Chapter 37: Small Success

  Qingfeng Cliff! It is one of the places with the thickest spiritual energy in Kongtong Mountain, where the ancestors of the Kongtong Sect opened up the land for cultivation. It is an excellent place for generations of Kongtong disciples to practice and cultivate their Taoist skills. There are two advantages to cultivating here: one is that the spiritual energy is thick, and the other is that the surrounding area has a formless air wall transformed by the Taicheng Taoist power laid down by Dafang Zhenren in his early years, which can block wind and rain as well as external invasions, saving cultivators from many unnecessary troubles.

  Qing Yan is now cultivating the second layer of Tai Qing Dao's heart method on Clear Wind Cliff, and as soon as he enters meditation, he sits for a long time without getting up. Ninety days of hard work have passed in the blink of an eye, and he looks calm and composed, with a faint blue aura appearing and disappearing on his face, surrounded by clouds and mist within a few feet of his body.

  Qingyan was in a state of meditation, and all things were unheard. Even if someone entered Qingfeng Cliff, he wouldn't know. The person who came wasn't an outsider, but rather his master Guangxian, whom he had thought he had never met before.

  Guangxian had actually been keeping an eye on Qingyan since he arrived at Qingfeng Cliff. He let Qingxu and the others build the foundation for Qingyan's cultivation, then went into seclusion, seemingly very confident in letting this third disciple cultivate on his own. However, what he didn't know was that the one he was most worried about was actually himself. As for this closed-door disciple of his, from the moment he saw Qingyan as a baby, Guangxian discovered that this child was extraordinary and special. This baby had a connection with me, Guangxian thought to himself at the time. He used his extraordinary skills to cure Xiaoshi's illness, making Old Man Zheng feel that Guangxian was all-powerful and wise, like a god. Once Xiaoshi recovered from his illness, Guangxian merely mentioned that he wanted to take Xiaoshi as his closed-door disciple, and Old Man Zheng naturally agreed, especially since it would only be for six years, starting when Xiaoshi turned twelve.

  Why didn't Guangyan bring the small stone back to Congtou Mountain at that time, but instead waited until he was 12 years old? Qingxu had asked this question before. Everyone knows that the younger you start cultivating Taoism and practicing the Way, the better. As you get older, you will have more distracting thoughts, which will hinder your practice of Taoist methods. Qingxu was brought to Congtou Mountain by Guangyan at the age of 6, while Qinghua was taken to the Upper Clear Palace by Guangyan at the age of 3. It is said that Jianbing, the master of Huashan's Spring Water Sword, loved his disciple Baitian Sword Ou Yangjian the most. When Ou Yangjian was not yet a month old, Jianbing brought him back to Huashan and used his own true energy to open up Ou Yangjian's meridians, successfully laying the foundation for his future achievements as the first person in the younger generation of Huashan School, with attainments surpassing those of his master and brothers.

  Qingxu asked Master after that, Guangxian only said "The time has not come, let's talk about it 12 years later!" Which made Qingxu puzzled for many years.

  Now Xiaoshi has become Qingyan and arrived at Kongtong Mountain. Guangxian, on the other hand, avoided him and only chatted with Qingyan for a few sentences in the identity of Muxin Dao person before closing his door.

  But recently Guang Xian first appeared in Qingyan building foundation, and then came to Qingfeng Cliff when he was practicing Taoist skills in Qingyan. I really don't know what's on his mind.

  Guang Xian knew that Qing Yan was at a critical moment in his cultivation of the Taoist method, and it was impossible for him to know that he had arrived. He was a bit worried, as Qing Yan's meditation this time had been going on for a very long time. Although he knew that this disciple was not ordinary, he still had some concerns. When he arrived at Qing Yan's side and saw the changes in his body, Guang Xian's face showed obvious surprise. "It's already astonishing that you've built your foundation in 100 days, but you've actually reached the fifth layer of Tai Qing Tao power in just 90 short days! Qing Yan, this is no longer something to be astonished at, it's unbelievable!" Guang Xian muttered to himself.

  Guang Xian was thoroughly shocked by this third disciple. What concept is the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm? Not to mention others, let's talk about Qing Xu, who spent a year and three months building his foundation, and when he cultivated to the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm, it took him another five years. That's still because Qing Xu has a good aptitude and can cultivate diligently, otherwise, it wouldn't be so fast. But Qing Yan, from successfully building his foundation to reaching the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm, spent less than 200 days in total, which is also too terrifying.

