The cave abode was not large. Aside from the entrance, which was only wide enough for one person to pass through, the interior measured roughly ten chi across.
Yet the spiritual energy inside the cave abode was even denser than what could be sensed outside.
Xu Ziqing walked farther in and sat down cross-legged. Then he raised a hand and cast a restriction, sealing the cave abode completely.
Before he could enter meditation, however, two streaks of golden light suddenly flashed out and struck the restriction he had laid down. In an instant, the barrier was coated in a faint golden glow, and a trace of chilling killing intent was added to it.
At some point, the illusory figure of a white-robed man had appeared, sitting opposite Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing was slightly surprised. “Brother Yun?” His expression immediately turned solemn.
Yun Lie rarely appeared of his own accord. Whenever he did, it usually meant Xu Ziqing had done something improperly. He assumed this time was the same and immediately began examining himself.
Seeing him become so serious, Yun Lie’s gaze shifted slightly. Then he said, “There is no fault in your words or actions. You need not be like this.”
Xu Ziqing looked embarrassed. He coughed softly. “…I misunderstood.” Then he asked, “Brother Yun, is there something you wished to tell me?”
Yun Lie said, “Whatever troubles you, you may speak of it.”
Xu Ziqing paused, then warmth spread through his heart. “So Brother Yun knew…”
Yun Lie’s expression remained cold, his tone without much fluctuation. “If you establish your foundation here, you will become a member of my Little Bamboo Peak. We belong to the same sect, and you and I have known each other for a long time. You need not overthink matters.”
After hearing this, Xu Ziqing’s gaze softened considerably. “Brother Yun’s kindness, I, Xu Ziqing, will remember.”
Yun Lie gave a slight nod. “Ask.”
Xu Ziqing was delighted. He no longer worried and asked just as he used to. “Brother Yun, do you know what identity the gatekeeper of the Dragon Ascension Gate holds? And why is there a Dragon Ascension Gate Gathering at all?”
Yun Lie considered briefly before saying, “Countless small worlds surround the Qingyun Great World. Of those, three hundred seventy-one possess Dragon Ascension Gates connected to the great world. Hurricanes fill the gates, so they remain closed most of the time. Once every ten years, when the hurricanes weaken somewhat, the gates can be opened, allowing people from the small worlds to travel to the great world and permitting passage between them.”
Xu Ziqing nodded inwardly. So that was why it happened once every ten years.
Yun Lie continued, “Every gatekeeper of a Dragon Ascension Gate is a Golden Core Perfected One.”
Xu Ziqing was immediately startled.
A Golden Core Perfected One? Wouldn’t that mean Tang Wenfei’s cultivation was even above his friend’s?
Yun Lie gave him a faint glance and explained the matter in full.
Millions of years ago, a great expert discovered that Dragon Ascension Gates connected great worlds and small worlds. The news spread throughout the entire great world. Because of this, within only a few decades, several hundred Dragon Ascension Gates were discovered. From then on, it was no longer only extraordinarily powerful cultivators who could enter small worlds. Cultivators of somewhat lower cultivation could go there as well.
However, hurricanes raged within the Dragon Ascension Gates, and under ordinary circumstances only Golden Core Perfected Ones could pass through safely. Very few people in a small world could reach such a cultivation level. Worse, many exceptionally talented cultivators, limited by their knowledge, believed challenging the Dragon Ascension Gate would temper their bodies and ended up dying there for nothing. Later, the many sects of the great world discussed the matter and decided that once every ten years, a Golden Core cultivator would be sent to each small world to stand guard and prevent the young, reckless, overconfident geniuses of the small worlds from throwing their lives away.
But the environments of great and small worlds were worlds apart. Cultivators everywhere fought Heaven for their lives. Who would willingly come to a small world merely to serve as a guard?
Only after the many sects negotiated did they finally establish a system.
