Research-Style Cultivation, Starting by Refusing to Be a Furnace – Chapter 19

Ch 19: Doubt

“Ninth Junior Brother, are you in the cave abode?” Dan Wu’s voice transmission came from outside the courtyard.

After a short while, another sentence came: “Ninth Junior Brother, are you in the cave abode?”.

Wei Xing had just entered the cave abode not long ago, changed his clothes and shoes, and threw them into the Dan Peak Earth Fire, where they burned to ashes and disappeared. It wasn’t until he heard Dan Wu’s voice outside the courtyard that he thought bitterly, “Damn it, it seems he’s still chasing after me. There’s no way around it, I can only bite the bullet and face it.”

“Coming, who is it?” Wei Xing shouted and transmitted his voice, pretending to be sleepy-eyed as he walked to the door, yawning.

“Ninth Junior Brother, it’s me, I’m Fifth Senior Brother, I wanted to come see Ninth Junior Brother,” Dan Wu said in a calm tone.

Wei Xing opened the door and saw Dan Wu staring at him with a smile, and then he heard, “Ninth Junior Brother, I was passing by your cave abode, so I came to see if you were here.”

Wei Xing deliberately yawned and asked suspiciously, “Fifth Senior Brother? It’s you, Fifth Senior Brother, what’s the matter so early in the morning?” After speaking, Wei Xing rubbed his eyes and stared at Dan Wu.

“It’s nothing major, I just happened to be passing by here this morning and saw a black shadow going up the mountainside. I was worried about Ninth Junior Brother’s safety, so I came to check,” Dan Wu said, sizing up Wei Xing’s attire.

Wei Xing was wearing a white sleeping robe, his upper body exposing his shoulder, looking like he hadn’t woken up, his clothes disheveled.

Wei Xing understood after listening, and thought to himself, “He’s still suspecting me.” So he took the initiative to invite Dan Wu, saying, “Fifth Senior Brother, come in and have a seat, it’s quite cold outside.”

Dan Wu didn’t waste any words and directly stepped into the courtyard, scanning the corners roughly. Wei Xing followed behind.

“Fifth Senior Brother, what are you looking for? Do you need my help?” Wei Xing asked, putting on an innocent look, staring at Dan Wu.

Dan Wu also realized at this moment that his actions were a bit inappropriate, so he smiled awkwardly and said, “Ninth Junior Brother, Senior Brother did indeed see a man in black running towards the mountain just now, and was worried that he might be hiding here and harm Ninth Junior Brother.”

Wei Xing sneered in his heart after hearing him say this, “He’s probably already suspecting me.” Then he deliberately acted terrified and said to Dan Wu, “Fifth Senior Brother, really? Please, Senior Brother, check carefully, Ninth Junior Brother is really scared!”.

Then Wei Xing deliberately walked towards his wardrobe and said to Dan Wu, “Senior Brother, isn’t it easy to hide people in this wardrobe?” Then he quickly ran behind Dan Wu, pointed at the wardrobe, and signaled Dan Wu to check it.

Dan Wu then opened the wardrobe and saw a few Daoist robes from the Monastery and two sets of white sleeping robes, but no other clothes. He muttered to himself, “Could it not be him? These clothes certainly don’t include black clothes.”

Then Wei Xing ran behind Dan Wu again, pointing at the space under the bed, the storage room, and the pill refining room, but found nothing, going back and forth several times. Dan Wu said with some impatience, “Ninth Junior Brother, it seems that the man in black has indeed run elsewhere. It’s early in the morning, so Fifth Senior Brother won’t disturb you any longer.”

Wei Xing was about to relax when he heard this, but then he saw Dan Wu suddenly turn his head and say to Wei Xing, “Ninth Junior Brother, your shoes are quite clean.”

Wei Xing raised his foot deliberately upon hearing this, revealing the sole of his shoe, and said to Dan Wu, “Fifth Senior Brother, are you talking about this? I got this from the Monastery, it’s so comfortable, I couldn’t bear to wear it much,” he said, deliberately showing a simple and honest smile.

Dan Wu stared at the soles of Wei Xing’s shoes, and not seeing any mountain rock debris, he replied, “Indeed, not bad. Ninth Junior Brother, stay here, Senior Brother will take his leave. If you encounter any suspicious people, please inform Senior Brother as soon as possible. Junior Brother, you don’t have any Spiritual Power yet, I’m afraid you won’t be able to deal with him.”

“Okay, okay, Senior Brother, come often,” Wei Xing nodded vigorously.

Wei Xing watched Dan Wu leave, finally relieved, and thought to himself, “What a meticulous mind, I almost slipped up and revealed myself.”

Dan Peak, at the mountainside.

Dan Wu stared at Wei Xing’s cave abode, as well as the courtyards of some outer sect laborer disciples nearby, and fell into silence. Today’s events meant his secret was probably known by that man in black.

