The Upper Limit

The Heavenly Craft Hall was located in Heavenly Craft Valley, deep within Flaming Mountain. Fang Yu had only heard of it before and had never been there.

All he knew was that it was where the sect's elders with Fire Virtue Dao Foundations cultivated in seclusion.

Now, after entering under Elder Wu Tong's guidance, he sensed that the Spiritual Qi there was no less concentrated than in a secret land.

"Is this place a secret land too?"

"Only a small one. It can't compare to the Metal Stone Secret Land."

As Wu Tong spoke, he pointed at the fissures in the valley from which earthfire poured, each blazing with astonishing heat.

"You may use the earthfire here as you please. If you see a place you like, you can carve out a cave abode there. You'd best choose somewhere you're satisfied with, since we elders of the Heavenly Craft Hall will live here until we die."

"Uh!" Fang Yu's brow twitched slightly. "What do you mean by that, Elder Wu? Could it be that the sect restricts the freedom of Dao Foundation cultivators like us?"

"Dao Foundation?" Wu Tong sneered. "Does Molten Edge Flow even count as a Dao Foundation? We're nothing but high-grade firestone laborers!"

Fang Yu had a faint feeling that something was wrong and continued to ask, "Please enlighten me, Elder Wu!"

Wu Tong glanced at him and said slowly, "The Metal Stone Immortal Sect was once a Purple Mansion immortal clan. It produced several Purple Mansion sword cultivators over the years, then seized the spiritual land of Flaming Mountain and needed a large number of Fire Virtue cultivators to develop it.

"But the Tie Household mainly cultivated Metal Virtue, so it took in disciples with Fire Virtue destinies, transforming from a Purple Mansion immortal clan into the Metal Stone Immortal Sect of today.

"Though it calls itself an immortal sect and has recruited a great many Fire Virtue disciples, the sect is still dominated by members of the Tie Household. Those of us with other surnames are merely laborers they keep to toil for them.

"Whatever our Fire Virtue destiny, we all cultivate Molten Edge Flow. After advancing to the Dao Foundation realm, there's no subsequent cultivation method. That's why the early Dao Foundation realm is our upper limit."

Fang Yu's brow furrowed deeply.

"Can't we switch to another Dao Foundation?"

Wu Tong shook his head. "For cultivators like us, the first breath of Spiritual Qi we ingest and the cultivation method we use determine our Dao Path from then on. Though Flaming Mountain's Flowing Flame True Fire has produced Purple Mansion cultivators, they had a complete Fire Virtue inheritance.

"Besides, you and I have already established our Dao Foundations. It's impossible to switch to another one now. Only by taking the legendary Heavenly One Life Water and dissolving our Dao Foundations could we cultivate anew. But even Purple Mansion aristocratic clans don't possess such a spiritual treasure; it might exist only in a Golden Core sect. How could either of us obtain it?"

"So it's impossible to cultivate anew!"

Fang Yu felt that everything he had learned about the Dao of Qi Ingestion had been turned on its head. He remembered that what they had taught him at the school back then was nothing like this.

Fortunately, he had the Yuanchen Pearl. He could dissolve the Law Power and Dao Foundation in his body at any time and switch to another cultivation method.

"Then where did this Molten Edge Flow come from? Surely there must be a subsequent cultivation method?"

Seeing that Fang Yu still refused to give up, Wu Tong shook his head. "The Molten Edge Flow Dao Foundation is said to come from the Fire Thunder Lineage of Mount Longhu. Its cultivation method is called the Crimson Firmament Liberation by Violence Manual. The Crimson Firmament Profound Craft Canon we cultivate is just one hair on nine oxen by comparison.

"And it's said that only direct disciples of Mount Longhu's Fire Thunder Lineage are qualified to cultivate the Crimson Firmament Liberation by Violence Manual.

"Never mind that we have nowhere to look for it. Even if we did find it, if we cultivated it without Mount Longhu's permission, we'd have to be prepared to be struck dead by fire and thunder."

You've got to be kidding me. What a trap!

Fang Yu was momentarily at a loss for words. He had just been happy that he had finally broken through to the Dao Foundation realm, only to find that he had already reached the end of the road.

As for the Crimson Firmament Liberation by Violence Manual Wu Tong had mentioned, finding it was even more impossible.

