Another Cliché Cultivation Story

Dark crimson hair, golden flame symbol, red eyes with innocent features. Who else could it be but Hong Tian? She stood there alone. Her existence seemed incompatible with this world. There was something about her that separated her from everyone else.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me.” She said.

Ji Xian laughed, “Of course not, I’ve always been popular with girls, besides, you stared at me so hard when we first met, I knew you'll turn up eventually.”

She wasn't amused.

She looked at him seriously and said vaguely, “You should not be here.”

“Nor should you. The Heavenly Merit on your body is rather obvious.” Ji Xian teased, "Hiding your existence, free from divination and prying eyes."

Hong Tian's pupils shrank to a needle.

"It's quite interesting. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you stole my Merit Art." He said.

Merit Arts are techniques that utilize Heavenly Merit.

From his body, a minuscule wisp of golden light floated away before being pulled back in.

Hong Tian was shocked! That was Heavenly Merit! Although not impossible to obtain in the Lower World, it's incredibly rare. People can go their whole life without obtaining a single strand.

And apparently, this man was also using Heavenly Merit the same way she is!

"Stole your Merit Art? There are many factions from above that know of this technique. While rare, it's not uncommon."

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

"..."

Ji Xian chuckled. While his Merit Art had the same function as Hong Tian, it isn't the same technique.

The difference? Ji Xian created his through countless simulations so the methodology was different.

Through this exchange, the both of them learned quite a few things about one another.

Ji Xian suddenly opened his mouth, “So what’s the matter, trouble in paradise? Or are you here for a piece of this world?”

Hong Tian's expression subtly shifted.

Ji Xian noticed this, he stuffed another steamed bun into his mouth and muttered, “ Is the Upper World so chaotic that they need to send a little girl down here to hide?

Although he was barely audible, she was still able to hear him. Hong Tian sneered in disdain.

“Oh?”

Ji Xian notices something, "Is it perhaps not the Upper World...?

Hong Tian's heart skipped a beat. But she learned from her previous mistake so her expression didn't change.

He mused, "Lower World... Upper World... what's above that I wonder."

"..."

Ji Xian smiled, he wasn’t expecting to get an answer.

Just as he planned to leave...

Hong Tian couldn't take it anymore and ask, “Just who are you? Your aura, along with that woman is different from the others. You're not a native and from what I've seen, you're definitely not from above.”

Ji Xian walked passed her, "We're Immortals on our honeymoon."

Hong Tian frowned, not believing him for a second, "Liar."

She had more questions but Ji Xian had already vanished. He left behind some words that entered her ears.

"If you ever come into any problems, you can find me. You're quite pitiful after all..."

Hong Tian looked at where he disappeared with a thoughtful expression. Her hands clenched tightly into a fist.

---------------------------

Ji Xian reappeared in a courtyard. He glanced around and appreciated the sight. The clouds are in front of him, close enough that he can almost touch them. He jumped onto a tall building and looked down below him.

The entire Solitude City can be seen!

He had arrived on the floating mountain. He jumped back down and took a stroll. He saw quite a few servants and guards but he calmly passed them without their knowledge. He released his spiritual sense and inspected every building on the mountain.

He passed through one room after another, at one point his spiritual sense scanned a room that had a picture of a woman that had a remarkably similar appearance to Lin Roulan.

Finally, he found something that caught his interest.

Ji Xian vanished and reappeared in front of a four-story tall pagoda.

He took glanced at the highest level, his eyes pierced through space and he saw an old man sitting crossed-legged with his eyes closed.

“Late stage Holy realm.”

Ji Xian smiled. Guo Xinyi mentioned before that there are only a dozen Late Stage Holy realm experts in the Mortal Desolate World, who would’ve known there is one right here in Solitude City?

From what he learned through eavesdropping, the majority of people only know the City Lord as the only Holy realm expert, they didn't know the existence of this old man.

Ji Xian examined the door, immediately discovering a formation. He smiled and got to work.

A few minutes later. The formation disappeared but in a blink of an eye became active again.

Above the highest level of the pagoda, in a dimly lit room, the white-haired old man suddenly opened his eyes causing the room to brighten momentarily.

His eyebrows scrunched together causing his wrinkles to become even more prominent. His sudden reaction caused him to leak an aura of death and decay but the old man quickly contain it.

“What was that? The formation…”

The old man used his spiritual sense and swept through the pagoda. After carefully examining it, he didn’t discover anything. He also checked the formation but after realizing it was still active, he no longer thought about it and closed his eyes once more.

The old man was completely unaware that there was an unwanted guest in the pagoda, treating it as if it was his own home.

After momentarily disabling the formation, Ji Xian entered the pagoda and was greeted with the sight of over ten shelves in an organized line filled with books. He grabbed one from a random shelf and quickly read it.

After a few minutes, Ji Xian closed the book and put it back on the shelf. He glanced around him and appreciated all the books available to him. There are over sixty books containing low to mid-Grade Divine Arts on the first floor.

He sighed, “This reminds me of the old days back in Mortal Haven.”

In the past, he would sneak into Sects to read their Divine Arts and Cultivation Methods to accumulate his knowledge. There have been many times when he was almost caught and now he has become such an expert that he can go anywhere unhindered. He had come a long way...

“Stealing is hard work.”

Ji Xian shook his head and continued going through all the books. Using his spiritual sense to assist him, he read each book incredibly fast.

Two hours later.

He put back the last book onto the shelf. Out of all the books, there was only a couple with potential. In his current situation, after having read so many books of Divine Arts, he has become much pickier and he has also come to realize that having too many Divine Arts isn’t necessarily a good thing. However, he would still read them for reference.

Ji Xian went to the next floor. He glances around before immediately losing interest. The second floor contained weapons. Various weapons hung on the wall and they all looked menacing. If it was anyone else, they would’ve drooled at the sight, but Ji Xian had already acquired so many weapons from his past adventures and also from the people of the Upper World, he no longer needs them.

Ji Xian headed to the third floor. A single shelf stood in the middle of the room and three books can be seen. After reading the title and introduction of each book, a smile appeared on his face.

“Three cultivation methods: Solitude Art, Core Devouring Method, and this last one…Soul Liberation Art.”

“A Soul Cultivation Method! Even the Mortal Haven World doesn’t have something like this!”