Chapter 9

Guliang Yuan impatiently waved a hand at Ye Fan: "Even if I gave you ten years, trash would still be trash." "Get lost. I'm not going to kill you." Huh? Ye Fan jerked his head up, disbelief flashing in his eyes. Yet in the next instant, reality set in: Meng Yao had died only moments ago. There was no way Guliang Yuan's words could be trusted! Yet Guliang Yuan's very next sentence made him hesitate once more. "I give you my word as a Grand Uncle-Master of the Sacred Land that I will not kill you today. But the next time we meet shall be the day you die." "Get out of here." Ye Fan looked at Guliang Yuan, then glanced around at the elders, who stood motionless. He tentatively took two steps back. Seeing that indeed no one was stopping him, he spun around and bolted. Just then, however, Guliang Yuan's voice rang out once more: "Ye Fan." Hearing himself called, Ye Fan instinctively spun back around. Guliang Yuan flashed a grin: "Fancy meeting you again." Swish! A flying sword pierced straight through Ye Fan's dantian, blood spurting three feet into the air! Search the body, destroy the corpse, cremate — all done in one smooth flow! Guliang Yuan let out a long breath. He felt utterly refreshed. With his mental knot untied, Guliang Yuan turned back to address Elders Song and Wang standing behind him: "The matter with the Meng family is left to you two. Handle it properly." The two men cupped their fists and spoke in unison: "We shall not fail your trust, Uncle-Master!" Having settled the aftermath, Guliang Yuan exchanged pleasantries with the gathered elders and returned together to the Taishang Sacred Land. The news of Meng Yao's death did not cause much of a stir within the Taishang Sacred Land. Judging by Guliang Yuan's recent behavior, the disciples simply felt this was only right and entirely expected. Guliang Yuan's label as a desperate simperer had been scrubbed completely clean. The next day, inside the Forgetful Hall, Guliang Yuan and Qianqiu sat facing each other in the lotus position. Guliang Yuan explained: "This method of attacking emotion with emotion uses emotional poison to temper the heart. By enduring the torment of this emotional poison, you can face your inner self directly. Once you prevent these feelings from swaying your thoughts, you will have successfully controlled your emotions." "When that time comes, your cultivation speed will increase by more than ten times." Qianqiu blinked her eyes: "Master, how long does it usually take someone to successfully control their emotions?" Guliang Yuan pondered for a moment: "This has nothing to do with natural talent; it relies purely on comprehension." "If one's comprehension is transcendent, it is not entirely impossible to experience a sudden epiphany like your master did and enter the realm of emotional immersion directly." A look of annoyance crossed Qianqiu's face: "It seems my comprehension isn't very good. Earlier, it seemed I had an epiphany, but I only reached the second layer — the realm of questioning the heart — and couldn't reach the third layer directly like you, Master." Huh? Hearing Qianqiu's words, Guliang Yuan hurriedly swept his divine sense inward to probe her dantian. To his surprise, the circulation speed of the qi within her body had indeed increased severalfold — this was precisely the manifestation of entering the second layer! Only then did it suddenly dawn on him that Qianqiu's comprehension was a once-in-a-millennium phenomenon. What was difficult for others to comprehend was naturally no challenge at all for her. Yet this made him, the master, feel rather lacking in a sense of achievement, hey! Achieving emotional control in a single day was something only three people in the history of Forgetful Peak had ever accomplished, and that included himself, a cheater. Seeing Qianqiu's dejected expression, Guliang Yuan chose not to tell her the truth, opting instead to offer words of comfort: "Compared to your spiritual roots, your comprehension indeed isn't quite the best. However, diligence can make up for clumsiness. As long as you work hard, the day you truly enter the realm of emotional immersion will eventually come." Qianqiu nodded heavily: "Qianqiu will definitely work hard." Guliang Yuan asked again: "Is there anything you don't understand about the two Mysterious-tier spells I taught you earlier?" Qianqiu shook her head: "There's nothing I don't understand. It's just that my cultivation is too low right now; I feel like I can understand them in theory, but I can't actually cast