Chapter 278

Jiang Yan's gaze was profound. He stared deeply at Miko for a moment, then said slowly:

"The Tushan fox clan possesses a technique called 'Threads of Affection for the Next Life.'"

"This method… has the power to defy the heavens and grant rebirth, involving the Great Dao of Reincarnation."

"It is what is known in legends as the art of returning from the dead."

Upon hearing this, Miko's pupils constricted slightly. She looked up at Jiang Yan in disbelief.

The latter wore a mysterious smile at the corner of his mouth, watching her quietly.

Miko gritted her teeth, then switched to a brilliant smile.

"Many thanks for your guidance, Sect Master! This disciple will cultivate diligently!"

Jiang Yan nodded slightly, saying no more.

Seeing this, Ganyu and Miko both took their leave.

After the two had departed, Jiang Yan took out a jade talisman and probed it with his divine sense.

A long while later, he let out a faint sigh.

"The word 'affection' is the most wounding of all… even the Green Hill foxes, who have transcended love, cannot escape the suffering it brings…"

172. The Shushan Mountain-Opening Ceremony Finally Begins

More than ten days had passed in the blink of an eye since Miko joined Shushan.

During this time, no other newcomers had come to pay their respects to Shushan. Jiang Yan was not in a hurry; once the Mountain-Opening Ceremony began, Shushan would not lack disciples.

Moreover, Shushan's true foundation lay in the disciples with excellent talent currently present.

To put it bluntly, outer sect disciples were, in the end, merely supporting roles.

How many cases of "trash" rising to greatness were there in the world?

Although it sounded like a lament against the unfairness of the Great Dao, there existed a chasm-like gap between people from the very start.

During this period, it was not as if nothing of note had happened at Shushan.

The three at the late stage of Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation—Zhongli and the others—had not made any breakthroughs.

With their current step-by-step cultivation, even if Jiang Yan lectured on the Dao every day, it would likely take decades to break through.

However, Jiang Yan was not anxious; for cultivators, time was the one thing they lacked the least.

Even Zhongli, who had lived the longest, still had tens of thousands of years of lifespan remaining.

Time?

There was plenty!

Those with Heavenly Spirit Roots would not remain stuck at Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation for too long.

And even though Zhongli and the others hadn't made any major breakthroughs, their strength had not remained stagnant.

Their accumulation of True Essence was more profound, and combined with the numerous techniques learned from the Scripture Pavilion,

their combat power was no longer what it once was.

The three of them were confident they could clash with the Heavenly Principles.

Provided the opponent did not invoke the world's authority.

Beyond them, the breakthroughs of the disciples at the Essence Refining to Qi Transformation stage were even more frequent.

Not to mention Ningguang and Keqing, who had broken through early on, Baizhu, who joined later, had actually caught up, reaching the mid-stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation.

Jiang Yan was very satisfied with this, but he did not support others in learning Baizhu's frantic approach.

Baizhu had embarked on the immortal path knowing his talent was inferior to his peers, so he was even more ruthless to himself.

No matter what pill he refined, he was always the first to test it on himself.

Several times, he had nearly caused his True Essence to go into disorder and shatter his dantian.

Yet, he turned misfortune into a blessing, making his dantian and meridians even more resilient.

He also went to the Heart-Questioning Array every single day without fail, polishing his state of mind to perfection.

Every day, he was either squatting at Bamboo Peak refining pills or taking pills to the Merit Hall to exchange for contribution points for cultivation.

He was the one who completed the most tasks for the Merit Hall regarding the elimination of demonic beasts.

When it came to mining spirit ores, he was also the first to charge ahead.

Even, according to Lisa, when Baizhu finished his cultivation and rested, he would sit inside the pill furnace and beg her to help him with her Karma Fire…

Baizhu was refining himself as if he were a pill.

This ruthlessness made the Law Enforcement Hall worry that he might be too eager for success and walk down a crooked path.

But since he underwent the Nine-Fold Heart-Questioning every day, his state of mind was more stable than Zhongli's; the Law Enforcement Hall could only conclude that Baizhu was simply too fanatical about cultivation.

Because of this, Baizhu became the most "mad" person in all of Shushan regarding cultivation.

Yet, Ningguang and the others expressed deep understanding.

His talent was average, and he dreamed of immortality; now that he had the chance, Baizhu would never let it go.

Besides Baizhu, Klee had also successfully broken through to the mid-stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation.

Her Red Emperor Burning Heaven Body had also been initially condensed.

After Klee broke through, Jiang Yan had Ningguang, Keqing, Baizhu, and many others at the mid-stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation spar with her.

Klee defeated everyone within thirty moves.

Only then did everyone realize that a Divine Body was indeed different from an ordinary person.

She was essentially cheating.

Perhaps Baizhu's madness was also stimulated by Klee.

Lisa had harvested quite a few demonic beast souls during this time, and her Karma Fire had shifted from black-purple toward a deep black.

Although she had not yet broken through to the late stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation, it would likely happen within these few months.

The further one went in cultivation, the harder it became; that Lisa could break through so quickly was already incredible.

Jean, Kaeya, and the others had not broken through their realms, remaining at the early stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation.

However, their strength was no longer what it once was; the Dvalin who was once possessed by the remnant soul of the High Tower King—

if they faced him now, even if they couldn't win in a one-on-one, a group effort would be enough to easily suppress him.

Barbara also successfully broke through to the early stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation, but from then on, her cultivation speed slowed down.

After all, she didn't have much accumulation to begin with.

The most prominent were the two with Divine Bodies, Lumine and Paimon.

Lumine reached the mid-stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation in a short time, and her cultivation was still skyrocketing toward the late stage.

It was feared she would break through even faster than Lisa.

In Lumine's own words, she was truly getting stronger just by breathing and drinking water.

However, her strength was high to begin with; she was merely recovering.

Others could not envy that.

Paimon was the same, having successfully broken through to the early stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation; despite her small size, she was actually much stronger than Jean and the others.

The simplified version of the Divine Sword Thunder-Controlling True Art and the Basic Incantation True Explanation were played with great flair by the two of them.

In coordination, they could make Cloud Retainer, who was at the late stage of Essence Refining to Qi Transformation, suffer a silent loss.

However, if they were serious, they were still no match for Cloud Retainer.

Fighting across realms was, after all, impossible in cultivation.

But even so, it was something to be proud of.

And what left Jiang Yan most speechless was Diluc…

This guy seemed to have his heart set on Buddhist and Daoist techniques.

During this time, he had gone to the Scripture Pavilion and selected two techniques in succession.

One was the Great Brahma Sacred Palm, and the other was the Eight-Part Dragon God Seal.

In the cultivation world, he would at least be a well-known Buddhist disciple.

Even the Dharma treasure he had gathered some time ago was a lotus throne.

It was truly absurd.

However, the others were doing fine; although their choice of techniques was varied,

the Sword Control Art was basically at the minor success stage for all of them.

Keqing and Lumine, who were progressing the fastest, were nearing major success, at which point they could learn other techniques of the Sword Control Art.

Besides this, there were some constructive suggestions put forward by Yun Qing and Yun Hua from the Outer Sect Elder Council.