The second elder of Yi Tian Sect said that he brought thirty Qi Condensation disciples and twelve Qi Foundation disciples. It appeared that they had many more people than Tai Hua Mountain, but in fact, if they were matched up against each other, the twelve Qi Foundation disciples would be no match for Tai Hua Mountain’s four Qi Foundation disciples.
Of the four Tai Hua Mountain Qi Foundation disciples, the oldest had cultivated for no more than fifty years, and the youngest wasn’t even thirty years old yet. And in Yi Tian Sect, the youngest Qi Foundation disciple was already sixty years old, and in addition, many of the disciples relied on taking medicine pills to force their way to Qi Foundation, as their foundation was very weak.
On one side, Yi Tian Sect had twelve people who reached Qi Foundation. Only one was at the middle-stage, while the rest were all early-stage.
And on the other, Tai Hua Mountain had only one who was at early-stage Qi Foundation and one who was at middle-stage Qi Foundation. Besides these two, everyone else was in the late-stage of Qi Foundation.
These ordinary sects did not dare try to figure out the internal affairs of great sects, which was why yesterday after Elder Liu had heard the leader was surprisingly Luo Jianqing, he rushed to report to his sect. Finally, Yi Tian Sect a.s.signed the early-stage Core Formation Cao Haining to personally welcome Luo Jianqing.
Since the two groups had a.s.sembled, the first order of business was to merge into one group and prepare to enter the remnants.
When Yi Tian Sect’s disciples saw Luo Jianqing walking, they couldn’t help widening their eyes. Every single one was looking at him attentively, the gazes of many girls drawn to Luo Jianqing like magnets. On the green hills and under the bright sun, the great senior brother looked n.o.ble in his cyan clothes, the sword mark on his forehead adorned with a tiny scarlet mole. Indeed he looked bright and elegant, with divine poise and sagelike features.
“That person must be a senior brother of Tai Hua Mountain, right? Surely he is a Qi Foundation senior brother!”
“I’m positive that he’s in the late stage of Qi Foundation, he’s from Tai Hua Mountain after all.”
“Right, he must be in the late stage of Qi Foundation! So awesome.”
Although they spoke mostly in voice transmissions and everyone else including Luo Jianqing couldn’t hear them at all, watching these young girls stare and point at their own senior brother made all of the Qi Foundation disciples smile in understanding, everyone chuckling in solidarity.
After both groups were ready, everyone entered under the guidance of Yi Tian Sect’s Elder Zhao.
The endless ranges of mountains were winding and snaking, like streams coming together to form an ocean, and finally ended at a tall and erect peak. They abruptly stopped, and Luo Jianqing activated the flying magical tool and led the disciples to the clear sky. Everyone a.s.sembled on the deck and looked down at the bony crowd of mountains.
On the treasure ship, Yi Tian Sect’s Elder Zhao suddenly soared into the air, taking out a smooth and round white jade pearl.
Upon seeing this, Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples looked at it several times with curiosity. Only Luo Jianqing cleanly swept his gaze over it once, then moved away his line of sight.
Elder Zhao tossed the white pearl into the air, his fingers moving in succession, forming a hologram. The white pearl was emitting a glaring light, its rays penetrating through the clouds as it directly launched towards the top of the peak. In a flash, there was a sound of rumbling, and a screen of white light suddenly emerged in front of everyone’s eyes.
Elder Zhao cupped his hands and said, “Fellow Daoist Luo, ahead we will find the remnants that the Nascent Soul True Lord found. This one will still guide everyone through this stage. Let us depart!”
Luo Jianqing nodded. “Let us depart!”
Very soon, the flying treasure ship pa.s.sed inside the rays of light. Everyone suddenly felt the world fluctuate. Luo Jianqing put back the treasure ship inside his storage ring and lifted his head to look at this bizarre place.
The black iron gate stretched thirty-three zhang tall, towering over everyone and emitting a heavy oppressive aura. Though it was a gate, this gate had no doors whatsoever, only wide open to let people in. Everyone stood in front of the gate, as tiny as a drop in the ocean.
