"Thanks to the 'Enlightenment Grove' and the Azurewood King Cauldron bestowed by Patriarch Guangyuan, 240 new disciples have been accepted into Sea-Gazing Peak in the past 30 years, half of whom have reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining. There are also 23 who have reached the Late Qi Refining."
"Because they have been cultivating in the 'Enlightenment Grove' for many years, these Qi Refining disciples' swordsmanship and Thunder Method are far superior to those of other cultivators at the same level."
"For example, Qiu Bai, the only son of Elder Qiu Jin and Elder Bai Jing, although he has only just advanced to the seventh level of Qi Refining, his swordsmanship has already reached the realm of 'Swordlight Splitting,' and he can compete with those at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining."
"Besides."
"Six more people have successively advanced to the Primordial Spirit."
"Currently, there are nine Primordial Spirit elders in the sect. Among them, Senior Brother Zhao is at the Fifth Layer of Primordial Spirit Primordial Spirit, the 'Fusion Stage' realm. I recently advanced to the third level of Primordial Spirit, Zhu Lang is at the second level, and the others are still at the Primordial Spirit."
Righteous Heart Hall.
Zhang Shu reported the situation at Sea-Gazing Peak to the venerable Qin Fan.
She managed Sea-Gazing Peak and was in charge of the 'Azurewood King Cauldron' and the distribution of elixirs; she knew all this data by heart. But reporting it now still filled her with joy.
"Good!"
"Good!"
Qin Fan sat at the head of the table, a smile on his face.
He was determined to carry forward the glory of Sea-Gazing Peak, but unfortunately, he lacked the energy and ability to do so. However, since the arrival of that grandmaster thirty years ago, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.
In just thirty years.
With such a prosperous appearance, Sea-Gazing Peak is already not much weaker Great Victory Sect.
If we wait another thirty years, won't we be able to rival 'Peach Mountain'?!
Certainly.
Qin Fan also knew that, with the help of the 'Enlightenment Grove' and the 'Foundation-Nourishing Pill' and 'True Yang Pill', those disciples with exceptional talent would be greatly benefited—
Qi Refining is easy to practice, and the Primordial Spirit is easily formed.
As long as Enlightenment Grove exists, Sea-Gazing Peak will never experience a shortage of Primordial Spirit cultivators.
However, the strength of 'Peach Mountain' is not limited to the Qi Refining and Primordial Spirit levels. Its true power lies in its strong influence, the numerous True Immortal within the sect, and the 'Spiritvoid Immortal Realm' behind it.
In comparison.
Sea-Gazing Peak is far inferior.
Qin Fan put away his 'delusions' and looked at Zhang Shu, asking, "I remember that Zhu Lang only advanced to the Nascent Primordial Spirit less than ten years ago, yet he's already at the second level of the Primordial Spirit?"
Sea-Gazing Peak's Primordial Spirit is not much.
Thirty years ago, including Zhao Qi who broke through during the time his grandmaster preached, there were only three such disciples. Therefore, Qin Fan has been paying attention to any disciple who has broken through to the Primordial Spirit Realm in recent years.
"The ancestor remembers correctly."
"Zhu Lang was among the first batch of disciples to join Sea-Gazing Peak thirty years ago. He was extremely talented and hardworking. In just twenty years, he cultivated from nothing to the Primordial Spirit Realm. Only ten years after entering the Primordial Spirit, he advanced to the next level."
As Zhang Shu spoke, she couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
Although she has broken through two realms in recent years, she was already at the peak of the first level of the Primordial Spirit before.
Listening to the patriarch's teachings, one can directly break through to the second level of the Primordial Spirit, with plenty to spare.
Later, with the help of Enlightenment Grove and True Yang Pill, he fully digested what he had learned from the teachings and was able to advance to the third level of the Primordial Spirit a few years ago.
Compared to Zhu Lang, he is only one level below.
"Good!"
"OK!"
Qin Fan was overjoyed to hear that Zhu Lang had indeed cultivated to the second level of the Primordial Spirit in just thirty years.
He then looked at Zhang Shu and said gently, "Your talent is not much worse than Zhu Lang's. Now there are more and more Primordial Spirit cultivators in the sect. You can entrust more of your affairs to them. You should devote more attention to cultivation in order to reach the sixth level of Primordial Spirit as soon as possible. Maybe you can even break through to the True Immortal Realm."
