Chapter 6 of 10

Chapter 6

18 min read4,513 words

Outside the town of Qinglin, Jiang Yuanchen walked straight to an ancient tree and quietly gazed at the town where he had grown up. The life of mortals, working from sunrise to sunset, was simple but had its own charm, though it was something he could no longer understand.

"Is this a necessary trial for every cultivator? When a hundred years of human life pass, and one's friends and family pass away one by one, can one endure the loneliness of living alone in the mountains for cultivation?"

"Even if I cannot endure it, I must." Jiang Yuanchen answered his own question: "That's why those with the same aspirations form Dao couples, to support each other in their quest for immortality."

Turning his head, Jiang Yuanchen looked at the ancient tree beside him. The tree had a tall and straight trunk, with a lush canopy, and its age could be traced back to the founding of Qinglin Town.

"Lord Rong, I entrust my family to your care. If I succeed in my cultivation, I will certainly help you to advance your divine status."

This land god was originally an ancient tree in Qinglin Town that had become a spirit. Under the command of the Tai Xu Dao Sect, it protected the surrounding land. After hearing Jiang Yuanchen's prayer, a bond was formed between them. The tree's canopy suddenly swayed, and a wisp of green mist spread around, forming the shape of an old man with a white beard in the mist.

"Remember your words." The voice of the land god echoed in Jiang Yuanchen's ear, and then the green mist disappeared again.

The land god had been cultivating in this place for hundreds of years and had watched Jiang Yuanchen grow up. Since Jiang Yuanchen had not forgotten his roots and sought his help to take care of his family, the land god was willing to help in return, hoping that Jiang Yuanchen would help him advance his divine status in the future.

After entrusting his family to the land god, Jiang Yuanchen felt relieved and took a deep breath, saying to Li Wen, "Alright, let's go back early."

Seeing Jiang Yuanchen act so carefree, Li Wen felt a deep sense of empathy. If he were in the same situation, he would probably find it hard to ignore his parents. Even if his great-uncle were to pass away, he would be deeply saddened. However, the path of cultivation was full of hardships, and even the method of becoming a deity was not something an ordinary person could endure. If there was no destiny, it was better not to force it, as it would not be good for either party in the long run.

As the sun set, the two young men walked silently back to the Tai Xu Dao Temple, and soon a beam of cloud light shot up into the sky, heading towards Luocheng.

...

The Tai Xu Dao Temple in Luocheng was much larger than the one in Qinglin Town. As one of the three major prosperous cities in the State of Chu, Luocheng had a Heart Movement stage elder stationed there.

In the vast State of Chu, which was personally supported by the Tai Xu Dao Sect, several Tai Xu Dao Sect cultivators were revered as national masters to spread the teachings. These people were regarded as honored guests and immortal teachers by the Chu royal family. Duan Yan, the abbot of the Tai Xu Dao Temple in Luocheng, was one such person.

"Why did you come so late today, Senior Brother?" As Li Jian's cloud light approached Luocheng, another beam of spiritual light flew out from the city to greet them. Duan Yan was not like Zheng Xingfeng, who had barely reached the Foundation Establishment stage. As one of the several national masters of Chu, he had several magical artifacts for protection and could fly using them.

"I accompanied an outer sect disciple back to his hometown, so I was delayed for a few hours." Li Jian saw that it was already late, and the last rays of the sunset were fading. "We will stay at the temple tonight, and we can discuss the procurement matters tomorrow."

Li Jian spoke, and Jiang Yuanchen and Li Wen nodded in agreement. Duan Yan immediately led the three of them to the Tai Xu Dao Temple in Luocheng to rest.

For the same ritual of incense and respect, Jiang Yuanchen and Li Wen hastily ate a vegetarian meal at the temple, while Li Jian went to the guest room to rest. With his Jade Liquid stage cultivation, he had already reached a semi-abstinence state, and going without food for three days was not a big deal. However, after flying with a magical artifact for a whole day, his magical power was almost depleted, so he hurried back to meditate and recover.

Jiang Yuanchen was feeling gloomy, and the vegetarian meal tasted like wax. He took a few shallow bites and put down his chopsticks. After Li Wen finished eating, Jiang Yuanchen asked Duan Yan to take them to the guest room to rest.

Abbot Duan Yan was a large and plump man, wearing a loose yellow Daoist robe, and he led the two with a smiling face through the back courtyard. "This Luocheng Dao Temple is not as secluded as the outer sect, but it has its own charm. Please do not be offended, young sirs."

"Although the Luocheng Dao Temple is not as secluded, the prosperity of this human world has its own charm. There is no need for you to be so polite, Abbot." Jiang Yuanchen, who had been gloomy all along, finally relaxed and said, "My senior brother and I are accompanying Elder Li Jian on our first procurement trip, and we are inexperienced. If we offend you in any way, please forgive us."

The two exchanged pleasantries and arrived at the guest room. After Duan Yan assigned them their rooms, he bid them farewell and left.

Jiang Yuanchen closed the door, threw his luggage onto the square table, and lay down on the bed to rest.

After visiting his old mother today, Jiang Yuanchen deeply felt the passage of time. On Golden Spring Peak, his fellow disciples cultivated and their appearances aged slowly. For them, the passage of time did not bring much change, and Jiang Yuanchen did not feel any sense of estrangement.

But when he returned home, he saw that his elder brother had already married and was about to have a child, and his old mother was no longer as young as before. Even his younger brother, who used to follow him around, was now preparing for the imperial examinations. Seeing the actions of his mortal relatives, he felt a sense of panic.

The gap in time was the greatest barrier between them.

