Cultivation: Starting with Farming in the Spiritual Pivot Grotto

Chapter 57: A sword severs grudges, a word reveals true feelings.

The main courtyard of the Wang residence, deep within the mansion, has its carved wooden windows tightly closed, isolating it from the wind, snow, and bitter cold outside.

Inside the pavilion, charcoal fires roared, and warm mist filled the air. Gilded lamps hung high in the hall, casting a soft, warm yellow light throughout.

Wang Wu sat in the main seat, wearing a thick brocade coat, toying with a moon toad coin between his fingers.

His expression was languid and relaxed, but his eyes were full of greed. In front of him was a small mountain of red copper coins on the carpet, and the table was covered with moon shovel coins.

The wind and snow outside the window grew stronger and stronger, howling incessantly.

In just two years, through scheming, extortion, attaching himself to the Yunfu Sect's stewards, and exploiting the servants, he amassed a vast fortune.

"A cultivator? Shouldn't they beg for mercy from me, Wang Wu?"

In his eyes, those servants were just stronger mortals who were at his mercy.

"Squeak!"

The sound of a door being pushed open abruptly broke the silence of the warm room.

Wang Wu's anger flared, and he shouted, "Didn't I say you can't come in without my permission? You...!"

Wang Wu paused in his movements, his heart tightened inexplicably, and his brows furrowed abruptly.

He knew exactly what kind of men he had, and they certainly wouldn't dare to barge in without prior notice.

The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, poured into the warm room. The biting cold instantly dispelled the warm mist, blowing away the warmth of the room, causing the temperature to drop sharply and the cold to penetrate to the bone.

The screen collapsed with a crash in the cold wind.

"Li...Li Ya!"

Li Ya, dressed in a gray Taoist robe, stood tall and straight like a pine tree at the entrance to the snowstorm, remaining silent.

What truly terrified Wang Wu was not the sudden appearance of Li Ya in the middle of the night, but the way he casually dragged a body with his right hand.

The body was limp and lifeless, the blood on the robes had frozen into ice crystals, and the head hung low.

Wang Wu recognized at a glance that this body belonged to Zhou Can, a fourth-level Qi Refining Guardian whom he had paid a high price to acquire.

Ding!

The moon toad coin in Wang Wu's hand suddenly slipped out of his grasp, crashed to the ground with a crisp sound, and rolled all the way to Zhou Can.

This was his greatest asset besides managing the Yunfu Sect.

But now, this cultivator offering was being dragged around by Li Ya like a dead dog, looking miserable!

Wang Wu's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his face turned deathly pale.

He trembled violently, his hands and feet were ice-cold, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his inner brocade jacket.

Li Ya remained silent and calm, simply standing quietly at the doorway, letting the wind and snow fall on his shoulders.

He loosened his right hand slightly and tossed it gently.

boom!

With a dull thud, the dying Zhou Can's body tumbled to the ground.

Zhou Can was not completely dead yet. He had a last, faint breath left. He lay on the ground, twitching weakly, with blood foam coming out of his mouth. He didn't even have the strength to open his eyes or roar.

Wang Wu's body stiffened, his legs went weak, and he subconsciously wanted to back away, but his feet felt like lead and he couldn't move an inch. An extreme chill gripped his throat.

After a long silence, he finally managed to squeeze out a trembling voice from his fear, his words incoherent and timid, almost pleading:

"Brother Xiaoya...you're a cultivator from the mountain! You can't kill me!"

Seemingly clinging to a lifeline, he repeated the phrase over and over, almost frantically.

"I am a mortal, you cannot kill me..."

Li Ya spoke slowly, his eyes fixed on Wang Wu, his clear, cold voice piercing through the wind and snow.

"I don't understand why the Yunfu Sect, or even Baiyujing, would establish such absurd and ridiculous rules, but let's leave that aside for now!"

"I'll only ask you one question."

"We've known each other since childhood. Back then, I was all alone and helpless, and you were my only playmate. I've always considered you my brother."

"But why?"

"Why did you treat me like this, tricking me into giving away all my wealth and urging me to take on that menial job?"

This question was not for himself, but for Li Ya, whose soul had long since vanished.

Wang Wu trembled all over, his face was deathly pale, and his frantic pleas suddenly stopped. His repeated and incoherent explanations of the rules were all stuck in his throat, and he could no longer utter a single word.

Suddenly, a surge of courage rose within him from nowhere, and a smirk appeared on his face: "You wouldn't dare kill me! Hahaha! You wouldn't dare!"

Wang Wu looked up at the tall, upright young man before him, at his face that had lost its youthful vigor.

The secrets that had been buried deep in my heart for years, unknown to anyone, finally broke free of their shackles and surged forth at this moment.

After extreme fear comes extreme madness, extreme distortion, and extreme tragedy.

He suddenly laughed, a hoarse and broken laugh that abruptly broke the silence of the warm, still room.

Why?

"You ask me why?"

Wang Wu raised his eyes, his gaze filled with long-suppressed resentment, his voice hoarse like a wild beast's growl.

"As a son born out of wedlock, I have never been loved by my parents or valued by my clan since childhood! Wang Zhu is disabled and unable to manage affairs or establish a career, but because he is the eldest son, the family's favor is entirely on him."

