Chapter 130 Mu Wanning's Fortuitous Encounter
After a night of meditation and consolidation, Xiao Ming not only completely refined and absorbed the remaining pure energy from devouring Mu Changge, stabilizing his current skyrocketing cultivation, but also pieced together and digested the scattered memory fragments in his mind, gaining a much clearer understanding of this world.
The region he was currently in was primarily controlled by the "Wandao Sword Sect" (one of the four major behemoth Sects of the Xuanhuang Continent). Of course, there were also smaller Sects like the "Xuan Dan Pavilion," "Yin and Yang Sect," and "Shenxiao Gate" standing in a tripartite balance, carving up resources.
In fact, above the four major Sects, there existed a truly transcendent overlord that rarely interfered in mundane affairs—the White Lotus Holy Sect. This Sect was mysterious and unfathomable, rumored to have intricate ties to the Upper Realm, and was the undisputed Holy Land in the hearts of the Cultivators of this world.
What Xiao Ming found even more intriguing was the Origin of the Family of the body he now inhabited. The birth mother of the siblings Mu Changge and Mu Wanning was a deep, unspoken mystery within the Mu Family and even the entire Xuanhuang Continent. From the memories of Mu Changge, he learned that even their father, Mu Yuntian, knew very little about his wife's true Origins, only vaguely guessing that it had to do with the legendary "Upper Realm." Shortly after giving birth to Mu Wanning and Mu Changge, she had disappeared as if she had evaporated into thin air, leaving not a single word behind.
Xiao Ming rubbed his chin, a strange and excited glint flashing in his eyes. This plot progression... why did it look more and more like the classic tropes in certain novels? A mother with a mysterious background, suspected to be from the Upper Realm, leaving behind offspring with extraordinary talent (oh, wait, it was Heaven-Defying Luck) in the Lower Realm... This was simply a standard protagonist template! It was just that the successor to this "template" was now him, Xiao Ming.
"Mu Changge, oh Mu Changge," he chuckled softly, with a hint of playfulness and cold mockery, "You really are my 'lucky star.' Not only did you deliver an identity and Sect Opportunity, but you also came with such a top-tier and high-potential sister, and perhaps even a still-charming..."
"It really makes me look forward to the 'plot' ahead even more." Especially when thinking of Mu Wanning's cold and stunning appearance and figure, as well as the "Human Emperor Body" hidden within her, Xiao Ming's desire to conquer and possess her grew even stronger.
The next day, Xiao Ming did not go out and continued to seclude himself in the quiet room to consolidate his cultivation while waiting for the right moment for his plan. After devouring and refining, his current cultivation had firmly stood at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, only a thin line away from a Breakthrough to the Late Nascent Soul Stage.
Meanwhile, in another quieter and more elegant courtyard of the Mu Family mansion.
Mu Wanning was slowly walking out of the courtyard gate, not for a stroll, but to go to "Wanbao Pavilion," the largest auction house in Tianjian City. She had originally intended to look for some resources helpful for cultivation (because of the bias within the Family, she had been heavily suppressed regarding cultivation resources).
She browsed again and again, and among a pile of seemingly ordinary auction Materials, a crystal about the size of a fist, dark purple throughout, with turbid mist seemingly flowing inside, caught her attention.
The Spiritual Qi fluctuations of this crystal were weak, and its quality was ordinary. On the auction list, it was labeled as "Unknown attribute Purple Obsidian, possibly containing trace amounts of Yin-attribute Spiritual Qi, starting bid ninety Low-Grade Spirit Stones." Almost no one paid attention to it. But when Mu Wanning saw it, a faint throbbing inexplicably arose in the depths of her heart. It was not a strong attraction, but an indescribable, contradictory intuition mixed with faint repulsion and an eerie sense of familiarity.
On a whim, she bought this useless-looking crystal at the starting price.
Returning to her courtyard's quiet room, Mu Wanning took out the purple crystal and examined it repeatedly under the lamp. It was cold to the touch, feeling like jade but not quite, and the turbid purple mist inside rotated slowly; looking at it for too long made one feel a bit dazed. She tried injecting spiritual power, probing with her perception, and even tried dripping blood on it, but the crystal did not react at all, remaining as lifeless as ordinary low-grade spirit ores containing Impurities.
"Could it just be an illusion?" After observing for nearly an hour with no results, a hint of impatience and faint disappointment flashed in Mu Wanning's golden eyes. She had always been proud and had great confidence in her intuition, but this time she seemed to have misjudged.
