「Spirit Turtle Peak.」
「Hall of Valiant Spirits.」
This place was originally where the Divination Sect paid homage to the ancestral masters’ spirit tablets. Eight hundred years ago, after the Sanqing Immortal Sect suffered a catastrophe, the head of the Divination Sect sat in the ancestral shrine for one hundred days, personally carving over a hundred thousand spirit tablets for the heroic dead. Thereafter, his life force was spent, his lamp extinguished, and he faded into ash.
In such a place, even someone as irreverent as Wang Xiu wore a solemn and serious expression, showing no hint of neglect or disrespect.
"Jiang Ling’er," Wang Xiu said earnestly, holding the Divination Sect’s legacy jade seal. "Have you truly thought this through? Do you wish to be inducted into the Sanqing Immortal Sect, under the Divination Sect of Spirit Turtle Peak?"
"For the rest of your life, you shall take up the duty of upholding righteousness, warding off evil, slaying demons, and exterminating monsters!"
Upholding righteousness and warding off evil. Slaying demons and exterminating monsters.
Looking at the solemn Wang Xiu, Jiang Ling’er’s expression also grew serious as she proclaimed earnestly, "This disciple will always remember. For the rest of my life, I will uphold righteousness, ward off evil, slay demons, and exterminate monsters. I will never waver!"
Wang Xiu nodded slightly. "I haven’t submitted your application to the Archive Division yet. You have the next three days to change your mind and take it back at any time."
"The small courtyard to the left of the Hall of Valiant Spirits was where my master lived," he continued. "Clean it up a bit, and you can move right in. But don’t sleep in the main room; that’s where my master used to sleep. You can choose either the east or west wing."
With that, Wang Xiu turned and left, having no intention of getting friendly.
The reason was simple. Wang Xiu had lived alone since he was six years old. It wasn’t that there hadn’t been new disciples who joined the Divination Sect on a whim during that time. However, these disciples would often raise a ruckus to switch branches after staying for no more than three to five days. The longest any of them ever lasted was barely half a month.
It couldn’t be helped. The vast Spirit Turtle Peak was bleak and desolate. At night, the fierce winds howled like wailing ghosts and wolves. Next door, in the Hall of Valiant Spirits, hundreds of thousands of spirit tablets lay in rows, their shadows flickering in the dim light. Very few could withstand such a nerve-wracking environment.
Over time, Wang Xiu had long since given up any hope for new junior brothers or sisters.
A delicate girl like Jiang Ling’er probably can’t last more than a few days either, he thought. Since she’s bound to leave sooner or later, there’s no point in getting emotionally invested. Otherwise, if we become too close, parting will be painful for both of us.
Leaving the Hall of Valiant Spirits, he returned to his own small courtyard.
ZAP! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet
Sitting cross-legged on a meditation mat in his secret chamber, Wang Xiu cast a series of hand seals in all directions. Instantly, streams of azure mystical light appeared, coalescing into a huge lotus platform that enveloped the entire chamber.
Green Lotus Sky-covering Array!
This was an inheritance of the Way of Formations from Yuhua Peak of the Sanqing Immortal Sect. It was a concealment formation capable of shielding against a cultivator’s Divine Sense and absorbing any spiritual energy fluctuations from within. Wang Xiu had learned of it by chance, overhearing a Formation Sect disciple boasting. A Perfection-level Green Lotus Sky-covering Array could elude the scan of even a Nascent Soul Stage Venerable, making it almost impossible to detect anything unusual.
"System," Wang Xiu commanded. "List the critical hit rewards I’ve received over the past few days."
As soon as he spoke, streaks of golden light flew out from his body, transforming into a series of cards before him.
[Mighty Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Golden Body]
A technique obtained from a critical hit triggered by overhearing a street performer, who could break stones with his chest, boasting. It is one of the Great Vajra Temple’s demon-subduing Divine Skills.
[Four Symbols Guardian Exorcism Array]
A technique obtained from a critical hit triggered by overhearing a Formation Sect disciple boasting. It is a supreme formation of the Sanqing Immortal Sect.
