Chapter 38

"Who just broke through?" As Yang Chen just came downstairs, Wang Xiancheng, who was waiting at the hotel's main entrance, immediately came up with a fawning face, as if he were very familiar with Yang Chen, "Goodness, it made the spiritual energy within a few miles boil... This is advancing from the third stage to the fourth... Uh... You..."

As he spoke, Wang Xiancheng suddenly opened his mouth wide and couldn't say a word.

He looked at Yang Chen, whose aura had changed dramatically, and after a long pause, asked, "Did you break through?"

"It was just a coincidence," Yang Chen didn't mind Wang Xiancheng sticking to him. He turned his head and smiled at Wang Xiancheng, "I didn't expect to break through so soon. Who knew that when my senior brother's great-granddisciple broke through, it could stir up the spiritual energy, and I got to benefit from it too."

"…So, besides you, your Wufeng Sect has another fourth-stage cultivator? Two at once?!" Wang Xiancheng's jaw almost hit the ground. The fourth-stage cultivators that countless sects and families yearned for, how did they become as common as cabbages on the roadside for Yang Chen's group?

Thinking about the overwhelming spiritual energy fluctuations just now, Wang Xiancheng said enviously, "With one fourth-stage cultivator, a sect can be so arrogant that their noses point to the sky. Now that you have two fourth-stage cultivators, it will keep many people awake at night!"

Resources in the metaphysical world are scarce, including spiritual plants and many rare treasures that ordinary people have never even seen.

For example, the best cinnabar, which is dark red, is only produced in a few dozen mines nationwide, and the total annual production across the country does not exceed ten kilograms. Therefore, the price of each gram of the best cinnabar is sky-high.

In addition, there are resources such as spirit jade, ten-thousand-year-old stalactite liquid, Nine Heavens Black Iron, and tiger-striped gemstones, all of which are valuable wealth that sects and families in the metaphysical world are vying for.

In terms of spiritual plants, besides the nine major spiritual plants, there are first-class, second-class, and third-class spiritual plants, with each class having a few dozen to a hundred types, all of which are rare and precious resources with very limited production.

Zhongyang Palace controls thirteen of the twenty-odd best cinnabar mines in the country, and the market price of the best cinnabar nationwide is almost entirely determined by the head of Zhongyang Palace. This alone brings Zhongyang Palace extremely rich resource returns.

Nanhubei Province is the sixth-largest resource province in the country in terms of total output of metaphysical resources. Any sect that wants to rise must control some valuable resources that others do not have.

If the existing origins are all dominated by other sects and no new ones can be found to replace them... then the only remaining way is to fight! And this is something that the government and military will not interfere with, purely a matter of who has the bigger fist!

Obviously, the rise of the Wufeng Sect will inevitably become a thorn in the side of many metaphysical sects in Nanhubei Province... resources are limited, and one more competitor means that the share of resources will only become smaller!

Yang Chen, who was not unfamiliar with these matters, shrugged indifferently and said, "Rare treasures have always been for the capable. This is the law of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. If you don't have the strength to protect what you have, and it gets taken by others, that's just the way of the world. Who can you blame?"

"I'm not talking about that..." Wang Xiancheng followed behind Yang Chen and said, "I'm saying that according to the rules, any Quanzhen Daoist temple with a fourth-stage cultivator should report to Zhongyang Palace to receive support for the Daoist field... but I remember that the few good places in Nanhubei Province are already taken... what do you plan to do?"

Zhongyang Palace is one of the four major ancestral temples of the Quanzhen Dao in the world, and it is the only true ancestral temple! The other three ancestral temples only share some of Zhongyang Palace's power and cannot truly be on par with Zhongyang Palace.

It just so happens that Nanhubei Province is within the jurisdiction of Zhongyang Palace. According to the rules, any Quanzhen Daoist temple with a fourth-stage cultivator must report to Zhongyang Palace for registration. After the head of Zhongyang Palace's approval, a region is marked on the map as the Daoist field of that lineage. This is a restriction, but it is also a necessary measure to prevent internal strife and mutual slaughter.

Of course, this rule was only officially formulated and gradually implemented at the end of the 1970s, and it has been about forty years, but its influence has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Yang Chen had practiced Daoism on Zhongnan Mountain in his previous life, so he was naturally aware of this rule.

Hearing this, he stopped and turned to say, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten... Nanhubei Province has eighteen blessed lands. Now, eleven are occupied by the Buddhist sects, and the remaining seven are occupied by the Daoist sects... besides, there are scattered spirit veins. Have you heard of the Shangxian Palace on Wufeng Mountain?"

"Shangxian Palace? I've heard of it... but I'm not familiar with them." Wang Xiancheng frowned and thought for a while before vaguely recalling something. He looked at Yang Chen curiously and asked, "Wufeng Mountain, Wufeng Sect? What do you mean?"

"Shangxian Palace occupied the spirit vein of the ancestral temple of our Wufeng Dao lineage over forty years ago. Although it has been a long time, I believe it can still be verified in the records of Zhongyang Palace." Yang Chen paused and said, "Therefore, with Wufeng Mountain as the center, a hundred-mile radius should be the Daoist field of our Wufeng Dao lineage. If you have a way, you might as well help us report it first..."

"You plan to take action against Shangxian Palace?" Wang Xiancheng was startled.

