Volume 2, Chapter 4 – The Omitted Mysterious Eclipse Codes in the Broken Jade
The Azure Ocean Sect resided in the Wild Dragon Great Lake, which was one of ten big spiritual points in the Great Eastern Continent. Numerous Immortal Caves were then built at this location, just like the stars decorating the sky. However, the growth and recovery of the place’s spiritual qi couldn’t be controlled by any cultivator, and instead followed and abided by the heavenly secrets. Although there were a few cultivators who could mutually be in conjunction with their Immortal Caves; however, there were also a few cases where some of it had extreme abnormalities, of which, cultivators could only adapt by practicing some suitable cultivation laws.
One example was this Spirit Leaf Island’s Immortal Cave. Tang Yan and the others couldn’t endure the Evil Fire qi in this place. They could only live in settlements built on the island area where the raging spiritual qi was being deflected by the mountain. But even so, those people who had long been used to an easy life were still complaining incessantly.
Zhang Yan didn’t have any interest in Tang Yan, but since Ning Chongxuan had entrusted her to him, he could infer that it certainly had some purposes. Therefore, he simply regarded her as an ornament that was placed here and treated her indifferently.
But, this woman’s heart was arrogant and supercilious, unlike Luo Xiao who he could conveniently cooperate with. Moreover, since he and Luo Xiao were connected by the Soulblood Contract, he could be more at ease and relieved.
But Luo Xiao was still searching for the most suitable location with condensed spirit essence to place the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King, while healing herself at the same time. It was estimated that it would be difficult to finish in 1 or 2 years. On the other hand, the Azure Ocean Sect did not allow a Demon cultivator like her to freely enter. It looked like that he could only use her as a dark horse chess piece in the future.
The Spirit Leaf Island’s Immortal Cave was located in the middle of the mountain with a vast interior and hadn’t had any people inhabiting here. Therefore, it hadn’t ever been modified and only had a few utensils and equipments with a few lizard-like animals on the cave’s wall, which climbed back and forth everyday as if they were washing the wall to make it bright and clean.
There was plenty of water here due to the three rivers running through the island, but there were also heavy rainstorms that often came from the Great Lake. A fierce spiritual qi soared to the sky on the island as it made the dust flutter in all directions, causing the mountain peaks to be wrapped in layers of fog and mud for years.
As a True Disciple, someone would come here every month to send concocted pills, Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish, rice and grains, as well as each kind of charm. Shortly after he arrived on this Spirit Leaf Island, two child servants had been ordered by the Sect to send him the jade token, shoes, a sash, cap, and robes. There were also a dozen pieces of Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes, but compared to the 450,000 Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes he had, it was only a trivial number and he didn’t even care about it. As for the concocted pills, although they were also top grade pills, but he had robbed a ma.s.sive amount of Great Prime Pills from Du You, which was sufficient for his needs to practice into the First Stage of the Radiant Qi Realm.
The only thing he was lacking right now was a Dao manual. Although he had the “Taiyi Golden Manual”, but he couldn’t practice it without foundations, as well as a guise, in order to
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avoid anyone from seeing any flaws.
However, finding a Dao manual proved to be extremely difficult. While the apprenticeship branches’ disciples could have Dao manuals given by their Masters, the ancient families’ branches depended on their families’ collection which had been confirmed mutually by others. Although the Upper Court also had a library vault, however, the Dao manuals there were of the most common types. And since the precious and profound Dao manuals were not available, seeing it was also useless.
As a True Disciple, he would also be bestowed a Dao manual. However, since his meridian’s type’s evaluation on the outside was but only a low-grade Mist Apparition, the Dao manuals containing a suitable cultivation method for him were also very few. Moreover, he was not from an ancient family, which made it quite difficult to obtain those Dao manuals.
However, he couldn’t rashly practice this Taiyi Golden Manual. So, he planned to enter the Broken Jade’s s.p.a.ce to take a glimpse at its secrets first.
Zhang Yan took his Immortal Cave’s Token Seal and pressed its secret law. Instantly, the Spirit Leaf Island’s Restriction Seal activated, and as soon as the island’s Formation Array was closing up, it would immediately isolate the island from the outside world. Even dozens of Profound Light Realm cultivators wouldn’t be able to break through this array. It was also surprisingly easy to use as he mused that if he had more spare time, he decided to conduct a deep research about Formation Arrays.
He stretched his hand into his sleeve and gripped the Broken Jade with his palm as he then immediately sank his consciousness into the jade.
