Chapter 394 - 392: Inheritance of the Profound Clarity Lineage

Chapter 394: Chapter 392: Inheritance of the Profound Clarity Lineage

The two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in Cold Crow Gorge were both fortunate and unfortunate.

On a most ordinary Sect mission, all the Qi Refining Disciples in the team had perished. It didn’t matter if it was an unforeseen disaster or a mistake in command.

As the Stewards leading the team, they had to bear the responsibility.

However, the sudden appearance of a Core Formation True Man was far beyond their ability to handle. At worst, the punishment would be a deduction of several times the mission’s Contribution Points—nothing too severe.

Fortunately, Ancestor Bai happened to pass by and saved their lives. Otherwise, they would have long since become corpses.

Caught in the aftermath of the battle between the two Core Formation True Men, they were both submerged in the floodwaters and nearly drowned in the torrent.

Later, when the Law Enforcement Hall came to clean up the battlefield, they discovered that among the dozens of Qi Refining Disciples, one was actually still alive.

His heart was naturally located in a different position from others, shifted an inch to the right.

Combined with a fellow disciple who had shielded him, the Water Arrow had been deflected just slightly, grazing past his heart and leaving a gaping hole in his body.

It was only when the Law Enforcement Hall Cultivators were moving the bodies that they found he was still breathing. He had just lost nearly all the blood in his body.

After being sent to the Pill Hall for three months of emergency treatment, he finally emerged, limping on a crutch.

"Senior Brother Zhou, I was still waiting to attend your wedding with Senior Sister Liuu... How could you just be gone..."

While Qiu Jingrong was recovering, he heard people talk about the reason he had survived.

Now, having left the Mountain Gate, he happened to see a funeral procession pass by. There were only three or four friends and relatives, singing a dirge and scattering paper money.

The thought of Senior Brother Zhou, now separated from him by life and death, filled his heart with sorrow.

That villainous Core Formation True Man had already been slain by Ancestor Bai. Senior Brother Zhou’s revenge was taken on the spot, so there was no need for him to train desperately for future vengeance.

Seeing the meager funeral procession for his departed fellow disciple, Qiu Jingrong took a stack of yellow paper and unconsciously joined the back of the line.

He followed the procession, scattering paper money and chanting the Rebirth Curse all the way.

"Thank you, Junior Brother, for seeing Senior Brother Lu off. If you don’t mind, please join us for a glass of wine."

After the funeral was over, a kind-faced Cultivator approached him with an invitation.

"Since Senior Brother has invited me, I dare not refuse."

Having gone through the ceremony, Qiu Jingrong found that the gloom in his chest had mostly lifted, and his mood was no longer so bleak.

Judging by their clothes and attire, these men were all Firework Daoists, occupying the lowest rung of the Sect.

Even servant disciples had the possibility of advancing and being promoted.

Every year, a good number of them who achieved results and met the age requirements became Outer Sect Disciples.

But Firework Daoists truly had no room for advancement. They were assigned long-term posts outside the Mountain Gate by the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, constantly rushing from place to place.

For example, the most arduous tasks like mining Ore Veins and tending to the Spirit Fields at various branches—more than eighty percent of the most basic and tedious jobs were done by Firework Daoists.

Some Outer Sect Disciples, and even some Inner Sect Disciples in recent years, had to start out as Firework Daoists.

Even newly-promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators could only become Stewards, forcing the other disciples to compete fiercely for lower positions.

Originally, Inner Sect Disciples were guaranteed a Steward position. Now, one had to be among the top performers and receive a recommendation from an Elder to get one.

The main reason was that the number of Sect Disciples had exploded, but the number of new positions was limited and nowhere near a proportional increase.

Besides those transferred from the ranks of Sect Disciples, the Firework Daoists also consisted of older Loose Cultivators and Cultivators who had joined from other Sects or Cultivation Families.

These people rarely followed the promotion path of orthodox disciples; they became Firework Daoists directly.

According to statistics from some idle hands in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, the Qingfeng Sect had over eight thousand Firework Daoists, and the proportion of them who were promoted to Steward was minuscule.

It was far more common for Inner Sect Disciples to be "parachuted" directly into the position.

