Chapter 1147: Woodrot Spirit Treasure; The Illusion (I)

Since arriving in the Central Continent, Luo Chen had been forced to revise many of his old assumptions. Powerful cultivators gathered here in droves, great families stood throughout the land, and Sages who had once seemed so rare could now be seen almost everywhere.

At first, he had simply credited all of this to the Central Continent being the heart of the Mountains and Seas Realm, where the richest spirit lands and greatest resources had been concentrated for countless years. Yet the longer he stayed, the more he noticed something strange about many of these high-tier cultivators. Their cultivation was undoubtedly profound, but their bearing often fell far short of the same-tier cultivators he had encountered elsewhere. If he had to describe them in a word, it would be "immature"!

Luo Chen soon formed a hypothesis as to why, and after observing them for some time, that hypothesis seemed all but confirmed: The people here had enjoyed peace for far too long. The cultivators of the Central Continent certainly competed for status, resources, and opportunity, but those struggles usually remained within the limits maintained by the Dao Sect. Even heated disputes could be settled through formal contests or with something as civilized as Go.

Luo Chen, on the other hand, had never known this kind of life. His path had been shaped by constant danger, enemies, and one life-and-death struggle after another. By comparison, the cultivators of the Central Continent seemed almost like the immortals described in storybooks—free from war and calamity and able to devote themselves to cultivating in peace.

That peaceful environment allowed them to advance smoothly, but it also meant that most of them never underwent the kind of tempering that usually came with such strength. Their cultivation rose rapidly, while their temperament and bearing failed to keep pace.

Luo Chen could not say whether this way of cultivating was ultimately better or worse. If someone could advance without risking death at every turn, there was hardly any reason to seek hardship for its own sake. In any case, it simply had nothing to do with him. If he wanted to reach the very top of the Great Dao, he would have to continue as he always had.

Of course, that did not mean he looked down on the Dao Sect's geniuses. Their aptitude was exceptional, and they had still grown up amid competition between disciples, factions, and families. They were hardly weak-willed. More importantly, they already possessed the cultivation that others might spend a lifetime struggling to attain. Once they experienced enough genuine hardship, their existing foundations would allow them to mature quickly and develop the composure and bearing that befit cultivators at their level.

Luo Chen sometimes found it difficult to regard people like Fu Qinglan as his equals simply because they had also reached the Nascent Soul Realm, but precisely for this reason, he had never allowed that judgement to show. As long as they possessed the potential to mature, their current shortcomings did not matter much.

Until now.

Luo Chen looked at her hands and saw her fingers twisting nervously together under the pressure of a single gaze. His brows drew together. Is Fu Chaosheng really sure she's the one who can restore the Fu family? Does she actually have the potential to reach Divine Transformation?

For the first time, he seriously questioned whether the elder's expectations had been too high. Still, he had agreed to protect Fu Qinglan. Whatever his personal opinions were, he could hardly stand by and watch her be humiliated.

With a sigh, he stepped forward and moved in front of her, shielding her from that young man’s gaze while also hiding her from view.

Fu Qinglan froze and looked up. For a brief moment, she stared at the broad back before her, full of gratitude. But then she realized what exactly had happened, and heat rushed from her chest to her neck and then to her cheeks. It was humiliating enough that someone who had only recently begun treating her as an equal had witnessed her lose her composure. Worse, he had actually needed to step forward and shield her from nothing more than a pair of eyes. The shame of it made her face burn.

Luo Chen noticed Fu Qinglan's embarrassment at once and smoothly shifted her attention elsewhere before she could dwell on it. "Is he one of the thirteen taking part in the competition?"

"Yes. I mentioned him before. Three of the thirteen come from the Great Houses: Gu Yuan and Gu Daosu of the Gu family and Shi Ju of the Shi family. Of those three, Shi Ju is the strongest. I heard he isn't even bringing a Dao Protector into the pocket world. That should tell you how confident he is."

"What do you know about him?"

Fu Qinglan thought for a moment. "His talent and aptitude are probably the best amongst us. Though, to be fair, he belongs to the generation after ours. He simply cultivated so quickly that he caught up. The Shi family has spared no expense on him since he was young. After joining the sect, he began cultivating one of the Seven True Scriptures, the Supreme Profound Illumination Blaze Scripture. He also took first place in three minor competitions in a row. By the time he formed his Nascent Soul, he wasn't even 200 years old."

"Oh?"

That last detail immediately caught Luo Chen's attention. He himself had formed his Nascent Soul at around the same age. He had been 216 years old when he left the Demon Sea, but only because he had spent another 20 years consolidating his cultivation afterward. By that reckoning, Shi Ju had spent roughly the same amount of time cultivating as he had!

"Does he have a heavenly spirit root?"

Perhaps because she was still unsettled, Fu Qinglan was far more talkative than usual. She continued speaking to him through divine consciousness. "He does, but heavenly spirit roots aren't as rare in the sect as they are elsewhere. Among the thirteen participants in this competition, seven have a heavenly spirit root. And having a heavenly spirit root doesn't mean they can just rush through cultivation. If they rely too heavily on pills before forming their Nascent Soul, the Purple Mansion they develop afterward can be too fragile, which makes reaching Divine Transformation much harder. So most of them still have to control their cultivation carefully. Under normal circumstances, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm still takes close to 300 years."

Luo Chen's interest deepened. "Then how did Shi Ju manage it so quickly?"

"Well, his heavenly spirit root is definitely part of it, but he was also born with the Innate Nine Yang Dao Body." Fu Qinglan explained, "He can refine Sourceless Flames and use them to temper his mana directly. That lets him increase his cultivation without relying so heavily on pills, and that’s why he was able to advance so quickly."

