Chapter 96: Parents' Unassailable Defense

Chapter 96: Parents' Unassailable Defense

"Huff!"

Chen Qiu no longer felt the pain of spending those Spirit Stones. Since he had already spent them, there was no point in overthinking it. All he needed to do was patiently await the results.

He then turned his gaze towards his cultivation interface.

-

[Cultivation]: Foundation Establishment Tier 3 (36.9%) -

The effects of the Inferior Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pill were indeed remarkable. A single pill could increase his cultivation progress by 0.7%, and here he had 67 of them, which meant a potential increase of 46.9% in cultivation progress if he consumed them all.

This was far beyond the cultivation progress one could gain from a single Golden Core Pill of a Tier 1 Core Formation Cultivator.

Moreover, there were no side effects, no impurities, and the absorption process was swift.

"What a treasure," Chen Qiu murmured, weighing the Storage Bag in his hand. The shopkeeper they had arranged to meet was still nowhere to be seen, but Chen Qiu didn't hesitate any longer. He took out a single Inferior Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pill and placed it in his mouth.

The pill dissolved instantly, and within a few breaths, he had completely absorbed it.

Without delay, he took another one.

One by one, and then another.

After three incense sticks' worth of time had passed.

He slowly opened his eyes, and at this moment, his cultivation progress had reached—

[Cultivation]: Foundation Establishment Tier 3 (83.8%) -

Advancing in the Foundation Establishment realm was extremely challenging. It was common for Foundation Establishment Cultivators to be stuck in a single minor realm for three to four years, especially if they were preoccupied with daily affairs, family responsibilities, or important positions within their sects, leaving them little time for dedicated cultivation.

It was also normal for them to take five to six years to advance to the next minor realm.

This was especially true from Foundation Establishment Tier 1 to Tier 9, where each subsequent cultivation level became increasingly difficult.

Most people in their lifetime, with a bit of good fortune, could cultivate to the Foundation Establishment realm.

However, to break through to the Golden Core realm or even the late-stage and peak of Foundation Establishment, one needed not just minor fortuitous encounters but hundreds of them. Only then could one progress this far on the path of cultivation.

The reason for Chen Qiu's rapid cultivation advancement at the Foundation Establishment stage was twofold.

Golden Core Pills and Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills.

These were no longer considered minor fortuitous encounters but significant ones that many Golden Core Cultivators rarely experienced. To put it bluntly, if you added up all the Golden Core Cultivators in the entire Great Xia Kingdom, at least half of them had never killed two Golden Core Cultivators in their lifetime.

Golden Core Cultivators were not easy to kill. After breaking through to the Golden Core realm, each cultivator had experienced countless fortuitous encounters. Who knew what kind of backup plans and trump cards other Golden Core Cultivators had? Engaging in a life-and-death battle with them was a real gamble.

Just then—

Footsteps could be heard outside the temple.

The shopkeeper who had been late the night before finally arrived, stepping into the temple with a look of apology on his face. As he entered, he turned to Chen Qiu and Zhao Yishi, whose faces were illuminated by the flickering campfire, and said, "My apologies, gentlemen. I was delayed due to an unexpected issue on the way here."

"Shall we begin then?"

"Yes."

Chen Qiu placed the remaining six Storage Rings on the ground and said earnestly, "Please proceed, sir."

Although the shopkeeper appeared a bit tired, he quickly entered a state of concentration. Without saying much, he transformed his Spirit Energy into threads and sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing intently on breaking the seals once again.

This time, the process seemed much faster than before. Perhaps having already broken the seals on a Golden Core Storage Ring once, he had gained some experience. Before dawn, all six Storage Rings had been successfully unsealed.

"This time, it's truly complete," the shopkeeper said, his eyebrows furrowed with fatigue, his face pale, and his voice hoarse. "Now, I shall take my leave."

After the shopkeeper left, Chen Qiu extended his Divine Sense into the six Storage Rings. The one belonging to the Poison Cultivator with a Golden Core was empty, devoid of anything, not even a change of clothes.

