42: Avoid the sharp edge

[You explain to Sun Tianping that this person's cultivation is unfathomable, and since he hasn't done anything to harm Taiping City, it would be better to leave him alone for now.]

[Sun Tianping thinks what you said makes a lot of sense.]

[Since these are chaotic times of war, he also plans to run away after amassing more Spirit Stones.]

[You both begin to frantically amass wealth in Taiping City.]

[This action quickly attracts the attention of Mu Ningshuang.]

[She establishes the Taiping Sect and begins to shelter those whose cultivation is lacking.]

[She also sends out word that if you two continue like this, she will slay all of you wicked people.]

[Upon learning this news, Sun Tianping immediately prepares to flee.]

[But he never would have imagined that on the very night he leaves Taiping City, you block his path.]

["My... my good brother, what is the meaning of this?"]

["Brother Sun, my Spirit Stones are not so easily taken."]

[You slay Sun Tianping on the spot.]

[You obtain many Spirit Stones and cultivation resources.]

[You obtain the Great Yu Dynasty City Lord Token.]

[Afterward, instead of leaving Taiping City, you head to the headquarters of the Taiping Sect.]

[Mu Ningshuang is somewhat puzzled by your arrival.]

[But before she can ask, you speak up, "Ningshuang, do not look for Cultivation Techniques for your clansmen anymore. It is impossible for them to Cultivate."]

[Hearing this, Mu Ningshuang is greatly shocked. She asks how you know her name and how you know her purpose here.]

[You make up a story.]

[In this story, you were also once a member of the Ancient Wood Realm, only you left the Ancient Wood Realm even earlier than she did.]

[You had also once searched for many, many Cultivation Techniques for the villagers of the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[These included Body Refining, Soul Refining, and even Ghost Cultivation techniques.]

[But without exception, all of them failed.]

[Although the villagers who cultivated other techniques could make Breakthroughs, as soon as they reached the second rank, they would immediately drop dead.]

[All of this is because a terrifying skeleton is enshrined in the village's ancestral hall.]

[As long as it is there, the villagers of the Ancient Wood Realm will never be able to Cultivate.]

[Mu Ningshuang asks you what the skeleton is.]

[You shake your head and explain that you only know it is a very terrifying existence. As for where it came from and what its true identity is, you do not know.]

[Mu Ningshuang shows a look of skepticism.]

[Seeing that she does not believe you, you rely on the memories in your mind to speak the names of several villagers from the Ancient Wood Realm and the locations of several rare Spirit Medicines.]

[Hearing your words, Mu Ningshuang dismisses some of her doubts, but she still states that she must take some Cultivation Techniques and personally witness the villagers fail to Cultivate before she can completely believe what you say.]

[You readily agree.]

[In the days that follow, you begin to help Mu Ningshuang search for Cultivation Techniques.]

[But Great Yu is different from Great Wu. Here, other paths of cultivation are viewed as heterodox, and there are only Qi Refining techniques throughout the entire Imperial Dynasty.]

[Spending a full two years, you finally find a Body Refining technique called the Zhou Family Body Tempering Secret Manual from a fallen aristocratic family.]

[This is a very low-level Cultivation Technique; even if cultivated to its limit, one can only reach second-rank Body Refining.]

[However, for the people of the Ancient Wood Realm, this is already enough.]

[Mu Ningshuang sets off on the journey back to the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[During this time, you repeatedly warn her not to reveal any news about you to anyone in the Ancient Wood Realm.]

[Otherwise, it might very well draw out that skeleton.]

[Mu Ningshuang agrees and promises you that once she verifies that everything you said is true, she will leave the Ancient Wood Realm immediately.]

[Watching her departing figure, you are lost in thought.]

[Although, according to your deduction, that skeleton has not yet awakened.]

[Otherwise, it would have already begun to secretly devour the life force within Mu Ningshuang.]

[But it is always better to avoid unnecessary trouble. It is best to have Mu Ningshuang leave the Ancient Wood Realm as early as possible and join your ranks.]

[After sending Mu Ningshuang off, you look at Taiping City.]

[In the previous simulation, the army of the Great Yu Dynasty would have already wiped this place out by now.]

[This time, however, you prevented Mu Ningshuang from acting in a high-profile manner and greased the wheels, distributing the Spirit Stones you obtained over the years to many Cultivators serving as officials in Great Yu.]

[Therefore, the Great Yu Dynasty chooses to turn a blind eye to the current Taiping Sect.]

[Everything in life returns to the right track.]

[In the thirty-second year, your children, Su Qingya and Su Qingyue, embark on the path of cultivation one after another.]

[The Power of Leadership is activated, and your cultivation is slightly enhanced.]

[You continue to amass wealth to boost the strength of yourself and those around you.]

[Over these years, the Taiping Sect has also transformed from a faction sheltering weak Cultivators into a tool for you to amass wealth.]

[You do not feel the slightest self-reproach for this.]

[Because if you did not frantically amass wealth to bribe the officials of the Great Yu Dynasty, more than half of the Cultivators in the entire Taiping City would have been conscripted to the front lines.]

[When that time came, the problem they faced would not be slow cultivation, but—death!]

[In the thirty-third year, the army of the Boundless Immortal Dynasty circles around from the rear to Taiping City.]

[Although you discover them in time, Taiping City still suffers significant losses.]

[You realize that you cannot stay here much longer either.]

[With the full-scale war between the Dynasty Alliance and the Boundless Immortal Dynasty, sneak attacks from the rear like this will only increase.]

[You begin to prepare for evacuation.]

[In the thirty-fourth year.]

[Mu Ningshuang returns.]

[At this moment, just as you imagined, she is crying her eyes out.]

[Although she brought the Cultivation Technique back to the Ancient Wood Realm, those villagers immediately exploded and died upon cultivating to the second rank.]

[All of this is exactly as you said, without the slightest discrepancy.]

[She regrets not listening to your words.]

[She feels that she is the one who caused the deaths of the villagers.]

[You comfort her.]

[Then, you tell her that with the full-scale war between the Dynasty Alliance and the Boundless Immortal Dynasty, Taiping City is no longer safe.]

[You plan to head to the Great Abyss Dynasty and ask if she is willing to leave with you.]

[She expresses her willingness to leave with you, but what about the villagers?]

[Hearing this, you fall silent.]

[That mysterious skeleton is truly bizarre. Although in the previous simulation, its cultivation was only at the Nascent Soul Realm when it hunted you down.]

[But who knows how many villagers it had devoured?]

[If it hadn't devoured all the villagers back then, what Realm would it reach once it devoured them all?]

[In short, you do not want to cross paths with this skeleton for the time being.]

[But at this time, Mu Ningshuang is still green and inexperienced, and she is still bound by close blood ties to many of the Ancient Wood Realm villagers.]

[Helpless, you can only say, "When we have sufficient strength."]

["Though it might take a very long time..."]