Accelerating Cultivation, Exempt from the Cost

Accelerating Cultivation, Exempt from the Cost

When Fang Jian and Shangguan Hong heard that Lei Jun had been "exiled" by Yuan Mobai to the Azure Stone Ink Mine, they were unable to come back to their senses for quite a while.

After a long while, Shangguan Hong cried out in alarm, "Azure Stone Ink? Didn't they say that staying there too long is... is..."

He hesitated, unable to utter the word "harm."

Fang Jian pondered. "Junior Brother Lei is going there for that long? It isn't temporary?"

Wang Guiyuan said, "Master did indeed give those instructions, and Junior Brother Lei has already gone over. I presume Master has his own arrangements."

Fang Jian dearly wanted to ask whether Lei Jun himself knew that prolonged exposure to Azure Stone Ink was harmful to low-realm cultivators.

"Mm, since Little Martial Uncle arranged it this way, there must be some deeper meaning we don't know." Fang Jian nodded. "In that case, I won't disturb him for now. I'll pay my respects to Little Martial Uncle another day."

Shangguan Hong also took his leave.

Fang Jian returned to his residence.

Another Young Adult Daoist was waiting in his courtyard: Li Xuan, whose younger brother had died earlier.

"Azure Stone Ink Mine?" Li Xuan was stunned as well. "Really? Or is it just an excuse?"

Fang Jian sat down. "We'll go take a look in a few days and confirm it."

Li Xuan looked over at him. "Junior Brother Fang, do you think it could be..."

"I don't know."

Fang Jian answered bluntly, "Though I've always heard that Eldest Sister and Little Martial Uncle get along rather well, Little Martial Uncle gets along with everyone. As for what his relationship with Eldest Sister truly is, you ought to be the one telling me."

Li Xuan tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. "Little Martial Uncle often disagrees with Xu Yuanzhen as well. They have not always advanced and retreated together, breathing through the same nostril.

"Just as you said, Little Martial Uncle cultivates goodwill far and wide and gets along with everyone. Even my father is no exception.

"If you insist on saying whose side he is on, it should be my uncle's—your master's."

"That's true."

Fang Jian said, "Then Eldest Sister went too far before, and Little Martial Uncle didn't approve—perhaps he was even dissatisfied?

"But that doesn't seem right either. Little Martial Uncle has always been open-minded. Even if he truly was dissatisfied with Eldest Sister, he wouldn't make things difficult for Junior Brother Lei."

Li Xuan said, "Perhaps Junior Brother Lei has always leaned toward Xu Yuanzhen, who brought him back to the mountain and introduced him to the Dao, and thus offended Little Martial Uncle?"

He stood up. "In any case, this news is very important. I'll inform Father and Eldest Senior Brother!"

If they could drive a wedge between Yuan Mobai and Xu Yuanzhen, it would be far more useful than making an issue out of Lei Jun, a newly initiated Transmission Disciple.

"So Master took the blame for me, while Eldest Sister ended up looking as though everyone had abandoned her?"

Lei Jun looked at Xu Yuanzhen.

Xu Yuanzhen said, "When you reach the Third Heaven, draw their expressions. I'll look at them when I return to the mountain."

After Lei Jun met Yuan Mobai, she once again left the mountain to travel afar, waving her sleeves without taking a single cloud with her.

"There are three people in the mansion whose thoughts you shouldn't try to guess. It's usually a waste of effort." Wang Guiyuan, who had come to visit Lei Jun, sighed. "Eldest Martial Uncle, meaning the Celestial Master himself; then Eldest Sister; and finally our Master."

The two martial brothers sat in their master Yuan Mobai's private Cave Abode.

"Junior Brother Fang came himself," Wang Guiyuan said. "As for Junior Brother Shangguan, he may have been representing Martial Uncle Shangguan and Senior Sister Zhang."

The image of the pure and lofty Zhang Jingzhen, the Celestial Master's third direct disciple, flashed through Lei Jun's mind.

They had once met at close range during the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool incident.

Come to think of it, if Tang Xiaotang—whom everyone tacitly regarded as a planned disciple—was counted as well, then among the current Celestial Master Li's five direct disciples, aside from his biological son Li Zhengxuan and fourth disciple Fang Jian, the other three were all female disciples.

In this generation, the yin was slightly stronger than the yang.

As for the impression they left upon the outside world, all three women were outstanding. They could be called the Celestial Master Mansion's new-generation calling cards, extremely helpful in attracting fresh blood.

Judging purely by appearance, Tang Xiaotang was unquestionably first. Her beauty was world-startling, so gorgeous it defied description, and she had a clear advantage in height.

But she was also the most unreliable person.

Eldest Sister Xu Yuanzhen's personality was not merely... a little strange. Her entire body also radiated an icy aura, making people often overlook both her gender and appearance.

When all was said and done, it was instead Third Senior Sister Zhang Jingzhen, with her lofty bearing and elegant beauty, who had no obvious shortcomings.

By this world's prevailing standards of beauty, a beautiful woman carrying herself with reserve was a bonus.

However, Lei Jun was more concerned with another matter.

"Senior Brother, Senior Sister Zhang's 'Zhang'... could it be?"

There were many people in the world surnamed Zhang.

But a small number of them were rather special.

