Longevity Begins From Raising Disciples

Yet on Chen Ye’s body, he saw only a Divine Soul without a single flaw and a realm where life and soul cultivated together in perfect harmony.

His physical shell and Divine Soul were naturally fused as one, like a flawless jade disc.

His Vitality and Divine Sense were perfectly matched; he was absolutely not some usurper who had seized another’s body.

”It seems this child’s sudden rise in just a few short years is truly his own one-in-ten-thousand fortune, rather than some old ghost borrowing his corpse to return to life... Lingyin Sect truly is blessed by Heaven.”

The Great Elder secretly nodded, yet for some inexplicable reason felt a faint disappointment.

Originally...

He had, for a fleeting instant, suspected

whether this Chen Ye might actually be the ancestor reborn through possession.

Now it seemed, it was absolutely impossible!

...

At this moment, Sect Master Zhao had already risen from the main seat.

He strode to the very front of the high platform and spoke in a resonant voice, like a great bronze bell; under the support of his deep True Yuan, it spread to every corner of Dubhe Peak.

”Chen Ye!”

Sect Master Zhao looked at Chen Ye below the stage and praised,

”Since the day you entered my Lingyin Sect, you have gone through battle after battle and repeatedly rendered extraordinary merit! Before, you beheaded enemies and displayed might within Black Cliff City; later, in Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, you safeguarded the prodigies of our sect! The many battle achievements you have earned for the sect, this seat remembers well!”

Chen Ye cupped his hands slightly. ”Sect Master overpraises; this is merely my duty.”

”’Merely your duty’, is it? Well said!”

Sect Master Zhao laughed heartily and lifted his hands in a supporting gesture.

”Weng—”

A square great seal, purple Qi swirling about it and carved with a reclining deer, appeared out of thin air, radiating a pressure as heavy as a mountain.

This was the symbol of authority for the Inner Sect Twelve Peaks.

”With Yan and Qi at war and wind and rain swaying all around, the reason my Lingyin Sect can still stand unshaken is precisely because of pillar-like talents such as you!”

Sect Master Zhao swept his gaze around and raised the great seal high in his hands, his expression solemn as he announced in a ringing voice:

”From this day forth, Chen Ye shall be one of the Inner Sect Twelve Peaks of my Lingyin Sect, Peak Master of Baopu Peak! I bestow upon you the Mountain Master Seal; you shall command one whole peak!”

As his words fell, that purple-gold Mountain Master Seal shone brilliantly, transforming into a streak of Flowing Light that landed steadily in Chen Ye’s palm.

The instant he touched it, Chen Ye felt a deep, surging aura linked to the earth veins of Baopu Peak.

With just a single thought, he could easily mobilize the Arrays and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of that entire mountain.

From this moment on, Baopu Peak could truly be said to have changed hands!

”We pay our respects to Peak Master Chen!!!”

On the plaza, tens of thousands of disciples and Stewards bowed in unison. Their voices surged like a tidal wave, shaking the clouds and echoing endlessly.

From this point onwards,

Chen Ye, within the borders of the Yan Kingdom, could already be called a Great Cultivator of considerable weight!

Chen Ye held the seal in one hand, his black robe snapping sharply in the mountain wind.

And behind him,

his three disciples stood with solemn expressions, sharing in his honor.

Even the mischievous little girl was, at this moment, pressing her lips tight, wearing a very serious look.

One had to admit,

this master with his three disciples really did look the part...

As Chen Ye put away the Mountain Master Seal and prepared to lead his disciples to take their seats,

an aged voice pierced through the noisy din and entered directly into Chen Ye’s sea of consciousness:

”Chen Ye, after the celebration banquet is over, come to the Ancestral Hall to see this old man. As for that matter the little girl Yu Shuang begged for, this old man can give you a chance.”

Chen Ye’s gaze flickered slightly. Without changing his expression, he glanced up at the high platform, only to see that the Great Elder had vanished at some unknown point in time; only the Fourth Elder remained, nodding at him with a smiling expression.

...

The lively clamor of the celebration banquet continued until the moon climbed above the treetops.

As the absolute protagonist of the day, Chen Ye naturally could not avoid being repeatedly toasted by Peak Masters and Guardians from all sides.

Fortunately, his status and position were already different now, and with Zhiwei at his side appropriately handling many trivial matters on her master’s behalf, no one dared to act tactlessly and pester him forcefully.

As for Qing Jun, from the very moment the Sect Master announced the start of the feast, he had completely transformed into a rice-devouring dragon, sweeping through a pile of high-tier spiritual dishes like a storm, eating until oil dripped from his mouth. Even that tail he had painstakingly hidden nearly popped out in his excitement, frightening Jin’er so much that she hurriedly hugged Qing Jun, trying to use her own body to block the view.

After several rounds of wine,

Chen Ye found a brief opening, quietly instructed Zhiwei in a low voice to keep an eye on her two junior sisters, then slipped away from the feast without a sound, heading straight toward the Ancestral Hall.

...

Compared to the clamor and boiling noise in front of Dubhe Hall, the Ancestral Hall appeared all the more solemn.

