Chapter 37: The Outstanding Disciples Toiled for a Whole Year
Inside the nine-story upside-down wooden pagoda of the Luanfeng Treasure Cave, as silent as it has been for the past three hundred years.
A person lay prone on the ground, frowning and holding their breath, their fingers wielding a brush dipped in cinnabar, their brushstrokes flowing like dragons and snakes, creating intricate patterns in one go.
Guan Wangzhen let out a soft breath, raised his head and turned his neck, which was stiff from the excessive penetration, and complained, "Ah, no, we clearly came here to eat, so why are we doing hard labor here?" He had happily followed Ji Mingran into the legendary treasure cave of Luanfeng, and then Ji Mingran arranged for him to kneel on the ground and repair the ground patterns under the pretext of practicing talisman patterns.
This place was always as bright as day, and once inside, he couldn't perceive time from the alternation of day and night light and shadow, making him feel even more deceived.
Ji Mingran, who was standing facing the wall repairing the relief patterns on it, didn't turn his head: "Not long, only three hours."
Zhu Shibai, carrying a hammer in one hand and a plank in the other, came up from the second floor with a cheerful and relaxed demeanor: "I have repaired the wooden frame on the third floor. In a few days, I will go to Kuangfeng to get some Wufeng Stones and then go to Linfeng to find some rootless banyan trees, which will allow me to repair the rest of the area."
“Okay.” Ji Mingran continued to arrange, “You help to sort and put away the inheritances on the ground. When Shen Qingluo finishes arranging the bottom layer of inheritances, we can take out a new stack.” Shen Qingluo was responsible for placing the inheritances one by one on different wooden shelves in different positions on different floors.
"Once it's finished, you can find a tradition that you can handle and that interests you to read." This saves her the trouble of making another copy.
Shen Qingluo also came up at this time: "Okay."
Although the Luanfeng lineage is lost, the ancestors are still alive, and the mainstream techniques of each peak remain. They are not lacking in the cultivation secrets of their main techniques. The treasure cave's lineage was created or found by the disciples of the Dingsheng Sect throughout the ages. It is diverse and vast in quantity, encompassing the lineages of talisman techniques, weapon techniques, military techniques, and magic techniques from various schools and sects. They can find the lineages of their own privately cultivated techniques within it.
The three of them decided to stay in the cave for the fifteen days to help. Ji Mingran quickly finished organizing the inheritance he had accumulated over a month, and then continued his seclusion to memorize the inheritance, practice formation techniques, listen to lectures remotely, and cultivate swordsmanship.
Mastering the new technique takes time, so the four agreed to meet on the night of the fifteenth of each month to share their results, teach each other the techniques, and practice together.
As for the restoration of the treasure cave, Ji Mingran did not make any requests. She went to the treasure cave every day to memorize the inheritance or repair the array patterns. However, every few days, she would see Shen Qingluo silently moving and organizing the inheritance, Zhu Shibai squatting in a place repairing damaged artifacts, and Guan Wangzhen lying in a corner restoring the patterns.
*
Tonight is the fifteenth again.
The moon shines brightly in the dark wilderness. Red and green lights flicker, and a pack of wolves crouch down, baring their teeth and staring fiercely at their frail prey surrounded by them. Suddenly, the girl, who had been motionless, raises her hand, and the wolves howl and leap to attack.
The girl remained motionless, her hands moving with lightning speed. Suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky, a fierce wind whipped her skirt around, and five or six bolts of purple-white lightning struck down menacingly, each hitting the onrushing wolves. Amidst the thunder and lightning, the charred carcasses of the vicious wolves fell from the sky, but the largest black wolf suddenly sprang up, baring its fangs and charging at the girl once more.
The girl drew her right hand from her waist, and the curved stick hanging there instantly transformed into a sharp dagger. She sidestepped the wolf's sharp teeth, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade plunged into the wolf's carotid artery.
