Dongyang Zi's Wood-Speaking Method

Senior Brother Lin seemed to have changed completely.

His once upright body, broad-backed and wasp-waisted, was now slightly stooped. His temples had turned gray, and his face was haggard, as though he had only just recovered from a serious illness.

One had to know that, within the Hibernation Academy, although Senior Brother Lin was not as handsome as Lu Xuan's former self, he had still possessed the bearing of a jade tree in a jeweled forest.

Yet now, he carried the air of fading years, enough to make one's heart ache at the sight.

Lu Xuan knew that this was the consequence of failing the Grand Rite and suffering Heaven's might.

The Heaven's might of the Qi-Refining Grand Rite would not take one's life, but it would scatter one's cultivation completely. One could never cultivate again for the rest of one's life, and one's lifespan would stop at eighty years.

Seeing him thus, Lu Xuan felt a pang of sorrow and could not help but feel some pity.

"Forgive me for coming to your door so abruptly... You hold no post at present, Junior Brother, so I will presume upon our old relationship and call you Junior Brother once more."

Senior Brother Lin's voice was hoarse. He cupped his hands and bowed to Lu Xuan, his manner respectful.

"What are you saying, Senior Brother? We were fellow students. How could our relationship be judged by cultivation alone?"

"Please, come inside at once."

The Heaven-Gazing Sect upheld the Life-Valuing Principle and placed great importance on human ties. Thus, the titles of senior brother and junior sister had been established according to the order of entry when one joined the Hibernation Academy, and generally were never changed.

Yet in cultivation, the accomplished were teachers. Thus, once someone's cultivation surpassed another's by too much, the more accomplished party would be granted a high position within the sect, allowing those of lower cultivation to address them by title as a mark of respect.

As for in private, whether they still called each other senior or junior brother depended on their friendship.

Lu Xuan's former self had studied alongside Senior Brother Lin for nine years. He would not force someone to change how they addressed him merely because he had broken through to Qi Refining. That would be far too cold-hearted.

He led Senior Brother Lin inside, brewed hot tea, and observed every courtesy.

"Junior Brother, your aura has grown stronger again since your return. Could it be that you succeeded in the Minor Offering Ritual and opened your spiritual awareness?"

After taking a sip of tea, Senior Brother Lin was the first to ask.

"Senior Brother has sharp eyes. I merely succeeded by luck."

Lu Xuan smiled.

"In cultivation, where is there such a thing as luck? Junior Brother is gifted and intelligent; that is why you stand where you do today."

"You have surpassed me by far..."

Bitterness touched Senior Brother Lin's lips, and he could not help sighing.

Lu Xuan did not know why Senior Brother Lin had come today, but upon hearing this, he could only offer some consolation. "The road is blocked and long; who can know what the future holds? To have children and grandchildren filling the hall is also one of life's great paths."

Senior Brother Lin shook his head without speaking. Seeing this, Lu Xuan found it difficult to say more, and the room fell silent for a time.

After a long while, Senior Brother Lin seemed to have made up his mind and spoke again. "Junior Brother, where are you from? Are you within the Immortal Cult's territory?"

Lu Xuan answered, "I was born in Azure Cliff Dao, very close to the borders of the sect's territory, but still within the Immortal Cult's domain."

The Immortal Cult's territory was vast, stretching for millions of li. To govern its many lands, the Immortal Cult had divided it into one court and twelve daos.

The one court was the Jade Court Mountain range, also known as the Jade Court Daoist Grounds. It was the core land of the Immortal Cult, stretching for hundreds of thousands of li and encompassing a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers. No one knew how many cultivators, mortals, Demon Race members, and strange spirits dwelled within. It was incomparably prosperous.

The twelve daos were twelve Daoist grounds scattered across various regions. Immortal Cult cultivators were stationed within them as well, valuing life in each region and enlightening all living beings.

However, aside from Jade Court Mountain, the other regions were not especially prosperous. The atmosphere of cultivation was also much weaker, and most were lands of mortals.

Still, so long as one was within the Immortal Cult's territory, one could enjoy peace and live out one's life safely.

With good fortune and keen comprehension, one might even be selected for the Immortal Cult's Hibernation Academy and cultivate the immortal path.

Senior Brother Lin nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. "It is good that you are within the sect. The dangers outside are beyond what ordinary people can imagine..."

