Chapter Thirty-Three: Qǐ Yuán, Yuán Zōng

  Following the direction in his memory, Lin Xiao arrived at a certain place behind the Hui Chun Valley. He looked at the same flat ground covered with gravel and couldn't help but twitch his face. Yuan Zongyi, who was following him, took a look at Lin Xiao and asked softly, "Lin Gong, what's here?" There's nothing here, just a small gap between two mountain rocks that can lead to a depth of 300 feet underground, where there is a mysterious cave, with a pool inside the cave, and in the pool, there is a strange lotus flower.

  This is where Lin Xiao left behind the most wonderful memories of his short eighteen years. This is a completely secret world that belongs only to him and Yao'er.

  Just then, the green peak had collapsed, and the cave was no longer there. The lotus flowers in the pond were probably also taken away by those demonic cultivators. Lin Xiao looked at the flat ground in front of him with a dark and wounded expression, shook his head lightly, and said faintly: "Nothing. There's nothing left here." Lifting his head, he forced himself to muster up some spirit, and asked with a bitter smile: "When are we going to Qiyuan Star?"

  Yi Yi looked at Lin Xiao with a worried expression, nodded and said: "The Blood God Old Ancestor led those demon cultivators to an unknown destination, they didn't use the only interstellar teleportation array here, and I don't know how they left this place. The Sect Master has already dispatched fellow disciples to investigate the whereabouts of those demon cultivators, thinking that...". Yi Yi shook his head, if the trail of demon cultivators was so easy to find, the cultivation world would have exterminated them long ago. He sighed softly: "It will take some time to find them, so we will return to Qiyuan Star later."

  "Oh!" Lin Xiao responded faintly, expressionless, and looked around in all directions, his face full of confusion.

  The so-called interstellar teleportation array is Lin Xiao being taken by the Xuanwu ring to rush northward, in a large mountain more than 20,000 miles away from Hui Chun Valley. This mountain is square and has cliffs thousands of feet high on all sides, completely cutting off any idea of ordinary people entering. In the middle of the mountain, there is a huge valley with a floor paved with precious purple jade, on which a circular array diagram with a diameter of over 1,000 feet is carved, and hundreds of fist-sized top-grade spirit stones are inlaid on the array diagram. This is the only interstellar teleportation array outside the planet where the Great Luo Dan Tao is located.

  Several cultivators of the Yuan Sect's first generation surrounded Lin Xiao, and they walked into the teleportation array. As soon as the Yuan Sect disciples activated the array, a seven-colored light burst into the sky, and Lin Xiao felt an enormous pressure bearing down on him. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness instantly. It was because he had not mobilized the true yuan within his body to protect himself. The moment the teleportation array was activated, the massive pressure crushed him, causing him to faint. Fortunately, several Yuan Sect cultivators were prepared and immediately reached out with a palm to place on Lin Xiao's body, injecting a mouthful of pure true yuan into his body to help him withstand the crushing pressure that could flatten steel into thin sheets.

  Everyone's body was shaking violently, and the light in front of them was flashing, they didn't know how long it took, suddenly a bright light appeared in front of them, and they had already arrived at a beautiful mountain with clear water and wind.

  This great mountain is probably tens of thousands of feet high, with vast white clouds drifting only at its waist. A few huge eagles are lightly circling on the white clouds, and a few extremely large cranes are slowly flying over in the blue sky, carrying lingzhi mushrooms in their beaks. The top of the mountain is flat as a whetstone, as if someone had cut off the top of the mountain, leaving behind such a vast expanse of empty space.

  Dozens of giant teleportation arrays were set up on the mountain, and at this time, each array was constantly flashing with colorful lights. There were constantly cultivators rushing into the arrays, and some people drove their sword lights to fly out of the arrays, creating a busy scene. On the edge of the plain, rows of two-story wooden buildings were built. The eaves of the buildings had countless signboards with words such as "wine", "tea", "elixir", "instruments", and "herbs". Each building had cultivators coming in and out, presenting a bustling market scene.