The alpha wolf convulsed suddenly, and before it could react, the girl leaned over and pinned it down. A flash of silver light, and the wolf's head fell to the ground.
The girl did not stop, and continued walking towards the corpses of the demon wolves lying on the ground, chopping off their heads one by one.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you're really ruthless with that stance." Guan Wangzhen squatted on the only withered tree in the area and commented.
“If we don’t die completely,” Ji Mingran said, holding the wolf’s head without looking up, “they might seize the opportunity to retaliate. I will never leave the enemy a way out.”
Her experience of battling mutants in the apocalypse is etched into her very being; she will never forget it.
Sitting on the other side of the withered tree, Zhu Shibai raised the sect's jade token and sent a message to Fengshu Hall: "The Foundation Establishment Demon Wolf Pack of Wujinzong at Kuangfeng has been wiped out."
The Dingsheng Sect occupies a vast territory, teeming with demonic beasts across its peaks. These beasts frequently go berserk and lose control due to their inability to manage their spiritual energy. Therefore, high-ranking disciples of the Dingsheng Sect are tasked with hunting these out-of-control beasts, slaying a number each month. Lower-ranking disciples may join the hunting teams if interested. However, the out-of-control beasts vary in strength, and disciples have been injured or even killed during hunts. Consequently, rumors circulate that the Dingsheng Sect recruits disciples solely to feed the beasts in exchange for peace across the peaks.
Ji Mingran was ordered to go into seclusion. Although he was a direct disciple, he was not required to complete the monthly task of slaying demonic beasts. However, practical experience was indispensable, so Ji Mingran would occasionally join the three-person demonic beast slaying operations to complete the tasks for them.
Standing high in the treetop, Shen Qingluo said with great interest, "Your skills and swordsmanship have improved even more. Let's have another match sometime." She raised her right hand. "Come on."
Rock, paper, scissors.
Two stones and a piece of cloth.
Shen Qinglu smiled slightly: "I won, thank you everyone." She lightly leaped down to Ji Mingran's side, picked up the wolf carcasses from the ground one by one and put them into her storage bag. "As is customary, I will transfer the merit points to your name after I receive them."
They agreed that whoever won the rock-paper-scissors game would have Ji Mingran's kill count recorded under their name.
“Okay.” Ji Mingran carried three wolf heads in each hand, walked towards Shen Qingluo, and put the wolf heads into the bag.
"Your first move is a killing blow; afterward, it's either a decapitation or a severed corpse." Guan Wangzhen shook his head: "If we're talking about who's more ruthless, even those two demon children would have to admit defeat and call you their ancestor."
Ji Mingran: "Demon Child?"
Zhu Shibai explained, "You met the Jin siblings, who entered the sect at the same time as us, once during the competition."
Ji Mingran remembered the Jin siblings who wanted her eyes. Although Jin Lu had made some harsh words back then, she went into seclusion as soon as she entered the peak, and the Jin siblings wouldn't deliberately try to cross the suspension bridge that was under a magical restriction. They haven't met again since.
What happened to them?
“If the younger siblings set their sights on something, they have to get it. If they can’t get it, they’ll snatch it, causing a lot of trouble,” Shen Qingluo said. She was in charge of the Disciplinary Hall at Yaofeng, and she and the other Yaofeng disciples had suppressed the two siblings fighting with other disciples several times, which also gave her a headache.
Guan Wangzhen's eyes showed disgust, and he gritted his teeth lightly: "Disrespectful to the sect, harming fellow disciples, such a person is truly detestable."
He leaped down from the tree and rushed to Ji Mingran's side, saying with exasperation, "Grandma, can't you be a little more ambitious? It's been so long, and your cultivation is still only at the Qi Refining stage!"
Ji Mingran was baffled: "Why are you blaming me for no reason?"
Zhu Shibai also came over, "Grandma has only been in the sect for a year, and the other disciples who are already at the Qi Refining stage have not yet broken through, which is normal."