Suddenly seeing this kind of gate, the disciples couldn’t help glancing all around them, at a loss.
Elder Zhao said aloud, “True Lord Beidou’s most skilled formation is the Ursa Major Formation. This gate is the first mountain pa.s.s of the remnants, known as Yaoguang(1). There are many small characters on the side of the gate that detail the requirements to enter the gate. Those who enter the gate must not be older than 100 years old and cultivation level must be Nascent Soul or lower. Yi Tian Sect had once dispatched cultivators who did not meet the conditions and were all shot out of the gate with critical injuries.”
His voice fell. Luo Jianqing nodded indifferently, then turned his head to look at a new disciple of Tai Hua Mountain.
This disciple was the child from the aristocratic family who won first place at the all-peak examinations. He tactfully nodded and took a step into the gate. Having pa.s.sed un.o.bstructed, he quickly entered, then turned around and said, “Great senior brother, everything’s alright.”
The words “great senior brother” had just fallen when Yi Tian City’s disciples stood dumbly in place, like they had been struck by lightning.
“Great… great senior brother? Tai Hua Mountain’s great senior brother?!”
Everyone looked to the front of the crowd with looks of disbelief. The calm and composed young man Luo Jianqing didn’t seem to notice them and was a.s.signing every one of Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples to enter the gate. When there was only one person left, he said, “After you, Elder Zhao.”
Zhao Yu Peak originally felt completely embarra.s.sed. These were the remnants that their Yi Tian Sect had discovered, but they had to let Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples go in first. When Luo Jianqing remained where he was, not taking the initiative to enter, Elder Zhao looked at him gratefully and cupped his hands in salute, then let his disciples enter.
When the last Yi Tian Sect disciple went in, the only people remaining outside the gate were Luo Jianqing and Yi Tian Sect’s elders.
Luo Jianqing glanced coolly at Yi Tian Sect’s elders. Then he stood on his toes, his silhouette turning into green light, and swiftly entered the gate.
Henceforth, the affairs inside the gate had nothing to do with the people outside, and Yi Tian Sect’s guidance was no longer needed at this point.
After entering True Lord Beidou’s remnants, the oldest of Yi Tian Sect’s Qi Foundation disciples timidly walked over to talk things over with Luo Jianqing. Luo Jianqing said mildly, “Then walk with Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples. There’s no need to worry.”
The person immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Inside the black iron gate, there was a quiet and pitch-black trail. Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples took out a moonstone from their sleeves which emitted faint and dim light. Although it was not as bright as sunlight, it was enough.
Everyone walked like this for an hour. The trail became wider, and the more they walked the more clearly they could hear sounds of crashing water. When they had just reached the end, even Luo Jianqing couldn’t help but look surprised.
“What a big river!”
“A huge river! It’s not just a big river, it’s a huge river!”
Muddy river water surged up from somewhere far, crashing against the mountain walls with vigor and grandeur. The water was dark yellow, but its waves were very violent. As Luo Jianqing’s eyesight was not good enough to make out how far the river water spread, he could only see that the water didn’t just stop at 100 li (2)!
It was 100 li long and already opened up a small s.p.a.ce!
The opened s.p.a.ce was definitely something that was made with the powerful ability of a Body-Fusion stage cultivator. Clearly it was not True Lord Beidou’s doing. He surely received some kind of treasure, only then could he create such unnatural Nascent Soul level remnants for himself!
Luo Jianqing glanced at it, then soon saw a green stone tablet standing right in the middle of the river water.
The stone tablet was at least a li away from the sh.o.r.e. Only Qi Foundation and above was able to read the words on it.
The one Tai Hua Mountain disciple read aloud, “Such vast and mighty waters, whence must there be a vessel?”
A Qi Condensation disciple yelled immediately, “There’s a boat here! There’s a lot of boats here!”
