The three of them had practiced Daoism for many years and quickly realized that the ten-style Nine Palaces Sword technique demonstrated by the Senior Brother was no ordinary matter. None of them dared to speak; they watched with rapt attention, terrified of missing even the tiniest detail.
It took Li Feng nearly a full hour to finish demonstrating the entire sword technique in slow motion.
Then he tossed the sword to Situ Fuyao and told them to keep practicing.
Before the three of them even had a chance to ask where he had learned such an exquisite Nine Palaces Sword technique, Li Feng had already returned to his room.
A moment later, the door opened, and Li Feng walked out carrying the Duannian Divine Sword, heading toward the bamboo grove to the east.
Not until Li Feng's figure disappeared into the bamboo grove did the three of them snap back to their senses.
Qi Shisan looked at Yang Mo and said, "Second Brother, the Nine Palaces Sword technique the Senior Brother just taught us is so profound, so powerful! Could it be that Master kept secrets from us, passing the complete version of the sword manual down to the Senior Brother alone while giving us only a remnant version?"
Yang Mo replied, "If you ask me, who am I supposed to ask?"
"Impossible!"
Situ Fuyao immediately shook her head and said, "I am Mom and Dad's daughter, and what I learned is the exact same Nine Palaces Sword as you! Dad wouldn't play favorites with the Senior Brother!"
Qi Shisan said, "Hard to say. Master and Mistress abandoned even you along with the Changsheng Sect, so it shows they don't care about you as much as you think."
Situ Fuyao was extremely annoyed and immediately raised her sword to strike.
Qi Shisan matched her in cultivation and immediately raised his sword to parry.
"Stop messing around!"
Yang Mo spoke up to stop the two of them.
He looked in the direction of the bamboo grove and said, "We all overlooked one thing. Yesterday morning when the Senior Brother came back, the sword he stepped on was complete. I remember the day he left, he took Duannian with him. Where is the Duannian sword?"
Qi Shisan gasped, "The Duannian sword is the heirloom token of all past sect masters of our Changsheng Sect. Could the Senior Brother have broken it?"
Situ Fuyao said, "It was Duannian. I saw the sword hilt yesterday; it was very worn, and the green silk wrapped around it was identical to the green silk on the hilt of the Duannian sword."
Yang Mo frowned and said, "Then that's strange. The Senior Brother has been gone for a few days—how did Duannian, a broken sword, suddenly become a complete immortal sword?"
Unable to figure it out, the three of them discussed it for a while before dropping the matter.
They began practicing the Nine Palaces Sword technique that Li Feng had just taught them.
Li Feng had arrived deep inside the bamboo grove and began his own practice as well.
If he wanted to teach his junior brothers and junior sister, he had to thoroughly master the sword techniques and divine powers he had learned from the stone walls of the burial chamber.
Naturally, with higher cultivation, his self-preservation abilities would also increase accordingly.
He found a relatively flat clearing and began practicing the Nine Palaces Sword he had just taught the three of them.
Having demonstrated it just a little over ten minutes ago, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar, and he executed it much faster than before.
The light of the Duannian Divine Sword flickered as Li Feng's figure continuously shifted positions.
At first it was a bit rusty, but after practicing it just two or three times, his speed grew faster and faster.
With each execution, Li Feng gained a deeper understanding of the Nine Palaces Sword technique.
As his speed increased, the fallen leaves on the ground were whipped up into a vortex.
Li Feng immersed himself in the thrill of becoming a martial arts master.
With a final sweep of sword qi, more than a dozen bowl-thick bamboo stalks snapped clean in half.
"I've only practiced it seven times, and I feel like my combat power has increased a lot. There is still huge room for development in this Nine Palaces Sword technique!"
Li Feng knew that the Nine Palaces Sword was one of the former unique arts of the Changsheng Sect; practiced to its depths, it was nearly invincible in close combat.
Having practiced it for only half a day, he was still a far cry from achieving a seamless integration of the ten forms, the three hundred sixty sword moves, and the Nine Palaces Elusive Steps.
If he wanted to attain a certain level of mastery in this sword technique, he would need to practice bitterly for at least a month or two.
However, it was already more than enough for teaching those three junior siblings.
