A Thought Through Eternity

Chapter 35 - Encountering Xu Baocai Once Again

Half a month later, news of Bai Xiaochun’s triumphant victory over Du Lingfei had already spread among others and a commotion had risen within the sect.

Since then, disciples from the Outer Sect would always greet Bai Xiaochun with a smile whenever they see him out on the streets. Their actions led him to believe that he had became a famous figure. Hence, he enjoyed roaming around and striking up conversations with other disciples from the Outer Sect and then introduce himself, beaming with pride, to those who hadn’t heard of him.

Bai Xiaochun was delighted at the relaxed lifestyle that he was leading at the moment. He has also consumed the medicine pills from Du Lingfei after refining them thrice and this aided him in making his successful breakthrough from the fifth into the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

Through his vigorous training, Bai Xiaochun was mastering Lifting The Heavy As Though It Was Light and had even ventured into the second stage of the Purple Cauldron Qi Manipulation Technique, Lifting The Light As Though It Was Heavy.

It seemed easy to learn but despite all of Bai Xiaochun’s effort, he had been unable to cultivate it.

On one fine day, while Bai Xiaochun was seated cross-legged and cultivating Lifting The Light As Though It Was Heavy, his expression suddenly flickered. He held his wooden sword and focused his gaze on the outside of his courtyard. Not long after, he heard a knock on the door.

“Senior Bai, are you here?” Bai Xiaochun heard a familiar voice and he was astonished to find that he had a guest. There were few people that would visit him at his courtyard. He raised his right hand and pointed at the door, which opened itself with a creak to reveal a skinny lad behind it.

As soon as the door opened, the expression of the young lad, who was wearing the outfit of an outer sect disciple, turned respectful and he cupped his fist in the other hand to show his deep admiration towards Bai Xiaochun.

“I, Xu Baocai, extend my sincere greetings to Senior Bai”

“It’s you?” Bai Xiaochun was stumped for words as he realized that the Xu Baocai, whom challenged him to a death duel back at Burning Stoves Kitchen, was now right in front of him and addressing him as a senior. Xu Baocai had since then reached the third level of Qi Condensation and became a disciple of the Outer Sect.

“So… after becoming an outer sect disciple yourself, are you still feeling upset and unsettled about being defeated by me and came here to challenge me to another duel?” Bai Xiaochun asked while looking sternly at Xu Baocai. He felt at ease because he could tell that Xu Baocai had only cultivated to the third level of Qi Condensation.

Xu Baocai shook his head immediately after hearing those words, showing that Bai Xiaochun had mistaken his reason to visit. He let out a bitter smile and once again, extended his greetings to Bai Xiaochun.

“Senior Bai, I was naïve in the past, please do not ridicule me for my silliness anymore… I am here today to seek forgiveness from you and to resolve the conflict that we had in the past…” Xu Baocai said with sincerity. He truly wanted to resolve the conflict because ever since he became a disciple of the Outer Sect, conflicts that had happened in the past did not matter much to him anymore.

Most importantly, Bai Xiaochun was now a reputable figure in Scented Cloud Mountain and Xu Baocai had chosen to be an outer sect disciple of Scented Cloud Mountain. He came to seek forgiveness from Bai Xiaochun because he did not wish to get into unnecessary trouble because of their conflict in the past.

Bai Xiaochun blinked and recalled the events that had happened in the past. He could not help but be reminded of the Burning Stoves Kitchen and at this moment, he considered Xu Baocai to be an old acquaintance. He stood up and invited Xu Baocai into his cabin. The two of them then sat down and let out a sigh with regret.

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“At the beginning, I couldn’t understand why you wrote the challenge letter in blood? Even though I understood your intention eventually, I am still curious; you used so much blood to write so many words, are you really not afraid of pain?” Bai Xiaochun asked. It was difficult for him to forget the blood-soaked challenge letter thrown at him back in the Burning Stove Kitchen.

When Xu Baocai thought about that incident, he felt his actions were outrageous. He was embarrassed and awkwardly avoided the question.

