Chapter 212: The Sorrows of Life


    The date of departure had been set for three dayster. Fang Xing decided to hide inside the Myriad Beasts Sect until then, but he didnt simply waste away the days and sought out every piece of information and gossip rted to the old man Hu Qin he could. From this, he found out this old man was a bit of a legend in his own right.


    Hu Qin hade from humble beginnings as an old man whod been a street performer his entire life. He was poor and had achieved nothing butduring histe yearshe chanced upon the full inheritance of a rogue cultivator and was finally able to step onto the path of cultivation. Despite being over fifty years old without any foundation, resources, or teachers to help guide the way, he was able to use nothing more than a mid-quality spirit manual left behind by that rogue cultivator to reach the heavens and achieve renown throughout Chufung.


    As a Foundation Stage cultivator, he then joined the Melodic Ice Pce and assisted them in ying demons and devils. His name became even more well known, allowing him to be the pce master for a hundred years before he grew tired of all worldly matters and decided to retire. Hed kept himself from public view ever since.


    Although another hundred years had passed since then, the name Hu Qin had yet to be forgotten and had simply be more enigmatic. It was established during this period that he was the best cultivator in all of Chufung, and his status became extremely lofty. There was even a rumor that when the people of Fuyao Pce first came to Chufung Kingdom, not only was the Melodic Ice Pce the first ce they visited, they didnt unt their status and instead showed Hu Qin the same esteem they would show someone on equal standing.


    Throughout Hu Qins life, it was rare for him to take in any students. The Melodic Ice Pce had grown stronger by the day, and although it was still paired up with the Qing-Yun Sect and Ephemeral Butterfly as one of the top three sects of Chufung, the truth was it had somewhat surpassed the other two by now and entered a league of its own. A great number of talented disciples could be found within the pce, yet within these hundreds of years, Hu Qin had taken in only a total of three disciples.


    Hu Qins first student was the current pce master; his second student had once been an elite of their generation, but had died in battle; his third student was the current top genius of the Chufung Kingdom still in Spirit Stage, Ye Guyin. Put simply, for Ying Qiaoqiao to get the opportunity to be his student was like rising to the heavens with a single step. Even the title Hu Qins pupil alone was many times more valuable than her current Myriad Beasts princess.


    After Fang Xing learned from Ying Shihou why shed been epted as a student, however, he was only confused. As it so happened, Ying Qiaoqiao hadnt been epted into the Melodic Ice Pce because of some connections or particr method, but because this grand-elder who hadnt been in the public eye for nearly a hundred years had actively sent out a message for her. The message spoke of how hed heard of her innate talent, about how he had a sense of appreciation for a newly risen great sprout and wished to take her as his student.


    To Ying Shihou, his daughter being given the chance to study under the wings of Chufungs top cultivator meant she wouldnt need to be stuck inside this small Myriad Beasts Sect forever. He hadnt been able to contain his joy and epted it without a second thought, but Fang Xing felt something was a little strange about this.


    Within the realm of cultivation, there were cases where this appreciation for a new sprout would motivate a highly skilled old monster topete over a certain genius in order to take them as their student. This wasnt too umon, either, but everyone qualified to have these old monsters fight over them were nothing short of true, legitimate geniuses. Fang Xing had met this Ying Qiaoqiao before, and although her innate talent wasnt bad, that would depend on who she waspared to. Perhaps if she waspared to his past D-Rank she could be called a genius, but whenpared to someone like Ye Guyin, it was like setting a sparrow next to a phoenix.


    This level of talent shouldnt have been enough for the grand-elder of the Melodic Ice Pce to proactively send out a letter to take her in as a new student, right?


    The puzzle was difficult to solve, so Fang Xing decided not to dwell on it further. There were still three days until departure, and although Fang Xing was bored with nothing to do, hed also been making some preparations in secret.


    The first thing he needed to do was hide the Phoenix-Fear Zither hed taken from Ye Guyin. The method itself was rather straightforward: he simply coated it in ayer of Refined Iron, changed it into ance shaped like a one-legged man, and then had the Peng King carve a few intricate seals on the Refined Irons surface. The seals not only increased the power of thence, but also prevented people from sensing the aura of the Phoenix-Fear Zither beneath theyer of Refined Iron. The Peng King even promised with unwavering conviction that a normal Golden Core Stage cultivator wouldnt find anything abnormal whatsoever thanks to the seals hed personally carved.


    This all had to be done because Fang Xing simply didnt have any better options. The Phoenix-Fear Zither was an invaluable high-quality Ancient weaponit naturally couldnt just be thrown away. It also so happened that this treasure couldnt be ced inside a storage sack, so he had to resort to this in order to carry it on his back.


    Once the zither was taken care of, Fang Xing forced Ying Shihou to open up the Myriad Beasts Sect treasure vault so he could draw in arge amount of good items for cultivation resources. All of the resources hed collected for Spirit Stage were useless now that hed formed his foundation, so he had no choice but to collect resources once again. Although hed plundered the valleys of the three Foundation Stage elders and did indeed have a few resources for Foundation Stage cultivationsuch as some suitable pellets and high-quality Spirit Stonesit was still far from enough.


    His base was extremely solid, after all, and even though his foundation was contaminated, the underlying purity of his cultivation was still there. His purple foundation was an existence far beyond any ordinary cultivator, and so the pellets and Spirit Stones used by ordinary Foundation Stage cultivators werent very useful to him; at most, theyd only be able to help him replenish some of the Qi hed use throughout the day. If he wanted to break into the second tier of Foundation Stage, hed need considerably more high-quality resources.