After putting away his sword, Li Feng did not leave the bamboo grove.
This place had a gentle breeze, abundant spiritual energy, and no wild beasts or poisonous insects roaming about—it was the absolute best location for sitting in meditation and cultivation.
And so, Li Feng sat cross-legged.
He began his first serious contemplation of the "Changsheng Ten Dao Chapters" recorded on the stone wall.
This stuff was the only path to raising one's cultivation realm.
Those sword techniques and divine powers were only meant for fighting.
This mental cultivation method differed greatly from what had been passed down in the Changsheng Sect, especially the profound contents of the latter half of the scroll, which the Changsheng Sect no longer possessed in complete form.
Now that the remnant scroll was mended, it quickly allowed Li Feng to break through several doubtful and difficult points that the original owner had never figured out even unto death.
The dantian within his body whirled wildly, and the spiritual energy of the meridian river rushed rapidly into the dantian.
The dantian continuously expanded, which signaled that Li Feng's cultivation had improved significantly during this meditation session.
Chapter 29: Ethereal Samadhi
Li Feng entered a state of samadhi.
This was extremely rare for practitioners of immortality.
Only when one had a sudden flash of insight in cultivation would one enter this ethereal state, resembling an old monk in meditation.
His mind was pristine and clear, completely oblivious to the passage of time.
This was also the reason why cultivators sometimes closed their doors in seclusion for months or even years at a time.
The duration of samadhi varied, depending on the cultivator's own cultivation level and the degree of insight gained.
Li Feng's cultivation was not high; having arrived in this world not long ago, he was still quite a stranger to this Kowloon World, a novice who had only been in contact with cultivation for a few days.
He had merely built upon the original owner's foundation, using the classics on the stone wall to puzzle out several doubtful and difficult points that the original owner had failed to understand for many years.
When night fell and Li Feng still had not returned, Yang Mo came to the bamboo grove to call him back for dinner.
Finding Li Feng and opening his mouth to speak, he saw instead that under the moonlight, Li Feng was sitting cross-legged, with a thin mist formed by faint spiritual energy gathering above his head.
Bathed in the moonlight, that layer of mist faintly shifted into multiple colors.
"Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown? Five Qi Flowing toward the Origin? The Senior Brother's cultivation has broken through again!"
Having entered the Changsheng Sect many years ago, Yang Mo, as the second senior brother, possessed far greater knowledge and experience than Qi Shisan and Situ Fuyao.
Seeing that the Senior Brother appeared to have entered an ethereal state of samadhi, he knew how difficult it was for an immortal cultivator to attain such a state.
He immediately lightened his footsteps, not even daring to call out, terrified of disturbing the Senior Brother.
Yang Mo did not leave; instead, he quietly retreated a short distance, casting his gaze around to stand guard for Li Feng.
Seeing that the Second Senior Brother had gone to find the Senior Brother and had not returned for a long time, Qi Shisan and Situ Fuyao also came looking for them with torches in hand.
Hearing their faint calls, Yang Mo immediately darted toward them and intercepted them a hundred paces away.
He made a gesture of silence to them.
Qi Shisan asked, "Second Brother, what's wrong with you?"
Yang Mo whispered, "The Senior Brother is cultivating in the bamboo grove and should have had a breakthrough. He has entered an ethereal state; you must not shout loudly."
Hearing this, both of them were overjoyed.
Of course they knew that the longer the ethereal samadhi lasted, the higher the increase in cultivation would be.
The three of them crept closer on tiptoe, stopping about ten paces away from Li Feng.
Sure enough, they saw the spiritual energy condensing two feet above Li Feng's head.
Situ Fuyao's eyes shone with a face full of admiration.
She whispered softly, "The Senior Brother is truly amazing! He's even achieved Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown!"
Yang Mo whispered, "I will stand guard for the Senior Brother here. You two go back first."
Both shook their heads simultaneously.
Although the wild beasts and animals in this bamboo grove had all been eaten by the few of them, no one knew if outsiders might wander over—after all, there were several medium and small sects in the surrounding area.
They also wanted to stand guard for the Senior Brother here.
Qi Shisan whispered, "Junior Sister, go pack the dinner and bring it over. The three of us will guard the Senior Brother together right here!"