A small world might be small, but many geniuses had still appeared over the years. Because of the limitations of their innate environment, however, most had an uncertain road to immortality. The great world did not lack geniuses, but no sect would ever complain of having too many outstanding disciples. If that was the case, why not recruit the exceptional talents of the small worlds?
That was how the rule allowing those at Foundation Establishment and above to enter the Dragon Ascension Gate came to be.
There were two reasons Foundation Establishment was chosen as the threshold.
First, even though the hurricanes within the Dragon Ascension Gate weakened once every ten years, anyone below Foundation Establishment who entered would have only one outcome: death.
Second, only those capable of reaching Foundation Establishment despite the harsh environment of a small world were qualified to make the people of the great world look at them differently. Otherwise, if just anyone could enter the great world and compete for resources, would that not be unfair to the people already struggling along the immortal path there?
At the same time, the Dragon Ascension Gate Gathering was created to select those of even better aptitude.
Under all the gathering’s rules, the true purpose was to give the most outstanding geniuses of the small worlds more advantages and make their path easier, while also giving the gatekeeper an opportunity to recruit talented people for his sect.
Only the lure of more geniuses could make the great sects willingly send Golden Core Perfected Ones to stand guard in the small worlds. And to keep those Golden Core cultivators from becoming resentful, each Perfected One needed to remain only ten years and would not serve consecutive terms. They were also permitted to bring a third-grade spiritual vein into the small world. Their cultivation would not suffer, and they received generous compensation besides. Over time, the post became something people competed fiercely to obtain.
During the Dragon Ascension Gate Gathering, the gatekeeper could observe how many especially gifted people had appeared that decade and quietly show them favor in hopes of recruiting them. He could not make such intentions openly obvious, but people from small worlds had very limited contact with those of the upper realm. Often, if the gatekeeper merely seemed approachable, he could easily win a great deal of goodwill from the gathered geniuses. If he recruited more talent, his sect would grant him further rewards.
Nor did all gatekeepers come from the same sect. The great sects near each Dragon Ascension Gate negotiated among themselves and took turns sending someone.
After hearing all this, Xu Ziqing immediately understood.
No wonder Tang Wenfei had been more courteous toward those with single spiritual roots. It was not merely because he personally valued such aptitude, but because of his sect and the resources he could gain for himself.
The Wuling Immortal Sect, to which Yun Lie belonged, was also one of the great sects near this Dragon Ascension Gate. This time, however, the gatekeeper had not come from the Wuling Immortal Sect.
Xu Ziqing thought for a moment. “Brother Yun, you…” He swallowed the words “when you were alive” and instead asked, “Do you know this Tang Wenfei?”
Yun Lie fell silent.
Seeing this, Xu Ziqing felt somewhat awkward.
He did not know whether he had touched upon some painful matter for Yun Lie. After all, Tang Wenfei was a Golden Core Perfected One. It would be perfectly natural if Brother Yun had never known him.
Xu Ziqing was just about to change the subject when Yun Lie spoke again. “I do not know this person. But judging by his clothing, he is from the Skywater Immortal Sect.”
For some reason, Xu Ziqing had the strange feeling that Brother Yun had just been thinking very hard and still could not remember. His expression turned odd. He steadied himself, treated it as an illusion, and asked again, “…The Skywater Immortal Sect?”
Yun Lie glanced at him. “The Skywater Immortal Sect is a third-rank sect. Its entry cultivation art is the Flowing Cloud Art.”
Xu Ziqing found this fascinating and grew very curious. “Sects are divided into ranks as well? Then the Wuling Immortal Sect… And what sort of cultivation art is the Flowing Cloud Art? Does it have some special feature?”
Yun Lie replied, “The Wuling Immortal Sect is second-rank.” Then he continued, “The Skywater Immortal Sect’s sect-protecting cultivation method is the lower-grade Heaven-tier True Scripture of Skywater. It turns the flowing clouds of the world and the waters of the four seas to one’s own use. When cultivated to the end, cloud and water become one, opening the path to immortal ascension.”
