Chapter 44: The Guest Steals the Stage

The fundamental principle of the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting is to absorb the cultivator’s destiny to reinforce one’s own foundation; the creator of this method, the Devouring Moon True Person, was himself a child of destiny. After achieving mastery in the Dao, he believed destiny was too elusive and unstable, capable of vanishing abruptly with shifts in cosmic fortune, far less reliable than converting it into a solid foundation—hence he devised this method.

This visualization technique can roughly convert about one-tenth of one’s destiny into foundation; thus, the more destiny one possesses, the better the cultivation effect, and without destiny, it’s equivalent to wasting time. This method was essentially tailor-made for children of destiny. In the past century, those blessed with destiny have been countless, with children of destiny emerging in droves, causing the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting to gradually gain popularity and become one of the Six Universal Body-Casting Methods.

The recorded insights of past disciples show that a cultivator with a foundation measurement of one zhang corresponds to a visualization range of ten zhang; then, each additional zhang of destiny extends the visualization range by another zhang, roughly in this ratio—so eleven zhang is typically the limit, while the record left by an extraordinary cultivator is twelve zhang. These disciples also left behind their visualization images at the moment of Body-Casting completion, for later generations to reference.

Needless to say, these visualization images are all brilliantly multicolored, naturally adorned with dazzling effects—dragons, phoenixes, qilins, blue lotus pagodas, everything imaginable—with even coloring and balanced composition, unmistakably extraordinary. Those with unimpressive manifestations wouldn’t dare to leave an image in the book.

While studying these visualization images, Wei Yuan noticed a detail: the range of the visualization was always measured from the ground, with the boulder and the Jade Toad not proportionally enlarged, and the crescent moon’s expansion even smaller. Although Wei Yuan’s current visualization span is only three zhang, everything is scaled uniformly, so when he transforms into the Jade Toad, he still feels extremely cramped.

Perhaps this is why his visualization expands slower than others? Wei Yuan finally found a reason to comfort himself.

Another reason is that aristocratic disciples like Cui Yu, Bao Yun, and Xiang Xiaoyu had already refined their bones before entering the sect. After refinement, these children awakened early, and once they began cultivation, their progress was lightning-fast. Even in the Martial Assessment, Li Zhi and others already displayed mature speech and conduct. Cui Yu is actually eight years old; having refined his bones for several extra years, he forcibly raised his bone length from seven chi to eight chi, while cultivating at a pace far surpassing others.

Wei Yuan’s destiny comes from beyond the heavens—he doesn’t know how it came to him. This destiny defies all conventional measurement. The benefit is that it can indeed be slowly converted into foundation through the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting; the drawback is that his foundation is unstable, requiring extraordinary effort to purify and solidify it.

After reading two of the insights, Wei Yuan realized that Senior Sister Liu Li’s ability to purify foundation was astonishing—one medicinal bath equaled half a month of his own solitary cultivation. Clearly, her herbal concoctions were no ordinary thing.

But Wei Yuan harbored a hidden worry: the herbs Senior Sister Liu Li prepared were surely what was called “nourishment supplies,” which by rights should be charged for. Given how effective they were at purifying foundation, the price must be steep—and his own master clearly had no silver to spare.

Wei Yuan knew worrying about this now was useless. He set his concerns aside and continued cultivating, endlessly inhaling and exhaling lunar essence. Only by surpassing others in cultivation progress could he give Zhang Sheng even a modest account.

Cultivation knows no days or months. Before he knew it, more than half a month had passed. During this time, Zhang Sheng visited Wei Yuan only once, offered a few pointers, and stayed less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense—leaving Wei Yuan feeling hollow and lost.

A few days later, Bao Yun completed her visualization. On the day she finished, Liu Li personally gathered everyone and had Bao Yun manifest her visualization in the center of Qisi Hall.

Bao Yun expanded her visualization to eleven zhang in thirty-nine days. Though still short of the previous master’s twelve zhang, her Jade Toad bore a rainbow, and within the aerial moon, countless gods and demons flickered in and out, each desperate to push forward and be seen. Blue lotuses sprouted on the boulder, their roots shrouded in chaos. Above the Jade Toad’s head sat a golden figure, ancient and majestic, utterly supreme.

The originally serene and elegant Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting had been transformed by Bao Yun into the Descent of the Immortal Sovereign. The myriad manifestations stole the spotlight, turning the once absolute protagonist—the Jade Toad—into nothing more than a mount.

Such an extraordinary manifestation immediately caused a stir within the Tai Chu Palace. Not only did several senior members of the Bao family come in person to witness it, but rumors said several True Persons had secretly come to observe Bao Yun.

Looking at Bao Yun’s Descent of the Immortal Sovereign image, Wei Yuan’s heart grew heavier.

Wei Yuan’s visualization now spanned only six zhang. It did have a manifestation—a thin red line along the Jade Toad’s back—but unless one looked closely, it was invisible. This red line was only thanks to Zhenhai True Person’s single breath of true flame. Moreover, Wei Yuan’s expansion process was painfully slow: he advanced three steps only to retreat one. Ground painstakingly opened was shrunk by nearly half after being washed and soaked by Senior Sister Liu Li.

Although Wei Yuan’s rate of inhaling and exhaling lunar essence was slowly increasing, Senior Sister Liu Li’s herbs were growing ever more potent—and Xiangbizhixia , she was still the fiercer one.

Only the shadow within the overhead moon remained unchanged, unmoved, unaltered, unyielding, no matter how fiercely Wei Yuan drew upon it.

After this class ended, Wei Yuan did not return home directly. Instead, he went to the dining hall and bought three hundred jin of rice, filling a large barrel.

The rice in Tai Chu Palace was no ordinary grain—it was spiritual rice, rich in spiritual energy. Spiritual rice is also the main ingredient in Qi-Nourishing Pills; eating a small bowl sufficed for a full day without hunger. Moreover, within Tai Chu Palace, a barrel of rice could remain unspoiled for ten years.

Wei Yuan planned to save the money spent on Qi-Nourishing Pills. The cost of a month’s supply of pills could buy enough rice to last a year. With this barrel of rice on hand, he could even save the time spent going out to forage.

Wei Yuan resolved inwardly: aside from attending classes, he would devote every moment to cultivation, wasting not a single second. Inhaling and exhaling lunar essence required no thought, so he no longer needed the clarity granted by Qi-Nourishing Pills.

Although he still needed sleep, he could inhale and exhale lunar essence while sleeping!

A few more days passed. After class, Wei Yuan was inhaling lunar essence when suddenly a soft bell tone sounded beside his ear—it signaled a visitor.

Wei Yuan ended his practice, rose, and opened the courtyard gate. There stood a classmate. He bowed to Wei Yuan and said, “Miss Bao Yun has made progress in her cultivation. Tomorrow night, she will host a banquet at Zui Feng Tower for our classmates, and also discuss how to prepare for the sect’s triennial minor examination. Please, Brother Wei, attend without fail.”

Wei Yuan had no reason to refuse.

Yet when he first enrolled, nearly everyone called him “Brother.” Now, he was merely “Brother Wei.”

At dusk the next day, a light carriage halted outside Wei Yuan’s courtyard, carrying him to Zui Feng Tower. The carriage moved swiftly yet with uncanny smoothness; the dozens of li were covered in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, yet Wei Yuan inside felt no motion at all.

As he stepped down from the carriage, Wei Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at the Bao family’s immense wealth—this carriage was for him alone. With over thirty classmates, wouldn’t they need over thirty carriages?

Once again, wishing everyone a joyful festival! Extra chapters will be added at irregular times today!

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(End of Chapter)