Chapter 114: Past Events of Spirit Cultivators
Chapter 114: Past Events of Spirit Cultivators
Xu Shen became a god.
Although he had no land, no divine idol, and no Hundred-League Law Seal—not even a single league—for the Floating Cloud Sect, this was still a major event worth celebrating greatly.
“We still need a divine idol. That thing, I just came from the city, and the leader of the Temple Priest Group is willing to donate a divine idol to Senior Brother Xu.”
Li Si spoke earnestly. After all, the Old Madam was not present, so no one could expose his lie.
“Is that possible?”
Jiang Ying was also uncertain. She and Ji Chang truly had no experience in this matter because, in this regard, the Righteous Old Lady had always borne all responsibilities. Her body was the highest-grade divine idol—whether it covered a hundred leagues, a thousand leagues, or ten thousand leagues, it was always suitable.
Moreover, every disciple of the Floating Cloud Sect was filial and obedient. Over the past few centuries, no disciple of the Floating Cloud Sect had ever acted like Li Si, secretly sneaking out, seizing a small town, and receiving an official decree on their own.
Well, mainly because no one had such capability.
The Evil God Idol was not something ordinary people could handle. Even if someone could manage it, thousands of people in a small town would be sacrificed along the way. How could that be acceptable?
“Why not? I’ve seen that Kaoshan Patriarch—every day, aside from creating divine idols, he does nothing else but create more divine idols. In such a small space, there are now eight divine idols. So this matter is reliable!”
Li Si spoke mysteriously.
Ji Chang shot Li Si a disdainful look. “Junior Brother, when did you become so vulgar? Remember, we are cultivators. Poise, poise—do you understand? Don’t be so sleazy.”
Li Si rolled his eyes. Damn it, starting today, you, with the surname Ji, are expelled from the Four Heroes of Floating Cloud!
“Senior Brother, that attitude of yours is no good. As the saying goes, ‘the gods are watching from three feet above.’ Who knows, maybe that Kaoshan Patriarch is listening right now. It’s fine if you criticize me, but beating around the bush and indirectly insulting others? You’re lowering the basic quality level of our Floating Cloud Sect.”
“Hey, kid, don’t talk nonsense.” Ji Chang glanced nervously at the sky. This was Kaoshan Patriarch’s domain, after all. Speaking ill of someone might truly be overheard.
“Stop babbling. Let’s get to work. It’s just a divine idol. Not only will we set one up for Xu Shen today, but we’ll also set one up for Kaoshan Patriarch, right at the entrance of our mountain gate!”
Ji Chang quickly backed down.
Li Si chuckled and joined in to help. He had no choice—without his assistance, anyone else trying to set up a divine idol would end up with just an ordinary statue. Only with his intervention could Xu Shen’s divine idol truly become his Statue Avatar. This way, if Xu Shen ever suffered from Soul Corruption, there would still be a divine idol to provide protection for him.
“Senior Sister, how is our reserve of Remnant Exuviae from anomalous weeds and alien trees in the mountain sect? If it’s insufficient, I can make a trip outside.”
Li Si asked with concern. No matter the situation, resources were always the most important.
The Remnant Exuviae of anomalous weeds and alien trees were not only related to having enough to eat but also to the storage of Magic Power.
“There’s no problem. Since both your Senior Brother Xu and Senior Brother Ji obtained the Crystal Clear Dao Heart and Flawless Dao Body, hunting anomalous weeds and alien trees no longer carries the risk of contamination or toxicity. So we’ve stored up quite a lot.”
“Moreover, we’ve also cultivated three hundred acres of land within the mountain sect. Some spirit herbs preserved from the past have been planted, and although they’ve also mutated, they can still supply the daily needs of the sect normally.”
“If no greater changes occur in the future, our Floating Cloud Sect can train fifty Qi Refining disciples, twenty Foundation Establishment disciples, and support at least five Golden Core Realm disciples each year.”
