Chapter 70

(Thank you, Brother Red Robe, for your generous support...)

In the Blood Cloud Wasteland, countless Rakshasa and ghostly beings had resurrected, gradually forming large and small communities, occupying the mountains and valleys. Chen Hai remained outside these Rakshasa communities, practicing Dao seals with his puppet avatar in the Blood Cloud Wasteland. Every time he caused a commotion, he had to find a new hiding place, which was quite embarrassing.

However, Chen Hai was also greatly invigorated to find a new method to enhance his puppet avatar's strength outside of the Rakshasa Blood Refinement Secret Technique and martial arts cultivation.

In just a few days, Chen Hai learned how to draw Dao symbols in the air to cast simple attack spells like Flame Blade in the Blood Cloud Wasteland.

Compared to the martial arts killing moves of the puppet avatar, the power of these attack spells was neither particularly strong nor weak, roughly equivalent to the golden sword beams produced by the Golden Edge Spirit Ring.

This indicated that Chen Hai's divine soul, while not as strong as he had imagined, was certainly not weak, at least not weaker than a mid-stage Spirit Opening Realm cultivator. This was also a significant achievement from his two years of practicing martial arts secret techniques and continuously comprehending the true meaning of martial arts.

Chen Hai soon discovered that by continuously condensing Dao seals in the puppet avatar's sea of consciousness, especially when attempting to condense more complex and profound Dao seals with mental power, his divine soul would slightly strengthen...

The four hundred plus Dao seals recorded in the Snake Scale Book varied greatly in complexity and profundity. The Flame Blade Dao seal was one of the simplest, while some other Dao seals made Chen Hai suspect that they might contain one or more complete true meanings of Dao.

Speaking of the true meanings of Dao, there was a significant difference in strength. However, even the Dao seals containing the weakest true meanings were far beyond what Chen Hai could condense with his mental power at this time.

Before his divine soul was strong enough, Chen Hai could not verify whether his guess was correct.

Chen Hai had not yet grasped a complete, even the weakest, true meaning of martial arts. He could only feel the profound aura of the true meaning of martial arts when performing moves like Water Cutting, Cloud Flow, and Ten Steps Hammer, thereby continuously strengthening his divine soul. However, this was not the most direct method of divine soul cultivation.

For ordinary cultivators, the Spirit Opening Realm stage did not allow the opening of the sea of consciousness, so they could not directly condense Dao seals with mental power. By the time they reached the Clear Aperture Realm, they would skip the ordinary stage and could directly condense true meaning secret images with mental power...

Through the puppet avatar, Chen Hai had found a shortcut to cultivate his divine soul and mental power before reaching the Clear Aperture Realm.

This also strengthened his resolve to open the Secret Palace of the Spirit Sea on the four spirit veins.

The path he was taking was not an ordinary one.

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Chen Hai did not know how precious the Snake Scale Book was, but it was certainly no less valuable than the original version of the Alchemical Cauldron Technique.

Chen Hai also did not know if there was any connection between the Snake Scale Book and the Snake Bracelet, but even if there was no connection, he could not easily let others know.

An ordinary person is not guilty, but one who possesses a valuable item is.

As the young lord of the Zhaoyang Pavilion, Chen Hai having one or two high-grade yellow-level magical treasures would not attract others' covetous eyes. However, if the Snake Scale Book, which was many times more valuable than the original version of the Alchemical Cauldron Technique, were to be discovered and the news leaked, Chen Hai believed that even his uncle Chen Lie could not protect the Snake Scale Book.

The discovery of the Snake Scale Book made Chen Hai excited for several days.

Every day, besides practicing breathing techniques, cultivating true essence, and refining martial arts, he studied the Snake Scale Dao seals and cultivated his divine soul.

Unconsciously, Chen Hai had stayed in Yulong City for seven days. After that, he traveled with Zhou Jun and Wu Meng for six more days, reaching the Upper Seven Peaks deep in Taowei Mountain, the inner sect of Taowei Sect.

