Cultivating Disciples to Breakthrough

Inside a carriage travelling along a well-travelled path with a group of guards flanking both sides of the carriage, Lu Dongli, a young lady in her late teens, could be seen laying across the soft padding lining the seating of the carriage. Turning it into a temporary somewhat bumpy bed.

But after rolling around for a bit and finding herself unable to fall asleep because of the bumpy road, she turned her attention to the maid servant sitting across from her. ”Yaoyao, when do you think we will arrive at the capital?” Asking the question that she had already asked several times before during the journey.

”I don’t think it will be long young lady. Another two days and we should be there.”

”Two days…” And the answer she ended up getting was just as disappointing as she had expected. ”I really hope this trip will be worth it…” Quietly muttering a complaint before she once again began rolling around on the soft padding to find a comfortable position that might allow her to fall asleep and shorten the journey by a bit.

I really wish I could become a cultivator like big brother or father.

Silently wishing that she could become a cultivator like her other family members, as she understood full well how beneficial it would be for her if she could indeed become a cultivator. Not only would the journey to the capital have been significantly shortened, but even if she only reached the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, she could at least learn a simple magic technique to make carriage rides more comfortable.

Unfortunately, her dreams of becoming a cultivator to make carriage rides easier wouldn’t be possible as she had already been tested and even tried to learn cultivation techniques in the past to no success.

Compared to her brother who had already reached the Seventh Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm while being only a single year older than her, she truly didn’t have any talent for cultivation.

But talent to go far on the path of cultivation wasn’t what she wished for now. All she wanted was to reach the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm and make future travel more comfortable.

Rustle~

Sitting back up after once again being unsuccessful in finding a good sleeping position, Lu Dongli found herself gazing out the window of the carriage. Finding her gaze drawn towards the armor of one of the guards riding beside the carriage as it shone in a bright silver color under the burning sun that was undoubtedly far from pleasant to the guard in question.

The only thing that made the situation bearable for this guard being that the armor had specially designed engravings carved inside of it that helped regulate heat and made wearing the armor far more comfortable than walking around without out it. In fact, the carriage had similar engravings alongside others that served a more protective purpose that she herself didn’t truly understand, as her father and big brother hadn’t really shared much about those protective measures with her considering that she was unable to become a cultivator in the first place.

All she really knew about cultivation was that her father was considered a bigshot in the kingdom while her brother was a genius filled with potential.

As for the cultivation realms themselves… She knew about the Qi Condensation Realm that her big brother had reached and the Foundation Establishment Realm, Core Formation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm that came after it, but beyond that, she didn’t know much. Her father being someone at the Core Formation Realm.

Feeling her thoughts starting to wander as she continued gazing out the window of the carriage, Lu Dongli soon enough noticed the large road appearing in the distance and felt a sense of relief washing over her. Knowing that she would finally be able to sleep after reaching the large road up ahead, as it was of far higher quality compared to the road she was travelling on now.

Not just because it was one of the most important and well maintained roads within the kingdom, but also because the ones behind the construction of the road was some powerful sect that existed far beyond the kingdom and was said to have been behind several similar major projects that had helped connect her and other nearby kingdoms and make trade far easier.

To be honest, she didn’t really know much about it, all she knew for certain was that this sect had ended up making travel far more comfortable for her, as in the past, she would have to endure the remaining two days in a similar bumpy state.

As for the true length of this large road that served as a major artery connecting that much of the kingdom’s trade moved through, she had no idea and only knew that it went stretched far beyond the few nearby kingdoms she had learnt about when she was younger.

One thing outside of the bumpiness disappearing with the new major road was the fact that a large number of foreign traders and lone cultivators that had been difficult to encounter in the past were far easier to encounter, she had even run into a lone cultivator who had been travelling along the road for over a year without break. Having set out to find the true end of the road that had only appeared a few months ago at the time of the encounter.

This encounter being the main reason how she had realized just how long the large road was and had at the time also made her curious about what could be found at the end of the road. After all, the lone cultivator she encountered was by no means weak and had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm according to her guards, someone like that travelling for a year straight could easily pass through a dozen or so kingdoms.

Of course, curious as she was about what could be found at the end of the road, she didn’t intend to truly try and find it, as she understood just how difficult something like that would be without any cultivation to speak of. Not just because it was exhausting, but also because one would need strength to deal with potential danger on the road.

Safe as the road was under normal conditions, there were still some dangerous places near mountains or far from civilization that bandits often chose to settle down in.

Feeling the bumping stopping as her thoughts were wandering, Lu Dongli’s gaze slowly shifted from the scenery outside towards the ground below. Realizing from the even and beautiful road that had replaced the uneven cobblestone road from earlier that they had already reached the major road.

