Chapter 73: Can't I just live?
Zhao Fengchun took a deep breath, calmed himself, and slowly said, "I can teach you the magic, but this magic requires a magical tool that can conceal your own magic fluctuations and cultivation. You only learn the magic and can only change your appearance, which is of no use. People who have fought with you can easily recognize you from your spiritual power fluctuations."
"It doesn't matter, just teach me." Ruan Xing said nonchalantly. He would find a chance to take the magic weapon from the demon cultivator later, or find one with a similar function in the future.
"As for contribution points, I can't give them to you. My disguised identity now is an outer sect disciple who is in urgent need of building a foundation. My contribution points are very important to me in the eyes of others. Giving them to you will arouse suspicion."
"This is all easy to discuss, but you can't not give me the spirit stones, right?" Ruan Xing stretched out his hand with a smile.
Zhao Fengchun took out his storage bag, opened it, and gave her the spirit stone.
"That's just it? No way? A demon cultivator in the late foundation building stage has only this much strength?" Ruan Xing was a little disgusted.
Zhao Fengchun's face was pale and stiff. "One hundred spirit stones is not a small amount. I may not be able to earn one hundred spirit stones even if I work diligently in Xuanbing Sect for a month."
When had he ever suffered such an injustice? If Ruan Xing had not exposed his identity as a demon cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he would have been afraid that the other party had a backup plan and would not have dared to act rashly. Otherwise, he would have killed her long ago.
"Okay." Ruan Xing stopped being picky, accepted the spirit stone, and asked Zhao Fengchun to start teaching her the art of disguise.
Under the guidance of Zhao Fengchun, Ruan Xing tried several times but failed. He couldn't help but doubt, "Is what you taught true? Are you deliberately trying to trick me?"
Zhao Fengchun rolled his eyes and said, "You are too stupid. I really don't understand how a brain like yours could have cultivated to the ninth level of Qi training."
Ruan Xing was not angry either, he just smiled and said, "Then you were tricked by me, aren't you even dumber than me?"
"You——" Zhao Fengchun could only swallow his anger and snorted to express his dissatisfaction when he was insulted.
After half an hour, Ruan Xing finally figured out a way to transform herself into a woman in her early twenties according to her appearance in her previous life. She didn't have a mirror, so she looked at her current appearance through the reflection in Zhao Fengchun's black eyes and asked, "How is it? Is it a success?"
"Yes, it worked." Zhao Fengchun looked at the bright and charming woman in front of him, "Most people who start learning will become the appearance of the person they are most familiar with. Who is this? Is she your mother?"
"It's none of your business." Ruan Xing only maintained this state for less than two minutes before changing back. He was somewhat reluctant to give up the feeling of not having to look up at people.
According to the popularization of science by the real Zhao Fengchun, she entered the Taoism too early, and she would probably only be able to maintain the appearance of a child before reshaping her body. This was one of the reasons why she was eager to learn this technique.
Whether others can recognize her or not is secondary. The main thing is that after she has established her foundation, she can go out in a different appearance.
"This technique is derived from the shapeshifting technique of demon cultivators. After being modified by the Demon Sect, it has become what it is now. When you practice it to a high level, even a powerful person in the Guixu stage will not be able to see the change in your appearance. Moreover, you can use this technique on other people, even dead people."
Zhao Fengchun introduced himself softly, and his last sentence was meaningful.
"So you killed the original Xie Huai, changed his appearance, and replaced his identity?" Ruan Xing suddenly realized.
Zhao Fengchun denied it and said, "I don't have such profound skills."
"Okay, that's it. Go back to sleep and I'll contact you if there's anything." Ruan Xing closed the door and prepared to see the guest off.
After Zhao Fengchun left, Ruan Xing did not sleep either. He was on guard against a counterattack by the evil cultivators and studied the art of illusion all night.
When the morning light came up, no accidents happened. It seemed that the evil cultivator had temporarily given up his murderous intention.
The sect's jade token vibrated slightly. It was a message from Qin Yi, asking her to go to the sect hall together after she woke up.
Ruan Xing thought about it for a moment and ended the real-life simulation.
The time goes back to noon of the previous day.
Ruan Xing opened her eyes. She was still lying on the bed and performed a text simulation according to this route.
[Simulating]
At the age of six, you entered the Xuanbing Sect and became an outer disciple.
At night, the evil cultivator disguised himself as Zhao Fengchun and came to your room to find you. You saw through his disguise and reached an agreement after a conversation. He taught you the art of illusion and you concealed his identity for him.
You begin to practice the art of illusion.
A few days later, Qin Yi and Zhao Fengchun went out to do a sect mission. Before leaving, Zhao Fengchun invited you again, but you rejected her in order to practice the art of shapeshifting.
Half a month later, Zhao Fengchun returned to the sect alone and brought the news of Qin Yi's death. Their team encountered an accident, and Qin Yi died in the mouth of a monster to protect her. You comforted her with a few words but it had no effect. She became sad and depressed. The failure of this mission also made her lose the qualification to continue living in Yiziyuan.