  After Lin Xiao and his group, Yi Hang also led hundreds of Taoist priests out of the teleportation array. Yi Hang looked at the small building and sighed: "The Great Luo Dan Dao was destroyed just like that! What a pity, what a regret, the elixirs in this market will probably run out within half a month." Yi Hang let out a long sigh, looking somewhat helpless as he gazed at Lin Xiao who was still unconscious in Yi Wu's arms.

  With a swift glance, he faintly instructed a female disciple behind him: "Go, spread my decree. From today on, the price of all elixirs will be doubled!"

  One by one, they nodded lightly and stepped onto the white cloud that had been summoned, flying off into the distance. The disciples of Yuan Zong followed closely behind, some riding on clouds, others wielding swords, and still others commanding their magical treasures. When One and his companions appeared, dozens of busy teleportation arrays suddenly stopped transmitting because all the Yuan Zong disciples in charge of the arrays were bowing to them until they flew more than ten miles away, after which the arrays inside continued to flash with colorful lights.

  Unlike Da Luotan Dao, Yuan Zong is an absolute giant in the cultivation world.

  The entire planet of Qǐ Yuán and the thirteen inhabited planets nearby are all within the sphere of influence of Yuán Zōng. The main gate of Yuán Zōng is located on Qǐ Yuán, while there are branches stationed on the other thirteen planets. In total, fourteen planets with a population of over three billion ordinary people are under the rule of the "Qǐ Dynasty" supported by Yuán Zōng. From the emperor to an ordinary soldier in the army, all are nominal disciples of Yuán Zōng, and among the ordinary people, half are directly or indirectly serving Yuán Zōng.

  While Yuan Zong's direct descendants number over a million, only with such a large base of followers could Yuan Zong have opened the mountain gate more than seven years ago and recruited over 20,000 new followers at once. Only with such a massive population base and such great strength could Yuan Zong make such a big move. Only Yuan Zong would, upon receiving Da Luo Tian Dao's letter, deploy 3,000 elite disciples to rush to Da Luo Tian Dao in order to investigate an evil demon that had triggered heavenly changes, scaring even the Blood God Old Ancestor into fleeing hastily with his men.

  This is Yuan Zong, one of the three major sects at the top of the cultivation world.

  But even the other two major sects, 'Biluo Palace' and 'Qianyuan Temple', which are on par with Yuánzōng, admit that they can be compared to Yuánzōng only because Yuánzōng is too humble, and the fellow practitioners in the cultivation world give them too much face. At least in terms of the number of disciples, all the disciples of Biluo Palace and Qianyuan Temple combined are not even a fraction of Yuánzōng's.

  This is Wonjong, the powerful Wonjong that has taken over 'Gyeowon', which is said to be the origin of the ascetic world.

  Endless clouds in the sky, dozens of white clouds with thousands of colorful lights floating by. From time to time, a few spiritual and elegant mountain peaks protrude from the sea of clouds, and among the thousands of colorful lights, dozens or hundreds of them are constantly pouring towards the mountain peaks. In the end, only one line, one heart, one Yi, etc., the Yuan Zong elders stepped on the cloud head, continuing to fly forward.

  The mountain gate of the Yuanzong sect covers a vast area, with a radius of over 50,000 miles. Among them are three villages, three temples, three palaces, and three caves, as well as eighteen spiritual peaks, ninety-nine spiritual waters, and 1,072 large and small spiritual mountains. The disciples of the Yuanzong sect are stationed in these places, while the residences of the patriarchs and elders, such as Yiheng, are concentrated in one of the three caves, "Qiyuan Cave".

  Qǐ Yuán Dòng, the most important core location of Yuán Zōng, is located on the waist of 'Chēng Tiān Yá' with a height of over 37,000 zhang. The surrounding peaks are strange and beautiful, making it a scenic spot with excellent feng shui. Moreover, the spiritual vein in Qǐ Yuán Dòng is extremely unusual. In today's cultivation world where spiritual energy dissipates rapidly, although the spiritual energy in Qǐ Yuán Dòng is also slowly dissipating, it is still more than ten times thicker than the outside world. This makes the number of high-level cultivators in Yuán Zōng far surpass other sects, firmly standing at the peak of the cultivation world.

