Chapter 285: Chapter 2: Sect Leader’s Encouragement, A Small Goal
Days have passed since the battle at Penglai ended.
Rather than subsiding, the internal discussions within the sect only grew more intense.
During this battle, Kunlun lost a total of seventeen cultivators, which might not seem like many.
But upon closer inquiry, it became clear that all the fallen were Nascent Soul Elders—clearly, the manipulators of the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, after deploying a formation change that trapped the Kunlun cultivators, had specifically targeted the more profound Kunlun Elders for assassination.
Since the founding of Kunlun, aside from the majority of Nascent Soul Elders who had perished due to various reasons (mainly Heavenly Tribulation), the few who left to establish their own sects, and the very few who attained Feather Transformation to become immortals, there were altogether no more than three hundred left.
That seventeen of them perished in this Immortal Slaying Sword Formation caused a wave of grief throughout the entire sect.
Had it not been for Qiu Changtian’s bold risk, taking advantage of the Sword Formation manipulator’s lack of attention on him to infiltrate and break the formation, the number of casualties would have surely climbed.
For this very reason, even Chi Song Immortal, the Supreme Elder of the Kunlun Sect, did not hesitate to praise Qiu Changtian in front of the true elders, for the credit he had earned was too significant to ignore.
Of course, beyond verbal commendation, the rewards were quickly distributed.
A Zhu Sui Pill.
Even after Luo Yan had spent time at the Heavenly Craft Workshop gathering extensive knowledge of spirit pills, he still did not know the ingredients of this Zhu Sui Pill.
He only knew that the materials required for its refinement were exceedingly rare, virtually unobtainable.
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Taken with pine resin and xialing for refining, it could add thirty years to one’s Refining Mansion Cultivation Level, a very rare secret medicine of the Purple Mansion.
Upon receiving the pill from the Ziwei Master, Qiu Changtian immediately consumed and refined it.
After the refining process was complete, he stood up spiritedly, only to hear the Ziwei Master, from atop the lotus platform, say leisurely:
“Your Jade Mansion must have formed by now, hasn’t it?”
Qiu Changtian fell silent for a while, quickly calculating in his mind.
On the line of Qiu Changtian’s public cultivation progress, he had ostensibly gained seventy years from contemplating the Taiqing divine image in the Heaven’s Gate Hall, an additional thirty years from the acceleration within the Cloud Sea Empty Cocoon, and another thirty years from the Zhu Sui Pill just then.
Added to the three years of standard cultivation in Kunlun after reaching the Refining Mansion stage, the total should be one hundred thirty-three years.
Moving from the Purple Mansion to forming the Jade Mansion, which is to reach the threshold of a Third Grade Golden Core, requires about two hundred years of cultivation, so his answer should have been “the Jade Mansion has not yet formed.”
However, to be honest, Qiu Changtian was somewhat afraid of his mentor—every time he lied or prevaricated, the Ziwei Master would see right through him on the spot but lightly let him off the hook.
Therefore, after quickly weighing the pros and cons, he finally nodded and said:
“Hmm.”
Of course, this “hmm” carried many meanings, such as having already accumulated three hundred and twenty years of cultivation in his Purple Mansion…
Naturally, two hundred years of cultivation makes a Jade Mansion, as does three hundred and twenty years.
As long as the Ziwei Master doesn’t ask, I won’t tell!
Seeing him ambiguously acknowledge this, the Ziwei Master snorted coldly and said:
“As the chief disciple in the Foundation Establishment Realm, relying on seventy years of enlightenment from the Heaven’s Gate Hall, and then diligently cultivating for another one hundred thirty years, forming a Jade Mansion before the end of one’s natural life is generally not a problem.”
“However, Qiu Changtian, you have a Daoist Heart Clarity. If you are merely content with a Third Grade Golden Core, that would not only be letting your mentor down but also wasting your once-in-ten-thousand-years extraordinary talent!”
“Now that you have formed your Jade Mansion, no matter how many years of Purple Mansion cultivation you already have, you must make sure to accumulate a full four hundred years of cultivation before Core Formation!”
“If you don’t reach a Second Grade Golden Core, forget about being the chief Golden Core Realm disciple after your Core Formation!”