“It seems I was overthinking it. Ninth Junior Brother’s place has been carefully inspected, there are no traces. He hasn’t been on the mountain for long, he shouldn’t know anything. If it’s one of Dan Liu, Dan Qi, or Dan Ba, since they know, I can probably pull them in to help. It seems I need to change some of my backup plans,” Dan Wu calculated in his heart.

Inside the cave abode.

After all this commotion, Wei Xing had long lost the desire to sleep, and quietly stayed in the room, staring outside the courtyard gate. He constantly recalled the bizarre scenes he encountered today in his mind, reviewing them.

“Fifth Senior Brother, how could he have appeared so strangely at the foot of the mountain? As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, I almost got myself killed,” Wei Xing was somewhat annoyed. If he hadn’t reacted quickly and been more cautious, he would have been discovered, and the consequences would definitely not have been good.

“Judging from Fifth Senior Brother’s expression and state, it seems his life was threatened. Who would threaten him? And what are their goals?” Wei Xing really couldn’t figure it out.

“If Fifth Senior Brother can’t handle it, he can ask the Monastery for help! It looks like he’s in a lot of pain, but even in so much pain, he doesn’t ask the Monastery, his fellow disciples, or his Master for help.” Wei Xing repeatedly thought, and the image of Dan Wu kneeling on the ground with a distorted expression constantly appeared in his mind.

“Looking at it this way, then the Monastery, as well as the Master and Senior Brothers, there must be some secrets hidden among them,” Wei Xing simply speculated, and thought to himself, “It seems I still understand too little, it’s not as simple as I see it.”

“Will our other fellow disciples also encounter the enemy that Fifth Senior Brother encountered?” Wei Xing had this question, and he was very afraid that if Dan Wu failed to resolve it, he would be implicated. Dan Wu has cultivation and still can’t defeat the opponent, so he would definitely die!

“I still need to inquire about Fifth Senior Brother, as well as the strength of the other Senior Brothers, to assess the opponent’s strength,” Wei Xing thought to himself, and then he had an idea.

In front of Dan Qi’s cave abode.

“Seventh Senior Brother, are you there? I’m Dan Jiu, I have some questions I want to ask you,” Wei Xing shouted from outside.

Soon, Dan Qi opened the courtyard gate, led Wei Xing into the courtyard, and said, “Xiao Jiu, did you encounter problems in your cultivation?”.

“Seventh Senior Brother, I have some questions about the book you gave me last time, and I wanted to ask you for guidance,” Wei Xing said sincerely.

Dan Qi nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, and said with a somewhat gratified tone, “Xiao Jiu, tell me about it.”

Wei Xing continued, “Seventh Senior Brother, I saw that in the Pill Dao Annotations you gave me last time, there were only records of pills related to Qi and Blood Replenishment, Essence, Spirit Gathering, and Desire Enhancement, but no records of other pills. I have some questions, aren’t there any other pills for healing or breaking through realms?”

Dan Qi was at a loss for words upon hearing this, not knowing how to answer Wei Xing’s question, he only said, “Xiao Jiu, I also had some doubts about what you said before, but I heard Master say that we only have these pill recipes in the Monastery, and the rest may only be available within the Sect, I don’t know either,” Dan Qi shook his head after speaking.

“Senior Brother, there’s one more thing, I’ve tried many times yesterday, but I just can’t sense Spiritual Energy, what’s going on?” Wei Xing continued to ask.

Dan Qi laughed loudly after hearing this, patted Wei Xing on the shoulder, and said with a smile, “How can cultivation be such a simple matter? It takes about a month for a genius to enter the door, three months for those with good aptitude, and six months for those with average aptitude. If you could comprehend it in a day, wouldn’t you become an Immortal? You still need to hone yourself well, slowly comprehend, and when the time comes, you will naturally succeed.”

Wei Xing was relieved to hear that it would take at least a month, and thought to himself, “Thank goodness, thank goodness, it’s not my own problem, it turns out the time hasn’t come yet.”

Then, Wei Xing responded to Dan Qi, “Seventh Senior Brother, I’m very curious about what realm the Senior Brothers are in, for example, Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, and Seventh Senior Brother, as well as Eighth Senior Brother, who are still in the Monastery, what realms are you all in? It would be good for Xiao Jiu to have a consideration in his heart, to avoid arrogance and impatience.”

Dan Qi nodded upon hearing Wei Xing’s reply, and said, “That’s good too, you should understand some things as well. Fifth Senior Brother is probably hovering around the Dao Breath Perfected Realm, he shouldn’t be far from the Qi Refining Realm. Sixth Senior Brother should be close to Dao Breath Perfection, as for me, I’m in the Mid-Stage Dao Breath, Xiao Ba has only been here five or six years longer than you, around the Early-Stage Dao Breath.”

Wei Xing was already calculating in his heart after listening, and finally bid farewell and returned to his cave abode.