"Forget it, it was a waste of some Spirit Stones and time after all." She was slightly annoyed in her heart and casually threw this seemingly useless crystal toward an idle corner of the quiet room.
However, the moment the crystal left her hand and was about to hit the ground—
"Crack!"
A slight but clear cracking sound rang out.
Immediately after, the dark purple crystal cracked on its own, instantly turning into a mass of thick, purple-black mist that seemed to possess life! This mist did not disperse, and in the center, a faint light rotated rapidly, forming a tiny vortex, emitting a strange fluctuation that was obscure yet carried an indescribable temptation.
Mu Wanning's pupils shrank, and her reaction was extremely fast. The spiritual power around her body surged instantly, and her faint golden Protective Aura was about to burst out. But it all happened too fast. The purple-black mist seemed to have sentience; before her Protective Aura was fully activated, it shot toward the center of her eyebrows like an arrow leaving the string, or a bird returning to its nest!
"Huh?!" Mu Wanning only had time to let out a short, startled sound before the purple-black mist ignored the spiritual barrier she had hastily set up and went straight into her Sea of Consciousness between her eyebrows!
"Boom—!"
It felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in her mind, and as if an endless torrent of ancient information had burst through a dam. Mu Wanning's delicate body shook violently, she let out a muffled groan, everything went black before her eyes, and she nearly lost her footing. She endured the intense pain and dizziness churning in her mind and introspected.
She saw that the purple-black mist, after circling in her mind for several rounds, suddenly dissipated, turning into countless ancient runes shimmering with faint light. These runes quickly combined and arranged themselves, eventually condensing into a phantom of a Cultivation Technique manual that radiated deep purple light and an ancient, evil aura, deeply branded into the depths of her Soul.
On the title page of the manual, four ancient characters that danced like dragons and phoenixes, yet exuded an evil aura, were striking:
"Purple Extreme Emperor Art" (Incomplete Manual)
A section of profound and obscure general Mind-Cultivation Technique automatically emerged in her heart:
"Purple Qi comes from the East, governing the Eight Desolations. Absorb the netherworld to nourish the Emperor's Soul, devour spiritual energy to forge the Emperor's foundation. However, the path of the Emperor is rugged; when the Emperor's Dao is first formed, the Qi machine is manifested outwardly. It is neither demon nor evil, yet appears as both. Purple-black mist permeates, transforming into the shape of a Dragon. This is the untamed Dragon Qi and the unclarified Emperor's prestige. One must grind with supreme willpower, or seek the most Yang and Righteous objects to harmonize, only then can the Purple Qi be purely Yang, the Emperor's prestige vast, the Dragon soaring to the Nine Heavens, governing the world..."
Mu Wanning's mind was shaken violently. The name of this Cultivation Technique and its general outline actually resonated faintly with a certain Origin power within her that even she herself had not understood! But what shocked her even more was that the description of this Cultivation Technique clearly mentioned that at the beginning of cultivation and even during the Minor Achievement stage, because it required absorbing and refining complex energy (including the Yin-Sha and Netherworld Qi between heaven and earth, and even plundering part of others' spiritual power and essence to forge the "Emperor's foundation"), the whole body would involuntarily emit a pure yet evil "Purple-Black Emperor Dragon Qi." This Dragon Qi was mighty in form, and its essence was high-level Emperor Dao energy. But before it was completely purified, its external manifestation, or during cultivation—the purple-black color, the devouring characteristics, and that domineering pressure that was difficult to completely restrain—were extremely easily mistaken by those who did not know the truth as some kind of extremely profound and strange Demonic Path or evil technique, and might even attract hostility and siege from the so-called "Righteous Path."
"This... what kind of Cultivation Technique is this?" For the first time, a look of solemnity and hesitation appeared on Mu Wanning's beautiful face. The Cultivation Technique itself was vast and profound, pointing directly to the supreme Emperor Dao. She always felt that this Cultivation Technique seemed to faintly match something hidden within her, and the temptation was great. But the "side effects" during cultivation were also extremely troublesome. Once the aura leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable. She was in a prestigious Sect of the Righteous Path; if someone discovered she was practicing an "evil technique," she would not be able to clear her name even with a hundred mouths.
"Could it be... that I should discard it?" She looked at the Cultivation Technique brand in her mind that radiated tempting purple light, felt the throbbing in her body that was slightly heated because of this Cultivation Technique, and fell into unprecedented contradiction and struggle. Was this Opportunity a blessing... or a curse?