A gentle breeze, like a sigh, swept through the luxurious garden.


    Xie Qing sat under a tree, his eyes tightly closed, and his breathing even and slightly weak, as if he had fallen asleep.


    Sitting under the apple tree, with his white robe and in conjunction with the surrounding scenery, he looked more beautiful than the immortals themselves.


    Suddenly, as if stirred by the wind, one of the apple tree''s leaves detached from its branch and began to descend towards Xie Qing''s head, spinning as it fell.


    But in the moment when the leaf was just ten centimeters from his head...


    Swoosh!


    A sudden sharp gust of wind burst from his body, shredding the leaf into a thousand pieces!


    However, Xie Qing remained immersed in his cultivation and showed no reaction.


    This was because his understanding of the Dao of the Sword had reached such a level that during cultivation, an invisible barrier formed around him that instantly killed anyone who tried to touch him.


    Such an unusual barrier was generally amon urrence, but only for cultivators at the Divine Transformation stage.


    Therefore, such an effect at a young age and cultivation level was considered abnormal.


    However, considering that this was Xie Qing, it was pointless to be surprised by his actions. It was better to just save one''s strength.


    From a distance of ten miles, a beautiful woman with long ck hair and blue eyes stood, Xu Mei.


    As an experienced cultivator and an expert in the Dao of the Sword, she could see this imperceptible aura surrounding the young man.


    And she was pleasantly surprised, amazed, and her face reflected strong joy.


    "What talent! Moreover, he is so diligent..."


    It was rare to find someone as diligent as Xie Qing among geniuses, considering their age.


    Most of these young men first wanted to solidify their status and to be fair, many geniuses of his age had more concerns.


    However, Xie Qing devoted his heart to cultivation, and although he had taken a few steps, such as controlling the Xie family and the title of imperial censor...


    He still preferred to spend his time meditating and training.


    Xu Mei smiled as she watched him. In her calctions, at this pace, he would catch up to her cultivation level in just twenty years.


    "Sigh, if only I could break through..." Xu Mei felt a sense of despair.


    At her cultivation level, ordinary Qi absorption was no longer helpful. She also needed Enlightenment.


    Furthermore, each improvement in level required a significant increase in the surrounding environment.


    Starting from the Spiritual Ascension stage, a cultivator transformed their Qi into Immortal Qi.


    Although the name was unofficial, and ording to the epted version, it was Higher Qi, many practitioners liked to call it that for self-satisfaction.


    The Higher Qi emitted by the mortal world could barely cover the expenses of someone at Xu Mei''s level.


    Therefore, until they found a valuable treasure or a ce with dense Higher Qi...


    "I''ll have to stay stuck..." The woman''s expression darkened, clenching her fists. Her eyes narrowed, and the right corner of her mouth turned up in a contemptuous expression.


    ***


    Xie Qing opened his eyes and felt a slight dizziness. He had been immersed in cultivation for an entire day, which helped him stabilize himself.


    His worries, fears, and doubts disappeared during cultivation, stabilizing his soul.


    Checking his body with Qi, he sighed in relief when he discovered minor but present changes.


    "I hate my character. Although I haven''t been able to break through for a long time, I can still see changes. I feel like if this continues, it could be my Heart Demon," Xie Qing thought with a sour expression as if he had swallowed ten boxes of lemons.


    His cultivation base was still at the first stage of Soul Integration.


    Considering his age, this was still too fast, but Xie Qing had a character trait, and sometimes he thought too much.


    The fear of returning to his mediocre self was what troubled him.


    "What if I be weak again?"


    "What if I can''t break through in twenty years?"


    "What if..."


    Many dark and unpleasant thoughts upied his mind, and it was bing torture.


    During cultivation, from time to time, he could even hear a faint, indistinct whisper. This was the first manifestation of Heart Demons.


    Although Xie Qing could buy an item that would suppress them, he believed he should ovee this himself.


    "A person''s deadliest enemy is themselves. Anyone can defeat a cultivator, but not everyone can crush them..." Xie Qing thought, rxing his eyebrows and rubbing his slightly aching forehead due to the headache. "Well, at the very least, my haste is too ridiculous. I can''t allow myself such thoughts, or I''ll seem like a failure..."


    Rxing his legs, he pushed off his hand and stood up for a second.


