Chapter 329: Chapter 327: Post-War Summary
"Originally, I was still thinking about what to do with the Five Crystal Glaze Body after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm... whether to ruthlessly cripple the technique or find some other way, a path different from the original."
Blood seeped continuously from all over Master Ge Cang’s body, dyeing his green Daoist robe red.
It looked terrifying, but it was not life-threatening.
The Five Crystal Permanent Casting Body and the Glazed Fire Divine Body could be said to have penetrated the very marrow of a cultivator; every inch of skin, every piece of flesh, and every section of bone was affected.
If not for a technique as tyrannical as the Pink Crystal Shattering Jade Technique, it would not have been easy to cripple one’s own cultivation technique under normal circumstances.
Having cultivated it to the Fourth Layer Realm, the changes to the physical body were one thing. But as for the Five Crystal Divine Iron and Glazed Fire Jade that had already permanently manifested in the Sea of Consciousness, how to make them disappear without causing the Sea of Consciousness to collapse was an unsolvable problem.
The effects of having the Five Crystal Glaze Body crippled would require at least ten to twenty years of recuperation to recover from.
After that, it would be very difficult for Master Ge Cang to once again possess the kind of strength that had allowed him to dominate the Core Formation Stage.
His previous ability to recklessly activate the Qiantian Primordial Yang Divine Thunder Net was due to two profound secrets, aside from his Thunder Skill Realm being far superior to others.
The first was the True Dao. By transforming his body into Jianmu to nourish all things, the Divine Thunder never had to worry about a lack of follow-up power.
Even Tribulation Crossing Celestial Thunder could not last forever. The so-called "endless life" of the Spirit Transformation Divine Thunder was only in comparison to others.
When in combat, if your Thunder Skill was extinguished and you had to rely entirely on the Divine Thunder to re-gather Thunder Element Spiritual Power and manifest again, it would be far too late.
The Great Dao of Wood Nourishes All Things allowed Master Ge Cang’s True Essence, when used to power his Thunder Skills, to be at least equivalent to that of three or four Perfect Core Formation Cultivators combined.
The second was the powerful physical body granted by the Five Crystal Glaze Body, which allowed him to disregard the berserk Thunder Element Spiritual Power and simply push the might of the Qiantian Primordial Yang Divine Thunder Net to its absolute limit.
Take the cultivators of the Central Domain’s Celestial Thunder Sect, who were famous for their Thunder Skills. They claimed to have inherited the Thunder God Dao Lineage from the Upper Realm and possessed seventeen types of Thunder Skills through which one could comprehend Great Dao True Intent.
But all cultivators in the Central Domain knew that the disciples of the Celestial Thunder Sect typically only displayed seventy percent of their true strength.
Because with any more, the might of their Thunder Skills would injure them before it injured the enemy. Few cultivators could withstand it.
Only in a life-and-death battle would they let loose and unleash the full power of their Divine Thunder.
Thunder Spiritual Roots were not rare there. The most famous True Monarchs in the Celestial Thunder Sect’s history all possessed the Thunder Element Holy Body; they only had to wait until after Nascent Soul formation to transform their bodies into Divine Thunder, becoming nearly immune to Thunder Skills and capable of manifesting a Celestial Tribulation.
Of course, Master Ge Cang’s Five Crystal Glaze Body was not as absurd as a Thunder Element Holy Body, but before the Nascent Soul Realm, it was an absolutely overpowered existence.
Of course, with only the Void and Reality True Meaning, Master Ge Cang was still a top-tier Core Formation Cultivator in the Northern Domain.
He just was no longer on the level where, even in the Central Domain, his strength was comparable to that of a Saint Heir from a Super Major Sect.
But if he could form a Nascent Soul, this path to the Nascent Soul Realm would be purer and more direct.
"Especially you, Junior Brother Bai. With your strength, you will collect many Cultivation Techniques and Divine Powers in the future. The ones you deem worthy of cultivating will be at the level of touching upon Great Dao True Intent... The more this is the case, the more cautious you must be, especially after reaching Core Formation Perfection."
Master Ge Cang pointed at his Daoist robe, and a flicker of Thunder Radiance coiled out, evaporating all the blood.
