Pay-to-Win Cultivation: I Get 10,000x Returns

Chapter 214: The Drifting King’s Grand Symphony

The puppet maid guided the girl to Zhang Xian and then retreated into the shadows without a sound.

Zhang Xian seemed to sense her presence. He tilted his head slightly, offering her a casual glance. “Did you rest well?”

The girl took a deep breath, trying to suppress the nervous fluttering in her chest. She recalled how the elders worshipped the totem statues back in her village. Mimicking their solemnity, she clasped her hands together and bowed deeply at the waist.

Her movements were clumsy, but the sincerity was palpable. “Thank you, Benefactor, for saving my life.”

She looked like a child offering formal New Year’s greetings. Zhang Xian waved his hand dismissively.

“It was effortless,” he said. He pointed to the empty space beside him. “Sit.”

A smaller, plush lounge chair materialized out of thin air next to his own.

The girl stared at the exquisite furniture. It looked too clean, too expensive. She hesitated, remaining stiffly upright, afraid to dirty it.

Zhang Xian didn’t press the issue. “What is your name?”

“Xiao Liu.”

Zhang Xian nodded. Her pronunciation was crisp. Aside from the conspicuous wolf ears and tail, she was no different from an ordinary human girl.

“Can you read and write?”

“Yes.” She nodded again.

Zhang Xian’s gaze drifted to the brownish-black fur on her wolf ears. A thought occurred to him, and he spoke with casual indifference.

“Your ears and tail are dark. ‘Xiao Liu’ is a bit plain. How about I call you ‘Little Black Six’? Or maybe ‘Sixie Black’?”

The girl: “…”

One of her ears instantly drooped. Her small mouth pouted involuntarily, and her face filled with a mix of grievance and silent protest.

Those names were terrible. Even “Xiao Liu” was better than “Little Black Six.” But he was her savior and a powerful cultivator; she didn’t dare argue. She could only lower her head, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her silk robe.

Nearby, Lin Xiaozhu had been calibrating the formation disk, but her attention had long since drifted to the conversation. Seeing the girl’s pitiful, aggrieved expression, she couldn’t stand Zhang Xian’s terrible naming sense any longer.

She stowed the disk, scooped up her little fox, Diu Diu, and walked over gracefully.

“Don’t listen to him,” Lin Xiaozhu said, her voice soft and soothing.

She looked at the girl’s delicate features and those clear, amber eyes. “How about Big Sister gives you a proper name?”

The girl looked up. In this beautiful, gentle woman, she saw a warmth that reminded her of family. She hummed a soft agreement, her eyes shining with anticipation.

Lin Xiaozhu pondered for a moment, admiring the girl’s eyes under the moonlight—clear and translucent, like precious stone.

“Let’s call you Xiao Liuli,” Lin Xiaozhu said gently. “You can take my surname. Lin Liuli. How does that sound?”

“Lin… Liuli…”

The girl repeated it softly. Liuli. Colored glass. A gemstone. It sounded clear, bright, and precious.

Her eyes lit up instantly. She nodded vigorously, her voice crisp and happy. “Okay! Thank you, Big Sister!”

“Liuli? That works,” Zhang Xian agreed, unbothered by the rejection of his own suggestions.

Lin Xiaozhu smiled at the girl’s joy. “Xiao Liuli, what kind of Spiritual Root do you have?”

Hearing this, Xiao Liuli extended a small hand, palm facing upward. She concentrated.

Poof.

A small cluster of orange-red flame ignited in her palm, dancing briefly before slowly dissipating.

“Fire Spiritual Root.”

Zhang Xian blinked, genuinely surprised.

He knew of the half-demon race, but his knowledge of the Western Region’s cultivation systems was limited. In his experience with the Southern Region, Demon Beasts relied on instinct, bloodline inheritance, and devouring raw energy. Their methods were alien compared to humans.

He extended his Divine Sense, carefully probing Liuli’s aura.