It was as if it were a brand-new Storage Ring.

According to the shopkeeper, this Storage Ring had numerous seals added by the Poison Cultivator with a Golden Core, even more than the one containing the Heavenly Dao Talisman.

Such a solemn act must have had a reason.

However, after pondering for a moment, Chen Qiu still couldn't understand why the Poison Cultivator would add so many seals to a Storage Ring that held nothing. He set it aside and turned his attention to the remaining five Storage Rings.

Two of them belonged to the Evil Cultivator.

To his disappointment, these two Storage Rings were also empty, without even a change of clothes.

There were no Spirit Stones, pills, or the Escape Technique he had been most anticipating.

Each of the two Storage Rings contained a note.

"Remember, I am an Evil Cultivator, Ten Thousand Demons!"

". . ."

It seemed that Ten Thousand Demons, when severely injured, had either thrown away or hidden everything in his Storage Ring, ensuring that even if he died, he would leave no benefits for his enemies.

No wonder he was just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

When the shopkeeper had been breaking the seals on these two Storage Rings earlier, his eyebrows were deeply furrowed, indicating that the task was extremely challenging, likely containing as many seals as the Mock Heaven Sect's Spider Web Array.

Chen Qiu shook his head, placed the two Storage Rings into his Miniature World, and turned to look at the remaining three Storage Rings.

These three storage rings belonged to the Heavenly Inquiry Marketplace Owner, a Loose Cultivator with considerable cultivation. Despite his solitary status, he managed to accumulate a substantial collection, especially considering the numerous inns under the marketplace's management, which brought in significant profits annually.

The first storage ring was incredibly simple, containing only Spirit Stones. Surprisingly, there were only over 2,000 Spirit Stones, which was significantly less than what a typical Demon Race Cultivator at the Golden Core stage would possess. It was odd that a Core Formation Cultivator like the Marketplace Owner would carry such a small amount.

Hoping to find more Spirit Stones in the other rings, Chen Qiu tentatively probed the second storage ring with his Divine Sense.

"Hmm?"

He paused, slightly taken aback by what he saw.

Indeed, there were some valuable items within.

Among various pills and talismans, several jade slips emanated a milky white glow.

These three jade slips were none other than the "Entry Jade Slips."

"Wow."

Chen Qiu's eyes narrowed in anticipation as he explored further with his Divine Sense. The previous owner was indeed generous, leaving behind these Entry Jade Slips for future generations.

"Entry Name": Heavenly Destiny Dual Cultivation.

"Entry Level": Purple.

"Entry Effect": When you possess 'Nine Bulls Power' or 'Nine Yin Strength', the speed at which you cultivate any Dual Cultivation Technique will increase ninefold. If you possess both 'Nine Bulls Power' and 'Nine Yin Strength' entries simultaneously, the speed at which you cultivate any Dual Cultivation Technique will increase eighteenfold.

"Holy sht!"

Chen Qiu stared at the entry panel in disbelief, his mouth slowly widening in awe. The entry panel seemed a bit exaggerated, but if the conditions were met, it would be incredibly powerful.

This entry was no less impressive than the pink or even the seven-colored entries!

Excluding special entries like gray, bloodline, and Heavenly Dao entries, the entry levels, from lowest to highest, were white, green, yellow, blue, purple, red, gold, pink, and seven-colored.

And this entry was a purple one!!!

It was already considered a high-level entry, and although Chen Qiu had no idea where the Marketplace Owner obtained this jade slip, he could predict that it would fetch an astronomical price if sold.

"Fat Dragon," Chen Qiu murmured, his throat rolling slightly as he withdrew his mind from the Mini World. He turned to Fat Dragon, who was meditating beside him, and whispered, "Your opportunity might be here."

"Huh?"

Fat Dragon, deep in his meditation, opened his eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about, Qiu? My greatest opportunity is meeting you, isn't it?"

Chen Qiu was momentarily speechless. After a brief pause, he took out the purple entry jade slip, "Heavenly Destiny Dual Cultivation," from his pocket and tossed it into Fat Dragon's lap. "Take a look."

