Life as a Rogue Cultivator

Chapter 298:

A week later at Green Serenity Courtyard, it happened for Sister Qing. She stiffened. A shiver ran through her, leaving her feel clear and weightless. And just like that, the Foot Yang Bright Meridian she’d been battering at for years finally gave way and opened up.With the Foot Greater Yang, Foot Lesser Yang, and now Foot Yang Bright meridians all flowing freely, it meant only one thing: she had stepped into the second layer of Qi Refinement. From today on, she was no longer just a martial artist... she was officially a cultivator.

Yes, it was only the early Qi Refinement stage, but those first three meridians she’d cleared were the ones with the acupoints. That's half of all twelve meridians combined.

Sister Qing was so happy she couldn’t hold it in. Tears rolled down her cheeks and plopped onto Liu Xiaolou’s chest one after another. It took her a long while to calm the storm inside her heart. Finally, she let out a long breath and said, voice still shaky, “I’m almost forty. I really thought this was it for me, that my life would just stay ordinary forever. Never dreamed I’d actually get to step onto the path of cultivation one day. I don’t want anything else… I’m already content.”

Liu Xiaolou grinned. “Now that you’ve stepped onto the path of cultivation, Sister Qing, you’ll live to a hundred.”

Sister Qing let out a soft sigh. “Live to a hundred? I don’t care about that. What really scares me is two years from now, my face wrinkling up, my hair turning white, my voice going raspy... ending up like Mama Zhang across the street. I’d rather throw myself into the river than end up like that! But now things are different. With this face and this body… looks like I’ve got at least another ten good years in me.”

“Living to a hundred? Doesn’t even matter to me,” Sister Qing murmured softly. “What I was scared of was waking up in a couple years with wrinkles all over my face, gray hair, that croaky old-lady voice like Mama Zhang across the street... I’d rather drown myself in the river than let that happen. But now? Look at me. This face, this body… hell, I could probably keep it just like this for another ten years at least...”

Mama Zhang from the Red Jade Courtyard was just like Sister Qing. Both once courtesans from Wuchao Town, both former town beauties in their day. But Mama Zhang never trained in martial arts. Never cultivated, so by the time she was not even forty, she was already looking worn-out. She was only about ten years older than Sister Qing, yet now she looked like a bent-over granny. No comparison at all.

Liu Xiaolou said, “Wait till I grab you some spiritual pills. Forget ten years, this face and body of yours will stay exactly like this for twenty, thirty years, no problem. Only thing is, if Mama Zhang catches sight of you looking twenty-five when she’s pushing seventy, she might hurl herself off the roof in a jealous rage. Guess we’ll have to figure out a way to stop her… can’t let the old hometown girl kill herself over it...”

They joked around for a bit. Then Sister Qing rolled out of bed, slipped on a robe, and started knotting the crimson sash around her waist. She glanced back at him. “Xiaolou, are you still heading to the black market tonight?”

Liu Xiaolou lay back with his arms behind his head, watching as she rested one foot on the edge of the bed. “Sister Qing, have you been training all along? Your legs are looking strong…”

Balancing on one leg, Sister Qing traced the tip of her bare foot slowly from Liu Xiaolou’s chest down to his ankle. “My family’s martial arts are all legwork. The three meridians I’ve opened are leg meridians, too. But as for the other nine… honestly, I’ve got no idea how I’m supposed to cultivate those. So, are you going to the black market or not?”

Liu Xiaolou said, “Just follow the True Mysteries Scripture. I’ll teach it to you later. It’s easy, really. You’ve practiced most of it before anyway. And yeah, I still have to go to the black market; there’s no Foundation Establishment technique for sale anywhere in Yueyang.”

“I might have another lead,” Sister Qing said. “A guest from Lingnan, he formed his foundation last year. He’s been living in Green Pearl’s room ever since. He used to be one of her regulars. He wants to buy her freedom. I agreed, and in a few days Green Pearl will go back to Lingnan with him.”

Liu Xiaolou blinked in surprise. “Now loyalty. And love.”

Back in the day, Green Pearl had been one of Sister Qing’s biggest cash cow, but ten years had flown by. Though she still got some charm left, she was no longer the dazzling beauty she once was. For that man to still want to redeem her, take her home, and make her his concubine... it was truly rare.

And he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no less.

Someone like that was definitely worth meeting.

The man’s name was Han Jiuqian. He had taken Green Pearl out on the Miluo River all day. They didn’t roll back until nightfall. Sister Qing cleared out a private room in the back courtyard and arranged a small banquet just for him.