Xu Ziqing understood and could not help exclaiming, “The Skywater Immortal Sect actually possesses a Heaven-tier cultivation method! No wonder Senior Tang has such profound cultivation. If even a third-rank sect has such foundations, what depths must the Wuling Immortal Sect possess to rank above it?”
This time Yun Lie became quiet. Only after a long while did he say, “…It cannot be explained in a few words.”
Xu Ziqing paused, then laughed. “I made things difficult for Brother Yun.”
When he thought about it, it made sense. If the Wuling Immortal Sect could stand above the Skywater Immortal Sect, there had to be many things in which the latter could not compare. For Xu Ziqing to ask so suddenly, given Brother Yun’s taciturn nature, it truly might be impossible for him to explain everything at once. Better to focus on cultivation for now. Once he entered the Immortal Sect, he could slowly learn about it himself.
After talking with Yun Lie, Xu Ziqing felt extremely cheerful, and he had much greater confidence about what lay ahead. He asked nothing further and simply sat cross-legged to enter meditation.
The moment he began circulating his cultivation method, Xu Ziqing felt a faint swelling at his temples.
Countless strands of spiritual energy poured down through the crown of his head, forcing their way through his spiritual root like a surging flood and rushing into his meridians as towering waves.
The twelve primary meridians and eight extraordinary meridians were washed by spiritual power. His dantian suddenly received so much spiritual energy that it began to ache and swell. The spiritual energy compressed continuously into pure spiritual power, which then rapidly circulated through the greater and lesser heavenly cycles, driving his cultivation method onward.
More and more spiritual power accumulated, becoming torrents that swept continuously through his meridians. After passing freely through more than a dozen channels, the torrents finally struck an obstruction.
Unable to pass, the torrent gathered strength and merged with the spiritual power behind it. Then it surged forward and hammered against the blockage again and again until there came a soft pop!
A nearly inaudible cracking sound rang through his meridians. Within his inner world, however, it was like a thunderclap that shook his internal organs.
An acupoint had opened.
The torrent kept moving and charged toward the second acupoint. Once, twice, three times!
Another acupoint opened. Then it struck again.
Before long, the torrent of spiritual power carried an unstoppable momentum as it violently attacked the two meridians that had not yet been cleared. It was like battering reefs aside in the middle of the sea, smashing through them with brute force again and again. In the outer world, because spiritual energy was pouring into him too quickly, a vortex of spiritual energy formed above his head and spun at tremendous speed.
This was the difference between a third-grade spiritual vein and an ordinary cultivation environment.
Xu Ziqing rapidly circulated The Great Art of Myriad Woods Heart-Planting. The spiritual power within his body was incomparably pure, and as it continued accumulating, it became extraordinarily abundant as well.
That spiritual power ceaselessly opened the meridians that remained obstructed, completely clearing acupoint after half-open acupoint.
The torrent of spiritual power flowed ever more smoothly through his inner world. Acupoints, meridians, and dantian became an integrated whole, forming a strange rhythm of circulation. This was the power of a cultivation method. It gave spiritual power a special route and linked everything in his inner world, gradually creating subtle connections among them.
Xu Ziqing felt the stinging pain of his meridians being scoured, yet welcomed it gladly.
He could sense his spiritual power growing thicker and deeper, already reaching an unprecedented level. But even this was not enough. He could feel his dantian greedily devouring spiritual energy, then rapidly sending out refined Yi-Wood power.
Pop! Pop! Two more acupoints opened, and even his bones seemed to groan in response.
The sensation of every pore breathing was unbelievably comfortable, like soaking in warm water, soothing and deeply pleasurable.
Without Xu Ziqing noticing, more than a dozen acupoints burst open one after another like firecrackers.
His spiritual power swept onward unopposed, continuously expanding every meridian.
Suddenly, Xu Ziqing’s mind stirred, and he opened his eyes.
At some point, dawn had already arrived. In the blink of an eye, an entire night had passed.