Stealing Immortal

Chapter 27: Chapter 26: Majesty

Xu You’s disappearance caused a stir in the small courtyard.

In the morning, Xu Yong and Lü Yunshen discussed it and concluded that something must have happened to Xu You.

’I wonder what conclusion those two will draw if he’s still gone in a few days.’

He put away his Hongling Token and headed straight up the mountain.

With two Tier Two Qi-Introducing Pills every day, Liu Tao’s complexion was visibly improving. She had once said that the Fire Control Three Acupoints burned away her lifespan, meaning she had to ensure her cultivation was always advancing.

’She hadn’t made an inch of progress in two hundred years. Now that she was on the mend, it probably wouldn’t be long before she started to look younger, just like me.’

When he went to the Alchemy Room today, he found her pacing back and forth with her head down, an anxious expression written all over her face.

This was the first time she’d been like this since Xu Baoling’s death. ”Senior Sister, did they find out about her death?”

Liu Tao paced back and forth, her voice frantic. ”They did.”

Chen Qingyang quickly closed the door behind him. ”Who found out?”

”It wasn’t Qi Xiuyuan. It was the Daoist Child that Master sent to look for her. Master is furious right now. I didn’t dare go see her; I only heard about it from the other junior brothers of our line.”

’So it wasn’t Qi Xiuyuan who found her. That means Xu Baoling’s body wasn’t discovered until at least ten days after she died.’

”So, what was the final conclusion?”

”Master’s official word is that Xu Baoling failed while breaking through to the next realm and died from qi deviation.” Liu Tao seemed deeply unsettled as she said this.

”Then what are you so worried about?”

”Argh!” Liu Tao cried out. ”Junior Brother, you don’t understand! Master is paranoid by nature. Who knows if she actually believes that story or is just pretending to? If you’d met her just once, you’d know how terrifying she is!”

’It seems this Master Yun Ci’s reputation is formidable. Liu Tao is utterly terrified of her.’

”If that’s the case, there shouldn’t be a problem. Just carry on as usual. Panicking like this will only make you slip up.”

”Am I panicking?” Liu Tao asked, leaning her face close. She looked so distraught, she might as well have had the word ”panicked” written on her forehead.

”Yes, very much so.”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stand still. After a long moment, she asked, ”Junior Brother, how about now?”

”Much better now, but...”

”But what?”

”If Qi Xiuyuan gets suspicious of me and comes to our door, how are you going to deal with him in your current state?”

”That’s true.” Liu Tao stopped pacing and thought for a moment. ”Do you think he’ll come looking for you?”

”He will. Even if it’s not out of suspicion, he’ll still come asking questions out of sheer curiosity.”

Liu Tao asked again, ”What will you do then?”

Chen Qingyang remained silent, as if he had already given her the answer.

Gradually, Liu Tao’s gaze grew resolute. ”Fine. I’ll calm down. This has nothing to do with me, anyway. Everyone knows that bitch and I didn’t get along. If I had killed her, she would’ve been burned to a crisp, not looking like she died from qi deviation.”

”That’s the right way to think about it.”

Chen Qingyang spent the rest of the day on alchemy. He worked from noon until nightfall before the batch of elixirs was finally complete.

The two Tier Two Qi-Introducing Pills were proving more and more effective. Liu Tao held them in her hand with a look of pure bliss, her earlier panic completely forgotten.

”You can take this Warm Sun Pill and these four Qi Gathering Pills. I’ll be keeping the Qi-Introducing Pills, hehe!”

Hiding the elixirs in his sleeve, Chen Qingyang left the Alchemy Room.

But he hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he felt a pair of eyes fixed on him.

Qi Xiuyuan was leaning in the shadow of a nearby banyan tree. A flicker of confusion crossed his face when he saw Chen Qingyang emerge from Liu Tao’s Alchemy Room. Chen Qingyang, on the other hand, felt a strange sense of relief at his presence. ’At least it means he’s not here to kill me.’