  Although Guang Xian knew that Qing Yan was not an ordinary person, this cultivation speed was also extremely abnormal even for a god. What's going on? Moreover, he was only twelve years old and his height was almost the same as an adult's. Guang Xian couldn't help but study Qing Yan again to see if there were any other secrets in his body.

  Standing in front of Qingyan, Guangxian concentrated his divine consciousness and used his spiritual vision to perceive the changes within Qingyan's body. Spiritual vision is a way for the divine consciousness to observe things that cannot be seen with the naked eye, such as the meridians and blood vessels inside the body.

  The vast and profound divine vision gradually entered Qingyan's body. At this time, the true energy inside Qingyan's body was extremely abundant, and that red true energy had long been quietly hidden in the dantian, only the Taiqing Dao power was still running non-stop. The powerful true energy was slightly alert to Guangxian's divine vision, and in an instant, a protective circle was formed to block Guangxian's invasion. Guangxian was slightly stunned, thinking "Good guy, so clever!" But he was a master of such cultivation, and the Taiqing Dao power was as familiar as the back of his hand. With just a casual move, that protective circle became useless. Before they could react again, Guangxian's primordial spirit suddenly increased its power, and his divine vision thoroughly examined every part of Qingyan's body in an extremely short period of time, making everything clear and transparent.

  It's really unexpected, and it's shocking when you see it. Guang Yanyuanshen finally found something extraordinary in Qingyan's body.

  "It's actually an Aggregating Spirit Pearl! No wonder..." Guang Xian exclaimed in surprise.

  No wonder Qingyan was able to cultivate to the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm in such a short period of time, no wonder his true energy progressed by leaps and bounds every day. It turned out that there was an Aggregation Pearl in his body that could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

  A moment of leisure and wonder, but then I thought again, there's still a problem!

  The Lingzhu in Qingyan's body, where did it come from? Twelve years ago, there was no such thing in his body. When Guangxian treated him for illness back then, he didn't see any Lingzhu either.

  To know that the Lingzhu and various magical swords are originally tangible objects, when a cultivator's cultivation reaches a certain level, they can refine them into intangible and formless ones using their own true energy, and finally merge them with their primordial spirit. Just like Zhao Wujin's Red Flame Sword, Qingxu's Green Sky Sword, when not in use, they are hidden within the body, and when facing an enemy, as soon as the mind moves, the sword is already in hand. And Qingxu was only able to refine the Green Sky Sword into one with his primordial spirit after reaching the fourth layer of the Taiqing Dao's Two Instruments Boundary. Therefore, Guangxian couldn't understand how Qingyan put the Lingzhu inside his body, Qingyan hadn't even cultivated his primordial spirit yet, it was originally an impossible thing that happened on Qingyan's body.

  Guang Xian was baffled, unaware that his divine sense had already detected the聚灵珠 and only needed to take it a step further to discover Zhao Wuji's existence. However, Zhao Wuji had anticipated this and before entering seclusion, he had hidden his divine sense, making it impossible for even someone as skilled as Baiyun Zhenren to detect his presence.

  He thought for a long time, but couldn't come up with any reason. Finally, he looked at Qingyan and sighed, "It seems that the only way to get to the bottom of this is to let Muxin Daoist take action!" From his tone, it seemed like Muxin Daoist was not the same person as him.

  At this moment, Qingyan, who was originally wrapped in the cloud energy, suddenly let out a very long inhalation sound. The cloud energy around him was quickly absorbed into his body like a whale inhaling water. The cyan gas on Qingyan's face became extremely dense and his breathing became urgent.

  Guang Xian saw this phenomenon and knew that Qing Yan had only one incense stick's worth of time left before he would complete his cultivation. He had already reached the fifth layer of the Tai Chu realm. Guang Xian didn't dare to stay any longer, and with a flash of his body, he vanished without a trace, truly worthy of being a generation's leader.

  Not long after Guang Yan left, Qing Yan's complexion gradually returned to normal. Upon closer inspection, his face was as smooth and lustrous as jade, with a faint reddish glow emanating from it, truly radiant and full of vitality!

  Qingyan opened his eyes, and his gaze flashed with a sharp, fiery light. His eyes emitted an extremely bright glow. Qingyan slightly shook his head and slowly stood up, apparently still unaccustomed to the scene before him.