"Yes, Ancestor!"
"I will hand over the affairs in the next few days."
Hearing Qin Fan's gentle words of encouragement, Zhang Shu felt a warmth in her heart and quickly responded.
In fact, even if Qin Fan hadn't mentioned it, she had intended to report this matter to the patriarch. After all, seeing one junior after another in the sect cultivate to the nascent Primordial Spirit, Zhu Lang even showing signs of surpassing her, Zhang Shu couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.
I'm entangled in worldly affairs.
Ultimately, this is detrimental to spiritual practice.
Seeing that Zhang Shu did not covet power, Qin Fan's smile widened.
Although Zhao Dahai had already reached the Fifth Layer of Primordial Spirit, he could only reach the sixth Primordial Spirit at most in this lifetime, and he had no hope of breaking through to the True Immortal. The other newly Primordial Spirit were also mostly mediocre.
However, Zhang Shu and Zhu Lang are both exceptionally talented and have excellent character.
If nurtured with care, it may be difficult, but it is not impossible to add another True Immortal ancestor to Sea-Gazing Peak!
Thinking like that.
Just as Qin Fan was about to give Zhang Shu some pointers on her cultivation, he suddenly frowned and looked outside the hall.
Seeing this, Zhang Shu also looked towards the Righteous Heart Hall.
All I saw was...
Hong Tai, who had advanced to the Nascent Primordial Spirit in seven years, rushed over in a panic. He knelt in the hall and urgently said to Qin Fan at the head of the table, "Ancestor, Junior Brother Qiu Jin has killed Lü Yuan, a Primordial Spirit elder of the Great Victory Sect, causing the sect to go berserk and send out all its experts. Junior Brother Qiu is seriously injured and on the verge of death. Master has already led several Primordial Spirit elders down the mountain to provide support. Fearing that the situation would become uncontrollable, he specially sent his disciple to report to the Ancestor!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Fan's expression immediately turned serious.
Great Victory Sect.
Hanging-Moon Peak.
Inside the Eight-Water Cave, the Great Victory Patriarch and Nangong Pojun sat facing each other.
Nangong Pojun, with his rugged and bold demeanor, looked at the Great Victory Patriarch and said in a loud voice, "Uncle-Master, there's quite a commotion down the mountain. When I arrived just now, I saw many Primordial Spirit. However, these juniors under Uncle-Master's disciples are all highly skilled, and they've really put the seven or eight Primordial Spirit on the other side in a sorry state."
The Great Victory Patriarch standing before me is one of the three immortals among the "Three Immortals and Three Elders of Peach Mountain," and is known as the "Thunder Sword Immortal."
Nangong Pojun was no ordinary person either.
He was the eldest disciple of Yu Zhenzi, the head of Peach Mountain Sect, who was known as one of the Three Immortals along with the Great Victory Patriarch. He was also the leader of the "Twelve Swordsmen of Peach Mountain" and was known as the "Great Accomplishment Sword".
They are all among the best in the world.
If one were to attack Primordial Spirit cultivator, it would likely make one a laughingstock.
Upon hearing this, the Great Victory Patriarch laughed and said, "There's no need for my nephew to get involved in the squabbles of the juniors. The reason I sent my nephew Nangong here is solely to deal with that person on Sea-Gazing Peak."
"Zhang Yang, the 'White-Haired Thunder God'".
Nangong Pojun was naturally aware of this person.
More than three thousand years ago, during the sword duel at Peach Mountain, his two junior brothers lost their lives at the hands of this 'White-Haired Thunder God'. This is why he rushed to Five Hells Peak immediately upon being summoned by the Great Victory Patriarch.
"With my master's cultivation, Zhang Yang is no match for him."
"Senior Uncle, this time, are you going to—"
Nangong Pojun didn't speak, but looked at the Great Victory Patriarch.
"Good."
Great Victory Patriarch Dasheng nodded, stroked his beard, and said calmly, "Zhang Yang's Thunder Method is quite remarkable. More than three thousand years ago, he was an extremely powerful Loose Immortal. With the sword duel imminent, if we can kill him first, our Peach Mountain Four Sects can suffer fewer casualties."
The Great Victory Patriarch felt a surge of resentment when he recalled what happened more than three thousand years ago.
That sword duel.