“Senior Bai, you must be careful of those handymen from the Administrative Department. I heard rumours that Chen Fei and his men still harbour deep hatred for you for pushing them to the mountain peak during your previous encounter with them.”

“Chen Fei?!” Bai Xiaochun was alerted upon hearing the name. Images of that man with a tough and burly build from the Administrative Department floated in Bai Xiaochun’s mind.

“What is his Qi Condensation level right now?” Bai Xiaochun asked with a lofty tone.

“I heard that he has cultivated to the peak of fourth level Qi Condensation.” Xu Baocai answered immediately. The reason that Xu Baocai was telling Bai Xiaochun all of this was because he wanted to show his good intentions and resolve the resentment between each other.

Bai Xiaochun calmed down and assumed a relaxed stance the moment he heard that Chen Fei was at the fourth level of Qi Condensation.

Xu Baocai stopped speaking about the Administrative Department and moved on to discuss the Spirit River Sect. Gradually, Bai Xiaochun realised that Xu Baocai was in the know about more affairs than himself, as though Xu Baocai knew about every major or minor event like the back of his hand. He also had sufficient knowledge of some secrets and was happy to share them in great details. Xu Baocai was especially knowledgeable of the gossips between some disciples within the Sect; he could speak about the gossips that he had heard so vividly and realistically, as though he had been there himself.

“Senior Bai, speaking of the Spirit River Sect, there are five great beauties. All five of them are stunningly gorgeous and if I could make one of them mine, I would have no regrets for the rest of my life.”

Bai Xiaochun was very interested and urged Xu Baocai to reveal more.

When Xu Baocai saw that Bai Xiaochun was engrossed with what he had said, and being someone that likes scouting information himself, he was radiant with delight as he continued his story.

“Of the five great beauties, they are equally pretty in terms of appearance; it is too difficult to determine which one of them is the prettiest of all. However, their status is different. The beauty that is ranked number one is Xu Meixiang, also known as Teacher Xu from the Purple Cauldron Mountain. She is alluring, unique and an outstanding beauty…. Oh right, she is also Zhang Fatso One’s master.”

“What?!” Bai Xiaochun was really astounished to learn about that. He had heard from Zhang Fatso One about his master a few times and each time Zhang Fatso One mentioned her, he described her as an old, evil witch; especially so when he first met Zhang Fatso One at the Purple Cauldron Mountain and saw that he had lost a lot of weight because that old, evil witch hated fatsos.

Thinking of his conversation with Zhang Fatso One, Bai Xiaochun could not help but form weird thoughts in his mind. He let out a dry cough and quickly dismissed his thoughts as he felt that it was too dangerous to continue with his train of thoughts.

“On the Scented Cloud Mountain, there are also two beauties; they are Zhou Xinqi, also known as Senior Sister Zhou and Du Lingfei, also known as Senior Sister Du.” Xu Baocai said with confidence, pridefully mentioning Zhou Xinqi.

“Senior Bai, you should know that at the South Bank of the Spirit River Sect, there are three brilliant cultivators. The first one is Zhou Xinqi from the Scented Cloud Mountain, the second one is Lu Tianlei from the Purple Cauldron Mountain and the last one is…. Guan Tianyou from the Green Peak Mountain! Speaking of the three of them, they are all exceptional talents!” Xu Baocai exclaimed with an envious look in his eyes.

“Even though they are so skilled, they are merely outer sect disciples, just like myself.” Bai Xiaochun sneered. He did not know, nor care about Guan Tianyou and Lu Tianlei but he had been associated with Zhou Xinqi before; the jade tablet in his pocket was given to him by Zhou Xinqi.

Xu Baocai let out a cough as he felt contempt for Bai Xiachun from the bottom of his heart but dared not openly belittle Bai Xiaochun, so he just looked at Bai Xiaochun with a forced smile.