Guan Wangzhen crossed his arms and sneered, "She's only at the Qi Refining stage, yet she can handle a pack of Foundation Establishment stage wolves. Does that mean she's like an ordinary person?"
Ji Mingran said with deep emotion, "I didn't expect you to value me so much." She patted Guan Wangzhen's arm in affirmation, "You have good taste."
Shen Qinglu tied up her storage bag and said leisurely, "He regrets that you can't participate in the competition. In this respect, I feel the same way as him."
Zhu Shibai nodded, his voice filled with regret: "The Spiritual Cultivation Competition will last for a year and a half. It's truly a pity that I can't go with you."
Ji Mingran was completely confused: "The Spiritual Cultivation Competition?" Her senior brother hadn't mentioned it in his notes.
Zhu Shibai said, "This is a competition organized by the Ten Cultivators of the Dao Sect. It is held one year after the opening of the Heavenly Gate. New disciples from various sects participate, and their cultivation level is limited to below the Golden Core stage. Each competition has prizes for the winner to choose from. The prizes are provided by the Ten Cultivators of the Dao Sect and vary, including spiritual veins, spirit stones, inheritances, secret realms, and spiritual artifacts."
Ji Mingran immediately recalled the Daoist Ten Cultivators that Boss Jiang had established in the small world; it turned out they also originated from the spiritual cultivation world. Ji Mingran asked, "Is our sect also the Daoist Ten Cultivators?"
Zhu Shibai patiently explained: "Our sect withdrew from the Ten Daoist Cultivators three hundred years ago and no longer participates in the Spiritual Cultivation Competition. However, as the former leader of the Ten Cultivators, Dingsheng Sect used to provide the prizes for the competition. When we withdrew, the Ten Daoist Cultivators did not allow our sect to take back the items they had provided. Our sect was weak at the time and had no choice but to agree. The prizes for this competition are mostly items that Dingsheng Sect used to provide."
Guan Wangzhen sneered: "Back then, they shamelessly forced our Dingsheng Sect to retreat and refused to return our Dingsheng Sect's belongings. They were truly shameless. Now they dare to take out Dingsheng Sect's belongings as prizes. How shameless!"
To reclaim their sect's treasures, the Flourishing Sect must participate in the competition. However, the treasures of the Flourishing Sect during its heyday are coveted by other sects in the spiritual cultivation world, who are determined to seize them. In this competition, each sect will only send its most outstanding disciples.
Shen Qingluo replied, "Each sect can send a maximum of five disciples to participate in the competition. According to convention, the peak masters of each peak will nominate their disciples to participate."
Ji Mingran asked, "Besides you, who else can represent the sect in the competition?" Shen Qingluo, Zhu Shibai, and Guan Wangzhen are all outstanding new disciples in this year's competition, and they are all at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. There are no more suitable participants than them, and it is only a matter of time before they can represent their respective peak regions in the competition.
Shen Qinglu hesitated for a moment, then said, "As for the Luanfeng quota, Sect Leader Yuanliu has already inquired with Venerable Hongyan, and he has declined."
Ji Mingran didn't care, even though her senior brother hadn't mentioned it to her. However, his refusal was understandable; Ji Mingran was only at the Qi Refining stage, how could she represent a newly promoted disciple of the sect in the competition?
Zhu Shibai continued, "According to Venerable Hongyan's wishes, the vacant spots on Luanfeng will be decided by Linfeng. Senior Sister Donglu is the most impartial. Based on the ranking of the newly recruited disciples' cultivation levels recorded by Fengshu Hall, she recommended the Jin siblings to compete. Although they are young, they have already reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and their combined cultivation can reach the peak."
Guan Wangzhen clicked his tongue: "For such an important competition, you have to team up with Jin Yu and Jin Lu. I wonder what kind of trouble this will cause. If you were good enough, they would never have a chance."
Ji Mingran finally understood. All that trouble he had gone through was to blame himself for not being strong enough. She comforted him, "They are also disciples of the Dingsheng Sect, and they are also keen on seizing treasures. In this competition, they will surely give it their all."