  Thirty miles northwest of Chongtian Cliff, there is a warm spring that gushes out from the heart of the earth. The spiritual energy of the warm spring water is so strong that it gathers on the ground to form a small lake with a diameter of over 50 meters. White spiritual energy can be seen emanating from the lake, nourishing the plants and trees within tens of miles around, making them exceptionally lush. By the lake, there is a bamboo forest, and in the forest, there is a refined cottage where Lin Xiang was arranged to stay. After all, he was only an external monk invited by Yuanzong, not a direct elder of Yuanzong, so he didn't have the qualifications to enjoy Qiyuan Cave.

  However, the spiritual energy density near this spiritual spring is also several times thicker than that of Huichun Valley. Cultivating here can save a lot of spiritual stones at least.

  In today's cultivation world, there is still such a place with abundant spiritual energy, Yuan Zong's prosperous aura is enviable!

  Lin Xiao woke up on the jade bed in the pavilion, smelling a very elegant fragrance. He easily identified it as the scent of "Ning Shen Cao" (Calm Spirit Grass), which has the effect of calming the mind and driving away evil spirits. Yuan Zong's arrangement was thoughtful, knowing that Lin Xiao had been exhausted mentally and spiritually over the past two days, so he lit a furnace with the rare Ning Shen Cao to nourish and recover Lin Xiao's spirit. What's more, Lin Xiao detected a hint of thousand-year-old sandalwood fragrance mixed in with the scent of Ning Shen Cao, making it even more precious.

  Mu Ran suddenly straightened up his body, and Lin Xiao looked around at the furnishings in the room.

  The inner wall of the pavilion was made up of cyan bamboo pieces, and the natural patterns on the bamboo pieces formed a huge ink landscape painting, fresh and natural, very interesting. Inside the pavilion, there was a jade bed, which was where Lin Xiang was now lying. The material of the jade bed was warm jade that was over 10,000 years old, also having the effect of calming the mind and stabilizing the breath. On the roof corner of the pavilion, there was a crane-shaped purple gold incense burner, with white smoke slowly rising from the mouth of the crane. Under the window opposite the jade bed, there was a purple sandalwood long table, on which was placed an ancient five-stringed zither, next to it was a palm-sized green **-shaped incense burner, on which were inserted three sticks of incense, but not lit. On the ground of the pavilion, there were pieces of bamboo leaves, these bamboo leaves seemed to have been refined by some kind of alchemy method, looking like separate pieces of bamboo leaves, yet forming a whole, Lin Xiang rubbed them with his feet for a few times, and the pieces of bamboo leaves did not move at all.

  Turning back, on the wall behind the jade bed, Lin Xiao's Red Dragon Sword was hanging. Next to the Red Dragon Sword, a bamboo nail hung another shark skin scabbard short sword. Lin Xiao casually pulled out the short sword and swung it lightly. Although it was purely decorative, the short sword was also shining brightly, emitting a chilling aura that made people feel cold. In the hands of an ordinary person, this would be an invaluable top-grade sharp weapon.

  He casually inserted the short sword back into its scabbard, Lin Xiao took down the Red Dragon Sword and hung it at his waist, slowly standing up.

  His internal organs, which had been squeezed by the array, still ached slightly, but there was a faint medicinal taste in his mouth, as if Yuan Zong's people had given Lin Xiao some kind of pill. Lin Xiao walked around the room a few times, and the medicine slowly spread out, dispelling the slight discomfort in his body.

  Standing in the room, Lin Xiao was stunned for a while. He looked around and didn't know what to do next. He saw the guqin and walked casually to the side of the long table, lightly brushing against the strings.

  "Dong dong", the guqin emitted a clear and melodious sound. Immediately, a timid voice came from outside the room: "Lin Gong, are you awake?"

  The door of the nunnery was carefully pushed open, and a small white face appeared from the gap. This was an extremely delicate and lovely girl's face, with a clean and neat melon-shaped face, a tidy three-bun hairstyle on her head, and a thin braid hanging down beside her face, making her look even more lovely and charming. Her small nose was slightly upturned, her lips were red and moist, and her large, bright eyes, which seemed to be filled with a hint of shyness and fear, made this little girl especially heart-wrenching.

