Cultivation and departure

"Junior brother, Master said he's taking us out tomorrow. Why aren't you happy?" Back in the dormitory, Han Yundao was beaming, as though he had forgotten all about the pain in his swollen palms and scraped knees.

Cultivating immortality was hard work. He had had enough of the dreary monotony of cultivation over the past three months. Being able to take a break and go out, no matter what they were going to do, was a wonderful thing as far as Han Yundao was concerned.

"Going out?" Jin Shilun, who had only just heard the news, was thrilled too. Reciting scriptures every day was really boring, you know.

"I don't know. Maybe I just find it strange how quickly Master changed his attitude." Duan Anle shook his head.

"Oh, you. Master's always been like that. Second Martial Uncle says he's like Li Yunlong: his face changes as fast as a dog's." Han Yundao lay on his bed and stretched.

"Senior brother, I've always wanted to know who this 'Li Yunlong' is."

"I don't know either. I've only vaguely heard Master and the martial uncles mention him a few times. He seems to have been a respected senior sword cultivator."

The first watch of the night.

A thick beast-fat candle, half a foot tall, sent up wisps of blue smoke that drifted together with the smoke from the pine resin in the brazier.

Kang Dabao sat upright with his eyes closed in the meditation chamber, his fingers forming several seals in an instant. A moment later, he softly uttered a mysterious syllable, and when it fell, the entire chamber trembled gently.

Kang Dabao's eyes snapped open. A pale gold had appeared around the edges of the black pupils in his small eyes.

"Chongming refers to the sun and moon; thus, light follows light without end," Kang Dabao murmured, his face filled with delight.

He had been stuck on the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes for nearly twenty years and had only barely grasped the basics through the great terror between life and death.

He had thought the cultivation that followed would be just as difficult. Never had he expected that three months of diligent practice would bring this low-grade Zhou-rank Technique Method to minor mastery.

What did that mean? Back then, he, Sect Leader Kang Da, had spent a year and a half just barely bringing the low-grade Huang-rank Fireball Technique to minor mastery!

The faces of the vicious people who had died such gruesome deaths flashed before his eyes one by one: the Four Ghosts of the Liu Household, Bai Bian of Bai Household Stockade, Daoist Wu of Pine Forest Temple, Gu Laoliu of Five Birds Mountain, and Niu Gui'er.

By his reckoning, with this technique's power, he could shatter a middle-grade defensive Law Artifact in a single strike, even if it was wielded by a cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

With this technique alone, he would henceforth stand a very good chance of victory against an ordinary Late Qi Refinement cultivator.

Not only that, he could also see clearly through ordinary illusions, concealing Law Artifacts, methods of hiding one's presence, and the like, so long as the gap between their cultivation levels was not too great.

If he had brought the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes to minor mastery earlier, how could the battle at Wild Horse Village have been so perilous?

Unfortunately, according to Patriarch Zhang's notes, to cultivate this eye technique further, he would need not only large quantities of second-tier Red Crystal Sand and second-tier Essence Clarity Liquid to aid his cultivation, but also a rare second-tier spirit herb called Moon Fern to reach major mastery.

Kang Dabao had asked cultivators nearby about it in recent days, but they all said they had neither seen nor heard of it. He had no idea how Patriarch Zhang had obtained it back then.

Once the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes reached minor mastery, they were no longer merely a means of combat. They also had auxiliary uses, such as seeing through illusions and discerning spirits and objects.

"Technique Methods, methods for protecting the Dao!" Things would work themselves out when the time came. After one final sigh, Kang Dabao took out the Army-Breaking Hammer and began nurturing it.

Even a low-grade Law Artifact needed to be refined with Law Power, and its user also needed to polish and nurture it regularly with spiritual power and a divine imprint.

This was not only a way to keep a Law Artifact's spirituality and power from diminishing, but also a means of strengthening the connection between person and artifact.

Take the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword in Jiang Qing's hands. It had originally been nothing more than a fairly decent low-grade Law Sword. But after he had poured his heart and blood into it for more than ten years, the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword could, in his hands, rival the power of a middle-grade Law Artifact for a short time.

