OBS Chapter 43 Genius
Chapter 43 Genius
Emerging from the entrance of the Mysterious Ancient Realm, Zhang Yunling arrived at the familiar grassland, the place where he had been when he was pulled into the Ancient Realm by that invisible force.
Ming Shan led the group to continue flying into the sky. A flying boat with a flag bearing the Bagua pattern was hovering in mid-air; it was the Quanzhen Sect that had come to pick them up.
Zhang Yunling also boarded the flying boat. This mode of transportation was very peculiar. It was not powered by ordinary fuel, but required cultivators to inject spiritual energy into several specific locations on the flying boat, so that the entire flying boat could carry people and goods and float in flight.
Ren Jixing had only taken a few steps onto the flying boat when he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and looking extremely weak. Immediately, Quanzhen Dao cultivators came over to help him up, respectfully saying, "Senior Brother Ren, you must be tired from your journey. Please join the other senior brothers and uncles to rest in the guest rooms inside."
All the dozen or so Quanzhen Dao cultivators who participated in entering the Ancient Realm went to their guest rooms to rest. Zhang Yunling, however, became puzzled and mustered his courage to ask Ming Shan, who was walking ahead, "Elder Ming, why do we need to survive in the Ancient Realm for a year, but now that we're leaving early, this flying boat is already here to meet us?"
Upon hearing this, Ming Shan smiled across his wrinkled face. "You little rascal, you've got quite a few ideas. It would be abnormal if such a large sect as Quanzhen Dao were to enter some kind of opportunity zone and not even have a way to contact the outside world."
Without waiting for Zhang Yunling's response, Ming Shan turned around and walked towards the room. Hearing these words, Zhang Yunling understood that he had ultimately been brought into the Quanzhen Sect by Ren Jixing, and it was perfectly normal for the old man to exaggerate the strength of the Quanzhen Sect for the sake of appearances.
It's estimated that Ming Shan also knew that the Vajra Bracelet belonged to him, and he was relatively accepting of his accidental joining of the Quanzhen Sect.
When Ren Jixing came out of the guest room, he saw Zhang Yunling standing still and assumed that the other party had not been assigned a guest room, so he politely offered him a room.
The two shared a room, and Ren Jixing's pale face regained some color, perhaps due to the effects of Zhang Yunling's medicine, or perhaps because he had finally stopped fighting and scrambling all the way.
Zhang Yunling smiled broadly, picked up the teacup on the table, and respectfully said to Ren Jixing, "Senior brother, thank you for taking care of me along the way. When we return to the sect, I will find an opportunity to repay you properly."
Ren Jixing laughed heartily upon hearing this, and the two became closer and more harmonious.
After chatting for a long time, Zhang Yunling asked in a low voice, "Senior brother, there's something I've been wanting to ask you, but I'm only having time to ask it now. Our sect's inner disciple's True Yang Finger technique is supposed to be based on using the most yang and yang part of one's spiritual energy to drive the meridians to perform the technique. Why is it that your spiritual energy seems to be full of yin energy, yet you can still use the True Yang Finger?"
Hearing this, Ren Jixing smiled awkwardly, lifted his robe to reveal the skin on his abdomen. "We, as fellow disciples, have been through life and death together, so I won't hide this secret from you."
On that piece of flesh, there was a red rune branded on it. The rune was extremely mysterious, the heart-shaped pattern also resembling a butterfly, and it emitted a faint light in sync with Ren Jixing's breathing rhythm.
"This has been there as long as I can remember. My parents told me it's a curse from a demon. It turns my spiritual power into yin, making it extremely difficult for me to cultivate any yang-attribute techniques," Ren Jixing said somewhat forlornly.
"Master Ming told me that although the True Yang Finger is extremely strong and yang, the Quanzhen School is a combination of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. If the power of the Great Dao does not meet the conditions for cultivation, as long as you work hard to cultivate and comprehend it, you will eventually reap the rewards."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunling finally understood why, although Ren Jixing's cultivation had reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm, his True Yang Finger technique was only at the second level, just like Zhang Yunling's.
Ren Jixing pulled his robe down and shook his head with a wry smile. "My parents both came from the Quanzhen Sect, so what reason do I have not to cultivate there? In my opinion, Junior Brother, your spiritual power is truly abundant in Yang energy, and you have a bright future within the sect. If you ever need my help in the future, just ask."
Zhang Yunling nodded vigorously, poured Ren Jixing another cup of tea, and the two toasted each other, drinking tea instead of wine, chatting like brothers.
The airship no longer lingered in the air, and flew straight into the distance with full power.
Daotian Continent, Central Region.
After several days of flight, with batches of cultivators providing spiritual energy changing, they finally arrived at their destination.