This was the first time he entered the jade’s s.p.a.ce after he opened his meridians. He felt like he was being hit by something, as if a thick wall was blocking him from the outside. He carefully looked at it again and found that his avatar was treading on the void as his eyes saw that several golden-colored Eclipse Codes were floating and lined up in front of him.
Aside from the character in the middle that he could see vividly, the other characters, not only was he unable to distinguish its form, he couldn’t even clearly see its concrete shape.
Such strange changes greatly surprised him, and he couldn’t help but look toward the most conspicuous Eclipse Codes.
This Eclipse Code’s character was greatly different with the common ones, as if it was constantly changing and revolving. He looked at it for several times, only to feel dizziness after a while. He couldn’t help but feel astonished. This state was the same as the first time he experienced interpreting the Eclipse Codes. However, it was also because his cultivation level was not enough to do the interpretation. Ever since his two souls had merged, he had never encountered such a situation again.
These Eclipse Codes… it seemed that they were even more profound and at a higher level compared to the Star Stele’s inscriptions.
Enthusiasm and curiosity gradually floated in Zhang Yan’s eyes. If he were able to unlock these characters’ meanings, his Eclipse Codes’ comprehension would surely soar to a new height!
He no longer thought about other things in his mind as he cast aside everything and silently deducted the meanings.
After closing up in the jade for 20 days, his whole body suddenly trembled as a burst of laughter came from him, “This word is just like my name, it has the “Yan” character!” [1]
When he spoke this one word, one of the Eclipse Codes’ character shattered with a loud rumble!
Zhang Yan’s divine sense entered a trance state for a while, and when he woke up, he was surprised to find that the surrounding scenery was no longer a boundless and dark void anymore, but rather, resembling his original Immortal Cave with everything being reflected here.
He walked two steps as he approached and touched the wall. He unexpectedly felt that it was the same with the outside world. His curiosity couldn’t help but be perked, as he then walked farther for several steps, only to find that he could only step forward for 5 steps inside the environment reflected inside the Broken Jade. Farther than that, it was still filled with void. It seemed that his cultivation level was not sufficient yet.
He thought for a while and retracted his consciousness back from the Broken Jade as his true body then walked for a few steps and re-entered the Broken Jade again. As soon as he observed the s.p.a.ce again, he was astonished to see that the scenery also changed along with the outside changes. Everything in the radius of five steps was exactly the same with the outside.
His eyes flashed and observed more carefully as a greater surprise then hit him, as he found that within these five steps radius, even the Golden Fire spiritual qi was also being reflected!
One must know that Radiant Qi Realm’s cultivation level was also divided into three stages, which were the “The Sea of Qi Transformation”, “The Red Cloud Summoning”, and “The Heavenly Rain Subduing”. If it was in accordance to the general practice, these steps actually were neither frightening nor posed a huge danger. But the Taiyi Golden Manual was actually different since the method in this Dao manual contained huge and towering dangers. When one initially stepped into “The Sea of Qi Transformation”, he must direct the Golden Phoenix Blazing Inferno to enter his body and temper his True Primordial Qi, so as to blend it and produce pure spiritual qi.
There were two crucial steps in this qi tempering. The first step was to refine the fresh and pure Heaven’s spiritual qi, and after some practices, the qi would become light as if it was a rosy cloud or a feather floating in the air. The second step was to refine the impure Earth’s spiritual qi; and after successfully practicing this step, one would then condense the Qi as if the qi was an extremely heavy iron.
As for the third step, it was to blend the Heaven and Earth to gather again, as the two types of qi must be turned over into True Primordial Qi to finally condensate out the Golden Fire Profound Light.
For each step of cultivation, one must rely on the refining and the tempering of external qi; it couldn’t completely rely on one’s own cultivation practice.
But Zhang Yan had neither a Master to direct him nor did he have elders or a Master to protect and support him. He could only walk step by step carefully, with an enormous risk looming in front of him. Although this Broken Jade had a limited ability, he actually didn’t expect that today, this Broken Jade would give him a surprise with its evolution; he would no longer have to worry for any misstep again.
Zhang Yan withdrew from the Broken Jade and was astonished as he found that the time spent in the outside world was only a day and night! He became more delighted as one day in the outside world was equal to 20 days in the jade’s s.p.a.ce. This thing was really a wonderful treasure from the heavens!
He subconsciously touched the Broken Jade and felt that it was seemingly different to some extent from its usual state. He took a look at the front and saw that the Broken Jade’s surface had turned luminous and bright. The originally grayed spots full of drizzles and ashes seemed to have been peeled off and became bright as the character “Yan” emerged in the center of the Broken Jade’s surface.
