Chapter 614: Teaching the Purple Mansion Record
"I've grown lax. Sitting in that position, I definitely can't compare to a cultivator from a major sect like you."
Mr. You replied casually, then let his gaze fall again on the pitch-black rifts in the sky.
"So tell me, what exactly will happen?"
"You'll know when the end comes."
That was Chen Yan's answer.
……
Three years later, Du Cang Mountain.
The once-sacred cultivation site of Chenping Continent now wore a wholly different appearance.
Five years after the Great Chaos of the Immortals ended, snow had already accumulated on Du Cang Mountain. This highest peak of Chenping Continent, soaring over eight thousand three hundred zhang, now appeared from afar freshly cloaked in white.
The reason Heavenly Summit Mountain had once enjoyed a pleasant climate was that its priceless spirit trees and immortal grasses nurtured the mountain’s warmth. After the Great Chaos of the Immortals, those original spirit trees and immortal grasses that once sustained Heavenly Summit Mountain had all been destroyed.
However, new immortal grasses and spirit trees had now been planted in their place.
Dozens of outer court disciples from Star Heaven Sect, clad in deep purple daoist robes, walked along the newly laid pale-white jade road on Du Cang Mountain. These pale-white jade stones were no ordinary material; they were precious Yunxian Jade, able to nurture meridians and cultivate spiritual essence.
In the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, a pendant or ring carved from Yunxian Jade could fetch tens to hundreds of high-grade spirit stones on the black market.
Most famous of all was the jade bed made from Yunxian Jade.
Eight feet long and three feet wide, it had been sold at an auction in the eastern domain of Chenping Continent centuries ago. A Grand Elder from Lingxiao Temple bought it for three million five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, creating a sensation.
Du Cang Mountain today was even more extravagant.
Nearly all the roads on Du Cang Mountain were paved with supreme-grade Yunxian Jade. According to statistics, a total of 74,528,888 jade bricks were used, and if each jade brick were sold on the outside market, it would be worth around five thousand high-grade spirit stones.
That meant simply paving the roads on Du Cang Mountain required over three hundred billion high-grade spirit stones.
It was a terrifying number; even combining the total assets of the Five Great Sects could not cover the road construction costs on Du Cang Mountain.
At this moment, the items carried by these dozen or so Star Heaven Sect cultivators at the Qi Circulation Realm walking on the pale-white jade road were even more shocking.
"One, two! One, two!"
Cultivators at the Qi Circulation Realm possessed extremely robust constitutions and could easily bear tens of thousands of jin, yet the scene of these dozens of outer court disciples shouldering a giant column of meteoric iron looked painfully strenuous.
Star-Fallen Iron, a supremely rare material used to forge magical treasures.
In the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, each jin of it sold for about twelve hundred high-grade spirit stones, and the meteoric iron column these Qi Circulation disciples carried weighed two million five hundred thousand jin.
These columns of star-fallen iron were intended for constructing the Daoyan Arena on Du Cang Mountain.
A total of three thousand meteoric iron pillars would be needed to complete the entire Daoyan Arena.
"Be careful, don't let it fall and smash the road!"
A slightly plump middle-aged man in the Mingxiao branch daoist robes of Kongshan Sect hurried over to the Star Heaven Sect outer court disciples and warned them.
"Yes, Elder Qiguan!"
The apparent leader among the Star Heaven Sect outer court disciples responded quickly.
"One, two! One, two!"
Watching the figures of those Star Heaven Sect outer court disciples carrying the meteoric iron pillars disappear into the distance, Qiguan Jin sighed softly.
Then he lifted his head and gazed toward the recently completed, magnificently imposing Du Cang Hall in the distance, murmuring under his breath:
"I suspect the materials and spirit stones needed to repair Du Cang Mountain exceed the total supply of all Chenping Continent. I really don't know where the True Person obtained so much…"
……
Inside Du Cang Hall.
In stark contrast to the bustling noise outside on Du Cang Mountain, the hall interior was far quieter and more spacious.
The hall had little decoration, supported instead by twelve enormous coiling-dragon jade pillars, each carved with dao resonance patterns and several intricate inscriptions. If even a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy disturbed the hall, a low chant of lingering immortal resonance would echo from those twelve jade pillars.
The floor was polished like a mirror, reflecting the dome of the hall and the six cultivators standing inside in various daoist robes.
At this moment, the reincarnated bodies of the six Immortal Ascension cultivators of Chenping Continent stood respectfully, heads bowed, in Du Cang Hall.
At the far end of the hall, on a white jade seat atop nine steps, a handsome youth in plain white daoist robes sat with his eyes lightly closed, seeming wholly merged with the palace itself.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
"Everyone, long time no see."
Chen Yan rose from the white jade seat behind him, and as he stood, the six reincarnated Immortal Ascension cultivators bowed toward the end of the hall:
"Hail Realman Chen."
Chen Yan said nothing, but raised both hands in return and bowed to the six reincarnated Immortal Ascension cultivators. He then straightened, and said:
"The formal start of the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion is only one month away, and the Daoyan Arena on Du Cang Mountain will be finished in no time."
His eyes swept once across the six reincarnated Immortal Ascension cultivators in the hall, then lingered more on the two figures in moon-white daoist robes, the former Heavenly Summit Steward practitioners:
"You may already be able to tell that my actions are not merely to make the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion the foremost cultivation gathering on Chenping Continent, but to forge Du Cang Mountain into a cultivation holy site surpassing the former glory of Heavenly Summit Mountain."
Gu Jing and Qiu Siruo did not show much reaction. Since the Great Chaos of the Immortals ended five years ago, the two former Heavenly Summit Stewards’ dream of restoring the realm to the Heavenly Summit Era had been utterly shattered.
"I believe you have all heard me say: the laws of heaven and earth on Chenping Continent are collapsing, the rifts remain unhealed, and we must prepare for the worst."
Saying this, Chen Yan paused briefly.
"If the worst truly happens, I hope you can let go of past grievances, and I need you, before that worst occurs, to do everything possible to preserve your strength and suppress dao resonance erosion."
Then Chen Yan's gaze swept toward Kong Yang, and he continued slowly:
"To that end, I have a gift to present to you True Persons, called the Purple Mansion Record."