Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 69 The Unskilled Fragment
The world in the painting has become a monument.

The stone tablet is broken, but the four large characters "Da Dao Wu Shu" can still be vaguely seen.

Wu Zheng and Wei Dao looked at the inscription in front of them, feeling a sense of regret.

Wei Dao felt a little resentful: "Old Wu, we're just too unlucky."

"Along this journey, it's either deserted or already visited. It's been so difficult to finally find this place..."

He glanced at the spot where Lin Qinglong had passed away, seemingly fearing something indescribable, and subconsciously lowered his voice.

"We finally found this place, but there's nothing here..."

Wei Dao wanted to follow the three rogue cultivators to see if there was an opportunity to ambush them.

but……

The old man next to him, Wu, was someone he had grown up with since childhood; he knew this man all too well.

Wu Zheng is too kind-hearted. He would never even fight with others for treasures, let alone rob or kill a rogue cultivator.

We could only hear those few words from him.

"Suffering a loss is a blessing" and "Being peaceful and harmonious" are common sayings.

This is probably why he has been cultivating in the Dongyuan Sect for so many years but still cannot break through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

The path to immortality is one where there's no competition or scrambling; what's the point of cultivating immortality if you

It's not like I have an innate Dao body or am a reincarnated immortal...

"It's alright, it's alright. Every cloud has a silver lining."

"Old Wei, didn't we also kill a talisman puppet and get a mid-grade spirit stone?"

really.

Wei Dao waved his hand dismissively, too lazy to explain.

He thought to himself that he would never go out with that old man to look for any opportunities again.

Before the cold, somber monument, the skeleton sat there bare, its skull drooping.

With a soft sigh, Wei Dao bowed three times.

"Let's go..."

The two of them returned the way they came, one after the other, and there was no one around.

Seeing his close friend looking so dejected, Wu Zheng felt quite apologetic.

In addition, a strange feeling arose from his heart.

Wei Dao walked ahead, muttering to himself, "This trip has been really unlucky."

"Old Wu, if you want to go further on the path of cultivation and live a few more years, you'd better work on your courage."

"If we don't compete and fight, how will we obtain spiritual resources? We'll just give up this and forget about that..."

"Won't all these major roads be built by others?!"

Wu Zheng followed slowly behind, stroking the black jade thumb ring in his hand.

His gaze remained fixed on his old friend, as if he were hesitating about something.

"Old Wei..."

"Ok?"

"Tell me... who's stronger, you or me?"

Are you confused? Why are you saying this?

Wei Dao didn't even turn his head: "If we're talking about spiritual power level, then naturally yours is higher."

"Although it's an outer sect, Dongyuan Sect can at least ensure your cultivation is stable."

"If someone with your temperament were to become a wandering cultivator, I doubt you'd live more than three days."

As Wu Zheng watched his old friend's retreating figure, the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.

Wei Dao stroked his chin and said jokingly, "But when it comes to fighting and combat, and Taoist arts and techniques, I am naturally superior."

He turned around, as if to say something more.

But he saw that an ordinary short knife had already pierced his heart.

defenseless.

"..."

puff.

The "old friend" gripped the knife handle tightly in his hand.

"you……"

Wei Dao felt a metallic taste rising in his throat, his eyes widening as he stared at Wu Zheng in disbelief.

This kind-hearted man, who wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken, now had a cold indifference towards life in his eyes.

For the first time in forty years.

"You're lying."

Wu Zheng caught the limp body and looked down at Wei Dao's wide-eyed expression.

He pulled out the dagger, and blood splattered on his right hand.

A touch of crimson slowly disappeared into the black jade thumb ring.

When did I start to become like this?

When alone with sect disciples or spirit demons weaker than himself, an uncontrollable killing intent arises within him...

With a release of his grip, Wei Dao's already cold body fell to the ground, his eyes still open.

Do not look down.

Suddenly, Wu Zheng burst into tears.

He wailed and wept, pounding his chest and stamping his feet. But it wasn't out of regret for killing his old friend...

"Old Wei..."

"How come you're so...weak..."

Alone, I cried for a long time, almost hysterically.

He stood up and took Wei Dao's Qiankun bag.

They actually dug a pit next to the place where Lin Qinglong passed away and gave Wei Dao a proper burial.

"..."

Wu Zheng never thought about why he had become like this.

Only occasionally, when he recalls the fellow disciples and spirit demons who died at his hands, does he ask himself these questions.

"Do the weak deserve to die?"

Should I...?

Anyway, he's dead.

……

In a fleeting moment, the spiritual essence within the painting seemed both present and absent.

The people in the world felt that the colors of this world were gradually dissipating, like ink being dropped into water.

In a daze, I was transported out of the world of the painting.

Song Yan glanced around and saw that only five people remained.

Although I was mentally prepared, I still felt a chill in my heart.

"Oh? There are still five fellow cultivators alive?"

Che Ning was still wearing the bronze mask, and said in a somewhat teasing tone, "This is truly something to celebrate."

All the cultivators looked at Che Ning with some wariness, but he didn't care about the gazes of the others. His hands flashed with spiritual light, and the huge scroll on the wall suddenly shrank and contracted.

It eventually became a painting, which Che Ning kept in his hands.

"Hahaha, everyone, don't worry. I only need these two pieces of calligraphy. I mean what I say."

"Now everything is settled..."

"See you later."

He gave Wu Zheng a meaningful look, then left first.

Song Yan also discovered that the fellow Daoist surnamed Wei who was with Wu Zheng had not come out of the world in the painting.

I just don't know what happened.

Perhaps thinking of Shan Zifeng, Song Yan suddenly lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

To allow a cultivator to disappear from this world without a trace...

It doesn't seem too difficult.

The cultivators also departed one after another.

Upon exiting the cave, we discovered that the waterfall had resumed its flow sometime during our visit.

Song Yan and the Rong and Wu couple returned to Lingxifang for the time being. They found a secluded spot and wanted to divide up the Qiankun bags of the three rogue cultivators.

These three rogue cultivators must have encountered the talisman puppet before, and they found a total of three mid-grade spirit stones in their Qiankun bags.

Such items are very difficult for cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining to find, unless they are exploring treasures in secret realms.

It's pointless for an ordinary Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator to keep a few mid-grade spirit stones in their Qiankun bag.

The red-skirted female cultivator and the young man's Qiankun bag were nothing special.

Inside the red-skirted female cultivator's Qiankun bag was a human skin mask that was made to a fairly good standard.

I don't know where it came from.

Perhaps because the human skin mask belongs to a male, the female cultivator in the red dress never used it.

Song Yan pondered for a moment, said something to the couple, and then put the item into his Qiankun bag.

This kind of thing has some use, but it has no practical value.

Rong and Wu naturally wouldn't hold a grudge.

It would be pointless to argue with Song Yan over every single detail.

What truly stopped everyone in their tracks was the discovery of a Daoist book in the scholar's pouch.

"No fragmentary scrolls available."

"..."

"A fragment of a skill book..."

Rong Xiaofeng thought carefully, and seemed to have realized something.

"Senior Lin Qinglong seemed to have given himself the title of..." in that tomb passage.

Song Yan nodded and said, "The Unskilled Hermit."

Wu Huaguo's eyes widened, and her breathing became rapid.

"..."

A silence fell over the room.

Song Yan himself has no use for these things, and he has no family to give back to. Even if he were given them, he would just find a place to sell them.

He's just waiting now.

Wait for the two on the other side to name their price.

I wrote quite a bit today, so I'll post an extra chapter!
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(End of this chapter)