Bestowal of a Method

"This year's Immortal Treasury shall be overseen by me personally."

Ziwei Dharma King gave a slight nod, her gaze sweeping over the dense black mass of people below.

Her voice drifted from the palace pavilion, thunderous and crystal clear in every ear, as though she were whispering at their side.

"Once you enter the treasury, rely upon your own fortunes. Life and death are your own concern."

As her words fell, she raised a hand and swept it through the air.

Ten formation flags flew from her sleeve and, with a ringing clang, embedded themselves in the sheer cliffs a thousand zhang high. The flags swelled in the wind, boundless Dharma power roaring forth as peals of wind and thunder echoed through the sky.

The formation flags swelled in the wind, transforming into towering banners ten zhang high in the blink of an eye. Streams of Dharma light howled from the flags, stirring wind and thunder between heaven and earth until it resounded above Dragon Whisker Ravine.

The ten formation flags linked together, their Dharma lights weaving into a net that outlined the phantom of a majestic gate between the two cliffs.

As the gate's contours emerged, purple qi churned within, clouds and mist coiling about it. Its true form could not be seen clearly; it only felt deep and distant, as though it connected to another heaven and earth.

Seeing this, the several dozen True Persons from the Dao academies upon the high platform made their moves as well. Streams of Dharma power roared from their palms, pouring into the formation flags before them like an avalanche and a tidal sea.

Those formation flags echoed the ten main flags upon the cliffs, jointly sustaining the manifestation of the gate.

The gate gradually solidified, though it still required some time before it could fully open.

The lakeside was strangely quiet. Many people sat down where they stood, closed their eyes, and rested their spirits as they awaited the opening of the gate.

Above the palace pavilions, Ziwei Dharma King's gaze narrowed slightly, as though she were examining the crowd below.

After several breaths, she suddenly stepped into the air!

Within a single breath, her purple-robed figure cut across the sky and arrived amidst the crowd.

Starry Dharma light swirled around that purple-robed figure, making her impossible to look at directly. Everyone lowered their heads slightly and scarcely dared to breathe, yet none knew what this Dharma King of the Divine Sect intended to do, much less dared to ask.

Some wished to bow in salute, only to be held in place by an invisible force, unable to move.

Xu Yan lowered his head as well. Glancing from the corner of his eye, he saw her standing before a silver-robed young woman, seemingly speaking to her through divine sense.

A few seconds later, the purple-robed figure flashed over to a youth dressed in gray hempen robes.

She flickered in and out of sight among the crowd like this.

By now, some bold cultivators had begun whispering among themselves.

"Is the Dharma King selecting true disciples?"

"Most likely."

"That silver-robed young woman is Qin Yiren of Heavenly Capital City. They say she possesses an extreme yin meridian manifestation."

Xu Yan heard the discussion of the nearby aristocratic disciples. By the time he came back to himself, a cool female voice suddenly rang out in his sea of consciousness.

"Raise your head."

The moment the words fell, Xu Yan saw from the corner of his eye a graceful purple-robed figure arrive half a zhang before him.

Yan Qihu beside him was already trembling from head to toe. He turned his head and stared at Xu Yan with wide eyes.

Xu Yan took a deep breath and slowly raised his head.

What he saw was an incomparably beautiful face. She wore a dark Dharma crown, her black hair swept up high, and her skin was white as congealed cream.

A beauty mark adorned the corner of her eye, lending her a touch of allure, yet it was subdued by her icy presence. Even her loose purple Daoist robe embroidered with stars could not conceal her graceful figure.

Ziwei Dharma King was looking at him. Specks of starlight shimmered in the depths of her pupils, as though the stars of the heavens were circulating within them.

Xu Yan only felt that beneath her gaze, even his bones, flesh, and skin had been seen through completely.

"This junior, Xu Yan, pays respects to Senior!"

Xu Yan immediately clasped his hands and bowed, his salute crisp and sonorous.

"Your meridian manifestation is chaotic, ever-changing. It is a Primordial Spirit Vein—quite rare."

A Primordial Spirit Vein?

Xu Yan's heart jolted. He only knew that his spirit veins were strange; he had never imagined they were something so rare.