Luo Chen raised an eyebrow and took a closer look at the man across from them. The similarities between them were hard to ignore. Shi Ju wore white robes much like his own, had spent almost the same number of years reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, and even possessed a fire-attribute physique that bore some resemblance to Luo Chen's Fire Spirit Body. The main difference was that Luo Chen had acquired his constitution later in life, through a lucky chance, while Shi Ju had been born with his.

By stepping in front of Fu Qinglan, he had also placed himself directly in Shi Ju's line of sight. At first, Shi Ju merely glanced at him. Yet the longer he looked, the more an unexplainable irritation began to rise within him. Without even turning around, he ordered the servant behind him, "Go find Old Ghost Qi."

The servant was clearly caught off guard but quickly bowed and hurried out of the Peach Garden.

Meanwhile, Fu Qinglan continued speaking to Luo Chen, though her voice gradually grew softer. "People say Shi Ju has the heart of an innocent child and that even after a hundred years of cultivation, his nature hasn't changed. But that doesn't mean he's kind. He just does whatever he wants and doesn't care about rules or what anyone thinks of him. A lot of people have suffered because of that. Senior Brother Liu Yuan went to the Northern Sea mainly to temper himself, but part of the reason was actually that Shi Ju constantly targeting him. And he isn't the only one who can't stand Shi Ju. Plenty of my seniors and juniors feel the same way. They just don't dare say anything. After all, a grand elder thinks very highly of Shi Ju, and he's from one of the Great Houses. With that kind of backing, most people can only put up with him."

Luo Chen harrumphed to himself as Fu Qinglan finished explaining. An innocent heart? He's obviously just a spoiled brat!

In the normal world, someone with Shi Ju's temperament would eventually meet a person willing to teach him a lesson. In the cultivation world, however, things were different. A powerful sect, an influential family, and overwhelming personal strength would often allow a temperament like this to grow entirely unchecked. When so few people were capable of forcing that person to show some restraint, ordinary arrogance could easily become something far more dangerous.

That realization made Luo Chen think of something else. There was no way Dragon Abyss had gone to the Northern Sea because he enjoyed hardship. The Dao Sect offered cultivation conditions most cultivators could only dream of, so why would he willingly leave all of that behind and risk his life elsewhere?

He looked at Fu Qinglan and asked, "Speaking of that, how does he treat you?"

This time, she fell silent.

Luo Chen did not press her, nor did he continue paying attention to Shi Ju. Whatever the man was like, there was no point in provoking a spoiled brat of a Great House. He had enough matters to deal with already and had no interest in creating unnecessary trouble. Thus, he turned his attention to the rest of the gathering.

Aside from the servants, attendants, and low-tier disciples of the Dao Sect, most of those present were Sages. Luo Chen knew little about their backgrounds, but with Wintermount and Lu Qiuzhen making introductions, he could at least gain a rough idea of them. There were patriarchs and family heads from various cultivation families, along with a number of Sages who had clearly come from the other territories. In truth, those outlanders were harder to identify. Even Wintermount and Lu Qiuzhen recognized only a few of the cultivators who had passed through Heaven-Earth Peak, and as for the rest...

"They were probably sent by the major powers from the other places to attend the ceremony!" said one of them.

What ceremony? Of course, the Saint Alchemist's Ascension Ceremony! And since the grand competition was also about to begin, they could also see which outstanding figures would emerge!

Luo Chen studied the crowd while comparing what he saw with the regional customs and styles of dress recorded in the texts he had previously read.

The Western Deserts had sent several representatives. They were not monks from the Hanging Temple, but cultivators from several other well-known Buddhist powers. Their bald heads were easy to pick out, and most had taken spots near the front, seeming quite interested in the contest taking place before them.

Someone from the Southern Frontier had also come as well, though that representative was far more mysterious. They stood near the rear of the crowd and were wrapped from head to toe in black robes. Luo Chen could not see enough to determine even whether the person was male or female. If not for the conspicuous distance everyone else kept from them, he might never have associated the mysterious cultivator with the Southern Frontier at all.

What surprised him was the Northern Sea representatives... or, rather, the lack thereof. There was no one at all! Perhaps the representatives simply had not appeared today, or maybe the recent upheavals had left the region too deeply embroiled in war for anyone to spare attention for distant events in the Central Continent. Well, in all fairness, it was even possible that no one had been invited at all. Whatever the reason, aside from Luo Chen, Wintermount, and Lu Qiuzhen, there seemed to be no other cultivator from the Northern Sea.

The Eastern Wilderness, by contrast, had sent a representative, despite the ongoing war between humans and demons. He was a young-looking cultivator dressed in Daoist robes bearing the emblem of the Nether Origin Sect. At the moment, he stood among Shi Ju and the others, joining their conversation and smiling whenever they laughed. Yet the strain behind that smile was plain to see.

After all, Saint Alchemist Chu Yan had once belonged to the Nether Origin Sect. Now she was preparing to ascend to the upper realm as a member of the Dao Sect, while her former sect could do nothing but send someone across continents to witness the occasion. No matter how graciously the man conducted himself, the situation could hardly be comfortable. After Luo Chen realized that, Shi Ju's smile suddenly seemed almost gloating.

Just then, Master Daoyin called out from the field, "Senior Brother Ke, thank you for agreeing to play this game with me today. Regardless of who wins, there is something I'd like to ask of you: I need a Woodrot Go Stone for one of my people. In exchange, I'll offer my family's treasured Unforgiven Go Manual. I hope you'll agree."