Chapter 305: Inconceivable
Chen Beiwu frowned slightly, pondering in silence.
He did not know whether it had been a coincidence, or whether his master had done it deliberately.
Choosing between these two cultivation thods was strange—one was far too aggressive, the other far too steady. Both were extres, and there was not even a single moderate immortal law for cultivation.
After hesitating for a mont, Chen Beiwu bowed slightly. “As Master said, these two foundational immortal laws each conceal their own mysteries. This disciple was willing to cultivate both.”
Only children made choices.
Chen Beiwu chose to combine the aggression and the steadiness of the two foundational immortal laws—he wanted both the huge upside and the huge safety net.
Hearing that, Changqing True Venerable remained calm, looking at Chen Beiwu with a hint of amused interest.
Biting off more than one could chew was no joke—how could the Dao be treated like a child’s play?
To Immortal Alliance cultivators, choosing a companion foundational thod was equivalent to choosing their path of cultivation. Generally, they would not change it lightly, nor cultivate multiple foundational thods at once—unless the two foundational thods could complent and enhance each other.
But those who had forged the Yuanshi Golden Core were an exception.
The Yuqing Nine Revolutions Yuanshi Pill Canon recorded: “When the pill is ford as Yuanshi, it is the root of the Dao. Obtaining the Dao of the One, all phenona are mutually understood. Grasp the Yuanshi root, and all laws are unimpeded—like a tree branching out: though it bears a thousand branches and ten thousand leaves, it ultimately returns to one root, and that root is Yuanshi.”
Simply put, ordinary Golden Core True Persons could not change their foundational thod.
But those who had forged the Yuanshi Golden Core could freely alter thods and switch to other foundational immortal laws.
Because no matter what the intent of all companion immortal laws might be, no matter what source Dao fruit they pointed toward, in the end they would never depart from the nature of the Yuanshi Golden Core’s “One.”
“Are you sure?” Changqing True Venerable smiled. “The Yuanshi Golden Core can contain ten thousand laws. Yet greedily seeking too much may also delay your cultivation.”
An extraordinary person did extraordinary things.
If an ordinary disciple dared to propose cultivating two thods together, he would have scolded and warned them, cutting off the thought entirely.
But one who had forged the Yuanshi Golden Core truly deserved the treatnt of an unparalleled prodigy.
It was only two immortal laws. Since Chen Beiwu was willing to attempt dual cultivation, as his master, he would not stop him—he would only tell him the difficulty involved.
“This disciple was sure.” Chen Beiwu nodded.
“Very well. Since you have such ambition, I will not stop you.”
With a movent of Changqing True Venerable’s divine sense, another jade slip appeared in Chen Beiwu’s hand out of thin air. “These are so of my insights and reflections from comprehending the Primordial Evergreen Spirit-Commanding Immortal Scripture.”
“Thank you, Master, for granting a treasure.”
Chen Beiwu put away the jade slip and bowed respectfully.
Master was no ordinary Divine Transformation True Venerable, but a cultivation titan only one step away from breaking through to a Void-Refining Dao Venerable.
Such an existence’s insights and reflections on the Primordial Evergreen Spirit-Commanding Immortal Scripture were priceless. They would be of trendous help in his comprehension of the immortal law—no amount of thanks would be excessive.
“There are twelve cave dwellings within Qingming Peak. Eight are currently vacant. You may choose one to reside in.”
Changqing True Venerable nodded slightly. With a light sweep of his sleeve, a landscape scroll of ink-wash mist and rosy clouds slowly unfurled, revealing the many spiritual veins and cave dwellings of Qingming Peak.
“This disciple chose Water Proliferation Residence.”
With a sweep of his divine sense, Chen Beiwu quickly chose a quiet cave dwelling near a mid-mountain waterfall, connected to the sect’s grand formation—Water Proliferation Residence—instead of the peak-top cave dwelling Immortal Fate Residence, which lay closer to the minor grotto-heaven where Heaven-and-Earth spiritual impetus was richest.
In the next instant, the ink-wash scroll dissipated, transforming into a cave-dwelling token that fell into Chen Beiwu’s palm.
“When the pill is ford as Yuanshi, it is seen once in ten thousand years. Within the sect, there would be those who envied you—and there would certainly be no shortage of those who were jealous.”
Changqing True Venerable stood with hands behind his back, turning toward the clouds and霞 in the sky. “The Yuqing Immortal Sect is an orthodox Daoist sect, yet its powers are intertwined like roots and vines. Factions stand in rows, undercurrents churn.