“Senior Bai, if not for the law within the sect that every disciple must start from being an outer sect disciple, the three of them would have joined the Inner Sect long ago. Although they are currently outer sect disciples, each of them are indisputably the best among all outer sect disciples within their own Mountains. Even the disciples of the Inner Sect are wary of them because once the three of them fulfill the requirements to become inner sect disciples, they are bound to be outstanding talents! However, to the three of them, they are merely making use of the Inner Sect to achieve their goals of becoming grand disciples of the Spirit River Sect!”

Bai Xiaochun was now annoyed after listening to Xu Baocai.

“Zhou Xinqi possesses the Flora Spirit Pulse. She is sure to follow Ancestor Li’s steps to become another Medicine Master within the Spirit River sect. As for Lu Tianlei, he was born poor and he is skinny like a bag of bones. However, he possesses a rarely seen Thunder Spirit Pulse. He practices Thunder-related techniques on the Purple Cauldron Mountain and the sect master has personally said his techniques are original and unique!”

“Oh?” Bai Xiaochun was shocked to hear that. He was not new to the world of cultivation and he had quite an understanding of it but upon hearing about Thunder Spirit Pulse, he was green with envy. Possessing such a Spirit Pulse would allow one’s formidable technique to improve exponentially and furthermore, there were very little obstructions to cultivating the technique.

“There is also Guan Tianyou, who is even more impressive as he possesses the Sword Spirit. There are even rumours that he is the reincarnation of a famed swordman. Due to some unknown reasons, the Heavens favour him and Guan Tianyou was blessed with countless amount of good fortune. At the mere age of three, he stumbled upon an ancient legendary sword along his path; at the age of seven, a young Scarlet Celestial Beast descended from the Heavens and identify him as its master. At the age of thirteen, he received the Golden Ray that would protect his body from harm. His existence caught the attention of the Grand Elder of the sect.” Xu Baocai only spoke of Guan Tianyou when he saw that Bai Xiaochun had finally shown a befitting expression.

“The Heavens favour him?! Three years old… What kind of luck is this? And he is even the reincarnation of a famed swordman?!” Bai Xiaochun widened his eyes, took a deep breath and anger surfaced on his face. He had decided from the bottom of his heart that he would never provoke that Guan Tianyou, favoured by the Heavens.

“These three people are bound to reach the Foundation Establishment. Senior Bai, it could be said that joining the outer sect as a cultivator is already a difficult task but in reality, the actual difficulty is to breakthrough Qi Condensation level and reach the Foundation Establishment. Once you achieve that, your life will be changed completely as you will no longer be leading an ordinary life but instead, you will be on the actual path to attaining immortality; your lifespan will increase by a hundred years.” Xu Baocai was satisfied to see Bai Xiaochun finally lose his composure but sighed when he mentioned reaching the Foundation Establishment.

Xu Baocai sighed but Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shone with such brilliance for the first time in his entire life since the moment he heard about being able to increase one’s lifespan by one hundred years. He was filled with so much excitement that his body trembled, tears flowed out of both eyes. His mind was completely filled with the thought and he grabbed onto Xu Baocai’s arms tightly.

“Did you just say that after a cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment, he can increase his lifespan by one hundred years?!”

Xu Baocai who was in a trance, grew fearful of Bai Xiaochun when he saw his bloodshot eyes and Xu Baocai quickly nodded his head.

Bai Xiaochun’s breathing quickened in an instant and he immediately started pacing around his courtyard with hands raised up in the air, as though he was trying to catch something from above. His eyes lit up and he started to mumble to himself and broke into terrifying laughter, like a man who had lost his sanity.

Xu Baocai was even more terrified right now as he did not know what was happening to Bai Xiachun. He could feel a gust of cool wind blowing at his back. He quickly stood up from his seat and bade Bai Xiachun farewell, who did not respond at all in the crazed state that he was at the moment.

Xu Baocai took a deep breath when he saw Bai Xiaochun’s appearance had become even more frightening and he hastily left the courtyard.

A moment later, still in his bewitched state, Bai Xiaochun abruptly came to a halt. He exhaled deeply, raised his head towards the sky and laughed.

“One hundred years of lifespan!! The Foundation Establishment… I must reach the Foundation Establishment!!”