With the masses of disciples returning, it was inevitable for them to have brought some hustle and bustle of the secular mortal world back to the peaceful and quiet Qing Xuan.
Most of them gathered at Yuyang Peak. Three years would pass very quickly when it is used to meditate and practice Qi. However, if it was used to fool around in the mortal world, gain experience and temper oneself in worldly affairs, it would not feel short.
That was why most of them felt as if they had been a century apart when reunited in the sect.
The bunch of disciples exchanged interesting stories that happened during their journey. There were even a few that met each other in person.
Choushi spoke lightly and relaxed in the midst of the disciples, his manner was mature.
Even though he did not speak much, the others noticed that after his return from his journey, his manner was extraordinary and unconsciously moved closer to him.
This was the sensitivity of a cultivator. Even though the masses did not know that Choushi had already achieved Huandan, but his extraordinary state would naturally show and be sensed by others.
“Speaking of which, I was on the sea for three months and I found a ripe ganoderma. Who knew, just as I was about to pick it up, one of the Seven Eastern Sea Cultivator, Yang Xian, poked his nose in. I remembered Headmaster’s order and did not announce my identity. I did not expect that fellow, who supposedly was reputable amongst overseas cultivators to be actually quite obscene. He asked for my identity, I said I was merely a non-formal cultivator and without even saying another word, he drove his sword towards me.
Luckily, I met him with no one around, so I kept an eye and prepared my mana. I saw his sword coming and I swayed to dodge it. Both of us fought intensely and finally, he took a hit from my Thunder Palm and his body was paralyzed. I took this opportunity to break his flying sword and got hold of his orifices point.
Normally, as disciples of Qing Xuan, we would not really bother with the likes of him. But then I thought that this person saw me as a weak non-formal cultivator and actually wanted to kill me immediately over a ganoderma. It would seem that he had definitely committed many similar offenses back then. It was a great evil to not vanquish this bad fella, so I made up my mind and ended him right there.
Now that I realized, that was my first time taking a life.”
Then, a slightly chubby man told an interesting story about his adventure when he was out at the sea. It was his first time killing someone too, and it was a reputable cultivator. This left a deep impression on him and so happened that everyone was gathered together, so he told it.
“It was said that each of the Seven Eastern Sea Cultivators was Ruhua cultivators for many years. Yang Xian even heard the teachings of Fusang Sword Cultivator, Dong Ziyang. Think about it, Dong Ziyang was a key figure for over a hundred years in Eastern Sea. Even with that basic swordcraft tips from him, and Yang Xian’s years of cultivation, it would still be extremely hard to deal with Yang Xian. Furthermore, cultivators from beyond the seas are rich with battle experience. To be able to defeat him, Senior Apprentice-Brother Jia must have superb Dao techniques. Since Senior Apprentice-Brother Jia did the heaven’s a favor by eliminating Yang Xian, then you deservingly have the ganoderma. Why don’t you take it out and give everyone a look?” The one who said this was Shoujing. He was someone who never knew his boundaries and nose into others’ business, so he wanted to have a look of the ganoderma after he heard of the story.
Senior Apprentice-Brother Jia coughed slightly and replied, “I have already used that ganoderma to save someone.”
Senior Apprentice-Brother Jia’s original name was Jia Yili. Before the age of ten, he was a son from a wealthy family in the mortal world. However, at the age of ten, a Daoist came to his home and forcefully took him away and led him to Mount Qing Xuan to cultivate Dao.
It turned out the Daoist’s surname was Yu. After tracing his roots, he was an ancestor of Jia Yili’s mother. Now, he was an elder of Qing Xuan. Elder Yu was persistent in his pursuit of Dao but unfortunately, he was too caught up with this obsession and could not succeed on his Dao of Dan. He finally chose the path of external alchemy.
He was not someone who was willing to accept his fate. He then traveled far and wide, searching for a lucky chance to attain longevity. He idled until he was five hundred years old and finally, he was discouraged. He could not attain Dao by himself and so he placed this hope on a descendant. That was why he went to the mortal realm in search of a descendant of his own bloodline.
