Chapter 171 Of the seventy-two people, only she was unable to ascend.
The primordial soul of a Mahayana cultivator serves as the array's core.
Ji Mingran turned to look at Li Xiaosen and instantly understood everything.
Even as a Golden Core cultivator, she could open a crack in the Transcendental Array, so naturally, Boss Jiang, at his peak, could as well. But isn't the Heavenly Crack another Transcendental Array? A Transcendental Array that, by chance, connects the apocalypse with the spiritual cultivation world.
Upon realizing this, Boss Jiang, finding it difficult to shut down, opted to activate a more powerful Transcendental Array to send the Heavenly Rift away.
Achieving this is easier said than done.
Relying solely on the power of inheritance was not enough; she also staked her primordial soul.
“No,” Shen Ting said calmly. “What you’re saying is completely different from what we saw. We clearly saw Jing Yaoyao get into an argument with her, and she pushed Jing Yaoyao away. As she was running away, you suddenly appeared and pushed her away, and you cried and begged her not to hurt you.”
He Xiu couldn't help but speculate: "Since the primordial spirit is used as a sacrifice, did Venerable Jiang perhaps choose Peak Master Yao first, and then change his mind and switch to you? In any case, the one who sacrifices the array is not her."
"I was crying." Li Xiaosen couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when he mentioned those days, his gentle eyes seemed to be filled with tears. "I was begging her not to save me."
"This formation requires a Mahayana primordial spirit as its core. I didn't want her to go, so I took her place. My master seized the fragments of my primordial spirit and pieced them together for me one by one in the Three Thousand Minor Worlds, allowing me to be reborn." Li Xiaosen looked up at Jiang Xiaoyi, his eyes filled only with her. "It was my master who saved me."
"Because you're my disciple." Jiang Xiaoyi waved lazily. "It's not difficult."
After hearing Li Xiaosen's heartfelt words, the coffin, which had been tilting forward again, was now being sat on. The person sitting on top of it spoke of it as if it were nothing, yet she didn't even turn around to look at her disciple.
Ji Mingran gazed quietly at Jiang Xiaoyi.
How could this not be difficult? Li Xiaosen performed the ritual for her, and she did her best to grasp a wisp of his soul. For this, she was willing to give up her chance to ascend and even if it meant limiting her cultivation, she would still follow the Transcendental Array to the Three Thousand Minor Worlds to search for Li Xiaosen's soul fragments one by one.
Search, piece together, nurture, and then return to spiritual practice.
During that time, she ran a coffin business in the small world and even became famous for a time.
Whether as "boss" or "master," Jiang Xiaoyi is truly deserving of the title.
The truth was so surprising that the allied cultivators were taken aback.
Only Ziyan continued to ask, "You still haven't told me, what exactly is wrong with Jingyao?"
Li Xiaosen met her gaze, smiled, and nodded: "Fortunately, both methods back then succeeded. My master and I successfully teleported through the Heavenly Rift at the cost of tearing our primordial souls apart and falling into the Three Thousand Minor Worlds, respectively. The Seventy-Two Mahayana cultivators successfully mended the heavens, achieving perfect merit and ascending to immortality."
Ji Mingran let out a soft breath and raised his hand to gently stroke his slightly tense chest.
With an opportunity for advancement right in front of him, Boss Jiang made the choice that was most detrimental to himself back then.
There are two ways to solve the problem of the gap in the ceiling.
One option is to join a powerful being in mending the heavens. If they fail, the spiritual community will be wiped out; if they succeed, they will ascend together.
The second option is to split up. Yao Jingyao will take the Breakthrough Pill and take her place to mend the heavens, while she will remain in place to open the Transcendent Array to teleport to the celestial rift. If successful, she will achieve great merit and ascend to the Mahayana realm, while her soul will be annihilated.
Yao Jingyao must have considered this back then, and it was precisely because she thought of this that she vehemently opposed Jiang Xiaoyi's idea. With her taking the Breakthrough Pill, and with her and Jiang Xiaoyi's help, they might be able to mend the rift in the sky. As long as they take this chance, everyone can achieve a perfect ending.