The Qi Foundation disciple continued to read, “Seventh-level may carry one, across one li; sixth-level may carry two, across two li; fifth-level may carry four, across four li; fourth-level may carry eight, across eight li; third-level may carry sixteen, across sixteen li; second-level may carry thirty-two, across thirty-two li; first-level may carry sixty-four, across sixty-four li. The heavenly superior-level may carry 128, across 128 li!”
His voice fell. Of the disciples who were all completely silent, only Luo Jianqing knit his brows, while Li Xiuchen laughed vulgarly.
The words on the stone tablet were too simple. All cultivators were divided into nine kinds of const.i.tutions. First, people who had no const.i.tution, like Li Xiuchen; second, people who had a lower grade const.i.tution, from fourth to seventh-level; third, second and third level, which were medium grade; and lastly, an outstanding first-level const.i.tution. Out of countless people, not one had a superior-level const.i.tution!
A superior-level const.i.tution was hard to come by. It already defied the natural order.
Among millions and millions of people, only one was suitable for cultivation. And among countless cultivators, only one could have a superior-level const.i.tution.
On Tai Hua Mountain, there were only two who had a superior-level const.i.tution. One was Sir Xuan Lingzi, while the other was Luo Jianqing.
Li Xiuchen, stained with a dirty black shoe print, eyes giving off a bright radiance, looked towards the great senior brother in green who was standing at the side of the river.
Though Li Xiuchen had no evidence, he still believed that he and Luo Jianqing both transmigrated. Otherwise, according to the original work, at this moment it would be impossible for everyone to cross the river. What should’ve happened was little junior sister—and also his first harem member—would carry a total of sixty-four people, then let two first-level const.i.tution disciples carry five disciples. Everyone worked strenuously, used many magical tools, and finally crossed the river with great difficulty.
But right now, everything was different.
The little junior sister Mu Tianxin had a first-level const.i.tution. Although a first-level const.i.tution was the best of the best, it wasn’t superior-level.
But Luo Jianqing’s const.i.tution was!
This made the first mountain pa.s.s too easy to cross. Let Luo Jianqing captain the boat and take everyone. It was a piece of cake.
Thinking of this while watching the Yi Tian Sect disciples hesitate and worry, Li Xiuchen chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. Everyone knows that our Tai Hua Mountain’s great senior brother has a superior-level const.i.tution. He can carry the seventy of us and more!”
Li Xiuchen’s voice directly pa.s.sed through every single person’s ears. Yi Tian Sect all looked dumbstruck. Tai Hua Mountain’s disciples stared at him peculiarly.
Some of the Yi Tian Sect disciples still didn’t exactly know what was with that shoe print on his face, but after hearing him talk, many disciples couldn’t help whispering apprehensively, “We didn’t know that Tai Hua Mountain’s great senior brother had a superior-level const.i.tution, but why would he carry us anyway…”
“Exactly, he doesn’t have a superior-level const.i.tution so why’s he so proud of himself?”
“What const.i.tution does this Tai Hua Mountain disciple have, maybe first-level?”
These people spoke very quietly, and as Li Xiuchen wasn’t anything more than Phase Two of Qi Condensation, he couldn’t hear them at all. However, Tai Hua Mountain’s Phase Four Qi Condensation disciples were listening to them talk with their heads lowered in resentment, while four Qi Foundation disciples had their lips pulled taut. One of the Hao Ming Peak disciples slapped Li Xiuchen on the back of the head, making him stumble and nearly fall to the ground.
“Go ahead and speak! Do you know what you’ve just done? Do you? You made our Hao Ming Peak completely lose face!”
Li Xiuchen covered his head, looking at the Hao Ming Peak senior brother with anger. He didn’t understand what he said wrong at all.
Since someone already pointed out the situation, naturally Luo Jianqing couldn’t hide anything. He waved his hand to summon the largest boat and said neutrally, “Everyone get on the boat. This river goes for over 100 li. I don’t know where it will take everyone, but let’s take it step by step.”
All of the Yi Tian Sect disciples looked at Luo Jianqing gratefully.
