Cultivating Immortality: What kind of cheat can you use if you don't have money?

Chapter 13 The Truth

The guard dragged Qin Ruoxi along as they raced through the mountains, his heart filled with both anger and anxiety.

"Miss! In the chaos just now, why didn't you escape directly towards the main house on the mountain!"

Qin Ruoxi shook her head and slowly said, "You can't escape. Put me down and go on your own. Maybe there's still a glimmer of hope."

"If you die, do you think the patriarch and the patriarch will spare me?"

A resolute glint flashed in the guard's eyes. "No matter what, I will not let you suffer any harm! I will cover your retreat."

He pushed Qin Ruoxi backward, then resolutely turned around to face the way he had come, even though he was already exhausted.

Qin Ruoxi watched his staggering figure, her lips slightly parted, but in the end she didn't say anything, her words turning into a sigh.

She walked slowly into the depths of the mountains and forests, and sat down quietly as she passed a giant rock.

Before long, four figures exuding a strong killing intent caught up and surrounded her.

"You bastard, you're really hard to kill, and you even caused the death of one of our brothers!" The leader, a thin-faced cultivator, had a sinister expression.

When the other three saw Qin Ruoxi's slender figure and aloof temperament up close, they couldn't help but feel their mouths dry and their eyes gleamed with lust.

"Boss...we brothers have never tasted the flavor of such a refined lady before..." one of them said, licking his chapped lips and panting heavily.

The gaunt monk hesitated, but another immediately chimed in, "Boss, just try a little... it'll be ready soon."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ruoxi's expression changed drastically. "You!"

She wasn't afraid of death, but she absolutely couldn't accept being humiliated before her death.

Just then, the four of them felt a howling wind, and by the time they realized what was happening, one of them had already died on the spot.

"Third brother!" The gaunt monk's eyes widened in fury.

Now that Li Qingyi and Han Feiyu have made their move, they will not give them a chance to catch their breath.

These four assassins had already exhausted their magic and physical strength in the previous battle, so how could they be a match for the two?

Han Feiyu drew his longsword, and a condensed blade aura roared out, instantly cleaving another person in two.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the gaunt monk did not hesitate and turned to flee for his life into the depths of the dense forest.

"You handle this, I'll go after them!" Li Qingyi said quickly to Han Feiyu, then moved like lightning, chasing after the fleeing leader.

Li Qingyi quickly caught up with the gaunt cultivator who was at his last gasp.

When the other person saw Li Qingyi's face clearly, they exclaimed in horror, "It's...it's you! The talisman seller!"

Without uttering a single word, Li Qingyi struck ruthlessly and decisively, killing him instantly.

He died with his eyes wide open in disbelief!

Li Qingyi quickly searched the corpse and found only a shrunken storage bag. When she opened it, she found a single spirit stone lying inside.

"You poor bastard!" He put away the spirit stone and immediately turned back.

The cultivator suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down his face, and kowtowed, begging for mercy.

"Spare me! Hero, spare me!"

A fierce glint flashed in Han Feiyu's eyes as he recalled their foul language and roared:

"You beasts, you deserve to die!"

With a swift stroke, a head fell to the ground.

Qin Ruoxi stared blankly at Han Feiyu, without saying a word.

Han Feiyu sheathed his sword, put it back in his storage bag, and approached Qin Ruoxi. After a long silence, he cautiously spoke:

"Xiaotong, is that you?"

Beneath the veil, a girl's voice, choked with sobs, came through: "Brother Han..."

Han Feiyu reached out, wanting to lift the veil and see the face of her old friend clearly.

The girl recoiled abruptly, shaking her head violently, her voice pleading, "Brother Han...you can't..."

Seeing this, Li Qingyi understood immediately.

The girl named Xiaotong in front of you is Qin Ruoxi's scapegoat.

He just couldn't understand why someone of such high status would fake their death.

"Xiaotong, I'll take you away." Han Feiyu stepped forward, opened his arms, and wanted to embrace the girl.

However, the girl's voice became increasingly hoarse, and red spots began to appear on the surface of her body.

"It's too late... Brother Han..."

Before she could finish speaking, her body spontaneously combusted! Crimson flames instantly engulfed her.

"No!!" Han Feiyu roared in despair.

Amidst the flames, the girl used her last strength to speak haltingly:

"That knife in the blacksmith's shop... it was... something I prepared for you... Remember... to go and get it..."

In just a few breaths, a living person turned into a handful of ashes right before his eyes.

