Chapter 218: Phoenix Glow Prodigy
“Of course you can. Every disciple of the Clear Sky Sect has the right to make their own choice.”
Chu Jing looked at the timid Zhang Ping and responded softly. In his heart, he felt helpless, thinking that Zhang Ping was truly mud that could not be shaped into a wall.
He had encountered a great opportunity, yet lacked courage. The road ahead would likely be difficult.
He had invited Zhang Ping to join the Immortal Protection Guard not merely because he valued Zhang Ping’s cultivation, but because when he had first entered the Clear Sky Sect, Zhang Ping had often stuck close to him, and the two had gotten along well. Thus, he had wanted to lend a hand to this junior.
“Then I won’t go. Many thanks, senior, for thinking highly of me.”
Zhang Ping said earnestly, while inwardly becoming wary of Chu Jing.
For some reason, he always felt that Chu Jing looked somewhat familiar, even though Chu Jing had wrapped himself very tightly.
Chu Jing did not say anything more and turned around to leave directly.
Zhang Ping sat down again and let out a sigh of relief.
“The sect is becoming more and more dangerous. Wanting peaceful immortal cultivation is really difficult.”
Zhang Ping sighed inwardly. He pondered whether he should go out alone to gain experience. After all, so many years had passed—Xuan Gong should already be dead, or else far away from the land of the Nine Provinces. Outside, he would have no enemies.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Ping decided that he would go to the Tempering Hall tomorrow to take a look.
……
The establishment of the Immortal Protection Guard spread throughout the sect, causing the Eight Halls, the Sword Sect, and the Martial Hall to all feel a threat to their authority. However, upon hearing that the Immortal Protection Guard only had twenty members, they all let out a sigh of relief.
Lord Jing was a newly risen power within the Clear Sky Sect, representing the Sect Master. The Immortal Protection Guard he formed was naturally authorized by the Sect Master. As a result, more and more people began thinking of ways to join the Immortal Protection Guard. Unfortunately, Lord Jing rejected all requests, even turning down hall masters who came to see him.
This caused many disciples to admire Lord Jing, believing that he truly wanted to do real work, because some of the Immortal Protection Guard disciples he selected came from humble backgrounds.
Only Lord Jing himself knew that these disciples were not chosen by him at all, but were personally named by Li Qingqiu.
He had also been curious why these disciples were worthy of Li Qingqiu’s favor. After observing them, he found that these disciples had not had any close interactions with Li Qingqiu.
Could it be that these disciples were truly selected through Li Qingqiu’s inspection?
Chu Jing knew that Li Qingqiu had the habit of wandering around the sect.
After the Immortal Protection Guard was filled, Chu Jing led them in action, and soon discovered that these disciples held Li Qingqiu and the sect in extreme reverence. They did not fear the powerful figures within the sect, making them very convenient to use. This made him admire Li Qingqiu even more.
The Immortal Protection Guard’s influence on the sect was not great for the time being, but the Clear Sky Sword distributed by the Heavenly Works Hall shook the entire sect.
Every True Transmission Disciple received a Clear Sky Sword. After refining the owner-recognition restriction within the sword, they began trying to master it. For most of them, this was their first time using a magic implement. They were extremely excited, and some even went to the Martial Arena to show it off.
The Heavenly Works Hall had long been capable of crafting magic implements, but none had been released previously. The Clear Sky Sword was the first magic implement to be distributed on a large scale—and it was given out for free. While this excited the True Transmission Disciples, it also filled them with gratitude toward Li Qingqiu. Li Qingqiu could see this clearly from their loyalty levels.
The power of the Clear Sky Sword was quickly verified. This magic implement was extremely formidable, allowing disciples to use sword-controlling techniques more effectively. Their sword energy was strengthened, and they could even rely on it to cast different spells.
At present, the number of True Transmission Disciples had already exceeded six hundred. With each of them holding a Clear Sky Sword, the entire sect could witness its might.
It was said that after autumn arrived, Inner Sect Disciples would also receive Clear Sky Swords. This greatly boosted the disciples’ motivation to cultivate.