Mount Longhu was the ancestral court of Daoism, hailed as the "source of all methods," and it presided over the Taiyi Profound Gate. Unless he was a child of fortune, there was no way he could become one of its direct disciples.

He had a Wings Fire destiny, so he didn't necessarily have to cultivate the Dao Foundation in the Crimson Firmament Liberation by Violence Manual. He should be able to cultivate other compatible Fire Virtue Dao Foundations too. The key was where to find one.

Suppressing his irritation, Fang Yu voiced another question on his mind. "Elder Wu, I advanced to the Dao Foundation realm today and killed Tie Chanyi. Will there be any repercussions?"

"Of course there will be!"

Wu Tong nodded, then changed tack. "But there's no need to worry. As the saying goes, the Great Dao has fifty, but heaven unfolds forty-nine.

"The Metal Stone Immortal Sect is subordinate to Mount Longmen and is also part of the Taiyi Profound Gate. Even firestone laborers like us have a thread of hope for survival within the sect, and you seized that thread.

"The Tie Chanyi you killed had long since advanced to the Dao Foundation realm and was a sword cultivator exceptionally skilled in offense, yet she still died at your hands. That shows her destiny wasn't strong, her fortune had waned, and she wasn't fated to wield an earth-grade flying sword. She's dead, and that's the end of it.

"No one will pay any attention to a dead Dao Foundation sword cultivator. The only person who might come after you is her own father, Tie Hanshan.

"But you now have the sword intent bestowed by Sword Immortal Qiuyue protecting you. Even if he wanted to, he would never dare make a move against you.

"Even if he did make a move, it could only be outside the sect, and he could only find someone else to deal with you. He himself would never violate sect rules in the face of Sword Immortal Qiuyue's sword intent."

Fang Yu nodded. "So as long as I don't leave the sect, no one will dare come after me?"

"That's right," Wu Tong said with a nod. "With that wisp of Sword Immortal Qiuyue's sword intent, even a Purple Mansion True Person wouldn't kill you without cause."

"I see!" Fang Yu looked at Wu Tong. "Do all the Heavenly Craft Hall elders have Sword Immortal Qiuyue's sword intent?"

"Of course not!" Wu Tong shook his head. "Only elders like you, who have refined an earth-grade flying sword, receive special protection."

Protection!

Fang Yu sensed the sword intent isolated within his mind. Surveillance is more like it!

He let out a deep breath and said gloomily, "So we can only grow old and die in the sect?"

Wu Tong laughed. "That's not the only path the sect has arranged for us."

Fang Yu perked up at once. "So there are other paths?"

Wu Tong nodded. "Of course. We belong to the orthodox Taiyi Profound Gate, not some demonic path that leaves others no hope of survival.

"You have two paths before you now.

"The first is to marry a woman of the Tie Household and have a child or two. Let them take their mother's surname, and they'll be members of the Tie Household, entitled to the same treatment as its other members. If they have a precious destiny and one day reach the Dao Foundation realm, or even the Purple Mansion realm, you can rise through your children's success and carry on your bloodline."

Damn, wouldn't that just make me a stud?

Fang Yu was tempted, but then he asked, "What about the second path?"

Wu Tong smiled. "The second is to be like me: never marry, spend a carefree hundred years in the sect, and then turn into a handful of yellow earth."

Fang Yu frowned. "What if I wanted to go out and make my way in the world?"

Wu Tong seemed to have expected Fang Yu to ask that. Without the slightest surprise, he said:

"Of course you can. With Sword Immortal Qiuyue's sword intent protecting you, you can travel about and enjoy the scenery without any trouble, so long as you don't provoke a Purple Mansion aristocratic clan. It's just that there's no point. Our Dao Foundations are already set. Even if we encounter some fortuitous opportunity out there, we won't be able to grasp it. In the end, we'll have to return to the sect anyway."

Hearing this, Fang Yu was immediately relieved.

As long as they let me leave, that's enough. Once I'm out of the Metal Stone Immortal Sect, I refuse to believe I can't find a Dao Foundation cultivation method that suits me. I can just start over then. I've already broken through to the Dao Foundation realm, so my lifespan is as long as two hundred years. Even though I'm already sixty-two, I still have more than a hundred and forty years to start over.