Chapter 279: Chapter 279: An Audacious Lord
Xu Yunfan’s voice rang with the clang of a hammer forging Refined Iron. "The anvils of the Celestial Craft Cave will always be the starting point of my Martial Dao."
"Good, good, good!"
Zhan Yan took the teacup and drained it in a single gulp.
In the time that followed, Bi Yuan and Zhan Yan discussed in detail the forging orders the Celestial Craft Cave’s Weapon Casting Hall had taken on.
Bi Yuan then took out a Taoist Sect Token, proposing that the Celestial Craft Cave affiliate itself with the Taoist Sect to operate in the Mortal World.
This would undoubtedly bring the Celestial Craft Cave many conveniences.
It’s nice to rest in the shade of a large tree, but doing so would use up goodwill.
Though inwardly shaken, Zhan Yan politely refused the kind offer without hesitation. He understood this special treatment was proposed only for Xu Yunfan’s sake, and that such a favor should not be consumed so lightly.
Seeing this, Bi Yuan didn’t insist. The two sides instead began drinking and chatting merrily. Their conversation flowed from the Guest Hall to the banquet, where host and guest enjoyed themselves in a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.
The night was as black as ink. The evening wind of Qingwei Mountain swept through the courtyard, carrying the soughing of the pines.
After escorting Zhan Yan back to his guest room, Xu Yunfan walked out of the courtyard gate and looked up.
Bi Yuan stood at the end of the bluestone path, his hands clasped behind his back. The sleeves of his Profound Daoist Robe gleamed with a faint blue light in the moonlight, seeming to merge as one with the ambient qi flowing through the mountains.
Three inches from his feet, a few withered leaves moved without wind, slowly tracing a distinct trajectory as if expounding some profound principle or demonstrating an exquisite teaching. The ambient qi of a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Grandmaster would naturally trigger an Anomaly, causing the world itself to narrate its secrets.
Xu Yunfan stopped and saw the Tongxuan Seal between Bi Yuan’s eyebrows, faintly visible in the darkness like a star falling into a deep pool.
The sea of clouds on the mountain peak suddenly surged downward, condensing into a half-foot-high Spiritual Mist at Bi Yuan’s feet.
Within the mist, thousands of dormant Sword Auras flickered like fireflies, casting his moonlit face in shifting light and shadow.
"Master?"
Bi Yuan nodded slightly, then said, "Yunfan, when it comes to Martial Arts, the sooner one starts, the better. I must now test your skills to map out a training path for you, so you can step into Nine Realms Qi Cultivation in the shortest possible time..."
His voice grew increasingly grave. "When the Celestial Demon arrives, only a Nine Realm Qi Cultivator will be able to seize a chance at survival from its ’Ten Thousand Tribulations Melting Furnace’."
At this, Bi Yuan met Xu Yunfan’s gaze and said seriously, "I won’t hide this from you. Regarding the matter of the Empress, while our Taoist Sect did not condone it, neither did we stop it. We simply stood by and watched."
’Hearing this, Xu Yunfan naturally understood what Bi Yuan meant. To put it bluntly,’ he thought, ’they used another’s hand to commit a sin against the world, all while reaping the benefits for themselves.’
Seeing Xu Yunfan remain silent, Bi Yuan didn’t seem to mind and continued, "Right now, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit is rising from the Earth Veins, but in several decades, it will inevitably recede back into the earth. For the three hundred years that follow, the world will fall into a vacuum period, an End of the Dharma."
Here, Bi Yuan’s tone lowered slightly. "The time to seek a true opportunity for Longevity is now. Once this period has passed, there will truly be no other chances. Those with fanciful ideas, who attempt to prolong their Vitality through hibernation, corpse liberation, or other such methods, are merely scooping the moon from the water."
"Alright."
Bi Yuan flicked his sleeve lightly. "Go on, tell me what you’ve learned."
Xu Yunfan thought for a moment and decided not to hide anything he was currently cultivating, with the sole exception of the Linn Character Technique.
"Master, after I cultivated the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique to Perfection, I stepped into the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm. While in the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, I obtained the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill from Jingming of Mituo Temple. I have now achieved initial mastery."