    It was rather unfortunate that while the Myriad Beasts Sect had a near-unlimited supply of resources for Spirit Stage disciples, the sect didnt have much for those in Foundation Stage. Even after Fang Xing went through all of the sects vaulta process that left Ying Shihou with a pained heartthe boy was still left dissatisfied and felt it was only so-so. At least it was better than nothing.


    In short, one person secretly cursed the other as a bandit, while the second cursed the first as a poor bastard.


    Fortunately, three days passed by quickly and the little devil was finally set to leave.


    The morning of the third day, all of the Myriad Beasts disciples gathered at the center of the city to see Ying Qiaoqiao off. In the central square was a thirty-foot-long spirit ship that had been prepared for Fang Xing and the party to travel to the Melodic Ice Pce.


    Although it was only a mid-quality spirit tool, it was spacious andfortable nheless. The distance between the Bohai Kingdom and Melodic Ice Pce wasnt a short one, and not even a Foundation Stage cultivator would want to travel the distance using only their cloud. Traveling in such a spirit vessel was much morefortable and didnt require people to waste their Qi.


    Ying Qiaoqiao boarded the ship alongside Elder Moyewho was going to be her protector for the journeyand her servantswhich include Fang Xing disguised as Xiao Jiu. A total of five servants made up her retinue, two of which were old women in charge of looking after Ying Qiaoqiaos daily life, while the other three were in charge of beast feeding, cleaning, and purchasing goods.


    Fang Xing had been assigned the beast feeding job, meaning he would be in charge of feeding all the spirit beasts Ying Qiaoqiao owned once they arrived at the Melodic Ice Pce. Before they then, however, all of the spirit beasts had taken a Hibernation Pellet so they could be safely stowed away in storage sacks, leaving Fang Xing without much to do.


    Before leaving, Ying Qiaoqiao lowered herself into a full bow towards the Myriad Beasts sect master and quietly bid farewell, Father, Qiaoqiao will depart now. Please stay well. After witnessing Chu Zhaoyangs death, this little girls temperament had undergone aplete reversal, changing her from an outgoing and quick-witted girl to one that was quiet and taciturn. Even facing her father moments before her departure, her expressions showed very little change.


    Good. Qiaoqiao, in this trip to join the Melodic Ice Pce, make sure you listen to Elder Moye. Ying Shihou gave her this single bit of advice before releasing a soft sigh. He looked towards Fang Xing, traces of pleading in his gaze.


    Fang Xing, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes, picked his nose, and turned his back on him. He only wanted to use this chance to enter the Melodic Ice Pce, yet this guy was acting as if he was trying to kidnap his daughter. How detestable.


    Well leave now, Sect Master. Elder Moye bowed towards the sect master before letting out a loudmand and activating the vessels energy source. The giant spirit vessel began to rise up into the sky like a giant pce before flying off into the distance, while all the Myriad Beasts disciples below bowed to see them off.


    Miles upon miles of clouds were ahead, strong gusts of winds were to the sides, and scenes of mountains and rivers were below.


    Flying was sometimes an incredibly tedious and boring thing for cultivators. Thend was just too vast, and even the Vermilion Bird with its startlingly fast speed would require nearly a months time to make the trip from Bohai Kingdom to the northern part of Chufung. Bored, Fang Xing sat in the back of the spirit ship with his head in his hands, aimlessly watching the passing clouds and constetions while at times pouring a mouthful of wine into his mouth. Fang Xing sighed longingly towards the sky.


    <em>Aii</em>, life is so sad. The more he stared, the more he felt a sense of sorrow inexplicably appear from nowhere. Hed finally broken into the Foundation Stage; he should have been traveling the world, robbing as he pleased with the golden crow right now, not dressing up as someone elses servant to hopefully sneak into the Melodic Ice Pce to beg for a cure to his disease. The gods were just too cruel to him.


    Whats so sad about your life? a soft voice rose up. A red glimmer appeared from the other end of the ships rear, the voice belonging to none other than Ying Qiaoqiao and the color belonging to the red outfit she now wore, the same outfit as when Fang Xing had first seen her. The scar on her face had fully healed and her cheeks were as smooth as china, but that quick-witted smile had disappeared, reced instead with an expressionden with grief. Her eyes were without their usual shine as she looked towards the clouds and sunset just beyond the ship.


    Shed been feeling rather stifled inside the ships cabin and hade to the back of the ship to find some fresh air, where shed chanced upon Fang Xings anguishedment. For Ying Qiaoqiao, the tragedy in her life had begun only after meeting that little devil; what could a wine-drinking servant whod hidden himself at the back of the ship possibly be depressed about?.


    Fang Xing had sensed Ying Qiaoqiaos presence much earlier, but simply didnt want to deal with her. He rolled his eyes andzily replied, In any case, my sorrow is greater than yours!


    Seeing a servant unwilling to speak with her was actually a bit refreshing for Ying Qiaoqiao. She leaned lightly against the ships railing and calmly replied, What do you know about sorrow? Did you know? My most loyal servant, Xiongnu, and my most beloved big brother, Zhaoyang, were all killed by a vicious devil. I have nightmares every night, and theyre filled with that little devilsughter. Every time I wake up, Im covered in sweat. I I only wish I could kill that little devil with my own hands. Even better if if I could cut him into a million pieces but.


    After speaking so much, Ying Qiaoqiao suddenly paused. No matter how hard others had tried to get her to say these things, it was something shed never spoken. Why had she blurted all of this out in front of a servant who had no manners?


    Fang Xing was surprised to hear this, but he quickly turned around with a stern expression and spoke in a sincere and earnest tone. Little sister, this is your wrongdoing, then. You should learn to let go of hatred.


    Why? This had left Ying Qiaoqiao surprised. She hadnt expected him to tell her to do this.


    Because if you cannot let go of hatred, your life will only be filled with even more sadness, Fang Xing replied with a serious tone.