Chapter 524 - 517: Spring and Autumn Brush Technique
Chapter 524: Chapter 517: Spring and Autumn Brush Technique
After leaving the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion, Du Youqian had planned to visit Jie Yu at the Taihe Sect.
However, when he contacted Jie Yu through the Chat Group, she said she was undergoing temporary intensive training at the Sect and would soon be exploring an ancient Secret Realm with her fellow disciples.
Du Youqian had no choice but to drop the idea.
It seemed Jie Yu had passed her assessments over the years and was gradually being accepted by the Taihe Sect, beginning to enjoy the normal treatment of an Inner Sect Disciple.
Although there was no chance of her becoming a True Inheritor, being an Inner Sect Disciple of the Taihe Sect was still a highly respected status in the Human World.
The resources she could now command, the secrets she could access, and the Cultivation Techniques she could practice were all enviable—things that Du Youqian himself could never hope to enjoy. Even the Royal Family of the Zhao Kingdom could only look on in aspiration.
After all, the Zhao Kingdom was merely a nation founded by an Inner Sect Disciple of the Ten Thousand Laws Sect. Moreover, its founder, the Changping Ancestor, had suffered a hidden injury in a conflict years ago and had been in seclusion ever since. Although he was a Void Step True Monarch, his deterrent power was insufficient.
Therefore, the Royal Family of the Zhao Kingdom was far inferior to an Inner Sect Disciple of the Taihe Sect in terms of resources, Secret Techniques, knowledge, and more.
Just as Du Youqian was preparing to turn back, he received a message from Meng Xiao. It said that after several decades, he had finally managed to hatch a few of the Thorny Insect Eggs that lacked Vitality Spirituality. He was now trying to raise the Thorny Insects using the breeding method Du Youqian had taught him.
Du Youqian was overjoyed at the news and immediately steered his Flying Boat toward the Ghost Kingdom to see for himself.
He could have actually headed straight south now, without taking the detour through the Endless Desert Sea.
With his current Cultivation, there were few people or Demons who would dare to, or even could, stand in his way.
However, Du Youqian wanted to visit the Four Principles Sect first and see Lin Sha, Fang Hua, and the others. After some consideration, he decided to take the route through the Endless Desert Sea after all.
But he had barely been at the Four Principles Sect for two days and hadn’t yet had the chance to visit the Oasis where Lin Sha and the others were cultivating in seclusion.
One day, while he was talking with Li Fei, a disciple came to report, "Supreme Elder, a Tier Three Demon who once came here with a merchant caravan is at the mountain gate seeking an audience."
Du Youqian swept the area with his Divine Sense and already knew who the visitor was. He smiled. "Bring it here."
Soon, Jinrong was brought to Du Youqian’s room. The creature was now Tier Four. It had shrunk its body and was proudly flaunting its long tail feathers, but upon seeing Du Youqian, it was so shocked it quickly lowered its head. "Greetings, True Monarch!"
Du Youqian smiled. "Jinrong, my little friend, there’s no need for such formalities."
To be called "my little friend" by a Divinity Transformation True Monarch was an overwhelming honor for Jinrong. He felt his very bones go soft.
Seeing Du Youqian’s friendly demeanor, he mustered his courage, hopped over to Du Youqian, and rubbed against his leg to show his submission. "I’ve never seen anyone ascend so fast! At this rate, you’ll definitely reach Tier Six, maybe even Tier Seven!"
Du Youqian chuckled. "It’s too early to talk about that. Why did you come here by yourself? Do you need something from me?"
Jinrong replied, "Sui Zhi from Ruihan City asked me to come. He said he doesn’t have much time left and wanted me to ask you to lend him some Spiritual Jade. He wants to find someone to heal him."
Du Youqian raised an eyebrow. With a quick calculation using his fingers, he determined that Sui Zhi was indeed on the verge of Nascent Soul Formation.
And once he underwent Nascent Soul Formation, his Nascent Soul would transform into a Ghost Infant and be taken away. Not only would his life be forfeit, but even his soul would be unable to reincarnate.
"I understand. I will head back right away."
With that, he looked at Jinrong, his eyes gleaming. "Jinrong, my little friend, you’re Tier Four now. Your flying speed should surpass that of a Tier Four Flying Treasure, right? How about you give me a ride?"
Jinrong inwardly groaned but didn’t dare refuse.
He then thought about how Du Youqian had taken care of the Long-tailed Golden Chicken clan in the past, and about the younger generations who had evolved and improved their combat abilities because of the Bi Fang Gravel. Jinrong flapped his wings. "Alright, I’ll give you a ride. But let’s get this straight: just this once! My clan has sworn never to be slaves. We will never be mounts for anyone, not even for a Divinity Transformation True Monarch like you. Not even for a Void Step Great Power!"
Du Youqian just smiled.
’Just once?’
’With things like this, it’s either zero times or countless times.’
Of course, he wasn’t going to spoil the mood now. He nodded. "Just this once, then. It is an emergency, after all."
’As for the future... I can definitely find other excuses.’
