Chapter 90 of 100

Chapter 90

12 min read3,046 words

The five disciples who successfully advanced to the inner gate of Xiandu were: two from the late Qi Yunhe's lineage, Wei Shizheng, Qin Zhen, and Lu Shizhong's lineage, Xu Li, Xin Laoyao, and Zhang Jinghe's lineage, Shi Ben. Six others, including Yue Zhiyan and the Song brothers, were transferred to the outer gate. Zhang Jinghe had two other disciples, but one died on the spot and the other lost consciousness, becoming a living dead when they tried to form their Dao胎 (Dao fetus).

Among the five disciples who broke through the Dao fetus stage, Xin Laoyao, Qin Zhen, and Wei Shizheng formed middle-grade Dao fetuses, Shi Ben formed a lower-grade Dao fetus, and Xu Li, with Deng Yuantong's guidance, managed to form a Dao fetus, though it was of inferior quality.

This batch of trial disciples was hailed as the strongest in the past twenty years, with the most advancing to the inner gate. Among them, Xin Laoyao, who had nine innate orifices, and Qin Zhen, who had seven innate orifices, had excellent potential. Wei Shizheng's combat power surpassed that of the inner gate disciples. Shi Ben was resilient and had great potential, while Xu Li, though frivolous, had a strong background, and even Xi Huzi had to show him some favor due to the General of the Cavalry's influence. After all, the outer gate of Xiandu had intricate ties with the Northwest Border Army.

Among the five new inner gate disciples, the one who surprised Xi Huzi the most was Wei Shizheng. He defeated Xin Laoyao in the trial disciples' competition, killed a double-headed fierce ape on Jietian Ridge, and seized a share of the black gold mine from the Pingyuan Sect and the Xuantong Sect. He also single-handedly held off a three-eyed spirit cat, making cold and calculated decisions. Most recently, he quietly formed his Dao fetus without using the cloud-patterned ring left for him.

Xi Huzi originally planned to guide him to break through the Dao fetus stage on Lotus Platform, where the earth qi was abundant and compatible with Wei Shizheng's five elements, which might have helped him form a high-grade Dao fetus. However, plans didn't go as expected. When the Howling Moon Technique reached the "Eleventh Floor," it lost control and formed a middle-grade Dao fetus on its own, which was a pity.

Xi Huzi had five personal disciples: Xun Ye, Li Shaoyu, Deng Yuantong, Liu Baizi, and Wei Rongniang. According to the rules, each should take one disciple, but Liu Baizi was focusing on a difficult sword technique and had no time to take a disciple. Therefore, Xi Huzi ordered Xin Laoyao and Xu Li to be disciples of Deng Yuantong, Shi Ben to be a disciple of Li Shaoyu, and Qin Zhen to be a disciple of Wei Rongniang. As for Wei Shizheng, Xun Ye had already taken him as a disciple, but his master was in a life-and-death seclusion at Eagle Beak Rock, and it was unknown when he would emerge. Wei Rongniang, who was close to Xun Ye, took over and guided him as the eldest master brother.

Wei Shizheng and Qin Zhen met Wei Rongniang and followed her to the back mountain of Immortal Cloud Peak to the Bilei Cave, where they met their fellow senior disciples.

Wei Rongniang had previously taken three disciples: Duan Wenhuan and Chen Suzhen were inner gate disciples, and Cao Jinren was an outer gate disciple. Wei Shizheng and they had gone to Jietian Ridge for the winter hunt together and were familiar with each other. Qin Zhen, the youngest and newest disciple, had a beautiful face and a gentle personality, and was well-cared for by her senior disciples.

In the first few days, Duan Wenhuan and Chen Suzhen led them to meet the elders and uncles on Immortal Cloud Peak, and to socialize with their fellow disciples, getting to know each other. Although Wei Rongniang's lineage was not the strongest in Xiandu, the fellow disciples were very polite to Wei Shizheng, which surprised Duan and Chen. They speculated that this politeness might hide some unspoken wariness.

Chen Suzhen joked with Wei Shizheng, calling him "cruel and ruthless, with a fearsome reputation," and he could only laugh it off.

Three days later, Wei Rongniang began to guide Wei Shizheng and Qin Zhen in their cultivation.

The essence of the Dao fetus is a personal imprint on a primordial qi seed. By drawing heaven and earth qi through the innate orifices to nourish and strengthen the Dao fetus, the qi returned by the Dao fetus is called "true qi" and is stored in the acquired orifices. Whether it's Dao techniques or flying swords, they can only exert their full power when driven by true qi. The innate orifices determine the ease of drawing heaven and earth qi into the body, the Dao fetus determines the speed of converting qi into true qi, and the acquired orifices determine the amount of true qi that can be stored. These three elements must work together and are indispensable.

After the Dao fetus stage comes the sword seed stage, which also has three steps: nurturing the Dao fetus, refining the sword seed, and refining the flying sword. While nurturing the Dao fetus, one can try to learn a few Dao techniques as a supplement to sword control. Most sword cultivators learn some talisman and artifact techniques, as sword seeds are easy to obtain, but flying swords are hard to find. Before finding a flying sword that suits them, they need some means to protect themselves.

For Qin Zhen, it was enough to follow the steps in the "Taiyi Foundation Building Scripture." However, Wei Shizheng practiced the Howling Moon Technique, and the animal skin fragments he had were incomplete. He didn't know what to do next, and Wei Rongniang's guidance could only provide some reference. He had to explore on his own.

Every day at noon and midnight, Wei Shizheng practiced the "He Qi Zhi Xuan Jing" to refine demon cores, drawing qi to nourish the demon cores. It wasn't until a month later that the demon cores began to return a small amount of true qi. In contrast, Qin Zhen was already proficient in using true qi to activate talismans.

Sometimes he mocked himself, thinking that the qi returned by the demon cores probably shouldn't be called "true qi" but "demon qi."

Although the amount of true qi was small, it was enough to support him in practicing a few spells. Wei Shizheng chose not to use talismans but began to practice the outer volume of the "Soul Capturing Technique."

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