C3 He Said That It Was a Pity That She Did Not Die

"What?" Hua Shang Ji's face went through a series of changes. She couldn't believe it had come to this. After searching far and wide for a worthy disciple, she finally found one, only to be rejected.

Had it been a mere rejection, Hua Shang Ji could have gracefully accepted it as a matter of destiny and moved on. With a few subtle maneuvers, she could have easily persuaded the young man to willingly become her disciple. But to her surprise, she had been outmatched by that old skeleton who practiced an unconventional path.

"Good boy, you've got an eye for quality," the old skeleton couldn't help but admire the young man's unexpected choice to select him as a master, fully aware of his own ghastly appearance. Even he wouldn't have chosen himself.

"Little one, don't be ensnared by his deceptive magic," Hua Shang Ji suspected the old skeleton had tampered with the young man. Without waiting for a reaction from either of them, she gathered a drop of her vital essence and released the spell.

"Purification Spell!" Concerned that a regular spell might not suffice, Hua Shang Ji used her own blood essence to amplify its power. With her cultivation at the Great Perfection of Foundation Building, only a practitioner with a Golden Core or higher could cast a spell she couldn't dispel.

A verdant light cascaded down upon the young man, the green glow washing over him like a cleansing stream, purging every trace of corruption from his being.

"Is this the Purification Spell?" The young man, feeling the transformation within, spoke without understanding the full extent of what was happening.

"Ah!"

But there was no time for contemplation as he was suddenly wracked with an intense, tearing pain. He cried out in agony, then bit down hard, stifling any further sound, trusting his instincts that this excruciating pain would ultimately benefit him.

"Hua Shang Ji, I truly appreciate the welcoming gift you've given my disciple. When you find your next disciple, I'll be sure to reciprocate the gesture," the old skeleton said with a chuckle, amused by the fortunate misunderstanding. For once, someone's misjudgment had worked in his favor. He could see right through Hua Shang Ji's intentions, yet he had indeed done nothing.

The skeletal old monster immediately recognized the brilliance emanating from the Purification Technique; if Hua Shang Ji hadn't utilized a superior Dao weapon, then she must have tapped into her own blood essence. How else could the results be so impressive? Yet, to use a technique meant for expelling evil with the potency of cleansing one's marrow and purifying the essence was an utter extravagance.

Indeed, he was a disciple from a prestigious sect, his foundation far deeper than that of an old man like himself. He had been in the Foundation Building stage for fifty-six years, with only eleven drops of blood essence remaining in his body.

For someone in the Foundation Building stage, a single drop of blood essence, which could only be condensed once a year, held the explosive power of a mid-grade Dao weapon. For the Skull Monster, such a treasure was life-saving.

But Hua Shang Ji had used it without a second thought. He simply couldn't compare; it was truly incomparable.

"Hmph, don't get too pleased with yourself. Once he's done with the marrow cleansing, we'll see if you can still smile," Hua Shang Ji muttered after expending a drop of her blood essence. Feeling a slight depletion in her Qi and blood, she sat down to meditate and regain her balance.

The old skeleton, however, had a sudden realization—if Hua Shang Ji decided to compete with him for future cultivation resources, he would stand no chance. He could only hope that the young man would keep his word. It was ironic that after dominating the world for so many years, he now found himself anxious over a child's whims. The thought brought a wry smile to his face.

Hua Shang Ji detected the shift in the old skeleton's aura and merely scoffed. She had no intention of relinquishing her talented disciple to the Skull Monster.

As the green glow receded, the young man's pain gradually subsided. He longed to express his gratitude to the enchanting fairy whose beauty made him reluctant to even breathe too heavily, but he discovered he was unable to speak.

"Do not fear. You were once a mere mortal, and it's common for your fragile throat to struggle with adapting to such an overwhelming influx of spiritual power. It could take as little as seven days or up to a couple of months, but you'll recover," Hua Shang Ji reassured him with an air of grace as she rose and approached him with a motherly tenderness.

The old skeleton internally cursed the sly woman. Did she really think her sweet words could sway someone's decision? Despite his inner rant, he acknowledged that even he might not resist such kindness. Cultivators were often deemed heartless, yet he practiced a path of emotional and righteous dual cultivation, making him more prone to sentimentality than the average person.

One should repay kindness with kindness.

The old skeleton was on edge. If the young man realized the significance of the Purification and Marrow Cleansing for a cultivator, he would have no grounds to object if the young man chose to follow Hua Shangji.

"I do have a method that could have you speaking within seven days. Would you like to learn it from me?" Hua Shangji was brimming with confidence. Such a tangible benefit would surely be irresistible to anyone. And if the young man agreed, how could he possibly slip away?

Watching Hua Shangji's self-assured smile, the old skeleton inwardly railed against her. She was more shrewd than he was. If she joined the ranks of the Devil Dao, she would undoubtedly outperform him. What has the world come to when even a devil is left without recourse?

"If you're willing, just nod," Hua Shangji coaxed gently, casting a sidelong glance at the old skeleton who seemed resigned to his fate. She thought to herself that if he truly wanted to compete with her, he should have taken things more seriously from the start.

The young man gazed at the ethereal fairy before him. While he longed to become her disciple, he inexplicably felt a stronger kinship with the old skeleton.

Selecting a branch and a patch of soft earth, the young man began to scrawl his message.

Hua Shangji's eyes sparkled with recognition. She had pegged the young man as a simple rustic, yet here he was, literate and writing. He was indeed an uncut gem.

"Can you help me avenge my wrongs?"

With these succinct words, the young man looked expectantly at Hua Shangji, his eyes filled with hope.

"This... As cultivators, we should value peace above all," Hua Shangji hesitated, reflecting on the ethos of her sect and the many righteous cultivators in the West, all of whom upheld this tenet.

