Martial Uncle Qin Yan

"Many thanks, Senior Brother." After receiving the jade slip of the Wither and Flourish Art, Ji An bowed in thanks and prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment, Junior Brother."

The Senior Brother in charge of reception stopped him and said sternly:

"The sect strictly forbids disciples from privately exchanging jade slips, and strictly forbids selling cultivation arts and Dao techniques outside the sect. The sect rules state this with perfect clarity.

"Once discovered, punishment will depend on the severity. At best, you will be escorted to the mines for three years of labor. At worst, you will be reduced to a mining slave and spend the rest of your life in lightless mine shafts.

"Do you understand?"

The Golden Spirit Sect was renowned for artifact refinement and controlled more than ten mineral veins of various kinds.

It was said that disciples who violated sect rules were mostly banished to the mines.

The spiritual energy within the mine shafts contained vast amounts of Underground Turbid Qi Yin Sha—violent and chaotic, utterly unusable for cultivation. Thus, being sent to mine was an extremely severe punishment.

This brought up the two paths cultivators took in their pursuit of the Dao.

One path was called Mana Cultivation. Such immortality seekers absorbed heaven and earth spiritual energy, refined it into mana, and stored it within their dantians. Their methods of attack mainly relied on spells and magical artifacts.

The other path was called body cultivation. They used the heaven and earth spiritual energy they absorbed to nourish their bodies, Wash Marrow and Refine Essence, and even refined all kinds of spiritual materials into their bodies to forge an Immaculate Treasure Body.

In a sense, a body cultivator's body was itself an alternative kind of magical artifact.

No one knew how many tens of thousands of years the cultivation world had developed for, but the boundary between mana cultivators and body cultivators was no longer so distinct.

Mana cultivators could practice body-tempering methods to strengthen their physical defenses, while body cultivators could naturally practice spells and wield magical artifacts to supplement their offensive and defensive methods. Their focuses were simply different.

Body cultivators possessed greater resistance to turbid qi and yin sha. Harsh environments could even temper their cultivation, so the work of excavating mines was mostly done by body cultivators.

Mana cultivators accounted for roughly eighty percent of the Golden Spirit Sect's total disciples. The sect's strongest body cultivator was merely an early Chaoyuan Realm cultivator, making it a genuine mana cultivation sect.

"I have carefully read all the sect rules and keep them in my heart at all times. I would not dare overstep them in the slightest," Ji An replied mildly.

What a joke. He was a Qi Condensation Layer 1 disciple with no backing and merely average aptitude. What gave him the courage to violate sect rules?

I didn't think you would dare.

The Senior Brother in charge of reception nodded slightly. Seeing that Ji An was a new disciple, he had merely been giving the customary warning.

He waved a hand. "Go as you please, Junior Brother."

Ji An left the main hall of the General Affairs Hall, sat cross-legged on his mat, and fell into thought.

He had no intention of socializing with the disciples around him. He decided to develop his connections only after three years had passed.

He had his reasons for choosing the Wither and Flourish Art. The Stone Turtle had already accumulated quite a bit of Xun Spirit, which was just right for refining.

There was another important point: the Wither and Flourish Art could plunder the vitality of vegetation and condense Wood Origin Pearls.

Wood Origin Pearls could be dispersed again into vigorous wood-element origin qi to nourish spiritual herbs. The sect purchased Wood Origin Pearls year-round to nurture spiritual herbs and speed up the growth of their medicinal age.

However, only after the Wither and Flourish Art reached the third layer or above could it condense Wood Origin Pearls. At the first and second layers, it could only extract some liquid containing Wood Origin Spiritual Energy.

The spiritual energy in that liquid dissipated quickly and had to be used as soon as possible. Spirit Farmers would dilute the extracted liquid with water and use it to irrigate Spirit Fields.

Xun belonged to wood among the five elements. It represented wind and symbolized the time between spring and summer, when all things began to flourish.

A trace of worry arose in his heart, because among the Eight Trigrams, the Zhen trigram also belonged to wood.

If the Wither and Flourish Art needed to refine two kinds of spiritual opportunity in order to improve rapidly, things would become troublesome.

Zhen represented thunder, symbolizing shock and awakening, as well as the power of growth and rebirth. The Stone Turtle had not yet absorbed even a wisp of Zhen spiritual opportunity.