Conversely, without doing so, one might struggle to unleash even eight-tenths of a Law Artifact's full power.

One could also follow Fourth Liu's example and refine the golden-faced round shield into a lifebound Law Artifact. With the added strength of its user's Essence Blood, the Law Artifact's power would be even more formidable.

But there was a drawback too: if the Law Artifact was damaged, its user, whose mind and spirit were linked to it, would also suffer serious harm.

Kang Dabao had no intention of refining the Army-Breaking Hammer and the Golden Armor Round Shield into lifebound Law Artifacts. After all, their grades were too low. If he poured that much effort into them and they failed to keep pace with his progress, the loss would outweigh the gain.

If he could refine the black-glazed gourd, however, it could serve as a lifebound Law Artifact. Unfortunately, he still had no idea how to go about it.

Aside from that life-saving smoke and the bowl of spirit dew it produced every twelve years, he still knew nothing about it. He would have to keep begging for food with a mountain of gold on his back.

By the time he finished nurturing the two Law Artifacts, it was broad daylight. Qi Refining Realm cultivators already surpassed mortals by far in some respects, and though Kang Dabao had not slept all night, he was still full of vigor. He was a little hungry, though, so he went to the kitchen and heated two pork knuckles for breakfast.

After watching his three disciples finish their morning lessons, he set off with them in a donkey cart, heading at a leisurely pace out of the mountains.

Pingrong County had originally been called Nanwei County. Two hundred years ago, mountain barbarians in Cold Crow Mountain had risen in rebellion.

Their leader styled himself the Mountain Rong King. He commanded thirty-six large stockades and seventy-two small ones, with several thousand barbarian soldiers under him, and swept through forty-one counties across three prefectures in half a month.

He proclaimed himself the common master of all barbarians under heaven, established institutions, and founded a state. For a time, his ferocity reached the heavens.

Shen Lingfeng, the Immortal Dynasty's overseer of Shannan Circuit, led three thousand cultivators against him. The two sides fought bitterly for twenty full years, the fighting so devastating that most of Cloud Horn Prefecture's Spirit Veins were severed.

Only after Overseer Shen had slain two Golden Core cultivators and one hundred and sixty cultivators at Foundation Establishment and above was the rebellion finally put down.

It then took another sixty years to gather up the remaining thousand barbarian soldiers and relocate the hundreds of millions of mountain people captured in Cold Crow Mountain to the two circuits of Liangxi and Haibei. Only then was the barbarian uprising in Cold Crow Mountain considered thoroughly resolved, and Nanwei County was renamed Pingrong.

Some of the cultivators who had fought alongside Shen Lingfeng settled and put down roots in Cloud Horn Prefecture. Zhang Yuandao, the founding patriarch of the Chongming Sect, was one of them.

At the time, there were only two Foundation Establishment cultivators in Pingrong County: the county magistrate and Zhang Yuandao.

While Zhang Yuandao lived, the Chongming Sect could be called the foremost sect in Pingrong County.

But after his death, the Chongming Sect declined day by day. By the time of its third sect leader, a descendant of the Zhang family coveted the position and colluded with outsiders, inviting wolves into the house.

The sect went through all manner of humiliations, and even its second-tier Spirit Vein was nearly destroyed in that upheaval.

Over the course of more than a hundred years, the position of sect leader had passed down to Kang Dabao, who was now the seventh generation.

The once-greatest sect ranked only in the lower middle among the thirty-seven Qi Refinement forces of some renown in Pingrong County.

Even so, it was still somewhat better off than the Pingrong County court, which had fallen into extreme decline.

Not only that, the entire cultivation world of Pingrong County was now in a sorry state, without a single Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Now only three cultivation forces were somewhat prosperous, giving off quite the air of weaklings pecking at one another.

The first was the Grass Witch Cult. Legend had it that its leader had found an incomplete barbarian witch inheritance left in Cold Crow Mountain from those days.

Kang Dabao thought that was bullshit. If something had even the slightest connection to a Golden Core force like that, was a down-and-out fellow whose forebears had carried night soil for three generations worthy of having it?