’It’s perfectly reasonable for a dignified Divinity Transformation True Monarch like me to take a Tier Four Flying Demon King as a mount, isn’t it?’
’The Thorny Insects have hatched. Once they’re successfully bred, we’ll see how you’ll be begging to be my mount!’
~~~~~~~~~
The flying speed of a Tier Four Long-tailed Golden Chicken was indeed far greater than that of a Tier Four Treasure.
The only downside was the greater number of stops needed for supplies and rest.
Jinrong was a chatterbox, spouting an endless stream of nonsense during the flight. After finishing the story of his seventeenth romance, he moved on to gossiping about another Tier Four Long-tailed Golden Chicken, then suddenly switched to the untold story of a Golden Silk Green-eyed Ape Demon King and the Three-tailed Blue Fox Demon King...
Thankfully, Du Youqian’s Cultivation was profound. He could listen with one ear while erasing his own bored thoughts, which didn’t interfere with his last-minute cramming on Gu Techniques.
At other times, he would switch things up and study the Spring and Autumn Brush and the Creation Jade Scroll inside his Dantian.
After his advancement to Divinity Transformation, the Spring and Autumn Brush could now record two more Sword Intents or Divine Abilities, allowing it to store a total of four at once.
More importantly... Du Youqian’s control over the Spring and Autumn Brush had also improved.
He could now use the Spring and Autumn Brush’s "Spring and Autumn Brush Technique." He could transform illusion into truth, and also transform truth into falsehood!
’Just thinking about it is thrilling.’
Back then, if the Blood Slaughter Sword hadn’t exhausted all its power to deliver that world-shocking strike with the might of a near-Tier Seven attack, the illusion of the Cyan Yang Sect would have turned from false to real!
In Du Youqian’s eyes, this was an incredible ability.
And now, he could do it too.
Of course, the targets he could transform—either into truth or into falsehood—couldn’t be too powerful.
Through numerous experiments, Du Youqian determined that the current limit for him to completely transform something into truth or falsehood was Tier Three.
However, he could also transform a part of a Tier Four Creature.
And as his test subject, Jinrong had been constantly wavering between heaven and hell for the past few days.
"True Monarch, I think my bloodline has evolved! Look at my claws, this hard beak! HAHA, I’m going to be the strongest fighting chicken in my clan! From now on, call me... the Victorious Fighting Chicken!"
"Huh? My claws, my beak... this can’t be! They clearly evolved, why did they disappear?"
"True Monarch, can you scratch my back for me? Why do I have a big tumor growing on my back?"
"AHH, what the hell is this thing? Why did it appear in my tumor?! Am I going to die?!"
"Huh, the tumor’s gone..."
"True Monarch, True Monarch, look! Am I the first Long-tailed Golden Chicken to grow four pairs of wings?! HAHAHA, when I get back, I’m going to find a bunch of hens! I’m going to start a whole new species! I’ve already thought of the name: the Eight-winged Long-tailed Golden Chicken!"
"True Monarch, where are my wings? Where are my four pairs of wings?!"
A smarter person or Demon would have long since guessed that Du Youqian was behind it all.
But Jinrong was truly simple-minded...
Eventually, Du Youqian couldn’t even bear to experiment on him anymore.
’Can’t always be bullying an honest person... er, an honest chicken.’
"True Monarch, True Monarch, can you check for me? Is there an egg in my belly?"
"CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK, the world is changing too fast. Can roosters lay eggs now?"
"True Monarch... my egg, it’s gone... Who stole my egg?!"
Du Youqian shrugged.
’What can I say? The honest chicken was just too easy to bully.’
’I really didn’t mean to. It just... happened.’
Through these experiments, Du Youqian figured out many of the principles behind Transforming Illusion into Truth and Transforming Truth into Falsehood, becoming more and more adept at using them.
Of course, whether Transforming Truth into Falsehood or Transforming Illusion into Truth, the cost was enormous, comparable to using a Divine Ability.
Furthermore, not only did he need a deep understanding of the object to be transformed, but there were also many limitations to its use.
It was time-consuming and costly, making it almost useless in combat.
But Du Youqian still played with it tirelessly.
Because it really was a lot of fun.
Besides, he could feel that if he obtained more Spring and Autumn Brush Fragments or increased his own Cultivation, his use of the Spring and Autumn Brush Technique would become even more masterful.
Moreover, frequently using the Spring and Autumn Brush Technique seemed to be of great benefit for comprehending the Great Dao.
He clearly hadn’t been actively cultivating, and there was no Successor Cultivation Technique for the Golden Jade Flying Scripture of the Eight Realms of Truth, yet his Cultivation had still advanced by a large margin during this period.
Du Youqian decided that from now on, collecting more Spring and Autumn Brush Fragments and Creation Jade Scroll Fragments would be one of his top priorities.
He hadn’t forgotten that when the Spring and Autumn Brush and the Creation Jade Scroll were combined, they could enshrine Immortals and Ghost Immortals!
Although, it seemed the Celestial Emperor’s Seal was needed to truly complete the process.
But even without the Celestial Emperor’s Seal, it could still grant the enshrined person some of the characteristics of an Immortal or a Ghost Immortal!