Hearing Shi Lei say this, Xizi raised his head, grinned at Shi Lei, and said, "It's fine, I'm quite familiar with this place. Anywhere will do to makeshift a night's sleep. But you've just arrived, and you don't have any better place to stay tonight besides here."
"Since I brought you here, you're my friend. Please don't refuse," Xizi said to Shi Lei with earnest words.
Hearing Xizi speak to him like this, Shi Lei felt a warmth in his heart.
"It's really rare to find a straightforward person as loyal as Xizi," Shi Lei sighed inwardly.
Over the years, Shi Lei had seen all sorts of Cultivators within the Qianyuan Sect, but he had never met someone as sincere and loyal as Xizi.
Within the sect, although people had all gained cultivation and become Cultivators, human relations seemed to have changed...
They had grown selfish...
They had grown indifferent...
It seemed, it seemed... lacking a bit of "human warmth"...
Therefore, within the sect, apart from a fellow townsman who had entered the sect at the same time as him, Shi Lei had not made any particularly close friends.
At this moment, Shi Lei couldn't help but feel a longing for his hometown and that fellow townsman and friend in the sect, gradually drifting off into a slight trance as he thought.
Seeing Shi Lei silent, Xizi thought he was going to refuse his invitation. So he hurriedly said to Shi Lei again, "Brother Shi Lei, please rest assured staying here. If you can't find a place for the time being, you can just keep living here too. Don't worry about me. If worse comes to worst, I can go find my sister. I can stay at her place."
Xizi's words interrupted Shi Lei's memories. He was slightly stunned and asked Xizi, "Xizi, you have a sister?"
"Mm, yes. But she's in the city," Xizi said, falling silent once more.
"Then why don't you live with your sister?" Shi Lei was surprised to learn that Xizi had a sister. If Xizi's sister was in the city, why was her younger brother out begging? So Shi Lei asked with some concern.
"She, she lives at the Yunliang Inn," Xizi said in a weak voice.
"The Yunliang Inn? Since your sister is at an inn, why are you staying in this place and making a living by begging alone?" Hearing Xizi's answer, Shi Lei became even more puzzled.
He had originally planned to go into town to find an inn for the night; he hadn't expected that Xizi's sister actually lived in one as well.
"That... that's a place where wealthy men... look for women..." Xizi said weakly again.
"Wealthy men?" Hearing Xizi's reply, Shi Lei immediately understood. Although the original owner of Shi Lei's body was not even fifteen years old, Shi Lei, the transmigrator, was a man of the world after all, and understood at once.
"Alright then. But you should sleep here tonight too. I just need a place in the corner to sit in meditation." Having learned of the predicament of Xizi and his sister and understanding their hardships, Shi Lei said no more.
"Are you really not going to sleep?" Xizi still tried hard to insist that Shi Lei sleep on his bed.
However, Shi Lei shook his head slightly and said to him, "It's fine, you go to sleep first. I'll just meditate for a while, I'm used to it. I'll figure something out when daylight comes."
"You... you know martial arts!" Hearing that Shi Lei knew how to meditate, Xizi assumed he was a martial artist and stopped insisting. However, a gleam of curiosity appeared in his eyes as he hurriedly asked Shi Lei in amazement.
"Mm, you could say that. What, are you interested..." Looking at the eager gaze in Xizi's eyes, Shi Lei nodded slightly again and said.
Xizi immediately re-examined Shi Lei with a look of extreme surprise, seeming to develop an even greater interest in him. Shi Lei was also quite interested in Xizi, and the two chatted very agreeably, finding each other quite compatible.
A martial artist was someone who practiced martial arts, with offensive methods mainly based on body-tempering external skills. There were plenty of people who practiced martial arts in the mortal realm.
However, Shi Lei was a Cultivator, an immortal cultivator whose offensive methods were mainly based on internal skills and the Five Elements True Qi. Ever since he was a child, he had stayed within the Qianyuan Sect to cultivate; because he was merely a Servant Disciple with shallow cultivation, he rarely went to the mortal realm and had rarely seen martial artists.
Yet, chatting with Xizi about martial arts sparked his interest.
Now that Shi Lei's cultivation had reached the Qi Refinement Late-stage, ever since he acquired his Divine Sense, his way of looking at people was vastly different from before, allowing him to observe many things much more subtly than ordinary people.
