Chapter 6: Could There Really Be Such a Sweet Deal?

Pei Ling was eager to keep talking and hurriedly said, "Please, do tell."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Wu Tingxi went into another fit of coughing. While wiping the blood at the corner of his mouth, he quietly swallowed a pill and continued, "My master was an outer sect elder of the Nethersea Sect, a Core Formation cultivator. In the outer sect of the Nethersea Sect, he was originally quite free and unfettered. But my master had a firm dao heart and intended to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Not long ago, by a stroke of luck, he obtained an advanced cultivation method and planned to switch to it... At first, that was a good thing."

By then his expression had darkened. "I never expected that my master's third disciple, Lu Xuan, was actually a spy planted by his enemies. Taking advantage of the weakness my master suffered while changing techniques, he secretly leaked the news, and my master was ambushed in his retreat chamber and died on the spot."

What happened next followed naturally. The Nethersea Sect had always believed in the law of the jungle.

If Elder Luo had still been alive and had successfully switched techniques, then everyone in his line would have been overjoyed.

But he was dead, and his disciples were still too young to stand on their own, with no ability at all to protect the interests of his line.

So the other outer sect elders of the Nethersea Sect, and even inner sect disciples like Zheng Jingshan, swarmed in and carved up his resources.

Wu Tingxi was Elder Luo's most recently accepted disciple, and also the weakest by far. He had not even known that his master was in seclusion. After Elder Luo died and all sides moved in, he was only able to flee in panic with his senior brother.

And precisely because he was the weakest, everyone else had looked down on him, and in the end he had actually survived the longest.

"I never expected the so-called sacred sect of the Nethersea Sect to be so filthy in private," Pei Ling said righteously. "Thank you for telling me, Fellow Daoist Wu. I used to have some longing for the Nethersea Sect, but now it looks no different from a tiger's den or a wolf's lair! To treat an elder of one's own sect like that is truly disgusting."

He said it with complete sincerity. After all, even someone who had made it to an outer sect elder in the Nethersea Sect still lived in such constant peril. A demonic sect was still a demonic sect. This damned place was far too unfriendly to a cautious survivor like him!

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to run far, far away.

But before he fled, there was still one thing he had to understand. "By the way, may I ask Fellow Daoist Wu, what exactly is wrong with Zheng Jingshan's Scarlet-Boned Rakshasa Painting?"

"Have you ever taken any heavenly treasures or earthly treasures before?" Wu Tingxi did not answer directly, but asked in return. "Or is there anything unusual about your body compared with ordinary people?"

Pei Ling's mind moved. "I've been suppressed by my stepmother since I was little. If there were any heavenly treasures, how could it ever have been my turn? As for whether my body is unusual compared with ordinary people... I wonder what aspect Fellow Daoist Wu is referring to?"

Hearing that, Wu Tingxi felt that this brat was probably born with some special constitution, and a flash of jealousy crossed his heart. But he still said calmly, "That is hard to say. After all, creation is wondrous, and there are countless special constitutions, so many that even the Nethersea Sect's records may not be complete. But looking at your background in such a remote border place, your desperate circumstances that forced you to boldly steal Zheng Jingshan's things, and the fact that you still managed to cultivate a top-grade iron body, your constitution must be somewhat abnormal. Otherwise, you would never have been able to withstand the painting's suction."

He explained, "That painting was something Zheng Jingshan happened to obtain from a ruin while out on a mission. It is said to be extremely strange, and even a late Foundation Establishment disciple once fell victim to it. As for the details, Zheng Jingshan keeps them tightly under wraps, and I don't know much about it either. But with your cultivation, since you personally saw the painting, it must already have remembered you and locked onto you."

"Normally, unless Zheng Jingshan personally removes the mark for you, once the Scarlet-Boned Rakshasa Painting has remembered your aura, it will keep coming after you like a shadow, sucking out your essence, qi, and spirit... In any case, I've never heard of a Qi Refining cultivator targeted by the Scarlet-Boned Rakshasa Painting who could escape calamity."

Seeing Pei Ling's face turn dark, Wu Tingxi's thoughts shifted, and he added, "No, there was one."

"He was also a Nethersea Sect disciple. In a very short time, he fled more than ten thousand li away and stayed outside for a full year and a half before returning to the sect. By then the Scarlet-Boned Rakshasa Painting had long since been too hungry to bear it, so it turned to the next target and gave him up."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Wu." Pei Ling was half-convinced and half-skeptical. Just as he was pondering it, he suddenly saw Wu Tingxi smile strangely and say, "Brat, since both of us need to avoid Zheng Jingshan, how about I make a deal with you?"

