Chapter 96 Blind, in These Mountains, to Calendared Days (1/2)

Even though Gu Caiwei did not know how powerful those with supernatural powers were, she was convinced that they would not be weaker than a Huandan cultivator. It was likely that they were part of land immortals, which meant that they would be someone like an immortal Zhenren.

There were many different and varying techniques of cultivation. It could be that one was restrained by the other simply due to the difference of the Dao path that they took. However, if one could defeat a lot of top cultivators, it would mean that one was near to the summit of cultivation, and there was no flaw at all, which would be close to the attainment of Dao.

Such a character would not be able to be constrained by the heaven and the earth.

”Senior Apprentice-Sister, you still have yet to say how the mystical use of Taixu Strategy came from,” Shen Lian queried.

”Junior Apprentice-Brother, what are your thoughts about your Qi of vitality when you are meditating and cultivating your Qi?” Gu Caiwei's vision flowed like water, and it fell on Shen Lian as she enquired gently.

”Senior Apprentice-Sister, are you asking about the eight powers of nature? They manifested in our world as the sky, earth, mountain, swamp, water, fire, wind, and lightning; they formed part of the world that we see now,” Shen Lian replied naturally. These eight powers were felt by him back when he had just entered Qing Xuan and was meditating and cultivating his Qi at the bamboo hut. When he was learning the Dao of Talisman, the Talismans were about tapping into these eight types of powers with the Qi of vitality to show its power.

The Talismans that he used earlier were all connected to these eight powers, or rather, most of the techniques or supernatural powers used by the cultivators and made them so special were all based on these eight powers.

”It is normal that you understood it that way as you are at the entry level of Dao of Talisman. However, the first step of Taixu Strategy was to cultivate these eight Qi into one's body in order for one to understand a strand of the Taixu Dao meaning. That would form part of your foundation for Huandan, and would allow for you to enter into the state of ”Ruhua”,” Gu Caiwei spoke.

The ones who entered into Ruhua, they were the ones who understood the spirit. Their techniques were activated by their spirit, which was why they could use any technique whenever they wanted to, without any blockage.

This was how Yan Bugui could form a Talisman with nothingness and could light it without any smoke or fire.

However, when the usage of technique was concerned, even if they were using the same Talisman, before Shen Lian had even completed one, Yan Bugui might already have used three or four of the Talismans.

Those who entered into Ruhua could use spells and supernatural powers as and when they wanted to and had the flair of Celestials.

******

Blind, in these mountains, to calendared days; Care not, as the cold wanes, what year it be!

Fifteen years had passed, and the Daoist assessment that took place once every five years had seen the same result ever since then. The top three were always Gu Caiwei, Yan Bugui, and Shen Lian.

Albeit unintentionally, Shen Lian became the most famed disciple who still had not attain the state of Huandan. His good character was the reason behind this. So long as he was not cultivating in solitary retreat, any of his fellow cultivators who approached him with cultivation-related questions would be met with open arms.

As those in the upper house were mostly related to the doyens, and were born with extremely favorable cultivation conditions, initially they were jealous about the rise of Shen Lian who appeared out of nowhere. However, even though Shen Lian was not the most diplomatic person ever, not even once did he look down on anyone, nor was he biased for or against anyone.

Some of the disciples had challenged him in secret but were easily defeated by him. However, Shen Lian had never spoken of these battle results in front of anyone.

If anything, it was the challenger disciples who felt ashamed by their action and had spilled the beans.

For that, they even faced punishment from the Disciplinary Hall.

The man in white, Zhao Siming had lost in his gamble against Lu Shouyi. Lu Shouyi reached a new understanding overnight and had sped up the growth of his spirit. He had now attained the state of Chushen, and was only one step away from being at Ruhua. He was not as good as Chen Jianmei was back then, but no one dared to question his eligibility as the disciple of the headmaster.

As for the young person who became Ge Yuan's disciple, his Daoist name was ”Zhao Wuji.” Though he had never joined the Dao assessment, and it would seem that the martial exercises he was cultivating did not belong to one of the one hundred and eight techniques of Qing Xuan. Ge Yuan too explicitly told him not to demonstrate his Dao technique in front of anyone.

Because of this, three of the senior disciples from Tianyuan Peak got into a fight with him. However, the outcome was shocking. Not only that Zhao Wuji emerged unscathed, those three almost had their Dao foundation destroyed. Two of the doyens approached Ge Yuan for that, and this showed the disciples how powerful Ge Yuan was.

Without anyone knowing, he entered into ”Buxu” without relying on any instrument or spells. He could stand on nothingness and defied Earth's gravity. Between breaths, he defeated the two Huandan doyens effortlessly.