Chapter 716
“Yeah.” The Golden Core disciple didn’t hide anything. “The sect leader has set a rule: if we work more than five hours in a day, we get double the merit points. If we make progress in our research, there are various elixirs as bonuses.”
Li Laoguai felt a tremor in his heart. “So that’s why you guys go back every three days…”
“Oh, we’ve calculated it. Working three days and resting one doesn’t harm our cultivation. If we exchange it for elixirs, it not only doesn’t affect our training but actually speeds it up by double!”
“Plus, with all the elixirs for restoring spiritual energy and soul, our cultivation has accelerated significantly.”
“Many of the disciples who achieved the Yuan Ying stage in recent years accumulated their merit points and elixirs while working in the factory.”
“I’ve done the math. If I push hard for another eight or nine years, I might have a chance at Yuan Ying.”
Li Laoguai understood.
These people were working hard, and they had access to various cultivation resources. They were progressing much faster than he was by just grinding away in solitude!
“By the way, what were you going to ask earlier?”
Li Laoguai fell silent for a moment, thinking, what’s the point of asking anything?
The more you work, the more you gain. After ten years of hard work, you could even accumulate enough resources for Yuan Ying. Yuan Ying means longevity…
If it were him, he’d be willing to come every day!
With that thought, he turned to look the other way.
Beside him stood his old rival, the middle-aged Yuan Ying who had been captured alongside him. This man used to be an elder of the Bai Xian Alliance.
If Haori Mountain were like this, he wouldn’t have come to the Bai Xian Alliance; staying at Haori Mountain would have been much better!
Now he didn’t want to ask this Jiushan disciple anything.
He just wanted to ask this middle-aged Yuan Ying, as an elder of the Bai Xian Alliance, why was he running away?
The middle-aged Yuan Ying glanced at him, his spiritual energy fluctuating. Li Laoguai found that expression somewhat familiar…
It looked like he was about to self-destruct again.
(End of this chapter)
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Chapter 493: Lady of the Rainbow Garment, Two Days More
“Are all these people from the Bai Xian Alliance?”
A cool voice descended from the heavens, belonging to a figure standing in the void, gazing down at an island below.
Above the coastal rocks floated a massive ship, devoid of oars or sails, shimmering with purple-blue lightning, its shape bizarre.
The island, which had previously shown no signs of habitation, now had a row of simple houses, with about ten cultivators bustling in and out, both on the ship and on land.
“Reporting to the Yuan Jun, they are indeed from the Bai Xian Alliance.” Lady of the Rainbow Garment led a group of dozens of Yaochi disciples, and one green-clad woman replied, “That’s the unique Shenxiao warship of Jiushan Sect. I’ve heard that one ship is equivalent to a Golden Core True Person.”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment nodded slightly, raising her eyes to the eastern sea: “I didn’t expect their people to have already reached the western continent.”
As they set sail from Yaochi and entered the sea, they encountered Jiushan Sect’s people, which surprised her a bit.
“Yuan Jun, they’ve been here before.” The green-clad woman, who seemed to manage the affairs of Yaochi, continued, “The disciples of Jiushan Sect even came to pay a visit not long ago.”
“Oh?”
“They wanted to do business with us at Yaochi and came to pay their respects.”
“Quite courteous of them. Did you agree?”
The green-clad woman lowered her head and said, “No, the Lady didn’t meet them, saying it would be unwise to offend Leiyin Temple over a mere Jiushan.”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment fell silent for a moment, then sighed and shook her head slightly: “With the changes in the Tianhe, our sect can’t unite as one; everyone has their own thoughts. It truly is a time of troubles…”
Her tone was filled with worry, but the others remained silent, clearly hesitant to speak on the matter.
After a moment, the green-clad woman broke the silence and asked, “Yuan Jun, should we head to Jiushan first?”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment seemed reluctant to elaborate, replying, “Zheng Fa of Jiushan is currently practicing the Dongtian method. Taishang Dao entrusted me to guide him a bit.”
The green-clad disciple hadn’t expected this reason and laughed, “It seems Taishang Dao knows that our Yaochi is the foremost in the Xuanwei Divine Path.”
However, there was no smile in the Lady of the Rainbow Garment’s eyes; she sighed softly, “The Divine Path… Our Yaochi rose because of the Divine Path, but now, I fear it may also lead to our disintegration.”
“Yuan Jun!”
Hearing her disciple’s low exclamation, the Lady of the Rainbow Garment looked toward Jiushan Sect’s direction, smiled faintly, and said, “I just didn’t expect that Zheng Fa of Jiushan would take this path as well. What a pity…”
The disciple asked curiously, “If the Divine Path has flaws, why does Taishang Dao still want you to guide him?”