Remembering their last encounter, he bowed with his hands clasped. ”Senior Brother Qi.”

But Qi Xiuyuan seemed afraid of being seen. He waved a hand, and an invisible force yanked Chen Qingyang into a corner, just as rudely as their last encounter.

”Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you want everyone to know I know you? Seeing you at Xu Baoling’s place was supposed to be a secret, you get me?”

He spoke in a low, vicious hiss.

Chen Qingyang froze for a second. ’What does he mean by that?’ He could only say, ”I understand.”

”Hmph. The day I saw you, you were one of Xu Baoling’s Miscellaneous Task disciples. So how is it that you’re now coming out of Liu Tao’s Alchemy Room? And every day, no less?”

Chen Qingyang gave his usual reply. ”To be frank, Senior Brother Qi, people like me in Miscellaneous Tasks have no freedom. One day I’m with this senior sister, the next I’m with that one. I have no say in the matter.”

Qi Xiuyuan seemed to believe him somewhat, nodding slightly in thought. ”I suppose that’s true. However...”

At this, Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes narrowed, and his face suddenly broke into a wide grin. ”Come on. Leave with me for a moment. I’ve got a reward for you!”

’A reward!’

Chen Qingyang, of course, didn’t believe him. ’From the very first time we met, he knocked me to the ground and threatened me, even though I was nothing but obedient.’

’To a man like him, a mere Miscellaneous Task disciple is no different from a weed on the roadside. Why would he offer me a reward?’

”May I ask what kind of reward Senior Brother Qi has in mind?”

Chen Qingyang’s simple question was enough to make Qi Xiuyuan lose his patience. He became extremely agitated. ”Why are you asking so many damn questions, you old coot? You’ll find out when we get there!”

”Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother Qi.” After saying this, Chen Qingyang gestured toward Liu Tao’s Alchemy Room in the distance.

”I’m not finished with my work for Senior Sister Liu. Even if I have to leave this instant, I should let her know first. Senior Sister Liu has a terrible temper and high cultivation. It would be very troublesome to anger her!”

Sure enough, Qi Xiuyuan was wary of Liu Tao. His tone softened. ”That won’t be necessary. I’ll explain to Senior Sister Liu tomorrow if she’s offended. You’re coming with me right now!”

He didn’t even let Chen Qingyang move. With a flick of his palm, an invisible force clamped down on Chen Qingyang and began to drag him out of the Pill Institute.

Chen Qingyang knew full well what would happen if he was taken away.

Just as he was debating whether to reveal his true strength and activate his Warm Jade Scroll, the door nearby creaked open.

A faint light shone from the doorway as Liu Tao glided toward them at an incredible speed.

Leaning on her staff, she let out a cold sneer. She flicked a spark of fire from her fingertips, and the force binding Chen Qingyang instantly vanished.

One was just at the cusp of the Ninth Realm.

The other was preparing to break through to Essence Condensation.

Qi Xiuyuan no longer dared to act presumptuously. He forced a placating smile. ”Fancy that. My little visit to the Pill Institute seems to have disturbed Senior Sister Liu herself.”

”Hmph. Don’t tell me you’ve taken an interest in alchemy, Junior Brother Qi? What are you doing, trying to drag away my disciple?”

Qi Xiuyuan chuckled and shook his head. ”You jest, Senior Sister. You know my aptitude is poor. I can barely grasp the cultivation technique our Master passed down, let alone find the skill to delve into the Seven Arts.”

Liu Tao continued, ”If that’s not the case, then scram. I’m at a critical point in my breakthrough to Essence Condensation. If I’m deprived of his help, it will affect the pills I can form and my entire future on this path. If that happens, this will become a grudge that can never be settled.”

Obstructing someone’s Immortal Path is an offense akin to murder.

Chen Qingyang observed him carefully. When Liu Tao told him to scram, Qi Xiuyuan didn’t seem angry, but rather baffled by the supposed importance of this Miscellaneous Task disciple. ”Surely you jest, Senior Sister? He hasn’t even reached Qi Refining. What could he possibly do for you?”