Yang Chen said, "I'm just reclaiming the ancestral temple and Daoist field that belong to Wufeng Sect. Why do you make it sound like robbery?"

"Zhongyang Palace won't agree..."

"Then we won't report it." Yang Chen said indifferently, "The registration fee is in the millions, and we can't afford it."

"Ha ha..." Wang Xiancheng laughed awkwardly. The increasingly high fees of Zhongyang Palace were indeed a point of criticism.

But there was no other way. Zhongyang Palace wasn't keeping all the money for itself!

Only through Zhongyang Palace can a sect be registered with the National Religious Affairs Bureau, avoiding any trouble from the government in the future. Without Zhongyang Palace's help, a small sect would have to spend tens of millions to get the necessary documentation and qualifications!

Even with a fourth-stage cultivator, it's not an easy task... it's a deadlock, and everyone has their difficulties, but they just can't say it openly.

As they spoke, Yang Chen had already opened the car door and got in, and Wang Xiancheng shamelessly opened the door and got into the passenger seat.

When the car started and the cool air conditioning blew, Wang Xiancheng stretched comfortably and asked curiously, "From your appearance, you seem to be a rich kid. You don't seem like someone who can focus on cultivation..."

In other words, you drive luxury cars and have beautiful women, and you don't focus on cultivation. How can you break through to the fourth stage, which many people struggle their whole lives to reach? This was a bit sour, as if he was also asking, why can I, who eats simple food and focuses on cultivation, not progress as fast as you, a rich kid who indulges in pleasure?

Yang Chen understood his meaning and said seriously, "No choice, just lucky."

"Ha..." Wang Xiancheng, who was drinking mineral water, was choked and sprayed water.

Yang Chen was angry, "This car is worth over two million. Can you afford to pay for the damage?!"

"...At least I'm the disciple of the head of Zhongyang Palace..." Wang Xiancheng was不服气 (unwilling to admit defeat).

Yang Chen smirked and emphasized, "Just the ninth-ranked disciple!"

"Okay, even if I'm just the ninth-ranked..."

"Still a ninth-ranked disciple who hasn't even reached the third stage!"

"I..." Wang Xiancheng was speechless. He felt good when he first came down the mountain, but after just a few hours with Yang Chen, he felt like he was about to become a beggar on the street.

The two chatted intermittently, and soon, Yang Chen drove Wang Xiancheng to the ticket hall of Jinzhou Railway Station. Under Wang Xiancheng's puzzled gaze, Yang Chen said, "Get out."

"Why?" Wang Xiancheng exclaimed, "I eat my own food, stay on my own, and don't need you to support me... why are you kicking me out?"

Yang Chen didn't say anything, took out paper and pen, and started writing.

After a while, Yang Chen handed the paper with a few hundred words to Wang Xiancheng and said, "Go back to Zhongnan Mountain and give this note to your master, Xuanhong Zhenren. After you finish the task, come back, and I'll teach you some real skills that you can't learn at Zhongyang Palace."

"You teach me skills that I can't learn at Zhongyang Palace?!" Wang Xiancheng laughed, "What nonsense..."

Zhongyang Palace is one of the three major powers in the metaphysical world! Yang Chen is just a young man who inherited a branch lineage, and he dares to boast like this?

He found it amusing and showed a look of disdain.

But when he took the note from Yang Chen and read the content, his face suddenly changed, and he looked at Yang Chen with caution, "This is the content of the Zhongyang Scripture... where did you steal it from?!"

The Zhongyang Scripture, one of the lineages passed down from the founder of the Quanzhen Sect, Wang Chongyang, has always been a closely guarded secret of Zhongyang Palace. Only a few elders and inner disciples, the true core members, have the opportunity to access such top-tier lineage inheritance!

Even Wang Xiancheng only saw a small part of the Zhongyang Scripture on the night of his initiation ceremony.

So where did the content of the Zhongyang Scripture that Yang Chen just copied come from?

Hearing the word "steal," Yang Chen sneered, "Who told you this is the content of the Zhongyang Scripture? Forget it, I don't want to explain. Just give this note to your master, Xuanhong Zhenren. He will understand... anyway, you won't understand such profound things, so I won't waste my breath."

"...Aren't you afraid that my master will come from Zhongnan Mountain to destroy you after seeing this note?" If this is really the content of the Zhongyang Scripture, then what Wang Xiancheng said is true...

But Yang Chen didn't care, shrugged, and said, "It's not you who will die, so why are you afraid? Get out of the car. There's a train to Shazhou City at one o'clock. If you miss it, you'll have to wait until four-thirty in the afternoon!"

Wang Xiancheng thought about it and didn't say anything more. Before getting out of the car, he looked at Yang Chen with a strange expression, as if he were looking at a dying man, with a hint of pity!

Shaking his head and sighing, Wang Xiancheng closed the car door and walked away without looking back...

But he hadn't walked a few meters when he rushed back, leaned on Yang Chen's car window, and looked ashamed...

"What?" Yang Chen asked, lowering the window.

"Um... can you give me some travel expenses? And some money for food?" Wang Xiancheng was almost suicidal with shame. He said awkwardly, "When I came down the mountain, I only brought the money for the train ticket to Jinzhou... I haven't eaten for a day and a night..."

Yang Chen: "...Why didn't you starve to death?"

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