Cultivating Immortality: What kind of cheat can you use if you don't have money?

Chapter 48 Listening to the Rain Pavilion

The moment you saw Qin Xiyue, a glimmer of light returned to your dim eyes.

Seeing your current emaciated state, with all your cultivation gone, Qin Xiyue's expression shifted dramatically. For the first time, shock appeared in her usually calm eyes.

Upon meeting, you finally asked the question that had puzzled you for years: "What kind of organization is Tingyu Pavilion?"

She avoided answering, only glancing at you briefly before taking out a wheelchair and carefully moving you out of the house, allowing you to bask in the sun for the first time in a long while.

You ask her about Ling'er's whereabouts, but she tells you that Ling'er has been dead for many years. Your mind is filled with countless thoughts, and in the end, you can only let out a long sigh.

Qin Xiyue pushed you along, slowly making your way through the streets and alleys of Xuan Ce City.

Upon entering the streets, you find Xuan Ce City far more prosperous than it was years ago, bustling with traffic and teeming with people. You, however, appear withered and weak.

Perhaps sensing the presence of living people, your mood improved considerably. Finally, you stopped in front of a quaint, old-fashioned pharmacy with a plaque that read "Jishetang" (meaning "Hall of Salvation").

The shopkeeper felt a chill run down his spine when he saw you. You were horrified to discover that he was the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had crippled your cultivation years ago.

Years of pent-up resentment surged within you, and a fierce, venomous glint appeared in your eyes.

Qin Xiyue confirmed from your eyes that this was indeed the person. She didn't speak, but simply waved her jade-like hand, and the pharmacy owner was lifted in front of you like a chick by an invisible force.

Faced with Qin Xiyue's unfathomable strength, the middle-aged cultivator was filled with shock and fear.

She crippled the middle-aged cultivator's cultivation and then hung him on a black iron chain at the gate of Xuan Ce City as a public spectacle. No one dared to step forward and lower him.

Qin Xiyue asked if you felt better, and you shook your head. How could years of humiliation and pain be so easily resolved?

She used various methods to humiliate that middle-aged cultivator. At first, you did feel the pleasure of revenge, but as time went on, that pleasure gradually faded, leaving only endless emptiness.

Seeing that you had lost interest, she then pushed you away.

More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye, and you are now nearly forty. During this time, Qin Xiyue has found countless rare and precious herbs for you and has been nourishing your meridians with spiritual medicines every day.

On your fortieth birthday, your crippled limbs will finally regain their mobility, but your cultivation level will never recover.

Six months later, you can walk freely. You look at Qin Xiyue, knowing how much she has sacrificed for you over the years. You tell her she no longer needs to worry about you and can pursue her own path.

She simply shook her head slightly. In the blink of an eye, over thirty years have passed, and you are now in your seventies. Your hair is completely white, but her face remains unchanged.

Over the past few decades, Qin Xiyue has tried countless methods, searched for rare medicines all over the world, and visited reclusive famous doctors, but you still cannot cultivate again.

You can see the growing confusion in her eyes, and she often mutters to herself as she looks at the medicine furnace, "How could this be? This shouldn't be..."

Seventy more years have passed. You are now over one hundred and forty years old, your body hunched over, and you look frail and old. If it weren't for Qin Xiyue constantly using rare medicinal herbs to prolong your life, you would probably have already turned into a handful of dust.

You knew your time was near. Before you died, you only said "I'm sorry" to her. She had tried everything, but now she had no choice but to give up.

Before your consciousness faded, you only heard her whisper in front of you, "I will seek justice for you." Her voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

[You're dead. Rewards are being calculated...]

Looking at the simulated ending, Li Qingyi's eyes revealed an unprecedented solemnity.

This time I've lived for over a hundred years, but it's not as good as dying a violent death before. I've truly been tormented for over a hundred years.

The story begins with his participation in the Taoist entrance examination, but he still can't understand why things have developed to this point.

And what kind of power is Tingyu Pavilion?

"If I hadn't joined the Dao Sect, would I have avoided these tragedies? Also, what exactly is Xiyue confused about?"

This is also what Li Qingyi couldn't understand.

"Now we can simulate it one more time... How do we do that?"

A sense of urgency arose spontaneously, and Li Qingyi rubbed her temples, her face full of worry.

Just then, Ling'er's light footsteps echoed in the courtyard.