Zhang Yang killed a total of three True Immortal, all of whom were from Peach Mountain. Two of them were disciples of the sect leader Yu Zhenzi, and the other was his beloved disciple, the Great Victory Patriarch.
After the sword fight, Zhang Yang managed to escape.
The Great Victory Patriarch came out of Peach Mountain and opened a separate residence on Five Hells Peak, forcibly occupying four mountain peaks in order to suppress Zhang Yang.
He was waiting for this great calamity to strike again so that he could avenge his disciple.
If he were alone, he would easily surpass Zhang Yang.
But killing him wouldn't be easy. So they summoned Nangong Pojun from the gate, intending to deliver the fatal blow!
"In that case..."
"It's said that Zhang Yang has a True Immortal disciple. Why not kill this person first, cutting off one of Zhang Yang's arms, to avoid adding any unexpected complications?"
A flash of ferocity crossed Nangong Pojun's eyes as he offered a suggestion to the Great Victory Patriarch.
His eyes were fixed on the Eight-Water Cave.
"Inappropriate."
The Great Victory Patriarch shook his head and said, "This time, I deliberately provoked a conflict between the two sects just to lure Qin Fan into making a move. With Bu Er's strength, if Qin Fan is determined to protect his disciples, he will inevitably be severely injured. If his disciple is seriously injured, Zhang Yang will probably be unable to travel around and make connections. When he returns, it will be the day his death is imminent!"
If killing Qin Fan now alerts Zhang Yang, things could get very bad.
"What my senior brother says makes sense."
Upon hearing this, Nangong Pojun did not quite agree.
But since the Great Victory Patriarch was his senior uncle and was currently at Five Hells Peak, he couldn't say much.
So they simply drank wine in the Eight-Water Cave and watched the magical battle below the mountain.
The Great Victory Patriarch also looked down the mountain, waiting for his disciple Qian Bu'er to drive back Qin Fan of Sea-Gazing Peak, at which point the Major Merit would be accomplished.
With Qian Bu'er's cultivation level as True Immortal of the Two Tribulations, dealing with a True Immortal of the Three Calamities who had just survived the Third Three Calamities was a piece of cake.
Defeating Qin Fan is only a matter of time.
"Um?!"
"What a strange flying sword!"
Great Victory Patriarch accompanied Nangong Pojun for drinks, appearing to hold real power, but in reality, he was keeping a close eye on the battle between the two True Immortal down the mountain.
As if witnessing something unexpected, the Great Victory Patriarch paused involuntarily.
The wine in the glass almost spilled out.
Nangong Pojun had obviously noticed this as well, and chuckled inwardly, but said aloud, "This Qin Fan is quite fortunate. His flying sword must have been refined with 'Magnetism Divine Iron,' and the amount is obviously quite substantial, already at the level of a supreme treasure. With one strike, any Law Treasure refined from the Five Metals Essence will melt upon contact. Junior Brother Qian's flying sword is not bad, but it will also be affected. Not only will it deviate by a few degrees with each collision, but after several collisions, its spirituality will also be greatly lost."
Nangong Pojun truly lives up to his reputation as one of the "Twelve Swordsmen of Peach Mountain." Whether in terms of cultivation or vision, he far surpasses ordinary True Immortal.
Magnetism Divine Iron is quite rare.
Qin Fan didn't recognize him, but Nangong Pojun could recognize him at a glance even after Qin Fan had refined the treasure into his flying sword.
The difference between the two is evident.
But.
Judging from the words of the Great Victory Patriarch and Nangong Pojun—
The disciple of the Great Victory Patriarch, Qian Bu'er, who had suffered Two Tribulations True Immortal Qian Bu'er, was clearly at a disadvantage. Qin Fan, having mastered sword forging, displayed extraordinary skill from the very first move.
"Hmph!"
"A flying sword is fine for tricks, but if you want to defeat Bu Er, you'll have to go back and practice for thousands of years."
Great Victory Patriarch, unwilling to lose face in front of Nangong Pojun, pretended to be indifferent.
He was about to drink the wine in his hand.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, his energy surged, and the cup was instantly crushed to pieces. He roared—
"How dare you?!"
Enraged, he transformed into a sword and vanished on the spot.
"What a magnificent and precious celestial garment!"
Nangong Pojun looked down the mountain, his eyes shining.
He downed the wine in his hand in one gulp, stood up, took a step, and disappeared into the Eight-Water Cave.