This is the central point of the Dao Tian Continent, the headquarters of the Quanzhen Sect. As the strongest sect among the three major Daoist sects, the Quanzhen Sect has branches all over the Dao Tian Continent. However, all Daoist sects are united in taking Zhongnan Mountain as their main base, with strict discipline and unwavering faith.
The flying boat landed on the ground, and Ming Shan was the first to step out of the deck and fly towards the gate of the Quanzhen Sect.
When the disciples guarding the mountain gate saw that the visitor was their sect's Second Elder, the Old Monster Minggui, they all bowed respectfully.
All the Quanzhen Dao cultivators on the flying boats landed on the ground and followed Elder Ming's footsteps toward the mountain gate.
Zhang Yunling and Ren Jixing also went along, but after they went inside, Jia Zhongbao, who was standing next to Ming Shan, suddenly turned around and said to Zhang Yunling, "I heard that you were introduced to our Quanzhen Sect by Jixing. However, you still have to go through the necessary procedures. Come with me."
Upon hearing this, Ren Jixing immediately jumped out and asked to go with Zhang Yunling. Jia Zhongbao didn't mind; he was used to this young master from a noble family who never did anything productive. So he led the two of them toward the main hall on the right.
The entire Quanzhen Taoist sect is centered around Zhongnan Mountain, with other smaller mountain ranges and halls and pavilions scattered around it. Ming Shan and his group headed towards the main hall in the center of the Quanzhen sect—Chongyang Palace, while Zhang Yunling and Ren Jixing were led to a side hall on the right.
Above the main gate is a plaque with three large characters: Disciple's Courtyard.
As Jia Zhongbao walked into the hall, he explained to Zhang Yunling, "The Disciple's Courtyard is where the Quanzhen School assesses the aptitude of new disciples, assigning them different positions based on their qualifications."
"Generally speaking, disciples with inferior aptitude are assigned to menial tasks. These disciples have very poor cultivation talent. Although the threshold for joining our sect is perfect Foundation Establishment, there are different levels of perfect Foundation Establishment. If the Foundation Establishment Pill is used to supplement the other spiritual roots that are lacking, and it is not truly perfect, then even if the spiritual root is awakened and unblocked, it will still be incomplete, and the cultivation will hardly make much progress."
Hearing this, Zhang Yunling asked curiously, "Putting aside other aptitudes for now, I want to know what level it is when all five-colored spiritual roots in the dantian are complete and perfectly opened?"
"What?" Ren Jixing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "I didn't expect that you, who look so young, would possess such a perfect foundation?"
Jia Zhongbao, who was walking ahead, was also somewhat surprised. He turned around and carefully examined the young man in front of him. He spread out his divine sense power at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage and enveloped Zhang Yunling's foundation platform in his abdomen, examining it thoroughly from the inside out. Finally, he patted Zhang Yunling on the shoulder with admiration.
"Indeed, a perfect foundation. Although I don't know how you acquired such talent, since we've encountered you, you are a rare talent. Your aptitude is already top-tier, so you should be directly promoted to inner disciple!"
As Jia Zhongbao spoke with a joyful expression, Zhang Yunling showed no change in expression, but Ren Jixing slapped his thigh and laughed.
"Great, junior brother! I was worried that you'd have to start as an outer disciple and work your way up to the inner sect before you could cultivate with me. Well, that's great, it saves you a lot of trouble! Once you're in the inner sect, I'll take you to chat up some junior sisters and experience the joys of life!"
Faced with this embarrassing invitation, Zhang Yunling could only smile awkwardly, while Jia Zhongbao shook his head helplessly and led Zhang Yunling further into the hall.
"Come on, with your qualifications and Ji Xing's recommendation, there's no need for any other assessments. I'll take you directly to collect your inner disciple's robes and token."
Ren Jixing whispered in Zhang Yunling's ear, "Junior brother, I didn't expect you to be such a genius. The last person with a perfect Dao foundation physique like you who directly joined the inner sect was that Ice Lotus Fairy."
"The Ice Lotus Fairy?" Zhang Yunling wasn't interested in this, but he still chimed in with a question.
The moment this young master mentioned beautiful women, he couldn't help but show a lovesick look on his face. "The Ice Lotus Fairy is truly a rare beauty. Not only is she incredibly powerful, but she is also stunningly beautiful, aloof and untouched by worldly affairs. She is like a snow lotus blooming on an iceberg, and no man can tarnish her existence... She is truly a fairy descended to earth!"
Because of her past experiences, Zhang Yunling would subconsciously feel wary of women with stunning looks.
Having secretly taken note of this Ice Lotus Fairy, he stopped paying attention to Ren Jixing's endless boasting and began to plan the matter that his mentor, Duan Weihuang, had entrusted to him.
"Excessive emotions are merely stumbling blocks on my path to immortality."