The second was Hemu Dao. Its leader, Daoist Black Shoes, was on the verge of Foundation Establishment, and had dozens of disciples and grand-disciples under him.

Ever since Daoist Black Shoes defeated Kang Dabao's master more than ten years ago, Hemu Dao had grown increasingly prosperous and was faintly showing signs of standing on equal footing with the Grass Witch Cult.

The third was Fish Mountain Island, where Kang Dabao was taking his disciples today.

The island's master was surnamed Qin and named Sufu, and went by Master Fish Mountain. He had gathered dozens of Rogue Cultivators and established the Fish Mountain Fellow Cultivators Association, a force whose strength was likewise not to be underestimated.

Fish Mountain Island lay in Fish Mountain Lake, west of Pingrong County. Its land area covered a full hundred qing, and it had one first-tier superior-grade Spirit Vein and one first-tier middle-grade Spirit Vein.

Fish Mountain Lake covered a full thirty-six hundred qing and was likewise under the Fellow Cultivators Association's control. The lake also produced cold iron from a spirit mine, making it one of the finest places in Pingrong County.

Moreover, the members of the Fellow Cultivators Association generally did not treat Rogue Cultivators too harshly, so it had attracted many low-level Rogue Cultivators seeking a livelihood.

The old donkey toiled all the way, carrying master and disciples for three days and nights with scarcely a rest before they reached the shore of Fish Mountain Lake. The Fellow Cultivators Association already had a huge boat waiting by the shore, and they crossed the lake.

Fortunately, Fish Mountain Island was not actually far from shore. Otherwise, on a lake this large, they would probably have had to spend a long time aboard the boat to reach it.

Immortals and mortals lived side by side on Fish Mountain Island, which was a lively place. As soon as they disembarked at the dock, several children of seven or eight came up to them.

Kang Dabao had been here many times and knew they were errand children who brought customers to the nearby market. Although he could find his own way, he still chose one of the more well-behaved-looking children and deftly handed him two gold nuggets.

"Wu Meng thanks you for your generosity, sir!" The child wore his hair in two tufts, and though his clothes were plain, they had been washed spotless. His face was fair and plump, pleasant to look at.

"Wu Meng, is it? Just lead the way." As he spoke, he lifted the child onto the donkey cart with one hand.

The two little ones were both delighted to meet someone their own age. Though the child was a mortal, he had seen quite a bit of the world and was not shy. Before long, the three youngsters were chattering away. Jin Shilun, their junior brother who was a few years older, was the one who seemed out of place beside them.

The old donkey moved at a good pace. In just half an hour, it passed through a grove and arrived at an unnamed market.

This was not a place ordinary mortals could approach as they pleased. A squad of martial artists stood outside the entrance to maintain order.

The gatekeeper was an old cultivator at the First Layer of Qi Refining. Kang Dabao said little and paid the entrance fee of three spirit shards and one gold nugget. Then Wu Meng spoke: "May I ask what you're looking to buy, sir? I know a few shops with good reputations and can lead you to them."

"In this damned market, what shops have good reputations?" Kang Dabao chuckled.

That made Wu Meng flush bright red. He was so embarrassed that he stammered, unable to get the words out.

Kang Dabao smiled again and handed him a spirit shard. "All right, you won't lose out this time. Even if those heartless bastards earned a hundred Spirit Stones off me, they wouldn't give you this much. Take it, and just have fun with my disciples!"

Wu Meng hurriedly accepted it, delighted and surprised. He really had never met such a generous immortal master, and immediately bowed his head in thanks.

Kang Dabao found an inn and had the three remember its location, then gave Han Yundao and Duan Anle one Spirit Stone each.

"Let Wu Meng take you around. Don't cause trouble. I won't be joining you. Come back by the you hour; I'll have something for you to do then, so don't be late." He then handed Jin Shilun a yellow talisman. "Keep an eye on them. If anything happens, tear the talisman to pieces, and I'll come."

The three disciples obediently agreed, then excitedly set off to explore the market with Wu Meng leading the way.

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