Chapter 427 - 408: The Unreturnable Qinghe Town

Chapter 427: Chapter 408: The Unreturnable Qinghe Town

But this "Lu Ping" showed none of his usual laziness or easygoing nature. His face was filled with hostility and mockery.

He was standing at the end of that familiar street in Qinghe Town, watching him coldly.

"Go with the flow?"

That "Lu Ping" sneered and strode toward him. "A fine ’go with the flow’ that is."

"Lu Ping, it’s one thing to fool those idiots in the Celestial Furnace Sect with those four words, but now... are you trying to fool yourself too?"

Lu Ping stood his ground, his brows furrowing slightly as he watched this aggressive version of himself.

"I haven’t fooled anyone."

He spoke, "I’m not fooling anyone. The past is over and gone. Since my parents left to seek immortality, and I have my own immortal destiny, why should I cling to what’s happened?"

"Seek immortality?"

The other Lu Ping reacted as if he had heard the world’s greatest joke, laughing so hard he doubled over, even slapping his thigh in exaggeration.

"HAHAHAHA! Seek immortality! A fine ’seek immortality’ indeed!"

The laughter stopped abruptly.

The other Lu Ping suddenly leaned in close, their faces almost touching.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Do you really believe that a mortal herb-gathering couple, who were barely literate and had hardly ever been anywhere besides Qinghe Town and Broken Sword Ridge, would abandon their only son right after he recovered from a serious illness? Just to search for some illusory immortal?"

Lu Ping’s heart clenched.

He instinctively retorted, "It was their destiny..."

"Destiny my ass!" the other Lu Ping cut him off crudely. "Have you really forgotten? Or is it that... you don’t even dare to think about it?!"

"And what about that so-called master in red robes."

The other Lu Ping pointed a finger toward the direction of the Celestial Furnace Sect in his memory. "Why didn’t he take you back to town? Why didn’t he let you see your mother one last time? Was it really so you could ’sever your mortal ties’?"

"Or was it..."

The other Lu Ping leaned in closer, each word seeming to be squeezed from between his teeth. "...because your mother was already dead by then?"

Lu Ping took a step back.

"Shut up."

"What? Scared?" The other Lu Ping pressed forward. "Your so-called ’go with the flow’ is just a fig leaf you use to cover your own shame!"

"You don’t dare to think about the truth because you’re afraid your fragile heart can’t take it!"

"You don’t dare to cultivate diligently because you’re afraid that once you have power, you’ll have to face that... home of yours, which may have long since become a pile of ruins!"

"You’ve turned yourself into a do-nothing so you can tell yourself with a clear conscience that you’re helpless, that you’re just weak, that you can only drift along with the current."

Lu Ping’s breathing grew ragged. He clutched the hard piece of iron on his chest.

"It’s not like that..."

"Then what is it like?" The other Lu Ping grabbed his wrist, forcefully yanked the iron piece from his clothes, and held it up before his eyes.

"This piece of junk iron! You’ve worn it against your skin for over a decade!"

"If you’ve really let go! If you’re really just ’going with the flow’! Why haven’t you thrown it away?!"

"What are you waiting for? For your parents to suddenly descend from the heavens on an auspicious cloud to get you? Or are you waiting for the day you finally have the guts to take this and go back to ask... about the truth of what happened back then?"

The piece of iron was cool to the touch, without any warmth, yet in this moment, it felt searing hot.

Lu Ping stared at the iron piece, at the long-faded patterns on its surface. The images in his mind that he had deliberately blurred, even deliberately ignored, began to surge uncontrollably.

His mother’s back as she pushed him out the door, so resolute it was as if she were marching to her death.

And that strange man in the red robe—the flash of disgust on his face when he saw Qinghe Town.

Disgust?

’What would a Cultivator find disgusting about a small mortal town? That they were mortals?’

"Admit it."

The other Lu Ping released his hand, and the iron piece fell back against Lu Ping’s chest. "You never let it go. Not for a moment."

Lu Ping lowered his head, silent.

The surrounding illusion began to tremble violently. The streets of Qinghe Town started to crumble, and cracks appeared in the sky.

"This ladder isn’t half bad. It let you meet me now. At least this way, you have a chance to survive." The other Lu Ping glanced at the collapsing sky, some of the hostility on his face fading, replaced by a sense of calm.

"If you’d waited until you were trying to break through to the Nascent Soul stage to meet me, the outcome wouldn’t have been so pleasant. The time it gives... is almost up."

"You know its trial: either you overcome it, or you get kicked out."

"But you can’t overcome this," the other Lu Ping whispered in his ear. "Because this *is* the truth."

"Instead of lying to yourself here, shouting about ’going with the flow,’ why don’t you..."

"...go back and see? See if you can truly be at ease?"

"See how Qinghe Town has developed now?"

"See what really happened in Qinghe Town all those years ago?"

"See if your parents really became immortals, or if they..."

Lu Ping’s head snapped up.

Once planted, the thought grew like a wild weed, instantly consuming his entire mind.

’Why haven’t I dared to go back and see?’

