Chapter 65 Are you my mortal tribulation?

"Could there be something wrong with my golden finger? That's impossible, right?"

After a brief moment of astonishment, Feng Xue forcibly steadied his breathing. Although, under the gaze of his golden finger, this person's head showed no reaction of lifespan whatsoever, he also possessed no spiritual light of a profound practitioner. From any perspective, he simply looked like an ordinary beggar.

He tried shifting the observation range of [Observing Heavenly Lifespan] from "the beggar in front of me" to all surrounding living creatures. Without a doubt, it was a massive, nearly infinite string of numbers that completely filled his vision.

"As expected, the problem isn't my golden finger... Then it must be this person? Hmm, or could it actually be a ghost?"

Such thoughts flashed rapidly through Feng Xue's mind. At the same time, as if naturally finishing his exercise upon hearing a sound, he slowly opened his eyes. Confirming the other's physical presence through his field of vision, the answer of "ghost" was promptly ruled out.

He had not learned any spells like the Heavenly Eye or Yin-Yang Eyes; physical eyes could not possibly perceive a spiritual body. Moreover, although the other's skin carried a sickly, dull dark tone, it clearly differed from the stiff, cyan-purple posture of a zombie, so he probably wasn't a corpse either.

This was the first time Feng Xue had ever seen a living creature whose remaining lifespan could not be seen. He figured that if this wasn't a puppet remotely controlled by someone, it must be some supreme expert who had transcended life and death.

"If it were a puppet, it shouldn't lack magical spiritual light!"

With this thought, Feng Xue made up his mind and immediately shouted toward the back:

"Yunxi!"

"Eh, what is it?" Accompanied by Feng Xue's shout, the second-floor window of the residence swung open abruptly. Liu Yunxi, who was still meditating and refining the primordial yin energy gathered the night before, poked her head out and looked down with some confusion.

"Prepare some easily digestible food for this old man!"

Feng Xue gave the instruction as if it were casual, but in his heart, he had already linked with Mo Ying—

"Is there a problem with this person?"

"Eh? Isn't he just an ordinary person?" Mo Ying was somewhat puzzled as to what problem Feng Xue was referring to. Seeing this, Feng Xue did not say any more, merely telling Mo Ying not to actively observe the other party. He himself maintained his stance for standing meditation, putting on an appearance of being inconvenient to move during cultivation, and quietly waited for Liu Yunxi to come down.

Meanwhile, the demonic cultivator at the doorway was also shaken to his core. He had thought the youth was merely an arrogant junior, yet his household actually kept a great demon?

Although its aura didn't look strong, this was clearly the act of an unskilled novice forcibly pretending to be weak. After all, which transformed demon trying to act young would only reveal four or five years of cultivation? With this little cultivation, let alone transformation, it was questionable whether it had even awakened its spiritual intelligence! Not to mention that your primordial yin energy is still so pure... Good grief, was it soaked in the lunar essence pool of some major sect or something?

"It seems the world really is at peace nowadays; even when assigning a guardian to a direct disciple, they assign such a simpleton! But this kid is quite clever. Well, it makes sense—without some ability, he wouldn't be able to play around with a thousand-year-old great demon as a maid."

With the demonic cultivator's vast experience, he naturally noticed Feng Xue using a spiritual ghost to probe him. Without a doubt, the other party had not detected anything, and now calling out the great demon was probably just an extra layer of insurance.

Although he didn't know where he had slipped up, the demonic cultivator didn't dare to leave immediately either. At this moment, the young man was clearly only suspicious; otherwise, he wouldn't have had the great demon prepare food while exposing himself to danger. As long as he waited here, he was simply a beggar; if he ran away, that would truly confirm he was hiding something.

Preparing to bolt at any moment, the demonic cultivator kept uttering auspicious phrases like "may your fortune and longevity be boundless" and "may your household flourish," fully playing the part expected of a beggar. Before long, the great demon also walked out holding a bowl of thick porridge.

"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master! Wishing you peace and longevity!"