“Your achievent has shaken the Thirteen Immortal Sects by na, but it has also, invisibly, blocked so people’s paths.”
“I am currently at a critical point in seclusion and have no ti to watch external affairs. From now on, when you walk outside, you must keep your eyes sharp and your mind clear, act cautiously, and avoid being plotted against.”
“Master’s teachings—this disciple understood.” Chen Beiwu’s expression tightened as he bowed. “When a tree stands out in the forest, the wind will surely break it. In the future, this disciple will surely conceal his light and nurture his darkness, examine himself daily, rein in his edge, and not engage in pointless disputes.”
Yet after hearing that, Master slowly shook his head.
“Foolish child.” Changqing True Venerable sighed softly. “From what I said, you only realized half. You still did not fully understand.”
Chen Beiwu looked up in surprise, staring at his master’s back.
“I told you to act cautiously so you would not needlessly invite trouble—not so you would rein in your edge.”
“Caution is not yielding, much less letting you lose your unbending Dao backbone.
“My Dongming Changqing lineage’s disciples must act with reason and grounds, hold themselves upright and correct. Then there is no need to fear any person or any power.”
Changqing True Venerable’s tone was flat, yet carried an unquestionable firmness. “If so old undying thing dares to deliberately make things hard for you and plot against a junior, there is no need to stubbornly endure, and no need to have any concerns—directly report my True Venerable title.”
“As long as you hold to a single word—‘reason’—even if a Void-Refining Dao Venerable of the Immortal Alliance arrives in person, even if a Dao Venerable Immortal Family attacks, you need not yield even half a step.”
“Of course, if you commit a grave mistake, I will be powerless.”
At that, Master paused slightly and turned to look at Chen Beiwu.
“However, my Changqing disciple—no matter how many faults, no matter how many errors—will be disciplined by , his master. It is not for outsiders to overstep and punish my disciple on my behalf. Do you understand now?”
Chen Beiwu froze in place. A warm current surged in his chest, as though countless emotions were churning.
Regardless of how much of Master’s words had been sincere, the feeling of having a backer’s protection was truly not bad.
The Guarding-the-One Mirror’s light cleansed dust and purified thoughts, extinguishing the stray thoughts in his heart. Chen Beiwu bowed, speaking from the heart:
“This disciple understood.”
“Go.”
Changqing True Venerable nodded slightly, watching Chen Beiwu’s figure disappear.
At that mont, Qingming Grotto-Heaven returned to silence. Only the rustling of mountain wind through ancient pines and the sound of flowing water in the clear pool remained.
“Weng.”
Just then, rings of transparent ripples spread through the space at Changqing True Venerable’s side.
A massive dragon head silently extended out from a crack in space.
“That child was hiding quite a few secrets,” the Qingming Flood Dragon said.
“Mm.”
Changqing True Venerable did not even turn his head, only responding lightly.
The Qingming Flood Dragon rotated its head slightly, its eyes locking onto Changqing True Venerable.
“You were quite broad-minded. You did not care at all about the secret behind your disciple forging the Yuanshi Golden Core. You did not even have the slightest thought of probing it. Aren’t you afraid of missing an opportunity?”
Changqing True Venerable’s expression did not change in the slightest.
After a mont, he spoke slowly, his tone calm. “He is my disciple.”
The Qingming Flood Dragon’s mind shook.
Those six words sounded casual, yet they weighed heavier than an immortal mountain, making it feel an unshakable certainty that admitted no doubt.
“Since Chen Beiwu has entered my lineage and inherited my Dao tradition, his opportunities and fortune can also beco the flourishing of our vein. What difference is there between knowing and not knowing?” Changqing True Venerable smiled faintly.
“That was the Yuanshi Golden Core. You were truly not curious at all?” the Qingming Flood Dragon asked in a low voice.
“So what if it is the Yuanshi Golden Core? In the end, it is still only a Golden Core.”
Changqing True Venerable raised a hand slightly. There was no radiance or imposing might at his fingertips, yet it was as if he were holding up the entirety of Qingming Grotto-Heaven.
“My Dao is Dongming Changqing. What I take is the true intent of Heaven-and-Earth’s withering-and-flourishing cycle, and eternal evergreen that does not perish across the ages.
