Chapter 89: I Don’t Want to Be a Burden

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“It really is a Thunder Element Gold-rank Crystal Core. Did Father, did Father understand my hint? … It’s so embarrassing.” Li Baobao’s face heated up slightly. She looked at Lei Qing with a bit of a guilty conscience. Fortunately, thanks to her current disguise, her face was covered in thick powder. Neither Lei Qing nor Zuo Qianqian could notice anything unusual about her.

“Haha, with this Thunder Element Crystal Core, my path to Silver is just around the corner.” Lei Qing was truly unable to hide his excitement. A Bronze-rank expert could only be considered a minor master, capable of dominating in some remote countryside. Only after reaching the Silver-rank could one be considered a true expert.

One might think that since Lei Qing was now at Bronze Peak, he could step into the Silver level at any moment. However, only those who truly cultivated knew that every step forward in human cultivation was a leap in life, an evolution, a breakthrough.

This was an extremely difficult task without special opportunities or changes. One often had to spend a lot of time at a certain realm, continuously tempering oneself and accumulating potential. Only then could one suddenly break the shackles, rush past the critical point, and achieve a qualitative leap within the body.

However, throughout history, countless cultivators had been stuck at a certain realm for their entire lives, unable to cross over.

Breaking shackles and breaking through oneself was easier said than done. It not only tested a person’s perseverance, patience, and determination but even their luck.

But Lei Qing now possessed this extremely rare Gold-rank Demonic Beast Crystal Core, and everything would fall into place. He had a shortcut to use external force. Of course, this did not mean that with this Crystal Core, he would definitely succeed in advancing.

Many things still depended on luck. Whether he could use this external force to break through the shackles was still not a hundred percent certain. Lei Qing carefully put away the extremely precious Crystal Core.

Then he took out ten Silver Crystal Cores of various elements, one of which was of the Thunder Element. Lei Qing made up his mind to use this Silver Crystal Core first to take his cultivation a step further, polish away some bottlenecks, and then use the Gold-rank one to achieve a breakthrough in one fell swoop.

Thinking that he had just turned twenty-one not long ago and had the chance to advance to the Silver-rank class, even Lei Qing, who had experienced many hardships, could not suppress his excitement.

Immediately, he sat down cross-legged in the carriage and began to absorb the essence power of the Demonic Beast from the Crystal Core. He started to cultivate the Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder to temper his flesh, meridians, and bones.

Li Baobao, who was in the midst of her shy embarrassment, was mentally preparing for Lei Qing to praise her a little. But when she saw this scene, she truly felt a surge of anger.

Are you kidding? Cultivation was indeed very important. But this Thunder Element Crystal Core was something This Miss had painstakingly begged from Father using hints.

Good gracious, you started using it directly without saying a word. You really don’t treat This Miss as an outsider, do you? Would it kill you to come over and say a few nice words first? Look at that impatient look of yours; you don’t even care about women once you have the Crystal Core. Back then, when This Miss, a beauty comparable to a goddess, was captured by you, I didn’t see you being this impatient.

Thinking that she, the dignified daughter of the Li Clan, was not even comparable to a Crystal Core, Li Baobao lost all her good mood. She raised her chin and let out a delicate snort. Feeling quite hurt, she hugged her arms and shrank into the corner of the carriage. She rolled her eyes at Lei Qing, who was in deep cultivation, and secretly muttered that her kindness had truly been fed to the dogs.

However, as she watched, she discovered that Lei Qing, now serious, looked exceptionally solemn when cultivating. Although his current disguised appearance was truly unsightly, it did not affect his demeanor when he was serious in the slightest.

An indescribable feeling arose in her heart. Despite Lei Qing usually being giggly and seemingly unserious, when he got serious, he was actually quite charming. Just like the last time he led a group of motley crews to fight her Personal Guard, he was like a fierce tiger. Just like the last time, when he persisted desperately to conquer Wuzhui, he was as solid as a rock.