  Lin Xiao looked at the little girl outside the door with a hint of surprise and said faintly, "Elder Yihang, what instructions do you have for me?"

  As soon as he opened his mouth, Lin Xiao himself was startled. His vocal cords seemed to be severely damaged, and the sound that came out was hoarse, like two stones rubbing against each other, making an unbearable noise, with a hint of ferocity. The little girl outside the door let out a frightened "ah" when she heard Lin Xiao's voice and quickly closed the door.

  Lin Xiao was stunned, closed his eyes to introspect his body with his divine sense, but found that all other injuries in his body had healed, only the vocal cords were too delicate and precise, being shocked by the Heavenly Fire True Yuan, a small piece of the vocal cords was burned, now although the wound has healed, it also left a fine scar, making his voice so difficult to hear. Lin Xiao turned his head to look at the tightly closed door, shook his head lightly: "San Yi Rou Gu Dan can cure this injury, but refining San Yi Rou Gu Dan requires the cultivation of Yuanying Houqi."

  He coughed lightly and walked slowly to the door, just about to open it when the little girl outside carefully pushed the door ajar, one big eye peeking through the gap, staring at Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao looked down at the small face revealed by the little girl and said calmly, "My voice has some problems, don't be afraid. Is there something you want to tell me, Little Junior?"

  The big eyes outside the door blinked vigorously a few times, and the little girl seemed to sense that Lin Xiao was not a fierce or evil person. She carefully pushed open the door and stepped inside quietly. With her hands tightly clasped in front of her, the little girl bowed deeply towards Lin Xiao and whispered: "Qingchu greets you, Lin Gong."

  "Are you Qinglian?" Lin Xiao tilted his head and thought for a while before asking in a wooden tone, "Which two words?"

  The little girl's head was lowered even further, almost to the point where it was shorter than Lin Xiao's waist. Qing Yun spoke in a soft voice, like a mosquito humming, "Qing Cao's clarity, Yao Yun's digging. Qing Yun used to help Li Dage manage the medicinal herbs in the medicine garden and had memorized the 'Hundred Herbs Classic', so she was specially assigned to serve Lin Xiao." As Qing Yun spoke, her waist bent further down, until Lin Xiao feared that her head might touch the ground.

  "Alright, lift your head up. Don't be too polite in the future." Lin Xiao said with a sigh: "Looking at you, you're probably thirteen or fourteen years old, I'm not much older than you."

  He raised his head, Lin Xiao thought of Shen Xiaobai from Shen's house who he had saved back then. It seemed that at that time, Shen Xiaobai was about the same size as Qing Le now. He said in a low voice: "You can just call me Brother Lin." Suddenly, Lin Xiao started coughing violently, and he muttered to himself with some desolation: "I'd rather not be this 'Brother'."

  She slowly straightened up, her fingers twisting violently for a moment, still speaking in a low voice: "Lin... big brother, it was Yi Zu Shi who sent you here. He said that Lin big brother should focus on his cultivation and do whatever he likes. Yi Zu Shi said that they will soon gather all the orthodox seniors to join forces and slay demons, but Lin big brother's cultivation is not enough, so he doesn't need to participate, just stay in Qiyuan Star and rest well."

  Is his cultivation not enough? Lin Xiao's body trembled slightly, and he looked inward at his dantian. The purple golden dan the size of a green bean in his dantian was slowly rotating. The Xuanwu Ring floated above the golden dan, constantly absorbing the true yuan transformed from the golden dan, but it didn't leave even a single bit for Lin Xiao. The Xuanwu Ring had already changed its appearance, and the originally smooth ring body now had dense turtle shell-like patterns all over it. A Xuanwu head was protruding from the ring body, opening its big mouth as if ready to tear something apart.

  "Oh, I see." Lin Xiao didn't say much either. He naturally understood that this was Yuan Zong's kind intention. They were also afraid that once they died, the Great Luo Dan Tao would truly perish. Given the friendship between Yuan Zong and the Great Luo Dan Tao, from a moral standpoint, Yuan Zong had an obligation to help the Great Luo Dan Tao restore its mountain gate.