    The apple tree swayed, and a fruit fell from above, caught by Xie Qing.


    "It seems that due to the excellent conditions and the dense Qi in the air, the tree is bearing fruit earlier. This is truly surprising..." Xie Qing thought and took a small bite of the green apple.


    The sour juice immediately touched his tongue and instantly took over the cavity of his mouth.


    The taste was amazing, just the way he liked it. Moreover, inside the fruit were barely noticeable but still present Qi particles.


    "I should warn the maidservants not to let the estate servants carelessly eat the fruits from the trees. Even a small amount of Qi can be poisonous to them," Xie Qing thought, appetizingly biting into the apple.


    Most mortals, except a few, had an intolerance to Qi at the gic level.


    If they were under the direct influence of Qi, which could ur from being near spiritual objects or directly consuming products containing Qi...


    It could be fatal. Of course, there were cases where they survived, but it was doubtful that there would be objects or fruits filled with Qi in the ces where mortals lived.


    Xie Qing had mortals in his estate who had excellent resistance to Qi exposure and, if desired, could be cultivators.


    However, there were still servants with weak health.


    ***


    Days without serious incidents were sweet, like honey, when the soul could enjoy the feeling of peace and tranquility for a long time.


    Xie Qing, although very mischievous and hyperactive, still liked to take things slow and enjoy every second.


    A whole month flew by unnoticed. Busying himself with things like satisfying the needs of his women, cultivation, and sword training...


    Xie Qing had quite improved his skills. There were still no noticeable changes in cultivation, which was sad, but the young man no longer paid much attention to it.


    In the end, peaceful days were good, but Xie Qing preferred to warm up a bit.


    And after some time...


    "Regarding your n. I have a few ideas that we''ve been discussing for a month."


    One day, after dinner in Xie Qing''s room, he and Xu Meiy naked on the bed after a Dao discussion session.


    Xu Mei''s expression looked extremely serious, and her usually rxed eyes looked sharp and dark.


    "We''ve secured the help of a person... and... This person has agreed to help us dy the devilish cultivators," Xu Mei said with a strange expression as she nced at Xie Qing, who was listening attentively.


    "I see... It must not have been easy to convince this expert? As far as I know, the strongest in the world mostly spend their days in lifeless ces..."


    "Ah, well..." Xu Mei looked a bit strange, and the corners of her mouth trembled. "In any case... We''ll discuss the conditionster. The main thing is that this person has agreed, and... For starters, you need to master a few skills. Moreover, Liu Yang is working on a pill recipe that will mask your presence."


    "About that..."


    Xie Qing noticed Xu Mei''s strange behavior, but he decided to postpone discussing it until better times.


    He stood up and walked to the chair where his clothesy, pulling a ring out of his pocket.


    "I have a pill recipe that will help us with this," Xie Qing said and pulled out a jade scroll, handing it to Xu Mei.


    "Oh? Where did you get it?"


    "It''s a secret."


    "Hm? You little rascal, have you grown so much that you''re already hiding something from your Master?"


    Xie Qing shrugged in response to Xu Mei''s grumbling, who immediately opened the scroll.


    With each paragraph, she read of the recipe and the pill''s description, her eyes widened more and more, which looked amusing from the side.


    "H-how... What a wonderful means! A pill that can change one''s appearance to such an extent... And also suppress aura and cultivation level! It''s even possible to imitate another aura..."


    Xie Qing smiled. Of course, he had obtained this item from the system.


    The recipe was called "Dao Concealment Pill," and it cost him over a million Spiritual Stones.


    Its purpose was to change one''s appearance. However, the catch was that it could change even the aura, which was already the main requirement for hiding oneself.


    Before this, when Xie Qing checked for something simr, this pill did not appear in the catalog. But after significant sesses during training, it suddenly appeared and immediately caught his attention.


    He had to work hard to allocate the money and buy this recipe.


    Moreover, the ingredients were so expensive that it would take another year to gather them, and the amount of money spent would exceed a billion.


    However, Xie Qing had already informed the Empress about the price issue, and to his surprise, she gave her approval and expressed her desire to help with the financing.


    This was why Xie Qing was now more than confident.


    Xu Mei remained silent for some time and then said with a serious expression, "We''ll immediately visit Sister Liu Yan. I''ll also ask Zhang Mei toe with us."