"Where is Senior Brother from?"

Lu Xuan asked at the right moment.

"I was born beyond the Immortal Cult, in a place called Empty Mulberry Dao."

"My family was a cultivation lineage. My grandfather had Foundation Establishment cultivation, and we possessed three spirit peaks, a thousand mu of spirit fields, and servants like clouds. From childhood, I wore fine clothes and ate rich food, able to enjoy all manner of spiritual treasures. How carefree it was..."

"Yet the elders of my family were often sorrowful, sighing ceaselessly even as spirit rice passed their lips."

"I did not understand then, but later I learned that the cultivation method practiced by my family was Dongyang Zi's Wood-Speaking Method."

Dongyang Zi's Wood-Speaking Method?!

Lu Xuan's expression changed, and he could not help raising his head to look at Senior Brother Lin.

The name of a person was attached to the beginning of the true scripture?!

Was this not an Immortal-Seeding method?!

Senior Brother Lin's inherited true scripture was actually such a method?

Then how had Senior Brother Lin entered the Heaven-Gazing Sect?

Senior Brother Lin sensed Lu Xuan's shock as well. He immediately gave a bitter smile and continued, "I was young then and understood nothing. The elders of my family were unwilling to say much either. I only remembered that, when I was three, my father—hailed as a Sitting in Oblivion seed—never appeared again..."

"When I was four, my cousin also vanished without a trace."

"Two years later, my eldest brother never returned home again."

"When I was seven, my grandfather, the pillar holding up our household, went on a long journey and never came back."

"Then, when I was eight, I suddenly felt the earth dragon turn over. Great lightning flashed in the sky, the spirit peaks of our family trembled, and my second brother led me away in flight, saying that a powerful enemy was attacking..."

"After that, my second brother died, and I lost consciousness as well."

"When I awoke, I saw an Immortal Cult Instructor who had happened to pass by. Since my father had strictly forbidden me from cultivating the family's true scripture since childhood, I gained the Instructor's pity and was brought into the Hibernation Academy."

So that was it.

Lu Xuan understood at once, but he truly had not expected Senior Brother Lin to have suffered such an ordeal.

The elders of his family had all vanished after cultivating an Immortal-Seeding method? What kind of great calamity had they encountered?

Not even his Foundation Establishment grandfather had escaped?

"Great calamities differ for each Immortal-Seeding method, but the calamity of my Lin Household was the Human-Material Calamity."

"Like spiritual materials in the earth, the deeper one cultivated, the fatter and richer one became, until in the end, one was swallowed in a single bite."

"Because you cultivated this scripture, every method you possessed was tantamount to being bestowed by that person. No matter how deep your cultivation, before that person, it was impossible to resist."

Senior Brother Lin seemed to know Lu Xuan's doubts. His fist clenched tightly as he spoke of his family's calamity.

"My condolences, Senior Brother!"

Lu Xuan let out a long sigh and offered what comfort he could.

"Condolences? I do not want condolences!"

"I want to use the blood from my enemies' throats to water the boulder in my heart!"

"But Empty Mulberry Dao is the territory of the Azure Wood Sect. Though there are struggles within, its foundation remains unshaken. It is a great sect of one region. The Instructor saved me, a mere mortal, that day; it was of no consequence. But seeking revenge for me was impossible."

"Only I can do it!"

"That is why I will not gather and refine the clear yet muddled qi below True Qi. If I refine that qi, I will have no hope of slaying my enemies for the rest of my life."

"But I failed both Grand Rites. It is because I am incompetent..."

Senior Brother Lin's fist tightened further, but after a long sigh, he finally released it.

The rage of a mortal was meaningless.

"Heretical demons and crooked paths cannot obtain the true Dharma. In the end, they will surely be eradicated. Senior Brother, do not take it too much to heart..."

Hearing this, Lu Xuan could only offer consolation.

But what made him even more curious was why Senior Brother Lin had come today to reveal his past and confide in him.

Senior Brother Lin gave a bitter smile. "With the body of a mortal, what could I do even if I took it to heart?"

"But I received the Immortal Cult's great grace and cultivated for nine years after entering the Hibernation Academy. I imagine there is still some bond of fellowship between us."

"Junior Brother Lu, if one day you achieve Golden Core, would you be willing to issue a decree to slay Dongyang Zi and destroy the Azure Wood Sect?"