After some casual conversation, Qiu Jingrong learned that this group were all miners. The deceased Senior Brother Lu had been directly crushed to death by a chunk of refined iron ore weighing several thousand pounds that had slipped.

"The Sect used to use captured enemies and punished Sect Disciples as miners instead of Cultivators. I wonder why they’ve brought the practice back in recent years..."

Qiu Jingrong was still young and had never seen the Sect in its down-and-out days.

"That batch of hard laborers from the Ghost Spirit Sect either died at the bottom of the mines or are about to finish their sentences. And without a new sect war, where would we get so many captured enemies?"

The kind-faced Cultivator leading the group introduced himself as Zhong Xuan. He was originally a Loose Cultivator from Hejian County and had joined the Sect twelve years ago.

"If there really were a large number of laborers, people like us would all be out of a job. We don’t have any other skills."

Qiu Jingrong said no more. He raised his cup and drained it, his mouth filling with the taste of sour, bitter wine.

After bidding them farewell, he returned to his residence and took out a Spirit Leaf. His expression changed several times, but he eventually tucked it into his robes and headed for the Ancestor Hall.

’This Spirit Leaf must only be handed over in a matter of life and death, or at the moment when the victor between our two sects is decided. Do not play this trump card early...’

His grandfather’s dying words still echoed in his mind, but Qiu Jingrong’s strides grew wider and wider, eventually breaking into a run.

He didn’t want to continue living in a daze, only to become a Vengeful Spirit, utterly powerless against a casual spell from a High-Tier Cultivator.

* * *

Several Treasures and the Rhino Horn Storage Belt floated in the air, being refined by his Pill Fire.

"A Water Element Supreme-Grade Magical Treasure... This Great Cauldron in particular is excellent for both offense and defense, and it’s already showing faint signs of Spiritual awareness... If I use the Daoist Classic Cantongqi for its Refinement, it has a chance to ascend into a Spiritual Treasure within a hundred years."

Bai Zichen gave the newly acquired Magical Treasures a cursory refinement. After confirming they had no other special properties, he put them aside, planning to place them in the Secret Hall later.

Within the Sect, only Zhou Suqing could possibly make use of a Magical Treasure of this level.

The Great Cauldron was excellent, but there was no way he would spend a century on a single Supreme-Grade Magical Treasure just for the possibility of it ascending to a Spiritual Treasure.

He then spent a full hundred days refining the Rhino Horn Storage Belt. He finally wore away the previous owner’s imprint, and his True Essence burst through the Forbidden seal.

"The Spirit Rhinoceros Belt... what a huge space. I’m afraid it could fit more than half of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall’s warehouse inside."

Bai Zichen first took out the items in the Jade Scroll and Scripture Category. Along with them, an identity token fell out.

"Li Hansi, a Core Disciple of the Fish Dragon Sect. So that was his name..."

This token was clearly one he carried when he left Hornless Dragon Island back then; it wasn’t newly forged.

There was a scroll of the Dragon Transformation Scripture. Compared to the version Bai Zichen already possessed, this one contained many notes and pointers from the seniors of the Profound Clarity Lineage.

There were five volumes of Divine Techniques, which included the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword and the Escape Technique Li Hansi had just used.

"All Heavens Demon Blood Transformation Flying Body Technique... A single mouthful of Essence Blood can let you fly a thousand miles, and it continuously draws upon your body’s Primordial Qi in exchange for speed."

Bai Zichen glanced at it. It could be placed in the Transmission Hall for others to study and practice.

The improvement it offered him was minor, so there was no need for him to cultivate it.

In addition, there were records of over a hundred different types of Water Element Magic. Most were Tier Two and Tier Three Magic, but there were also several exceptionally powerful Tier Four Techniques.

Overall, he already possessed the most valuable items, the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword and the Dragon Transformation Scripture. The entire inheritance of the Profound Clarity Lineage was not of much use to him personally.

However, it would greatly benefit the disciples of the Qingfeng Sect who cultivated Water Element Cultivation Techniques. The cultivation methods and summarized insights for so many Water Element Magic spells represented thousands of years of accumulation by the Profound Clarity Lineage.

In terms of Magical Treasures, the Spirit Rhinoceros Belt also contained two Supreme-Grade Magical Treasures and four Top-Grade Magical Treasures.