"With your aptitude, if you were in a Nascent Soul Major Sect, a master would have already planned the optimal path for you and warned you of these things long ago... Our sect, being a new branch founded by Ancestor Qingfeng, has no such legacy. I could only inform you after testing the path step by step myself. In a way, the Sect has somewhat wasted your talent."
"From now on, there will be less and less that I can guide you on. We can only rely on our joint efforts to help the junior disciples avoid some of these detours."
"Brother Ge, you speak too gravely. Without the Sect, how could I be where I am today... I will be more cautious in my future cultivation choices."
Bai Zichen knew what Master Ge Cang meant. It wasn’t just about the Five Crystal Glaze Body.
Some ordinary Magic, no matter how high-tier, didn’t matter; they wouldn’t have much of an impact.
But Cultivation Techniques and Divine Powers on the level of the Five Crystal Glaze Body or the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword would clearly affect one’s path of the Great Dao.
If one simply coveted combat strength and endlessly accumulated techniques, upon reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, any conflicting or incompatible ones would instead become a burden.
’Fortunately, I’ve sorted through everything I’ve learned. The Qing Emperor Longevity Sword is the least problematic; my own Pill Discussion was even derived from the Power of Time, and it will only draw nourishment from this Supreme Divine Power.’
’From what I can see, while the Five Crystal Glaze Body doesn’t have a direct promoting effect like the Qing Emperor Longevity Sword, it definitely won’t cause any conflict or resistance.’
’My Main Cultivation Method is the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture. In the future, after my Fire Spiritual Root evolves into an Inferior Celestial Spiritual Root, it will certainly become the most outstanding of my Three-Element Spiritual Roots.’
’The rest are all related to the Sword Dao, which doesn’t involve the Five Elements and transcends Yin and Yang.’
’From the looks of it, there are no major conflicts yet.’
"Right, speaking of Ancestor Qingfeng, that’s actually why I returned this time..."
Bai Zichen took out the coffin and gently pushed the lid open with one palm, revealing the white bones within.
"A disciple provided a clue from Ten Thousand Immortals Creek. It was an accidental discovery from his youth. After my investigation, I can confirm that these remains belong to Ancestor Qingfeng... There are no other injuries on the remains. He passed away peacefully because he over-activated the Pink Crystal Shattering Jade Technique."
"In addition, I found the Ancestor’s personal sword and the matching Auxiliary Cultivation Technique for the Daoist Classic Cantongqi, the Tripod Song, near the remains."
"So it was indeed a lingering effect of the Pink Crystal Shattering Jade Technique. Junior Brother Bai, if you had arrived a moment later today, I would have suffered the same fate."
Master Ge Cang walked to the coffin, reached out to gently touch the white bones, and felt the spiderweb-like fine lines.
He didn’t even need to look at the Qingfeng Sword and Jade Lock that Bai Zichen took out to be certain of the remains’ identity.
"How did Ancestor Qingfeng’s remains end up in Hejian County? Back then, Senior Brother Yang seemed to mention that when the Ancestor’s lifespan was nearing its end, he went deep into Black Mountain, saying he would perish together with a Tier Three Peak Demon Beast with a powerful bloodline..."
"That story must be flawed. Brother Ge, you’ll understand once you’ve read the contents of the Tripod Song... If Ancestor Qingfeng had intended to never return, he would never have carried this Auxiliary Cultivation Technique with him, causing it to be lost to the Sect."
Bai Zichen hadn’t expected the story passed down in the Sect to describe Ancestor Qingfeng’s death in this way.
This indirectly suggested that the Qingfeng Sect had not encountered a mortal enemy back then, but that there was another reason.
Master Ge Cang took the Jade Lock, glanced at it quickly, and said after a moment of contemplation, "It seems the rumors were wrong. With this technique, every Core Formation True Man should at least be able to cultivate the Daoist Classic Cantongqi to the fourth volume... Actually, after I cultivated the Five Crystal Glaze Body to the fourth layer, I had already wondered about the truth of that story. If there was a Tier Three Demon Beast that one couldn’t handle even after achieving the Glazed Fire Divine Body, how powerful must its bloodline have been?"
