Chapter 14: Regret Not Having Exchanged More with Jiang Xuan

"Actually, we cultivators can refine divine marks once we reach the late stage of the Bitter Sea, refining the divine into various shapes such as blades, spears, swords, and staves, which is more powerful than simply releasing divine marks."

"Some refine divine marks into strange shapes, such as a book, a painting, a lamp, or a gate; such divine marks often wield extraordinary power."

"Even more ambitious cultivators repeatedly temper divine marks, refining them into heavy objects like bells, cauldrons, pagodas, seals, and incense burners; such cultivators usually walk the righteous path, overwhelming others with momentum, the strong are incomparably powerful, while the weak cannot support their ambition and instead botch things."

"It is rumored that our Lingxu Dongtian's Sect Master Holy Land, Yaoguang Holy Land, possesses an Emperor Weapon, the Dragon Pattern Black Gold Cauldron; objects of that level even interweave the trajectory of principles and possess the tremendous power to destroy the Eastern Wasteland Land."

Sect Master Li slowly lectured on knowledge related to artifacts; when mentioning the Dragon Pattern Black Gold Cauldron, his expression was full of emotion and yearning.

"Disciple has not cultivated for long, and my study of artifacts is not very deep; if I must say what interests me, Disciple is somewhat interested in incense burners."

Jiang Xuan spoke, seeming to have great affinity with incense burners; the first time he absorbed the Ten Thousand Prisons Furnace Sutra, and on the trip to Great Leiyin Temple, he found an Eight Trigrams Furnace.

"Incense burner?"

"Yes, taking an incense burner as the vessel is not a bad choice."

"In the Eastern Wasteland there is an Ancient Aristocratic Family whose clan-suppressing Emperor Weapon seems to be a furnace."

"A furnace as a vessel belongs to heavy objects and also carries special meaning; it can refine weapons and pills, and can be used for attack, making it a good choice."

"What matches a furnace is fire, furnace fire, walking the path of fire; within the Jin Zhi Realm there is a Fire Domain containing incomparably fierce fire, rumored to be able to burn immortals to death, extremely profound; you can go see it in the future."

"There is a kind of Eight Treasures Incense Burner with the meaning of intimidating demons and clearing disasters; a kind of Three-legged Incense Burner with the meaning of three-in-one and three lives giving birth to all things."

Hearing Jiang Xuan say the vessel he wanted to refine was a furnace, several Elders expressed their understanding of furnaces one after another, hoping to give Jiang Xuan some reference.

The reason he chose a furnace as his vessel, besides obtaining an Eight Trigrams Furnace at Great Leiyin Temple, was that after advancing to the Mingquan Realm, he sensed the Dao Patterns of the Magic Treasures within the Hongmeng Treasure Mirror more clearly.

Among them was a furnace that refines Heaven and transforms Earth—the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

"Draw in Great Void Fire, absorb Ancient Epoch Flame!"

Sensing the Dao Patterns of the Eight Trigrams Furnace within the Treasure Mirror with his consciousness, Jiang Xuan "saw" universes entering the furnace mouth, some turning into pills, others into flying ash.

This is absolutely a furnace surpassing Emperor Weapons, even surpassing Immortal Emperor Weapons.

The Hongmeng Treasure Imprint bears the Dao Patterns of countless magic treasures and divine weapons; this Eight Trigrams Furnace ranks among the foremost of countless magic treasures, with only a few magic treasures able to compare.

Jiang Xuan can "plagiarize" and comprehend its Dao Patterns; this is a peerless opportunity.

"Good, since you have chosen a furnace, I will bestow upon you a furnace for protection."

Sect Master Li and several Elders nodded, waving a hand, and a fiery-red furnace spun and flew out, arriving before Jiang Xuan.

"Jiang Xuan, this furnace is named Xuanhuo Furnace, and is a Spiritual Artifact magic treasure; now I and several Elders decide to bestow it upon you; later you will refine it with divine marks, which will greatly help your cultivation; hope you cultivate hard."

"Thank you Sect Master and all Elders, Disciple will definitely cultivate even harder, and glorify our Lingxu Dongtian."

Jiang Xuan said gratefully.

Jiang Xuan received the Xuanhuo Furnace, divine power surging, immediately feeling the furnace was connected with his mind and spirit, using it as easily as moving his arms.

Now he had two furnaces, one Eight Trigrams Furnace, one Xuanhuo Furnace, both at the level of Spiritual Artifact magic treasures.

To be honest, Jiang Xuan did not expect to be bestowed one.

In Ye Fan's original trajectory there was not much description of Lingxu Dongtian; now being here in person, he had different feelings.

It was just that he might have to leave Lingxu soon; grateful for Lingxu's help, when he rises in the future, he will definitely repay those who helped him a hundred or thousand times over.

A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring!

"Jiang Xuan, I and the Elders discussed and plan to have you replace Elder Wu Qing to lecture the New Disciples; what do you think?"

Seeing Jiang Xuan store the Xuanhuo Furnace in his Bitter Sea, Sect Master Li continued asking.

"Disciple dare not decline."

Jiang Xuan spoke.

The Dao scriptures are profound and vast; lecturing is also a way to organize what he has learned; moreover, being able to share some work for Lingxu Dongtian, Jiang Xuan was more than willing, and naturally agreed.

"Haha, lecturing will also give you corresponding contributions." Elder Wu Qing laughed.

Lecturing to Junior Disciples concerns the future of Lingxu Dongtian's cultivation seedlings; one must understand the Dao scriptures very thoroughly.

