novelraw Chapter 309 - 283 "Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art
Chapter 309 - 283 "Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art
Lu Jiangxian only heard him mention "Great Compassion and Joyous Lotus World Aspect," which was a Buddhist Dharma Appearance, belonging to at least a Golden Core level Immortal Cultivator. His heart quivered with alarm, but he had no understanding of the relationship between these World Honored Ones and the nurturing of the Taoist embryo. Wishing to entice Maha Jin Lian to divulge some news, he merely scoffed and let out a cold snort.
"Hmph!"
Jin Lian Maha was greatly shaken inside and secretly thought:
"Indeed... this is an Immortal, and even World Honored Ones who are on par with the Embryo of Dao are but juniors in front of him... Now I’m in trouble..."
Therefore, he repeatedly kowtowed and loudly begged for mercy. Lu Jiangxian glanced at him and said with a sneer:
"This sovereign has not emerged in a long time... all manners of riffraff dare to come spying!"
Lu Jiangxian had intended to boast of not emerging for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, but feeling that the more one says, the more likely one will err, he vaguely stated that he had not emerged for a long time. Jin Lian Maha, bowing his head, observed the formation patterns on the ground, feeling their ancient and vicissitudinous nature, and silently exclaimed:
"I have never seen these before... they must be the work of at least a thousand years ago... no wonder! No wonder!"
Thus, he cursed inwardly:
"What kind of dead-end retreat has this old demon partaken in, missing all the tumultuous upheavals of heaven and earth - no wonder he’s still in this world... it’s also my misfortune to encounter such an old demon..."
Jin Lian Maha smiled obsequiously, slapped himself on the face twice, and with a bowed body replied:
"Upper Immortal, forgive me... forgive me... Ever since the upheaval six hundred years ago, not a single World Honored One or Dao Embryo has been seen between heaven and earth, this lowly monk did not intend to offend... Upper Immortal, please forgive me!"
Lu Jiangxian, casually seating himself at the head, slowly knitted his brows. He had heard that five or six hundred years ago was precisely the time of the great conflicts between Immortals and Demons, and his mind stirred, he silently thought:
"There indeed is an issue, given the nature of these Zifu Golden Cores and Maha Dharma Appearances, there absolutely must be a problem lurking behind these conflicts between Immortals and Demons..."
He just shook his head, puzzledly saying:
"An upheaval? This sovereign has not emerged for a long time and has also faintly sensed that something is amiss..."
Jin Lian Maha nodded repeatedly and answered:
"There’s something wrong with the Heavenly Dao, the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations have all dissipated. Upper Immortal must have felt it too. From then on, unrestrained and free from calamities and difficulties, we who have been imprisoned by this world for a million years, finally everyone can attain great liberation and great illumination..."
"Great liberation... great illumination..."
These words, like thunderbolts, set off tumultuous waves in Lu Jiangxian’s heart. Many thoughts flashed through his mind while he maintained an unchanged expression and lightly nodded, his face becoming momentarily indistinct.
"The time of a stick of incense is almost up..."
Lu Jiangxian grew somewhat anxious. There was no time to inquire in detail about these matters, and he took the opportunity to seek a way out of his predicament, quietly asking:
"Which types of Metal Nature cultivation are unpracticed in Jiangnan?"
Jin Lian Maha was momentarily stunned, unable to grasp why such a revered Immortal would ask for such information, but still he pondered and answered:
"Xu Country has no significant Taoist lineage... Yue Country’s Three Sects and Seven Doors and Wu Country with its Four Sects and Nine Families, the Taiyang and Taiyin have already been lost, only missing some Thunder Dharma and one or two types of Water-natured Metal..."
Lu Jiangxian had no time to wait for his ramblings, his purpose was merely to prompt him to think about these things. Jin Lian Maha’s spirit nature, under scrutiny, was at his disposal - at once, Lu Jiangxian’s hands gathered moonlight, and while he was still considering these matters, he stirred in Jin Lian Maha’s mind, leaving as much as possible, and began to act with great audacity.
Lu Jiangxian was not skilled in the Soul Capturing Technique, and for a moment it caused Jin Lian Maha to bulge his eyes and tremble in his limbs, shouting loudly:
"Upper Immortal, spare my life! Upper Immortal, spare my life!"
The spell of Lu Jiangxian was inherently short-lived, and Jin Lian Maha could not withstand such torment; the bit of spirit nature he had captured burst with a pop, leaving nothing behind.