The Ancestral Hall was a part of Dubhe Hall.

Here were enshrined the memorial tablets of the Lingyin Sect’s patriarchs of all past generations.

In the hall, only a few ever-burning lamps were lit; it was incomparably quiet.

After Chen Ye knocked and announced himself, he entered and saw the Grand Elder in a gray robe, his back to the main doors, seated cross-legged on an old meditation cushion in the foremost position.

The old man’s figure was severely hunched, casting a long, drawn-out shadow under the lamplight:

”You’ve come.”

”Chen Ye of Baopu Peak pays his respects to the Grand Elder.” Chen Ye stepped forward two paces and cupped his hands slightly.

The Grand Elder let out a soft sigh:

”That girl Yu Shuang, in order to let you catch a glimpse of the Lingyin Sect’s inheritance... To be precise, the Zhao Family inheritance, badgered this old man for quite some time.”

Hearing this, Chen Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He had known Zhao Yushuang would do her utmost to help him, but he hadn’t expected that aloof, outwardly proud alchemy fanatic to go so far with her own elder for his sake.

This favor, he indeed owed rather heavily.

”I must have made you laugh.”

The Grand Elder’s shriveled lips pulled into a faint smile as his fingers lightly tapped his knee,

”This old man has lived nearly a thousand years and has seen countless peerlessly brilliant talents, but among those who, at the Foundation Establishment Stage, can possess such a terrifying Divine Soul foundation as you do—there are but a handful.”

Chen Ye was taken aback,

So back then, even though he hadn’t resisted, the Grand Elder had already discovered something unusual about his Divine Soul.

”The probe you conducted during the day, Elder—was it perhaps to assess Chen’s Divine Soul?”

Chen Ye did not conceal anything and laid the topic bare.

”Indeed.”

The Grand Elder nodded slightly,

”Aside from a great many Alchemy Dao classics, the most precious thing in the Zhao Family inheritance is a strand of the Patriarch’s Divine Will! Of course... this patriarch is our Zhao Family’s Patriarch, not that Songyang Patriarch who styled himself a Heavenly Demon.”

”If one’s Divine Soul is not sufficiently tenacious and he forces himself to observe the Patriarch’s Divine Will, at best his Sea of Consciousness will be damaged and he will become a fool; at worst his Divine Soul will be annihilated on the spot. Throughout the generations, the Zhao Family has lost who knows how many geniuses to the backlash of this inheritance.”

”When this old man used Divine Sense to suppress you during the day, it was to see whether the thing housed within this body of yours was truly a True Dragon or just a loach. If your Divine Soul were frail, or if you had been seized by another, causing discord between spirit and flesh, this old man would not only have forbidden you from touching the inheritance—he would have suppressed and killed you on the spot!”

”But not only did you withstand it, you even dared to completely drop your defenses in front of this old man. That composure and courage... are sufficient for you to attempt comprehension.”

Chen Ye understood in his heart.

No wonder this core inheritance had always been held tightly by the Zhao Family—it turned out there was such a harsh threshold.

”There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

Chen Ye’s expression remained calm,

”Since the Grand Elder is willing to make an exception for Chen, I imagine it’s not solely out of consideration for Junior Sister Zhao’s pleas, is it? Whatever terms there are, Grand Elder may speak freely.”

”Not so, not so. Since you are a Peak Master of Lingyin Sect, it is only proper that this old man nurtures you.”

The Grand Elder shook his head with a wry smile. He fell silent for a moment, his shriveled lips slightly parting as his tone grew somewhat heavy,

”As for the inheritance, this old man will make the arrangements himself. However... before that, there is a troublesome matter in the sect that requires you to handle.”

Oh?

Presumably, this was the Grand Elder’s true request.

Chen Ye’s expression remained unchanged: ”Please speak, Grand Elder.”

”I have heard... that you and Bai Susu are extremely close?”

With those words from the Grand Elder.

Chen Ye couldn’t help but feel a bit complicated; could it be that this Grand Elder also enjoyed gossip?

Without letting anything show on his face, he replied, ”That is indeed the case.”

”Bai Susu is the foremost genius of Lingyin, and over the past several hundred years... no, one could even say she is the most talented disciple since Lingyin first established its sect, surpassing even her father.”

The Grand Elder heaved a long sigh and unexpectedly began by praising Bai Susu,

”In this old man’s view, Bai Susu’s talent is above that of us old bones. In the future, she is certain to form a Nascent Soul and lead the remnant lineage of Songyang to rise once more.”

Upon hearing this,

Chen Ye’s heart shook,

It seemed the importance Lingyin Sect placed on Bai Susu exceeded even his imagination.

The Elder actually regarded her as the hope for reviving the ancestral lineage.

”However... in recent days, Bai Susu has suddenly gone missing. This matter is unrelated to the Emotion Crossing Sect; the Emotion Crossing Sect has yet to discover it.”

”In light of her special status, to prevent unnecessary panic and to avoid the Emotion Crossing Sect from searching for her, we have not spread this news, but have instead forcibly kept it concealed.”