Imperial Cultivation

51: Chapter 49 Seeking Contributions

51 -49 Seeking Contributions

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Wave Listening Court

The lattice window was open, and a bright moon seemed like a silver disk set in the pitch-black night sky, as if peering through the window at Chu Zhiyuan’s handsome face.

Chu Zhiyuan sat cross-legged, with the Cold Jade Box in front of his knees, the Flying Dragon Ball inside emitting a purplish-gold dim glow.

The Dragon Transformation Technique was operating wildly.

As soon as the Flying Dragon Ball approached him, the Dragon Transformation Technique seemed to suddenly have a will of its own, no longer needing him to concentrate to propel it, and began to wildly operate on its own.

Like a horse shifting from a leisurely walk to a galloping sprint, the speed increased about five times; where originally it took one circulation, now it could complete five circulations.

And it didn’t require him to expend his mental energy.

This kind of bizarre occurrence, which he had never thought of before, was happening right before him, making the corners of his mouth persistently lifted in a smile he couldn’t suppress.

With the Dragon Transformation Technique complementing the Flying Dragon Ball, the speed of progress was beyond imagination.

Added to that, the Blood Purification Technique further boosted the power of the Jade Lock Gold Barrier Skill, accelerating the progress even more.

His original plan was to stop the Blood Purification Technique after competing against Da Zhen’s Cheng Tianfeng this time, to avoid damaging his lifespan and body by practicing the Dragon Transformation Technique until well-cooked.

With the Flying Dragon Ball, there’s no need to stop practicing the Blood Purification Technique; the realm of the Dragon Transformation Technique was enough to suppress the damages from the Blood Purification Technique.

He reached out and picked up the Flying Dragon Ball, holding it before his eyes.

Under Super Sense, the Flying Dragon Ball was filled with mercury inside.

Shiny, pure, gleaming and brilliant, the texture was smooth and dense.

He had a hunch: he could extract these bright mercury out anytime and merge them with his True Qi, instantly causing his True Qi to surge, greatly enhancing his cultivation.

Looking at this bright, weighty True Qi, an intense impulse to extract it surged spontaneously, much like encountering a sweet spring when parched with thirst.

He forcibly restrained this impulse.

What difference is there between extracting True Qi from the Dragon Ball and consuming a Spirit Pill to enhance cultivation?

Both sever the path to becoming a Grandmaster.

He sought the impact of the Dragon Ball on the Dragon Transformation Technique.

More importantly, he already vaguely understood that although the True Qi inside the Dragon Ball was easy to obtain, it had latent dangers; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been warned against as ominous by the Emperor.

Since the Emperor said it was ominous, there’s likely something wrong with the True Qi inside the Dragon Ball.

From his readings, he speculated that the True Qi inside the Dragon Ball might very well be tainted with a trace of dragon nature, which could affect one’s will.

Xu Wanshan used the Earth Dragon Pearl to boost his cultivation, almost severing his path to Grandmaster.

Either the Flying Flower Sword Sect didn’t know this secret, or they knew but didn’t care, having no extravagant hopes of achieving Grandmaster, or realizing it too late, and could only let things go wrong.

He opened his eyes and closed the Cold Jade Box.

The surging aura of the Dragon Transformation Technique abruptly ceased.

He let it stop, beginning to perform the Washing Sword Technique, condensing the Misty Purple Energy, then focused on circulating the Binding Dragon Rope, and afterward opened the Cold Jade Box again.

As expected, as he thought, the speed of operating the Binding Dragon Rope was about five times faster than usual.

The Dragon Ball had a stimulating effect on the martial arts of the Dragon Subduing Sect.

Originally, it took the time of two cups of tea to gradually gather the deep purple aura and transform it into Purple Rope, now it was but a blink of an eye.

Closing the Cold Jade Box-., Earth Origin Technique replenishing Qi-., Washing Sword Technique purifies Qi-., Operating Binding Dragon Rope-., Opening the Cold Jade Box-., Forms a Binding Dragon Rope.

Nine Binding Dragon Ropes took only half the usual time to form.

…

The early morning light in the Wave Listening Court’s bedroom.

Chu Zhiyuan slowly opened his eyes, divine light shot out and illuminated the room.

The seventh layer of Jade Tower finally broke through, stepping into the Eighth Layer Realm!

At this speed, breaking through the eighth layer of Jade Tower and into the Ninth Layer Realm, … breaking through the eleventh layer of Jade Tower and into the Twelfth Layer Realm, reaching Innate Perfection, is feared to take about a year.

This was already remarkably astonishing.

Yet, he felt it wasn’t fast enough; not becoming a Grandmaster always felt insecure.

Fortunately, the current realm was comparable to Cheng Tianfeng’s realm.

If the Inspection Department didn’t misestimate, and Cheng Tianfeng’s realm was indeed the Eighth Layer.

To be safe, he couldn’t relax, striving to advance one more layer before Cheng Tianfeng reached Yujing.