"I hate you. Why do you have to be spoiled by your parents just like me...?"

Wang Wu suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Li Ya, his fingertips trembling violently. He completely lost control of his emotions, and his voice was shrill and broken.

"Do you understand now? You understand now!"

Their sudden deaths are related to you!

"Hahaha! What do you think!"

Li Ya's expression remained unchanged until his fingers trembled uncontrollably inside his sleeve.

"You possess the aptitude for cultivation, yearn for the path of immortality, and desire to transcend the mortal realm!"

"Then I'll go with the flow. You want to cultivate immortality, so I'll squander all my wealth and incur enormous debts!"

"I'm going to drag you down into this quagmire. We grew up together, so why do you have a destiny of immortality? Why?"

"But this menial job is very hard!"

"I don't care!"

Li Ya stood still, his body slightly stiff.

He had imagined countless reasons for the feud, but he never thought that the source would be so absurd and twisted.

The pure friendship they shared in their youth turned out to be a lie; even their sudden deaths were caused by Wang Wu.

Li Ya's gaze returned to its cold and indifferent state, as if something was missing, or as if something had been added.

He slowly raised his eyes, his gaze falling on Zhou Can, who was convulsing and dying at his feet.

Li Ya grabbed Zhou Can's head with one hand and held the rune sword to his neck with the other.

Wang Wu was thrown into chaos, and screamed in terror again, "No! You can't kill him! Kill him..."

Zizizi!

The talisman sword was covered in true energy and cleanly severed the head. The surrounding flames instantly scorched the wound, and not a drop of blood flowed out.

Wang Wu stared wide-eyed at the head that had rolled to the ground, completely stunned.

Before he could react, a hunched figure appeared behind him.

puff!

A cold, sharp short blade pierced through Wang Wu's back, through his heart, and out of his chest.

Wang Wu lowered his head with difficulty, staring at the tip of the blade that had pierced through his chest, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Wang Zhuli immediately loosened his short blade and crawled on his knees to Li Ya's side.

Li Ya made no move, nor did the servants who surrounded him. Once Wang Wu's body had completely lost its life force, Li Ya turned and left.

The wind and snow continued to swirl and churn, and Li Ya walked alone on the road back to the mountain.

A narrow slit slowly opened in the high-altitude clouds, and a cloud-flying boat slowly descended from the heavens.

Li Ya looked up and saw his master standing on the flying boat, his clothes fluttering in the wind, untouched by the wind and snow.

"Come on up!"

When the master spoke, his voice was warm and melodious.

A moment later, the flying boat carrying the master and his disciple soared into the heavens.

Li Ya stood to the side, hands hanging down and body bowing.

"Do you know why sects, and even Baiyujing, forbid cultivators from attacking mortals?!"

Li Ya remained silent, while Xie Daoyun continued speaking to herself.

"If a mortal plots against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, or even a Purple Mansion True Person, is it still forbidden to attack the mortal?"

"This disciple does not know!"

"We cultivators tread the path of immortality, break free from the shackles of the mortal world, and seek longevity. We are no longer the same as ordinary people."

"Are you aware of the entanglement between the Spirit Ruins Realm and the Azure Lotus Realm?"

Li Ya nodded: "This disciple understands!"

"For us cultivators, killing a mortal is as simple as crushing an ant. The White Jade Capital established this ironclad rule not to protect mortals, but to protect cultivators."

Li Ya was startled: "This disciple does not understand, please teach me, Master."

"The cultivation methods we cultivators practice now are all new techniques passed down by our predecessors in the Spirit Ruins Realm."

"Ten thousand years ago, all the cultivators of the Azure Lotus Realm were slaughtered. But were they truly all extinct?"

"No, how can we kill them all? Even if they die and their souls are destroyed, their boundless resentment will all be transformed into celestial demons and merge into the workings of the Heavenly Dao."

"When we cultivators practice the new method, every time we break through a major realm, celestial demons will appear, entangle our minds, hinder our cultivation, and cause us to die and dissipate, becoming a part of them."

"The more mortals you kill here, no matter what method you use, as long as the cause is on you, the consequences will fall on you, and the more celestial calamities will descend upon you."

"This is the true taboo of cultivators not killing mortals."

His words instantly swept away all my previous confusion.

As they were talking, the flying boat had already stopped in front of the Qingmu Pavilion.

"Brother Xiaoya!"

Upon hearing the title "Master," Xie Daoyun was startled and abruptly looked up.

"I thank you for the treasure contest in Dugu City, but if you want to use this sword pellet again in the future, you will need to do some disguise."

"Regardless of whether I had any ulterior motives in accepting you as my disciple, the fact that we are master and disciple, though not widely publicized, is genuine and cannot be faked!"

She took out a jade slip from her sleeve, handed it to Li Ya, and then turned and left.

Li Ya felt a mix of emotions. He bowed deeply in the direction he had left, his bow full of sincerity.

"Disciple Li Ya thanks Master!"

The difference between "Master" and "Master" is only one word, but their relationship is completely different.

Xie Daoyun, who had been walking away, stopped and glanced at the bowing Li Ya, a slight smile playing on her lips.