Pei Ling became wary, but on the surface he said, "What deal are you talking about, Fellow Daoist?"

"This is the cultivation method my master planned to switch to." Wu Tingxi took out a jade slip, waved it in front of him, and said, "It's also the reason the Nethersea Sect has been relentlessly pursuing me, a mere Qi Refining cultivator. To be frank, I am already at the end of my rope. If you can help me escape Mount Yuanlao, I will copy this technique for you. How about it?"

"Ding dong!" Just as Pei Ling was about to speak, a system notification suddenly rang in his mind. "An unfamiliar cultivation method has been detected. The system is recording it..."

Fuck!

Could there really be such a good thing?

Pei Ling was overjoyed. Afraid that if Wu Tingxi took it back, the system would no longer be able to record it, he hurriedly said, "So this is a jade slip? This is the first time I've ever seen one. Fellow Daoist Wu, how exactly are these jade slips used?"

Wu Tingxi froze for a moment, a trace of awkwardness flashing across his face. "Once the two of us escape alive, I'll naturally teach you. What, you don't trust me?"

"No, no, Fellow Daoist Wu, you've misunderstood." Pei Ling racked his brains for a way to stall. "It's just that I've never seen a jade slip before... Right, Fellow Daoist Wu, once we escape Mount Yuanlao later, which direction do you think is more suitable for us to head in? To be honest, I've lived this long and never left Luquan City. If I have to flee ten thousand li, I really don't know where to go."

Seeing that Pei Ling did not press him about the jade slip, Wu Tingxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. While putting the jade slip away, he casually said, "We'll head west first then... I'll tell you later."

Watching his movements, Pei Ling was almost frantic with anxiety. He was just about to find an excuse to make him put the jade slip away more slowly when the system chimed again: "Unfamiliar cultivation method recorded. Please name it, host!"

"Just call it the nameless cultivation method." Pei Ling had no mind at all to come up with a name at the moment, so he casually dismissed the system and said to Wu Tingxi, "Fine. I know Mount Yuanlao well, Fellow Daoist Wu. Don't worry, I will definitely get you out safely!"

Hearing that, Wu Tingxi showed a faint smile and said weakly, "Then you'd better hurry. Otherwise, if Zheng Jingshan arrives in person, things will get difficult. Also, my injuries are severe right now, so I'll have to trouble you to help me up."

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Wu." Pei Ling had just recovered a little strength. Struggling, he slowly got to his feet and panted, "We're all on the same side now. Your business is my business."

He stood up with complete confidence, flexed his arms and legs a little, and felt that there shouldn't be any problem in the short term. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and ran!

Wu Tingxi: "?!"

A ruthless look and a flash of surprise crossed his face. He quickly dispersed the Five-Venom Finger he had been gathering and sprang up to pursue him.

Pei Ling ran unsteadily through the unfamiliar, dark tunnel, secretly praying that Wu Tingxi was either more badly injured or simply too afraid of Zheng Jingshan to chase him. But things did not go as he wished. Not long after he ran, he heard hurried footsteps behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, I'll go find someone to save you! You're hurt so badly, so it's better not to move around!" His eyes flickered as he shouted over his shoulder and ran even faster.

Wu Tingxi sneered. "Do I look like an idiot? You little brat, so young and already this despicable and vicious. As expected of one of the Nethersea Sect's lackeys!"

Pei Ling said no more and just bolted forward with his head down.

But after a moment, he discovered a problem: a fork in the tunnel had appeared ahead!

In this critical moment, Pei Ling did not have time to think. He picked a branch that seemed to have a draft and rushed into it. Who knew that not long after entering, he would hear Wu Tingxi's cold laughter from behind.

Very quickly, he understood why: this branch had not gone far before it was clearly blocked by a mountain wall!

The breeze he had felt earlier had been blowing out through several holes not much bigger than a fist.

This was a dead end!

Pei Ling's heart sank. He spun around at once and saw Wu Tingxi chasing up with a mocking expression, green light flashing at his fingertips as he grinned savagely. "Run. Why aren't you running anymore?"

Before Pei Ling could answer, Wu Tingxi had already stabbed a finger straight at his forehead!