A month later, a disciple anonymously reported that Zhao Fengchun had colluded with evil cultivators, and produced evidence that was irrefutable. Zhao Fengchun had no way of defending himself, so the elders of the sect immediately decided to summon all the disciples in the sect to publicly execute Zhao Fengchun. Zhao Fengchun was put on the execution platform and died by thunder.
One night not long after Zhao Fengchun's death, you were practicing the art of shapeshifting in your room when you were attacked by a demon cultivator and died.
[End of simulation]
Ruan Xing selected a random skill and immediately obtained the first level of illusion.
This demon cultivator did not deceive her in his magic.
But if you want to reach the state of maintaining disguise for 24 hours a day like a demon cultivator, you must at least practice to the fourth level.
But what she didn't understand was why the evil cultivator lay dormant for more than a month, and then started to kill her after Qin Yi and Zhao Fengchun died?
Can't she just not die?
The demon cultivator seemed to really hate her...
Perhaps the evil cultivator thought that she was on good terms with Qin Yi and Zhao Fengchun, and that she had a backup plan on Qin Yi, so he killed the two of them and then came to kill her.
She was so sorry, she had no backup plan at all, she was just bluffing him.
Unexpectedly, it implicated Qin Yi and the others.
Qin Yi and the others died unjustly, but Ruan Xing's plan to save them was not as simple as stopping them from doing the sect's mission. The demon cultivators were suspicious, and as long as they still had murderous intentions towards her, Qin Yi and the others would be in danger sooner or later. If Ruan Xing wasted all his points on how to help them avoid danger, then he would be putting the cart before the horse.
A good blacksmith must have strong tools himself. As long as the demon cultivator thinks the cost of killing her is too high and gives up voluntarily, then Qin Yi and the others will be truly safe.
She had to reach the foundation-building stage as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, Ruan Xing took a nap to regain his energy. In the afternoon, he got up and went to the canteen to get a lunch box to have dinner.
When Zhao Fengchun arrived in the evening, Ruan Xing "convinced" him by appealing to his emotions and reason.
This time she did not ask the demon cultivator to teach her the art of shapeshifting, but only asked for contribution points and spirit stones.
The demon cultivator thought for a moment, "I can give you the spirit stones, how many do you want? Contribution points are not acceptable, it will arouse suspicion."
"As long as the spirit stones are in place, I'll keep my mouth shut." Ruan Xing rubbed his fingers with a smile, "Just think of the contribution points as a loan to me, and I'll return the full amount to you in three days."
"You have only been in the sect for one day, where are the contribution points coming from to return to me?" Xie Huai looked at Zhao Fengchun with suspicion.
"Then don't worry about it. The mountain man has his own clever plan. If you don't believe me, I can swear an oath to the devil."
Xie Huai didn't buy it and said cheerfully, "Then you send it."
"How many contribution points do you have?"
"One thousand four hundred." One thousand four hundred is enough. Ruan Xing calculated and held up three fingers. "I swear that I will return all the contribution points I borrowed in three days. If I break this oath, I will die!"
"Add the name." Xie Huai said.
Good boy! Ruan Xing cursed inwardly. She didn't understand how the monks swore an oath to each other, and she completely copied Wang Zhi's words in the simulation.
It turns out that one has to add a name. Then Wang Zhifa’s oath is just nonsense. As naive as she is, she was deceived again in the end.
"I, Liu Bo, swear that I will return all the contribution points I borrowed in three days. If I break this oath, I will die!"
"Are you really Liu Bo?"
"Of course!" Ruan Xing's face was full of sincerity.
The demon cultivator seemed to believe it and no longer had any doubts. He took out the sect's jade token and transferred the money to her.
It was as if an electronic voice was heard invisibly.
"Ding Dong, your Jifubao account has arrived: 1,400 yuan."
Ruan Xing looked at the balance of contribution points in the jade token and smiled.
"You must pay it back." Xie Huai emphasized again.
"I know." Ruan Xing spread her hands. "What about the hush money?"
Xie Huai took out a hundred low-grade spirit stones and gave them to her. After Ruan Xing received them, she immediately closed the door and sent him away. "Okay, take care."
Xie Huai left in frustration.
Ruan Xing went back and lay on the couch again and started the simulation.
In order to save points and to avoid Xie Huai going crazy in three days, Ruan Xing used only real-life simulations.
Spend contribution points to exchange for skills and magic in the treasure pavilion. After reading them once and storing them in memory, end the simulation and start again. It only cost more than 30 points to memorize more than 30 kinds of magic and skills, as well as the skills of the Xuanbing Sect's foundation-building period.
The Xuanbing Sect's martial arts technique is called the Tongxuan Sutra, which is a local-level martial arts technique. It requires one thousand contribution points to redeem it, but one can only get the part from Qi training to foundation building, not the rest. In addition, one must swear an oath not to pass it on to others.
However, Ruan Xing made the inner demon oath in the simulation, and she didn't know whether it would be effective or not.