them." Guliang Yuan kept his expression unchanged, struggling hard to maintain his image as a strict master, while a minor shock rippled through his heart once more. Back when he was in early Qi Condensation, it had taken him several months just to comprehend a Yellow-tier spell. You are in early Qi Condensation, having just stepped into the world of cultivation, and you immediately comprehend Mysterious-tier spells? I haven't even started teaching yet! Can you at least give me some satisfaction as a teacher! Huh? Wait a minute. Qi Condensation Level 4? You've reached mid Qi Condensation? No, it's only been two days since the master-disciple ceremony, and you've broken through another realm? While the residual spiritual energy of the Vermilion Fruit played a part, you are moving far too fast. Seeing that Guliang Yuan remained silent, Qianqiu tentatively spoke up: "Master, are you very disappointed in Qianqiu?" Guliang Yuan smiled: "How could that be? Your master was simply reflecting. It was my oversight earlier; the spells I gave you were of too high a tier." With that, Guliang Yuan flicked his finger, and three streams of light entered the center of Qianqiu's brows: "These are three Yellow-tier spells, which happen to suit you right now." "Ding! Host bestowed the Yellow-tier spell Thunder Flash, triggering a 5,000-fold return. Return reward: Heavenly Thunder Escape." "Heavenly Thunder Escape: A top-grade minor divine ability. Named for moving like startling thunder when cultivated to Great Perfection, it is the absolute premier choice for fleeing and saving one's life. (Note: Using it with thunder spiritual roots or during thunderstorms will yield a massive bonus.)" "Ding! Host bestowed the Yellow-tier spell Fire Control Art, triggering a 200-fold return. Return reward: Earth-tier spell Earth Explosion Technique." "Ding! Host bestowed the Yellow-tier spell Azure Light Sword Technique, triggering a 50-fold return. Return reward: Mysterious-tier spell Five Flashes Lightning Whip." Oh? Even Guliang Yuan hadn't expected that Yellow-tier spells could also trigger returns of over a thousand-fold. He happened to be lacking an evasion technique, and this Heavenly Thunder Escape had arrived right on time. After Qianqiu expressed her thanks, Guliang Yuan asked a few other questions, only to find that Qianqiu understood everything instantly and required no guidance from him at all. Therefore, Guliang Yuan smoothly passed the Taishang Forgetful Scripture to Qianqiu and let her cultivate on her own. While he was delighted by Qianqiu's exceptional talent, Guliang Yuan also felt a sense of depression, coupled with a growing pressure. Previously, he had felt that the Nascent Soul Realm was already quite high, but if things kept progressing at this pace, Qianqiu would catch up to him sooner or later. If the disciple surpassed the master, where would he put his old face? As Guliang Yuan thought this, the system prompt rang out in his mind once more: "Ding! System quest has been issued. Please check and claim it, Host." With a flick of his divine will, Guliang Yuan opened the system quest: "Please take in a second eligible disciple. System reward: Supreme Comprehension, Cultivation Return function activated." "Supreme Comprehension: Once possessed, the Host's comprehension becomes the greatest in the mortal world." "Cultivation Return: Whenever the Host's disciples break through a major realm, the Host will break through a minor realm." Looking at these two rewards, Guliang Yuan's eyes lit up! Especially the last one! In the world of cultivation, every realm has nine heavenly layers. Because the first, second, and third layers do not differ much, people collectively refer to them as the early stage. The fourth, fifth, and sixth layers also do not differ much and are called the middle stage, while the seventh, eighth, and ninth layers are the late stage. For instance, Qianqiu at Qi Condensation Level 4 could also be called mid Qi Condensation. A disciple breaking through a major realm while he himself broke through a minor realm might not seem like much at first glance. However, Guliang Yuan thought: there's no resisting having many disciples! Suppose he took in ten disciples, and every single one of them cultivated from the Qi Condensation Realm all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm — that would be thirty minor realms! That would rocket him straight into the Integration Realm! What if there were twenty disciples? Ascending to immortality right on the spot would be a walk in the park!