“You…” Zhang Xian raised an eyebrow. “You are already at the peak of Foundation Establishment? You’re on the verge of condensing a Golden Core?”

Xia Chengyan wandered over, catching Zhang Xian’s confusion.

“Big Brother, you might not know,” Xia Chengyan explained. “In the Western Region, the cultivation systems for demons and half-demons are basically identical to humans. The realm divisions—Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core—are exactly the same. This is all thanks to ‘The Drifting King’.”

“Oh?” Zhang Xian asked. “The Drifting King?”

Xia Chengyan opened his mouth to explain, but he caught the sparkle in Xiao Liuli’s eyes. She looked like she was bursting to speak but holding back out of politeness.

He smiled. “Forget it. Let the local tell the story. Xiao Liuli, why don’t you tell everyone about The Drifting King?”

The girl looked around at their encouraging faces. She took several deep breaths to calm her excitement. When she spoke, her tone was filled with piety and pride.

“The Drifting King is the greatest sage in the history of the Western Region,” she began. “He is the common benefactor of all demon races and humans here. Every single one of our tribes enshrines his divine statue.”

Zhang Xian suddenly remembered the ruins in the valley. He had seen a collapsed stone statue of a human amidst the rubble, though he hadn’t paid it much mind at the time.

The girl continued, her voice taking on an ethereal, storytelling quality.

“A long, long time ago, the Western Region was engulfed in endless war. Humans and demons hated each other, locked in a cycle of slaughter. Half-demons were despised by both sides, living lives more miserable than wild beasts.”

“Right at our darkest hour, The Drifting King descended upon the world like a meteor streaking across the night sky.”

“He possessed supreme wisdom and boundless Spiritual Energy. He quelled the flames of war and resolved the hatred. He taught us a unified language and writing system, allowing different races to finally communicate.”

“He revolutionized cultivation. He took the demon race’s method of refining inner cores and perfectly integrated it with the human Dantian system. He taught us to open the sea of Qi, to cultivate the Golden Core and the Nascent Soul.”

“He made it so half-demons were no longer abominations. He gave us the right to live freely under the sun!”

Her eyes shone with reverent light. “There is a ballad we have sung since childhood, praising The Drifting King’s grace.”

She cleared her throat. In a voice clear and hauntingly beautiful, she began to sing:

He drifted from shores unknown,

With starlight to pierce the chaotic night.

He taught us to bury the blood-stained blade,

And wove our peace with words of light.

He guided the lambs who had lost their way,

Taming wild power into order’s veins.

Under his wisdom, the weeds of hate decayed,

And hope sprouted green on the ruinous plains.

He is the traveler who wanders afar,

Yet stands as our Lighthouse, eternal and bright,

Burning through eons, a solitary star,

To end the Western Region’s thousand-year night.

The song faded, leaving a heavy silence on the deck.

Lin Xiaozhu sighed softly. “It is a pity. After resolving the conflicts of the Western Region, Senior Drifting King vanished as if he evaporated from the mortal world. He never appeared before the people again.”

“Some say he achieved Perfection in merit, sitting in meditation until he ascended,” Xiao Liuli said, her voice dropping. “Others say he left this world for a higher dimension. But no matter what, in the Western Region, The Drifting King is the most exalted deity in the hearts of all living beings.”

Her excitement dimmed. No matter how great The Drifting King was, he wasn’t here now. The Western Region was being ravaged by [Hatred], turned into scorched earth.

Zhang Xian remained silent for a moment, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest of his chair.

“Did The Drifting King leave any concrete clues in this world?” he asked.

Xiao Liuli shook her head. “No. The Drifting King once had a wife, the Half-Demon Queen of the Western Region. She was the pride of our race. Unfortunately, she passed away 3,000 years ago. Everything about The Drifting King is now only legend and song.”

At that moment, Zhiyin, who had been quietly monitoring the perimeter, suddenly spoke up.