She only memorized these skills and techniques but did not practice them, so they did not appear on her character panel. She would carefully select a few to study later when she had enough points.
The Foundation Establishment Pill requires 500 contribution points to redeem. This is a third-grade pill, and one can be sold at a high price of 700 to 800 low-grade spirit stones in Wanbao Tower.
She took a deep breath and now started to try her luck.
She still had 750 points, and unless something unexpected happened, she really didn't want to recharge the 100 spirit stones now.
The text simulation started. After exchanging two foundation-building pills, she chose to leave the sect and discarded all the extra items on her body. The demon cultivator noticed something was wrong and chased her out to kill her.
After getting some useless clothes, hairbands, blood-stained soil, a magic cultivator's belt and other items, he finally got the Foundation Establishment Pill randomly on the fifth time.
Fortunately, my luck is not too bad.
Next, it is time to simulate cultivation.
But before that, she had to return the contribution points to the demon cultivator, otherwise she would only have three days in the text simulation, which would be a waste.
If I return it to him, he will have more than a month to practice.
Although less than a quarter of an hour had passed in reality, Ruan Xing had already been studying efficiently in the real-life simulation for more than a month and felt mentally tired.
Let’s go to bed first.
After a night of deep sleep, Ruan Xing was awakened by the buzzing sound of the sect's jade token.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned, looked at the sect's jade token, replied OK to Qin Yi, and got up to wash up.
Yesterday she saw a dust-collecting technique in the magic spells. It could not only keep oneself clean, but also clean the house. It could also be integrated into the robes to achieve the effect of not being stained by dust. Although it was of low value, it was indeed a practical and good spell.
There was no need to waste points on this kind of low-level spell. She could take some time to practice it after she was done with this busy work, and it would save her time on washing up.
When she went out, she happened to see the boy next door watering the flowers at the door. She greeted him happily, "Good morning, Junior Brother."
The young man was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head stiffly, "Senior Sister... Good morning."
When she walked out of the Bingzi Courtyard, she saw Qin Yi and Zhao Fengchun waiting for her at the gate of the residential area from afar.
Zhao Fengchun waved his hand, "Junior Sister Ruan, here!"
The three of them reunited and flew on their swords towards the Zongwu Hall.
Qin Yi concentrated on selecting a suitable sect mission, while Zhao Fengchun took Ruan Xing around and explained things to her.
Ruan Xing had already watched it once in the simulation and was not interested. Seeing that Qin Yi was watching it seriously, he asked casually, "Did you discuss it yesterday?"
Zhao Fengchun nodded, "Yes, I met with several other brothers and sisters yesterday. Because we accepted the task of maintaining the secret realm, we stayed in Hanshan Secret Realm for more than 20 days. We didn't do any tasks this month. Therefore, everyone agreed to accept a yellow-level upper-level monster mission, so that everyone can complete the task quota for this month."
Ruan Xing had no intention of stopping them, and she did not choose the memory during the simulation, so she did not know what task Qin Yi finally chose.
"Junior sister, come and take a look." Qin Yi called Zhao Fengchun over.
He selected two tasks and asked Zhao Fengchun, "Which one do you think is better?"
The first one is to go to the Broken Ice Valley to capture six snow ferrets, and the total reward is 500 contribution points.
The second one is to kill the wild boar monster outside Qingyuan City, and the total reward is 300 contribution points.
The level and difficulty of the two tasks are the same. The reason for the different rewards is that the first task requires you to catch the ferret alive and hand it in.
The second option is to kill it. After killing it, they can deal with the wild boar monster's body as they please. The monster's blood, meat and bones can all be sold in exchange for spirit stones. The value of a wild boar monster in the Qi training stage is about one hundred to two hundred spirit stones.
Zhao Fengchun bit his lip, "I don't know which one to choose... But it's summer now. Although the Shattered Ice Valley is still cold, the ferrets are probably hiding in this season, so it's not easy to find them. But if I kill the wild boar monster, I might have to hold my brother back again..."
"Then let's choose the first one." Qin Yi made the final decision. Seeing Zhao Fengchun's surprised look, he smiled and said, "The second one will take up too much time. After killing him, we have to deal with the body and transport it to the city to sell it. There are only a few days left in this month. It would be bad if we miss the time to hand in the task. Besides, the first task also contributes more points."
Zhao Fengchun was somewhat touched, "Thank you, Senior Brother."
Ruan Xing couldn't help but complain in his heart. This excuse was too lame. Wouldn't it be time-consuming to find a ferret?
However, she did not expose the two people and embarrass them, but was thinking about how to increase their chances of survival.
If nothing unexpected happens, no matter what mission Qin Yi chooses, the evil cultivators will find a way to disrupt it.
Thanks to Ge Beilia for the monthly ticket~
Thanks to book friend 202220713133929686 for the monthly ticket~
Thanks to Meizi0924 for the monthly ticket~
Congratulations to Xingbao for receiving his first chicken drumstick! Thanks to Qing and Yue for the character reward~
(End of this chapter)
