Chapter 406: Daliang

The transformation of his soul, which caused his Innate Power to skyrocket, was a surprise Lin Chen hadn't expected.

However, this wasn't all the surprise.

The transformation of his soul not only made his perception of everything around him clearer, but also made his reactions faster.

The Heaven-Deriving Myriad Phenomena Annihilation Palm, which he had deduced in the Wu Wu Yanjing, gained some new insights at this moment.

This palm technique, created by himself, was different from the Canglan Art and the Canglan Finger; as his soul strengthened, it was also constantly being perfected.

The soul affects not only perception and martial will, but also reaction speed and deductive ability.

Lin Chen slowly raised his hands, focusing all his spirit on them.

He lightly struck out with his right palm, and the trajectory of the Heaven-Deriving Myriad Phenomena Annihilation Palm slowly emerged. At the center of his palm, a gray pattern flickered in and out of existence.

Slap!

He struck out with one palm.

A small-scale collapse and annihilation appeared in the space in front of him.

What kind of energy was this?

The gray energy slowly dissipated the moment his palm struck out, and the few remaining strands quickly sank into his palm and vanished.

A sharp light shone in Lin Chen's eyes; this was not Canglan energy, nor was it Innate Power, but a mysterious energy that was extremely strange and carried the power to annihilate all things.

However, when Lin Chen tried again, the gray energy never appeared.

"Strange."

After staring at his palm for a long time and finding no answers, Lin Chen temporarily gave up.

At this moment, his points on Mount Wudao were completely exhausted.

With a thought, Lin Chen withdrew from Mount Wudao.

In the courtyard, Ji Cangtian and Du Xiaofeng were still there. Seeing Lin Chen's figure appear, both of them looked over immediately.

"It seems the harvest was not small."

Just by glancing at Lin Chen's state, smiles appeared on the faces of Ji Cangtian and Du Xiaofeng.

With their discernment, even though Lin Chen didn't release his aura, the increase in aura brought about by the growth in strength still couldn't escape their perception.

"Sect Master, Master, the Innate Power within this disciple has increased threefold, and my soul has also undergone a transformation."

Facing the two, Lin Chen didn't hide anything and recounted his experiences on Mount Wudao.

What Lin Chen didn't expect, however, was that after he finished speaking, his Master's expression became very serious.

"Du Zhanglao, there is no need to worry; Lin Chen is walking a different path."

Ji Cangtian knew what Du Xiaofeng was worried about. No one's soul would be a star map; Du Xiaofeng was worried that something had gone wrong with Lin Chen's soul.

There had been geniuses in the Yan Huang Dynasty's martial arts world whose souls were unusual and different from ordinary martial artists. These geniuses had extremely strong souls, but later on, it was discovered that they had taken the wrong path and were ultimately stuck in the Innate Realm.

Some geniuses even had their souls mutate to an uncontrollable degree, eventually falling into demonic ways.

However, Ji Cangtian knew very well that Lin Chen's soul having such a change was due to the Canglan Art.

Originally, he thought Lin Chen would have to wait until he stepped into the second stage of the Innate Realm for his soul to have such a change; he hadn't expected him to be able to achieve soul-to-star-map transformation in the first stage.

"This old man understands."

Hearing the Sect Master's words, Du Xiaofeng also reacted; his disciple's soul change should be related to the place the Sect Master had taken him to.

"Regarding the matter of your soul transforming into a star map, do not speak of it to outsiders, lest it attract unwanted attention."

Ji Cangtian reminded Lin Chen, and Lin Chen nodded in agreement.

"For the next few days, stay in the sect and cultivate well. As for the sect missions, participate in them after your challenge on Mount Wudao ends."

"Sect missions?"

Lin Chen was a bit puzzled. Weren't sect missions chosen by the disciples themselves?

Those who needed contribution points would go execute sect missions, and those who didn't wouldn't.

"Every disciple, after entering the sect, must execute one sect mission, even personal disciples are no exception. Normally, this starts three months after entering the sect..."

Du Xiaofeng saw his disciple's puzzled look and explained with a smile.

"So that's how it is."

Lin Chen realized; this arrangement was perfectly fine.

"Du Zhanglao, this seat will take his leave now."

Ji Cangtian didn't continue to stay in the courtyard; Lin Chen's growth on Mount Wudao this time made him very satisfied.

Watching the Sect Master leave, Lin Chen asked curiously, "Master, what kind of missions does the sect arrange?"

"You are a personal disciple, so your missions are different from those of outer and inner disciples. Normally, a personal disciple's first mission is to go to the borders of our Canglan Domain to patrol, but your situation is special. The Sect Master certainly won't let you go to the borders of the Canglan Domain; it should be a relatively easy mission."

Du Xiaofeng stroked his beard and smiled. There were differences even among personal disciples, and his disciple belonged to the kind with extremely high potential.

"Either go to one of the dynasties under the Canglan Domain and be responsible for transporting martial arts resources to the sect, or go to a place rich in medicinal herbs or Innate energy mines to sit in command for six months."

"If possible, this disciple would prefer to choose to sit in command somewhere."

Lin Chen pondered for a long time and made his choice. The Canglan Domain was the base camp of the Canglan Sect, and those mineral fields containing Innate energy already had strong guards; no one dared to fight over these mines in the Canglan Domain. Going there was more like changing a place to cultivate.

As for escorting martial arts resources back to the sect, one couldn't stop along the way, which would instead delay cultivation time.

"Hmm, this Master will arrange it for you."

Du Xiaofeng nodded. Ordinary personal disciples had no choice, but his disciple was an exception.

…………

Bidding farewell to his Master, Lin Chen returned to the courtyard where he lived.

