Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 284: Chapter 282: After a Hundred Years, Who Can Be an Enemy?

Bai Jiu’an’s tomb was said to be on a blessed Spirit Land, and it was built to be imposing and grand.

Besides having his direct descendants burn incense and make offerings, Bai Xianzhong also gave special permission for ten of Bai Jiu’an’s descendants without Spiritual Roots to live on the mountain, specifically to tend to the tomb.

This kind of treatment set a precedent.

Not even previous Clan Leaders had received such posthumous honors.

Bai Xianzhong was old and cunning. He could clearly sense that after Bai Jiu’an’s passing, the connection between Bai Zichen and the Bai Family had grown much more distant.

As time went on, aside from the siblings Bai Ziying and Bai Ziyu who would still be treated with special favor, the status of the other clan members in Master Bai’s eyes would only continue to fall.

A hundred years from now, when all of Master Bai’s contemporaries and old acquaintances in the clan were dead, how much affection would be left?

He could only do everything possible to establish some kind of connection.

He had put so much effort into the construction of Bai Jiu’an’s tomb precisely to give Master Bai a reason to be sentimental, hoping he would return to visit from time to time.

”Clan Leader, the Ancestor invites you in.”

Bai Xianzhong patted the head of the sturdy-looking boy. With Gold and Earth Dual Spiritual Roots, he was the Bai Family’s most promising seedling at present.

He had arranged for the boy to serve Bai Zichen at the tomb, hoping that he would catch Master Bai’s eye.

But from the looks of it now, the plan had failed. Master Bai had shown no interest in the boy.

The Bai Family was now known as the number one Cultivation Family in Black Mountain, but there were few Foundation Establishment Seeds within the clan, and no clear candidates to cultivate.

That group of Bai Clan Members on Celestial Thunder Cliff, on the other hand, was cultivating much faster. Several had already reached Late-Stage Qi Refining.

Their leader, Bai Xiran, was already at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, his cultivation the highest among all Bai Clan Members of his generation.

As for Bai Jiu’an’s two children, they were guaranteed to become Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the future.

But Bai Xianzhong had a nagging feeling that the clan members who went to Celestial Thunder Cliff and those who remained on Hanxiu Peak would one day go down two separate paths.

Last year, he had written to Bai Xiran, asking him to arrange for twenty clan members to swap places with those on Hanxiu Peak, but he was politely refused.

The reply stated that their task of cultivating Spiritual Bamboo for the Ancestor was arduous, and rashly swapping people might delay the important duties assigned by the Ancestor, so they could not comply with the order.

If a swap was truly necessary, they requested the Clan Leader to send a message to the Ancestor and proceed only after receiving his permission.

This attitude was already quite telling.

Bai Xianzhong walked into the burial ground and saw Bai Zichen toss out a ball of Spirit Fire, incinerating Granny Ghost, whose corpse had been exposed for a month.

”In the days to come, I’m afraid I won’t have the time to visit often. I’ll leave Uncle’s tomb in the care of the clan members...”

Bai Zichen bowed three times before the tomb, then led Bai Xianzhong out to the edge of a cliff.

”This records a Cultivation Technique called the Red Bright Nirvana Technique. It has two volumes, for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, passed down from our ancestor... From now on, any Bai Clan Members who are able should cultivate this technique. If anyone reaches Foundation Establishment Perfection, they can come to me for the Core Formation Stage technique.”

Bai Xianzhong took the Jade Scroll, somewhat bewildered. He didn’t know why Bai Zichen had suddenly given such an order.

However, since it was a gift from Master Bai and a technique that could be cultivated all the way to the Core Formation Stage, it was certainly not going to be bad.

As for it being passed down from their ancestor, Bai Xianzhong simply treated it as a pretext and paid it no mind.

As the Clan Leader, he knew better than anyone what good things the Bai Family’s ancestors had passed down.

If they had a Top-Level Cultivation Technique, it would have long been made available for the clan’s disciples to practice.

The clan’s Immortal Seedlings wouldn’t be stuck with just a few choices for their Spirit Opening and Energy Technique, cycling back and forth between the Chang Chun Skill and the Sharp Gold Technique.

’The departed is gone; it is better to leave...’

