Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 327

She looked at Xue Baoping, wanting to ask her why she would say such nonsense to deceive her. But the words caught in her throat—yes, why would someone with a sound mind say such nonsense to deceive her?
“Li Wuxiang… eighteen years old?” Tong Xu frowned. “You mean the eighteen-year-old he lived for eighteen years?”

When Xue Baoping heard Tong Xu ask this question, she knew there was no need to explain anymore. According to Li Wuxiang, if something sounds absurd, but the person listening keeps asking, then that person is most likely to believe it.

Tong Xu was the leader of one of the Thirty-Six Sects. Although he was nothing compared to major sects like the Taiyi Sect, the Six Ministries, or even the Juque Sect, he was still a behemoth in the Central Continent, excluding sects of that level. Such a leader had countless channels and methods for gathering information. Li Wuxiang didn't deliberately conceal his whereabouts after leaving Jinshui. His exact age was difficult to ascertain, but his cultivation level when he first appeared in the martial world was easily determined.

Xue Baoping nodded: "Whether it's true or not, Senior Sister Tong, you can find out for yourself. Just now in the courtyard, Li Yin and Zheng Jingxi both said that those who know the times are heroes, but I think they lack backbone and can't be considered heroes. But the phrase 'knowing the times'... Senior Sister, don't be angry—no matter what benefits you think you can get from the Blood God Sect, I don't think they have a seventeen or eighteen-year-old Nascent Soul cultivator. If we're talking about who you should side with to go far... I don't think it will be them."

Tong Xu wouldn't immediately believe everything Xue Baoping said, but one thing was already clear—her relationship with Li Wuxiang wasn't what she had initially thought.

The fact that a seventeen or eighteen-year-old Nascent Soul cultivator shocked her, but the relationship between the two of them shocked her just as much.

Marriage is an essential part of life for ordinary people; it's something they can't avoid or ignore. But for spiritual practitioners, it's truly optional.

Because the common people in this world get married for only one purpose—the wealthy want to expand their family's power and have someone to carry on the family line, while ordinary people want to have children to take care of them when they get old.

However, cultivators are physically strong, and those who cultivate well may even be immune to birth, aging, sickness, and death for decades or even centuries, so they have little need in this regard. In fact, marriage before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage can significantly hinder cultivation.

As for those who have reached the Foundation Establishment stage? Before reaching the Golden Core stage, it's naturally best to be able to restrain one's vital energy from being depleted. Even if someone can't resist, or feels that this is how their life will be and wants to leave offspring, there are many rules to follow when choosing a spouse.

The most common scenario is male or female cultivators seeking a cultivation vessel. This kind of cultivation vessel in the world is different from what Li Wuxiang had heard of in his previous life. In the novels of his previous life, a cultivation vessel was described as someone who could enjoy the pleasures of sexual intercourse while simultaneously absorbing yin to replenish yang or vice versa to enhance cultivation. But there's no such thing in this world. Below the Golden Core stage, any yin-yang interaction inevitably leads to physical imbalances.

It's merely finding a vessel; during pleasure, one might use the other's essence to slightly compensate, minimizing their own loss. As for the vessel, if the other doesn't want to leave descendants, then it's a true loss, potentially even slowly depleting one's innate energy. No one would want to do such a thing unless driven to desperation or forced into it.

Another example is the Six Ministries of Mysterious Sects—these sects have the most practitioners who marry. Actually, it wasn't initially that the practitioners of the Mysterious Sect preferred to do this; it was only because the sect needed more seedlings for cultivation that it was forced upon them. Over time, it became a habit, and they no longer resisted it.

The rarest case is when both parties are of similar cultivation level and deeply in love, they actually become a couple. This is uncommon within the diocese, and even rarer outside of it, making it a celebrated story. However, not everyone approves of this. This is because in the cultivation world outside the diocese, there is a kind of "emotional shame"—a person who wants to marry or find a partner is generally considered to lack mental fortitude, and it's not considered a good thing.

And what about those above the Golden Core stage? Reaching this level is practically considered longevity in the eyes of ordinary people; they can easily live for two or three hundred years. As for the Nascent Soul and Yang Spirit stages, since they can be called terrestrial immortals, then turtles and tortoises are considered short-lived ghosts compared to them.

At this level of cultivation, one is both human and not human. When interacting with people of similar cultivation levels, or those who can barely be considered low-level cultivators, one is similar to ordinary people. But if one encounters a truly ordinary person—with different lifespans, different lifestyles, and even different eating habits—the difference is greater than the difference between a human and a dog.

Therefore, at least until this moment, Tong Xu really couldn't imagine that someone like Li Wuxiang, with his Nascent Soul cultivation, would be "dependent on each other for life" with a little girl in the Qi Refining stage.

She didn't know much about Li Wuxiang. Before, it was mostly rumors related to fighting and killing, and then there was what Xue Baoping had just told her. And it was these things that made Tong Xu realize, despite her utter confusion, that this person seemed truly extraordinary.

She stood there for a moment, then spoke again, her tone almost devoid of hostility: "This matter actually has nothing to do with the Blood God Cult. Little girl, since you want to ask, I might as well tell you. You said it's because of love, so be it. Interests and current affairs can resolve it, but love is the only thing that cannot. If you two are really as you say, you should understand what I mean."

Before Xue Baoping could speak again, Tong Xu smiled at her and said, "You are a good child, so I will leave you with a few words."

"No matter how old Li Wuxiang is this year, there have been many outstanding talents in this world over the past three thousand years. There are also those with higher cultivation than him who are about to attain the True Immortal realm. But do you know who they are today? There are people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens. I am out of touch with reality now not because I do not know the power of the Sword Sect's techniques, but because I know that the world's strong people are not only in the Taiyi Sect."

“I won’t listen to your advice, but you still did. I’m going to give you advice, but you probably won’t listen either. But I still have to say something—leave Dapan Mountain as soon as possible. Your lover, Li Wuxiang, might die younger than you think.”

Xue Baoping was slightly taken aback. Given Tong Xu's cultivation and knowledge, especially at this moment, he certainly wouldn't be unaware of Li Wuxiang's power. But… "Strong individuals aren't limited to the Taiyi Sect," and "short-lived"?
"Senior Sister Tong, that corpse demon from Qingpu Mountain isn't at the Golden Core stage, is it?"

Tong Xu smiled, stepped into the lake without making a ripple, and left behind only one sentence: "These aren't the only terrible things in the world. You'd better watch yourself!"

(End of this chapter)