Chapter 95: Disciples.h.i.+p
25th December.
A bone-piercing cold wind howled as Meng Chuan cultivated the Saber Drawing Stance in his cave abode’s training grounds. He had yet to choose a saber art from Archean Mountain! This was because he had officially accepted a master today. It wasn’t too late for him to choose a saber art after listening to his master’s guidance.
“Ah Chuan, Ah Chuan.” A familiar voice came from outside.
“Qiyue.” Meng Chuan sheathed his saber and walked out of the training grounds. He saw Liu Qiyue running into his residence. Since the servants had received Meng Chuan’s instructions, they naturally didn’t stop her.
“Ah Chuan, let’s go. You’re officially accepting a master today,” said Liu Qiyue.
“I’ve been practicing for two hours. I’ve been waiting for you.” Meng Chuan smiled as he walked out with Liu Qiyue.
The duo walked alongside Bright Scenic Peak’s mountain path. Before they walked far, they saw the white-robed Princess Li Ying walk out of her cave abode.
Li Ying smiled as she walked over. “Senior Brother Meng, Senior Sister Liu, what a coincidence.”
Seeing how close Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue were, Li Ying maintained a smile. She knew that Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue were childhood sweethearts. They didn’t have any blood relations, but Li Ying still felt like she had a chance! Li Ying was destined to be a powerful G.o.dfiend. Regardless of whether it was from the bottom of her heart or from the imperial family’s internal compet.i.tion, she wanted to find a G.o.dfiend husband that was stronger than her.
Meng Chuan matched Li Ying’s ideal.
Initially, Li Ying wanted to interact with Meng Chuan more and see if their personalities matched. To her surprise, Meng Chuan cultivated daily. Whenever she visited Meng Chuan, she would often encounter Liu Qiyue.
Her plans were thwarted from the beginning!
“Junior Sister Li,” greeted Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue with a smile.
“Today, we will officially be acknowledging our master.” Li Ying followed them. “Do you know how impressive our master is?”
Liu Qiyue smiled and said, “I’ve been here for over half a year now. I do know a little. Master has been the master of all recruited disciples of Archean Mountain for the past three centuries.”
Meng Chuan was shocked when he heard that. “Twenty disciples are accepted every year. Six thousand disciples share the same master?”
“Yes.” Liu Qiyue nodded.
When it came to G.o.dfiend lifespans, the lifespan of Core Cloud, Indestructible, and Great Solar G.o.dfiends was 200 years, twice a mortal’s lifespan. There were very few mortals who could live past a hundred years. Many died when they were seventy or eighty years old. Fairy Meng had been 110 years old… G.o.dfiends often engaged in battles, and their bodies were damaged after many years. It was rare for them to live to 200.
Darkstar G.o.dfiends had a lifespan of 300 years. From their lifespan, one could tell that it was a qualitative breakthrough from the Great Solar realm to the Darkstar realm.
Regis G.o.dfiends had a maximum lifespan of 500 years.
“Master’s status is extremely high. When Mountain Lord Lian and Elder Yi see him, they have to address him as Supremacy respectfully,” said Liu Qiyue.
“Yes.” Princess Li Ying smiled and said, “Master is an existence that transcends Regis G.o.dfiends.”
Meng Chuan was shocked. Transcends Regis G.o.dfiends? He had read many books in the library, but none of them mentioned such things. He only had vague suspicions that there were existences that surpa.s.sed Regis G.o.dfiends.
“Master’s lifespan is long. With him around, Archean Mountain is impregnable,” said Princess Li Ying with a smile. “Did you know that the most important city pa.s.s out of seven major city pa.s.ses in the Great Zhou Dynasty—Luotang Pa.s.s—is guarded by a Supremacy?”
“Oh?” Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue learned something new.
They knew that there were many pa.s.ses in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Qinyang Pa.s.s—which was very close to Eastcalm Prefecture—was a relatively ordinary city pa.s.s! There were nine similar city pa.s.ses in the Wu State. There were even more across the entire world.
However, there were few pa.s.ses that were truly famous throughout the world. There were seven major city pa.s.ses in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Calm Sea Pa.s.s and Luotang Pa.s.s were ranked among them. He had known Luotang Pa.s.s was the most important of the seven major city pa.s.ses and occupied the largest area—almost comparable to Archean City—but he hadn’t known that it was presided over by an existence that surpa.s.sed Regis G.o.dfiends.
…
They chatted along the way. The trio soon arrived at Yellow Reverence Peak’s Grotto-Heaven Pavilion.
Grotto-Heaven Pavilion was very spartan. There were many prayer mats on the ground. Many disciples had already sat down.
“Lord Meng Chuan, please sit here.” There was a steward in the Grotto-Heaven Pavilion who ushered the new disciples to their seats. There was also a reason for the seating plan. Those who were given a higher evaluation according to Archean Mountain’s internal tests, sat closer to the front.
Meng Chuan also sat down on the mat.
“Ah Chuan.” Liu Qiyue also sat in her seat. She was seated to Meng Chuan’s left. Clearly, she had been arranged to sit in front. On the contrary, Princess Li Ying could only sit behind them.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a youth—dressed in a white robe with a sword by his waist—walked in. The entire building fell silent.
“Ah Chuan, look. That’s the fifth son of King Calm Sea, Xue Feng,” said Liu Qiyue immediately via voice transmission.
It’s him? Meng Chuan carefully observed. He could perceive a powerful aura emanating from the youth in the white robe. He was stronger than Jadesun Palace Lord. Jadesun Palace Lord had already pa.s.sed the Nine Mystical Caves and left Archean Mountain. However, this man was stronger than him, yet he hadn’t left the mountain. Meng Chuan also knew that the requirements for disciples to leave Archean Mountain differed based on their talents.