Time was tight.

In the remaining time, he had to hone the Washing Sword Technique, the Great Snow Avalanche Sword Technique, the Near and Far Steps; cultivation was important, but the skillset was equally crucial.

——

In the early morning light, he arrived at the Mingwu Hall.

After greeting Chu Mingxuan, Chu Zhitian, and Chu Zhichuan, Chu Qingfeng appeared, glanced at Chu Zhiyuan without saying much.

Chu Zhiyuan knew that glance could see the enhancement in his aura, and his cultivation had advanced by another layer.

Chu Qingfeng knowing meant that the Emperor would know as well, which could provide timely support for his progress, increasing the odds of defeating Cheng Tianfeng.

But Chu Zhiyao didn’t come today.

This intrigued Chu Zhiyuan quite a bit.

Given Chu Zhiyao’s temperament, prioritizing cultivation above all, he would come to the Mingwu Hall every day to cultivate, without fail and with extreme punctuality.

Upon inquiring, none of Chu Mingxuan, Chu Zhitian, Chu Zhichuan, nor Chu Qingfeng knew.

Chu Zhichuan speculated: “Perhaps it’s because Uncle Four’s birthday is drawing near, and Third Brother is busy helping to fill the gaps, keeping busy.”

Chu Mingxuan said: “Fourth Brother doesn’t usually manage things, has always been a hands-off manager.

Now that Third Brother is back, of course he would handle all the affairs in the mansion, quite bothersome.”

No matter how much Chu Zhiyao valued cultivation, he couldn’t ignore Prince Xuan’s birthday, trying to avoid any mishaps at the banquet.

“Tomorrow evening is Fourth Brother’s birthday,” Chu Mingxuan smiled, “a chance to have a good time, … Old Fourth, you’re going to attend, right?”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Chu Mingxuan gave a peculiar smile, “Not only us, but people from the State Duke Mansion and the Marquis Mansion will all attend, it will be very lively.”

Chu Zhiyuan asked, “Besides that?”

“Hehe, besides the young marquises, lords, and marquises, there will be ladies from each mansion,” Chu Mingxuan raised his eyebrows, grinning wickedly, “many engagements are often eyed during this time.”

Chu Zhiyuan hurriedly waved his hand, “Eighteenth Uncle, I don’t have the mind for such things right now.”

“Oh well, it’s true,” Chu Mingxuan patted his shoulder comfortingly.

Right now, the burden on Chu Zhiyuan’s shoulders was too heavy, pressing down on him to the point of suffocation; he truly had no mind to look at ladies.

“But Old Fourth, you can’t just bury yourself in hard practice all the time; you need to take some time to relax, balance work and rest,” Chu Mingxuan said, “relax tomorrow night.”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded and agreed.

…

When he arrived at the government office of the Ministry of Rites for the roll call, he saw Gao Lingfeng coming over with a beaming smile, clasping his fists to congratulate him.

“Sir, congratulations!

I’ve heard the news that your Ninth Grade commendation proposal has already been submitted to the Auditing Department yesterday.”

“Oh—?”

Gao Lingfeng smiled and said, “The Chief of Staff mentioned that this time, being able to timely suppress the conflict between the Thick Earth Sect and the Flying Flower Sword Sect, preventing it from escalating, was all thanks to your timely decision and foresight, deserving of a Ninth Grade special merit.”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and asked, “And you, Mr.

Gao?”

Gao Lingfeng said, “I share half the credit, it’s recorded in the merit book.”

Two halves of credit equate to one Ninth Grade merit, which was already delightful.

Such opportunities were rare.

Chu Zhiyuan sat behind the desk, casually picked up a dossier, and smiled, “It’s also a coincidental opportunity, lucky enough.”

Gao Lingfeng shook his head earnestly, “This is not luck; if it were someone else, instead of earning merit, they’d likely be punished.”

As a junior minister, he was indeed favored because of his status as the Princely Heir, receiving the chance to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony at the Flying Flower Sword Sect branch courtyard.

However, if it were someone else in his place, they would keep their distance from the Flying Flower Sword Sect, not saying too much, not meddling unnecessarily.

With the feud between the Flying Flower Sword Sect and the Thick Earth Sect unresolved, if it were me unable to mediate, I might not be as wise to directly report it, definitely would hesitate and delay.

This matter dragged on, until the conflict escalated to the point of bloodshed, at which point it would be difficult to truly suppress it.

Therefore, awarding the junior minister this Ninth Grade merit is well-deserved.

Chu Zhiyuan said, “I wonder when this Ninth Grade merit will be approved.”

Da Zhen’s envoy troupe was arriving soon; if it’s approved after their arrival, it would be such a pity.

The Ninth Grade merit had always been exchanged for Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills, to accelerate the cultivation of the first layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique, now realizing he should have exchanged for Dragon Blood Stones instead, the effect would be much better.