Liu Xiaolou glanced at Green Pearl sitting obediently beside Han Jiuqian. She was older now, sure, but still had a certain allure. As a matter of fact, her tits looked even… heavier and prouder than they had been ten years ago.

He imagined her breasts pressing against his face, and he unconsciously wet his lips. He raised his cup toward Han Jiuqian. “Congratulations, Brother Han. You finally got what you wanted; taking a beauty home with you.”

Han Jiuqian let out a hearty laugh. “Green Pearl’s told me about you, Brother Liu. Glad I finally get to meet you!”

With Sister Qing and Green Pearl by his side, the atmosphere at the table quickly warmed up. The two men went from strangers to familiar, and from familiar to friendly. Before long, they became fellow cultivators.

Han Jiuqian is six years older than Liu Xiaolou. He really is from Lingnan and comes from the Han clan of Dafeng Mountain, a family known in the region for its long tradition of cultivation. The Han clan is affiliated with the Luofu Sect.

When Han Jiuqian was young, he was a drifter who never took life seriously, and his family had pretty much given up expecting anything from him. He ran away from home and wandered the martial world. By pure luck, he struck up a friendship with an inner-sect disciple of the Luofu Sect, which eventually earned him a Foundation Establishment Pill. He succeeded in forming his foundation last year.

Eight years ago, he passed through Yueyang. His cultivation was still weak back then, and he got injured during a quarrel. Green Pearl happened to be passing by in a carriage, took him back to Green Serenity Courtyard, and nursed him back to health.

To repay her for saving his life, he originally wanted to marry Green Pearl. The Han family flatly refused, so he had to give up for the time being, although he still returned to Yueyang every year and stayed for several months.

After achieving Foundation Establishment last year, he gained a much stronger voice within the family. When he brought the matter up again, no one at home had anything left to say. He made some compromises, agreeing to take her only as a concubine, but he also decided that he would never take a formal wife.

Liu Xiaolou gave a brief rundown of his own situation. He shared what he could, and left out the parts that weren’t proper to bring up.

When Han Jiuqian heard that he had once been a son-in-law to the Su family of Shenwu Mountain, he was seriously intrigued and asked for the whole story.

“Brother Liu, please don’t take it the wrong way. I’m not trying to pry into your private affairs. It’s just that I can’t help relating to it. My own father married into the family as well, and I was born as a married-in son of the Han clan.”

“I see. That really is… something.”

Liu Xiaolou didn’t quite know what to say.

But now he finally understood why Han Jiuqian had felt such a sense of kinship the moment they met. He must have heard about Liu’s past, maybe from Green Pearl or Sister Qing. And felt that they were in the same boat.

He’d also heard that Han’s father had passed away ten years ago. Liu Xiaolou sighed. “Brother Han, you’ve built your foundation and become a standout of the Han clan. If the elder could see you from the afterlife, he’d be smiling for sure. Come on, let’s raise a cup to honor him.”

Han Jiuqian’s eyes reddened. “Thank you, brother.”

With that bond between them made clear, it became much easier to speak openly. Liu Xiaolou said, “It’s honestly embarrassing. My master died too soon, then the Su family cast me out. After I scraped my way into Foundation Establishment, I’ve had no one to guide me. Every step of my cultivation has been a struggle.”

“Where are you stuck, brother?” Han Jiuqian asked generously. “I started cultivating a year before you, and whatever I know, I won’t keep to myself.”

So Liu Xiaolou brought up the matter of nurturing a flying sword. Han Jiuqian asked, “Your sect’s cultivation method doesn’t include the formula for warming and nurturing a flying sword?”

Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “Not a single word of it.”

“Logically,” Han Jiuqian said, “if your sect’s method allows you to reach Foundation Establishment, it should also include all the post-foundation techniques. Things like nurturing a flying sword, gathering spiritual dew, forming a core... there should at least be something. It shouldn’t be completely empty.”

Liu Xiaolou frowned in frustration. “But I’ve got nothing. What am I supposed to do?”

Han Jiuqian thought for a moment. “Then the lineage must have been broken somewhere, and the teachings weren’t passed down. Even so, it’s not hopeless. You just need to look for cultivation methods that are as close as possible to your sect’s scripture. The closer they are, the better. Otherwise, it may cause trouble when you try to form your core later on. Which tradition is your sect’s method from? If you trace its origin, it’ll be easier to find something compatible.”

...

TLer: sorry, ive been really busy the past few days. gonna try to do 3 chapters tomorrow.