Purification

In the underground palace, four clusters of spiritual spring energy hovered beside the spirit pool.

With the Wu Clan, the Zhu Clan, and the Longevity Monastery out of the running, those left inside were Liu Xiaowen, Liu Baiyuan, Qi Wen of the Hollow Sword Gate, and Duan Pingdu of the Duan Clan.

The Spirit Spring Pure Qi shone brightly within the pool. The four stood around it, each occupied with his own thoughts.

"Where are the people from the Zhu Clan and the Longevity Monastery?"

Liu Xiaowen had some suspicions. Those two factions' representatives had the strongest cultivation and deepest reserves among them; they should have arrived early and claimed a portion of Clear Qi. The young Daoist from the Longevity Monastery had even had a place reserved for him. How could he be missing?

Connecting this with the strange change that had occurred in his own body earlier, Liu Xiaowen began to glimpse some of the hidden workings. He felt that this affair was nowhere near as simple as it appeared.

The others' eyes flickered too, each pondering the matter.

Only the Duan Clan junior, Duan Pingdu, remained utterly carefree. He strode forward without a concern, drew the densest portion of Clear Qi straight toward himself, and laughed.

"Why are you all standing on ceremony? There's exactly one portion apiece now. Let's get this straight first: I'm taking the densest one."

That densest portion of Clear Qi had clearly been prepared by the Longevity Monastery for its direct heir, yet Duan Pingdu seemed not to care in the slightest.

He was not particularly handsome and was rather short, but his aura was steady. He brought forth a small cauldron that radiated a gentle glow.

It was a Formation Disk. Though only upper-grade Fetal Breath, it bore at least nine inscribed formations, and its aura was intimidating.

With their Fetal Breath cultivation, they could not bring out the power of Qi Refining artifacts. Formation implements like this, whose inscribed formations could be put to use with the slightest activation, were formidable indeed.

The other three present were wary of the little cauldron, and even less willing to draw attention to themselves.

Seizing something that belonged to the Longevity Monastery would be difficult to explain afterward, so they left Duan Pingdu to it.

Each of the four chose a spot and prepared to begin their purification.

The [Heaven-Bestowed Fortune Spring] was a treasure the ancient Qi Kingdom's imperial house had bestowed upon its ministers and used to cultivate friendly ties with immortal lineages. It could cleanse one's nature, purge karmic burdens, dissolve foul miasma, and strengthen one's foundation.

Liu Xiaowen drew it into his body little by little, feeling a cool current rise and merge into his root bone and bloodline.

Streams of foul energy seeped from his body, and all the impurities accumulated from his past demon slayings dispersed. His mind felt clear and empty, and his understanding of the breathing method taught by the monastery deepened. His [Light of the Upper Heavens] gradually condensed from a mere thread into a wisp.

His cultivation settled firmly at the perfected Middle Fetal Breath stage. Every weakness in his foundation was repaired, and he felt that his essence, energy, and spirit had reached their peak.

The other three also finished their purification shortly afterward, evidently reaping considerable gains. Duan Pingdu had even broken straight through from Middle Fetal Breath to late-stage Fetal Breath.

Though everyone present was young, they had grown up steeped in the affairs of their lineages and sects, and had some suspicions about the current situation. Only Duan Pingdu, looking as though he had something to rely on, had simply seized the opportunity reserved by the Longevity Monastery.

With their purification complete, they waited for the formation to send them out.

Aboard the treasure ship, Xi Ming's face was livid, and he was on the verge of attacking. The Zhu Clan representative looked equally displeased, assuming that the Longevity Monastery disciple had harmed his junior and cost him his chance at purification.

The Zhu Clan had sent a middle-aged man named Zhu Yuanyun.

He was of the same generation as Xu Xuan and bore a resemblance to Zhu Yucheng, suggesting he was his son. His cultivation had reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, and his imposing presence matched Daoist Xi Ming's.

"Fellow Daoist Xi Ming, this whole affair was arranged by your Longevity Monastery. First you gathered us in the Chen Household's name, then you used your power to pressure us into bringing our juniors here to help you open this underground palace."

"You reserved the greatest benefit for yourselves in advance, and now this incident has left my own son injured. What explanation do you have?"

Zhu Yuanyun looked indignant. He clearly had backing of his own, and his voice was cold. Zhu Chenglu's injury and the loss of his purification opportunity had all been caused by Xiao Cunsi's sudden descent into madness.