  Lin Xiao's eyes flashed with a hint of anger, Ah, restore the Mountain Gate!

  Find fellow reincarnated souls, especially the Medicine Boy! Then refine the Reincarnation Pill and the Dream Recall Pill to restore their memories of this life and their cultivation!

  I am the only surviving disciple of the Great Luo Dan Dao, and I have a duty to rebuild it! Especially, I must let Yao'er return to my side!

  This is Lin Xiao, an eighteen-year-old young man's oath on this day!

  To refine the Wheel of Rebirth Pill and the Dream Recall Pill, a large amount of precious medicinal materials are needed! The Da Luo Dan Dao's stored medicinal materials were all plundered by the demonic cultivators, so I must rely on the Yuan Sect to provide various raw materials! But the Yuan Sect will not provide these extremely precious medicinal materials for free, so I must make contributions to the Yuan Sect!

  Refining the Wheel of Rebirth Pill and the Return to Dream Pill requires extremely high and profound cultivation! Therefore, one must work hard to cultivate oneself. No matter if it's a hundred years, two hundred years, a thousand years, two thousand years, or even ten thousand years, twenty thousand years, one must reach the level of cultivation required to refine these two types of pills!

  No matter how many generations the seniors and juniors of Daluo's sect have reincarnated, no matter how many times Yao has reincarnated, I must find them and make them regain their memories of this life, their cultivation in this life!

  Lin Xiao put a heavy burden on himself. He suddenly had motivation again, and he had hope!

  Two strands of extremely fine purple light shot out from Lin Xiao's eyes, and he, who was originally as lifeless as a mummy, suddenly became spirited, clenched his fists tightly, and let out a loud roar. Circle after circle of invisible air waves surged out from his body, causing the Jing She to hum loudly, and Qing Yun couldn't withstand the invisible pressure emanating from Lin Xiao's body, stumbling backward in retreat.

  Qing Yun was a bit unsteady on her feet, she waved her hands and feet to grab the jade bed or long case to stabilize her body, in the chaos she suddenly lifted her head up, Lin Xiao clearly saw her face.

  No wonder this little girl is so careful in her words and deeds, no wonder she always lowers her head when talking to Lin Xiao!

  Her right cheek is lovely and beautiful to the extreme, clearly a little beauty. However, on her left cheek, there is a palm-sized patch of blue birthmark, which makes her face look like a demon's.

  Qing Yun raised her head and saw Lin Xiao staring at her intently, his eyes still filled with a hint of shock. Sensitive as she was, she immediately covered her face with her hands, staring blankly at Lin Xiao as big tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Looking at the silently tearful Qingchu, Lin Xiao's heart suddenly felt a slight pang. He seemed to see again Shen Xiaobai curled up in his arms trembling, and Yaoer pitifully looking at the roasted chicken in his hands with an empty stomach. He even felt that the Qingchu in front of him was just like the little dog from his childhood, so endearing.

  He gently walked up to Qingchu's side, Lin Xiao forced open her small hand covering her face, and his fingers lightly brushed against the green birthmark.

  The birthmark on her hand felt icy cold, and a faint chill seemed to emanate from within her cheek.

  The little girl looked at Lin Xiao with a frightened expression, her two small hands wanting to cover her face, but she didn't dare offend Lin Xiao. Her small hands waved around for a while, and suddenly let out a "waa" sound as she burst into tears, her body slowly squatting down on the ground, both hands covering her little head, crying with unbearable sadness.

  "Hmm, but it's just a bit of cold poison from the womb, easy to cure." Lin Xiao slowly squatted in front of Qing Chu, his palm gently patting Qing Chu's small head, and said faintly: "I'm a doctor who treats illnesses for others, your face may be difficult to treat for others, but for me, it's nothing difficult."

  Yes, nothing is difficult.

  Nowadays, who can be more powerful than Lin Xiao in terms of medical skills and alchemy, with the entire Da Luo Dan Jing memorized in his mind?