After everyone boarded the boat, Li Xiuchen got on it with a face full of hatred. He had just stepped on the deck when Luo Jianqing stated calmly, “You nineteen junior brothers, shut this person’s mouth for me.”
The nineteen Hao Ming Peak junior brothers cheerfully cupped their hands. “Yes! Great senior brother!”
Li Xiuchen widened his eyes in shock. He hadn’t yet understood what happened when his mouth stuffed with a chunk of sackcloth. It was unknown where this sackcloth came from, and it even stunk a little bit. Li Xiuchen was about to lift a hand to take the sackcloth out, but Luo Jianqing glanced down at him. When Li Xiuchen wanted to lift his hand again, his entire body was stiff as a corpse, unable to move an inch.
Li Xiuchen, “Wuwu… wu!”
Luo Jianqing turned around. “A small internal matter in our sect has been settled. I’ll let you laugh.”
The Yi Tian Sect disciples hurriedly shook their heads, pretending not to see Li Xiuchen. “No matter, no matter. Go ahead, fellow Daoist Luo!”
Though they were very grateful that Li Xiuchen opened his mouth to let them get on the boat, if they were Tai Hua Mountain disciples, they would definitely be so furious that they’d die.
After everyone boarded the boat, Luo Jianqing walked to the bow of the ship and looked at the enormous jewel. He narrowed his eyes and put his hand on the top, transmitting his spiritual energy through it. In an instant, a bright light suddenly appeared and the ship immediately came to a stop. After a moment, the large ship rumbled loudly and broke the wind as it sped forward at an unstoppable and ambitious velocity!
For the entire 128 li, Luo Jianqing kept a calm expression, not even wrinkling his eyebrows.
After they reached the sh.o.r.e, Luo Jianqing was the first one to get off the boat. His toes touched the ground lightly, his green robe cutting a beautiful arc in the air. Don’t mention the Tai Hua Mountain disciples; even the Yi Tian Sect disciples felt admiration blossom in their hearts, eyes full of reverence.
After everyone walked for several hundred li, someone suddenly remembered, “Yi, just now that Tai Hua Mountain disciple looked like he couldn’t move, and he hadn’t come with us!”
Luo Jianqing’s lips turned up slightly as he said quietly, “I forgot.”
Everyone, “…” Did you really?!
Luo Jianqing flicked his sleeve and a flowing stream of light flew to the river bank. After a few minutes, everyone saw the shoe print stained Li Xiuchen miserably catch up with them. He stood at the very back of the procession, not even raising his head or saying a single word, like he truly did learn from his mistakes.
Luo Jianqing only glanced at him once, then returned his line of sight and continued to lead everyone forwards.
Li Xiuchen didn’t speak. Did he truly not understand after all?
When the boat stopped, Luo Jianqing had been the first one to get off, which totally did not fit his nature. It was all because of that moment when the small boat stopped. A jade-white ray of light suddenly flew by and Luo Jianqing came out, then took the prize of the mountain pa.s.s for himself.
This prize was a treasure, even to Luo Jianqing.
This was a white jade token. In “Seeking Immortality”, after little junior sister obtained the white jade token and crushed it, she could shift a distance of sixty-four li. It was a magical tool used to escape. And now that Luo Jianqing had the white jade token, he could move 128 li in the blink of an eye!
In his past life, Li Xiuchen got the first-level white jade token at the very end, though he didn’t get it himself. Little junior sister didn’t get anything useful at the remnants, so she gave everything she obtained to Li Xiuchen, hoping it would be enough for him to keep his promise. What happened that night should not be mentioned.
But now… Luo Jianqing’s eyes curved in a faint smile, and continued to walk forwards.
Now, Li Xiuchen wished he’d gotten it!
(1) True Lord Beidou (北斗真君): Also a name of a deity in Daoism. Originated from ancient Chinese worship of the Ursa Major constellation (Beidou).
Yaoguang (摇光): A star in Ursa Major, namely Eta Ursae Majoris/Alkaid.
(2) Li: 500 meters