Chapter 529

At these words, many disciples changed expression, as if unable to believe that Fang Yu had become an Elder of the Black-White Academy upon just entering—this defied all logic.

What on earth is going on?

Why is Fang Yu so special?

"He entered with me—why did he become an Elder the moment he joined?"

Not far from Fang Yu, Zhang Yuandong, a newly arrived disciple, was deeply curious and somewhat confused.

Some disciples even wanted to ask why.

"You must be wondering why—he has reached an unimaginable level of understanding of the Great Dao, and he possesses an extremely rare physique: the Thunder Spirit Sacred Body. If any of you are dissatisfied, wait until this grand ceremony ends, and then ask Elder Fang to guide you."

Bi Hai Dao Ren smiled.

He found the disciples' reactions unsurprising; if he were a disciple, hearing someone become an Elder upon just entering the Black-White Academy, he too would find it incomprehensible—but with Fang Yu's strength, he could show these dissatisfied disciples what a true prodigy truly is, and then the disciples of the Black-White Academy would naturally understand and accept it.

He would say no more on this matter.

"Enough—everyone, enter!"

Bi Hai Dao Ren continued.

The initiation ritual was simple: swearing not to betray the Black-White Academy.

When the ceremony ended, the Supreme Sect Master Bi Hai Dao Ren spoke again: "Within our Black-White Academy, to learn top-tier Shentongfa, one must exchange for Black-White Dan. When your realm reaches the 'Domain of the Dao,' you are granted Black-White Dan; when your strength reaches the Ten Thousand Manifestations True Person, you are also granted Black-White Dan. There are many other ways to obtain them—study them well. Zhang Yuandong, you have just entered our Black-White Academy; I bestow upon you one thousand Black-White Dan."

As he spoke, the Sect Master waved his hand, and a gourd descended, containing one thousand Black-White Dan.

"Thank you, Sect Master!"

Zhang Yuandong's face lit up with great joy.

He already knew the function of Black-White Dan within the Black-White Academy, and naturally, the more the better. With sufficient Black-White Dan, he could even exchange for numerous Dao techniques and Shentongfa. To receive one thousand elixirs now—how could he not be delighted?

"As for Fang Yu, you have reached the Domain of the Dao in multiple Great Daos. Our Black-White Academy's rule states: reaching the Domain of the Dao in one Great Dao earns a reward of one thousand Black-White Dan; fully mastering one Great Dao earns four thousand. As an Elder of our academy, you receive five hundred annually. All these Dan are within this gourd."

Bi Hai Dao Ren looked at Fang Yu and waved his hand; a gourd flew to Fang Yu's front.

When Fang Yu's Primordial Spirit probed into the gourd, he discovered it contained exactly sixty thousand Black-White Dan.

Sixty thousand!

Fang Yu knew this was a reward for his efforts over the past two days—he had cultivated before the Black-White Diagram, Bi Hai Dao Ren had witnessed some of it, and thus granted him sixty thousand Black-White Dan.

These Black-White Dan were enough for Fang Yu to exchange for many Shentongfa.

A whisper reached Fang Yu's ear: "Fang Yu, you obtained the Three-Foot Sword—you will inevitably wield it someday, so you must go to the Dao Treasury Hall and exchange for the Upper Volume of the 'Three-Foot Sword,' so as not to draw the killing intent of others."

Fang Yu was speechless—he already possessed the complete Three-Foot Sword inheritance, yet to conceal it, he still had to exchange for its Upper Volume.

This way, the world would believe he had only obtained a fragment of the Three-Foot Sword, not the full inheritance, and thus its power would seem weak—allowing him to grow truly without becoming a target.

Within the territory of the Great Xia Kingdom, no one wished for another cultivator to obtain the complete Three-Foot Sword, another Northern Traveling Immortal.