Chapter 25: The Disciple-Recruitment Grand Ceremony, Supporting a Dragon Throne!

Within the Sacred Land, there are no four seasons, for every season is like spring! Guliang Yuan stood upon the peak, hands clasped behind his back. Clad in crimson, Qianqiu already bore the faint aura of a female emperor as she stood behind Guliang Yuan, gazing together with him into the distance where a sea of clouds churned, letting the fierce wind whip her sleeves into a flapping frenzy. By now, a full month had passed since Ye Fan's death. During this time, Guliang Yuan had also bestowed upon Qianqiu various magical treasures and spiritual objects on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, they had only yielded a fewfold or dozens-of-fold critical hits. While nothing of exceptionally high value was returned this time, it had still multiplied Guliang Yuan's personal net worth several times over. Since Guliang Yuan saw that the items returned to him could not be bestowed a second time, he simply took them to sell or traded them with others for other spiritual treasures, which he then bestowed once more to trigger further returns. Consequently, his wealth had naturally skyrocketed; although he was only in the Nascent Soul Realm, his net worth was far more abundant than that of ordinary Void Refining powerhouses! Even the spiritual items in Qianqiu's possession were richer than those of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. Qianqiu did not disappoint Guliang Yuan either. Under the blessing of her terrifying innate talent and so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures, her cultivation had climbed steadily. In the span of a single month, she had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation. She was just a single step away from successfully undergoing Foundation Establishment! In truth, this was the result of Guliang Yuan forcibly making Qianqiu suppress her cultivation on the grounds of an unstable foundation; otherwise, she could have achieved Foundation Establishment as early as five days ago. The reason Guliang Yuan had Qianqiu suppress her cultivation was, on one hand, because suppressing it was indeed beneficial to her foundation; on the other hand, his Cultivation Return function hadn't been activated yet. If Qianqiu broke through now, wouldn't he vainly lose a whole heavenly layer of cultivation? The master and disciple stood in the wind for a long time before Qianqiu turned to ask Guliang Yuan: "Master, how much longer must I suppress my cultivation?" Guliang Yuan slowly turned his head: "At least until the disciple-recruitment grand ceremony concludes." "Understood." Qianqiu nodded lightly. Watching Qianqiu, Guliang Yuan seemed to recall something. With a flick of his finger, a stream of light shot straight into Qianqiu's spiritual platform. Sensing the information within her spiritual platform, Qianqiu discovered it was packed entirely with books on military strategy such as *The Art of War by Sun Tzu*, *The Thirty-Six Stratagems*, and *Guiguzi*. This left Qianqiu somewhat puzzled: "Master... what are these?" "You've been a bit restless lately. In any case, there's no rush to break through your cultivation; when you have free time, you can read these books. They will be of boundless benefit to you in the future." Qianqiu blinked her eyes. Though she didn't know what use these military treatises could be to her, she knew her master would never harm her. She nodded gently: "I understand." Seeing how well-behaved Qianqiu was, Guliang Yuan couldn't resist rubbing her head. Qianqiu lifted her chin, feeling Guliang Yuan's warm palm stroke across her hair as she let out a silly, happy chuckle. "Ding! Host bestowed numerous military books, triggering an 8,000-fold return. Return reward: Archaic Go Manual." "Archaic Go Manual: The number-one Go manual in the world. Whoever masters this manual will stand without an opponent in the dao of Go." Hearing the system prompt, Guliang Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly. I'm someone cultivating immortality; what use do I have for a Go manual? An 8,000-fold return produced this piece of junk? No wait — an 8,000-fold return? There has to be a catch! Guliang Yuan casually claimed it, and immediately felt a massive surge of information flood into his sea of consciousness. Yet even as Guliang Yuan carefully pondered the contents of this ancient Go manual, he couldn't discern anything miraculous about it. Instead, a half-ripe fruit had materialized within his sea of consciousness because of it. This fruit was not a physical entity; it seemed to be formed from some sort of rule. Guliang Yuan studied it for a moment, and seeing that he couldn't make heads or tails of it, simply stopped bothering with it. Once again, Guliang Yuan felt the importance of comprehension. The disciple-recruitment grand ceremony was