How should I put this? The probability of getting a critical hit from someone’s boasting is a mysterious thing, Wang Xiu mused. Sometimes, I can trigger a critical hit just by casually listening to street peddlers or martial artists bragging. Other times, I could spend a whole day on Seeking Dao Peak listening to cultivators boast and not trigger it even twice. It’s all down to luck.
"Fuse with the Mighty Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Golden Body!"
As his words fell, the card representing the Mighty Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Golden Body dissolved into his body. The next second, his clothes burst apart. His fair, jade-like skin was instantly enveloped in a golden glow, as if forged from the purest refined gold. On his chest, a golden tattoo of a Mighty Heavenly Dragon materialized, snarling and brandishing its claws, looking terrifyingly real. It radiated an aura that would make any evil demon shrink back in fear.
In that moment, Wang Xiu’s mastery of the Mighty Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Golden Body Divine Skill reached Perfection.
He slowly clenched his fist, feeling an immense power surging through him, an energy so overwhelming he felt an urgent need to unleash it. Gazing at the wall of the secret chamber, Wang Xiu threw a powerful punch.
The golden dragon on his chest seemed to awaken. It solidified from an illusion, followed the path of his fist, and shot out, crashing thunderously into the wall. The next second, the wall, which was protected by defensive formations, had a massive, spiral-shaped crater blasted into it by the golden dragon.
The power of that punch could probably match the full-force strike of a Foundation Establishment Ninth Heaven expert!
Aside from the fact that it shredded his clothes every time he used it, making it a bit of a waste of fabric, this ultimate technique had virtually no other weaknesses. It was more than enough to serve as one of his trump cards. Of course, he wouldn’t use it unless it was an emergency. After all, it would be hard to explain how a disciple of the Sanqing Immortal Sect was using an ultimate technique of the Great Vajra Temple, and at the Perfection level no less. It could easily cause a diplomatic incident. Even within the Great Vajra Temple itself, those who could cultivate this Divine Skill to the Perfection level were few and far between.
"Fuse with the Four Symbols Guardian Exorcism Array!"
The golden light merged into Wang Xiu’s body, and his mind was instantly flooded with a sea of information—countless insights into the Four Symbols Guardian Exorcism Array. He now felt as if he had studied this formation for decades, centuries, even millennia. He understood all of its subtleties as if they were the back of his hand. Given enough materials, he could set it up with ease. Of course, the quality of the materials would drastically affect the power of the final array; a Perfection-level mastery simply meant he could achieve the best possible result under a given set of conditions.
The haul this time was pretty good, Wang Xiu thought, grinning from ear to ear. For evasion and concealment, he had the Green Lotus Sky-covering Array; for suppression from a distance, the Four Symbols Guardian Exorcism Array; for close-quarters combat, the Mighty Heavenly Dragon Subduing Demon Golden Body; and for long-range attacks, the Black Tortoise Mirror.
Although his Cultivation Level was only at the Foundation Establishment Third Heaven, he felt he could now hold his own against a peak Foundation Establishment Ninth Heaven expert, or perhaps even a weaker cultivator at the Core Formation Stage.
I guess you could say I’m something of a genius now!
Just then, a system notification chimed in his mind.
[Detected someone nearby boasting intensely. Bragging critical hit triggered, reaching the System’s high threshold. Congratulations, Host, on gaining Mana +233, Mana Quality +233.]
[Congratulations to the Host on obtaining: Nether Emperor’s Prison-controlling Scripture Complete Experience Card!]
[Nether Emperor’s Prison-controlling Scripture: Supreme inheritance of the Ghost Path. Possesses an overwhelming suppressive effect on ghostly beings. When cultivated to its peak, it grants the wielder the magnificent power to command the Nine Nether Yellow Springs and suppress the Endless Inferno.]
Feeling the mana in his Dantian suddenly surge, pushing his Cultivation Level directly from the Foundation Establishment Third Heaven to the Fourth, Wang Xiu was completely stunned.
Good grief! Who on earth is out there bragging? That was... absolutely mind-blowing!