At that moment, the last glow of the setting sun vanished. The firmament resembled a black curtain, dotted with countless stars.

Ji An emptied his mind and began circulating his cultivation art, drawing in heaven and earth spiritual energy to refine mana.

He was not alone. All the disciples gradually began circulating their arts and cultivating.

For ordinary disciples without the support of relatives or clans, none dared guarantee that they would definitely advance to Qi Condensation Layer 4 within three years. They had no right to be lazy.

Once the efficiency of refining mana declined, Ji An withdrew from cultivation. He took out the jade slip of the Wither and Flourish Art, pressed it to his forehead, and studied the secrets of spellcasting while pondering the essence of the technique.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, early Rabbit hour.

Ji An awoke from sleep and found that some disciples had already begun cultivating.

They're grinding like crazy.

He let out a long breath and, unwilling to fall behind, began circulating the Clear Origin Scripture.

Qi Condensation Stage disciples without medicinal pill support could only cultivate for a limited number of hours each day, and no one dared slack off.

As the sun rose, more new disciples arrived one after another. Each rode a Talisman Bird, their robes fluttering in the wind, a sight that stirred longing in all who saw them.

More and more people gathered in the open space. Ji An swallowed his envy and squeezed over beside the group from Green Pine Dao Academy.

He swept his gaze over them and found that several people had yet to arrive. There were only fourteen present now.

"Senior Brother Chu, I reckon the time is almost here. The Martial Uncle giving the lecture should arrive very soon. Why haven't we seen Senior Brother Zhang and Senior Sister Zhao?"

A look of envy appeared in Chu He's eyes as he smiled.

"Senior Brother Zhang and Senior Sister Zhao each have clan elders remaining in the sect, so they can seek guidance whenever they wish.

"This lecture is only about some basic knowledge that does not go too deep. There is no need for them to come."

Everyone revealed envious expressions. Perhaps in only a few years, those two would leave them all far behind.

After waiting a while longer, they entered a side hall under the guidance of the Senior Brother on duty at the General Affairs Hall.

Above the great hall hung a plaque bearing three square, weighty characters in dark ink: Hall of Hearing the Dao.

"Silence. I will say a few simple words."

The speaker looked to be in his twenties, but his face carried considerable authority, as though he were accustomed to giving orders.

"Martial Uncle Qin Yan is coming today. During the lecture, no one may make noise.

"If there is anything you do not understand, Martial Uncle will naturally set aside time after the lecture to answer your questions and clear your doubts."

"When Martial Uncle Qin first entered the sect, no one thought highly of him. Yet step by step, he carved out a path of his own.

"His experience is extremely worthy of study for most of you. Cherish this opportunity."

"One final thing.

"When Martial Uncle advanced to Foundation Establishment, he was already fifty-four years old. Now, Martial Uncle is one hundred and fifty-two, at Foundation Establishment Layer 9 Perfection."

The disciples all gasped in unison.

They had heard that of the sect's two Golden Core Old Ancestors, one roamed abroad while the other remained in secluded cultivation, unconcerned with worldly affairs. The sect's affairs, great and small, were discussed and decided by Origin Seeking cultivators.

If Martial Uncle Qin could take another step forward, would he not become a great Origin Seeking cultivator? He was unquestionably a candidate for the very top!

About half a quarter-hour later, the clear cry of a crane sounded out. Then a thin-faced cultivator with white brows and white hair strode inside and took his seat upon the high platform at the front.

Though his hair was white as snow, treasure light flowed across his skin, while the divine light in his eyes was restrained, as deep and still as ancient pools.

"Welcome, Martial Uncle, to the Hall of Hearing the Dao to deliver your lecture," the Senior Brother on duty said with a respectful bow.

"Welcome, Martial Uncle, to the Hall of Hearing the Dao to deliver your lecture," all the disciples said as they bowed together.

Another crane cry rang out. A crimson immortal crane entered with its head held high and its strides broad, then lay down beside the cultivator.

The cultivator took out a fist-sized Jade Bell and placed it on the desk. He picked up a jade mallet and gave it a gentle tap.

Ding! Clear notes drifted through the great hall.

"You may rise. I am Qin Yan."