Zhu Shibai smiled slightly: "Senior Sister Donglu thinks so too."
The four of them tidied up a spot, sat down in a circle on the ground, and began grilling meat to prepare tonight's supper.
Zhu Shibai took out sections of iron rods and set up a grill while saying, "Grandma, are you about to come out of seclusion? I remember that in the treasure cave, only the bottom row of the first shelf of the bottom floor is not yet filled."
The idea for the grill came from Ji Mingran, and it was made by Zhu Shibai. After many trials by the four of them, the fifth generation model is being used this time.
Ji Mingran was assembling a roasting fork when she mentioned it, her heart filled with joy: "Yes, Senior Brother Sanyang is returning tonight. I arranged with him to check the quantities, and after verifying that everything is correct, I can leave the peak." She turned to the three of them and said happily, "I can also attend group classes with everyone."
"I must learn Quanfeng's purification technique," Ji Mingran said happily. Although the three of them would transmit their voices simultaneously through the jade tablet when attending public courses, they were already at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the techniques they learned were no longer basic techniques such as purification and concealment. Therefore, they had never attended basic public courses. Although there were records of their inheritance, Ji Mingran focused more on array formations and swordsmanship, and had not yet mastered such everyday spells.
Rumor has it that Quanfeng's purification techniques are renowned for their effectiveness in the spiritual community, and Ji Mingran is filled with anticipation.
"The Spring Peak Purification Technique?" Zhu Shibai, a disciple personally taught by the Spring Peak Patriarch, was somewhat surprised: "You don't know it? Why haven't you mentioned it before? I can teach you."
Shen Qingluo and Guan Wangzhen, who were assembling their respective roasting forks, raised their hands together to indicate that they could do it too.
"It's just basic spells. I'm saving it for when I leave the peak to take a general course." Ji Mingran shook her head. She had never taken a group course before and was already looking forward to it. "After leaving the peak, we can take classes together."
"What a pity." Shen Qingluo pouted. "We have to leave early tomorrow morning, we won't make it in time."
Ji Mingran: "Isn't the competition in a month and a half?"
Zhu Shibai said, "A herd of Golden Core Three-Eyed Golden Lions has appeared in Tianjing County, Yuanzhou, causing a lot of trouble. Fengshu Hall has assigned the three of us to accompany our junior disciples to exterminate them. All told, it will take a month to complete the mission. After that, we must head straight to Shuangji Ferry in Tianfan County, Yuanzhou, and then head to the Qingzhou competition venue."
Feng Shu Hall will assign missions outside the sect for qualified disciples to choose from. The three of them had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage when they entered the sect, and should have gone out to train long ago, but they had been delaying for various reasons until now. Now that the spiritual cultivation competition is imminent, the sect intends to train the three who will represent them in the competition, so Feng Shu Hall directly assigned the three of them to participate in the mission of besieging the Golden Core Three-Eyed Golden Lion Beast Group.
Shen Qingluo poked the demon wolf's leg hard: "The Jin siblings were originally going too, but they have already participated in several missions outside the sect, and they committed another crime recently. They are currently in confinement in the Disciplinary Hall and cannot participate in this mission. They will meet us directly at Shuangji Ferry and head to Qingzhou."
After watching, Zhen glared angrily at Ji Mingran, "Let's hope you're still a Qi Refining cultivator when we meet again in a year!"
Ji Mingran looked up at the sky, where the stars twinkled, and waved his hand, "Who knows? I'd like to go and see such a grand and lively event as the Spiritual Cultivation Competition."
With the handover of the inheritance imminent and the array patterns of the treasure cave already carved and drawn, all that remains is to meet with Senior Brother Sanyang. If tonight goes smoothly, she can emerge from seclusion tomorrow. Perhaps she can find an opportunity to be a spectator and watch the legendary spiritual cultivation competition.
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