“This Dao is a dignified, upright, invincible Path to Heavenly Immortality. It is the strongest path of cultivation I have proven by companioning Heaven and Earth, and validating it with you all through tribulation after tribulation. In the future, it will not be inferior to Dao Venerable Yuanshi’s Yuanshi Great Dao.”
Changqing True Venerable’s gaze t the flood dragon’s pupils.
“Chen Beiwu’s opportunity is his fortune. To , it is rely a slightly strange flower among a sea of blooms. No matter how strange, could it be stranger than Heaven and Earth themselves? No matter how strong, could it surpass the Dao’s root source and help break through to the Void-Refining Dao Venerable?”
“In the end, it is rely a junior’s secret. If he is willing to speak, I will listen. If he is unwilling, I will not force it.”
“To covet a junior’s opportunity—that is sothing only trash with an unsteady Dao heart, whose road ahead is already severed, would do.”
Hearing those overbearing words and seeing Changqing True Venerable’s matter-of-fact expression, the Qingming Flood Dragon exhaled a breath of turbid air.
“No wonder it was you.” Its tone was complicated.
“There is no need for that exaggerated praise. The reason you have not broken through your bloodline shackles for so long is because your heart is too scattered.”
Changqing True Venerable chuckled. “Speak. What exactly did you test out?”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t care about a junior’s opportunity?” the Qingming Flood Dragon looked up, speechless.
“Not caring about the secret does not an not caring about the person.” Changqing True Venerable shook his head. “I only want to know your evaluation of him.”
“Inconceivable… it could even be called terrifying!”
The Qingming Flood Dragon narrowed its eyes. “I have seen countless Immortal Alliance powerhouses and prodigies. In terms of comprehension, he could rank within the top three. This sort of aptitude has already surpassed the scope of re bones and roots—so it was not strange that he forged the Yuanshi Golden Core.”
“Oh? Since you believe Chen Beiwu’s comprehension is monstrous, then the secret opportunity you ntioned earlier was…?” Changqing True Venerable lifted his eyes, interested.
“Heh heh—The Immortal Alliance is only so big. Where would so many opportunities and fortunes co from? What I said earlier was just to test whether your Dao heart was firm, so that when the ti cos, your Dao heart won’t collapse and you fail breaking through to Dao Venerable—and drag my life down with you.”
The Qingming Flood Dragon shrank its head, speaking the plain truth.
“You, you…”
Changqing True Venerable sighed with a smile and shook his head.
As his cultivation grew higher, his seclusions grew longer. Such pointless teasing between friends had beco rarer and rarer.
Among all his Companion Beasts, the Qingming Flood Dragon was relatively good-natured—an atmosphere-maker. Occasionally it would say sothing startling and make one laugh.
That was also why Changqing True Venerable had renad this minor grotto-heaven as Qingming Grotto-Heaven.
…
Qingming Peak, Water Proliferation Residence.
Water vapor drifted all around, and Heaven-and-Earth spiritual impetus was astonishingly dense.
A ten-thousand-zhang flying waterfall hung like a galactic river, thundering with ear-splitting roar.
Chen Beiwu took out the cave-dwelling token and released the formation restrictions. The rapid waterfall imdiately split its flow, revealing a cave passage wide enough for ten people to pass through.
At the end of the passage, an ancient, vast courtyard could be faintly seen.
Chen Beiwu stepped inside. The first thing that t his eyes was an elegant little courtyard of green bamboo.
Within the courtyard stood five bamboo rooms centered around a spring-eye that continuously surged with milky-white spiritual泉.
Each room’s plaque bore a note—Alchemy Room, Talisman-Making Room, Forging Room, Array-Drawing Room, and Cultivation Room.
Passing the bamboo rooms, behind the bamboo courtyard lay a dicinal field of about ten mu.
“Na!”
Slling the aura of great dicines, the Five Qi Vine jumped off Chen Beiwu’s shoulder at once and charged toward the dicinal field.
“Don’t rush—run slower.” Chen Beiwu smiled.
At this mont, the field’s spiritual grasses and precious dicines had already been harvested clean by the previous owner. Only half of a charred black dead branch stood quietly in place.
“Na?” (Can you give this to ?)
The Five Qi Vine turned its head to look at Chen Beiwu, its tone excited, indicating that this dead branch could offset a debt of five precious dicines.
That was right—Chen Beiwu did not have many “laundered” precious dicines on him. At present, he still owed the Five Qi Vine ten precious dicines as wages.
Hearing that, Chen Beiwu’s smile vanished. He drove his divine sense toward the charred dead branch.
