Chapter 327 - 315: Purple Mansion Elder
Chapter 327: Chapter 315: Purple Mansion Elder
Elder Wu stood on the stage, his gaze sweeping over the disciples.
"You have all been in the sect for a full year. The time has come to choose a Daoist Art to be your main focus in cultivation. Of course, you can also pursue it as a hobby in your spare time."
"You all witnessed last year’s Dharma Assembly, so I’m sure you have some ideas. Now, one by one, tell me which Daoist Art you wish to study."
He paused for a moment before adding, "If you haven’t decided yet, you can take a few days to think it over."
"Each Daoist Art is supplemented by various types of Magic and a great deal of related knowledge. It’s best not to switch midway, or all your previous efforts will be wasted."
"Zhu Zhaoshi, you may go first."
Zhu Zhaoshi stood up and said, "Elder, this disciple chooses Alchemy."
"Good. Next."
"This disciple chooses Talismans."
"This disciple chooses brewing Spirit Wine..."
The disciples answered one by one. The most chosen Daoist Arts were Talismans and Alchemy, followed by Spirit Plant cultivation, Beast Taming, Brewing, and Medicine.
When it was Zhao Lin’s turn, he stood and declared, "This disciple chooses Arrays!"
The art of the Array was ranked among the four great Daoist Arts not because of the number of people who studied it, but because of its importance. Zhao Lin had two reasons for making this decision.
First, the art of the Array was one of the most difficult Daoist Arts, and it was also fundamental to the world of cultivation.
From grand mountain-protecting Arrays to simple restrictive seals, the applications of Arrays were extremely broad. As long as one learned the art of the Array, it was like holding a key to the gates of cultivation.
To use a phrase from his past life, it was like mastering the core technology.
The second reason was, of course, the Spirit Cultivation Map.
The Spirit Cultivation Map could capture and analyze Magic, including Arrays, which would greatly reduce the difficulty of studying them.
After everyone had answered, Elder Wu smiled and muttered to himself, ’Not bad. No one chose any particularly obscure arts. I won’t have to go to the trouble of inviting special instructors.’
From then on, after their morning lessons each day, the disciples would go to the various Transmission Halls to listen to senior disciples lecture on the Daoist Arts.
After starting to learn about Arrays, Zhao Lin knew he had made the right choice.
Arrays are solidified forms of Magic inscribed upon mountains and rivers, or on various Magical Artifacts. They follow the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the principles of yin and yang, the five elements, the eight trigrams, and so on.
The art of the Array used a lot of spatial and directional knowledge, which had much in common with the bagua footwork diagrams Zhao Lin had studied as a martial artist. It even required some knowledge of geometry, which Zhao Lin had also learned in his previous life.
Most ordinary disciples found Arrays extremely difficult to learn at first, but for Zhao Lin, it was much easier.
However, this was only relatively speaking. Arrays were endlessly complex and profound. Setting up even the simplest Array was by no means an overnight task.
A month passed in a flash.
The medicinal effects of the Jade Marrow Pill wore off. Zhao Lin had opened three Spiritual Acupoints of the third layer, and his cultivation speed was among the fastest of the disciples.
The elders and disciples knew he had taken a Jade Marrow Pill, so no one found his progress strange.
’Having pills really makes a difference,’ Zhao Lin thought. ’It just goes to show: if talent isn’t enough, pills can make up for it.’
Zhao Lin roughly estimated that if his cultivation went smoothly, he could break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer by the middle of next year at the latest, becoming a cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.
This cultivation speed didn’t seem slow, but cultivation grew more difficult the further one progressed. Many people could reach the Middle Stage of Qi Refining within three years, but each subsequent layer would take them more than three years to break through.
’Cultivation is a race against time. I’ll be thirty-four next year. I have to speed up!’
...
One day, as Zhao Lin was leaving his training chamber, he saw Dean Zhou and Elder Nie escorting a cultivator in a purple robe out of the Spirit Dao Institute.
Zhao Lin quickly bowed and stepped to the side of the road to let the three of them pass.