To become a True Transmission Disciple, one needed to reach the fourth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, which was very difficult. Becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, however, was much easier—one only needed to cultivate Vital Energy to have hope.
While the Heavenly Works Hall researched arrays and magic implements, it also had to forge Clear Sky Swords. This forced Li Qingqiu to expand their manpower. The number of Heavenly Works Hall disciples reached three hundred. Even in the martial world, this could be considered a sect in its own right.
Additional manpower was assigned to the transport route from the Spirit Copper Mountain Range to Clear Sky Mountain. Occasionally, ignorant bandits or armies tried to block them, but in the end all were frightened into kneeling and begging for mercy. Disciples with good temperaments would let the matter drop, while those with bad tempers would directly begin a massacre.
The name of the Clear Sky Sword quickly spread throughout the martial world. Many True Transmission Disciples took Clear Sky Swords down the mountain to gain experience. Before the Clear Sky Sword, mundane divine weapons all appeared utterly inadequate.
Summer passed, and autumn arrived.
Amid the eager anticipation of the sect’s disciples, the Heavenly Works Hall finally began distributing Clear Sky Swords to Inner Sect Disciples, with assistance from the Free Spirit Hall, distributing them in batches.
The Clear Sky Sword was destined to cause an unprecedented impact on the martial world.
On this day, after noon.
Zhang Yuchun came to visit Li Qingqiu and recounted the affairs of the world to him.
When the various lords of the realm were blocked by the Northern Barbarians’ army, Li Sifeng stood out. Leading his cavalry, he charged straight through, unstoppable. He slaughtered his way into the Northern Barbarians’ main camp, captured their general, and shook Cangzhou with his might. Now, the Northern Barbarians were in total rout.
Zhu Xian thus rose to great fame, his prestige surpassing that of the other great lords.
Li Qingqiu showed little reaction to this. In his view, Li Sifeng achieving this level was only natural. He even felt that Li Sifeng had not done enough and had been somewhat sluggish.
After finishing this topic, Zhang Yuchun brought up Fengxia Mountain.
Li Qingqiu had always been interested in Fengxia Mountain’s alchemy techniques, so he instructed Zhang Yuchun to send disciples there to study and exchange knowledge of the alchemical Dao. Naturally, it would not be free—the disciples would bring along the Clear Sky Sect’s alchemy methods.
As two of the Martial World’s Saints, Fengxia Mountain and the Clear Sky Sect had always been on good terms and interacted pleasantly. Previously, when an auction was held in Xunxian Town, Fengxia Mountain had even given Zhang Yuchun face by dispatching Daoists to participate.
“Fengxia Mountain recently produced a genius. At only seven years old, he already received true transmission. His name is Bai Yutian. The disciples I sent there reported back that this child was born able to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Fengxia Mountain’s inheritance is extremely simple for him—he almost learns everything the moment he studies it,” Zhang Yuchun said with emotion.
Being born able to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth alone was enough to show that Bai Yutian was a cultivation prodigy.
Li Qingqiu smiled and asked, “What, do you want to recruit him?”
“I’m afraid that won’t work. He has already been designated as Fengxia Mountain’s next Abbot. Fengxia Mountain understands some arcane arts, but they walk the martial path. They still don’t understand what this child’s talent truly represents. I feel regret for Bai Yutian, and I’m also somewhat worried,” Zhang Yuchun shook his head.
“Worried about what?”
“I’m worried that he will be like the Yan Dao Sect. The Yan Dao Sect relied on themselves to enter the Dao and create even stronger martial arts. I fear this child might rely on himself to comprehend immortal cultivation methods, thereby leading Fengxia Mountain to transform into an Immortal Cultivation Sect.”
Zhang Yuchun said worriedly. He got along very well with Fengxia Mountain and had always maintained correspondence, but no matter how good the relationship, he did not want Fengxia Mountain to threaten him.
Li Qingqiu shook his head and laughed, saying, “Relying on him alone to achieve that won’t be so easy.”
His ability to rapidly build up the Clear Sky Sect relied on far more than the Primordial Unity Scripture—it also depended on the Dao Lineage panel guiding fortuitous opportunities. That was the true key to the sect’s rapid development.