Jiang Ying spoke with confidence and pride.
Li Si was stunned. So impressive?
“The greatest credit for this goes to the Lanshan Sect.” Jiang Ying quickly explained to Li Si. “The Lanshan Sect’s Dispelling Talisman can resolve the most common Aberrant Corruption. This allows our cultivation to proceed without worries. Generally, children under ten years old, as long as their talent is passable, only need about a year to obtain the Flawless Dao Body. This is very important. Basically, any disciple who obtains the Flawless Dao Body is guaranteed to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.”
“So we have now reached an important cooperation with the Lanshan Sect. Not only have we hired Zhang San as a guest elder of our Floating Cloud Sect, but we’ve also selected a group of qualified disciples to specifically cultivate the Lanshan Sect’s techniques. The Master also said she would take the time to deduce a type of spirit cultivation technique.”
“Now everyone has realized that there’s really no need for Spirit Cultivators and True Cultivators to fight to the death. Everyone has their own strengths—wouldn’t it be better to tolerate and cooperate with each other?”
Hearing Jiang Ying’s words, Li Si curiously asked, “Senior Sister, our Floating Cloud Sect’s collection of techniques and scriptures is vast as the sea. Have we not recorded any Spirit Cultivation techniques or Dao Techniques and Divine Abilities?”
“We really don’t have any.” Jiang Ying shook her head. “I once asked a senior sister who was in charge of the technique collection before me. She told me that the hostility between Spirit Cultivators and True Cultivators can be traced back to the era of ancient cultivators. In the end, True Cultivators, with their powerful combat advantages, suppressed Spirit Cultivators so much that they couldn’t lift their heads. Later, Spirit Cultivators practiced in secrecy and never showed themselves actively. Often, there would be no news of them in the cultivation world for hundreds or thousands of years.”
“Later, about three thousand years ago, some major Spirit Cultivation sects with heritage suddenly vanished without a trace. There were rumors that they all went to the Land of Infinitesimal. Since then, the Spirit Cultivators who remained were weak and insignificant. Either they were simply family-based, like this Lanshan Sect—a family-based sect that superficially practices True Cultivation techniques, but in reality, only the sect leader and direct descendants can practice Spirit Cultivation techniques.”
“So, later, when the Evil Gods invaded, many major sects, including our Floating Cloud Sect, searched everywhere for Spirit Cultivation sects but couldn’t find any. Oh, and that Tianji Sect—it’s said they found a small, reclusive Spirit Cultivation sect three hundred years ago, but there’s been no news since. However, in my opinion, they clearly hid that small Spirit Cultivation sect away.”
“Of course, we don’t need to overly revere Spirit Cultivation sects either. Overcorrecting would be pointless.”
“Alright, Junior Brother, stop asking about these things. The Master told you to cultivate in seclusion, so you should obediently go into seclusion. Don’t worry about other matters.”
Jiang Ying directly tried to shoo Li Si away.
“Don’t be like that, Senior Sister. I’ve been locked up in the room for several days. Let me get some fresh air. That thing—why did the Spirit Cultivation sects go to the Land of Infinitesimal?”
Li Si acted spoiled and persistently pestered her.
Jiang Ying glared at him. “Actually, I don’t know much either. But when we True Cultivators ascend, we traditionally go to the Land of Infinite Vastness, while Spirit Cultivators traditionally go to the Land of Infinitesimal. If you ask me, how would I know?”
After thanking her, Li Si obediently returned to the Quiet Room to face the wall and reflect. He truly needed to cultivate in seclusion for a while now because the coming months were likely the quietest and most suitable time for development in this world.
First, the demonized Muan was engaged in a fierce battle with that Devil Mushroom deep within the Illusory Realm. Before the outcome was decided, the pressure in the Mortal Realm would be relatively lighter.
Second, the incident of Muan’s demonization served as a warning to all True Immortals. In the future, cooperation would become more frequent, rather than just running to the chat group to complain about poverty and idle chatting.
