Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 402: Chapter 35 My Protective Senior Sister
 

“`

The White Jade Capital’s grand tournament this time, the senior ranks of the Shushan have announced a clear price for the rewards for each seat.

Among them, if one could enter the top six seats, regardless of the specific ranking, the guaranteed reward is a vermilion marrow pill.

From the fifth to the first seat, aside from the vermilion marrow pills, there are additional rewards, though it’s unknown what they specifically are.

“With this vermilion marrow pill, consuming a single one could add thirty years to your Refining Mansion cultivation,” Lin Duanshan also added, “but the best part is that there is no limit to consumption.”

Ling Yunpo’s spirit suddenly surged, “No limit? What do you mean by that?”

“Ordinary medicines, like Mercurial Elixir Liquid, you can only take one spoonful and not anymore. However, the vermilion marrow pill is different. It’s said that the Ziwei Sect Leader of Kunlun consumed a total of three vermilion marrow pills back in the days, which is equivalent to increasing ninety years of cultivation without encountering an upper limit,” Lin Duanshan lamented, “From this, it can be seen that the value of the vermilion marrow pill is actually higher than that of a similar thirty-year Purple Mansion secret medicine.”

“Of course,” Guan Shanyue said with a smile in agreement, “say there’s a spoonful of Mercurial Elixir Liquid and two vermilion marrow pills for me to choose, I would definitely pick the latter.”

“That’s because if you consumed two vermilion marrow pills, in the future, through other means, whether it’s obtaining more vermilion marrow pills or other Purple Mansion secret medicines, you could continue to increase your cultivation.”

“But if you chose a spoonful of Mercurial Elixir Liquid, and then later on accidentally acquired more Mercurial Elixir Liquid, you wouldn’t be able to partake more due to hitting the limit, wouldn’t that be a regret for life?”

“Indeed,” An Zhisu nodded but only saw her junior brother beside her frown, saying nothing.

The group followed her gaze, each looking toward Ling Yunpo.

At this moment, Ling Yunpo was thinking, what exactly did the Ziwei Sect Leader do back then to get three vermilion marrow pills all at once?

It couldn’t have been saving the Three Pure Ones of the Orthodox Sect.

After pondering for a while, he curiously asked,

“This vermilion marrow pill… what materials are used to refine it?”

“Heh,” Duan Fenhai said with a chuckle, “the formulation for refining the vermilion marrow pill is not a top secret, and most of the materials are not hard to obtain, only one key ingredient is absolutely rare and impossible to acquire unless one comes from a major sect.”

“What’s the key ingredient?” Ling Yunpo asked earnestly.

“A drop of an immortal’s essence blood,” Duan Fenhai answered.

Everyone: ……

Fuck! Ling Yunpo suddenly cursed in his heart.

He suddenly realized that in the Demon Locking Tower before, didn’t the immortal-ranked Ying Long give him a drop of essence blood, allowing him to disguise as Long Long?

If only he had known to ask for a few more drops and refine four or five vermilion marrow pills, wouldn’t he have reached the First Grade Golden Core by now!

“Guan Shanyue,” An Zhisu asked puzzled, apparently thinking along the same lines as Ling Yunpo, “if vermilion marrow pills require an immortal’s essence blood, can’t you just ask your family’s ancestor for a few drops and directly reach high-grade Golden Core?”

“An Zhisu, your thoughts are quite simple,” Guan Shanyue said with a laugh, “an immortal’s essence blood is damaging to their origin, how could I possibly ask for it from the ancestor?”

“Even the Head of the Kunlun Sect back then, who consumed three vermilion marrow pills, obtained them from three different immortals. Unless you can owe a great favor from an immortal, it’s virtually impossible to obtain such a thing,” Guan Shanyue explained.

“Speaking of which, do you guys know why Shushan was able to release six vermilion marrow pills all at once this time?” Lin Duanshan suddenly asked in a low voice.

“Please elaborate, Brother Lin,” Ling Yunpo quickly said.

“The sect is speculating that it’s due to the great shock Dao Ye True Person’s death brought to that person,” Lin Duanshan said gravely, “Essence blood is only shed when the heart meridian is shocked to injury, and each additional drop is a tremendous damage.”

“However, if it’s due to a severe shock to the soul, with the heart meridian damaged and the essence blood involuntarily shed… then turning it all into vermilion marrow pills to avoid waste would explain it.”

“You mean, that person’s soul was harmed due to the loss of a beloved disciple?” Guan Shanyue squinted.

“It’s just speculation,” Lin Duanshan shook his head, “but for an immortal, even damage to the heart meridian isn’t a serious injury; a hundred years of rest would be enough for recovery.”

“Therefore, we can’t rule out the possibility that the person wanted to support the sect’s prestige, thus releasing all the accumulated vermilion marrow pills during this tournament,” Lin Duanshan suggested.