Lu Jiangxian waved his hand and dismissed the Illusionary Realm, looked at the clump of golden light in his hand, and with a movement of his Divine Sense, he gained an understanding of the Divine Skills of most Zifu Monks in South River, and thought to himself:
"So that’s how it is... The Green Pond Sect and the Jin Yu Sect backed by Golden Core Cultivators call their cultivations ’Lu Shui Wu Yuan Talisman Language Alchemy’ and ’Metal One Taiyuan Upper Green Alchemy’... both are at the early stage of the Golden Core Path, while the Xiuyue Sect has Golden Core Cultivators at the middle stage..."
Only then did Lu Jiangxian understand why they were called the Three Sects; it was precisely because all three belonged to the Golden Core Toaist Lineage. Even though these Golden Core Dharma Appearance Cultivators cared little for the worldly Toaist Lineage, it was still destined that Green Pond Sect and Lotus Temple were imposing.
"Difficult... it’s too difficult..."
Lu Jiangxian could not help but click his tongue in admiration, to be able to grow amidst such a massive entity like the Green Pond Sect, lay dormant for a hundred years, break through to Zifu, and eventually branch out on his own, yet able to make peace with Green Pond Sect. Xiao Chuting remained silent, without a renowned name, but both his disposition and talent were top-notch.
While marveling at Xiao Chuting’s superb tactics, the dire situation in South River weighed heavily on Lu Jiangxian’s heart, and he said softly:
"I had originally thought it sufficient to watch the Li Family develop on their own, but in South River, as soon as a Zifu Monk emerges, they immediately block five Daoist paths related to the Immortal Foundation, and Zifu Monks have lifespans of a full five hundred years... If I cannot find a pathway for the Li Family in time, I don’t know how much time would be wasted."
Lu Jiangxian organized his thoughts for a while, found some things in Jin Lian Maha’s memory—mostly Buddhist Practitioner techniques, quite eccentric, and naturally, Lu Jiangxian was not willing to use them. Flipping to the end, he actually found a cultivation technique.
"’Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art,’ a Fourth Grade technique, the cultivated Immortal Foundation is called ’Huanyuan Border’."
"This technique, being a Fourth Grade technique, required nature’s spiritual energy that was somewhat difficult to gather, but it came with a compatible Qi-gathering method, and the Immortal Foundation created was once refined by a Northern Immortal Sect and has no lineage in South River. It’s just right! There’s only one point..."
Lu Jiangxian let out a low sigh, somewhat helplessly, and thought:
"This technique only goes up to the Foundation Establishment level and has no section on Zifu; once reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment, it abruptly halts, with no further path to progress."
With a slight shake of his sleeve, a golden booklet materialized in his hand, and Lu Jiangxian wrote down the ’Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art’. He flipped through it a few times, looked at the booklet in his hand, placed it together with that witchcraft tome, and muttered:
"Wait until the celestial gift is bestowed; at any rate, it’s better than those Third Grade techniques or techniques that already have a Zifu established... Li Tongya has already been targeted by some Zifu, so it’s not suitable to continue practicing the ’River Qi Decision’."
Lu Jiangxian knew very well that once a cultivator of the Li Family who had taken the seed completed their Immortal Foundation and died, no matter the distance, their entire cultivation level would be absorbed by Lu Jiangxian immediately. This was verified by Li Chijin back in the day, leading directly to Chi Wei’s breakthrough failure...
"That is to say, no matter who targeted Li Tongya, they would eventually fail, unable to refine Divine Skills for that Zifu, and still have to find ’Vast Sea’ for sustenance. If the descendants of the Li Family keep cultivating this technique, it would only lead to a continuous premature death. At most, after three or five attempts, the Zifu will become suspicious, and then it would be troublesome."
Lu Jiangxian remained motionless for a long time; after setting so many things in motion and arranging the road ahead, he suddenly felt exhausted. He was originally a lax and indolent person, so he laid the ’Golden Hall Bright Yuan Art’ in front of him to prevent forgetting it and then drifted back into slumberland.
————
Minghui had been waiting on the ground for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, seeing Jin Lian Maha’s face covered in cold sweat, trembling from time to time, clearly bewildered by someone, immediately paled, and inwardly lamented:
"It’s all over... that Immortal Cultivator is probably not just at Golden Core; now even my master’s life is forfeit..."
He had been adopted by Jin Lian Maha since he was a child, and although Maha had a violent temperament and was often physically abusive, he taught him a lot and personally opened his wisdom. Minghui remembered all his kindness in his heart, feeling at once both sorrow and self-blame, crying and wailing, but unexpectedly the stupefied Jin Lian Maha opened his eyes with a blank look, as if obliviously frowning and saying:
"Minghui boy, I sent you to escort Lord Murong, why have you come back!"