Taowei Mountain is one of the main mountain ranges in the northwest of Yanzhou, stretching for thousands of miles with towering peaks and dense forests. It has seven main peaks, each over ten thousand meters high.

Although the spiritual spring resources of Tieliu Ridge and Yulong Mountain are sufficient for ordinary cultivators to focus on cultivation, the heavenly essence and earth qi in Taowei Mountain are even purer and more abundant. Many of Taowei Sect's true disciples, law-enforcing elders, guardian elders, sect patrons, and grand elders, regardless of whether they have part-time jobs in the Wuwei Army or the Grand Protector General's Mansion, have their own dedicated cultivation caves in the mountains.

Chen Hai and Zhou Jun entering the Upper Seven Peaks to cultivate would formally establish their master-disciple relationship. Only third-generation true disciples, law-enforcing elders, guardian elders, and sect patrons who have opened their own caves on the seven main peaks of Taowei Sect have the qualifications to take in inner sect disciples and teach them mystic techniques. Elders like Zhao Ruhui, Zhang Huaiyu, Li Xianghai, and Xie Kun, who are outer sect executive elders, do not even have the qualifications to open their own caves on the Upper Seven Peaks.

Naturally, Chen Hai, like Zhou Jun, would cultivate directly under Chen Lie after becoming an inner sect disciple. Therefore, they gained another identity, that of Taowei Sect's Jieyun Cliff disciples, thus becoming part of a different class from the Dao soldiers below.

If Chen Hai and Zhou Jun cannot reach the Clear Aperture Realm before the age of forty, they will lose their inner sect disciple status. If they reach the Clear Aperture Realm and become true disciples, but do not make further breakthroughs before the age of sixty, they will also lose their true disciple status.

Of course, losing the status of inner sect or true disciples does not mean they are cut off from Taowei Sect. The sect and the Wuwei Army have many positions waiting to be filled.

Immortality and enlightenment are as difficult to achieve as a dream. Many disciples strive to enter the inner sect for a better start in life.

Chen Lie opened the Jieyun Cliff cave on Qingxi Peak for cultivation. If Chen Hai and Zhou Jun want to stay in Taowei Mountain for a long time, Jieyun Cliff will be their place of cultivation. However, the main gate of Taowei Sect is located on Qiyun Ridge in front of Suikin Peak...

Although Taowei Sect and the Wuwei Army are two sides of the same entity, the sect strives to transcend the mundane world. There is no complete mountain path from the southern foothills of Taowei Mountain to Qiyun Ridge, let alone the seven main peaks deep in the mountains.

The three of them rode top-quality green agile horses, which could easily traverse mountains and ridges. Even so, it took them less than two days to travel from Yulong City to the southern foothills of Taowei Mountain, a distance of over three thousand miles. However, it took them four days and four nights to travel four to five hundred miles into the mountains and reach the gate of Qiyun Ridge.

However, this was much easier than when Chen Hai was escorted out of Taowei Mountain from Qingxi Peak by Zhao Shan and Qian Wenyi.

Chen Hai had been driven to the west of the river by the Yao clan and lived in Jieyun Cliff for more than half a year. However, Taowei Mountain is deep and dangerous, and the seven main peaks are extremely far apart. Without riding a spirit bird, a human might not be able to leave the mountain even after crawling for half a year. Chen Hai was not very familiar with the Upper Seven Peaks.

Fortunately, with Wu Meng, Chen Hai and Zhou Jun would not be lost.

Qiyun Ridge, as the main gate of Taowei Sect, is divided into seven halls, each responsible for various affairs.

The seven halls can be considered an upgraded version of the Dao Academy. Not only do inner sect and true disciples' cultivation in Taowei Sect fall under the jurisdiction of the seven halls of Qiyun Ridge, but the central hub of the mystic sect, which oversees more than thirty Dao Academies in the north and south of Taowei Mountain, is also located on Qiyun Ridge.