It was not blameworthy for men to pursue power and status. Without power or status, how could a man protect his woman?

Li Baobao began to think about the problem from a different angle. Thinking about it this way, she felt that Lei Qing still had many merits. Especially since he did not avoid entering a cultivation state in front of her.

One had to know that if a person was attacked while cultivating, not only would they have no ability to fight back, but it could also easily lead to Qi deviation.

From this perspective, it could be judged that Lei Qing trusted her very much and regarded her as one of his own.

Li Baobao began to feel relieved as she sat there cross-legged, resting her chin on her hand to watch Lei Qing cultivate. She had never been too enthusiastic about cultivation since she was a child; her hobbies lay in other areas. Otherwise, with her terrifyingly abundant resources, entering the Silver-rank would have been easy for her.

“Sister Baobao, you can watch slowly. I also need to hurry up and cultivate.” Deeply influenced by Lei Qing and her grandfather’s tragic death, Zuo Qianqian was also very persistent about power. She had never relaxed when it came to cultivation.

Thanks to this, otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to advance to High-stage Black Iron in such a short time and be ready to step toward the peak at any moment. Even if her Fighting Qi Technique was very high-end, and even if she had an endless supply of Nether System Crystal Cores, it would have been useless if she refused to work hard.

“Qianqian, why do we girls need to cultivate so hard?” Li Baobao had basically grown up in a jar of honey. Although she had suffered a big loss at Lei Qing’s hands, she obviously did not learn her lesson because she had not been hurt too badly. She held Zuo Qianqian’s small hand and said, “Fighting and wars are men’s business. For us women, it is enough to cultivate some Fighting Qi Techniques that can preserve our beauty.”

“Sister Baobao, I don’t want to cultivate so hard either. But I don’t have a family as rich and powerful as yours. If I am not strong enough, apart from Brother Lei, no one will come to protect me.” Zuo Qianqian said with an unusually firm gaze, “You have only seen Brother Lei’s glorious and domineering side. You have never seen the scenes where he almost died several times. The scenes of him lingering on the line between life and death, struggling with the Reaper, still make me shudder when I think about them now.”

Li Baobao trembled when she heard this, and immediately thought of the hideous scars Lei Qing revealed after taking off his clothes in front of her. Listening to Zuo Qianqian’s words, she also felt a sudden chill. She curiously pulled Qianqian over and said, “What exactly has he done? Why does he have so many scars on his body? Good Qianqian, cultivate later. Tell me about it.” She was full of curiosity.

“Sister Baobao, let’s talk about it when we have time later.” Zuo Qianqian shook her head persistently, sat down cross-legged, and took out a half-used Bronze-rank Nether System Crystal Core, “In short, I want to become very, very strong. I don’t want to be a burden to Brother Lei. I also want to protect Brother Lei from danger from now on. Anyone who wants his life will have to get past me, Qianqian, first. Sister Baobao, if you are bored, go to sleep for a while. I am going to start cultivating.”

Although Zuo Qianqian’s voice was low, it was exceptionally firm, revealing a strength that came from nowhere.

Li Baobao was stunned. She did not expect that although Zuo Qianqian was young, her will was so determined. One could imagine that she must have experienced many dangers and difficulties with Lei Qing.

Curled up in the corner, looking at the two people in meditative cultivation, she felt an inexplicable uncomfortable feeling in her heart. It seemed that among them, she was an outsider. The many days and nights they spent together and the hardships they shared had allowed them to almost reach a state of mutual understanding. Just a look or a movement was enough for them to understand each other’s thoughts.

For a moment, Li Baobao felt a sour taste of jealousy. Why was it not Li Baobao who had experienced so many dangerous things with Lei Qing, but Zuo Qianqian?

Zuo Qianqian’s words, “I don’t want to be a burden to Brother Lei,” echoed in her heart like a reverberation. After a while, her expression gradually calmed down. She also sat down cross-legged and began to meditate and cultivate.

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