Watching the beggar take the bowl of porridge and slurp it down hungrily, Feng Xue's doubts grew even more pronounced. The beggar showed absolutely no flaws and looked completely normal, yet the fact that his golden finger could not see his lifespan was something he simply couldn't let go of.

After finishing a bowl of meat porridge spiced with a bit of salt and vegetable leaves, the beggar left with profuse expressions of gratitude. Feng Xue still showed no intention of moving until the other party completely vanished from his field of vision. Only then did he call out to Liu Yunxi, who was about to go back inside to wash the bowl:

"Did you notice anything wrong with that person just now?"

"Not at all! You could tell he was really hungry, though." Liu Yunxi shook her head, leaving Feng Xue with a lingering feeling of "could the golden finger actually be wrong?"

Shaking his head to banish these thoughts, Feng Xue resumed his morning exercise, merely making a mental note of this person with no visible lifespan to see if he would cross paths with him elsewhere later.

...

"An interesting little brat, quite cautious indeed!" Although the demonic cultivator had walked far away, his spiritual perception from once being a grandmaster was no joke. While he couldn't hear the exact details of what Feng Xue had instructed, there was no doubt he was inquiring about his background.

"He didn't budge an inch from start to finish. First, to pretend he was still practicing martial arts; second, to maintain distance from me. The spiritual ghost remained guarding his side. The moment I made any unusual move, he would likely have escaped using a movement technique. The porridge the great demon gave me contained medicinal diet ingredients to consolidate my foundation and nourish my blood and qi. Eating this bowl, as long as I don't go doing heavy physical labor, I probably won't feel overly hungry for a day or two. If I come begging again today or tomorrow, it will practically confirm that I am not an ordinary person."

The demonic cultivator held a slightly higher opinion of Feng Xue in his heart, though he wasn't surprised. Or rather, in the eyes of an old antique like him, without such methods, his sect's elders would never have allowed him to wander down the mountain to gain experience while carrying a full load of treasures.

After a brief contemplation, the demonic cultivator sought out a wealthy household he had previously targeted, flickered his form, and entered the residence.

He didn't kill anyone; he merely stole a few sets of clothes to change into and began wandering around the county town.

As the saying goes, clothes make the man. Once dressed in fine attire, coupled with his subtle physical adjustments of his own body, he instantly transformed from a dying old beggar into a somewhat indulgent nobleman suffering from kidney deficiency.

Drawing on a century-old experience, he exchanged a gold nugget for some paper currency and strolled out onto the streets. Occasionally, he exchanged a few jocular remarks with the old and young idlers chatting at a roadside tea stall, casually inquired about renowned courtesans and tea masters in the local county, and treated them to a round of tea and pastries. Instantly, friendly relations were established.

Conversations among middle-aged men invariably revolved around women, current affairs, and local gossip—precisely the three types of information the demonic cultivator required.

His technique of dividing spirit and flesh superficially left him looking depleted of vital essence. Without employing spells, he could only play the persona of an indulgent libertine, which naturally required some knowledge of women. Current affairs would make up for the information he missed during his century of slumber, and local gossip was urgently needed as well, such as—

"You guys didn't see it! That Immortal Master Feng used a Five Thunders Technique that shook the heavens and earth! The lightning could be clearly seen from miles away. That mutated blood puppet that slaughtered Xiangyang Village and couldn't be captured even by Grandmaster Yijiang and Daoist Priest Chen working together was beaten into critical condition by him in a single blow! It was only because he was considerate of the local experts' pride that Daoist Priest Zhang even got a chance to act!"

"What? The house I'm staying in belongs to that kid?" Listening to the discussion, the demonic cultivator chimed in with apparent interest on the surface, but inside, turbulent waves were crashing.

Karma was something very few profound practitioners could truly comprehend, yet thousands of years of cultivation history told every single practitioner that this thing genuinely existed!

And now, the catalyst that caused him to awaken was a corpse puppet defeated by that junior; the place he stayed upon waking was the courtyard where that junior had fought that corpse puppet; and the first profound practitioner he formally contacted upon entering the city was also that junior. With such a chain of coincidences, it was hard not to associate them with karma.

"Could this brat be my destined tribulation?"