Although he had just met Xizi, Shi Lei could tell that in terms of character, temperament, and conduct, Xizi was quite good—a friend worth making in depth.
Even though Xizi was a mortal, Shi Lei did not feel any generation gap with him; Shi Lei even felt that with his current abilities, leaving behind some immortal destiny for him was entirely possible.
The sky grew darker and darker until it was pitch black. Only then did Xizi slowly lie down on his wooden plank bed and fall into a deep sleep.
Shi Lei, however, did not sleep that night, nor did he practice; he simply sat quietly in meditation by himself.
Though he neither slept nor practiced, Shi Lei was not idle either. He reviewed his experiences of the past few days in his mind, sorting through his thoughts. After all, during the previous days, there were some things Shi Lei hadn't thought about in depth.
At that time, he was hanging by a thread and didn't even know where he was, so naturally he wouldn't consider many long-term matters; simply staying alive back then was already a blessing in disguise.
Now, however, it was different. He had finally escaped from the dangerous place, and some matters required immediate consideration.
And now, he had finally made a decision of vital importance to his future.
He decided not to return to the sect for the time being.
This meant that for a period of time, Shi Lei would be reduced to a rogue cultivator, lacking a master's teachings, cultivation resources, and cultivation manuals.
Making this decision and resolution was the result of Shi Lei's repeated deliberation.
First, returning to the sect to report on the events in the Savage Beast Forest was something Shi Lei could find an excuse for and muddle through. After all, those martial brothers of his had been swallowed whole by the giant python, leaving no bones behind. With no dead bodies to bear witness, he could say whatever he liked, and it would be relatively easy to come up with an excuse.
Second, temporarily acting as a rogue cultivator stemmed from a matter that made him extremely uneasy. Without any resources or guidance, his cultivation had broken through two bottlenecks within a mere two months, abruptly soaring to the Qi Refinement Late-stage. Thinking back on it now, this speed felt terrifying.
Previously, he had simply been forced to drive himself into mad cultivation and mad breakthroughs out of desperation to escape the snake's nest. But now that he had escaped, this had also become a problem: how was he to explain this matter to the elders and senior brothers of the sect...
Perhaps the Servant Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples within the sect wouldn't be able to discern his current cultivation and realm.
Yet, any Foundation Establishment Deacon or Golden Core Elder with a slightly higher realm, or even an Inner Sect Core Disciple using certain methods, could immediately detect his current realm.
Coupled with his previous cultivation level, they would realize the abnormality in his cultivation progress. By then, he might be dragged into a secret chamber by the sect elders and sliced up like a lab rat?!
He understood the principle that a person's wealth is his own ruin?!
Furthermore, the spatial treasure he carried was extremely bizarre. To this day, he still hadn't fully figured out how to control it?!
This was a heaven-sent opportunity, his, Shi Lei's, opportunity; naturally, he had to grasp it firmly. How could he willingly let others snatch it away?!
Third, returning to his hometown—now that he had separated himself from mortals, he needed to sever mortal attachments and conclude causes and effects. Thus, going home didn't hold much significance for him.
Of course, he would definitely return to his old home, but not right now.
Besides, should people in the sect discover that he was still alive and had returned to his hometown, they would inevitably grow suspicious and might even connect him to the deaths of his fellow disciples. This was something Shi Lei was unwilling to see, as doing so would undoubtedly implicate his family.
...
Undoubtedly, the second choice was his only way out.
With this spatial treasure, Shi Lei remained full of confidence in the future.
Although the road ahead would be rugged and fraught with difficulties...
"As long as your thinking doesn't slip, there are always more solutions than problems..."
"Cultivators of our generation must forge ahead against difficulties and press forward courageously..."
As long as he figured out the function of this spatial treasure and seized this heaven-sent opportunity, Shi Lei believed that wealth and resources would come in the future.
It was just that he was still very weak right now, barely able to protect even himself, let alone this heaven-sent opportunity.
Therefore, he had to keep a low profile and remain hidden until he truly grew and possessed the ability to protect this opportunity.
At that time, he could roam about wildly...
Ah, no... at that time he could soar through the heavens and dive into the earth, move mountains and fill seas, shatter the heavenly gates with a sword, wander freely across heaven and earth, and attain longevity...