Chapter 282

282. Chapter 279: Seclusion at Zangjian Mountain

Ding Huan was certain Fu Qijian had long left Wanbao City—likely heading for Zangjian Mountain.

Before leaving Wanbao City, Ding Huan had gone to visit Lou Fenyan, the mistress of the Yuanyang Double Cultivation Tower; he didn't know why this woman had helped him twice.

Regardless, he needed to thank her.

But Lou Fenyan had left Wanbao City the same day the meeting ended, and Ding Huan never found her.

Ding Huan could only postpone his thanks and departed Wanbao City with Yan Mei, Mo Huanping, and Lao Liu.

Hu Wuxin and Mo Zheng had been waiting for Ding Huan; now that he was leaving Wanbao City, both followed him.

They too must return to the Dao Cultivation World, for that was their true home.

Though their gains in the Ascension Realm had been substantial, they had lost the ring once, and much of its contents were gone.

As a cultivator who had reached the late Void God Realm, how could such a long accumulation lack a few personal treasures within the ring?

While they had indeed acquired more resources after losing the ring, the inconvenience and discomfort were real—they needed to reacquire magical artifacts and other essentials upon returning.

…

In the Dao Cultivation World, Hu Wuxin and Mo Zheng parted from Ding Huan; Ding Huan returned to Lanxing Sect with Yan Mei and the others.

As soon as Ding Huan returned, Liu Liu Yinzhu came out to greet him early.

Seeing both Liu Liu Yinzhu and Sang Sang Yuhe had reached the Star Core Realm, Ding Huan was overjoyed.

This was partly because the Little Universe Art's cultivation speed was inherently rapid, but more importantly, both had accumulated immense foundational depth.

With their profound foundations, their switch to the Little Universe Art, and Lanxing Sect's endless supply of heavenly qi, both surged forward, their cultivation rising rapidly.

"Master, I've also succeeded in Star Imprinting," Mo Huanping said excitedly as she stepped forward to bow.

Seeing her disciple Mo Huanping had achieved Star Imprinting, Liu Liu Yinzhu felt profound emotion.

Had she not switched to the Little Universe Art, she might still be stuck at the Golden Core Middle Stage.

Her disciple, if lucky, might succeed in Foundation Establishment; if unlucky, would remain stuck at the Qi Condensation Peak.

"Lord, Zi Yuan City has been returned to us. Wu Changgong, the head of the Wu Dan Dao Gate, personally came to our sect to apologize, offering many pills and spirit stones, plus two high-grade spirit veins."

Sang Sang Yuhe also stepped forward to speak.

Clearly, Ding Huan's reputation in the Dao Cultivation World had influenced how Lanxing Sect was viewed.

Not only had Zi Yuan City returned to Lanxing Sect, but Zi Yuan Zhongshan had also been officially opened to the sect and the outside world.

Zi Yuan Zhongshan, which once eluded the ambitions of multiple Zi Xia Valley sect heads for years, was now effortlessly reclaimed by Lanxing Sect.

During her tenure as vice sect head, Liu Liu Yinzhu had learned one truth.

When a sect is weak, everything becomes a struggle for survival in the cracks; one misstep and it vanishes entirely, like the former Zi Xia Valley.

But when a sect grows strong, some things need no request—they come to your door on their own, like Zi Yuan City.

"Greetings, Lord Ding," said a middle-aged beautiful woman, bowing deeply to Ding Huan.

Liu Liu Yinzhu quickly said: "Lord, this is Elder Pang Xiangxiang, formerly of Yanyue Sect. Now she has switched allegiance to our Lanxing Sect; Elder Pang is highly capable and oversees the sect's merchant association."

Ding Huan smiled:

"Good. Since Elder Pang is now our sect elder, she shall oversee Zi Yuan City. Also, Elder Pang may switch to the Little Universe Art—Liu Zongzhu will handle the specifics."

"Thank you, Lord," Pang Xiangxiang said, her voice trembling with excitement.

In truth, she had never known switching to the Little Universe Art could allow her to rebuild her foundation.

After arriving at Lanxing Sect, she had inquired widely and already understood that the Little Universe Art could let her rebuild her foundation and ascend to higher levels.

Though she desperately longed to cultivate the Little Universe Art, her origin in Yanyue Sect meant neither Sang Sang Yuhe nor Liu Liu Yinzhu dared teach it to her.

So she had remained working at Lanxing Sect, waiting for the sect lord's return to request this very thing—yet before she could speak, the lord had already agreed.

As Lanxing Sect's lord, Ding Huan spent most of his time away from the sect, rarely even staying within it for seclusion.

After returning to the sect this time, Ding Huan spent three full days explaining the Dao of the Little Universe Art before departing for Zangjian Mountain.

…

Ding Huan did not take the teleportation array; he used the Polar Light Shuttle to reach Zangjian Mountain, taking only one or two hours.

Upon arriving outside Zangjian Mountain, he saw a massive array plaque standing before its protective formation: Lanxing Sect – Zangjian Mountain.

Ding Huan nodded inwardly—Liu Liu Yinzhu had done this well.

Zangjian Mountain was unclaimed; erecting a plaque to clearly mark its ownership by Lanxing Sect was the correct move.

Strictly speaking, Zangjian Mountain lay within the territory of Daxing Sword Dao.

It wasn't that Daxing Sword Dao had claimed Zangjian Mountain, but that Xifeng City had been founded by Daxing Sword Dao's outer disciples, and Zangjian Mountain fell under Xifeng City's jurisdiction.