Situ Fuyao nodded heavily.
Don't look at how Yang Mo and Qi Shisan spent all day hoping the Changsheng Sect would go bankrupt so they could roam the pugilistic world or switch to other sects.
In truth, over the years, the martial brothers had depended on each other for survival and had long forged a deep bond.
If their feelings weren't deep, the two of them would have run away long ago instead of staying with Li Feng to hold down the storm-tossed Changsheng Sect.
Seeing Li Feng's cultivation break through at this moment, they were happy for him from the bottom of their hearts.
Disregarding the mosquito bites in the bamboo grove, they insisted on protecting the Senior Brother here, simply wanting to ensure Li Feng was not disturbed by the outside world so his period of ethereal samadhi could last a little longer.
Li Feng knew nothing of the three people's actions.
He had now reached a state of selflessness; his hundreds of meridians were flowing smoothly, and his spirit and soul were light and ethereal.
Not only could he not feel the flow of time, but he could not even sense changes in the outside world.
The three junior martial siblings ate dinner and stood guard until dawn.
Li Feng still showed no sign of waking up.
Near noon, Situ Fuyao returned to the valley to cook, and once again brought the food over.
And so it went, after several rounds of delivering meals.
On the third day of Li Feng's samadhi, the spiritual mist above his head began to show a trend of dissipating and weakening.
The three knew that Li Feng had already passed his peak period, and his understanding of Daoist magic was starting to wane; he would probably wake up in just a few more hours.
Today was already the thirteenth day of the sixth month, leaving only two days until the time Li Feng and Li Yunchen had agreed upon for paying rent.
On Tongtian Peak, Shan Yundi, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, slowly withdrew her cultivation.
Nourished by the Yunhai Sect's spiritual medicines and her own spiritual energy, her injuries were seventy to eighty percent healed.
Over the past few days, she had been secretly practicing the mental cultivation classics from the stone wall, and her gains were immense.
The bottleneck she had failed to break through for half a year now showed signs of breaking under the help of top-tier mental cultivation methods like the Changsheng Ten Dao Chapters.
In another ten days or half a month at most, she would completely shatter the bottleneck and step into the Eighth Layer Dao Integration Realm that immortal cultivators dreamed of.
Reaching Dao Integration at age twenty-four could not be called unprecedented, but it was definitely extremely rare in a millennium.
At least in the more than eight hundred years since the Yunhai Sect was founded here, there had never been anyone entering Dao Integration at age twenty-four.
Aside from cultivation, Shan Yundi had been waiting for Li Feng to come find her to borrow silver over the past few days.
Yet four or five days had passed, and Li Feng still hadn't come.
After finishing her cultivation, Shan Yundi sat on the bed, hesitated for a moment, and then rummaged through her storage pouch, turning it upside down in search of clothes.
Finally, she selected a snow-white, slim-fitting long dress.
After changing into it, she looked at herself in the large bronze dressing mirror.
The woman in the bronze mirror was ethereal and refined, resembling a nine-heavens fairy who did not eat the food of the Mortal World.
Yet Shan Yundi still felt unsatisfied.
Today, the Fairy Yunshuang, who usually never bothered with grooming and makeup, uncharacteristically pinned up her hair and took out hairpins, bracelets, and other jewelry from a dusty jewelry box.
Fussing in her room for half a hour, she finally grabbed her Ziyun Sword and pushed the door open.
It was currently dusk, and disciples practicing sword techniques and divine powers outside walked in groups of three or five along the bluestone paths of Tongtian Peak, heading toward different disciple dining halls for dinner.
Shan Yundi's appearance immediately caught the eyes of countless young disciples.
Today, Shan Yundi's temperament was obviously different from the past; the icy aura of "strangers do not approach" was much weaker, and she seemed to carry a trace of soft charm.
Wherever she passed, a faint fragrance lingered in the air.
She had actually even hung a scented sachet on her body!
Shan Yundi was long accustomed to the gazes of these disciples and did not pay them too much mind.
Before long, she arrived at the Tribute Hall of the Yunhai Sect.
With tens of thousands of disciples, the Yunhai Sect was a massive sect, and managing the food, drink, and lodging of so many disciples was no easy task.
