The peak of Black Stone mountain.
Lin Xiao'e's face was already filled with tears as she watched Wang Ping leave.
It wasn't that she didn't want to go down the mountain to meet Wang Ping. In fact, for the past year or so, she would stand at the top of the mountain and look down in anticipation one or two days before the full moon of every month, hoping to see the figure of the blue-clothed youth.
Even though she had been waiting for the temporary market square to disperse all the time and had been returning in disappointment, she had never once given up.
Because she had always believed that the blue-clothed youth who had given her a promise would definitely visit her again.
When she truly saw Wang Ping arrive yesterday, she shed tears of excitement instantly on the spot, immediately rushing down with incomparable excitement, wishing to throw herself into the blue-clothed youngster's arms.
However, right at this moment, her master, the "Black Shark Drifter," who had always doted on her and granted her every request, suddenly stopped her and brought her to the top of the mountain, where he used the "Fixed Body Art" to lock her in place.
"I know that you must hate Master now, Xiao'e, but Master still has to tell you that from the moment you acknowledged me as your master, you and that Wang Ping brat are in two different leagues."
"You have outstanding talent. In the future, you will be a cultivation genius with a high chance of reaching the Core Formation realm. As for Wang Ping, he is mediocre, and he is just an itinerant cultivator in a remote and isolated place like Golden Pearl Island. The late stage of the Qi Refinement realm is the end of his journey."
"The deeper you are entangled with him now, the harder it will be to part with him in the future. This will only be harmful to your future journey in Dao!"
"Of course, no matter how much I tell you now, you won't listen to me. So just stay here and watch. Take a look if you can."
The "Black Shark Drifter" calmly said these words and left, leaving Lin Xiao'e, who was frozen in place and unable to move, crying endlessly. Her face was full of tears as she looked at the blue-clothed youngster's figure at the foot of the mountain.
During this time, the tears on her face had dried and wetted again. Her eyes were filled with pain and despair.
In the morning, the blue-shirted youth bowed toward Black Stone Mountain's peak and left.
Lin Xiao'e felt as if she had lost something precious. It was as if all her energy had been sucked out of her body. Her eyes suddenly darkened, and she fainted.
At this moment, the figure of "Black Shark Drifter" suddenly appeared beside her and supported her unconscious body.
"Sigh! I hope that after this incident, Xiao'e, you will come to your senses and focus on your cultivation so that you can reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible!"
He shook his head with a complex expression and let out a long sigh, the "Black Shark Drifter" quickly carried Lin Xiao'e back to the cave abode.
He had actually been waiting for this day for a long time, but he had not expected Wang Ping to be so calm. He had waited for more than a year before coming.
This, in turn, made him admire Wang Ping's character.
After all, if an ordinary early-stage Qi Refinement itinerant cultivator was lucky enough to contact a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and forge a connection with them, he would probably be eager to visit them twice a day to seek advice and report on his progress, in order to gain more favor from the Foundation Establishment cultivator.
If Wang Ping were to do that, the 'Black Shark Drifter' would naturally have various methods to make him understand how laughable his actions were and make him suffer the consequences of his own actions.
However, now that Wang Ping had only come over after such a long time and had not done anything that went against his status from the beginning to the end, the "Black Shark Drifter" actually admired him a little. He had originally wanted to teach him a lesson, but seeing that he was so "tactful," he dismissed the idea.
Unfortunately, even though he admired Wang Ping, the "Black Shark Drifter," who had secretly tested Wang Ping's spiritual core constitution, did not change his opinion of this cultivator who was born with a five-elemental mixed spiritual core.
With such a spiritual core constitution, unless one was a direct bloodline of a Core Formation cultivator, in which case they would be nurtured by the Core Formation cultivator unconditionally, it would be impossible for one to reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.
Under such circumstances, the "Black Shark Drifter" naturally wouldn't allow his future disciple to have too deep of a relationship with Wang Ping, a cultivator with little natural talent.
Time would make her forget everything.
The "Black Shark Drifter" firmly believed that as long as the two of them didn't meet for a long time, as long as Lin Xiao'e gradually grew up to understand the dangers of the cultivation world and came into contact with more outstanding peers, she would definitely forget Wang Ping, a lowly itinerant cultivator with such a low aptitude.
Moreover, he had already given Wang Ping a "sufficiently" generous reward, enough to repay the favor and the fact that Wang Ping had given him an outstanding disciple.
As for Wang Ping, he understood what the "Black Shark Drifter" meant after waiting for a day and night without seeing Lin Xiao'e.
Although he was a little dissatisfied, he understood that the "Black Shark Drifter" had done it for Lin Xiao'e's sake.
That was enough.
Didn't he send Lin Xiao'e to be apprenticed to the "Black Shark Drifter" because he hoped that her path toward the Dao would be smoother?
The fact that the "Black Shark Drifter" was doing this, showed how much he valued Lin Xiao'e, and that he would definitely not treat her harshly in the future.
In the end, Wang Ping only gave a silent bow before leaving, expressing his respect and attitude through his actions.
Having been an orphan since he was young, he was much more precocious and sensible than many others. His understanding of the ways of the world was much deeper than that of most of his peers.
Back then, the reason why he had taken Lin Xiao'e in was that she had similar experiences with him and was from his hometown.
His love for Lin Xiao'e was purely that of a big brother's love for an orphan girl with similar experiences, there was nothing else to it.
To him, helping Lin Xiao'e find a master who cared for her deeply and could take good care of her meant that his mission was completed.
Even if they could never meet again, he would not have many regrets.
In this aspect, the thinking of adults and children differed entirely.
After that, Wang Ping waited for less than half a day on Black Stone Mountain before the cultivators participating in this temporary market transaction began to arrive.
He also took the opportunity to communicate with some of the arriving cultivators. It didn't matter whether they knew each other or not, they still greeted each other.
With his current cultivation at the middle stage of Qi Refinement, as long as he took the initiative to greet, even some of the late Qi Condensation cultivators wouldn't ignore him completely.
Using this opportunity, he expanded his social circle, allowing more itinerant cultivators on Golden Pearl Island to get to know him and allowing himself to get to know them.
Just as Wang Ping and the few newly acquainted itinerant cultivators were discussing the dangers they had encountered in recent years, sharing their experiences and life-saving insights, a voice filled with surprise suddenly sounded from not far behind him.
"It's really you, Brother Wang Ping. I haven't seen you for more than a year, and you've actually broken through to the middle stage of Qi Refinement. Isn't this cultivation speed a little too fast?"
This somewhat familiar voice made Wang Ping's expression changed, and he could not help but turn around to look.
He saw that Gu Feng, who had teamed up with him to hunt a mid-grade tier 1 Waterwolf Beast more than a year ago, was looking at him in surprise. Judging from his cultivation, he had already reached the seventh level of the Qi Refinement realm.