Return to the Mountain Trifles

After the battle with Kong Xuan, Jiang Yun left the southern volcano with the Mysterious Turtle and returned to Mount Sumeru.

This trip yielded quite a few rewards. First and foremost, the primary objective of the journey – the Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Fire Spirit Pearl – was easily acquired. It even came with a bonus: a seed of the Southern Bright Departing Fire.

Of these two items, the Fire Spirit Pearl would help him complete the last bit of fire element energy in his chest. With that, his cultivation at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm would soon reach perfection. Afterward, he could refine the Southern Bright Departing Fire seed. Using its fiery properties, he could temper his Nascent Soul, Mana, and physical body. Once he consolidated his cultivation for a period, he should be able to challenge the Great Luo realm.

Secondly, the battle with Kong Xuan exposed a major flaw in the cultivation technique he had deduced – the Star Body Refinement Method. The phenomenon of star power backflow would surge into his acupoints, causing his Dharma Form to collapse.

During the final moments of their last major battle, he had fully activated the Star Array, resonating with an ancient star. He borrowed a projection of the stars, and the Four Symbols Great Array formed by the twenty-eight constellations further transformed the star power into Four Symbols power, unleashing a devastating attack. Unfortunately, Kong Xuan's world, constructed by the Five-Colored Divine Light, was also extraordinary. The clash between the two caused the world to collapse and explode, leading to all the star power surging back into his acupoints, obstructing the flow of star power and causing the array to dissipate.

This was the first time since he had manifested his Star Dharma Form that it had been broken by someone else. It seemed the Star Body Refinement Method, with only two layers, was no longer sufficient for his progress. He urgently needed to innovate.

Upon returning to Mount Sumeru this time, Jiang Yun intended to seek guidance from his Teacher, Daoist Jieyin, on the experience of breaking through to the Great Luo realm. At the same time, during his previous encounter with Kong Xuan, Kong Xuan had mentioned the "Grand Unity Dao Fruit." Although Jiang Yun had heard of it, due to his current realm, it remained somewhat obscure. He needed to seek clarification on this as well.

Furthermore, after reaching Grand Unity Perfection, he planned to enter seclusion on Mount Sumeru for a period before attempting to break through to the Great Luo realm. On the Western continent, what place could be safer than Mount Sumeru? Here, he could break through with peace of mind, with his two esteemed teachers and the Mysterious Turtle acting as his guardians.

Mount Sumeru boasted countless peaks, with the main peak being the location of the Grand Hall, the Dao Field of Jieyin and Zhunti. Surrounding the main peak were numerous other mountains, arranged in a well-ordered manner. Some were already inhabited by disciples of the teachings, while others remained unclaimed.

Among these, a majestic and spiritually vibrant peak near the main one had a flat summit adorned with many pavilions and terraces. Numerous disciples of the teachings could be seen moving about; this was the current location of the Lecture Hall and the Aid Hall – Lingjue Peak.

Upon his return to the mountain, Jiang Yun first came to Lingjue Peak. He planned to visit his junior brothers and see how they were managing the Lecture Hall and the Aid Hall.

After entrusting these affairs to Pharmacist and Maitreya respectively last time, he hadn't concerned himself with them much. Afterward, he had accompanied his teachers to the Fruit Tasting Assembly and traveled in the southern Primordial Desolation. Now, years had passed in the blink of an eye; he truly was a hands-off manager.

In the grand hall of vermilion pavilions on Lingjue Peak, Jiang Yun was having tea with Pharmacist, Maitreya, and a few other direct disciples. The tea leaves were from the first Congenital Tea Tree planted at his Spirit Bamboo Mountain Dao Field, some of which he had collected and brought with him.

The enlightenment effect of these tea leaves no longer had much impact on him at his current level. However, for his junior brothers, whose cultivation was not yet as high, these were incredibly valuable.

This visit to Lingjue Peak and seeing his junior brothers supporting each other with love and unity through the Lecture Hall and Aid Hall filled him with gratification. He then took out some tea leaves and gave them to Pharmacist and Maitreya, who would then distribute them to the junior brothers responsible for management.

During his conversation with his junior brothers, Pharmacist recounted some of the events that had transpired during his years of travel.

After the Fruit Tasting and Dao Discussion at Wuzhuang Temple, Jieyin and Zhunti returned to the mountain, while Jiang Yun went to the southern volcano. During this period, the two groups of people who came to Mount Sumeru to seek apprenticeship from the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and the Southern Sea Dragon Palace also arrived successively.

Since Jiang Yun, who was responsible for external affairs, was not on the mountain, Pharmacist took charge of receiving them. On an auspicious day, the four disciples from the Dragon Palaces formally performed the apprenticeship ceremony and were accepted as registered disciples, thus establishing a connection between the Eastern Sea and Southern Sea Dragon Palaces and Mount Sumeru.

Among the two Dragon Palaces that came this time, the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, as expected of the leader of the Four Seas Dragon Palaces, was far wealthier than the other three. Their apprenticeship gift included a low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Demon Subduing Pestle, which greatly pleased Zhunti and Jieyin, fostering a closer relationship between them.

Jiang Yun mused that after this event, his two teachers must have gained a profound understanding of the Dragon Palaces' wealth. He wondered what might happen next.

Following this, there was a response regarding the message sent earlier to the Western Sea and Northern Sea Dragon Palaces to discuss the joint development of spiritual land nodes in the western and northern directions. After receiving the development plan jointly deliberated by Jieyin, Zhunti, and Jiang Yun at that time, the Western Sea Dragon Palace and the Northern Sea Dragon Palace readily expressed their support.

Both Dragon Palaces dispatched capable personnel to Mount Sumeru to discuss specific measures. They would provide ample human and material support, while the Western Teachings would offer guidance on setting up various formations. As for the establishment of offices and personnel arrangements, Jiang Yun would draw some people from Pengxuan Grotto-Heaven to assist and train them, and both parties would cooperate to complete these two projects.

His junior brothers also inquired about his experiences traveling to the southern volcano. Jiang Yun described the scenery he encountered along the way in detail, and he particularly recounted the battle with Kong Xuan. This gave his junior brothers some understanding of the Phoenix clan and also made them remember Kong Xuan, the son of a phoenix who could fight the senior brother to a draw.

Among Jiang Yun's account, there was one thing that greatly interested his junior brothers: the Star Dharma Form of the Star Body Refinement Method.

The powerful combat strength and formidable defense undoubtedly made them eager to learn more, and they couldn't help but ask about some of the intricacies. Seeing their keen interest in the Dharma Form, Jiang Yun decided to impart the two layers of the deduced cultivation technique to his three direct disciples, with the strict condition that they not pass it on to others privately.

Jiang Yun explained the secrets of cultivating the technique to the three of them. He then recalled that cultivating the Star Body Refinement Method required star power to temper the body. Therefore, he took the three junior brothers to the main hall to see Jieyin and Zhunti, hoping to make some modifications to the protective mountain array of Mount Sumeru to draw in some star power for his junior brothers to cultivate.

Jieyin and Zhunti, upon hearing this, became interested in Jiang Yun's body refinement method. They examined the cultivation technique Jiang Yun provided and found its concept to be quite novel. After all, no one had previously considered arranging formations through acupoints, which offered them some excellent avenues for cultivation.