“That really is a heavy investment,” An Zhisu said offhandedly.

“`

Then, she saw everyone staring at her with astonishment.

“What’s the matter, did I say something wrong?” An Zhisu asked, puzzled.

“Nothing,” everyone shook their heads.

To “spend blood” could be understood as paying a hefty price, as well as literally using essence blood as capital – it was a rather ingenious pun.

However, considering the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal’s tactless social faux pas, everyone guessed it was probably a coincidence and decided not to dwell on it.

“Speaking of which,” Duan Fenhai pondered aloud, “can our Shushan really secure the top six spots? I doubt that.”

“For instance, if Shushan had only two participants reaching the top six in the White Jade Capital competition, it would only cost us two Mercurial Elixir Flowers… Perhaps the sect didn’t even prepare six of them.”

“It’s not just unlikely, it’s impossible.” Lin Duanshan said with a bitter smile, “The Chief Disciple of the Foundation Establishment Realm from Kunlun, Daoist Heart Clarity Qiu Changtian, you all know him, right? He was the one who went to the Demon Locking Tower with us last time.”

“How could we not know him?” Guan Shanyue said with a smile.

Everyone took her comment to mean “Qiu Changtian is so famous, so of course we know him”, but only Ling Yunpo understood that Guan Shanyue said so because her cousin, Guan Zhan, happened to be Qiu Changtian’s fellow disciple.

Since the Chief Disciple is expected to teach on behalf of the master, Qiu Changtian was technically Guan Zhan’s senior in status but his mentor in reality; with Guan Shanyue’s personality, it was almost impossible that she hadn’t paid attention to Qiu Changtian.

“Then, what do you think about Qiu Changtian’s strength?” Lin Duanshan asked with a sigh.

“If I faced him, winning would be impossible,” Duan Fenhai said gravely, “According to friends I have at Kunlun, that Chief Disciple of the Foundation Establishment Realm has likely already reached the Jade Mansion stage, and his current goal is the Second Grade Golden Core.”

“I’ve heard as much,” Guan Shanyue said with a laugh, “The Head of the Kunlun Sect instructed Qiu Changtian to take the top spot at the White Jade Capital competition at all costs.”

“That way, he will not only be the Foundation Establishment Chief Disciple of Kunlun but also the ‘Chief Disciple’ of the Three Pure Orthodox Sect.”

“Of course, the Head of the Kunlun Sect is confident when he says that.” Lin Duanshan spoke gravely, “I’ve heard that Qiu Changtian’s strength has already reached…”

“Enough,” An Zhisu suddenly interjected coldly. “Talk about intelligence if you must, but what’s the use of constantly praising the enemy’s strength? When sword immortals like us encounter a formidable foe, we should draw our swords and face the challenge!”

“The competition is not a life-or-death duel; no matter how strong or fierce Qiu Changtian is, are you really afraid he’ll kill you?”

“You have a point,” Lin Duanshan quickly said with a forced laugh, “We were the ones being timid, thanks to Senior Sister An for the wakeup call.”

But Guan Shanyue wouldn’t let it go and said with a smile,

“Lin Duanshan, reflect on your own words, and don’t drag us into it. Everyone has long been aware of Qiu Changtian’s strength; what’s wrong with discussing it?”

“An Zhisu, if it were you, could you have handled the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation by the Intercepting Cult on your own during the last assault on Penglai by the Demon Cult?”

“That wasn’t the complete Immortal Slaying Sword Formation…” An Zhisu started to explain but was cut off by Duan Fenhai:

“Even if it wasn’t complete, many Nascent Soul Elders from Kunlun were trapped in it and could not escape. Do you, An Zhisu, really think you are more formidable than the Kunlun Elders?”

“That’s not what I meant,” An Zhisu retorted angrily. “But I don’t believe that Qiu Changtian could be more powerful than the Kunlun Elders! He must have taken some shortcut!”

Ling Yunpo chuckled to himself: Indeed, thanks to my Green Duckweed Sword, which provided the strategy to break the formation…

But it seems Senior Sister An has quite a poor impression of Qiu Changtian! That’s right, I remember the first time they met at the Demon Locking Tower, she disliked his pompous entrance.

“Regardless of how exaggeratedly others speak of him, on the arena of the White Jade Capital competition, the swords in our hands will do the talking!” An Zhisu concluded vehemently. “In my view, Junior Brother Ling is no weaker than that Qiu Changtian!”

Seeing her becoming irrational and jumping to conclusions, what more could Lin Duanshan and the others say? They could only awkwardly offer a few agreements. After all, no one wanted to engage in a premature showdown with the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal before the competition.

Ling Yunpo too showed an awkward smile.

Although Senior Sister was merely showing partiality, this time she had surprisingly hit the nail on the head.

Logically speaking, I couldn’t possibly be weaker than “myself”.