Li Qingyi pushed open the door and stepped out; the silver moon hung high in the sky.

Looking at the lively and spirited girl in front of me, I couldn't help but sigh.

In the simulation, her ending was equally puzzling. How could such a promising disciple of the Purple Mansion have died so tragically?

"Brother Feng, what's wrong?" Ling'er pouted.

"Do you know Tingyu Pavilion?" Li Qingyi asked.

Although she didn't understand why Qin Xiyue wouldn't tell her about Tingyu Pavilion, Ling'er might know.

"Listening to the Rain Pavilion?" Ling'er glanced at him in surprise. "Who are you going to hire to kill?"

Li Qingyi was somewhat surprised, "Is Tingyu Pavilion an assassin organization?"

"Yes, Brother Feng really doesn't know?" Ling'er tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion.

"It's an assassin organization from the Youyue Kingdom, and it's notorious in the Xuan Kingdom."

"Tell me slowly and in detail." Li Qingyi pulled Ling'er to sit down on the stone bench under the ancient tree.

"Hmph...give me a tip." Seeing Li Qingyi's serious expression, Ling'er imitated his previous rascal-like manner and stretched out her palm to ask for spirit stones.

Li Qingyi's lips twitched; she never expected that the boomerang would hit her.

"How about this, I'll waive the final payment of five spirit stones for you next month."

Ling'er's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this. "Could you be any more shameless?!"

Li Qingyi wasn't really stingy; it was just that she was currently facing numerous crises and immense pressure.

"No." Ling'er shook her head.

Seeing that Ling'er was completely unmoved by reason, Li Qingyi felt annoyed.

He took several deep breaths to compose himself before slowly speaking:

"Consider this a debt I owe you; I'll definitely repay you next time."

Ling'er put away her playful expression and rolled her eyes at Li Qingyi.

Having spent over a month with Li Qingyi, she understood the woman's personality to some extent. Judging from her expression, Li Qingyi had most likely encountered some trouble.

"Brother Feng, you didn't receive a kill order from Tingyu Pavilion, did you?"

Li Qingyi froze, momentarily at a loss for words. The simulated ending was one he would rather die than accept.

However, the images of what happened after I became paralyzed clung to my bones like maggots, flashing wildly through my mind.

After a moment, Li Qingyi exhaled a deep breath and solemnly said:

"It's a complicated matter. Tell me the information about Tingyu Pavilion, and I'll consider it a favor I owe you."

Seeing his solemn expression, Ling'er also said seriously:

"This organization has informants all over the Xuan Kingdom. It is very possible that one of your close friends is a spy for Tingyu Pavilion."

Using these spies, they infiltrated the Xuan Kingdom multiple times, assassinating countless cultivators with ruthless methods.

From roadside cultivators to powerful sect masters, there's no task they wouldn't dare accept as long as the spirit stones are available.

Moreover, they have no moral bottom line. Years ago, in order to assassinate a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they used his entire clan as bait to force the cultivator to reveal himself.

Finally, the cultivator could no longer tolerate it and revealed his whereabouts. At the critical moment, a mysterious Purple Mansion True Person came to the rescue, which made Tingyu Pavilion taste defeat for the first time.

The atrocities they committed are countless, and they have long been reviled as rats in the Xuan Kingdom.

Li Qingyi asked in bewilderment, "Isn't there any Purple Mansion True Person or Golden Core True Monarch who could have uprooted this organization completely?"

Ling'er gave Li Qingyi a strange look: "Why has Brother Feng suddenly become stupid? Tingyu Pavilion is hidden in Youyue Kingdom, not Xuan Kingdom."

Leaving aside whether any Purple Mansion True Immortals went to great lengths to search for them, let's just consider the most basic rule—there are long-standing regulations between nations that cultivators above the Purple Mansion level are not allowed to overstep their boundaries.

Li Qingyi then realized that she had been so concerned that she had forgotten this rule.

He pressed further, "Are there any records of Purple Mansion cultivators being assassinated?"

Ling'er shook her head:

"Upon reaching the Purple Mansion realm, one is inherently sensitive to danger. To surround and kill a Purple Mansion cultivator, multiple Purple Mansion cultivators must join forces. Moreover, there are rules and restrictions."

There's no official record of that, but I did hear my master mention it once, though, in private.

Li Qingyi immediately became interested. "Tell me about it."