Chen Hai and Zhou Jun, holding letters from the Zhaoyang Pavilion and Huanglong Yuan Dao Academy, as well as their original disciple seals, first registered at the Ancestor Hall and exchanged for new disciple seals.

Each year, the number of disciples admitted to the Upper Seven Peaks for inner sect cultivation ranges from seventy to eighty at most and twenty to thirty at least. Including all the inner sect disciples who are in deep cultivation on the Upper Seven Peaks, those who are training in the army, or traveling outside, there are only about a thousand people, and even fewer true disciples.

The Ancestor Hall had long known about the arrival of Chen Hai and Zhou Jun. After the main officer verified their seals and disciple tokens, he recorded their names and then personally led Chen Hai and Zhou Jun to a cave at the back of Qiyun Ridge.

"There are new disciples entering the Upper Seven Peaks for cultivation. Please, Elder Ge, grant them their disciple seals..."

"Sun Buhui, you are getting lazier. You can just take the seals and give them to them to refine. Why do you have to come and disturb my cultivation?" A lazy voice came from the cave, and then a tall old Taoist walked out. His white hair and beard were messy, and his tattered Taoist robe had been worn for many years, yet it gave a sense of purity.

From his yawning and scratching his neck, it was clear that he had been napping in the cave and was woken up.

"This time it's a bit special, so I have to trouble the Ancestor to personally grant the seals," the main officer Sun Buhui said respectfully. He said it was special because Chen Hai had not opened the Secret Palace of the Spirit Sea and could not refine the disciple seal on the spot at the Ancestor Hall.

Unlike Dao soldiers, the disciple seals of inner sect disciples are themselves low-grade yellow-level magical treasures. Once refined, they will resonate with the Ancestor Hall's treasure as soon as they enter the range of Taowei Mountain.

According to the rules, the inner sect disciple seal must be refined on the spot after verification.

This was a difficult situation for Chen Hai.

"A bit special?" The old Taoist's cloudy eyes glanced at Chen Hai, looking him over for a moment before asking, "Who are you, and why haven't you opened the Secret Palace of the Spirit Sea?" The old Taoist knew about Taowei Sect's and the Grand Protector General's rules, so he was just asking out of curiosity, not really caring which family's child had used connections to enter the Upper Seven Peaks for cultivation. He then turned to ask the main officer Sun Buhui about other matters.

Taowei Sect is divided into seven halls, each responsible for the sect's and Dao Academy's affairs. Each hall has a chief or head, as well as many executive elders, main officers, and executives. Chen Hai tried to discern the old Taoist's cultivation level.

The old Taoist's aura was ordinary, but when Chen Hai tried to seriously assess his cultivation, he felt as if he was facing an endless ocean. He could not see through the old Taoist's cultivation at all, which was definitely much higher than his uncle Chen Lie's.

An Immortal Core Realm supreme expert!

Chen Hai did not expect that this seemingly unkempt old Taoist was actually the head of the Ancestor Hall, Elder Ge Xuanqiao.

Among the Ancestor Hall's elders, only Elder Ge Xuanqiao had reached the Immortal Core Realm. Chen Hai did not expect it to be this person, and the rumors said that Elder Ge Xuanqiao, who had been cultivating in the mountains for over two hundred years, had already reached the peak of the Immortal Core Realm. No wonder he could not see through the old Taoist's depth.

"Ah!" The old Taoist seemed to sense something and turned back, his cloudy eyes suddenly opening and staring directly into Chen Hai's pupils, as if two lightning bolts had struck deep into his eyes. At that moment, Chen Hai felt as if his internal organs were thoroughly searched by the old Taoist.

"Clearly, you haven't opened the Secret Palace of the Spirit Sea, yet your divine soul is not weak and even has a sharp edge. You have four spirit veins, and the other eight main qi veins have hidden injuries, but your hundred bones and essence are ten times stronger than ordinary Dao soldiers." The old Taoist looked at Chen Hai with interest. "Who are you, and how did you become such a freak?"

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