He thought that he could not achieve Huandan by himself was purely because his qualification was not enough.
That was why he wanted nothing more than to look for a qualified person amongst the descendants. Unfortunately, since he had been busy with cultivating Dao, he had not return for hundreds of years. His clan had actually become so sparse and most of the descendants were unpromising. Luckily, he found Jia Yili. Perhaps, since he was born in such a prestigious family, his mother had nourished herself with many expensive herbs and medicine while she was pregnant with him, so his qualifications met his requirement.
Naturally, Elder Yu took favored on first glance.
He also knew that this young man was born in a rich family, even his parents would not have agreed with him bring their son into the mountains.
After all, there would be no turning back once one entered Xuanmen, it would be another lifetime when one looked back.
People who were born with the heart of Dao got lesser and lesser. How could an ordinary person give up their own blood and kin, and the wealth of the mortal realm? Even though Jia Yili was still a child, he was no exception.
Elder Yu noticed that he could convince Jia Yili to gain a heart towards Dao. Therefore, he confronted him and announced his identity.
Even though the Jia family could not bear to part with their young, but they also could not stop Elder Yu. Furthermore, it was said that he was an ancestor of the Jia family’s matron. The Daoist entered from the outside. Even though the Jia’s lived in a big compound with high gates, with martial art-equipped servants, could not stand before Elder Yu. They fell to the ground like rag dolls before even encountering him.
This Celestial technique made the Jia family even more fearful. They truly hoped that this Daoist was really the ancestor of the matron of the Jia family and so, they did not dare to even stop him at all.
With that, Jia Yili was brought to the mountains by Elder Yu. However, since he was forced to leave home by Elder Yu from a very young age, he was not very willing to cultivate. That was why he still had to be forced by Elder Yu to put some work into it. Even so, his qualifications were nothing short of extraordinary and he was born suitably to cultivate Elder Yu’s Shenxiao True Technique. He was shut in the mountains for tens of years and his cultivation experience was pushed to Ruhua state.
This matter made Elder Yu mad, and happy. Coincidentally, Shen Lian was sending out disciples out to travel, Elder Yu considered Jia Yili undisciplined but he still forced Jia Yili to travel beyond the seas.
Even though he was born into a wealthy family and grew up in the mountains, he was actually a generous person. Back then, when he got the ganoderma, he then used it to save people. Perhaps he was born rich and he did not really pay much attention to material things. Within three years, he made friends with many cultivators beyond the seas and even landed a form of address, ‘Ji Shiyu’. He was more than happy to help others in their time of need, but when he finally approached the mountains, he realized he had nothing else left. He had even given out some of the good spiritual items that Elder Yu gifted to him.
Once this detail was disclosed, the crowd was marveled by it.
However, a person sneered, “Such incomparable stupidity.”
Even though the masses felt that Jia Yili was being a little too generous and it seemed that he was tricked by some of the other cultivators, but his strong sense of justice and generosity was admirable.
They did not think that someone would actually scold him directly.
They all turned towards the source of the voice and saw a white shining ball of Qi of essence appeared not far away. It touched the ground and dissipated, but that terrifying white mist actually cut through the surrounding plants just like that, revealing an even grass patch.
“Zhao Siming,” someone exclaimed in the background.
Zhao Siming was a disciple of the first elder, Daoist Laozui. His Senior Apprentice-Brother, Yan Bugui, was even the third Zhenren to achieve Huandan by himself within the past hundreds of years and was very trusted by the Chief.
Furthermore, Zhao Siming disposition was exceptional and his cultivation was rapid. Even though he was not as shocking as Zhenren Chen and the Headmaster, he was beyond the leagues of the ordinary disciple. He had always been proud and looked down on his peers. He was not really popular with the rest of the pupils.
Even so, he scolded Jia Yili and the other pupils saw that it was him, the counter-argument that almost came to them were kept back when they saw that terrifying sword aura.