Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 348 - 188: Observatory Master of the Perfect View and the Wuwei Sect! Human Xiao in Yujing City

Southern Yunnan Desperate Realm, Ailao Mountain.

The Great Moon hung alone, mountain owls perched high on the branches, the desolate mountain forest exuding an ancient aura.

The campfire crackled, and the dancing flames emitted a "crackling" sound.

"Big Brother Zong, what’s the matter?"

Xiong Sanqi roasted an unknown leg, sizzling with oil.

At that moment, he suddenly looked up at Zhang Lingzong, who was lost in thought beside him. The latter was wearing a worn-out windbreaker, holding an old journal in his hand, staring at the dancing flames as if distracted.

"I was reminded of some past events," Zhang Lingzong said lightly.

Upon hearing this, Xiong Sanqi inadvertently glanced at the old journal in Zhang Lingzong’s hand.

"Are those people up north still looking for this thing?"

"The notes left by the Ancestral Master, recording only some matters of the Zhang Family..." Zhang Lingzong said lightly.

The power to record heritage is itself a symbol of identity.

This is the preciousness of this journal.

The rise and fall of the Zhang Family, its history, its secrets... all are within this ancient journal.

At this moment, Zhang Lingzong inadvertently flipped to a page, where the following was recorded:

Zhang San, an empty name, seen as inauspicious by the Ancestral Master, a Profound Cultivation Three Corpses Illuminating Fate, a great betrayal in the clan, with the first signs appearing in 1905, killing thirty-six disciples within the sect and massacring a hundred and sixty-eight villagers.

...

"The events recorded here happened over a hundred years ago... Time is always merciless." Zhang Lingzong closed the journal and placed it in the bag beside him.

"It’s unbelievable that the once greatest master in the world was also from your Zhang Family," Xiong Sanqi couldn’t help but say.

"This is the Zhang Family’s secret, a secret hard to put into words," Zhang Lingzong said lightly.

For a thousand years, Dragon Tiger Mountain and the Wuwei Sect have been at odds, breaking mountains and attacking temples nine times, killing countless Wuwei Sect members, entangled in grievances, never resting.

But who would have thought that the once greatest master in the world was from the Zhang Family and a grand Master of the School of Non-action. It’s undeniably an irony, an irony of fate.

Perhaps, when he failed to pass the Divine Investiture Ceremony, it was the Ancestral Master’s sensing in the shadows, some things were destined long ago.

"Divine Investiture Ceremony... Zhang Family members can only participate at sixteen, but I remember when Fan was young, you took him up north once..."

At this moment, Xiong Sanqi seemed to recall a past event and suddenly asked.

"That time was an exception..." Zhang Lingzong casually replied.

"Did Fan pass?" Xiong Sanqi asked curiously.

Whoosh...

Nightwind rose, causing the campfire to tremble slightly, sparks flew off, shrouding Zhang Lingzong’s deep eyes.

...

Yujing City, Hongfu Garden.

The night was deep.

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit returned from the depths of the Inner Scenery, entering the Spirit Platform.

At this moment, he felt an unprecedented fatigue, like climbing out of a swamp with difficulty, both bewildered at escaping death and empty after exhausting strength.

This feeling was more exhausting and uncomfortable than the day he battled Li Changgeng.

Zhang Fan had once used the Grand Sect Law’s Appearance and Spirit Divergence, invading others’ Primordial Spirits to glimpse memories, for instance, searching the Primordial Spirit of the Lao Mountain Daoist School’s master in Dongshan Province.

But the feeling this time was completely different.

The memories of a being like the Three Corpses Daoist were vast as the sea, with difficulty, pressure, and risk completely different.

If the memory of someone like the Lao Mountain Daoist School’s master was akin to a small pond, then the Three Corpses Daoist was an endless ocean.

Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit was almost exhausted, he even suspected that if he continued to probe, his Primordial Spirit’s power might completely deplete, leaving him forever in those memories.

The most critical thing was, even if his Primordial Spirit returned, the emotions from the memories still intertwined within him, as if empathizing.

Should he immerse himself in this feeling for too long, a Heart Demon would inevitably arise.

"Too dangerous, I was reckless."

Zhang Fan let out a long breath, and in the short term, he would not attempt to probe the Three Corpses Daoist’s memories again.

"So it turns out, the world’s greatest master was from the Dragon Tiger Mountain Zhang Family."

This was his only gain, learning this secret.

However, at this moment, Zhang Fan had no time to think further, he was truly exhausted, unprecedentedly tired, his body felt as though trampled by a dozen strongmen, and his Primordial Spirit was drowsy.

This was a state he had never experienced since reaching the High Skill level; soon, he collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep... or rather, fell unconscious.

Zhang Fan woke up, and it was already nine in the morning the next day.

This was his first time sleeping for more than eight hours in half a year.

"I actually slept so long."

Zhang Fan rubbed his head, feeling as though it was splitting. His Primordial Spirit’s strength didn’t need to be mentioned, and normally getting two or three hours of sleep daily was quite good, and this was after taking the sleeping pills left by Zhang Lingzong.

For him to sleep for eight hours straight like this, it showed how weak his Primordial Spirit had become.

"Too dangerous, the Three Corpses Daoist’s memories cannot be casually glimpsed," Zhang Fan reflected.

He planned to settle his mind, cultivate for a while, and then explore the Three Corpses Primordial Pill.

In the following half-month, Zhang Fan led a stable and mundane life.

Every day besides cultivating and working, he occasionally socialized with people within his circle.

Like Xiong Ba and Xiong Qianqiu from the Yin Mountain Xiong Family, Wang Xuangang from the Baidou Wang Family, and Sui Chunsheng and Zhan Xinyue from the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance, all considered close friends of Zhang Fan; they would meet occasionally for a meal.

With Zhang Fan’s current realm and cultivation, every time they met and discussed Daoist skills, it greatly benefited these individuals.