Bi Yuan nodded slightly. He had visited Mituo Temple in the past, so he could naturally tell that the resonance of Xu Yunfan’s Jade Bone Chime was clearly from the path of the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill.
He asked casually, "Jingming... I know of her. The top practitioner of her generation at Mituo Temple. How did you obtain the skill?"
Xu Yunfan was a little embarrassed, but he knew that lying in the presence of a Ninth Realm Supreme Grandmaster was nearly impossible. He said,
"I... tortured her a little. She couldn’t take it and told me."
"Wouldn’t she have faked it?"
"I was afraid of that, so I made her repeat it four or five times and used a special method to verify its authenticity. She did hide the key aspects at first, but in the end, she told me everything."
"..."
The corner of Bi Yuan’s eye twitched as he listened. He stared hard for a moment at Xu Yunfan’s pure and innocent-looking eyes.
He couldn’t help but ask, "And what happened to her?"
"Uh, she accidentally fell into the Earth Fire of a Melting Furnace and was burned to nothing. But rest assured, Master, no one knows about it."
"...That’s no problem, then. A man must eventually experience blood and fire. I’ve met that Jingming. She cultivated the Enlightenment Technique, which made quite a few Mortal Wandering Heroes fall at her feet."
As Bi Yuan said this, the corner of his eye held a hint of mockery.
"A nun, playing such games... she got what she deserved."
Then he said, "Putting that aside, the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill is truly in a class of its own within the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm. It has the effect of altering one’s root bones and changing one’s Constitution. A fine acquisition, a very fine acquisition!"
After a pause, Bi Yuan asked again, "What else?"
"...I actually also have a technique for Refining the Internal Organs."
"Oh?"
Bi Yuan was surprised. ’This disciple of mine can actually manage to be self-sufficient?!’
"What is it?"
"...The Sword Pavilion’s Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique. I heard it can make one’s five organs as clear as glass, reforge the Five Elements, and grant a chance to recultivate."
"The Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique?!"
Bi Yuan was clearly losing his composure. When he had left the mountain years ago to visit the Sword Pavilion, it was precisely to borrow this True Technique. Unfortunately, the old ancestor of the Sword Pavilion had refused at all costs, even fighting a duel with him over it. Although the ancestor had lost by half a move, it was still enough to prove how astonishingly powerful he was.
"Where did you get it?"
Xu Yunfan coughed lightly to hide his awkwardness.
"I obtained it from Pei Yan of the Sword Pavilion."
"...And him?"
"Uh, he also accidentally fell into the Earth Fire in the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. I even tried to pull him out."
’He was indeed pulling him,’ he mused. ’Pulling him so he couldn’t climb back to safety.’
"..."
After a long silence, Xu Yunfan looked at the speechless Bi Yuan and was the first to speak, asking tentatively, "Master, would you like to see the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique?"
Bi Yuan slowly shook his head. "It would have been useful to me 60 years ago. Now, it’s nothing more than scrap paper."
After a pause, he finally couldn’t resist asking, "No one found out, did they?"
Xu Yunfan grinned. "There aren’t even any Guardians in the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. Everyone relies on their own abilities, so of course no one would find out. Besides, the Secret Realm is now on the verge of Destruction. Most of the people inside are probably dead already."
Bi Yuan nodded. ’If word of this gets out,’ he thought, ’the Sword Pavilion and Mituo Temple will definitely come knocking. The slightest misstep could even trigger a war between the Sects. The matter of the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm’s imminent Destruction must also be concealed. After all, it’s only on the verge of collapse; there are still many places inside for people to shelter, especially near the entrances and exits used by the major Sects.’
He gave Xu Yunfan a few words of caution, and after Xu Yunfan agreed, he asked again.
"What else have you learned?"
"Uh, there’s also the Nine Luminaries Swallowing Qi Technique, and the Nine Luminaries and Ten Capitals..."
"Alright, that’s enough!"
Bi Yuan immediately cut off Xu Yunfan, who was about to spill these world-shaking secrets like pouring out beans. He clutched his chest. For decades, he had tempered his body until it was flawless and pure, yet now, hearing Xu Yunfan’s words, he felt an inexplicable ache in his heart.
’This wasn’t taking on a monstrously talented genius,’ he lamented internally, ’this was taking on an audacious, unscrupulous menace!’