Only a white dress, symbolizing Qin Ruoxi's identity, remained.

Han Feiyu knelt on the ground, digging her hands into the soil. Staring at the pile of ashes and clothes, her eyes were empty, and tears silently streamed down her face.

Li Qingyi watched all this quietly from the side, her heart filled with mixed feelings.

No wonder Xiaotong didn't run away; it turns out she had already been placed under a restriction, and her fate was already sealed—she was doomed no matter what.

He didn't give Han Feiyu much time to wallow in grief. He quickly checked the other bodies and, finding nothing else, pulled the distraught Han Feiyu to her feet.

"Xiao Tong, she..."

"These clothes are key to someone's carefully laid plan; we absolutely cannot touch them! If we don't leave now, we'll be dragged into this and die with her."

Seeing that Han Feiyu remained unmoved, Li Qingyi spoke again, "If you want revenge, you'll have to live first."

Upon hearing this, Han Feiyu gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing her grief, and followed Li Qingyi, quickly disappearing into the dense forest.

The two wandered through the mountains and forests for nearly half an hour, making sure they had shaken off all possible pursuers, before quietly returning to the market.

Han Feiyu remained silent the entire way, looking dejected.

Li Qingyi didn't know how to comfort him, so she could only accompany him back to his temporary inn room.

He followed along, hoping to obtain more information from Han Feiyu.

I know so little right now.

As the sun set and dusk fell, Han Feiyu gazed at the lights gradually coming on outside the window and slowly came back to her senses.

Li Qingyi kept a watchful eye on the street below through the crack in the window.

The Qin family had deployed a large number of law enforcement officers and were conducting a massive search. Almost every vendor and cultivator associated with talismans was taken away without explanation.

Li Qingyi secretly calculated in her heart:

"I took care of the assassin ahead of time this time, so they shouldn't be able to trace it back to me, right?"

Although he rationally judged that the risk had decreased, it was still reality, not a simulator, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Dusk was falling.

Watching the law enforcement team escort a long line of suspects away towards the main house, and seeing that none of them were from the Qing clan, he finally felt a little relieved and let out a long sigh of relief.

"I still have five spirit stones left. I must find a way to get five more and simulate again as soon as possible."

Everything that happened today made him realize that the cultivation world is far more cruel and unpredictable than depicted in novels from his previous life.

There are hardly any opportunities for safe development; a slight misstep can lead to utter ruin.

A strong sense of urgency arose spontaneously.

The last rays of the setting sun shone through the window, illuminating his sharply defined profile in a dim, hazy light.

He clenched his fist, his desire for a higher realm and greater power growing stronger.

"Brother, what are you thinking about?" Han Feiyu walked up to him at some point, his voice a little hoarse.

Li Qingyi didn't turn around, gazing at the deepening night outside the window, and said softly:

"I'm thinking about how to achieve immortality."

Han Feiyu laughed, "Immortality? Even a powerful expert at the Golden Core stage only enjoys a lifespan of a thousand years. Immortality? It's nothing but a mirage, a vague and illusory legend."

"Is there no higher realm than the Golden Core stage?" Li Qingyi pressed.

Han Feiyu pondered for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "It's possible, but I don't know."

Upon hearing this answer, Li Qingyi raised an eyebrow. "Why 'possibly'?"

"From childhood to adulthood, I have never heard anyone mention any realm beyond the Golden Core stage."

Li Qingyi, with her back to Han Feiyu, stroked her chin, lost in thought. "It's impossible that she's only at the Golden Core stage and her path to immortality has already ended, isn't it?"

"Forget it, there's no use thinking about it now. Should we just leave the Qin clan?"

Li Qingyi had the idea of ​​running away. The Qin family now gave him an inexplicable and eerie feeling.

"Brother Qin, I have a story to tell. Would you like to hear it?"

Han Feiyu suddenly said something.

"I'd like to hear more details." Li Qingyi nodded, not refusing. It was always a good thing to know more.

At the same time, he became even more curious about Han Feiyu's identity. At eighteen or nineteen years old, he was already considered a genius at the second level of Qi Refining.

After all, there are quite a few people below who are thirty years old and have not yet broken through to the Qi Refining stage.

Han Feiyu pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke:

Once upon a time, there was a boy. He was very fortunate. When he was ten years old, he met someone in the mountains who would change his life.

Li Qingyi looked puzzled after hearing this. "Hmm? This opening line... are you sure you're not talking about me?"