  He had entered the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm, and his senses were many times stronger than when he was building his foundation. His eyes could see everything clearly, even the Mingyue Peak tens of miles away from Qingming Peak was visible, and he could even see the two lines of words in front of Songfeng Temple. His ears could hear the sound of the wind blowing through the pine trees on Mingyue Peak. It was too magical! Qingyan felt a bit uncomfortable and also felt that his true energy was surging violently. When he slightly restrained it, he felt that the scenery in front of him had become much farther away. After a moment's thought, he understood the reason, closed his eyes again, recited the "Duoxin Scripture" silently, waited for his breath to calm down and his mind to clear up, then opened his eyes again. His gaze was more gentle, and he couldn't see or hear as far as before.

  "It seems that this time the cultivation is going to take a long time again! It was just early summer a few days ago, and now it's already early autumn. Can't be another 100 days, right? Qingyan felt a bit helpless, wondering if every time he cultivates, a whole season passes by. Is time passing too quickly?"

  However, it feels great! Every change surprises him. Qingyan secretly cultivates his true energy and runs for several weeks before quietly wondering "Isn't that wrong? According to Daxiong's words, I should have reached the Tai Chu realm five layers by now, which is strange because the time doesn't match!" Originally, according to Qingxu's calculations, Qingyan would need at least a year to reach the fifth layer of the Tai Chu realm, but now he has achieved it in less than 100 days, no wonder Qingyan is puzzled.

  It's a good thing anyway. Qingyan thought to herself "Maybe the senior brother made a mistake, it's not necessarily true." She didn't think about it anymore.

  It's time to take a break after cultivating for so long, let's go back to Qingfeng Cliff and take a look. Thinking of this, Qingyan picked up the Zixinsword and came to the side of Qingfeng Cliff, preparing to head down along the original path.

  Just as he was about to jump down, Qingyan's mind stirred and he thought, "I've already reached the fifth layer of Tai Chu Realm. Although I still can't fly by controlling my breath, I can transform into a swan feather and rise and fall with the wind." With that, he activated his Taiqing Dao power and leapt off Qingfeng Cliff with a swing of his Zixing sword.

  The true energy circulated throughout his body, and Qingyan indeed felt that his entire body was as light as nothing, with no weight in his flesh and bones. The mountain wind blew by, and he accidentally stumbled towards the mountain rock. Qingyan was greatly startled and quickly used the Purple Heart Sword to tap on the wall, swaying open. Fortunately, the wind force was not great, which also made Qingyan break out in a cold sweat. After much difficulty, he finally learned how to control the true energy inside his body, making his body feel light when he wanted it to be light and heavy when he wanted it to be heavy, and he could rise and fall with the wind. Qingyan had already set foot on solid ground.

  The five-hundred-zhang drop was a mere trifle compared to the last time he jumped off Mingyue Peak. Qingyan glanced up at Qingfeng Cliff, knowing that next time he came, this path would no longer be difficult for him.

  He headed towards Mingyue Peak, Qingyan chose another route. With a concentrated effort, he sprang up several zhangs and then ran directly on top of the trees, each jump covering tens of zhangs, his speed was so fast that it left people breathless. The last time it took him an hour to complete the journey, this time Qingyan arrived at the foot of Mingyue Peak in just a short while. When he reached the foot of the mountain, Qingyan didn't stop, with both feet pushing off with all his might, under the powerful force, his body shot up, rising over a hundred zhangs high. Qingyan took a brief breath, and with a light tap of the Zixing Sword, his body borrowed the momentum to rise again by over a hundred zhangs, this time directly arriving at the top of Mingyue Peak.

  Qingyan landed lightly on the ground, turned around and gazed at the distant Qingfeng Cliff. It was so easy and quick to return here, his months of cultivation had not been in vain. Indeed, there were no difficult tasks in the world. What could stop him from now on? A surge of heroic spirit arose in Qingyan's heart, and he involuntarily let out a long whistle. The whistling sound soared up to the ninth heaven, piercing through the clouds, and the peaks of Congshan Mountain responded, taking a long time to subside.

  After a long time, Qingyan's mood slowly calmed down. He thought to himself, "Zhao big brother, Master brother, I didn't disappoint you. I will continue to work hard and cultivate. When you see me again, I will definitely be flying with my sword!" He secretly made up his mind.

  Just as he made up his mind, someone called out, "Qingyan fellow practitioner, it's been months since we last met and your cultivation has advanced so much! Congratulations are in order! Congratulations indeed!"

  Qingyan was shocked and turned his head to see only one person walking slowly from a small path.