Ziwei Dharma King's voice rang within Xu Yan's mind, melodious and pleasing. Every word seemed to possess boundless magic, making his heart tremble faintly as she said, "Where do you come from? Are you the child of an aristocratic family?"

"This junior comes from Green Ox Town, Siyang City, Yuanwu Kingdom, in central Cang Province. For three generations, my family has had no cultivators. Four years ago, I received guidance from a traveling Daoist, who bestowed upon me the Taicang Breathing Technique and the Twelve Spell Divine Powers, setting me upon the path of cultivation."

Xu Yan was somewhat nervous. He did his best to calm himself and concealed nothing, recounting his origins and the path that had brought him here word by word.

After several silent breaths, Xu Yan suddenly sensed dense lines of golden seal-script characters continuously appearing in his sea of consciousness.

"I bestow upon you the meridian-opening heart scripture of the Eight-Nine Profound Art. Enter the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury. Once you emerge, diligently temper your foundations at the Dao academy. When you go to the Divine Land in the future, enter my Purple Star Palace to cultivate."

Before her words had even finished, Ziwei Dharma King's figure had already vanished.

Xu Yan looked around in astonishment. It seemed he had been the last one; Ziwei Dharma King had already returned to her Dharma carriage.

Beside him, Yan Qihu excitedly gripped Xu Yan's shoulder, while quite a few Daoists around them cast strange looks his way.

"Brother Xu, what happened? What did the Dharma King say to you?"

"Nothing." Xu Yan took a breath and shook his head. "Senior merely gave me a little guidance."

"A heaven-sent opportunity! Brother Xu, you'll soar into the sky one day—don't forget me then!"

Yan Qihu looked even more excited than Xu Yan, his face flushed red as he spoke.

With a slight headache, Xu Yan sat down cross-legged and began sorting through the Eight-Nine Profound Art heart scripture in his mind.

The troublesome matter of his meridian manifestation and the method for opening his meridians, which had vexed him for days, had been effortlessly resolved by this senior.

Still, whether he wished to or not, he had to enter the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury this time.

Xu Yan closed his eyes to rest and carefully examined the Eight-Nine Profound Art heart scripture within his divine sense. This was a method for the meridian-opening stage. Not only did it contain a detailed method for opening one's meridians, it also held three divine powers that could be used in the meridian-opening realm.

The more he read, the more alarmed he became.

This art differed somewhat from ordinary meridian-opening methods. The Eight-Nine Profound Art was a cultivation art that trained both body and qi. Not only did one need to use mystic qi to clear the impure meridians, one also had to temper the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

With mystic qi as the hammer and the meridians as iron, every stage was a tempering.

Those who cultivated this art would undergo nine transformations of rebirth with each of the nine meridian-opening levels.

"Once I enter the Immortal Treasury, I must first find a secluded place and try opening my meridians."

Xu Yan made his calculations inwardly.

Most of those aristocratic disciples were already at the meridian-opening realm, with divine powers and Dharma artifacts to protect themselves. Entering as one in the qi-breathing realm, he would be in grave danger.

Leaving those people aside, the Immortal Treasury itself was said to be infested everywhere with demons, devils, and baleful entities, its dangers unfathomable.

Based on previous years, of those with qi-breathing cultivation, not one in a thousand could leave the Immortal Treasury alive.

"Since it has come to this, wealth and honor must be sought amid danger!"

Xu Yan steadied his mind and clenched his fists. With this wondrous fate edict in hand, perhaps he could unearth quite a few treasures within the Immortal Treasury.

About half an hour later.

Between the two thousand-zhang cliffs, the gate to the Immortal Treasury was finally fully manifested. An ancient aura swept through the entire Dragon Whisker Ravine!

Seeing this, Daoist Master Qingmu of Chongxu Academy suddenly strode out from the Daoist grounds and soared into the air, his voice reverberating in all directions.

"A hundred days shall be the limit. Those who can break free from the Immortal Treasury may enter the Dragon Ridge Hundred Academies to cultivate."

As his words fell, the vast crowd surged forward like a swarm of locusts.

Some rode swords, some stepped upon the wind, and some traveled atop flying shuttles of Dharma artifacts. Streams of escaping light intertwined, blotting out the sky and covering the earth!