After saying those veiled words, Han Li took his leave.
Watching Han Li’s departing figure, Qi Ping fell into deep thought.
Although Han Li had spoken vaguely, there was a strong sense of killing intent rushing straight at him!
It meant that since Qi Ping had obtained the qualification to exchange for rare resources, he had taken away shares that originally belonged to certain people. Because of that, he would likely be targeted, and might even be killed!
And that senior brother Han Li mentioned had most likely been done in by the current beneficiaries within the Qingyuan Sect.
“If that’s the case, aren’t they killing off their own sect’s future pillars?”
How was that any different from an ancient army killing off its own core generals?
“Why does the Qingyuan Sect always like doing things that dig up its own foundations?”
The earlier battle among several sects aside, Qi Ping didn’t understand the inside story of that. But allowing the Immortal Alliance to produce blood food and helping the Immortal Alliance deal with his Bee Daoist clone were all things that had truly happened.
So Qi Ping didn’t doubt the truth of these matters.
Moreover, Qi Ping had personally seen those rogue cultivators who killed and devoured their own kind for resources. When cultivation resources were scarce, even cannibalism was common, let alone killing a fellow sect member who had received a Pillar of the Sect evaluation.
“But how long can this kind of self-undermining practice last? Could it really have reached the point where they only care about cutting down trees for profit and don’t care whether future generations have shade?”
Although it was a bit absurd, it really did seem like something cultivators would do.
Besides mentioning the fierce competition for the sect’s rare resources, Han Li had also vaguely brought up the issue of sect factions.
That was to say, the current upper ranks of the Qingyuan Sect were divided into three factions. If Qi Ping wanted to settle down peacefully and guarantee his own safety, he had to choose a suitable faction to align with.
With the protection of a faction, Qi Ping’s safety would be somewhat guaranteed, and he would also have the qualification to compete for golden core resources. With Qi Ping’s aptitude, the probability of achieving the golden core would then be much greater!
But if he didn’t align with any faction, that would be the most dangerous path—just like Han Li’s dead senior brother.
However, to stand firm within a faction, besides gaining the other side’s acceptance and recognition, one also had to sign a contract and make a heavenly dao oath in order to obtain the qualification to align with them.
According to Han Li, if his senior brother hadn’t been so stubborn and unwilling to align with any faction, he wouldn’t have ended up like that in the end.
“Sure enough, there’s no free good bread. Basically, everything requires paying a corresponding price.”
“Sigh!”
Thinking of this, Qi Ping couldn’t help but sigh. Although his current aptitude was decent, it was still far from enough to make someone break the rules for him and let him align without conditions.
But that kind of contract and heavenly dao oath—Qi Ping absolutely could not make them. Without needing to know the details, he could already imagine how harsh those conditions would be.
He had read so many texts and clearly knew the consequences of making a heavenly dao oath. Oaths must not be made lightly!
“So when it comes to choosing a faction, I can only disappoint Brother Han.”
Qi Ping could only be like Han Li’s senior brother and align with no one. He absolutely could not make a heavenly dao oath. To him, that would be practically destroying his own future!
“Still, it’s not certain who the danger is really for!”
Thinking of this, a smile tugged at the corner of Qi Ping’s mouth.
He now had a solid and powerful foundation, was proficient in various spells, could set up a super combination killing formation of six in one, and also carried a terrifying number of wind blade bees.
Actually, Qi Ping had a fairly good impression of Han Li, this fellow whose appearance wasn’t outstanding but whose bearing was uncommon. Han Li’s final reminder also greatly increased Qi Ping’s favorable impression of him.
However, Qi Ping didn’t fully believe everything Han Li said. He planned to continue understanding the Qingyuan Sect’s internal situation before deciding how to proceed next.
So Qi Ping temporarily settled down in Immortal Residence No. 7 of the Qingyuan Sect’s inner sect area.
In the time that followed, Qi Ping studied the Qingyuan Sect’s rules and various kinds of information while also exchanging all sorts of information with other inner sect disciples.
Because after the news spread that Qi Ping had four supreme-grade talents and had been evaluated as a Pillar of the Sect by the Mirror of Heart Inquiry, almost every day many inner sect disciples of the Qingyuan Sect came to visit.
Among them were genius disciples in the late foundation-building stage, as well as inner sect disciples in the late qi-refining stage and at qi-refining perfection.
Some came to extend an olive branch to Qi Ping, some came to curry favor with him, and some simply wanted to discuss the Dao with him.
No matter what identity these people had or what their purpose was, Qi Ping basically did not refuse anyone and had friendly exchanges with them.
This kind of exchange continued for nearly two months!
After communicating with many Qingyuan Sect disciples, Qi Ping finally had a relatively clear understanding of the Qingyuan Sect.
The basic situation was not much different from what Han Li had described. Qi Ping had only learned more detailed information, gossip, taboos, and so on.
And besides this information, the most unexpected gain for Qi Ping was discussing the Dao with other inner sect disciples!
Among the Qingyuan Sect’s inner sect disciples, quite a few were single-mindedly devoted to cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao. They had very unique insights and understandings regarding realm cultivation, dao heart, the true meaning of laws, and so on!
After deep exchanges with them, Qi Ping found that he had gained a deeper understanding of immortal cultivation!
After seeing more people’s paths of cultivation, Qi Ping even developed a firmer belief in his own path of cultivation, and his dao heart became stronger and more solid.
“If there’s a chance in the future, this kind of dao discussion can continue!”
This matter not only allowed Qi Ping to gain many cultivation insights, but also helped him make quite a few friends. Much of the hidden information about the Qingyuan Sect had been revealed to him by these people.
One of them was actually the woman in blue, Lin Qingshu, whom Qi Ping had once seen in Qingshi County. After discussing the Dao, Qi Ping discovered that this woman was simply a cultivation maniac, but her understanding of cultivation and sword intent made even Qi Ping somewhat impressed, and also brought him considerable gains.
And the reason these people were willing to become friends with Qi Ping and reveal much of the information he needed was not only because of Qi Ping’s own aptitude and the Mirror of Heart Inquiry’s evaluation, but even more because of Qi Ping’s deep understanding of cultivation and broad cultivation knowledge!
This benefited them greatly!
Because compared with Qi Ping’s gains, theirs were the greatest! It was precisely because they held a sense of gratitude that they told Qi Ping everything they knew without holding back!
And Qi Ping didn’t care much about which side gained more from the discussion, because overall, his gains were already great enough, whether in gathering information or in understanding cultivation!
“Just based on the dao discussions alone, this trip to the Qingyuan Sect has already benefited me greatly!”
Thinking of this, Qi Ping grew even more eager for the knowledge within the Qingyuan Sect’s Technique Pavilion.
However, two months had passed, and the Qingyuan Sect’s upper ranks still had not delivered the status and resource privileges corresponding to his Pillar of the Sect evaluation.
“Strange…”
This left Qi Ping puzzled, and at the same time he gradually began to feel unable to sit still. He couldn’t just keep waiting like this forever.