Daoist Xi Ming was equally aggrieved. Xiao Cunsi was his only personal disciple. This time, the Great Shaman had specifically called for him, and Xi Ming's sect had assured him there would be benefits without risk. Only then had he allowed his disciple to fill the vacancy, yet now the boy had come to grief here.

Neither the monastery's True Person nor his own master would care whether a mere Fetal Breath disciple like Xiao Cunsi lived or died. But he cared.

This was his only personal disciple, whom he had brought back to the monastery years ago and painstakingly nurtured. He had already chosen him as his True Disciple, yet now someone had plotted against him and inflicted that poisonous thing upon him.

"Someone must have tampered with things. They must have! That poisonous thing was already about to fall upon someone else, then it suddenly turned away and went after Cunsi."

His master had cultivated the immortal foundation [Divine Spirit Numerology], which could discern the subtle and illuminate the hidden, aligning with the numbers of Taiyi. It was particularly adept at examining entanglements between Daoist lineages and shifts in destiny, yet even he could not calculate who had interfered.

Within the underground palace, the Qi Kingdom's remnants, the Shu Kingdom's blood descendants, and the Great Shaman's divine ability became intertwined. Spiritual sense could not probe it, and the heavenly eye could not see it. Apart from the monastery's True Person, only his master could calculate anything of it, yet he had failed to uncover even the slightest trace.

"You have some nerve, daring to tamper with things behind our backs!" Beside himself with anger, Xi Ming rebuked them in a low voice.

Those present did not know what had happened inside the underground palace. Seeing the Longevity Monastery disciple lose his senses, they merely assumed he had met with disaster inside, and all fell silent. Only Zhu Yuanyun maintained his hostile expression and spoke in a low voice.

"Fellow Daoist Xi Ming, I think it is your Longevity Monastery that has some nerve."

"What sort of place do you think this is, that you dare act recklessly? If we have to start again and there aren't enough Foundation Establishment prospects to fill the vacancies, will you take responsibility?"

Having examined his son Zhu Chenglu's injuries, Zhu Yuanyun wore an angry expression. His hair rose slightly, and a hazy yellow light flickered over his hands. The utensils around him shattered across the floor as though crushed beneath an immense weight.

"Zhu Yuanyun, you dare treat our monastery with such contempt? Do you truly think your father can break through to Purple Mansion?"

The enchanted sword on Xi Ming's back trembled incessantly, and his blue robes billowed as though a gale had risen.

"Outsiders can no longer interfere directly in matters on the Plainlands. Everyone with a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment has been registered. Until you reach Foundation Establishment yourself, what can you do?"

"You rely on a True Person's might to scheme against our juniors. Do you take every household on the Plainlands for fools?"

Zhu Yuanyun spoke casually, his expression faintly mocking.

"Fellow Daoist, please."

Xi Ming exhaled deeply and drew his sword. His face became as still as an ancient well, all his anger drawn inward.

Zhu Yuanyun also put away his flippant expression. The two rode the wind off the ship and stood above the Flat Lake, taking their stances for a bout.

Xu Xuan stood behind the others, his expression shifting just as theirs did, betraying nothing unusual.

Both men above the lake were at the seventh level of Qi Refining, but Daoist Xi Ming held a slight advantage over Zhu Yuanyun in both cultivation methods and artifacts.

Zhu Yuanyun wielded an ancient, plain stone axe, his movements broad and forceful. With every cleaving stroke, hazy light of Origin Magnetism flashed, drawing the lake water into motion and raising waves on every side.

He was fierce-tempered by nature, and the sight of these immortal sect members only deepened his disgust. Crushing pressure surrounded him like a prison, forcing the lake water beneath him aside.

Daoist Xi Ming held a silver-white longsword patterned with wind, frost, and snow. As he formed a hand seal, twelve streams of metal-origin energy appeared and descended from the sky like a rain of arrows. He wielded his sword like a commander marshaling his generals, flicking aside the light of Origin Magnetism one stroke at a time, the blade trembling with a dragon's cry.

In the end, Xi Ming's cultivation and mastery were superior. After several dozen exchanges, Zhu Yuanyun began to struggle. He could only draw back his Origin Magnetism spell-light and gather it around himself, concentrating on defending against the rain of metal-origin arrows. Numerous wounds were left on his body.

The Longevity Monastery did not stop Daoist Xi Ming. For a time, the atmosphere grew oppressive. The lake churned, and no one knew when the youths in the underground palace would emerge.

(End of chapter)