Otherwise, if what is lectured is wrong, would it not mislead the disciples and damage the development and growth of Lingxu Dongtian?

The Sect Master and many Elders entrusted him with this task, obviously believing he could do it well.

How could he betray the trust of these people who treated him exceptionally well?

Thinking this, Jiang Xuan drove divine light back to his residence; what he had to do next was consolidate his cultivation level.

After cultivating to the Mingquan Realm, his spirit and flesh were exceptionally strong; even without resting for a day and night, he would not feel a bit of fatigue, so he cultivated even harder, able to cultivate all night.

The next morning as the sun rose, Jiang Xuan finished cultivating and rose to fly to Lecture Cliff.

The so-called Lecture Cliff, as the name implies, is a place for lecturing, where new disciples are taught the Dao scriptures.

Lecture Cliff is not high, only over a hundred meters; any higher and new disciples would find it hard to climb up.

Early morning is the most suitable time for cultivation, so the lecturing time is arranged in the early morning.

Many disciples who had just entered and not yet opened the Bitter Sea, or had not gone far in the Bitter Sea Realm, would come here to listen to the Dao.

Also a small portion of disciples had already opened the Bitter Sea and cultivated several divine marks; such disciples usually have high status among the disciples, hoping to go further, so they occasionally come to listen to Elders explain profound arts.

The disciples saw a divine light traveling through the Void and immediately sat upright, preparing to listen respectfully to the Elder's lecture.

Jiang Xuan slowly drifted down to the cliff top and sat cross-legged.

"Who is this?"

"Isn't it Elder Wu?"

"Why is he so young? Is he at the Mingquan Realm? Or above Mingquan?"

"Is he going to lecture us?"

Seeing Jiang Xuan sitting cross-legged at the cliff edge where Elder Wu used to lecture, all the disciples felt shocked and puzzled.

But they also knew Jiang Xuan was the teacher for this lecture; in the past there had been similar situations, when the lecturing Elder had other matters, another Elder would substitute temporarily.

"Quiet, Elder Wu has other arrangements; from now on I will lecture; I am Jiang Xuan."

Jiang Xuan spoke.

Below, Li Xiaoman, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, Zhou Yi, and the others exchanged glances, all widening their eyes, revealing disbelief.

"Is it really Jiang Xuan?"

"It's too unbelievable!"

Having entered the sect for only a month, they were still contemplating the Dao Scripture, not knowing when they would open the Bitter Sea, while this old classmate had already reached the Life Spring and could even lecture the disciples on the Dao Scripture—it was truly shocking.

Like Lin Jia and Li Xiaoman, who were famous for their beauty at university and had never fallen behind in their studies, otherwise Li Xiaoman would not have had the opportunity to study abroad; they were confident their learning ability was not inferior to anyone else's.

But now, their understanding of the Dao Scripture was less than one-tenth, and opening the Bitter Sea would still take a long time, while this old classmate had already reached the Life Spring.

It was simply too fantastical!

Jiang Xuan sat in meditation on the cliff and began lecturing on the beginning of the Dao Scripture.

"The Dao is empty, yet its use is never exhausted……"

"Deep and abstruse, it seems the ancestor of all things……"

Lecturing the Dao to others was also a way of identifying and filling gaps in oneself; in the process of lecturing on the Dao Scripture, Jiang Xuan gained a deeper understanding of the scripture.

"There is something formless and perfect, born before Heaven and Earth. Silent and void, standing alone without changing, circulating without tiring, it can be the mother of Heaven and Earth. I do not know its name; I forcefully call it the Dao, and forcefully name it Great."

The principles Jiang Xuan lectured became increasingly profound, and many disciples listened as if intoxicated.

The time for lecturing the Dao was only one shichen in the early morning; the elder lecturing and Jiang Xuan himself also needed to cultivate, so they could not lecture endlessly.

After one shichen, the lecture ended, and Jiang Xuan rode the Divine Light and flew away.

"Haha, the Dao Scripture Senior Brother Jiang lectured was truly profound yet easy to understand; I completely understood it, and when I return I will definitely open the Bitter Sea."

One disciple was overjoyed.

"So Divine Marks can be used like this; I was truly too rigid before."

A disciple who had cultivated several Divine Marks pondered thoughtfully.

"I feel the principles Senior Brother Jiang lectured are better than what the elder teaches; how wonderful it would be if I could listen to Senior Brother Jiang lecture on the Dao every day."

A disciple who still had a long way to go before opening the Bitter Sea wished he could listen to Jiang Xuan lecture on the Dao every day and hear his teachings.

Disciples with deep cultivation levels, disciples with shallow cultivation levels, and disciples who had not yet opened the Bitter Sea discussed among themselves, all with satisfied expressions, expressing their admiration for Jiang Xuan.

In the back rows, the twenty-six old classmates and the foreigner Kaide still wore expressions of shock.

They had just listened to Jiang Xuan lecture on the Dao Scripture; this one shichen of explanation was more than their understanding from the previous month, directly advancing their contemplation progress by a month, and they even felt Jiang Xuan explained more thoroughly than Elder Wu.

"Sigh, if I had known Jiang Xuan was extraordinary, I never expected him to be this extraordinary."

"This old classmate of ours is probably a figure who will become an immortal."

"Too bad that back when we were studying, I didn't interact with Jiang Xuan more!"

One classmate felt regretful.

After the disciples dispersed, the group of classmates still found it unbelievable; the success of someone they knew was more shocking than the success of a stranger.

(Chapter End)