Among those around him, Fat Dragon was the most suitable for this entry.

As long as he found a suitable Dual Cultivation Technique, Fat Dragon's cultivation progress would soar like a rocket under the effect of this entry.

This was the first time Chen Qiu had come across a purple entry.

In the past, he had only encountered pink entries, which had unlimited growth potential, and seven-colored entries, which were practically impossible to obtain.

The highest-level entry he had seen before was a yellow one.

He vaguely recalled that it belonged to a lucky young master from the Huang family, who possessed the yellow entry "Back and Front Unassailable." Unfortunately, his intellect wasn't quite up to par.

The only thing that puzzled Chen Qiu was, who could possibly possess both the "Nine Bulls Power" and "Nine Yin Strength" entries simultaneously?

Logically, the "Nine Bulls Power" entry was typically only randomly obtained by male cultivators, with females having an extremely low probability of acquiring it. The same applied to the "Nine Yin Strength" entry.

Moreover, after the festival in Fufeng City, Chen Qiu had specifically inquired about these entries. He learned that there were no jade slips for "Nine Bulls Power" and "Nine Yin Strength," as not all entries had corresponding jade slips that could be obtained from places like the Celestial Path Secret Realm.

For instance, the "Nine Bulls Power" entry could only be acquired randomly upon reaching the Qi Condensation stage.

Wait a minute—

A sudden flash of insight struck Chen Qiu. He thought of a possible scenario.

If a cultivator randomly obtained the "Nine Bulls Power" entry upon entering the Qi Condensation stage, then chose the "Yin-Yang Reversal" entry upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, and subsequently selected the "Nine Yin Strength" entry upon breaking through to the Golden Core stage, it would perfectly fulfill the stringent condition of possessing both the "Nine Bulls Power" and "Nine Yin Strength" entries.

In this case, adding the "Heavenly Destiny Dual Cultivation" entry would result in—

Oh my god!

Cultivating Dual Cultivation Techniques at eighteen times the speed was beyond his imagination. He couldn't fathom how fast his cultivation would advance!

However, the conditions were extremely harsh. Continuously acquiring these entries, which provided no combat power boost, would make it challenging to break through to the Golden Core stage. Late-stage entries weren't always a good thing, as they could make the early stages of cultivation extremely difficult.

"Good stuff!!!"

Upon reading the entry's effect, the excited Fat Dragon jumped up on the spot, his face filled with excitement as he turned to Chen Qiu, "Qiu-ge, are you giving me this entry?"

"Mhm."

"That's great, that's great, that's great!" Fat Dragon, overwhelmed with gratitude, wanted to express his thanks, but then he seemed to remember something and froze in place, looking up at Chen Qiu.

"Wait, Qiu-ge, I can't cultivate Dual Cultivation Techniques, right?"

"What's wrong?"

"Qiu-ge, you forgot that I have the 'Hundred Percent Hit' entry, right? It's a sure pregnancy every time?"

". . ."

Chen Qiu suddenly realized this issue and fell silent. After a moment of hesitation, he tentatively asked, "Isn't there a Dual Cultivation Technique that isn't rated 18+?"

"Like one that doesn't require physical intimacy, just two people sitting face-to-face in a meditation posture, with their hands clasped together for cultivation?"

"No."

Fat Dragon shook his head confidently, "At least, I've never heard of such a thing."

"That's indeed a problem."

Chen Qiu fell into deep thought, unsure of how to resolve this issue for a while. It was indeed a flaw; he couldn't possibly embark on the Cultivation journey with a bunch of children, nor could he let them die.

Even if he had to kill them, he should find the 'Stepping into Immortality' entry first.

Otherwise, it would be a waste.

Killing them in the womb? That felt even stranger and more sinful.

Chen Qiu didn't respond immediately; he couldn't think of a better solution and instinctively looked at the two remaining entry jade slips in his storage ring, one of which seemed particularly useful to him.

