Martial Cultivator

The firelight illuminated their faces. Chen Chao's complexion was pale, while Liang Jinjin's face was slightly flushed. She said softly, "Regardless, thank you for saving my life."

Chen Chao teased, "Just saying thanks?"

Liang Jinjin was taken aback, then replied a bit pitifully, "But I already gave you my medicinal pill."

She thought for a moment, her face turning a bit red, and looked up at Chen Chao, her lips moving slightly as if to speak. However, before she could say anything, Chen Chao interrupted with a serious expression, "Young lady, take back your indecent thoughts. I'm a good person."

Liang Jinjin was stunned but quickly covered her mouth and laughed.

Chen Chao chuckled and said, "There are many ways to repay someone. How about telling me about the whatever sect ruins?"

Liang Jinjin shook her head, frowning, "That's a sect secret. Before we left, my master told me not to tell anyone."

"This isn't really a secret, is it? At least, many cultivators know about it. I'm the only one who doesn't know about it. You'll just be talking about something everyone already knows, so it doesn't count as breaking any sect rules." Chen Chao coaxed her patiently with a smile, "How about this, you tell me, and I promise not to tell anyone that it was you who said it. How's that?"

Liang Jinjin hesitated as she looked at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao continued, "You're alone now. You can't return to your sect by yourself, can you? The desolate northern plains are vast. If you try to leave on your own, it won't take long before you end up as food for those demons. You have no choice but to travel with me. I can't go back now anyway, so why not take me along and show me the ruins? I promise I won't take anything. As a martial artist, I wouldn't have any use for those items anyway, so they'll all still be yours."

As he spoke, Chen Chao could not help but feel a deep sense of guilt. Deceiving an innocent girl like this was truly shameful.

However, not everything he said was a lie. It was indeed nearly impossible for the young woman before him to leave the desolate northern plains on her own. Without a companion, she would likely die out here in the desolate northern plains.

But if Liang Jinjin was unwilling, Chen Chao would not mind escorting her out of the desolate northern plains. But what to do afterward was a bit of a headache. He knew the least about this place and was like a headless fly wandering around.

It was likely that other young cultivators from Great Liang faced the same confusion.

Liang Jinjin thought for a long time before asking, "Are you really willing to help me?"

On this journey, her senior brothers and senior sisters had already died in the desolate northern plains. If she returned empty-handed, she would certainly be punished according to sect rules. The qi refiners' sects always prioritized the Heavenly Dao, and matters like master-disciple bonds or camaraderie among peers were rarely valued. She was an exception in this regard.

Chen Chao nodded his head.

This time, Liang Jinjin looked at him for a long while without saying a word.

Chen Chao grew increasingly nervous under her gaze.

“Our Pinecreek Mountain has a technique called the Qi Observing Technique. Very few people on the mountain are suited to cultivate it, but I've been cultivating it since young. Because of this, I can see many ethereal forms of destiny in the world that ordinary people cannot. Every sect has its own destiny, which only qi refiners can perceive. However, when a sect is destroyed, its destiny dissipates, and over time, it fades away into the world. But a faint trace of destiny remains, and only those who practice the Qi Observing Technique can detect it.”

Liang Jinjin looked at Chen Chao and softly said, “In fact, everyone has a stream of qi rising from the top of their head. When you lie, that stream of qi has a slight fluctuation, so that's how I know.”

Without waiting for Chen Chao to respond, Liang Jinjin quickly added, “But ordinary qi refiners can't see it, only those who have reached a certain level in the Qi Observing Technique can.”

Chen Chao asked, “Is it really that mysterious? How many people at your Pinecreek Mountain can use this technique?”

Liang Jinjin raised a single finger and proudly pointed at herself.

The meaning was clear: she was the only one.

Chen Chao asked curiously, "Can you teach me?"

“No!” Liang Jinjin refused Chen Chao bluntly. This was a secret technique of the sect, only taught to disciples of Pinecreek Mountain. It could not be passed on to outsiders casually.

However, perhaps realizing that her tone was too harsh, Liang Jinjin quickly added in a softer voice, “Even if I taught you, you might not be able to learn it. Only those with exceptional talent can master it.”

Chen Chao responded with an “oh,” he had only asked out of curiosity and had not seriously expected Liang Jinjin to teach him the technique. But then he remembered something: those qi refiners in Tianqing County had come searching for the dragon vein, also with the intention of snatching destiny.

"Besides being able to see the destiny of a sect or dynasty, do you also have ways to snatch it?"

Having finally met a qi refiner who was not hostile towards him, Chen Chao was eager to learn some of the secrets of qi refiners.

Liang Jinjin nodded, "Naturally, there are such methods. Qi refiners cultivate by absorbing the destiny of heaven and earth for their own use."

Chen Chao asked curiously, "So what exactly is the use of this destiny?"