“Yes,” Qiu Changtian couldn’t help but laugh and cry, hastily agreeing.
Sure enough, the Ziwei Master had guessed that he possessed more than just two hundred years of Refining Mansion cultivation, so he directly set a minor goal for himself to “amass four hundred years’ worth of cultivation.”
However, in reality, he already had three hundred twenty years of Refining Mansion cultivation, and with one hundred twenty years of natural lifespan remaining, he only needed to cultivate for another eighty years to reach the threshold of a Second Grade Golden Core.
Master, the minor goal you’ve set for me is hardly any effort to achieve at all!
After leaving the Jade Void Palace, Qiu Changtian saw groups of cultivators in the distance, flying on their swords, a fierce battle aura sweeping across the sky.
With both Kunlun and Penglai being shamelessly ambushed by a horde of demons and devils, neither would be likely to swallow the loss afterward.
The Demon Cult of the Six Paths had plundered a vast amount of magical treasures, Flying Swords, spiritual medicines, and Talisman Scripts from Penglai… their combat strength had markedly improved, and it was up to Kunlun to intervene immediately and suppress the rising momentum of the Demon Cult.
Naturally, this would involve countless dangers and bloodshed.
A great chaos was imminent, it was coming!
Filled with emotion, Qiu Changtian returned to the Golden Ridge Cave Abode.
“Big senior brother.” It wasn’t long before his third junior brother, Guan Zhan, came to visit, “I’ve decided to join the front-line patrolling team and will no longer attend the daily scripture lectures for the time being.”
“Front-line patrolling team?” Qiu Changtian asked in surprise, “How did you come up with the idea to go there?”
The so-called “front-line patrol” refers to the duty-bound cultivators who roam the outer boundaries of the Sect Residence, within the sect’s sphere of influence, specially handling some high-risk and high-difficulty secret missions.
For example, if an enemy sect’s cultivator infiltrated, they needed to be swiftly eliminated, which obviously wouldn’t be appropriate to assign through the duties hall; hence, it was managed by patrol cultivators.
Or if an enemy sect’s outpost were discovered, and it needed to be erased from the map, that certainly couldn’t be openly recruited for; thus, it was secretly dealt with by patrol cultivators.
Given the great risk involved in the duty process, and the delay it caused to regular cultivation, sects often implemented a rotation system, assigning Golden Core cultivators to take turns serving—why would this junior brother suddenly think of volunteering for such a bitter task?
“Big senior brother is unaware,” Guan Zhan said earnestly, “the sect plans to expand the front-line patrol team to four hundred members, lowering the recruitment threshold to those at the Foundation Establishment Realm of the Refining Mansion level.”
“They even specially opened up Fenbao Rock, which will distribute rewards based on the merits accumulated by the front-line patrol team.”
What? Fenbao Rock was open? Qiu Changtian was greatly shocked.
Kunlun’s Fenbao Rock, similar to Shushan’s Fire Element Cave, was a treasure trove of the Kunlun Taiqing Sect.
Cultivation techniques, elixirs, magical treasures, Flying Swords… all types of resources for Cultivating Immortality were available, forming the foundation of the Taiqing Sect as a prestigious and upright sect.
Now that the sect was willing to open Fenbao Rock, even Qiu Changtian himself was tempted to join the front-line patrol team.
No, stay calm, he must remain calm!
Currently, as the chief disciple of the Foundation Establishment Realm in Kunlun, tasked with answering the queries of the previous chief disciples, it would not be appropriate for him to run around outside.
Besides, the daily lessons, he decided it was best to focus his time and energy on searching for various Purple Mansion secret realms and secret medicines.
Thus, Qiu Changtian encouraged Guan Zhan with a few words before sending him on his way.
“The matter here is concluded,” he instructed the Kunlun Mirror, “Let’s go to Shushan first.”
Among the many timelines, only Shushan was currently far behind.
However, Shushan held information about two Purple Mansion secret realms.
Therefore, it was essential to secure these two benefits quickly within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
In the end, no matter what hardships and dangers awaited, striving to improve one’s cultivation realm was always the correct path.