Fang Yu understood this well—but among the Shentongfa he possessed, the precious ones were too numerous: the Great Five Elements Art, the Great Calamity Art, the Great Primordial Art, the Great Cutting Art, the Great Slaughter Art, the Great Devouring Art—each one would trigger a cataclysmic upheaval if revealed.

Any single one leaked would plunge this world into chaos.

In the courtyard, other rituals continued—Zhang Yuandong's master-disciple ceremony.

Fang Yu had become an Elder immediately upon entering the sect, so naturally he needed no master; Zhang Yuandong did.

He had gained insight into the Fire Dao, so he took an Elder of the Primordial Spirit as his master.

After the ceremony, Fang Yu went directly to the Dao Treasury Hall.

It was a majestic hall, second in status only to the Black-White Diagram within the Black-White Academy—disciples came here to learn top-tier techniques, Shentongfa, and spells.

"Hmm."

Before the hall, a burly man in ornate armor sat beside a stone table, sipping fine wine from an elegant cup.

Fang Yu descended.

"You are the newly appointed Elder Fang Yu? In all history, nothing like this has ever happened—a newly arrived disciple becoming an Elder—it's truly astonishing."

The burly man looked over, clearly curious why this disciple received such treatment.

"I am Fang Yu."

Fang Yu nodded.

"We should spar sometime—though not today."

This burly man was the Hall Guardian Daoist, at the Primordial Spirit realm; he had heard of Fang Yu's story, his gaze sharp, yet he had no intention of dueling today.

For a prodigy's first arrival, he wouldn't give a humiliating welcome—it would be pointless.

Thus, Fang Yu entered without hindrance.

The Dao Treasury Hall had three levels.

Upon entering the first level, Fang Yu felt as if he had stepped into an ocean of books—countless shelves held volumes beyond number; a single glance revealed over a million.

The first-level library of the Black-White Academy seemed even larger than that of the Yuhua Sect.

This was possible.

After all, Yuhua Sect was one of the Xiandaoshi Sects, but the Yellow Great World was unstable; the Divine Cataclysm every ten thousand years was terrifying, causing Yuhua Sect to suffer heavy losses.

Perhaps Yuhua Sect had accumulated wealth over ten millennia, only to lose it all when the Divine Clan Cataclysm came.

The Black-White Academy was different—within the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty, or specifically the Andan Commandery, it stood supreme, unshaken for countless ten thousands of years, even millions, tens of millions of years—its library naturally overflowed with texts.

Time could accumulate countless volumes.

The first-level library bore a single large character: "Fa."

The Dao Treasury Hall's three levels: first level is Fa, second is Shu, third is Za.

According to the rules of the Manghuang Ji realm, Fa and Shu differ: Fa refers to cultivation methods, such as Qi Refining or Divine Body cultivation techniques—these are Fa.

Shu refers to specialized techniques of application—such as a cultivator's Shentongfa, a Sword Immortal's Sword Art, or forbidden techniques used in desperation—all methods of applying Fa are Shu.

Za encompasses everything else outside Fa and Shu—such as puppets, arrays, insect breeding, crafting magic treasures, elixirs, and so on.

This differs greatly from the Eternal Life Realm, for Shentongfa like the Great Five Elements Art contain both the "Fa" and "Shu" and "Za" of the Manghuang Ji realm—it is a supreme integrated cultivation method.

The Great Five Elements Art inherently contains cultivation methods; when enacted, it becomes an art, and after reaching the 5th Stage of Divine Abilities and the Heavenly Man Realm, it coalesces into a formation, manifesting ten divine beings, hence called "miscellaneous."

Seen this way, the divisions of the Wild Ancient Era Realm do not conform to the cultivation principles of the Eternal Life Realm.

Of course, he now adapts to local customs and wishes to examine the cultivation "methods" of the Wild Ancient Era Realm.

The Lianqifa Sect divides its methods into four ranks: Immortal, Heavenly, Earthly, and Human.

The Immortal rank represents cultivation methods capable of progressing all the way to the Immortal Realm.