The Yunhai Sect set up subordinate halls such as the Law Enforcement Hall, Immortal Hall, Artifact Refining Hall, Alchemy Hall, Tribute Hall, Shadow Hall, and Bumper Harvest Hall.
Every inner disciple and elder of the Yunhai Sect received a stipend every month, usually consisting of gold, silver, and spirit crystals.
This fell under the jurisdiction of the Tribute Hall.
To put it plainly, it was the finance department.
The higher a disciple's aptitude and cultivation, the more resources they received.
Take Shan Yundi, for example: every month she would collect three hundred liang of silver and thirty spirit crystals from the Tribute Hall.
Usually Shan Yundi rarely cared about these worldly objects, and her senior brothers and sisters would always collect them on her behalf.
Today, she had actually come herself.
Just as she was about to enter the Tribute Hall, a handsome young man walked over.It was none of other than her seventh senior brother, the Cloud Sword Young Master Mu Jiansi.
Chapter 30: The Fairy Borrows Crystals
"Ah, Junior Sister, why is it you? How are your injuries? Why aren't you resting properly in your room!"
Mu Jiansi and several junior brothers were preparing to go eat, but hearing that Shan Yundi had gone out and was dressed up extremely prettily, he had chased after her to create the illusion of a chance encounter.
Shan Yundi glanced at him and said indifferently, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for sending me spiritual pills a few days ago; my injuries are already fine."
Mu Jiansi nodded and said, "A minor matter, as long as you're fine. Junior Sister, why have you come to the Tribute Hall?"
Shan Yundi said, "I came over to collect some spirit crystals."
With that, she ignored Mu Jiansi and strode into the Tribute Hall.
Mu Jiansi felt extremely strange in his heart.
Today wasn't payday, and besides, usually the Junior Sister's money and spirit crystals were collected on her behalf by the third senior sister.
Why would Shan Yundi come in person?
Seeing that Shan Yundi had already walked far ahead, Mu Jiansi immediately chased after her.
He smiled and said, "Junior Sister, you don't come to this place often. Let me lead you in."
Just as Shan Yundi wanted to refuse, Mu Jiansi was already leading the way ahead.
This was her first time coming here. Entering the front hall, she saw a very, very long counter with a middle-aged man in green and seven or eight youths behind the counter tidying things up, preparing to get off work.
Seeing Mu Jiansi and Shan Yundi arriving together, everyone in the hall was very surprised.
The man in green froze for a moment and said, "Nephew Mu, you are..."
Mu Jiansi glanced at Shan Yundi behind him.
He smiled and said, "Uncle Lin, I am accompanying Junior Sister Yundi here to collect her stipend silver."
The man in green was named Lin Sanmu, an elder in charge of the Tribute Hall.
This was the finance department, one of the core lifelines of the entire Yunhai Sect, which showed that this unassuming Lin Sanmu was definitely no simple figure.
His gaze turned toward the breathtakingly beautiful Shan Yundi, and he said, "Nephew Shan's stipend silver and spirit crystals were already issued half a month ago."
Shan Yundi stepped forward and said, "Uncle Lin, I have recently gained some slight insights and would like to claim five hundred spirit crystals for closed-door cultivation. These five hundred crystals can be deducted from my future stipend silver."
Mu Jiansi and Lin Sanmu were both startled.
There were two kinds of universal currency in the Jiulong Mainland.
Mortals used copper coins, silver, gold, and silver notes.
In the world of cultivation, besides these gold and silver objects, there was also the universal currency known as spirit crystals.
Spirit crystals were buried deep underground, a kind of crystal ore formed by the condensation of spiritual energy in ancient times, containing spiritual energy within.
The speed at which immortal cultivators absorbed spiritual energy from nature was actually very slow. The most direct, simplest, and most effective method was to absorb it directly from spirit crystals.
Spirit crystals were divided into blue crystals, purple crystals, and black crystals. The spiritual energy contained in each type of spirit crystal was different.
Among them, blue crystals had the weakest spiritual energy, and black crystals had the strongest.
The exchange ratio of these three kinds of crystals was ten to one.
