Chapter 149: Discussion in the Main Hall

Although both were advanced sword arts, the Wuzhen Sword Art and the Songfeng Sword Art were completely different, representing two distinct development paths.

The Wuzhen Sword Art emphasized that the sword follows the heart; its techniques were simple and unadorned, and it was said to be able to deconstruct all sword techniques under heaven.

The Songfeng Sword Art prioritized speed; its strikes were as fast as lightning, versatile and unpredictable, following a path of swiftness and quirkiness.

The two development paths were entirely different, each with its own strengths and advantages. Which one you chose depended on which sword art suited your preferences and habits. As for the specific attribute bonuses of the sword arts, you could only find out after practicing them.

“Alright, once you have gathered enough Sect Contribution, you can go to the Sect Leader to exchange for them.”

Chen Taizhen waved his hand, and the shimmering images of the two advanced sword arts dissipated again, turning into points of milky white light.

At the same time, every Tianshu Hall disciple, including Ye Rong, heard a System Notification, granting them one day of cultivation time in the Ancestral Hall.

“Great! I was just thinking about how to quickly improve my Qingcheng Qi Refining Method, and now this opportunity falls right into my lap.”

Ye Rong considered whether he should enter the Ancestral Hall immediately or wait for a while before going in.

However, there was one more troublesome point: he only knew that the Subtle and Profound Empowerment Incantation was behind the Shangqing light door, but when the time came, a full thirty-six jade slips would appear. Picking one randomly from so many Shangqing Dao Spells, and getting exactly the Subtle and Profound Empowerment Incantation he needed was not an easy task.

If he didn’t help seventeen or eighteen old ladies cross the street beforehand, he really couldn’t accumulate enough luck for that.

“I need to find a chance to ask Senior Brother Chen Taizhen if it’s possible to choose the Dao Spell jade slip I want according to my own wishes inside the Ancestral Hall.”

Ye Rong certainly knew that anything picked from the Ancestral Hall was top-notch, but even among good items, there were distinctions in quality and differences in urgency of need.

Moreover, some special types of Dao Spells learned in the Ancestral Hall were exceptionally powerful, but they were also more difficult to level up. Some even required returning to the Ancestral Hall, as only the Experience Points obtained there could level them up.

…

The benefits that Tianshu Hall disciples could receive ended here. After the distribution was completed, a long-winded speech began about how terrible the current world situation was and how rampant the Demonic Path’s ferocity was. Anyone listening would almost think that Qingcheng was about to be besieged and annihilated.

Ye Rong had already seen two impatient people starting to yawn, while two others were squinting their eyes. The girl Manzhu Lver, however, was full of energy, blinking at him every now and then, but otherwise she seemed to be listening attentively.

“No choice, it’s my senior brother’s face; I have to listen even if I don’t want to.”

Ye Rong patiently listened to a heap of nonsense and actually discovered a few extremely valuable pieces of information within it.

For example, Emei actually planned to allocate several spots to outstanding young disciples from other sects after the Righteous Sects Joint Grand Competition, to explore the Purple Cloud Palace together.

The Purple Cloud Palace Golden Court Jade Pillars were one of the top treasures of the Far Shore, relics of the Water Mother. The treasures stored there were all at the level of Ancient Treasures; it wouldn’t be too surprising if a few Ninth Rank items appeared.

Because of Short Elder Zhu Mei, Qingcheng was considered one of the developers of the Purple Cloud Palace, so they could allocate two more spots than other sects. This made Ye Rong’s heart itch with desire.

“I must take part in the trip to the Purple Cloud Palace. Even if Emei gets the meat in such a feast of dividing treasures, it would be good for me to just get some broth!”

Even if he just casually picked up two pieces of equipment while muddling through in the Purple Cloud Palace, they would probably be at least Seventh or Eighth Rank; otherwise, they wouldn’t even qualify to enter the Purple Cloud Palace’s gates.

To join Emei’s team exploring the Purple Cloud Palace, he had to perform excellently in the Righteous Sects Joint Grand Competition. Otherwise, Ye Rong didn’t think those two spots in Short Elder Zhu Mei’s hands would fall to him.

This short fellow had always been particularly close to Emei, following their footsteps closely in many actions and measures, trailing behind step by step.

Additionally, there was news about the Eastern Demonic Sect’s leader, Five Ghosts Heavenly King Shang Heyang. This Demonic Path big shot had the appearance of an eleven- or twelve-year-old child and was jokingly called one of the Far Shore’s children’s group members by players on the Forum. The children’s group leader was actually an ancestor from Ye Rong’s sect, one of the highest-Level Mythical Rank characters in the entire Far Shore—Blissful Child Li Jingxu, said to be on par with the Taoist community’s number one figure in a thousand years, Longbrow Taoist.

But looking at the current differences between Emei and Qingcheng, Ye Rong could only snort derisively at this claim.

Five Ghosts Heavenly King Shang Heyang was recently refining his unique Magic Treasure, the White Bone Heart-Locking Hammer. It was said he had been sighted near Chang’an, killing anyone he saw. Quite a number of unlucky players had already fallen victim.

With the current strength of players, encountering a Demonic Path big shot of this level, there was no need for other thoughts; just close your eyes and meet death at the Resurrection Point with a relaxed and enjoyable mindset—if anyone asked, just say, “I died at the hands of a nearly Level 200 Legendary Grade big shot; my death was super face-saving and glorious.”

