Chapter 500 – The End to Mad and Arrogan (1/2)

No one came to visit Chu Tian, whether it was his senior and junior brothers of the school of Confucianism or the women he had a relationship with in the past.

If Chu Tian had been an amiable person, even if his cultivation regressed drastically, he would not end up like this. At the very least, he would still have received some sympathy and respect.

However, he had never been a likable person. Normally, others were only polite with him because of his talent. They were probably all hiding deep envy aside from that.

Thoughts like “Even an idiot like him can cultivate so quickly, so why can’t I? The heavens sure are unfair!” were unavoidable.

As a result, when they learned about his qi deviation, they all secretly rejoiced. “To think you would have today!” No one was willing to waste time on a cripple anymore.

There was only one person who cared for him without abandoning him—Qian Rongzhi.

However, seeing how concern alone would be useless, a sliver of pity suddenly appeared in her eyes. “Little Tian, even if you can’t cultivate anymore, I’ll look after you for the rest of your life.”

Like a cat that had its tail trodden on, Chu Tian responded emotionally, “I still can cultivate! Those people who look down on me will definitely live to regret it!” However, Qian Rongzhi’s pity only deepened. Suddenly, he fell silent, sinking into his thoughts before saying, “Rongzhi, there’s a secret I want to tell you. I’ve never told anyone about this secret before.”

“What?” Qian Rongzhi was uncertain.

“Watch carefully!” Chu Tian extended his right hand, and a verdant vine grew from the centre of his palm bit by bit. It was tiny, but it gave off a feeling of strength that came with age.

Qian Rongzhi experienced a strange feeling. The vine grew in Chu Tian’s palm, but it led to another world.

“Little Tian, is this an arcane treasure?”

This had exceeded her expectations somewhat. In the past, she had plenty of chances to capture Chu Tian alive and then interrogate him through torture. However, she never did that because she had no idea what Chu Tian’s trump card was and what powers he possessed. She acted as such just in case all of her efforts ended in vain and caused her more harm than good.

As a result, she bided her time, just for this moment.

“No. This is a Heaven Climbing Vine. Its seed was buried in my soul when I was born. As long as I have it, I’ll definitely be able to recover my cultivation!”

“That’s fantastic, little Tian!”

Qian Rongzhi’s eyes sparkled as she thought, Thank you, Xiao An.

It was late, in the middle of the night.

Chu Tian lay on his bed, motionless, with his eyes wide open and staring directly upwards. A colourful little snake slithered across his face, climbing onto a fair-skinned arm.

She patted the tiny snake’s head. “If I didn’t have you, fetching the seed of the Heaven Climbing Vine sure would have been difficult.”

Chu Tian had never been a particularly clever person. Since he had divulged his greatest secret, Qian Rongzhi learnt everything about the Heaven Climbing Vine very quickly too. She also finally understood the secret to why Chu Tian could cultivate so quickly.

Qian Rongzhi opened her hand, and the Heaven Climbing Vine grew slowly. The verdant stalk was so slender and fragile, yet it could clearly overcome the invisible obstacles between spatial realms, leading to another world.

Immediately, extremely pure spiritual qi flowed through the vine and into her body. Even for a blessed land like the academy that had been improved on for thousands of years, its spiritual qi was nowhere near as dense as the spiritual qi from the vine.

Probably because the Heaven Climbing Vine was still very young, there actually was not a lot of spiritual qi. It could not even rival the spiritual qi drawn from a spiritual stone. However, this was no longer merely a difference in quantity, but a difference in quality too.

As the spiritual qi circulated through her body and melded with her, she felt like she had returned to that night when she slaughtered the entire Qian family. She felt indescribable delight.

You had something so wondrous and it still took you so many years to establish a foundation! You really do have the brains of a pig!

Qian Rongzhi glanced at Chu Tian on the bed in disdain. Even regular people without any talent at all could cultivate relatively quickly as long as they had the Heaven Climbing Vine to constantly nurture their bodies.

And, the Heaven Climbing Vine had appeared on him from the moment he was born, yet it was still so feeble. This clearly meant that Chu Tian only knew to extract spiritual qi with it. He had not properly nurtured the vine itself.

From a certain perspective, the Heaven Climbing Vine and the tiny, colourful snake were extremely similar. If the tiny, colourful snake was a curse from hell, then the Heaven Climbing Vine would be a blessing from heaven.

This was also where her opportunity came from. If she had been anyone else, then she would not have been able to remove the Heaven Climbing Vine from Chu Tian’s body so easily. The Heaven Climbing Vine was an ethereal existence such that no others could even touch it apart from Chu Tian. They could only sense its existence.

At most, they would only be able to coerce Chu Tian into letting them make use of the spiritual qi extracted by the Heaven Climbing Vine. However, this would be completely different from right now. They could even be stabbed in the back if they were not careful. The Heaven Climbing Vine was not only for cultivation. It could also bypass all defences and directly penetrate the opponent’s body, sucking away their spiritual qi or even life force. This was what Chu Tian had been relying on when he tried to challenge Li Qingshan as a Qi Practitioner the other day. And, if Chu Tian really ran out of choices, he could even directly destroy the Heaven Climbing Vine.

The tiny snake slithered along Qian Rongzhi’s hand and entwined around the Heaven Climbing Vine, hissing and flickering its tongue.

One was brightly-coloured, while the other was subdued and elegant. One was lively, while the other was serene.

They were polar opposites, yet they contrasted perfectly off one another.

“Thank you, little Tian.” Qian Rongzhi withdrew the snake and vine, gently caressing Chu Tian’s face. The smile on her face became more and more sincere as the killing intent in her heart grew heavier and heavier.

She had many ways to deceive everyone up her sleeve. Although he could no longer pose any threat to her, only dead people were the safest, right?

Just when she was about to strike.