Really, Chisongzi managed to cultivate Mo Yi to the Divine Transformation Realm. Tianjizi cultivated Xu Ang to the Nascent Soul Realm. Even Muan cultivated a little butterfly to the Golden Core Realm.
It was clear how much hidden resources these guys had.
Li Si now had reason to suspect that some True Immortals had definitely gathered some small Spirit Cultivation sects or families back in the day. This would greatly alleviate the pressure of contamination.
For example, when Li Si first crossed over, if the Floating Cloud Sect had even a few Dispelling Talismans, they wouldn’t have been in such a miserable state.
Although the True Cultivation system also had Dao Techniques and Divine Abilities that could resist contamination, the prerequisites were too high.
As for Spirit Cultivation sects, a Spirit Cultivator equivalent to the Qi Refining stage could provide decent logistical security.
With this ebb and flow, there were impoverished sects like the Old Madam’s, but there were also giant crocodiles lurking beneath the surface.
“Strive, strive! In the end, everyone is still striving. Without reaching the Great Perfection, it’s all for nothing. On the path of Dao, there’s no room for personal feelings. The Old Madam’s previous words had already made it very clear.”
Li Si’s eyes lit up. Then, he dismissed distracting thoughts, focused his mind, and began cultivating the fourth layer of the Heaven-Turning Scripture. This time, the Old Madam was generous enough to directly give him the subsequent techniques of the Heaven-Turning Scripture.
How confident was she in the Seven Emotions Immortal Seal?
One day later, Li Si felt like kneeling down to worship the Old Madam. The Seven Emotions Immortal Seal was incredibly effective, increasing his cultivation speed by at least 100%.
In addition, his Crystal Clear, Bedrock Dao Heart, fetal breathing, Flawless Dao Body, Heart Cleansing Curse, Spirit Stabilization Curse, four Soul Lamps, and many other buffs—within a single day, he achieved 0.1% cultivation progress.
Keep in mind, this was the fourth layer of the technique, leading directly to the Nascent Soul Realm. Achieving the Foundation Building stage in a hundred days was common, reaching the Golden Core in a hundred days was average, but reaching the Nascent Soul stage in a thousand days was terrifying.
Unfortunately, the reality did not allow him to cultivate peacefully. Li Si understood clearly what the current prosperity of the Floating Cloud Sect and Kaoshan City was built upon.
Without Fate, everything would be lost.
Once this rare period of tranquility ended, there would be plenty of difficult days to endure in the future.
So, on the evening of the second day, after finishing dinner and ensuring that Senior Sister Jiang Ying would not disturb him again and that the Old Madam would not come to draft him for labor, he teleported a hundred leagues away, to the outskirts of the small village where the Floating Cloud Sect was once located.
By now, the place had become desolate, overrun with countless anomalous weeds growing freely, covering all traces of the past.
Li Si took a moment to reminisce, then strode decisively downstream. His target was Blackstone Town. He planned not only to harvest the Evil God Idols there but also to plunder the population.
However, he would not attack by force. Instead, he planned to sneak in under the cover of night.
Soon, dark mist spread, and Mist Demons howled. For some reason, Li Si actually felt a sense of excitement, like meeting an old friend in a distant land.
After all, with the establishment of the City-Encompassing Great Array in Kaoshan City, ordinary people had to walk fifty leagues away to see the dark mist and hear the howls of the Mist Demons.
Moreover, whether the Mist Demon King was scared, cowardly, or plotting something else, no Mist Demon had approached Li Si’s territory during this period.
So, how could he not miss it?
Taking out the Mist Demon cloak, Li Si blended into the night. Casually, he reapplied the tracking and tracing curse, Heart Cleansing Curse, Spirit Stabilization Curse, Calamity-Dispelling Curse, and Heart-Interrogation Mantra. Then, he headed straight for Blackstone Town.