Finally~ I can sleep~

Feeling a sense of excitement welling up inside her upon seeing that they had reached the comfortable road and knowing that the rest of the journey to the capital would be smooth, Lu Dongli wasted no time as she flopped back on the soft padding and closed her eyes. Soon enough feeling her mind drifting as she peacefully entered dreamland without any interruptions from the road below.

If possible, she wanted nothing more than to sleep all the way to the capital city and avoid having to wake up to deal with anything else the rest of the journey, but things never went the way one wanted, as she barely slept for an hour before the carriage came to an abrupt stop that directly jolted her awake.

”What!? What’s happening!?” Sticking her small head up like a startled still half-asleep chick, Lu Dongli looked around confused before catching sight of her maid servant outside the carriage talking with one of the guards.

Curious, Lu Dongli moved closer to the window and soon enough saw the situation outside.

Apparently, a travelling merchant had an accident in front of them with one of the wheels on his cart snapping off and almost hitting them. The sudden abrupt stop happened because the coachman had done his best and just barely managed to avoid them being hit by the wheel that had snapped off its axis.

A fate that another carriage trying to bypass them hadn’t shared, as it had been hit and ended up crashing nearby with one of the horses breaking free and escaping in the process.

From what she could hear, the discussion outside revolved around the travelling merchant apologizing for what had happened.

Uninteresting as this entire situation was to her, she understood that it might take some time before they could continue, as the horses on her carriage had been scared and the road itself had been blocked by the crashed carriage and would at least take some time to clear out.

Normally going off the road and moving around would have been possible, but it just so happened that the crashed carriage was at the start of a bridge. Making it impossible to go around unless there happened to be another bridge nearby, something unlikely considering this was a relatively isolated part of the kingdom with few towns around.

Looks like it might end up taking more than two days to reach the capital…

Silently grumbling inside as she realized that this little incident meant it would take even longer before she could reach the capital city, Lu Dongli could not help silently cursing the reckless carriage that had attempted to overtake them just before reaching the bridge. Not feeling too bad about these thoughts as the conversation taking place outside had made it clear that no one had ended up suffering anything beyond a few superficial injuries.

Rustle~

And with nothing else to do for the next few hours as the carriage was being moved aside, she decided to take the opportunity to stretch her legs by the riverside, Yaoyao following behind her diligently after seeing her leave the carriage alongside two guards.

Although moving a carriage should have been something simple enough with even several cultivators at the Qi Condensation Realm present, it just so happened that the carriage in question was of similar tough material like the one she happened to be riding and was far heavier than a normal carriage.

Even for a group of strong cultivators who had reached the Qi Condensation Realm, it was difficult to move in a short time…

”Ohhh, it’s been a while since I last saw a river this powerful!” Voicing her heartfelt admiration as she reached the bank of the river, Lu Dongli felt her gaze focusing on the powerful current that could visibly be seen at the center of the river.

From what she had learnt about this great river cutting straight through several kingdoms, the current at the center went far beyond a normal river in strength and was rumored to be powerful enough to even kill a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Originally, she didn’t believe this, but now that she saw the current in person, she felt that it did indeed have the strength to tear apart whoever or whatever ended up unlucky enough to fall inside it.

”Hm? What is that…?”

But as she kept her attention on the powerful current while the situation at the path over the bridge was cleared, she suddenly noticed a faint glimmer from the current and with nothing to do and her curiosity ignited, she found herself moving along the bank of the river following the faint glimmer. Soon enough, finding herself under the bridge where the faint glimmer that had originally been moving around at the center of the river had drifted before coming to a stop.

”A… Bracelet?” Looking down at the small, elegant silver bracelet that seemed to be the origin of the faint glimmering she had seen, Lu Dongli didn’t hesitate as she leaned down and picked up the silver bracelet just before Yaoyao noticed it.

Not because she wanted to hide it, but because she understood that there was no way Yaoyao would allow her to bring back anything strange she found on the road.

Filled with a sense of childish mischief knowing that Yaoyao didn’t notice her picking up the silver bracelet, she pretended to be admiring the water crashing into the foundation of a nearby bridge pillar for a bit before making her way back to the carriage where she would be able to more closely inspect the silver bracelet without anyone looking, as Yaoyao would likely join the rest in helping move the crashed carriage.

After all, though she was a maid servant, she was also her personal guard and had reached the impressive Eighth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, by no means anyone weak. The reason for her not needing to be around her all the time inside the carriage being because the carriage had defensive formations engraved into it.