about to begin; hopefully, he would encounter some suitable disciples. Just as Guliang Yuan was thinking this, Song Rentou hurried over from afar. Sensing the arrival of an outsider, Qianqiu — who had just been acting like an obedient, well-behaved girl — instantly assumed a demeanor that kept all strangers at a distance. Having endured too much bullying and scheming over the years, she harbored a natural vigilance and alienation toward outsiders. Thus, aside from Guliang Yuan, she wore an ice-cold, keep-away expression for everyone else. Though her face was frosty, Qianqiu did not omit the proper etiquette, bowing slightly to Song Rentou: "Senior Brother Song." Elder Song returned the bow: "Junior Sister Qian." Song Rentou, whose cultivation had previously been at the Nascent Soul Eighth Heavenly Layer, had now reached the Nascent Soul Ninth Heavenly Layer. Throughout this process, Guliang Yuan's guidance and cultivation had naturally been indispensable. Song Rentou himself never imagined that his cultivation, which had remained stagnant for over a century, would break through just like that with a little guidance from Guliang Yuan. To repay Guliang Yuan's kindness, Song Rentou now practically regarded Forgetful Peak as his own home. Every odd job and chore on Forgetful Peak was handled by him. After the two exchanged greetings, Song Rentou looked toward Guliang Yuan: "Uncle-Master, the Headmistress asks for your presence to discuss a matter." Guliang Yuan was somewhat surprised: "Oh? Do you know what it's about?" Song Rentou shook his head: "I do not know either, but I imagine it must be related to the upcoming disciple-recruitment grand ceremony." "Mn, I know." Guliang Yuan turned back to give Qianqiu a few more instructions regarding her cultivation before instantly springing into flight. With a crack of thunder, amidst flashing lightning and instantaneous sparks, Guliang Yuan's figure appeared dozens of miles away in the blink of an eye. What Guliang Yuan was employing was precisely that top-grade minor divine ability, the Heavenly Thunder Escape. Watching Guliang Yuan display such formidable momentum, Song Rentou sighed with heartfelt emotion: "Junior Uncle-Master's methods truly grow more and more brilliant." Watching Guliang Yuan's retreating back, Qianqiu also wore a look of yearning. One day, she too would become as strong as her master! At this moment, Guliang Yuan naturally had no idea what the two were thinking. With a few flickers of his figure, he arrived beneath the mountain gate of Wuji Peak. Guided by the gate-guarding disciples, he entered the Wuji Hall and successfully met with Lü Qingmei. The two dispensed with unnecessary pleasantries, and Lü Qingmei got straight to the point: "I have invited Uncle-Master here this time for the disciple-recruitment grand ceremony in three days, and also for the upcoming Battle of Supporting a Dragon Throne." Supporting a Dragon Throne? Hearing these familiar words, Guliang Yuan searched his memories carefully, unearthing the relevant information. Although the Dongzhou continent was vast, it supported four major sacred lands, seventy-two major sects, and hundreds of minor sects. This inevitably led to the contention for resources and endless bloodshed. Yet Dongzhou happened to border the Rakshasa Sea, and across the Rakshasa Sea lay the territory of the Demon race. Once an internal war broke out in Dongzhou, the Demon race would seize the opportunity to invade, burning, killing, looting, and committing every conceivable atrocity. Eventually, spearheaded by the Taishang Sacred Land, the major sects united and devised a relatively peaceful method. This method was Supporting a Dragon Throne! There were countless mortal kingdoms. During the period of Supporting a Dragon Throne, each of the major sacred lands and sects would select a kingdom to support and engage in territorial contention. Taking twenty years as a period, when the time expired, whichever kingdom a faction supported had claimed the most territory would dictate that all resources in that region belonged to that faction for the next three thousand years. To prevent the scale of battle from escalating, the major sacred lands also placed restrictions on the participants of Supporting a Dragon Throne: age and talent were unrestricted, but cultivators at the Nascent Soul Realm and above were strictly forbidden from making a move. If any faction broke the rules, the other three sacred lands and seventy-two sects would jointly execute them! Therefore, this was not only a battle for territorial resources but also a comparison showcasing the comprehensive strength of the disciples from each sacred land. Guliang Yuan understood. No wonder the major sacred lands were recruiting disciples ahead of schedule — counting on his fingers, only three years remained until the next Supporting a Dragon Throne.