“And why is Taishang Dao so invested in him? Why go so far as to involve you?”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment turned her gaze toward the western continent: “Leiyin Temple has plotted for three epochs, all to assist Lu Yao in achieving the Dao. This is a disaster for our Yaochi, and it’s also extremely tricky for Taishang Dao.”
“Since Zheng Fa can hinder Lu Yao’s path to the Dao, Taishang Dao naturally wants to lend their full support. What’s one favor in the grand scheme?”
The disciple asked again, “So Taishang Dao is betting everything on Zheng Fa?”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment nodded gently.
“But… that means he can’t cultivate the Divine Path!”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment smiled, her tone tinged with sarcasm: “The path of the Divine Path, despite its myriad flaws, has one advantage—speed!”
“The faster Zheng Fa cultivates, the better his chances against Lu Yao. As for what happens later…”
She smiled again, choosing not to elaborate.
But everyone understood her implication:
What happens later? Zheng Fa isn’t a member of Taishang Dao. No matter how difficult it gets, it’s none of their concern.
“Should we also place our bets on him alongside Taishang Dao?”
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment turned her gaze forward and said, “This time, although it’s to deal with Lu Yao, it’s mainly because of Taishang Dao’s request.”
“While Lu Yao’s ascension is significant, our Yaochi is still embroiled in internal strife, and it could erupt into chaos at any moment. We might not even last until then…”
“This isn’t something Zheng Fa can resolve; how can we talk about betting?”
The green-clad disciple nodded slightly, her expression serious.
“If we can arrange the Tianhe Sect matters soon and return to mediate, perhaps there’s still a chance…” The Lady of the Rainbow Garment shook her head decisively. “We’ll stay at Jiushan Sect for two days.”
As she spoke, the coastline of the Eastern Continent came into view.
---
Zheng Fa stood on the coast of Liangzhou, gazing westward with Senior Sister Zhang beside him.
With the Lady of the Rainbow Garment coming to visit, he didn’t want to be disrespectful, especially since she was a true immortal and very courteous. He had also guessed a bit about her intentions:
From what he understood, both Yaochi and Haori Mountain were the overlords of the Divine Path era.
At that time, the Daoist Master had just established the Yang God method, and the methods of the Law Body and Tianhe had yet to emerge. It’s easy to see that Yaochi also rose due to the Divine Path.
However, Haori Mountain was in a special situation; it was no longer a sect of the Divine Path. Yaochi, on the other hand, might not have completely severed ties…
Zheng Fa remembered that Mu Qingyan had once mentioned that in her “memories,” Yaochi’s future power was called the Divine Court.
He hadn’t paid much attention to this before, but now it seemed that Yaochi hadn’t fully detached from the Divine Path.
According to Li Shangxian, Yaochi and Haori Mountain were not on good terms, and they could now be seen as grasshoppers on the same string.
“Junior Brother… something seems off within Yaochi.” Senior Sister Zhang suddenly said, “Our Jiushan disciples were previously turned away.”
Zheng Fa nodded, understanding that his senior sister was reminding him that Yaochi might not be trustworthy.
The Western Continent was too far from Jiushan Sect, and even with Zheng Fa’s speed, it wouldn’t be easy to make a trip there.
He was actually quite unclear about the situation regarding Leiyin Temple and Yaochi, having received very little information.
In fact, he knew a bit more about Leiyin Temple, as they were not exactly friends.
But Yaochi’s attitude… he found it rather confusing.
Yaochi was the most mysterious sect among the four.
It seemed to be composed entirely of female cultivators, and unless it was a major event, they rarely interacted with the outside world.
However, there was one thing that left a deep impression on Zheng Fa:
Yaochi’s pillar industry seemed to overlap with Jiushan Sect’s—they excelled in cultivating various spiritual plants.
However, there weren’t many trade conflicts between the two:
On one hand, Jiushan Sect’s internal demand for spiritual plants was not even met, and they weren’t thinking about exports, nor did they plan to in the short term.
On the other hand, both sects had their own specialties in spiritual plants, and there was a significant variety difference.
Moreover, Yaochi was somewhat self-sufficient and closed off, and with the two sects being far apart, they managed to coexist peacefully.
The problem was, their attitude toward Jiushan Sect seemed to carry an underlying contradiction.
The Lady of the Rainbow Garment had traveled a long way to visit, which seemed to show some goodwill; even if it wasn’t goodwill, it could be seen as a gesture of friendship.
Yet, Jiushan Sect’s disciples had previously been treated coldly in Yaochi… it was all too fickle.
He glanced at Senior Sister Zhang, nodded slightly to indicate he understood, and suddenly felt a stir in his heart, looking into the distance.
On the distant horizon, a flurry of colorful lights suddenly appeared.
After a moment, Zheng Fa finally discerned what those lights were—spiritual birds, flocking together.
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