Bai Zichen took one last, deep look in the direction of the tomb, then transformed into a streak of Sword Light and shot into the Sea of Clouds, vanishing without a trace.

”Farewell, True Man!”

A long while later, Bai Xianzhong looked down at the Jade Scroll in his hand.

A single glance brought a look of delight to his face, moved by its contents.

Although it only contained the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment volumes, its profundity and subtlety surpassed every other cultivation technique in the Bai Family’s collection.

...

’Junior Brother Bai is already at Mid-Stage Core Formation. Forget our sect’s predecessors—he’s progressing faster than even some Nascent Soul True Monarchs did in their time!’

With a Core Formation True Man leading the group, there was naturally no need to worry about safety along the way.

On this trip to Zengguang Immortal City, they had managed to win the bids for four portions of Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Lingzhi in one go, along with many other resources.

However, not a single one of the high-powered Secret Treasures that the Core Formation Ancestors valued most had appeared at the auction, leaving Wei Dao to return disappointed.

But this was normal. A Secret Treasure capable of threatening a Nascent Soul True Monarch was a trump card even for a Nascent Soul Major Sect.

Even if a declining power wanted to sell one, they would almost always do so through small-scale, private transactions. It would rarely find its way to an auction.

This was Wei Dao’s first visit to Celestial Thunder Cliff, and it was clear he had heard the news of Bai Zichen slaying Granny Ghost with his sword.

Although the Ghost Spirit Sect did its best to cover up the incident, tens of thousands of disciples had witnessed it with their own eyes. With the sect’s morale and loyalty plummeting, how could they possibly keep it a secret?

The entire Ghost Spirit Sect, from top to bottom, was like a leaky sieve; it couldn’t hide anything.

As details from that day began to surface, the various sects were stunned to realize that this Core Formation True Man from the Qingfeng Sect was very likely a cultivator even more powerful than Master Ge Cang.

To instantly kill an Early-Stage Core Formation Cultivator in a one-on-two fight while under the cover of a Tier Three Array... even for a Sword Cultivator, renowned for their combat prowess, this was too outrageous.

Even a Late-Stage Core Formation Cultivator would be incapable of such a feat.

Only the very top Perfect Core Formation True Men, those few cultivators standing at the peak just below the Nascent Soul True Monarchs, could achieve such a spectacular result.

Considering Master Bai of the Qingfeng Sect’s age and realm, no one dared to imagine what level of power he would reach in a hundred years.

It wouldn’t be as simple as just dominating the Northern Domain and being unrivaled among Core Formation cultivators.

He would likely be able to crush most Core Formation True Men with the ease of snapping dry twigs, destroying them with a single sword strike.

It was rumored that Demon Level geniuses from the Central Domain had accomplished the supreme feat of fighting a Nascent Soul True Monarch while at the Perfect Core Formation Realm.

At this rate of progress, Master Bai had a good chance of replicating it.

Some more radical cultivators even suggested that in a hundred years, Master Bai might have already successfully formed his Nascent Soul and earned the title of Nascent Soul True Monarch.

But very few agreed with this view. Even his most ardent admirers didn’t dare make such a claim.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch under two hundred years old? Forget Liang Country; one would have to look back several thousand years in the history of the entire Northern Domain Cultivation Realm to find such a cultivator.

Furthermore, the Qingfeng Sect had no predecessor True Monarchs, meaning they had no experience to draw upon for the Nascent Soul breakthrough.

It had to be known that countless Perfect Core Formation Cultivators, all of whom could be considered prodigies, had fallen at that final step before the Nascent Soul.

Failing to form a Nascent Soul was not like Foundation Establishment and Core Formation, where one might get a chance to start over.

On the path of Shattering the Core and Hugging the Infant, one could only advance; there was no retreat.

Once you failed, your body would perish and your Dao would dissipate. There was no second chance.

Therefore, in the eyes of many Core Formation True Men, while Master Bai of the Qingfeng Sect showed greater aptitude and potential than Qu Yang of the Holy Lotus Sect, they would actually rank Qu Yang higher in terms of the likelihood of successfully achieving Nascent Infant.

A Tier Four Spirit Land, Nascent Soul Spirit Pills, the summarized experience of a predecessor True Monarch...

These external factors were enough to level the playing field between the two, and might even allow Qu Yang to pull ahead.