He secretly thought deeply. His cultivation level was too low before and he couldn’t go through the Broken Jade’s mysterious secret. And now, after he opened his meridians, these Eclipse Codes were unlocked from the Broken Jade’s restrictive seal. Unlocking one character could yield such a harvest… when all the Eclipse Codes had been unlocked, what would happen then?!
He looked at the character for a few times again, and he couldn’t help but feel happy, “This treasure is a pre-destined friend for me!”
At this time, Zhang Yan’s complexion suddenly changed as he quickly put away the Broken Jade and picked his Token Seal as to untie the island Restrictive Seal. He strode out from his Immortal Cave and looked up to the sky as he saw a person with his hands crossed behind his back hovering in the sky while his sleeves were fluttering and flapping, revealing a sheathed treasure sword tip. This person’s aura was very powerful as Zhang Yan then hastily approached and cupped his hands to greet him, “This one have seen Senior Brother Ning.”
“You don’t need to be overly courteous.” Ning Chongxuan slowly descended from the sky as his sight fell on Zhang Yan. Sweeping his body, he nodded, “You’re really excellent. It’s been 2 months since I left you, but you have broken the golden lock to break your mortal restriction and have opened your meridians. It’s even earlier than I’ve expected.”
Zhang Yan only let out a small smile and said, “But this one could only able to have a low-grade meridian’s type.”
Ning Chongxuan’s eyes were just like sharp knives as he stared at him and said, “Do you also think so?”
A smile immediately emerged from Zhang Yan as he said, “Although this Zhang Yan entered the Sect for the sake of treading on the Great Dao of Immortality and could only obtain the low-grade meridian’s type, but this is also the slim line of survival chance and opportunity that has been bestowed by the heavens. This is my ladder to ascend to the heavens, so how could I easily regard this cheaply?”
“Good, since you have this insight, I really didn’t misread you.” As Ning Chongxuan walked a few steps to the nearby cliff, he looked to the distance from this high ground as he solemnly spoke, “Zhang Yan, I would like to lead you to do obeisance and become my Senior Brother’s apprentice. His cultivation is ten times more powerful than mine. If he teaches you, it would be a great blessing. Unfortunately, Senior Brother Qi has been in closed up seclusion to refine magic tools and I don’t know when he would come out. However, should you be able to endure the hardship and temper your cultivation technique, you could turn the sorrow into joy in no time.”
Zhang Yan’s expression was calm and didn’t change as he replied, “To obtain my own good fortune, even if I have to lose my life, rather than putting on all hopes on others, it wouldn’t be as better as to obtain it by my own efforts.”
Ning Chongxuan turned around and looked at him with some appreciation, “As for the Divine Shuttle, you can keep it for the time being. If you were to encounter any troubles in the Sect and use my name, I absolutely will not show you any mercy. However, if you run into one of those powerful figures, you cannot be lenient and soft. When you have to cut, then cut; if you must kill, then kill. You must, by any means, never be hesitant.”
Zhang Yan solemnly replied, “I will sincerely remember Senior Brother’s teaching.”
Upon listening to Ning Chongxuan series of words, he would be very likely to encounter many unexpected troubles. And now, it seemed that had it not been for some powerful figure that created some troubles, Ning Chongxuan absolutely would not act to protect him.
Ning Chongxuan then said, “There are only a few cultivation methods suitable for the Mist Apparition. Even the Sect’s Book Pavilion only has a few, much less it being that of the lowest grade and not worth to look at.” He waved his robe’s sleeve as a soft jade-colored Sh.e.l.lfish Leaf flew toward Zhang Yan, “Take it.”
Just when Zhang Yan received the Sh.e.l.lfish Leaf in his hand, a strange sensation immediately spread out as if something inside it wormed its way into his head.
Ning Chongxuan then spoke with a bright and clear tone, “Good, do take care of this well. This Dao manual is called “The Billows Cloud Secret Manual”, which was found by my Respected Master in a certain cliff’s cavern in the past years. Because of the cultivation law contained within this manual, my Respected Master has successfully created ‘the sea of qi and ascend to the heaven’ and also obtained ill.u.s.trious prestige due to his martial prowess in the Great Eastern Continent. However, to successfully practice this cultivation law is also dependant on opportunity and destiny. Even if a hundred people were to practice it, there might not even one able to comprehend its secrets. Whether you can successfully practice it or not, let’s see your good luck.”
[1] The second character of Zhang Yan’s name, the Yan word means, spread out or open up.