The first thing that caught his eye was a Flying Sword whose sword light was pale white, almost colorless.

"The Formless Sword. Not bad. Another Tier Three Flying Sword for the collection..."

The Fish Dragon Sect had two Tier Three Sword Refining Secret Techniques: one for the Thunder Sound Sword, and the other for the Formless Sword.

Because the main material for refining the Thunder Sound Sword was easy to obtain, all the Core Formation True Men on Hornless Dragon Island back then used Thunder Sound Swords exclusively.

"Speaking of the Formless Sword, I still have a Sword Embryo that I got from a Youlong Sect cultivator. But I’ve been unable to forge it because I’m missing the most crucial ingredient, the Illusion Crystal Stone."

A transparent sword light circled around him once. There was no sound, no ripple of light—it truly lived up to the name "Formless."

However, if one focused their attention, they could still detect a subtle trace. It had not yet reached the Formless stage.

This sword wasn’t suitable as a primary Flying Sword, but if brought out at a critical moment, it could catch an opponent completely off guard. Most Cultivators seeing it for the first time would have no idea how to defend against it.

"Another Thunder Sound Sword, another Formless Sword, and there seem to be plenty of Sword Refining Materials in the Spirit Rhinoceros Belt... It won’t be long before I can gather a full set of twelve Tier Three Flying Swords!"

Ever since obtaining the True Understanding of Sword Dao, Bai Zichen had fantasized about being able to deploy the Starry Sky Sword Array.

But Sword Refinement was incredibly expensive in terms of Spirit Stones. A single Tier Three Flying Sword could take a Core Formation True Man several decades to complete.

Twelve such Flying Swords was a preposterous fantasy for the vast majority of Sword Cultivators; they had neither the ability nor the need.

Even someone like Bai Zichen, who possessed uniquely advantageous conditions for Sword Refinement and had acquired many Flying Swords by killing other Core Formation True Men, had still spent over a hundred years to even see the hope of assembling a set of twelve.

The sheer difficulty of this undertaking was easy to imagine.

Even with the power of the Star River Sword Monarch, who was backed by the world’s number one Major Sect, the Taibai Sword Sect, he only completed this monumental feat after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage.

Furthermore, there were over thirty Top-Grade Spirit Stones and countless Spiritual Objects of various kinds.

Just sorting, classifying, and cataloging everything took him several days.

Beyond the Treasures mentioned above, two other items particularly caught his attention and piqued his interest.

The Heavenly Snake Devouring Moon Formation, a Tier Three Top-Grade array, was adaptable to any Spirit Vein environment.

The Array Map and Array Plate were both present. He just needed to reforge the Array Banners according to the instructions, and the array could be deployed.

"What a pity it’s not the Fish Dragon Sect’s Tier Four Array... Otherwise, if I set it up on Flame Mountain, the Sect’s safety would be completely assured."

Bai Zichen put it away, planning to give it to Zhou Suqing later.

With her mastery of Arrays, she should be able to reforge the Array Banners given the detailed instructions.

The mention of a Tier Four Array was just an idle thought. Within the Fish Dragon Sect, only the Grand Array on Hornless Dragon Island was Tier Four. At the time, it was being used to fend off an assault by millions of Sea Beasts, so how could Li Hansi have possibly taken it with him?

A Tier Three Array was still excellent. He had slain several Demon Kings in succession, and the Sect had gained several new Tier Three Spirit Veins.

But aside from Feiyue Lake and Celestial Thunder Cliff, the other Tier Three Spirit Veins were only protected by Tier Two Arrays.

With one more Tier Three Array, they could choose a Tier Three Spirit Vein and develop it rapidly without any fear.

The other item was a bag of Spirit Seeds, sealed with dozens of Forbidden seals and layered with Talismans.

It was clear that the Fish Dragon Sect placed immense importance on this item, fearing that its Spiritual nature might be damaged.

"Cyan Dragon Spirit Rice, suspected to be Tier Four Spirit Rice!"

Only after reading the accompanying jade scroll did Bai Zichen understand why it was sealed so carefully.

This bag of Spirit Seeds wasn’t cultivated by the Fish Dragon Sect itself. Rather, that senior True Monarch had obtained it from the same place where he found the Holy Beast Essence Blood Crystal Stone.