After all, as someone with a Fire Element Celestial Spiritual Root, Qu Yang already possessed one of the most top-tier talents in the Cultivation Realm.

If not for the appearance of an anomaly like Bai Zichen, he would absolutely be considered the most outstanding Core Formation True Man in Liang Country after Master Ge Cang.

”I’ve only taken one step ahead. With your solid foundation, Senior Brother Wei, you’ll catch up sooner or later.”

Having displayed such a cultivation speed, saying it was just a fluke or good luck would have been far too disingenuous.

Bai Zichen graciously acknowledged his progress. In any case, he was certain he wouldn’t face any bottlenecks before the Nascent Soul Realm; there would be plenty more moments to shock people in the future.

Wei Dao changed the subject, asking about another matter.

”Junior Brother, your bold declaration about eliminating the Ghost Spirit Sect in thirty years... did you truly mean it, or was it just a bluff?”

”The threat of Blood God True Man has not been eliminated. If we press the Ghost Spirit Sect too hard, could it lead to negative consequences?”

”Senior Brother Wei, you’re overthinking it. If we cannot withstand the calamity that is Blood God True Man, then there’s nothing more to be said... But as long as we survive this trial, what will the Ghost Spirit Sect amount to in thirty years!”

The grass hut contained only plain tea and water. Bai Zichen loved to drink Spirit Tea but was unskilled in the art of tea-making. At times like this, he thought, ’It would be nice to have a couple of female attendants in the courtyard to burn incense and brew tea.’

”The Ghost Spirit Sect is down to just White Bone True Man and Fairy Taohua. They’ve lost three Core Formation True Men in a matter of decades. How much confidence can their disciples possibly have left? Thirty years from now, when our army is at their gates, I guarantee they will surrender at the first sign of trouble, and a large number of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators will flee.”

”Brother Ge and I will join forces, with you, Senior Brother Wei, and Junior Sister Zhou holding the rear... Once their confidence is gone, what good is a Tier Three Grand Array? In the end, it still needs cultivators to operate it.”

”Junior Brother, what boldness, what ambition!”

Imagining the scene of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s utter destruction, even Wei Dao couldn’t help but feel his heart stir, lost in reverie.

Besides eliminating a mortal enemy of the sect, the most direct benefit would be bringing the more populous and prosperous Hejian County under the Qingfeng Sect’s control.

A larger population meant more Immortal Seedlings would be discovered each year, naturally increasing the probability of finding talented disciples. The Qingfeng Sect’s foundation would strengthen, and its future would be even more prosperous.

As for prosperous resources, it meant that Hejian County’s various Cultivation Resources far surpassed those of Black Mountain County.

If you excluded the Black Mountain Range, Black Mountain County’s output probably wouldn’t even amount to one percent of Hejian County’s.

Therefore, in the years before Black Mountain was developed, Black Mountain County was considered a desolate frontier, and no sect was willing to establish itself there.

Hejian County was particularly famous for its Ore Veins. There were even many large-scale veins that had been continuously mined for hundreds of years without any sign of depletion, providing the Ghost Spirit Sect with a steady stream of ore.

If the Qingfeng Sect were to take control of all of it, it would mean that the Core Formation Ancestors at the highest level would be supported by the resources of two counties.

Wei Dao was, after all, a True Man who had achieved a Pill Discussion and Perfect Core Formation. He certainly had aspirations for a higher realm.

However, after entering the Core Formation Stage, the advantage in cultivation speed from an Abnormal Spiritual Root was no longer significant.

If he wanted his cultivation to grow steadily over time, the sect’s current income was definitely not enough to support it.

’I wonder how Brother Ge is doing, and when he’ll come out of seclusion...’

It wasn’t that Bai Zichen was arrogant, but if Blood God True Man were to return, the Qingfeng Sect’s survival would depend on him and Master Ge Cang.

Even if Wei Dao and Zhou Suqing miraculously broke through to the Mid-Stage Core Formation in a few years, it would be impossible for them to change the outcome of the battle.

Needless to say, Bai Zichen had his methods. And once Master Ge Cang reached Core Formation Perfection, he would be one step closer to the Great Dao True Intent.

The key was that certain Tier Four methods might become usable, if he was willing to pay any price.