Forget about resisting; escape wasn’t even possible. In front of Five Ghosts Heavenly King Shang Heyang, players’ Sword Flight speed was no different from a snail’s crawl.

That area had now become a forbidden zone; no players dared to go there anymore, and no faction was so foolish as to want to challenge him.

In Senior Brother Chen Taizhen’s words, it became: Five Ghosts Heavenly King Shang Heyang was slaughtering living beings and refining an evil treasure. Emei cultivators had already gone to besiege him, and results were expected soon—

The siege team was led by Emei’s top Third-Generation Disciple, Zhu Ge Jingwo, along with Xiao Heshang, the disciple of Ascetic Monk, one of the Three Immortals of the Eastern Sea, whose signature skill was the Invisible Sword Qi passed down by his master; Deng Ba Gu, disciple of Miaoyi Furen; Lai Gu, disciple of the Dragon Slayer Master; Zhou Qingyun, disciple of Huangshan’s Master Canxia; plus a group of nameless NPC Taoists and elite Emei player disciples.

None of these Third-Generation Disciples could be underestimated. Especially someone like Zhou Qingyun, who was one of the Three Heroes and Two Clouds, wielded the Green Rope Sword—regardless of its actual power, it was at least one of the two most famous flying swords in the world. The luxury of the team’s lineup was evident.

It was said that the true power of the flying swords Zijing and Qingsuo surpassed that of ordinary Ninth-Grade Flying Swords. In the entire Far Shore, aside from a few top-tier flying swords like the Nanming Leaving Fire Sword and the Seven Refinements Sword, any other flying swords would inevitably suffer damage after clashing with them for a while.

There was even a saying that Zijing and Qingsuo were super flying swords beyond the Ninth Rank.

Of course, these were just players’ guesses; the actual specifics would only be known when the Purple Green Twin Swords were truly revealed to the world.

“Even if Five Ghosts Heavenly King Shang Heyang’s strength is formidable, if he encounters this group of Emei juniors, he’d better run away quickly, otherwise, it’s a dead end.”

Ye Rong silently mourned for this Demonic Path big shot in his heart, hoping he reacted quickly enough and didn’t step onto the path of no return.

These outstanding Emei Third-Generation Disciples were not only powerful themselves, but their flying swords and Magic Treasures were also exceptionally luxurious.

Just this team composed of junior disciples was already enough to sweep through all the NPCs of some third-rate sects; the gap was just too large. And this wasn’t even including the most ridiculously lucky Qi Jinchan and the one with the deepest Fortune Affinity, Li Yingqiong. If those two came out, even some Demonic Path elder-level giants were no match for them.

…

Even the longest speech has to end eventually. When Senior Brother Chen Taizhen’s long-winded speech finally concluded, Ye Rong could almost hear a long sigh of relief from everyone’s mouths.

These players exited the Main Hall one by one, but Ye Rong stayed behind. He wanted to ask about the issue of freely choosing Dao Scrolls in the Ancestral Hall.

“Not possible. You can only rely on your own Fortune Affinity for a random selection.”

Senior Brother Chen Taizhen listened to Ye Rong’s question, slowly shook his head, and gave a disappointing answer.

Hearing such a reply, Ye Rong also showed a look of regret. It seemed he didn’t need to rush into the Ancestral Hall after all.

Entering the Ancestral Hall yielded different rewards for high-Level and low-Level players; this was the empirical advice given by Dongliu Cangshui.

Since he couldn’t be sure of selecting the Subtle and Profound Empowerment Incantation, he might as well raise his Level a few times first, so the benefits he could obtain would be greater. Anyway, he wasn’t in a hurry to drastically improve his strength within the next few days.

“However, if you want to know which general categories of Dao Spells correspond to each of the Three Pure Gates, I can tell you that.”

“Please tell me, Senior Brother Chen.”

Although he couldn’t specifically choose a certain one, knowing which categories of Dao Spells were behind the Shangqing, Yuqing, and Taiqing light gates was still a good thing. At least it could provide more reference for Ye Rong when making choices upon entering the Ancestral Hall.

Ye Rong listened attentively, seriously memorizing every detail Senior Brother Chen Taizhen said, not missing a single drop.

“It seems next time I enter the Ancestral Hall, I should still go for the Shangqing light gate and just test my luck!”

After leaving the sect’s Main Hall, Ye Rong muttered to himself, his tone carrying a mix of helplessness and relief.

From the information Senior Brother Chen Taizhen told him, he learned that there were five jade slips related to improving cultivation behind the Shangqing light gate, the highest proportion among the Three Pure Gates.

So, as long as his luck was good enough and he had helped enough old ladies cross the street, there was a high chance he could draw a Dao Spell jade slip that suited his wishes.

“First, I should find Lei Laohu to sell all those Demonic Path flying swords and Magic Treasures I don’t need. They’re just taking up space anyway.”

The spoils Ye Rong obtained from killing Baiman disciples that were useful to him were the Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier and the already learned Hundred Poison True Scripture. The other items weren’t even suitable for his team members to use, so he could sell them all.

He sent a Flying Sword Message to Lei Laohu to arrange a time to discuss the price of this batch of equipment.