For example, those who cultivated a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend Body had different requirements from those who cultivated a high-grade G.o.dfiend Body.
“He comprehended Force at the age of 13,” said Liu Qiyue with a voice transmission. “He entered Archean Mountain in the same year and became a G.o.dfiend when he was 15. He cultivates a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend Body—the Black Sand Fiend Body. He successfully cultivated a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend body in two years. He’s simply a monster. It’s said that he has also mastered moves from the Black Metal Sutra. Every time the Master lectures, he will ask the Fifth Young Master questions.”
Meng Chuan nodded. He had already obtained the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body formula, so he knew how difficult it was.
Without condensing an Essence Soul, there was no way to inherit a Black Metal Sutra via intent. They could only read the text and diagrams in manuals. Without an intent legacy, it would be very difficult to learn a Black Metal Sutra’s moves.
“Counting the 21 new disciples, there are 273 disciples who remain on the mountain,” said Liu Qiyue via voice transmission. “There are 19 who have already cultivated a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend Body.”
Meng Chuan nodded slightly. “It’s indeed very difficult to cultivate a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend Body. By the way, the most monstrous talent in the past few decades is King Calm Sea’s fifth son. Is there no one else?”
“There’s someone close.” Liu Qiyue glanced at the woman in a light-green robe in front of her. “It’s the person in light-green robes right in front of you. She’s Xiao Yunyue from Jiang State’s Xiao family. Xiao Yunyue also cultivated a transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend body, and she has also mastered moves from the Black Metal Sutra. However, she comprehended Force at 15 and became a G.o.dfiend at 23. In comparison, her cultivation speed is slower than Xue Feng’s. She cultivates the Indestructible Divine Body, but I don’t know which Black Metal Sutra move she mastered.”
Indestructible Divine Body? Meng Chuan nodded slightly.
Among the transcendent-grade G.o.dfiend bodies, there were many that were skilled with domains. The Indestructible Divine Body was the strongest when it came to domains. It also provided the strongest vitality out of all G.o.dfiend bodies.
For instance, the Eon Sea Fiend Body allowed one to regrow their severed limbs in a day. An Indestructible Divine Body allowed one to regenerate their limbs in ten minutes. Its domain was the strongest, and it has the greatest lifeforce! However, it was weaker in close combat.
Black Metal Sutra. Meng Chuan knew that the Lightning Devastator Saber he had learned was a Black Metal Sutra. However, he had only learned portions of one of its moves—the Five Lightning Descent.
Meng Chuan had seen a complete demonstration of a move in the intent legacy. It was terrifying towards the end. Clearly, the difficulty of mastering the move rose exponentially at the end. He was unable to withstand the transmission of one complete move.
Oh? Meng Chuan turned around and saw Yan Jin walking in. Under the guidance of the Grotto-Heaven Pavilion’s steward, he sat behind Meng Chuan, slightly to the left.
“Yan Jin,” greeted Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue.
Yan Jin also smiled and nodded slightly. Just as he was about to say something, his expression changed.
Fifth Young Master Xue Feng stood up and walked towards Yan Jin with a smile that resembled a spring breeze. He smiled and said, “Brother, it’s not easy to meet you. You refuse to meet me when I visit your cave abode.” An invisible domain influenced the surroundings, preventing people from eavesdropping.
“There’s no need for us to meet,” said Yan Jin calmly.
“I heard that you changed your name with the imperial government? You are now called Yan Jin?” asked Xue Feng.
“Yes.” Yan Jin nodded.
Xue Feng shook his head gently. “Why do you have to do that? You know that Father is focused on cultivation and guarding the Calm Sea Pa.s.s. How can he have time to pay attention to such trivial matters? What happened back then cannot be blamed entirely on Fath—”
“There’s no need to say anything.” Yan Jin cut him off coldly.
Xue Feng helplessly said, “Alright, even if you don’t want to acknowledge the family, you should acknowledge me as your elder brother.”
Yan Jin looked at him and finally responded.
His elder brother was only five years older than him. He had treated him quite well when he was young. However, he left for Archean Mountain at the age of 13, so they hadn’t met in ten years.
“After today’s lecture, let’s have a good chat. We haven’t seen each other in ten years. The snotty child has already grown up.” Xue Feng smiled as he returned to his prayer mat.
Yan Jin’s eyes filled with mixed emotions.
The only person who was close to him was his fifth brother. No one could hear their conversation. However, everyone could tell that their relations.h.i.+p wasn’t ordinary.
“That Yan Jin is the seventh son of King Calm Sea. I heard he ranked fourth in the entrance examination this year.”
“Only fourth? He’s far inferior to Fifth Young Master.”
“Who can compare with him? All of King Calm Sea’s children are impressive, but the fifth son is the most powerful among them. In the past few decades, he’s the most monstrous talent.” The other disciples chatted casually. Xue Feng’s monstrous talent had long been recognized.
Many disciples were chatting.
Suddenly, Meng Chuan sensed a unique wave fluctuating as it enveloped every disciple.
This fluctuation was very weak. It was like moonlight scattered across every person’s body. There was no pressure, only comfort. All the disciples fell silent. Nearly 200 G.o.dfiends and nearly a hundred mortal disciples stood up one after another. The new disciples—Meng Chuan and company—stood up immediately.
When a long-haired man walked in, all the disciples bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Master.”
The long-haired man’s skin was as fair as jade. After walking in, his gaze swept across the two hundred-plus disciples. When he saw Meng Chuan, he paused for a moment. The corners of his lips curled up as he smiled. “Sit down.”