Zhang Yuchun asked, “What if?”
Li Qingqiu replied, “If it truly comes to pass, we’ll see whether they’re willing to attach themselves to us. If they’re not willing, we won’t force it, but we won’t allow them to compete with us for resources.”
He thought of the Azure Cloud Sect founded by Zhou Ya. This small Immortal Cultivation Sect had yet to become famous, but he had already dispatched Dark Hall disciples to infiltrate it. The Sect Master, Qiu Dahu, trusted that Dark Hall disciple greatly and showed signs of grooming him to become Deputy Sect Master.
Zhang Yuchun was right—one had to guard against problems before they arose. Li Qingqiu decided to also plant a Dark Hall disciple in Fengxia Mountain.
In the struggle of sect development, where was there room for so much moral talk? If all harbored ambitions to dominate the world, collisions were inevitable.
If there was no threat, Li Qingqiu would naturally treat others with courtesy and would not bully the weak with strength. But if it endangered the sect’s development, he would not have many scruples.
“Hopefully things won’t develop to that point,” Zhang Yuchun sighed.
At that moment, the Three Xiao Brothers hurried into the Lingxiao Courtyard, their expressions full of excitement.
They came to the table and saluted Li Qingqiu and the other, but seeing that Zhang Yuchun was still present, they did not speak immediately.
Zhang Yuchun laughed, feeling that these three boys had truly grown up.
“I still have matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave.”
Zhang Yuchun stood up and departed.
After he left, Xiao Wudi and the other two finally removed the storage pouches from their waists and placed them on the table.
“Sect Master, your dream was real. Inside the Thousand Dragon Cave of Xiaoyao County, there truly was a treasure left behind by an ancient immortal cultivator. Everything is inside these storage pouches. We even saw that immortal cultivator’s corpse—you didn’t see it, Sect Master. Even his bones were golden.”
Xiao Wudi said excitedly. Xiao Wuqing and Xiao Wuming were equally thrilled.
The Thousand Dragon Cave they spoke of was a fortuitous opportunity opened by Li Qingqiu. There were special restrictions within the cave, and mechanisms had to be activated before the cave dwelling could be accessed.
Although it was not a blessed land or cultivation resource, Li Qingqiu felt that the value of this cave dwelling was definitely not low.
“Mm, not bad. You may go rest first. After I finish checking everything, I will reward you,”
Li Qingqiu said with satisfaction as he picked up one of the storage pouches, preparing to inspect it.
Xiao Wuqing hurriedly said, “Sect Master, on our way back, we clashed with a group of mysterious martial artists. Although we didn’t suffer losses, their martial skills were extraordinary. Should I send people to investigate?”
“If you want to do it, then go ahead.”
Li Qingqiu replied, and Xiao Wuqing accepted the order.
After the three brothers left, Li Qingqiu extended his spiritual sense into the storage pouches and inspected them one by one.
Inside were secret manuals, talisman papers, pills, as well as magic implements, seeds, and more—extremely abundant. He took out the thickest manual and flipped through it.
It was a cultivation method called the Five Hearts Turning Dao Art. Although it was inferior to the Primordial Unity Scripture, it was still a very good method of absorbing Vital Energy. It allowed switching Vital Energy attributes. Once cultivated to completion, the five attributes would merge into one, condensing an even stronger Five Elements Vital Energy.
Not bad—this could be added to the Scripture Repository.
Li Qingqiu only gave it a brief glance before setting it aside.
After he finished inspecting the three storage pouches, he was fairly satisfied. Although there was nothing he particularly wanted to learn, if these items fell into someone else’s hands, they might truly be able to raise an Immortal Cultivation Sect.
Unfortunately, the array manuals inside were very basic and did not include the teleportation array he wanted most.
He put the three storage pouches away, planning to distribute them later to the halls that needed them.
He returned to his cave dwelling to cultivate. The Land of Demons and Devils and the Azure Dragon Domain were like two blades hanging over his head, forcing him to cultivate diligently and make himself as strong as possible as quickly as he could.