Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 415 Stories Are Always So Similar
“I don’t know,” Wei Xi shook his head slightly. “If it’s been a long time, the place name may have changed.”

"Could it be that 'taking all the water from Pingjiang' means Pingjiang isn't a place, but a river?"

Even though he came up with the idea himself, Qin Feng was still somewhat incredulous—what kind of thing could take away a river? It was simply a fantasy!

Unexpectedly, Wei Xi readily accepted the idea, simply saying, "What you said makes sense!"

Qin Feng: ! Now is not the time for you to unconditionally encourage me!
Although Wei Xi couldn't read minds, he could still understand Qin Feng's astonished expression.

So, Wei Xi slowly patted the coral with his tail, "For someone who can create these things, taking away a river is nothing."

"I just don't know where Pingjiang is... Is the content loaded here real or fake..."

Qin Feng smiled smugly, his tail wagging happily. "There's no such place as 'Pingjiang' as you mentioned, but I do know a place called 'Pingjiang'."

Wei Xi's eyebrows twitched, his face showing his eagerness to hear more.

“When I was a child, I saw a map at my maternal grandparents’ house. Although it was not as detailed as the one used in the military camp, it was generally accurate.”

“‘Pingjiang’ is located in present-day Yunzhou. I was curious about why it was called that, so I asked my maternal grandfather for the answer.”

“My grandfather told me that this river is very strange. Compared to the big rivers, it is too narrow. Yet the water flow does not decrease, and the water flow remains stable regardless of the dry season or the rainy season.”

Qin Feng's tone suddenly became more serious, "Local legend has it that this river was poured out by an immortal's jade bottle, hence the name Bottle River."

Aside from the need for weapon crafting and bad luck, Wei Xi's knowledge was roughly at the level of the literacy class taught at the Wendao Hall. She really didn't know that there was such a river in Yunzhou.

Wei Xi thought for a moment and then asked, "Are there any other details? Think carefully and see if there are any more that match up?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng obediently began searching his memory. If he hadn't been unable to pull Wei Xi into his memories, he would have been completely lost.

As the saying goes, "Heaven helps those who help themselves," and Qin Feng actually found incredible details in his memories.

“I’ve got it! I kept this in mind later, so I specifically looked for travelogues about Yunzhou. There are records of people cultivating the land around Pingjiang, and occasionally deep ditches would appear. They would climb down with ropes and find skeletons inside. Could this match up with…”

The two exclaimed in unison, "A cracked riverbed!"

Qin Feng's eyes sparkled, as if the stars willingly followed her gaze. "So the Pingjiang incident is indeed true!"

"And..." Qin Feng's joy came to an abrupt halt, "...and those ordinary people..."

Wei Xi paused for a moment, then immediately mocked himself: those people have been dead for who knows how many years, and I, in my own perilous situation, still have the time to pity them; I must have lost my mind.

“That’s all in the past,” Wei Xi said. “But if Pingjiang was taken away, what about the ‘Pingjiang’? Did this person take the river water back?”

Upon hearing this, Wei and Qin exchanged bewildered glances, a sense of absurdity rising in their hearts simultaneously.

It seems that the Evergreen Tree could do something like this.

Since the Everlasting Wood can be made, it seems that the nameless Deep-Sea Gambler... can also make it.

Wei Xi could easily imagine that if a deep-sea gambler acted on a whim and forcibly seized an entire river, the result would be a barren wasteland and widespread suffering.

There was a man—like the protagonist of all legends—who had the world in his heart and was determined to get water for the people, so he traveled thousands of miles to this dangerous sea.

"Why does this feel so familiar?"

Qin Feng asked curiously, "What do you know?" Wei Xi explained what he had been thinking, and Qin Feng, forced to use his brain, said, "If, I mean if this person is a cultivator, doesn't it sound like a story of a cultivator founding a sect?"

Watching Qin Feng's tail leave afterimages, Wei Xi even suspected that the two of them had not only swapped their Qi Palaces.

No snake has ever said that its brain can be swapped!
“Very similar,” Wei Xi sniffed. “The stories are largely the same, except… where is the sect located? In Dead Water City?”

Wei and Qin looked at each other again: That's right, no one said that a cultivation sect can't be called a certain city; or perhaps this senior is of noble character and doesn't like to form small cultivation groups, preferring to develop metal smelting industry on the seabed, creating a dead water city.

One question, Wei Xi thought expressionlessly, was: if the senior had succeeded, why would he have left this inscription?
He doesn't seem very strong, Wei Xi thought to himself.

Of course, another possibility is that this person, having suffered a crushing defeat, left behind a suicide note to warn future generations.

Not all warriors succeed; there are always those who cannot be defeated.

"It's a pity that the inscriptions on the back are damaged. I'm quite curious whether this person succeeded, and why he had to take all the water from Pingjiang."

Wei Xi glanced at Qin Feng and whispered a reminder: "Pingjiang."

"That's right, Pingjiang River. Everyone says that the Hu people live by following the water and grass, but they don't know that no one can live without water. The gain or loss of a river can affect so many people!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Qin Feng clearly didn't connect Ping Jiang's existence with his predecessor's success.

Wei Xi blinked and didn't waste any more words on the matter.

"According to the totem, there are five levels in total."

"The ring of serpentine flames is the totem of the first level, killing by amplifying emotions. The Tenth Princess's subordinates who had no external injuries were probably scared to death."

Wei Xi wanted to count on his fingers, but he could only hold back and continued, "The totem that just disappeared pointed to the second level: swapping. I just don't know why it swapped our bodies with the snake from the previous level."

Besides, Wei Xi couldn't understand what the standard for this exchange was.

Qin Feng said in anguish, "There are still three more checkpoints? How are we going to get past these two snakes?!"

Wei Xi shook his head and said, "Not only that, these levels might affect each other. Otherwise, how could you and I have become... half-human, half-snake?"

Recalling the broken array they found on the Paddle Demon, Wei Xi sighed, "The rumors about Bone Reef Sea have been circulating for so long, and so many people have come one after another. It's understandable that they've ruined the original design of the checkpoint."

"Initially, these levels—you can call them fortifications or defenses—were designed largely independently of each other."

Wei Xi flicked his tail straight toward the end of the dark passage. "Otherwise, it would be more obvious that the second flame would transform into a human head and a snake's body. In that case, these barriers are already slowly beginning to collapse."

Knowing all too well the dangers of fleeing soldiers, Qin Feng groaned, covered his eyes with the tip of his pink tail, and cried out in despair, "This is even more troublesome!"

Wei Xi understood Qin Feng's unfinished words: There's always a planned way to solve a troublesome problem.

The most troublesome issues are those that deviate from the plan; there are too many variables, and any detail could become a fatal trap.

Thinking about all the "trouble" that had disappeared into the Bone Reef Sea over the past few centuries, Wei Xi felt for the first time that it would be better to be a snake.

Let's reminisce about Qin's days as a top student. Now she's a cold, indifferent training machine (not really)!

Also, I was thinking of using runoff, but... this is, after all, a cultivation novel...

Furthermore, Wei Xi's ideas may not all be true; she's just a smart kid, not a cunning freak.