Chapter 39

Qian Chen rode the clouds daily to gather qi, and though he took care to conceal his movements, he was still noticed by those with intent; at midnight, a green cloud rose from the small courtyard, and by the hour of Yin, it descended again. The cloth shop’s clerk, while delivering Daoist robes, stole glances several times, but Qian Chen paid it no mind.

He did not move locations because, during his breakthrough sensation, he accidentally sensed a faint yin earth-sha pulse beneath this desolate courtyard.

This yin pulse lay more than eighty feet underground, its sha energy thin and weak—unsuitable for use, yet a trace of purity remained, rare indeed.

Thus, because the sha was both hidden and inherently feeble, it escaped detection by cultivators in this remote county; Qian Chen lived here for days without noticing it—only when his breakthrough sensation sharpened his spiritual sense did he perceive this sha.

Qian Chen reasoned: though this small county was remote, such a large estate was no small fortune—why would anyone abandon it unless there was something strange? When he first ordered the robes, the shop clerk had mentioned rumors of ghosts haunting the house; likely, during the solar terms of Jingzhe, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan, the sha energy surged under celestial influence and rose to the surface.

Gang and sha energies were extremely violent forms of heavenly and earthly qi; cultivators dared not easily absorb them, let alone ordinary mortals.

Presumably, the strange phenomena accompanying the sha’s ascent frightened the estate’s owners, and after each surge, those within the house inevitably fell gravely ill—those with weak constitutions even died suddenly.

Over time, rumors spread, and no one dared reside there; the estate fell into ruin.

This sha was too feeble; though slightly pure, it was still hard to utilize. Even if Qian Chen absorbed it into his Seven Sha Banner, it would not add a new sha to make it an Eight Sha Banner—it would merely waste this rare purity. Qian Chen had not yet decided how to use it, so he simply left it be and continued focusing on gathering and refining qi.

His cultivation had advanced daily; the nine heavenly pure spiritual qi he gathered each day was now sufficient, his internal qi long since refined into true qi, his cultivation base several times stronger than before, and nearly all the magical artifacts he had previously failed to fully refine were now partially perfected. Though his cultivation base was still mediocre in the Central Lands, with these demonic artifacts, Qian Chen had full confidence to challenge left-path cultivators who had formed Golden Cores.

But this only worked against low-tier left-path Golden Core cultivators—seventh, eighth, or ninth rank. If he encountered a sixth-rank left-path Golden Core, Qian Chen would struggle to cope.

If he provoked a top-tier Daoist Golden Core true disciple, Qian Chen would stand no chance—he could only retreat.

Though he did not know what rank Miao Kong’s Core was, the fact that he annihilated the entire Languan Sect meant his combat power was no less than that of a first- or second-rank Daoist Golden Core. With his current cultivation, facing Miao Kong would be suicide.

Miao Kong’s Guide Permission allowed him to track Qian Chen’s official missions. They had not met before because the trial missions were protected by the Lord of Reincarnation, beyond the Guide’s authority—if every Guide could assist their charges, what would be the point of a trial? It was ironic: this tracking permission was originally a benefit granted to those entering the Reincarnation Realm via the Reincarnation Guide, ensuring safety during the first three missions by providing Guide assistance.

The exorbitant price of the Reincarnation Guide had, in part, three-tenths of its cost justified by this very feature.

But for Qian Chen, this original benefit had become a death sentence…

That meant, on his next official mission, Qian Chen would very likely encounter Miao Kong. If he could not, within a year, acquire a trump card capable of countering Miao Kong—equivalent to a Golden Core level—he would be done for in his Reincarnation journey.

These days of single-minded cultivation, though dull and monotonous, brought daily progress in his Dao—Qian Chen found it sweet enough.

Yet, proceeding methodically as he was, while his future was naturally bright, it still could not help him face the calamity in one year.

One day, as Qian Chen returned riding the clouds, he sensed his true qi had reached perfect maturity; after passing the breakthrough sensation bottleneck, the phase of rapid advancement was over—future progress would require slow, patient refinement, no haste allowed.