Naturally, this excluded the demonic factions.

The young man nodded, the gleam in his eyes fading to show his understanding. He then stepped forward to the old skeleton, bowed deeply, and accepted him as his master in a fluid motion.

Hua Shangji hadn't anticipated such a turn of events. She had thought that even if the young man was aware of her stance, once he became her disciple, she would naturally come to his aid should he need it in the future.

As for those lofty words, they were spoken for the ears of the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is omnipresent, watching over every word and deed of the Orthodox Dao cultivators, who tread carefully, ever fearful of divine retribution.

The skeleton old monster had resigned himself to the notion that he would not find a disciple and was prepared to depart when, unexpectedly, the young man approached and performed the most genuine gesture of apprenticeship.

Watching Hua Shangji's face contort with rage, the skeleton old monster couldn't help but feel smug. After some thought, he reluctantly pulled a secret manual from his storage bag with a pained expression.

"Disciple, since this is our first meeting, I don't have much to offer you. Take this high-grade cultivation technique, 'Dragon and Phoenix in the Sky.' It details the Supreme Dual Cultivation Path of our sect. If you find the right Dao partner, reaching the Nascent Infant stage will be just around the corner."

For a cultivator, the foundation of one's Dao is paramount, followed by the cultivation technique. The right technique can make progress exponentially faster.

I've heard of a Heavenly Venerate in the South with a rather lackluster Dao foundation. After fifty years of cultivation, his hair had whitened, yet he had only reached the second level of Qi Refining, merely sweeping the floors of his sect. But with guidance from a sage, he abandoned his former techniques for an equally unremarkable method and, within a single day, ascended through the Foundation Building stage, formed his Golden Core, and achieved the Nascent Infant state. Eventually, he mastered the void and became a revered Heavenly Venerate in the North. The significance of the right cultivation technique is thus quite evident.

"Humph, you haven't even tested his elemental affinity. Even with a high-grade cultivation technique, how well can he practice it?" Hua Shangji saw through the skeleton old monster's bravado but couldn't stand to see such a promising youth squandered by the old fiend.

"What do you understand? This cultivation technique may only be high-grade, but it's no less effective than the supreme-grade technique you're practicing," the old skeleton sneered, confident in his offering.

"The brilliance of the 'Dragon and Phoenix Manifestation' lies in its ability to absorb and emulate the Dao foundation of one's Dao partner. Hehe, the Heavenly Dao may not be just, but our ancestors were geniuses who managed to outwit it. Practitioners of this technique who find a Dao partner with a high-grade Dao foundation can themselves achieve a high-grade foundation. And those who find a partner with a supreme-grade or even the mythical celestial foundation can attain the same. It's not just a fantasy," the old skeleton boasted, his words igniting a fervent desire in others to immediately seek out a Dao partner with a celestial foundation.

"Hmph, it's not delusion; it's a fantasy. This young man has already achieved an upper-tier Dao foundation. A supreme Dao foundation is rare, and a celestial Dao foundation is once in a millennium. Don't mislead him," Hua Shangji countered sharply.

"Furthermore, this cultivation technique goes against the natural order. It claims to be dual cultivation, but in reality, it's no different from the sinister practices of those who drain blood and consume souls. You'd best destroy it quickly, lest I be forced to intervene." A chill had settled in Hua Shangji's eyes. As a disciple from a prestigious sect, she was naturally averse to such calamities emerging in the world.

"I don't want it."

The old skeleton monster was about to respond when his attention was captured by the words the young man had written.

"Hmm?"

This wasn't the first time the old skeleton monster had encountered a disciple who refused his offer of apprenticeship. Usually, those disciples either sought to gain his attention or were acting on the advice of their elders. But this young man seemed to have a different motive.

Hua Shangji, standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh. Her beauty, already striking, now shone with the radiance of a myriad of blossoms in full bloom.

"What do you desire?"

The old skeleton monster paid no mind to Hua Shangji's laughter, genuinely unsure of what he could offer besides the cultivation method. Was he expected to offer his own blood essence as well?

But for the young man, whose body had already been refined with Hua Shangji's blood essence, to achieve a noticeable improvement would require more than just a drop or two of blood essence. It would take a regimen of cleansing for 49 days straight, potentially yielding an indestructible physical form.

"My life-bound magic tool."

The young man's written words caused both the old skeleton and Hua Shangji to inhale sharply. A cultivator's life-bound magic tool was not something to be given lightly. Even if the cultivator willingly made contact with it, they risked severe depletion of their vitality and the loss of a significant portion of their cultivation.

For a cultivator stripped of their power, it was akin to being at death's door.

"Are you sure you checked thoroughly? He couldn't be the reincarnation of some demonic ancestor, could he?" The old skeleton gazed at Hua Shangji, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

"I've made sure of it," Hua Shangji replied, though she harbored some doubts herself. If those powerful beings had reincarnated with contingencies in place, she might not be able to detect them.

"Without you here, I'd be tempted to kill him," the old skeleton admitted, revealing his self-centered nature as a cultivator.

"I won't allow you to kill him. Let me take him with me; it's better for both of us," Hua Shangji proposed. She had never imagined that a mere mortal could cause two Foundation Building cultivators to second-guess themselves.

"That's out of the question. He's set his sights on my life-bound magical weapon. Should I wait for him to grow stronger and return to kill me?" The old skeleton rejected the idea without a moment's hesitation.

Yet, he found himself in a dilemma: unable to kill the boy, but also afraid to let him live.

For a brief moment, only the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves filled the silence.

"That one isn't right for you. Find a different one. This one, give it to me; it's useful," the youth said, etching symbols into the earth, captivating the minds of the two Foundation Building cultivators.

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