T-this is way, way too valuable.” Ling Xiao endured the pain in his heart and looked away from the spirit pills and scriptures before saying that in a choppy voice.

n“There’s really no need for pleasantries. Just take these with you; I have no use for them.” Qin Lie smiled coolly and continued, “Because I’ve already broken through to the Natal Opening Realm.”

n