As far as Lei Jun knew, the current imperial family of the Great Tang Dynasty bore the surname Zhang.

Considering that Zhang Jingzhen was familiar with members of the Shangguan Clan, Lei Jun made this guess.

"That's right. Senior Sister Zhang is a noblewoman of the imperial family and has been granted the title of Princess. Her father and the Late Emperor were biological brothers."

Wang Guiyuan said, "In other words, Senior Sister Zhang and His Majesty are cousins. She is also related to Martial Uncle Shangguan and Junior Brother Shangguan, so there is no issue with her directly calling Martial Uncle Shangguan her aunt."

Lei Jun nodded. "The Tang Court's imperial family has put considerable effort into our Celestial Master Mansion."

Wang Guiyuan said, "They have no choice but to put in effort. If they don't, plenty of others will."

For example, the Jingxiang Fang Clan, from which the Celestial Master's fourth direct disciple Fang Jian hailed.

In this world, the foremost school of learning in the Great Tang Dynasty's cultivation world was neither Buddhism, Daoism, nor martial cultivation, but the Confucian path of cultivation.

Compared to them, other cultivation traditions such as Daoism and Buddhism were currently more like forces outside the establishment.

But strictly speaking, Confucianism did not entirely represent the authorities either.

The relationship between the imperial family and the great Confucianism aristocratic clans was difficult to sum up in a few words.

The Great Tang was crowded with powerful clans, and more than half the Confucianism cultivation methods under heaven were held in the hands of aristocratic families. Every family kept its teachings secret, and experts gathered like clouds.

The most elite great clans had accumulated power over the years, their influence and authority surpassing even Sect Holy Lands.

More than that, people often said that the Son of Heaven and the aristocratic clans ruled the realm together.

Of these, the Seven Great Clans stood above the rest. Each was a cultivation family that had existed for several thousand years, or even ten thousand years, with histories predating the founding of the Great Tang.

The Seven Great Clans were Two Ye, Two Lin, One Xiao, One Chu, and One Fang.

The Fang Clan, also called the Fang Clan, dominated Jingxiang, practically forming an independent fief. Whether in court or beyond it, their roots ran deep and their branches spread wide.

In recent years, several Sect Holy Lands had risen under Great Tang rule, their prestige growing ever greater. This was not unrelated to the Tang Emperor's intention to elevate Buddhism and Daoism, cultivate commoner cultivators, and thereby balance the aristocratic clans.

But clearly, the aristocratic clans had not been idle either.

The Imperial Zhang Clan and the Shangguan Clan had disciples in the Celestial Master Mansion's core, and the Fang Clan did as well.

The major Buddhist and Daoist holy lands had received the support of several generations of Tang Emperors, balancing the bloodline-based Confucianism aristocratic houses and distinguished families.

Among them, the Celestial Master Mansion was rather special.

Though it had suffered several internal upheavals and been gravely weakened, the Celestial Master Mansion remained one of the world's foremost Sacred Dao Sects.

Yet rumors had gradually begun to spread throughout the world:

The Li Clan of Xinzhou Dragon Tiger Mountain had deep foundations and produced talents in abundance. It ought to stand alongside the traditional Seven Great Clans as the Eight Clans.

Lei Jun said, "Where there are people, there are factions and sides to choose."

Wang Guiyuan said, "Fortunately, Master and Eldest Sister stand independently like a great tree offering shade. As long as we ourselves don't leap out from under it, we can get rained on a little less."

Lei Jun nodded.

After seeing Wang Guiyuan off, he returned to the mine vein beneath the private residence and continued his cultivation.

Though it was called a mine vein and mining pit, it was actually more like another tranquil Cave Abode.

Though the rocks inside glimmered with a faint azure light, they were not frightening. Instead, they carried a serene warmth brimming with the breath of spring.

Several pitch-black stone fragments lay beside Lei Jun's hand, flickering with faint azure light. They were precisely the Azure Stone Ink that had made Shangguan Hong and Fang Jian turn pale at the mention of it.

When he first came into contact with it, Lei Jun had indeed felt that although this Azure Stone Ink had the marvelous effect of further stabilizing one's Dao Foundation and making Magic Power purer, it also damaged his physical body and vital blood.

The combined result was that it could indeed help Foundation Establishment cultivators advance more quickly, but its adverse effects would manifest as early as when ascending from the Second Heaven to the Third Heaven.

If one then dared to brave the Heavenly Chasm Tribulation, forget about passing it—one would likely die directly beneath the tribulation due to depleted vital blood.

Moreover, Azure Stone Ink's effects were as stubborn as maggots clinging to bone. Once it had eroded a cultivator's flesh and blood, it was difficult to heal or compensate for through other means.

Of course, nothing in the world was absolute. Of the fifty evolutions of the Great Dao, one was always left unused.

The rare exception was the Mist-Wreathed Cloud Crystal in Lei Jun's hand.

The Mist-Wreathed Cloud Crystal remained attached to the Spirit Gathering Talisman, but with this Spirit Gathering Talisman in hand, the Azure Stone Ink Lei Jun refined during cultivation no longer eroded his flesh and blood.

Thus, just as Yuan Mobai had expected, Lei Jun could use Azure Stone Ink to accelerate the further advancement of his Dao Foundation.

Yet he was immune to the cost brought by its side effects.