But Boss Jiang chose to be absolutely certain; she wanted to protect Dingsheng Sect and make contingency plans in case the Great Ascension Heaven-Mending failed.
However, Boss Jiang did not expect that Li Xiaosen would come to replace her after learning about her plan, so she fell into the Three Thousand Worlds, while Li Xiaosen's primordial soul was torn apart.
As Li Xiaosen said, fortunately, they all succeeded. The Great Vehicle's attempt to mend the heavens was successful, and he himself successfully replaced Jiang Xiaoyi. Jiang Xiaoyi then made a new plan: to save his disciple and return to spiritual cultivation.
That's why she met Jiang Xiaoyi, who had become a coffin shop owner, and the paper doll Xiaocan in the small world.
Every choice Mr. Jiang made benefited others, not himself.
Ji Mingran wondered, if it were her, what choice would she make?
Unlike Boss Jiang, she prioritized self-preservation; that was her only option.
Ji Mingran exclaimed, "Boss, you're really something else!"
Jiang Xiaoyi couldn't help but smile, shaking her head happily in agreement: "You're not either, none of us are ordinary people. This is vision, this is vision!"
The overall picture. Ji Mingran didn't understand, but he tried hard to comprehend it.
"The ascension of a powerful being is extraordinary and has a great impact. Not to mention the entire spiritual cultivation world, how could even the Dingsheng Sect itself not know about it?!" Shen Ting stubbornly questioned.
"When a natural disaster strikes, it is extraordinary and devastating, yet not a single spiritual cultivator knows it." Jiang Xiaoyi, pleased with his disciple's praise, explained, "The moment the chasm in the sky was repaired, powerful beings ascended, and strange phenomena appeared simultaneously. The others in the Dingsheng Sect were facing annihilation, so they wouldn't have thought of this. They simply assumed they had disappeared. I was the one who transferred the formation, and I know the differences in spiritual energy, so of course I know all of this."
Zhu Shengli hesitated: "But these things, based solely on your word..."
"Why do you Hehuan remain so convinced that Jingyao is not dead?" Jiang Xiaoyi glanced at Ziyan and said, "Because her life lamp has not been extinguished, is that it?"
Not every sect plants a life lamp for its disciples, nor does every disciple have their whereabouts monitored by the sect. But the Joyful Union Sect is different; it plants a life lamp for every disciple, and all disciples of the Joyful Union Sect gladly accept it.
Ziyan's palms were slightly sweaty. "Her life lamp has never been extinguished."
Jiang Xiaoyi smiled and said, "Her life lamp will not go out." Those who attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality have their life lamps burning eternally, never going out.
Ziyan seemed to have been reborn, radiating a different kind of beauty from the inside out. She said excitedly, "I will report back to the sect leader, and she will verify it."
It's not about surviving in this world or being lost in some small world, but about ascending! They had never thought of this direction, let alone dared to think of it, but only in this way could everything be made sense.
"Is this true?" Hope shone in Liu Zhiqing's eyes.
Li Xiaosen smiled gently, soared into the air, and promptly covered Jiang Xiaoyi's mouth.
Apart from Liu Zhiqing and the disciples of Dingsheng Sect, the other cultivators had long since stopped listening to half of what Jiang Xiaoyi was saying.
Ascension?!
The cultivators present stared wide-eyed, their minds reeling.
Jiang Xiaoyi was talking about ascension, which can be verified by the Hehuan Sect.
Seventy-two members of the Dingsheng Sect have ascended to immortality!
"Everyone is so surprised, which clearly shows that your understanding is very similar to what we experienced. Why is that?" Jiang Xiaoyi swayed, her gaze fixed on Nanmen Hong. "You were there back then. If you had explained it properly, how could things have turned out this way?"
The latter's body gradually rose up, reaching the same height as Jiang Xiaoyi, who was sitting on top of the coffin.