-

"Entry Name: Step-by-Step Advance.

"Entry Level: Gray.

"Entry Effect: When you learn the 'Shrink Earth Technique', your movement distance will be increased fivefold when using this body technique. It will consume Heavenly Spirit Energy instead of your own, but you won't be able to control the direction or landing point, which will be completely random."

-

"Shrink Earth Technique."

Like the "Lightning Summoning Art", this was a relatively basic spell in the Cultivation world, and many cultivators who weren't Spellcasters, such as Swordmasters and Dan Cultivators, also knew the "Lightning Summoning Art".

After all, it wasn't a very complex spell.

Just as many cultivators learned the "Spring Rain Art", the existence of this spell was mainly for watering the Spirit Field, but many cultivators also used it to bathe when they were out and about.

The "Shrink Earth Technique" was a classic and widely circulated body technique.

It was unsuitable for long-distance travel or escape, but it was perfect for close-quarters combat.

It allowed one to quickly move several zhang away.

The speed was incredibly fast, even comparable to some Escape Techniques, but it consumed a significant amount of Spirit Energy, making it difficult to use multiple times in a short period. It was primarily used to dodge fatal attacks from enemies.

However, with this entry.

This body technique became extraordinary. Aside from not consuming Spirit Energy, which was already powerful, it meant that one could use it without limit, and its speed was faster than many Escape Techniques.

But the random landing point and direction meant there was a lot of unpredictability. For instance, you might teleport right in front of an enemy, face-to-face.

Despite this flaw, Chen Qiu crushed the jade slip, and the entry's name gradually appeared on his Dao Foundation.

For a short time, the entry had a good effect on him, at least compensating for his lack of a body technique.

Later, when he acquired a better body technique and no longer needed the "Shrink Earth Technique", he could still self-destruct this entry.

The "Shrink Earth Technique" was quite common; he even had over a dozen secret realm manuals for it in his Miniature World, but he didn't plan to cultivate it.

Tomorrow, he would go to Mountain Opening City to buy a "Shrink Earth Technique" from a Celestial Path Secret Realm.

Once he mastered it, he would reach the Grand Accomplishment realm.

As Chen Qiu turned to the last entry jade slip, his expression became peculiar, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say. He simply threw the jade slip into Fat Dragon's embrace.

"You can read it yourself."

-

"Entry Name: Parental Shield.

"Entry Level: Green.

"Entry Effect: Any attack you receive will be evenly distributed to your offspring, and any attack your parents receive will be transferred to you."

-

What a powerful Parental Shield!

It could be said that this entry took filial piety to a whole new level!

To some extent, for certain races with strong reproductive abilities, this entry might be quite powerful.

This world wasn't just inhabited by the Human Race.

There were also Demon Races, genuine Demon Races, not just Demon Cultivators.

And there were Monster Races, too.

However, within the Great Xia, the Human Race held the highest status. Monster Races had to stay within designated areas, and the Demon Race hadn't been seen in many years, leading some to wonder if they had gone extinct.

Some Monster Races, like Rabbit Demons, could give birth to multiple offspring, and for such races, this entry was quite formidable.

Moreover,

this entry seemed quite suitable for Fat Dragon.

"How should I put it?"

Chen Qiu's expression was complicated as he looked at Fat Dragon, "It's as if the heavens want you to have children. If you have enough children, say, over ten thousand, you'll directly break through to the Golden Core Stage."

"As long as your children don't all die, you won't die either."

"You'll be invincible."

"And since you don't have parents, there won't even be any side effects."

"Wait, Brother Qiu," Fat Dragon said in a daze, looking at the "Ancestral Shield" entry with a blank expression. He mumbled, "Let me think... I feel a bit confused."

"I really don't want to have children. I came here to cultivate, not to have kids."

"I was thinking of achieving Nascent Soul stage!"

After several incense sticks' worth of time had passed!

"I've thought of a way!!!"

Fat Dragon suddenly screamed excitedly, startling Chen Qiu, who was in the middle of cultivating and almost caused his spiritual energy to flow backward. He couldn't help but open his eyes and said irritably, "Stop!"