Yet while this is said, in all these years the Black and White Academy has produced only one Immortal, showing that the so-called direct path to Immortality is not easy—cultivation's path is fraught with trials, and acquiring an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method does not guarantee becoming an Immortal.

Within the Black and White Academy, there are twenty-eight Immortal-rank Lianqifa methods.

When Fang Yu picked up an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method, he saw its title was The Jialan Soaring Heaven Scripture, yet it contained no specific content—he must first submit Black and White Pills before he could practice it.

The upper volume of The Jialan Soaring Heaven Scripture requires one thousand five hundred Black and White Pills; for disciples of the Black and White Academy, this is a relatively expensive price, but Fang Yu currently possesses sixty thousand Black and White Pills, so he finds it not costly.

Yet this name—The Jialan Soaring Heaven Scripture—when did Jialan become so powerful?

In the Eternal Life Realm, there is also Jialan, a true disciple of the Yuhua Sect who reached the Golden Core Realm and founded the Jialan Society; to encounter The Jialan Soaring Heaven Scripture here in the Wild Ancient Era Realm is truly strange.

Of course Fang Yu knows that "Jialan" is actually a Buddhist term—Fomen uses the phrase "Jialan Shen," referring to all heavenly benevolent deities who uphold the Dharma; there are eighteen Jialan Shen: Mei Yin, Fan Yin, Tian Gu, Miao Qiao, Tan Mei, Guang Miao, Lei Yin, Shi Zi Yin, Miao Mei, Fan Xiang, Ren Yin, Fo Nu, Tan De, Guang Mu, Miao Yan, Che Ting, Che Shi, and Bian Guan, collectively called the "Eighteen Jialan Shen."

This is another interpretation entirely.

Fang Yu did not choose The Jialan Soaring Heaven Scripture; his gaze turned to other Immortal-rank Lianqifa methods, such as The Water Source Annotation, also an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method, belonging to the Water element among the Five Elements.

There is also The Blazing Fire Consuming Flame, also an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method, belonging to the Fire element among the Five Elements.

The Ten Thousand Golden Qing Spirit Body, an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method, belonging to the Metal element among the Five Elements.

The Xuan Huang Indestructible Art, an Immortal-rank Lianqifa method, not belonging to the Five Elements.

…

Each of these Immortal-rank Lianqifa methods requires one thousand five hundred Black and White Pills.

Fang Yu currently possesses sixty thousand Black and White Pills; he directly exchanged them for ten Immortal-rank Lianqifa methods, and fifteen thousand Black and White Pills vanished.

Afterwards, Fang Yu wandered through the first level of the Scripture Repository and spotted a divine-demon body-cultivation method.

The Chi Ming Nine Heaven Map.

This is the foremost divine-demon body-cultivation method, undisputedly the first.

The Chi Ming Nine Heaven Map is divided into several volumes; the first volume has nine layers—cultivating to the third layer reaches the Postnatal Realm, cultivating to the sixth layer becomes a Primordial Life, and cultivating to the final three layers reaches the Purple Palace Realm.

Once entering the Primordial state, one can control water and fire, possesses immense strength, a light and agile body, heightened six senses, and regenerates severed limbs.

Once entering the Purple Palace Realm, one can regenerate from a single drop of blood, cultivate the Great Divine Art of Manifesting Heaven and Earth, the Three Heads and Six Arms, the Candle Dragon Eye, and many other great divine abilities.

Fang Yu was indeed very curious about this method, hailed as the number one divine-demon body-cultivation art in the Three Realms, because the Chi Ming Nine Heaven Map grants regeneration from a single drop of blood upon entering the Purple Palace Realm.

In the Eternal Life Realm, this ability is only attained after reaching the second layer of the Longevity Secret Realm—the Immortal Body.

The cultivation systems of the two worlds collided at the point of regeneration from a single drop of blood.

Fang Yu's face lit up with delight.