For the Dean and the Dao Supervisor to personally see him off, this purple-robed cultivator’s status was clearly not low.
The Daoist robes of Chenghua Sect cultivators had a set style. Qi Refining Realm disciples generally wore brightly colored robes in green, cyan, blue, brown, or white.
Foundation Establishment cultivators wore relatively plain black or gray robes, Purple Mansion Realm cultivators wore deep purple, and Golden Core Cultivators wore bright yellow.
These were not mandatory rules, but most people followed this custom and would not easily overstep these conventions.
Based on this, the purple-robed cultivator’s cultivation level should be the Purple Mansion Realm.
The purple-robed cultivator was not particularly tall. He had a square face, a straight nose, and a well-defined mouth, and he carried himself with an imposing aura.
"There is no need for you two to see me out. I will take my Spiritual Vessel from here."
The purple-robed cultivator stopped at the entrance of the Spirit Dao Institute and spoke.
"Take care, Elder Lu. We hope you will visit and instruct us again when you have the chance."
Dean Zhou and Elder Nie said in unison.
"’Instruct’ is too strong a word. I was once a disciple of the Spirit Dao Institute myself."
The purple-robed cultivator smiled and began to walk away.
’A Purple Mansion Realm elder... surname Lu... also from the Spirit Dao Institute in the Han Red Realm!’
Zhao Lin’s heart skipped a beat. A name flashed through his mind: Lu Yuanxiu!
Lu Yuanxiu was the Sect Leader of the Xingyun Sect over a hundred years ago, and also a Martial Grandmaster.
Just like Zhao Lin, Lu Yuanxiu had entered the path of cultivation through martial arts. He was now a Purple Mansion Realm elder in Nanhe Province.
’It must be him!’
Upon confirming the man’s identity, Zhao Lin’s first impulse was to go forward and reveal his own origins, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
Approaching him directly like this would not only be impolite but would also give the impression of a sycophant trying to curry favor. It would be better not to reveal himself at all.
’First impressions are important,’ he thought. ’I must act with caution.’
But he couldn’t just let an opportunity like this slip away.
Putting aside the immense help he could receive from having such a senior as a patron, as they were both Martial Cultivators, even a few words of guidance would save him from many detours on his path.
Zhao Lin quickly came up with an idea. In a voice just loud enough to be heard, he said, "I will surely take first place in this assembly... Yanhe, twelfth year."
Hearing this, the purple-robed cultivator’s steps faltered. He seemed to fall into a memory for a moment, then suddenly whipped his head around, his sharp gaze locking onto Zhao Lin.
"You are a Martial Cultivator from the Han Red Realm?"
’It worked!’
Zhao Lin was overjoyed but kept a calm expression. He took a few steps forward, bowed, and said, "Disciple Zhao Lin greets Elder. This disciple is indeed a Martial Cultivator from the Xingyun Sect in the Han Red Realm."
The purple-robed cultivator raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on his face. "You know who I am?"
"You are Elder Lu."
Years ago, when Zhao Lin was in Xiuzhao for a martial arts tournament, he had found an inscription carved into the back of a chair in the courtyard of his residence: "Lu Yuanxiu of the Xingyun Sect was here, twelfth year of Yanhe. I will surely take first place in this assembly!"
Over a hundred years ago, Lu Yuanxiu had also rested in that room. He himself had carved those words.
If Zhao Lin had simply introduced himself, Lu Yuanxiu would have only seen him as an ordinary junior Martial Cultivator. He might have paid him some brief attention at most, but he wouldn’t have given it much thought.
But by revealing it this way, it created a sense of wondrous serendipity, a kind of miraculous fate connecting the two of them. The impression it made was completely different.
"Haha, that would be me."
Lu Yuanxiu smiled, sizing up Zhao Lin with great interest. He nodded and said, "You’re very clever."
With that, he turned to Dean Zhou and Elder Nie. "I was about to leave, but since I’ve run into a junior Martial Cultivator, I’ll impose on you for a while longer and catch up with this young friend."
Zhou Hongfang quickly replied, "It is our greatest wish; we would not have dared to ask."