But Liu Tao retorted, ”It seems your cultivation really is mediocre if you can’t even tell that he’s already at the First Realm of Qi Refining.”

Qi Xiuyuan was inwardly shocked. He scrutinized Chen Qingyang again and realized his qi mechanism was indeed different. ”This... If he’s already at the First Realm of Qi Refining, why is he still doing Miscellaneous Tasks? Why hasn’t he just joined the Outer Sect?”

Liu Tao snorted. ”If he joins the Outer Sect, who will perform alchemy for me? Junior Brother Qi, you should just worry about your own affairs.”

Qi Xiuyuan glared at Chen Qingyang, furious but helpless.

”You’re one lucky old coot, having Senior Sister Liu to protect you. You’d better serve her well, now. Make sure you don’t do anything to offend her.”

Hearing the veiled threat in his words, Liu Tao lightly tapped her staff on the ground. Instantly, a wave of fiery energy erupted from all sides, forcing Qi Xiuyuan at its center to stumble back three steps.

”Remember this: if anything happens to my boy here, the first person I’m coming for is you, Junior Brother Qi. I’m already four hundred years old. If I fail to break through, I’m dead anyway. You, on the other hand, are still so very young!”

The threat was unmistakable. Qi Xiuyuan could only stare back, his eyes filled with horror.

Liu Tao’s explosive temper was notorious. She would absolutely risk her own life to take him down with her.

”Senior Sister Liu, rest assured... And Junior Brother Chen, I have no ill will toward you. Please explain things to Senior Sister Liu for me. And be careful not to say anything... that shouldn’t be said.” He bit out the last few words, and Chen Qingyang understood his meaning perfectly.

”Thank you for your magnanimity, Senior Brother Qi.”

After seeing Qi Xiuyuan off, Chen Qingyang had no choice but to return to Liu Tao’s Alchemy Room.

Outside, Liu Tao was imperious, but upon entering the Alchemy Room, she immediately became flustered again.

”Oh, no, he really came for you! What did he ask...? Did he ask why you weren’t the first one to find Xu Baoling’s body...? Or did he ask why you’re here with me?”

She wasn’t afraid of Qi Xiuyuan, but of her Master, Master Yun Ci.

Chen Qingyang was much calmer than her. ”No need to panic. The situation is better than we imagined.”

”Better?” Liu Tao’s voice rose to a high pitch. ”How is this better?”

”At first, I didn’t understand why Qi Xiuyuan suddenly wanted to kill me. Then it hit me: Xu Baoling’s death didn’t just scare you; it scared him too. As far as he knows, he was one of the last people to see her before she died, and they had a huge argument that day. If she really did die from a fit of rage that caused a qi deviation, he could hardly escape blame. As the only person who witnessed him there, I had to be killed for him to keep that secret buried forever.”

Chen Qingyang began to wonder, ’Just what kind of person is this Master Yun Ci?’

’Both Liu Tao’s and Qi Xiuyuan’s terror stems from her.’

Liu Tao stared blankly for a moment after hearing his explanation, then burst out laughing. ”That’s right! I’m terrified of Master, so he must be even more so! If Master finds out he was there right before that bitch died, he’ll be under suspicion for ages, even if he’s innocent. If that’s the case, then this whole thing is settled!”

’It’s hard to say if it’s really settled,’ Chen Qingyang thought, still harboring some doubts. But seeing Liu Tao’s panicked state, he decided against voicing them. ”Senior Sister is truly wise. You understand things in a flash. I was only able to keep my life today because you came out when you did!”

Seeing Chen Qingyang bow to her with sincere admiration, a blush rose on Liu Tao’s face, along with a sense of pride.

”You old coot, you didn’t really think that just because your Senior Sister hides in here, I’ve become some helpless invalid, did you? I just... don’t like people seeing me in my current state.”

Her tone at the end was tinged with a world-weary sorrow.