He murmured inwardly: “Previously, I focused solely on my own Dao, leaving no time for other pursuits. Now, roughly a month has passed. My Dao’s advancement cannot be rushed, nor will it enable me to face Miao Kong—a foe of such magnitude—in a year… Even if a method existed to accelerate my Dao, I would not dare try it—is cultivation something to be joked with?”

“Better to slow my advancement and linger longer in the Qi Refining realm!”

“After all, ancient cultivators focused solely on Qi Refining, known as ancient Qi Refiners, ascending through forty-nine levels to reach the Primordial Spirit. Only after the Great Daoist Ancestor of the Supreme Path founded the Golden Core Dao did later cultivators turn to Core Formation—a shortcut, ten times easier than achieving Primordial Spirit… Too bad that Great Daoist Ancestor never devised a Nascent Soul method—what a loss of classic wisdom!”

“Modern Daoist Nascent Souls are all of dull talent and coarse bodies; after forming a Golden Core, they must condense their qi into a baby form, transferring their soul and spiritual awareness into it, discarding their original, inferior flesh. It is a method of changing dwellings, forging a cauldron. Some great Daoists even do this to sever worldly ties and resolve karmic debts.”

“Though this condensation yields superior cultivation potential, one drawback is slow growth—many cultivators who have trained for a thousand years and reached Primordial Spirit still retain the appearance of children, due to their Nascent Soul form. It is said the supreme Nascent Soul methods possess miraculous longevity and tribulation-avoidance powers… But our Supreme Path, when discarding our bodies, prefer to possess newly dead flesh rather than indulge in such practices.”

“It is the wandering cultivators of the seas, the heterodox great beings, and even the sword cultivators and true disciples of the Biyou Palace’s Lingbao Dao who favor this.”

Qian Chen narrowed his eyes; with this thought, he recalled the four signature arts of the Daoist Three Pure Ones’ true lineages…

Among the three Daoist Ancestors’ true lineages—the Supreme Path favored alchemy; the Primordial Path excelled in artifact crafting, possessed countless magical treasures, and was also highly skilled in talisman arts; the Lingbao Path cherished swords and was adept at arrays, known as the foremost sword-array school.

These four arts—alchemy, artifacts, talismans, arrays—were the four orthodox paths of external Dao, rich with cultivation subtleties, not mere defensive external arts.

After all, the Golden Core path most cultivators follow today was discovered by the Supreme Path Ancestor during his alchemical experiments; thus, external alchemy predates internal alchemy by far, and mastery of alchemy greatly aids cultivators in forming Golden Cores. The Tongfa realm, it is said, also connects to talisman arts—at least, for Zhengyi disciples, initiation, talisman reception, and Foundation Establishment are inseparable, holding profound mystery.

Other sects: Foundation Establishment, Sensation, Qi Refining, Tongfa.

Zhengyi: Tongfa, Foundation Establishment, Sensation, Qi Refining.

Zhengyi disciples often practiced spells before even achieving Sensation; thus, Daoist academies spread across the land, with ten directions of monasteries and countless talisman-receiving Daoists, laying a solid foundation for the Primordial Path’s dominance. As a result, their entry-level disciples outnumbered the Supreme Path by a hundredfold. Had Languan Sect maintained Zhengyi’s strict, accessible-yet-hard-to-mastery system, it would never have declined so far as to be exterminated.

Sword cultivators, focused on their primordial flying sword, need no further mention. The Lingbao Path’s array arts were supreme, tied to the path beyond Primordial Spirit—it is said the Primordial Spirits formed by Lingbao cultivators possessed extraordinary power; had the Primordial Path not equipped every Primordial Spirit with a magical treasure from the start, Lingbao Primordial Spirits would not have been rare. The Supreme Path’s depth was profound, its Dao cultivation first among Daoists—had the Daoist sects chosen a leader, they might have selected the Lingbao Primordial Spirit.

Thus, among Daoist true disciples, those studying puppetry, strange mechanics, star-observation, or mechanical devices were often advised by elders to wait until after forming a Golden Core before pursuing such external arts.

But the Supreme Path’s alchemy, the Primordial Path’s talisman arts, and the Lingbao Path’s sword techniques were taught from the very moment of entry.