"Look, Brother Qiu."

Fat Dragon's expression turned serious as he counted on his fingers, "I now have an entry that's extremely suitable for dual cultivation, but I also have the 'Hundred Percent Hit' entry that's not conducive to dual cultivation, right?"

"But do you know about the Reproductive Barrier?"

"Humans and monsters cannot reproduce."

"So I can find some female monsters, which will allow me to perfectly utilize the 'Heavenly Destiny Dual Cultivation' entry while ignoring the negative effects of the 'Hundred Percent Hit' entry."

"It's perfect!"

"What do you think, Brother Qiu?"

"."

"."

Chen Qiu remained expressionless and silent for a long time before speaking softly, "Female monsters? You don't have to force yourself to cultivate like this. Can you really bring yourself to do it?"

"I can't."

Fat Dragon suddenly calmed down, his expression blank as he stared at the starry sky through the cracks in the temple's roof, "How can I possibly do it? I can't bring myself to do it when I see those shells, that viscous liquid, and that terrifying mouth. I'm a human, not some beast with a hook."

"How could I possibly do it just because I see a hole?"

"Especially when I think of those monsters even eating people, I feel nauseous deep down."

"But..."

"What else can I do?"

"Meeting you, Brother Qiu, was my opportunity. But your cultivation is improving faster and faster, and I can't always be holding you back. Scholar and the others have found their place in the Mock Heaven Sect, but I, Fat Dragon, despite being the Grand Elder of the Mock Heaven Sect, am useless."

"People need to find their value; no one wants to be an unknown waste forever."

"Moreover, I, Fat Dragon, even dare to dream of achieving Nascent Soul stage one day. How can I live my life under the protection of others?"

"So..."

"Even if I can't bring myself to do it, even if I feel disgusted all over, even if I feel nauseous to the extreme, even if... I'm misunderstood by the world, I have to force myself to do it."

"Consider it... slaying demons and eliminating monsters."

"It's also a way to bring blessings to the world."

"."

Chen Qiu remained silent and expressionless. In truth, he really wanted to retort that Fat Dragon was making this task sound like a life-threatening pursuit of an ideal.

But seeing Fat Dragon's serious expression, he held back, not wanting to discourage him.

After a moment, he lightly nodded.

"Alright."

Soon, the sun rose to the middle of the sky.

It was already noon.

Chen Qiu slowly woke up in the Tianzihao guest room of an inn in Mountain Opening City. He hadn't cultivated the night before and had taken a day's rest, sleeping soundly. Originally, he had planned to continue sleeping in the disciple dormitory in the small world.

But...

The Mock Heaven Sect was too dilapidated.

Sleeping there was uncomfortable, so in the latter half of the night, they entered the city and went to the inn. The Tianzihao guest room was much more comfortable than the stone beds in the disciple dormitory.

After getting up and sitting on the bed, he circulated his Heart Technique, purging all the impure energy and external filth from his body. Only then did Chen Qiu open his eyes, playing with the token in his hand.

This token was found in the third storage ring of the Ask Heaven Market's City Lord.

When he saw this token, he understood why the City Lord only had over two thousand spirit stones on him.

Most of the spirit stones were probably used to purchase this token.

"Flame Annihilation Array"

"Golden Core Medium Array Disk, capable of killing Golden Core Fifth Stage cultivators once formed."

"Damn!"

Chen Qiu played with the token in his hand, his expression blank as he looked out the window. Now that he thought about it, he had narrowly escaped death, only because he had acted too quickly, leaving the Ask Heaven Market's City Lord no time to react.

Otherwise, once the array disk was activated, even if it was just newly activated and the array's power wasn't at its peak, it would still be enough to kill him! It was a bit too lucky, and if there had been even a slight mistake, he wouldn't have seen the sun the next day. But now, this good thing belonged to him.

It was unclear why the Ask Heaven Market's City Lord had spent a fortune on such an array disk.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end