Although with the help of the Wu Wu Yanjing, he had sufficient comprehension of his cultivation techniques, this didn't mean there was no room for improvement.

Especially in soul manipulation, the Thousand Mechanisms God-Refining Art still had room to be explored.

He decided that before entering the challenge on Mount Wudao, he would focus all his mind on his soul.

……

……

Cultivation has no years; a month passed peacefully.

……

An island in the East Sea Domain.

Daliang.

In the imperial court, Kong Zhao Qifeng was currently discussing a list with the left and right prime ministers.

Since the establishment of the Martial Alliance, the Eight Nations had also begun to make contact with other islands, learning much information about martial arts above the First Rank.

Several nations had even begun to send martial artists to other islands and the East Sea Domain.

Daliang was the same, beginning to collect information from outside the islands.

"Currently, there are three destinations. One is the Qingshan Sect in the East Sea Domain. The Qingshan Sect has two Innate experts and occupies a city in the East Sea Domain. As long as one is under thirty and can reach the Mid-Rank, there is a chance to join."

The Left Prime Minister informed the two of the news collected: "Besides the Qingshan Sect, there are also several sects on Nine Mountains Island recruiting disciples, but the conditions are higher..."

Kong Zhao Qifeng looked at the records of the major sects in his hand with a thoughtful look. The Right Prime Minister on the side spoke up: "What about the East Sea Donghai Shengong in the East Sea Domain?"

"Don't even think about it. The East Sea Donghai Shengong has extremely high requirements for recruiting disciples; one needs to enter the Mid-Rank martial artist realm before the age of twenty. No one in our entire Daliang has reached that yet."

"It's not impossible. If given enough martial arts resources, a few little ones could reach it. But forcing growth like that to raise their realm, even if they went to the East Sea Donghai Shengong, they would only be outer disciples."

Kong Zhao Qifeng shook his head. The East Sea Donghai Shengong was the number one sect in the East Sea Domain, ruling over the entire East Sea Domain, including their sea islands; it was a true behemoth.

If possible, they also wanted geniuses in their country to be able to join the East Sea Donghai Shengong.

But the requirements for the East Sea Donghai Shengong to recruit disciples were too high. Very few in all of Daliang could meet the requirements, and even those who did wouldn't be valued if they went to the East Sea Donghai Shengong.

"Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. The gap is too large, and it will also affect these little ones."

In Daliang, those under twenty who could reach the Mid-Rank were Xiao Yaojin, Fang Zhan, and a few other little ones. They were still a year away from twenty. As long as Daliang was willing to exchange some martial arts elixirs with the outside world, they could let these people enter the Seventh Rank.

But these little ones were top-tier in Daliang, whether in terms of background or martial arts progress. Letting them go to the East Sea Donghai Shengong to become undervalued outer disciples would likely cause a psychological gap they couldn't bear, which would instead affect their cultivation state of mind.

"Not everyone is Lin Chen."

Kong Zhao Qifeng's sigh made the left and right prime ministers deeply agree.

Someone like Lin Chen, who came from humble beginnings and could still make a comeback, was a rarity; one could even say he was the first person since the Nine Nations had martial arts cultivation.

"Then agree to the Qingshan Sect's conditions?"

The Left Prime Minister asked. It was true that the Qingshan Sect recruited Mid-Rank martial artists under thirty, but it didn't mean that just being under thirty and entering the Mid-Rank guaranteed joining the Qingshan Sect.

The condition the Qingshan Sect offered Daliang was that one disciple had to bring one strand of Innate energy, which was the so-called entry fee.

This was the reason why the three of them had been hesitating.

Daliang had places containing Innate energy, and because of the Canglan Sect, other forces didn't dare to have designs on them.

These three places containing Innate energy were also Daliang's only capital for exchanging martial arts resources with the outside world. As for elixirs and medicinal herbs, they didn't have much appeal to martial artists outside the islands.

Conversely, Daliang needed better martial arts elixirs from the outside world, and these all required Innate energy to exchange.

The entire outside world used Yan coins. The vast Daliang only had one thousand Yan coins given by the adult from the Canglan Sect who had come to pick up Lin Chen.

One thousand Yan coins were a huge fortune for one martial artist, but for the entire Daliang, it was just a drop in the ocean. There were too many places where Daliang needed to use Yan coins.

"We can produce three strands of Innate energy every year. The three strands of Innate energy for this year have already been collected. Let's send three disciples to the Qingshan Sect first."

Kong Zhao Qifeng stated his suggestion. There was a hint of hesitation in the eyes of the left and right prime ministers. In their view, the best way was actually to start cultivating a new generation of martial artists.

After communicating with the outside world, Daliang also knew how the outside world cultivated martial artists. They started cultivating from a young age. Daliang could completely rely on Innate energy to purchase such elixirs and start cultivating those four or five-year-old children...

After more than ten years, these children would definitely be able to step into the Mid-Rank. In this way, there would be no need to rely on Innate energy to exchange for sect entry quotas.

The two had also proposed this suggestion, but it was rejected by Kong Zhao Qifeng.

In Kong Zhao Qifeng's view, doing so meant abandoning the current generation of martial artists and sacrificing their future.

As the Minister of the Martial Administration Department, he really couldn't bear to see these little ones waste their lives in Daliang.

"Let's send three first, and decide next year based on the results."

Kong Zhao Qifeng's eyes carried a hint of pleading, and the left and right prime ministers finally nodded in agreement.

"Then I will go contact the deacon of the Qingshan Sect."

The Qingshan Sect had a deacon living in the Daliang capital, waiting for Daliang to give an answer.

And just as the Left Prime Minister stood up and prepared to leave the main hall, a voice suddenly came from above the main hall.

"Hahaha, congratulations to Daliang, congratulations to Daliang."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 407 =====