Chapter 26: Another Golden Legend!

Observing Guliang Yuan's pensive expression, Lü Qingmei roughly guessed what he was thinking and continued: "This Supporting a Dragon Throne is not as simple as the world imagines. It was only after I became Headmistress that I learned the inner workings of it." Guliang Yuan looked slightly surprised: "I am all ears." Lü Qingmei continued: "Aside from the contest for territorial resources, the most important aspect of Supporting a Dragon Throne is the contention for destiny!" "The more powerful the dragon throne we support, not only will our Taishang Sacred Land benefit from it, but the disciples participating in this struggle for destiny will also reap a massive amount of destiny, making their future path of cultivation incomparably smooth." "It is not appropriate, nor is it possible for me, to discuss the specific layouts with Uncle-Master in detail right now." "Taking advantage of this grand mountain-opening ceremony, I hope Uncle-Master can take in a few more disciples to nurture." "Appropriately, introduce some inner sect disciples to Forgetful Peak as well to prepare for the Supporting a Dragon Throne three years from now." Guliang Yuan naturally had no objections; he had wanted to take in more disciples anyway, which did not conflict with his own philosophy. As for inner sect disciples, anyway, the things he gained from critical hits in daily life were already more than enough; cultivating a few wouldn't hurt. As for Supporting a Dragon Throne, there were still three years left, so there was no rush. Leaving Wuji Peak, Guliang Yuan headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion. With his authority as an Uncle-Master, he could naturally make rubbings of any spell or cultivation technique within the Scripture Pavilion at will. This was also because the highest-tier spell in the Scripture Pavilion was only of the Earth-tier. The disciple-recruitment grand ceremony was imminent, and Guliang Yuan had no idea what kind of spiritual roots his next disciple would have. Preparing a wider variety was just being safe rather than sorry. Having finished all this, Guliang Yuan returned to Forgetful Peak to enter closed-door cultivation, quietly awaiting the day the mountain gates would open wide. Morning dew and daily dawn; daylight replaced by darkness. Three days passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, at the foot of the Taishang Sacred Land's mountain, voices roared like a boiling sea. A vast, murky ocean of people stretched on for dozens of miles, completely filling all the surrounding major avenues and small paths! These people were of all ages and genders, with young men and maidens making up the majority. Those of advanced age were either here to watch the excitement or acted as family elders accompanying their younger generations. In Dongzhou, a sacred land was absolute authority! Inner sect disciples like Jiang Yingying and Tan Zhengzhi held positions that didn't seem particularly prominent during normal times within the Taishang Sacred Land, yet if you casually pulled one out, they would be treated as guests of honor by cultivation families! Take Guliang Yuan from before: even with lackluster cultivation, occupying the title of an Uncle-Master, merely showing a bit of care toward the Meng family had caused countless families to suck up to the Mengs in hopes of pleasing them. Otherwise, how could their Meng family have risen to become a major clan in just a few short years? And precisely because of Guliang Yuan's casual whim, today's Meng family had already become a thing of the past... If a family member managed to enter the sacred land, even as an outer sect disciple, it could guarantee the clan centuries of peace. Should they become an inner sect disciple, it could send the entire family soaring straight into the clouds! Not to mention, the sacred land possessed the absolute finest cultivation resources! Therefore, these young men and maidens of appropriate age naturally flocked to the sacred land like ducks to water. However, these youths also seemed to have split into several factions that gathered separately, drawing clear boundaries between themselves.