Only then did everyone realize that Nanmen Hong had been silently controlled by Jiang Xiaoyi at some point. The air within a ten-foot radius of where he stood was gradually being drawn away, causing Nanmen Hong's face to turn red and his movements to become increasingly stiff and sluggish.
However, Nanmen Hong couldn't even cry out for help at all that Jiang Xiaoyi had done.
He was now suspended in mid-air by the magic cast by Jiang Xiaoyi, and his hands and feet were kicking wildly, unable to move.
The cultivators present suddenly realized, "So that's why Nanmen Hong initially appeared so inexperienced and anxious when facing Jiang Xiaoyi. It wasn't for any other reason than that he had a clear understanding of Jiang Xiaoyi's strength from the bottom of his heart."
Faced with an insurmountable mountain, the tiny blade of grass can only tremble in fear.
Nanmen Hong struggled violently.
Jiang Xiaoyi said leisurely, "Judging from your expression, are you trying to explain?"
Nanmen Hong nodded vigorously.
Jiang Xiaoyi: "I don't need to know what you said, and I have no interest in your explanations. Betraying the sect deserves punishment."
Nanmen Hong's limbs went weak. Hearing this, he was shocked. His eyes, which were fixed on Jiang Xiaoyi, gradually turned into resentment and hatred, like a venomous snake viciously stabbing at its mortal enemy.
Jiang Xiaoyi laughed freely: "The so-called reason is easy to guess. Geniuses always get jealous early. Nanmen Hong, your mind is smaller than a sesame seed. How could I not know that you resent my easy cultivation and have been cursing me eight hundred times in secret? You have always resented everyone who is more powerful than you, including your master Jing Yao and your junior sister Dong Lu. You also hate all the ascended experts of Dingsheng Sect."
"I don't care. To me, you're nothing but an ant. I've never taken you seriously. As for Jingyao and Donglu, they're focused on their cultivation and just think you're having a moment of weakness. As for the others, they can't be bothered with you." Facing Nanmen Hong's venomous gaze, Jiang Xiaoyi remained unperturbed and spoke casually.
“However,” Jiang Xiaoyi’s smile faded, “you betrayed the sect when it was in decline, and you deserve to be punished.”
Suddenly, the wind howled sharply, whistling as it pierced Nanmen Hong's limbs. Nanmen Hong's body jolted, his face contorted in pain, and he let out a silent scream.
Ya Dongbai's face was grim as he spoke up, "Venerable Jiang, whatever my master may have been bad, that's all in the past. He has long since left the Dingsheng Sect and is now in Liuhuan Valley, not your Dingsheng Sect. If the Dingsheng Sect feels he has done something wrong, they can ask Liuhuan Valley for an explanation. What right do you have to bypass Liuhuan Valley and punish him!"
Jiang Xiaoyi glanced at him and smiled, "Leaving a sect requires the sect leader's permission. I didn't agree to his leaving Dingsheng Sect."
Ya Dongbai: "That's just sophistry!"
Yuan Liuhe said, “Young friend Ya, that is indeed the case. With Grandmaster Jiang gone, the affairs of the sect are managed by the peak masters. Back then, Senior Brother Nanmen took away most of the disciples of Lin Peak without informing the peak masters. The peak masters were busy dealing with the aftermath of the natural disaster and did not handle this matter. A hundred years ago, when I took over the position of sect master, I also did not deal with this matter.”
The disciples of Liuhuan Valley were utterly dumbfounded. According to the Dingsheng Sect's logic, what were the elders who had stayed in Liuhuan Valley for three hundred years and nurtured countless disciples?
“I suppose you could call it a travelogue.” Yuan Liu glanced at the Hehuan Sect and smiled broadly. “It’s similar to how Uncle Jingyao was a disciple of both the Hehuan Sect and the Dingsheng Sect back then. Senior Brother Nanmen is a disciple of both the Dingsheng Sect and the Liuhuan Valley.”
Nanmen Hong cried out "Ugh ugh ugh" and struggled violently, as if he was anxious to say something.