Ten blue crystals exchanged for one purple crystal.
Ten purple crystals exchanged for one black crystal.
Most crystal mines in the Mortal World were controlled by the major immortal cultivation sects.
To acquire more cultivation resources, those large sects would also release spirit crystals into circulation on the market.
The most common among them was the blue crystal, with ten liang of silver exchanging for one blue crystal.
For Shan Yundi to suddenly want to claim five hundred spirit crystals—considering Shan Yundi's cultivation at the Soul Exit Peak Realm—Lin Sanmu and Mu Jiansi naturally assumed Shan Yundi must be making a push for the Dao Integration Realm.
After their shock came disbelief.
Shan Yundi was simply too young; she had only entered the Yunhai Sect twelve years ago, so how could she have reached the Dao Integration Realm?
The heavenly talented Mu Jiansi had practiced bitterly for twenty-seven years and only claimed the crown of the Dao Integration Realm at the beginning of this year.
This year Mu Jiansi was thirty-five years old.
He had already become a rare heavenly talent in the Yunhai Sect over the past eight hundred years.
Most immortal cultivators, even after practicing bitterly for a century or two, might not necessarily touch the threshold of the Dao Integration Realm even unto death.
Shan Yundi was so young—was it possible for her?
Mu Jiansi was somewhat anxious as he said, "Junior Sister, you're not really going to risk charging the Dao Integration Realm, are you? I've told you so many times, your foundation is unstable, and you won't be able to claim the Dao Integration Realm in the next few years."
Shan Yundi shook her head and said, "No, this time I was injured quite heavily and damaged my foundation slightly. I just want to use the spirit crystals to recover quickly."
Hearing this, Mu Jiansi finally let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Sanmu smiled slightly and said, "I've also heard about Nephew Shan's affair; cultivation foundation is paramount. Someone, bring five black crystals over."
Immediately, a gray-robed youth entered the inner hall and brought out a wooden box.
Upon opening it, there were ten grooves inside the wooden box, and in each groove quietly rested a black crystal stone the size of a child's fist.
Lin Sanmu took out five and placed them on the counter's desk, saying, "The spiritual energy of blue crystals is weaker, so I've gotten you five black crystals instead. I hope Nephew Shan recovers soon."
Shan Yundi nodded.
One black crystal exchanged for one hundred blue crystals.
Five black crystals would do as well.
Of course, she wasn't really going to absorb the spiritual energy inside the spirit crystals; she was going to lend them to Li Feng.
Otherwise, before going out today, she wouldn't have picked out her prettiest clothes, nor would she have deliberately dressed herself up.
Shan Yundi said, "Many thanks, Uncle Lin. These five black crystals can be deducted from my monthly stipend later."
Lin Sanmu shook his head and said, "There's no need. Nephew Shan is a personal disciple of the sect master; a mere five black crystals are not worth mentioning."
Shan Yundi said softly, "Then many thanks, Uncle Lin."
Just as she was about to step forward to pack away the black crystals, Mu Jiansi snatched them up first, pulling a small purple cloth bag embroidered with auspicious clouds from his magical storage treasure.
After putting all five black crystals into that pretty little cloth bag, he turned and handed it to Shan Yundi.
He said, "Junior Sister, when do you plan to go into seclusion? His Elder Master has traveled to the Mortal World and has not yet returned; if you need someone to guard you during seclusion, just find me anytime."
Shan Yundi glanced at that exquisite cloth bag, reached out to take it, and said indifferently, "Thank you for the kind offer, Senior Brother."
Then she turned and left the Tribute Hall.
Shan Yundi had never liked dealing with people, nor did she understand worldly etiquette.
Seeing her turn and leave, Mu Jiansi cupped his fists toward Lin Sanmu and said, "Many thanks today, Uncle Lin. Another day I'll procure two jars of good wine to honor you as a gesture of respect."
Lin Sanmu smiled and said, "Then I'll be waiting for your good wine!"
By the time Mu Jiansi exchanged a few pleasantries with Lin Sanmu and rushed out hurriedly, planning to send Shan Yundi back, he could no longer see Shan Yundi's figure.
Catching a young boy in front of the door, he asked, "Have you seen Junior Sister Shan?"