It had been over a decade.

He had gone from a powerless child to a Cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection.

’Even if it’s just to take a single look. Even if... it’s just to offer a stick of incense at a grave that might not even exist anymore.’

’Anything would be better than... staying here, pretending to be asleep.’

"I..."

"I..."

Lu Ping’s mouth opened, his voice hoarse.

"I will go back."

...

「Outside the Asking Dao Ladder.」

The atmosphere was heavy.

The wind on the mountain peak seemed to have died down, leaving only the silent flow of clouds and mist.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the figure kneeling on the eightieth step.

Lu Ping had been stuck on that step for a very long time.

He was on his knees, hands clutching the front of his robes, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. Sweat dripped from his temples and neck, soaking his back and leaving a steadily growing wet patch on the white jade step.

His lips moved constantly, as if he were arguing or muttering something, but the distance was too great and his voice too faint for any of the new disciples below to hear clearly.

Su Ling’er watched this scene, sighing to herself with a complicated look in her eyes.

’The eightieth step... Has he finally reached his limit? From the looks of it, he must be trapped deep within the Heart Demon Illusion Realm, unable to escape. What a pity... With a Dao Heart like his, he should have had a much brighter future.’

’Still, after this ordeal, he should understand the perils of the immortal path and how terrifying obsessions can be. Perhaps... this is actually a good thing for him. Perhaps... he really will choose to leave the mountain and return to the mortal world.’

Behind her, however, the group of new disciples, after their initial nervousness, began to whisper amongst themselves again, their faces filled with suspicion.

’Here we go again, here we go again! It’s the same old trick!’

’You guys think... he’s not just acting again, is he? Last time he stopped at the seventieth step, it turned out he was just taking a drink of water!’

’Who knows if he just got tired again and is putting on a show to take a break?’

They still didn’t believe him. After the farce with the water break, Lu Ping’s image in their minds had transformed from profound and unfathomable to that of a hammy actor. Maybe... this was all just an act for their benefit?

The spies from the righteous path, meanwhile, wore grave and serious expressions.

They stared at Lu Ping’s agonized state, and the scales in their hearts began to waver violently.

’No... this... it doesn’t look like he’s faking. Could it be... this Asking Dao Ladder... is real?!’

’If that’s true... then the Guixi Sect’s foundation is simply terrifying! A demonic sect that possesses a real Asking Dao Ladder... What are they planning?! What will they do in the future?!’

The spies from the demonic path, on the other hand, had different thoughts. They watched Lu Ping with eyes full of the scrutiny and admiration one would reserve for a professional shill from a rival demonic sect.

’What a convincing performance... Tsk tsk, look at the details! It’s simply flawless!’

’He’s using this method to deliberately expose a ’flaw,’ telling us the Asking Dao Ladder is real. This is a trap to make those of us with ill intentions lower our guard!’

’So the Guixi Sect not only uses fakes to bluff people, but they also hire professional shills to pull off this kind of ’double agent’ routine? I have to admit, the acting is pretty convincing! Truly worthy of being an up-and-coming demonic sect.’

As for the players mixed in with the crowd, they were utterly bored. Some had even started to yawn.

"Lame. He’s already on his knees?" one player muttered. "I thought he might break the little junior sister’s record, but he couldn’t even make it past the eightieth step."

"Let’s bounce. He’ll probably collect his reward when he wakes up and then get teleported down by the system."

"Hey, why not watch a little longer?" someone next to him suggested. "Maybe he’ll get a hidden reward like Dong Changsheng did."

"Forget it. He doesn’t have the [Strong Luck] trait. He’s not that fortunate. C’mon, let’s go farm some materials."

Just as the crowd was lost in their own thoughts—some sympathetic, some suspicious, some impressed, some disdainful—on the Asking Dao Ladder, Lu Ping’s violently trembling body... suddenly went still.

He slowly raised his head.

He had finally woken up from that nightmare.

And at that moment, a pillar of heavenly light pierced through the sea of clouds above the peak and enveloped Lu Ping!

The Asking Dao Ladder’s reward—a Spiritual Qi infusion—had begun.

"It’s just a Spiritual Qi infusion, and it’s way weaker than the little junior sister’s! Doesn’t look like any real reward."

"Whatever, let’s go!"

The few remaining players who had stayed to see what would happen were greatly disappointed and also left.

But within the pillar of light, Lu Ping felt no pain.

On the contrary, he felt very warm.

The warmth seeped into him through his pores, so comfortable it made him want to stretch out and go right back to sleep.

The Spiritual Power in his body had once been a pool of stagnant water.

He had a three-Spirit Root, what was known as mediocre aptitude.

When he normally cultivated, absorbing Spiritual Qi was like squeezing toothpaste, inching into his meridians bit by bit.

But now, this vast Spiritual Power descending from the sky didn’t play by any rules.

It charged brutally into his meridians, filling every dry corner of his body in the blink of an eye.

The great chasm between mortal and Cultivator, that insurmountable barrier, couldn’t even withstand the impact of that raging pillar of light for a single breath before it shattered with a CRACK!