"Listen." Jiang Xiaoyi patted her skirt, stood up, hovered above the coffin, looked down at Nanmen Hong, and said word by word, "Now, I will make up for the judgment that should have been made on you three hundred years ago. It is not that you have left the sect, but that Dingsheng Sect has expelled you from the sect. You are no longer a disciple of Dingsheng Sect, nor a disciple of Yaojingyao."
"Those who betray their sect will be punished by the Five Domains, their spiritual veins will be severed and their bones stripped, and they will never be allowed to set foot in the Dingsheng Sect again in this lifetime."
As soon as he finished speaking, the vines that had been lying limply on the ground sprouted steel-bladed spikes and suddenly rose into the air, forming a cage that tightly wrapped around Nanmen Hong. Within the green vine cage, invisible wind blades pierced through the scorching heat waves, slicing towards Nanmen Hong's meridians.
Nanmen Hong's face turned deathly pale, and he screamed.
The other allied cultivators were about to make a move, but Jiang Xiaoyi waved his hand dismissively. The overwhelming pressure emanating from the Mahayana realm swept over the allied cultivators, knocking them all down. "My cultivation has been suppressed for a long time in the Three Thousand Worlds. Now that it has suddenly recovered, my spiritual pressure is hard to control for a while."
"Alright, it's time to remove the root bones."
A blinding wind blade, reflecting sunlight, rose from above Nanmen Hong's head and stabbed down his spine!
Nanmen Hong fainted instantly. Half of the silver crystal behind him was picked out, and a surge of sword intent suddenly cleaved down, severing the green vines and scattering the wind blades. The bound person was taken away from the original spot.
Chong Jue was furious: "Jiang Xiaoyi, you have removed a cultivator's root bone without the consent of the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect!" Root bone is the foundation of a cultivator's cultivation. If it is removed, it is equivalent to severing the path to immortality.
“This Venerable One,” Jiang Xiaoyi said, hands on his hips, “Yes, that’s what I did. What can you do to me? What can the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect do to me? This is what he owes my Dingsheng Sect. However, his innate talent has been diminished. He won’t die if he spends more time recovering. Liuhuan Valley can afford to raise him.”
Chongjue was so angry that he trembled all over, but he could only remain silent in his rage.
Jiang Xiaoyi's words were extremely arrogant, but as she said, what could the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect do to her? What could the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect do to the Dingsheng Sect?
There's nothing we can do. It's just a minor punishment for the disciples who defected to another sect. Liuhuan Valley may be shameless, but haven't it benefited a lot from the Dingsheng Sect's legacy brought by Nanmen Hong over the years?
With three Grand Masters now in charge of the Dingsheng Sect, the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect need to be even more cautious.
It's no wonder Jiang Xiaoyi is so arrogant; back in the day, the Dingsheng Sect was just as domineering and rampant!
The reason why Dingsheng Sect is named "Dingsheng" is simply because it deserves this name, and only it is capable of bearing this name.
Back in the heyday of the Flourishing Sect, who dared to provoke them?
The cultivators in the spiritual cultivation world believed that all things that prosper must eventually decline, but only the Dingsheng Sect has remained at its peak since its founding, looking down on all other sects and families in the spiritual cultivation world.
Its only decline began three hundred years ago.
The cultivators thought it would decline from then on, but unexpectedly, it bounced back from rock bottom, and even revealed the news that its seventy-two great masters had ascended to heaven together.
For cultivators in the spiritual cultivation world, ascension is an immense event! It wasn't just one person from the Dingsheng Sect who ascended, but a total of seventy-two people!
From this day forward, the status of the Dingsheng Sect will be beyond reach.
Everyone vaguely remembers that a year or two ago, even before the Spiritual Cultivation Competition, Dingsheng Sect was in a state of extreme decline. How did it suddenly rebound from rock bottom?
Upon realizing this, the cultivators present shuddered.
All eyes turned to Ji Mingran, the only Nascent Soul cultivator standing among the four Mahayana cultivators, enjoying himself immensely.
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