Yet unless Ding Huan removed Zangjian Mountain's toxic mist, even if offered to Daxing Sword Dao, they would not accept it.

Ding Huan turned to look at Fu Qijian, standing like a spear in the distance, waiting for him, and warmth rose in his heart.

Some people you know your whole life, yet you only know their name.

Others you meet for an instant, yet become sworn brothers in life and death.

"Thank you," Ding Huan said, walking up to Fu Qijian—he knew Fu Qijian had waited for him for days.

Fu Qijian smiled faintly:

"When I received Daxu Jian, I didn't say thank you."

"Good. Let's go in together," Ding Huan understood Fu Qijian's meaning.

True friendship needs no thanks.

He also understood that the sword he had given Fu Qijian now had a name: Daxu Jian.

Seeing Ding Huan pull out array flags to open Zangjian Mountain, Fu Qijian felt awe—Ding Huan was certainly young, yet his strength was immense, and his array art equally formidable.

The two arrived at the entrance of the Cosmic Vortex; Fu Qijian felt the boundless cosmic energy emanating from it and sighed:

"I've long heard of this Cosmic Vortex, but never had the chance to come—by the time I finally could, it was already surrounded by toxic mist."

"I never expected to be able to come here today and witness such a marvel."

"Seven Swords, I plan to cultivate here. When the time comes, you'll cultivate here too. There's a cosmic vortex where one can comprehend the laws of the universe, and the primordial energy is abundant. Your cultivation will definitely advance by leaps and bounds."

Ding Huan stated his purpose.

Fu Qijian smiled but offered no explanation.

He simply didn't want to disappoint Ding Huan. He had been stuck at Human Immortal, unable to advance even an inch, and it had nothing to do with the world's primordial energy or comprehending the void.

Ding Huan didn't care what Fu Qijian thought. He had already pulled out that top-grade spirit vein and implanted it.

Fu Qijian was moved. This top-grade spirit vein Ding Huan had given him, and he hadn't taken it. Now that Ding Huan had taken it out to use, it meant everyone would share it.

Ding Huan truly was a real friend.

Following that, Ding Huan took out two mid-grade starry sky spirit veins, then arranged two more upper-grade spirit veins on the outer perimeter before saying:

"Seven Swords, pick a spot and start cultivating. I need to cultivate too."

"Alright." Fu Qijian gave Ding Huan the position closest to the entrance of the cosmic vortex, and he chose a spot a bit farther away to begin cultivating his Fu Xu Seven Swords.

Fu Xu Seven Swords sounds like the name of a divine ability, but in fact it is a cultivation method.

Every time Fu Xu Seven Swords is cultivated to a new level, one can sense a sword dao divine ability of Fu Xu Seven Swords.

The moment Fu Qijian began cultivating, the spiritual energy from the top-grade spirit vein and upper-grade spirit veins swept over, causing a tremendous commotion.

However, Ding Huan could sense that Fu Qijian wasn't absorbing much of such dense heaven and earth spiritual energy.

Because of this, Fu Qijian's cultivation rose extremely slowly, almost not rising at all.

No wonder it took several hundred years just to cultivate from Human Immortal Level One to Human Immortal Level Five. It probably still required diligence to achieve even that.

Ding Huan implanted the earth fire vein underground, then placed the fire seed above the earth fire vein and let it grow.

When he cultivates, the spirit source is abundant, which will definitely help the growth of the earth fire vein.

After finishing all this, Ding Huan finally began to circulate the Great Universe Art.

The moment Ding Huan began cultivating, the Great Universe Art's Zhou Tian immediately constructed this place into a vast cosmic dao arena.

The starry sky spirit veins were stimulated. The terrifyingly extreme spiritual energy no longer merely swept over, but instead formed something like a spatial spirit source pool, wrapping both Ding Huan and Fu Qijian within it.

Ding Huan felt his strength shooting up, and around the star systems in his consciousness sea, it seemed as if ring after ring of stellar halos were forming.

Although Ding Huan still didn't know what use these stellar halos had, he vaguely sensed they must be related to his next realm.

Fu Qijian, who had previously only been able to absorb spiritual energy without being able to convert it into his own strength, was now stunned into stillness.

The surrounding laws of heaven and earth suddenly became clear—stars, void, universe…

This gave Fu Qijian an illusion that he could clearly touch the great dao laws of Fu Xu Seven Swords.

When he circulated Fu Xu Seven Swords, he could accurately comprehend where the deficiencies in his own Zhou Tian lay, and then easily correct them.

Fu Qijian, who had previously frantically absorbed spiritual energy yet couldn't convert it into his own strength, at this moment clearly felt that no matter how much spirit source was swept into his own Zhou Tian, it could all be instantly converted into strength.

At this moment, how could Fu Qijian not know his opportunity had arrived? While his heart was shocked by Ding Huan's cultivation method, he wouldn't waste even a single breath, madly elevating his own strength.

Time passed just like that. Occasionally, when people passed by Hidden Jianshan, they could only sense that deep within Hidden Jianshan, hidden by formations, there seemed to be a spirit source vortex swirling.

However, when they carefully observed with their divine sense, they found it was just their own illusion.

If it had been before, perhaps someone would still want to enter Hidden Jianshan to investigate what exactly was going on, but now, no one dared to enter Hidden Jianshan.

Not only because Hidden Jianshan was sealed by protective formations, but more importantly because the sign of Blue Star Sect hung outside Hidden Jianshan.