As the person in the Sect with the highest cultivation realm in the Daoist Classic Cantongqi, Master Ge Cang immediately gave a precise assessment.
"But who could have forced Ancestor Qingfeng to such an extent that he had to use the Pink Crystal Shattering Jade Technique so much that he ultimately lost his life...?"
As a cultivator who had just used the Pink Crystal Shattering Jade Technique himself, Master Ge Cang was the most qualified to speak on this matter.
Previously, when facing True Monarch Jiulian, if he had disregarded the Sect and focused solely on escaping, there was actually a high probability he could have gotten away.
After all, True Monarch Jiulian’s Nascent Soul Realm was invincible against Core Formation True Men, but Master Ge Cang’s strength at that time was equal to an Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator’s; he was fully capable of breaking through that small world’s Forbidden and escaping.
"I wonder if there are any secret records about this in the Transmission Hall?"
"I’ll summon Ying Zhong! If the Transmission Hall has any secrets passed down orally and not written on paper, he, as the Hall Master, will definitely know!"
Wei Dao stood up excitedly. The recovery of the Tripod Song was a direct benefit to the Core Formation Ancestors like them.
He and Zhou Suqing, in particular, would see the greatest improvement.
As for Bai Zichen and Master Ge Cang, their strength was such that they didn’t particularly need the boost from cultivating the Daoist Classic Cantongqi to the fourth volume.
"No need to be so hasty. We can ask him later... Even Senior Brother Yang didn’t know the truth, so I doubt the Transmission Hall has any secret information passed down."
Master Ge Cang waved his hand, speaking in a relatively calm manner.
"I’ve already used my own contribution to reward the disciple for the Qingfeng Sword... As for how many Contribution Points to award for presenting the Tripod Song, that will have to be discussed by the Transmission Hall."
Bai Zichen brought this up and then stated his own opinion.
"As for the Tripod Song, I think it should first be opened unconditionally to Core Formation Cultivators. The Sect Leader and the Five Halls Masters can read it for a price, but for now, it should not be opened to the broader Foundation Establishment Disciple population."
"Fine, you can handle it as you see fit."
Master Ge Cang was noncommittal; he never expressed opinions on such matters.
"Junior Brother Bai is very thoughtful. Since the Daoist Classic Cantongqi is only effective for Core Formation Cultivators, it should naturally be distinguished from other cultivation techniques."
Wei Dao nodded in agreement. Now, when he heard the words of this junior brother who could slay a Nascent Soul True Monarch with his sword, his first instinct was to obey.
"Also, I’ve collected True Monarch Jiulian’s body. I found that he only had his Lifebound Magical Treasure with him, not even a single storage bag..."
"A pity. If only he’d been carrying a Spiritual Treasure... We’ve already completely fallen out with the Holy Lotus Sect anyway. We could have just taken the Spiritual Treasure as a spoil of war, and our Sect would have a Sect’s Treasure."
Bai Zichen wasn’t surprised by this. When he had drawn his sword, he had sensed True Monarch Jiulian’s remaining lifespan through the River of Time.
It was less than a 60-Year Cycle, and it was still rapidly draining away, like a kettle with a hole that could no longer hold water.
He probably left Qi Mountain with the mentality of never returning, intending to finish all his business before he passed. He must have already distributed all his possessions and left them at Qi Mountain.
Furthermore, in True Monarch Jiulian’s mind, dealing with the Qingfeng Sect personally was a simple task that required no effort, so there was no need to bring out a Spiritual Treasure.
"It’s a good thing he didn’t have a Spiritual Treasure, or True Monarch Jiulian would have dismantled my old bones..."
Master Ge Cang shook his head with a wry smile.
"True. Senior Brother Wei, if people from the Holy Lotus Sect come, just start with a high price. We can’t do anything about Qi Mountain’s Tier Four Array for now, so it’s always good to squeeze out more resources... In any case, it’s the body of a Nascent Soul Ancestor. If the Holy Lotus Sect doesn’t bleed a little this time, how can they show the esteemed status of True Monarch Jiulian?"