The Daoist true disciples’ alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and arrays were not like left-path arts; they emphasized cross-applicability. It is said the ancestor of the Doulou Palace was originally the Supreme Path Ancestor’s fire-tending boy, who suddenly awakened to the Dao while stoking the furnace during the Ninefold Golden Elixir’s refinement. As the Ninefold Golden Elixir turned nine times within the furnace, he absorbed and refined various great medicines within himself, achieving nine turns of Core Formation. On the day the Supreme Path Ancestor completed his elixir, the Doulou Palace ancestor also completed his ninth turn, forging a Ninefold Golden Elixir and achieving Primordial Spirit, immortal and ageless.

The Supreme Path Ancestor bestowed upon him that furnace’s elixir, took him as a disciple, and gave him the fan he used for stoking fire as the true token of the Supreme Path’s lineage.

Of course, this was merely a legend passed down by the Doulou Palace. Qian Chen knew of it because Languan disciples often joked that among the Supreme Path’s three true lineages, only the Taiqing Sect’s Xuandu Daozun and Languan’s Wenshi Ancestor were true disciples of the Supreme Path.

Xuandu Daozun was the Supreme Path Ancestor’s final disciple, accepted after his Dao attainment; Wenshi Ancestor had accompanied him even before his Dao attainment. Thus, among the Supreme Path’s three true lineages, Languan should lead. As for the Doulou Palace, it was founded by the Ancestor’s fire-tending boy—had he not luckily inherited the Ancestor’s ancient heavenly palace, he would not even qualify as a true disciple.

After all, the Doulou Palace ancestor had forged elixirs for the Ancestor, yet the Supreme Eight Trigrams Furnace now resided in the Taiqing Sect as the lineage’s treasure.

The Doulou Palace received only a fan for stoking fire… the implications were profound.

Though Languan spoke thus, Xuandu Daozun remained the Supreme Path Ancestor’s eldest disciple and Wenshi True Person’s elder brother, residing in the Taiqing Heaven’s Ba Jing Palace as the head of the Daoist sect. They dared utter such words only within Languan; after Languan’s decline, they even dared not mock the Doulou Palace anymore.

Qian Chen had considered many ways to temporarily boost his magical power. Ideally, he would use his original body’s Supreme Path Dust Pearl—but for some reason, once his spiritual sense left the Dust Pearl, he could no longer command the old man. Though the old man was his own body, he still treated his second soul with extreme arrogance, refusing to budge even when prodded.

Next best, if he could obtain a magical treasure, its inherent power would make him less fearful of any cultivator below Primordial Spirit.

Alas, unless he sold his own body, no one would believe he could acquire a magical treasure within a year—it would sound absurd. Even though the Primordial Path had the most relics and magical treasure opportunities among all sects, with nine heavenly palaces and eight hundred magical treasures, no uninitiated cultivator had ever received one.

Even the Primordial Path’s chosen ones destined to endure tribulations only began their blessed, treasure-rich lives after forming a Golden Core.

Next came the four auxiliary Dao paths: alchemy, artifacts, talismans, arrays. Ignore the heavenly opportunities like the Tianfu True Talisman, magical treasures, cavernous arrays, or Ninefold Golden Elixir—what Qian Chen could currently produce was the True Talisman and Divine Register: the True Talisman could confer Daoist status, and was only forged by the Zhengyi Sect when bestowing titles upon Daoists who had rendered great service to the Daoist sect.

One True Talisman granted immediate Golden Core-level power; the Tianfu True Talisman bestowed by the Celestial Zhengyi Sect could elevate the recipient to Primordial Spirit-level power, granting instant immortality.

The Divine Register was the Zhengyi Sect’s talismanic edict for appointing spirits and deities; today, only the reigning Emperor could commission Zhengyi to forge one or two during divine investitures.

It was equivalent to a certificate within the Daoist spirit hierarchy.

Such talismans were marvelous indeed… but only the Zhengyi Sect specialized in them; Qian Chen had no idea how to forge them.

Array arts were too advanced. Though Qian Chen could now set up basic arrays like the Confusion Array or Five Elements Array, mastering their advanced applications demanded terrifying resources and Dao cultivation—this was an auxiliary Dao path one only entered upon reaching Primordial Spirit.

After weighing all options, Qian Chen concluded: his own sect’s signature art—alchemy—was his most reliable path.