"No wonder many cultivators choose to live in seclusion. The difference in values alone can be considered a chasm between immortals and mortals." With a self-deprecating smile, Jiang Yuanchen got up and went to the courtyard to admire the moon.

This vast land of Shen Zhou was very different from the blue planet in his dreams. At least in this world, the sun, moon, and stars were firmly fixed in the sky, and there were even legendary immortal caves on the sun and moon. The cave on the moon was not particularly noteworthy, but the immortal cave on the sun was said to belong to the Heavenly Sun Immortal, the founder of the Tai Xu Dao Sect.

The moon was pure and spotless, and the silver moonlight spread across the courtyard, accompanied by a cool breeze that rustled the leaves, making Jiang Yuanchen feel a sense of loneliness and emptiness.

Suddenly, he remembered a line of poetry from the world he had entered in his dream.

"Unfortunately, this homesickness is just a hindrance on the path to immortality, and the moonlight on the ground cannot be compared to frost."

Looking at the bright moon in the night sky, Jiang Yuanchen suddenly felt inspired and triggered an illusion, mimicking the starting posture of the "Moonlit Wind Sword" technique of Elder Sikong. A sword aura was formed, and even as the moon hung high in the sky, a thread of sword intent formed in the sword technique, causing the surrounding temperature to drop, and the moisture on the ground to condense into frost.

Jiang Yuanchen was skilled in painting, and the most important step in painting was to capture the essence, so he easily used the natural environment to evolve the cold moon sword intent. However, since he was not very proficient in sword techniques, the cold moon sword intent soon dissipated into blue light.

"Truly, the sword intent of immortals is difficult to truly replicate, even with my mastery of illusions and the cold moon's essence." With a flick of his Daoist robe, the illusion disappeared.

"Enough! If I have the heart to seek immortality, why should I act like a lovesick child?" A few leaves were swept up, like his homesickness, moving with the wind, but under the influence of the remaining blue light, they were instantly frozen and turned to powder.

Back in the guest room, Jiang Yuanchen still had no sleep, so he sat on the bed to meditate and cultivate.

The fundamental cultivation method of the Tai Xu Dao Sect, the "Tai Xu Purple Yang Golden Chapter," was not taught to outer sect disciples. Therefore, these outer sect disciples practiced a simplified version of the fundamental method, which was further modified to prevent their enemies from deducing the true form of the fundamental method and developing countermeasures.

Jiang Yuanchen and Li Wen both practiced the "Purple Mist Qi Absorption Technique," using the pure yang purple qi from the heavens and earth to refine their essence and transform it into true qi. According to Elder Li Jian, once they entered the inner sect, they would use the inner sect's cultivation methods to transform the Purple Mist true qi into true yuan force, and the cultivation method they chose would be one of the nine cultivation methods corresponding to the Purple Mist Qi Absorption Technique.

The nine cultivation methods, after reaching the Golden Core stage, would be combined into the Golden Core section of the "Tai Xu Purple Yang Golden Chapter," and only after reaching the Yuan Shen stage would they fully inherit the "Tai Xu Purple Yang Golden Chapter."

It was very complicated. To ensure the secrecy of the sect's highest secrets, the original "Tai Xu Purple Yang Golden Chapter" was written in a special secret script. Only the sect leader and a few Yuan Shen experts had the authority to fully understand the rules of this secret script. In other words, only those who had the method to interpret this secret script could read all the sect's texts; otherwise, even if the enemies obtained them, they would be useless.

True disciples, as the carriers of the sect's teachings, only mastered part of the secret script rules and needed the sect leader or a Yuan Shen expert to help interpret and guide them when reading the sect's texts.

The four elements of cultivation—method, companion, wealth, and land—were ranked, with the method being the most important. This untransmissible method was the foundation of a sect. As long as the lineage was not broken, even if the sect was destroyed, it could be revived after a thousand years by finding new disciples.

The "Tai Xu Purple Yang Golden Chapter" included three methods for cultivating the Yuan Shen, twelve methods for forming the Golden Core, and hundreds of methods for refining essence and qi. In addition, there were countless specialized magical artifacts, accompanying techniques, and special spells, which could not be revealed to outsiders, as they could be used to deduce countermeasures.

The Purple Mist true qi circulated around Jiang Yuanchen, forming a purple light robe that enveloped him.

The Purple Mist Heavenly Net, which transformed into a spiritual robe, was a technique that appeared when the Purple Mist Qi Absorption Technique reached the highest Foundation Establishment stage. After reaching the Great Completion of Qi Cultivation, Jiang Yuanchen could condense the Purple Mist true qi into a robe to cover himself, but the robe was insubstantial and could not be used as a Daoist technique. It was only useful in a fight with mortals. Only after purifying his innate essence could he fully form the Purple Mist Heavenly Net and truly transform it into the Purple Mist Heavenly Robe to protect himself, providing an additional defensive technique in battle.

After meditating for a while, two divine thoughts began to communicate in the courtyard.

"Senior Brother's disciple is indeed impressive. He has the determination to cut off his worldly attachments. I thought he would cry and vent his emotions."

"Like you did back then?" Li Jian's divine thought replied, "This boy has a good Daoist nature and is a good candidate for cultivation. Perhaps he can really compete for the position of a true disciple."

Duan Yan laughed but did not comment. Although the Tai Xu Dao Sect had just begun recruiting the ninth generation of disciples after the great calamity fifty years ago, there were currently no true disciples in the ninth generation. He did not think Jiang Yuanchen could easily become a true disciple.

The two divine thoughts dispersed, and the courtyard truly fell into silence, with only the occasional barking of dogs in the distance.

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