The word "destiny" might seem elusive and intangible, but it was the foundation upon which qi refiners built themselves. Chen Chao was quite curious about its usage.

Since Liang Jinjin had already shared so much, she did not mind explaining a bit further. She began, "Destiny might seem vague and intangible to ordinary people, but to us qi refiners, it represents the natural order of heaven and earth. Everything in existence has its own destiny, though some can be classified as destiny, while others are simply qi. Whether it's a mortal or a mountain and river, let's take something as simple as a tree, for example. Have you ever noticed how some fruit trees bear more fruit in one year than in others, only to experience poor harvests for the next two or three years?" "This is actually because too much qi is used up in that bountiful year, leaving the tree with insufficient qi in the following years, leading to a poor harvest. Qi governs everything in this world. As qi refiners, we observe and guide it, though we cannot entirely dictate its course. However, destiny is different. If the destiny of a dynasty declines, it will often collapse rapidly. The ultimate result may vary, but the root cause remains the same - insufficient destiny."

Chen Chao frowned, "So you're saying that qi refiners have the ability to maintain the destiny of a sect or dynasty? Doesn't that mean you qi refiners can ensure the longevity of a sect or dynasty?"

Liang Jinjin shook her head, "Once destiny begins to decline, it's like a river flowing downhill or a flood breaching a dam; beyond the power of human intervention. What qi refiners can do is carefully maintain or cautiously extract it." "But in reality, it's just a drop in the bucket and cannot make a decisive impact. However, if the extraction is done correctly, it can gradually deplete the destiny of a dynasty or sect over time, leading to its downfall. But this isn't something that can happen quickly. Moreover, major sects have powerful experts. If they detect such manipulations, they can dismantle them. In other words, if a sect like the Infatuation Daoist Temple continues to produce young prodigies, the destiny of those cultivators is linked to their sect. As their cultivation realms rise, they naturally contribute more to their sect, thus solidifying its existence. Of course, when cultivators are at lower realms, the sect's destiny can still aid them in their cultivation, but their cultivation is more natural, unlike us qi refiners who intentionally use destiny for ourselves...

As if knowing that she might have said too much, Liang Jinjin quickly covered her mouth. Such information should not be shared with outsiders.

However, Chen Chao did not notice her action and continued to frown, speaking to himself, "In the end, it seems that destiny always comes down to individuals?"

Liang Jinjin frowned. She had never thought of it that way before.

Chen Chao's words even seemed to make some sense to her.

Chen Chao smiled and said, "Doesn't that mean everything is determined by the person? Screw whatever fate and destiny?"

Hearing this, Liang Jinjin's expression changed dramatically. She quickly performed a series of complicated gestures and finally knelt down, muttering, "Heaven and earth, please don't be angry, please don't be angry!"

After finishing all this, she stood up again, saying somewhat angrily, "You must respect heaven and earth! Otherwise, you will face retribution!"

Chen Chao laughed, "If anyone is to face retribution, it should be me. Why are you worried?"

Liang Jinjin snorted and remained silent.

Chen Chao understood that Liang Jinjin’s actions were her way of apologizing to heaven and earth on his behalf.

This girl indeed had a kind heart. In the lineage of qi refiners who only respected Heavenly Dao and disregarded human relations, she was indeed an anomaly.

Chen Chao then remembered the qi refiner master-disciple pair he had killed. The middle-aged daoist nun had been so furious, likely not just because Guo Xi was her disciple, but because her own disciple had been killed by Chen Chao.

It was a bit convoluted, but that seemed to be the case.

"Let's get back on topic. Talk about the ruins."

Chen Chao quickly spoke up, wanting Liang Jinjin to continue.

Liang Jinjin was a bit angry, but soon explained, “Before your Great Liang, it was the Great Qi. At that time, the northern plains were still under human control. There were once several sects in the northern plains, scattered over the thirty thousand miles of the desolate north. There were dozens of sects of various sizes, but due to the demons moving southward, these sects were all destroyed. They were wiped out before the fall of the Great Qi.”

Chen Chao asked again, “Why would any cultivators choose to establish sects so close to the demon race?”

The foreign lands typically avoided demons as much as possible. Even though the thirty thousand miles of desolate north were part of human territory back then, it was still on the front line close to the demons. It was hard to understand why cultivators would set up sects there.

Liang Jinjin frowned, “How do you not know anything?”

Chen Chao felt somewhat helpless. Perhaps Xie Nandu knew about this, but aside from reading a few books with Xie Nandu at the beginning, he had been busy with various matters and had not had much time to learn about such things.

“As you know, we martial artists are seldom taken seriously. How would we know about these things?” Chen Chao sighed, but immediately regretted it, fearing he might be accused of lying again.

Liang Jinjin did not look at him but nodded thoughtfully, feeling there was some truth to his words.

However, her next sentence left Chen Chao stunned.

“Those cultivators naturally established sects in the northern plains to resist the demons and protect the human race!"

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