That little fellow did not like to take losses.
If it was willing to give up five precious dicines, it ant this charred dead branch had an extraordinary origin.
Yet no matter how Chen Beiwu swept it with divine sense, he could not see the slightest trace of wonder.
“Na?” (Trade or not?)
Seeing the Five Qi Vine’s tense little expression, Chen Beiwu lifted a brow. “You can have it, but you must tell what it is.”
“Na.”
The Five Qi Vine began explaining without hesitation.
Chen Beiwu imdiately understood, recalling the Fourth-Tier mystic herb [Withering-Vitality Branch] recorded in the Immortal Alliance Exotic Wilderness Profound Compendium · Strange Woods Record.
“There is a strange wood in the world, born in the burial soil of ten thousand ages, and born alongside the corpse remains of a Fortune-Origin Beast.
“It appears withered and charred, like ordinary mortal charcoal and rotten firewood, yet within it is hidden a thread of Dao rhythm of withering and flourishing. It can seize the marvel of the Five Elents’ cycle, and store a point of undying origin.”
In plain terms, when a Heavenly-Gang Mystic Beast that was naturally complete in the Five Elents carried a Withering-Vitality Branch, it could stimulate the bloodline’s origin core and awaken an exclusive mystic ability.
‘So that’s how it is. This Fourth-Tier mystic herb was most likely a gift from Master.’ Chen Beiwu thought to himself.
There were no coincidences without cause in this world.
The eight cave dwellings Master had allowed him to choose from likely all hid a welco gift upon entering the peak. He had chosen Water Proliferation Residence, and what he received was the Withering-Vitality Branch.
“Na.”
The Five Qi Vine swallowed and wrapped its vine-tip around Chen Beiwu, beginning to act cute.
The Golden Egg looked at the Five Qi Vine with disdain.
The newcor truly was crude—constantly asking Chen Beiwu for mystic herbs at every turn, not knowing the principle of loyal service to one’s lord.
If it were the Five Qi Vine, forget ntioning the debt of those ten precious dicines—it would even主动 offer up all the precious and mystic herbs within the Five Qi Grove to Chen Beiwu, to prove its unwavering loyalty.
The Iron Egg lay to the side, quietly watching the Five Qi Vine act cute.
It had no objections to the team gaining a newcor.
Aside from its bad habit of loving precious and mystic herbs, the Five Qi Vine’s strength, potential, temperant, and foundation were all quite good. It would not expose the secrets on its master’s body.
Moreover, without the Five Qi Vine’s help, the master would have needed at least twenty-eight years of seclusion before he could forge the Yuanshi Golden Core.
“Forget the trade. Not to ntion five precious dicines—even ten, even fifteen—none could compare to a single Fourth-Tier mystic herb.” Chen Beiwu shook his head.
“Na.”
The Five Qi Vine gritted its teeth, turned its back to Chen Beiwu, and revealed the Five Qi Grove behind it.
In order to obtain the Withering-Vitality Branch, not only could the debt of ten precious dicines be wiped clean, it could also let Chen Beiwu pick any five Third-Tier precious dicines from within the Five Qi Grove.
Seeing the Five Qi Vine’s body trembling slightly, looking like a miser in pain, Chen Beiwu smiled. He casually picked up the Withering-Vitality Branch from the dicinal field and planted it inside the little fellow’s Five Qi Grove.
“Na?”
The Five Qi Vine looked up in shock, blinking in confusion at Chen Beiwu’s action.
“You misunderstood. Fifteen precious dicines truly can’t trade for a mystic herb—but the bond between you and , how could it be compared to a single Withering-Vitality Branch?”
Chen Beiwu’s tone was gentle. “This thing benefits your growth. What I an is, don’t be distant by talking about exchange. If you want it, just take it and use it.”
The Five Qi Vine froze completely as an unprecedented feeling surged up in its heart.
It knew how precious the Withering-Vitality Branch was, so it naturally understood what Chen Beiwu’s act represented.
Value? Weighing? Exchange? All of those seed to pale beside the friendship between it and Chen Beiwu!
Seeing this, the Golden Egg and the Iron Egg exchanged a glance, their expressions saying it had been exactly as expected.
The hardest thing in the world was trading sincerity for sincerity.
Give it a little more ti—this Five Qi Vine, which seed arrogant and unruly but was actually starving for affection, would sooner or later beco “shaped like Chen Beiwu.”
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