Chapter 174
At the time, their relationship was strong. Tao Zhiyuan said, "It doesn't matter. No matter what, Yanling is my wife. Even if her lifespan is limited, I will walk with her to the very end."
The Divine Transformation ancestor shook his head and said nothing more.
As for Ge Yanling, after learning the difference between her spirit root and Tao Zhiyuan's, she resolved to cultivate diligently, determined not to be left too far behind by him.
One of them was personally taught by the Divine Transformation ancestor, while the other struggled to survive and cultivate in the outer sect.
At first, Tao Zhiyuan still thought of Ge Yanling and wanted to send her spirit stones and medicinal pills, but the Divine Transformation ancestor stopped him. "Qi Refining is fundamental for consolidating one's foundation. Consuming too many pills offers no real benefit. While spirit stones are useful to her, possessing too many in the outer sect would also put her in danger."
When Tao Zhiyuan wanted to keep Ge Yanling by his side, the Divine Transformation ancestor simply said, "The rules cannot be broken."
In the end, aside from communicating via transmission stones, the two had no other contact.
After all, Tao Zhiyuan was their hope, so the Divine Transformation ancestor kept a very strict watch over him.
Not seeing each other for such a long time, their feelings inevitably faded, even with the transmission stones to keep in touch.
This was especially true since they only contacted each other frequently at the beginning; later on, they barely communicated at all.
Tao Zhiyuan had to practice his swordsmanship, study the various subjects arranged by the Divine Transformation ancestor, cultivate, and enter seclusion.
Ge Yanling had to accept missions, make a living, cultivate, and protect herself.
Their life paths had completely diverged.
They were still husband and wife in name, but it was hard to say if any feelings remained, as they hadn't seen each other in a very long time.
They were in the same sect, came from the same place, were husband and wife, and even had a way to communicate, yet they hadn't met in ages.
The people of the Tianyuan Sect clearly didn't take Ge Yanling seriously. They only knew she had arrived with Tao Zhiyuan; they neither knew nor cared what became of her afterward.
Ge Yanling wasn't as useless as they thought. While reaching Foundation Establishment with a five-spirit root was indeed difficult, she still succeeded.
Moreover, the cultivation technique she practiced was not from the Tianyuan Sect.
After she first guided qi into her body, a cultivation technique automatically appeared in her mind. It was only then that she realized she actually possessed a Chaos Spirit Root.
At this point, it was already obvious who was the one truly capable of changing the small world's fate.
But the people of the Tianyuan Sect didn't know this. They believed it was Tao Zhiyuan, with his Mutated Thunder Spirit Root.
Tao Zhiyuan's early cultivation had indeed progressed at rocket speed; even forming his Golden Core had seemed effortless.
But after reaching the Golden Core stage, he got stuck.
At first, the sect thought his training was insufficient and sent him out to gain experience.
But Tao Zhiyuan remained stuck at the Golden Core stage.
Even after using vast amounts of spiritual energy to force his way to the late Golden Core stage, he still couldn't sense the opportunity to form a Nascent Soul.
He was stuck like this for a hundred years. During that century, Ge Yanling's cultivation rose steadily, and she was on the verge of forming her own Golden Core.
After about a hundred years, the two of them finally met again.
Tao Zhiyuan was leading a team to escort Foundation Establishment cultivators to a secret realm.
Seeing Ge Yanling, Tao Zhiyuan felt as if a lifetime had passed. More than a hundred years was, after all, the entire lifespan of an ordinary person.
When he then noticed her cultivation level, he was utterly stunned.
He couldn't help but recall what the Divine Transformation ancestor had told him when he first joined the sect.
He had said Ge Yanling had the most impure five-spirit root and might languish her whole life at the Qi Refining stage. But what was he seeing now?
Ge Yanling was already at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. She might form her Golden Core after leaving the secret realm, or perhaps she had already succeeded.
She was about to catch up to him.
A mere five-spirit root was about to catch up to him, a genius with a mutated single spirit root...
Clearly, something was wrong with Tao Zhiyuan's mindset.
For a hundred years, the flattery from everyone in the sect, and even the gentle attitude of the Divine Transformation ancestor, had made him believe he was a genius—a truly deserving one.
Reaching the late Golden Core stage at just over a hundred years old was already an incredible feat. Compared to the most astonishingly talented cultivators in history, Tao Zhiyuan was by no means inferior.
Yet he remained unsatisfied. He felt he could do better, and he saw his failure to form a Nascent Soul within a century as a stain on his reputation.
After seeing Ge Yanling, his already unbalanced mindset became even more warped.
After escorting Ge Yanling's group to the secret realm, Tao Zhiyuan thought all night. He then used a Ten-Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman to contact the Divine Transformation ancestor, claiming he might have found the reason for his inability to form a Nascent Soul.
This thought came to him after seeing Ge Yanling. What else could the reason be but her?
Upon hearing Tao Zhiyuan's words, the Divine Transformation ancestor naturally came in person.
After hearing Tao Zhiyuan's analysis, he fell silent for a long time before sighing, "What you've said... is not impossible."
At the same time, however, the Divine Transformation ancestor couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt toward Tao Zhiyuan.
Could a man with such an unstable mentality, one who would even kill his own wife, truly be their hope for ascending to the upper realm?
There was no precedent for "killing one's wife for the Dao" in their small world.
Tao Zhiyuan's theory was that it was likely because he and Ge Yanling came from the same world, and this world could not accommodate two outsiders.
Furthermore, cultivation required severing mortal emotional ties. He had married Ge Yanling in the mortal world, creating a karmic entanglement that was now hindering his progress toward the Nascent Soul stage. His reasoning wasn't entirely without merit.
But considering what he had said in the past, his words today felt deeply ironic.
However, the Divine Transformation ancestor's desire to ascend was stronger. Even though he felt what Tao Zhiyuan was proposing was wrong, he said nothing.
After all, it was better to kill by mistake than to let the opportunity pass.
Ge Yanling successfully formed her Golden Core in the secret realm.
But when she emerged, she was met with a relentless pursuit led by Tao Zhiyuan.
To "kill one's wife for the Dao," one naturally had to do the deed oneself. Others were only responsible for exposing Ge Yanling's location.
There wasn't a single cultivator in the entire cultivation world who didn't dream of ascension, so Ge Yanling had virtually nowhere to run.
She couldn't understand. Why was their second meeting as husband and wife met with a fatal attack?
If the feelings were gone, they could get a divorce. Was it really necessary to kill her?
Ge Yanling's luck was decent, and she managed to evade him for over a year, but in the end, Tao Zhiyuan still found her.
By then, her body was riddled with internal injuries. Meanwhile, Tao Zhiyuan, at the late Golden Core stage, was brimming with spiritual energy, equipped with the best defensive artifacts, and wielding a renowned sword.
She couldn't escape.
But she didn't understand. "Why must you kill me? I can understand if you say you have no feelings left after a hundred years. I'd even understand if you wanted a divorce. But I don't understand why you insist on putting me to death."
"The genius with the Mutated Thunder Spirit Root is truly impressive. All this way, whenever any cultivator spotted me, you were always right behind them."
"Are you that desperate to kill me? It couldn't be because you're afraid of me, could it?"
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