Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 523 Xiao Luobin

Surprisingly, Xiao Pingting remained extremely calm and showed no sign of being offended.

"The fact that you asked this means there really is something in the Bone Reef Sea."

Xiao Pingting's expression was resolute, and her tone carried a rare hint of relief, "I knew it! There was definitely something fishy about my brother's death! He was the most talented cultivator in the Xiao family! How could he have perished halfway through his life?"

"He was inquiring about the slave trade in Fishtail Town at the time, and one of the sea routes for slave trading passed through Bone Reef Sea. As for the body you asked about, my brother's body is still missing, but his life tablet is broken, so there is absolutely no possibility of him being alive."

As a weapon refiner, life tablets were not unfamiliar to Wei Xi. The technology involved was not high; all it took was a cultivator's blood, combined with simple runes, to make it effective. Once made, it was a locating artifact that pointed to a specific target.

Compared to arrays and magic circles, runes have their own characteristics: First, runes store spiritual power when they are drawn. The advantage is that they do not need to provide an additional source of spiritual power. The disadvantage is that they will become ineffective once the spiritual power is exhausted, but the damage to the materials is irreversible. Second, runes are growth-oriented, like a machine that can continuously embed new runes. If they are properly matched, their functions can be continuously changed and extended.

Compared to arrays and formations that require array eyes, spirit stones, or a stable source of spiritual power, runes have obvious advantages and disadvantages, and their application scenarios vary, with the main focus being on performance as needed.

For example, troublemakers from wealthy families often have their elders find ways to buy them a set of protective gear with runes engraved on it, which might come in handy someday; another example is Zuo Fei intercepting Zhong Yuan's water, which not only restrains Zhong Yuan but also powers the formation; or the formation that appeared during the Bingzhou City incident. A qualified weapon refiner often possesses multiple methods to achieve a single effect, tailoring their work to the specific needs of their clients.

This further demonstrates Xian Hua's care for Wei Xi—the [Enemy Wind] soft armor he gifted to Wei Xi not only had runes personally engraved by him, a Daoist weapon refiner, but also, because it had been soaked in the juice spit out by the Phoenix Jade Silkworm, the runes could be re-engraved even if they became ineffective. Combined with the array on the leather that could replenish spiritual power, it truly maximized the advantages of both methods.

Of course, adhering to the principle of keeping a low profile, Wei Xi named the soft armor "Enemy Wind" to only highlight the contribution of the Cloud-Stepping Two-Horned Antelope and to practice the Qingcheng Sect's life-saving principle.

This is also one of the reasons why Wei Xi dared to ask such an extremely offensive question: she was wearing the best soft armor in the world, with damage reduction, explosion reduction, endurance, damage reflection and speed all maxed out. If she couldn't save her life, she would have no face to live in the cultivation world.

Returning to the matter of the life tablet, Wei Xi blinked and tentatively asked, "There are many reasons why the life tablet might have shattered. It could be that the spiritual power of the runes on it has been exhausted. After all, if your brother had fought to the death, the life tablet would have been affected as well."

As his professional instincts kicked in, Wei Xi became increasingly enthusiastic, saying, "This is a common mistake made by fellow cultivators who don't study weapon crafting."

“You mean,” Xiao Pingting said, enunciating each word clearly, “that my brother might still be alive? Then why doesn’t he come back?”

yeah why?
Once she came to her senses, Wei Xi immediately realized that she had said the wrong thing.

"This is bad. Can my master save me from the enraged swordsman?"

Wei Xi felt there was still a chance to save him, so he quickly added, "Of course, I was only discussing the possibilities of a broken life tablet, I didn't say that your brother falls into any of these abnormal situations!"

"He's probably dead," Wei Xi continued, still not satisfied. "Very likely!"

In the vast restaurant, all that could be heard was Xiao Pingting's increasingly heavy breathing, accompanied by the bulging veins on her forehead and her creaking teeth. Wei Xi glanced at the stairs without any backbone.

Fortunately, Xiao Pingting remained rational, or rather, her morality played a good restraining role.

"Are you really completely clueless?"

Wei Xi, covering the bird's beak, pounded his head like a pestle, afraid that he would anger this Taoist monk again.

Xiao Pingting closed her eyes briefly, suppressing her raging anger, and pushed a paper crane to Wei Xi.

"After this operation, I will enter the Bone Reef Sea. Until then, if you or Qin Feng recall any useful information or suspicious details, please contact me! A generous reward will be given!" "Please do not publicize today's events, as this is my private matter. Farewell!"

Wei Xi made a gesture to get up and see her off, but Xiao Pingting just waved her hand and walked into the deep night on her own.

Before her lonely figure disappeared, Wei Xi vaguely heard a sigh.

However, if a third person were present, they would notice a cold and solemn expression on Wei Xi's face, making him look like some kind of legendary monster in the candlelight.

After quickly deceiving Senior Sister Xie and the others, Wei Xi returned to her room to process the news she had gathered that day.

Wei Xi spread out the Xuan paper and used his spiritual power to grind the ink, but when he picked up the brush, he hesitated to put pen to paper.

The ink flowed down the tip of the brush, dripping onto the rice paper and bursting into bloom.

Having wasted a piece of paper, Wei Xi put down his pen, tapped his fingers on the table, and slowly closed his eyes.

"Without a tail section guarding it now, wouldn't Xiao Pingting be able to enter an uninhabited area if she went there?"

“There’s no reason why I, a Taoist immortal master, could enter Deadwater City while Xiao Pingting couldn’t.”

“If Xiao Pingting goes to the Bone Reef Sea, then my situation will be dangerous. Given her upright and incorruptible character, if she finds out about Zuo Fei’s plan, the first thing she will do is to suppress Qin Feng and me, who have the potential to wreak havoc on the cultivation world, and chop us into mincemeat.”

Thinking of this, Wei Xi felt it necessary to use his intelligence to stop it.

Wei Xi sneered, opened his eyes, and wrote the two characters "Chi Pei" on the Xuan paper.

After mentally reviewing his plan, Wei Xi felt quite confident and relaxed considerably.

"But what about Xiao Luobin?"

Experts see the details, and Wei Xi didn't quite believe the explanations from the fate tablet: Xiao Luobin's body was nowhere to be found, so he wasn't dead! On the contrary, Shi Que was definitely dead, no doubt about it.

Based on Wei Xi's personality and her principle of "whoever benefits is suspicious," she suspected that Xiao Luobin's death was related to Xiao Pingting.

The Xiao family is a powerful family within the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. After the original heir, Xiao Luobin, died unexpectedly, the next patriarch was Xiao Pingting.

"But with Deadwater City intervening, it's hard to say whether Xiao Luobin is dead or alive. Plus, Xiao Pingting's reaction... it shouldn't be her doing it."

The whereabouts of Xiao Luobin then become quite intriguing.

Thinking of those vacant positions, Wei Xi knew that many people had successfully escaped Deadwater City over the past thousand years, and some of them had probably come into contact with Zuo Fei's plan.

Xiao Luobin is very likely one of them.

"If that's the case, then I'm in trouble."