"Ding Huan, I know you definitely have objections to how the Sect Master handled Dong Lishang and Gong Hua.
The Sect Master had no choice; our Sect and the Nine Sounds Sect are bound to clash, and Dong Lishang and Gong Hua are two of our Sect’s strongest True Pill elders."
Liu Yinzhu accompanied Ding Huan out, her tone tinged with some guilt.
She was well aware of Ding Huan’s character; being so bluntly opposed and still only facing a punishment of three cups of wine despite being in the right.
For such a punishment, it’d be strange if Ding Huan were satisfied.
Ding Huan nonchalantly said,
"The Sect Master manages the Sect affairs; how could an outsider like me be dissatisfied? I even need Sister Yin Zhu’s help."
Naturally, Liu Yinzhu didn’t believe Ding Huan’s words. Qing Yu schemed against Ding Huan, and given any chance, Ding Huan would scheme back; how could he not care?
Now that Ding Huan spoke like this, she could only go along with him,
"Why be so formal with me? Just say it."
Ding Huan raised the guest elder jade plate in his hand:
"Sister Yin Zhu, I have one hundred thousand contribution points here, and I’d like to exchange them for some items. Could you take me there?"
Ding Huan had declined the identity of Sect heir, but he needed some status to obtain the contribution point jade plate, so he could only end up with the identity of a guest elder.
Of course, Liu Yinzhu wouldn’t refuse such a small favor.
Purple Mist Valley had abundant resources around, so although the Valley’s strength wasn’t remarkable, the Sect’s treasury still had plenty of good things.
Ding Huan followed Liu Yinzhu to the Resource Exchange Hall and was shocked by the variety of materials. How could there be so many?
Huan Origin Stone, five contribution points each; True Gold, ten contribution points per piece; Ten Thousand-Year Iron Tree Root, fifty contribution points per section...
"Give me one hundred Purple Thunder Crystals, a thousand Huan Origin Stones... Binding Iron as well, take five hundred pieces.
The horns of a Second Level Dual-horned Leopard, I want twenty pairs, Illuminating Geng Gold too? Bring ten pieces..."
Seeing Ding Huan demanding anything and everything without concern, even Liu Yinzhu was shocked, let alone the steward responsible for the exchange.
Not until she saw Ding Huan nearly exchange all one hundred thousand contribution points, covering materials from the first to the fourth level, did she internally muse. Is Ding Huan planning to leave?
"Ding Huan, what are you doing with so many materials?"
Liu Yinzhu couldn’t understand Ding Huan’s intentions; the materials Ding Huan was exchanging spanned from the first to the fourth level.
If it weren’t for the fifth-level materials being scarce and expensive, she suspected Ding Huan would want to exchange for those as well.
Ding Huan awkwardly said, "My cultivation progress is not great, so I wanted to try learning some Artifact Refining and such."
Exchanging one hundred thousand contribution points, Ding Huan didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed.
This was his rightful possession, gained from the deal of saving Gu Mo’s life.
Liu Yinzhu knew Ding Huan was a first-level Array Master, and now Ding Huan wanted to learn Artifact Refining; she somewhat speechlessly covered her forehead.
Fortunately, Ding Huan hadn’t exchanged for Spiritual Medicines to practise Alchemy, otherwise, she would probably persuade Ding Huan instantly not to waste his effort.
From Ding Huan exchanging all his contribution points, it was evident he had no plans to stay long in Purple Mist Valley.
She really hadn’t misjudged Ding Huan; after the Sect Master’s penalty of three cups of wine, Ding Huan had been very disappointed with the Sect Master.
...
"Brother Huan, today someone attacked our Protecting Array, and what did Elder Jia call you for?"
As soon as Ding Huan returned to Dawn Peak, Yan Mei eagerly came to ask.
"People in Purple Mist Valley want to kill me. You must strive to increase your strength; we might have to leave here at any moment," Ding Huan shared his assessment.
"Ah..." Yan Mei became somewhat panicked. If there were people wanting to kill them within the Sect, wouldn’t that mean they couldn’t leave the Sect?
"Don’t worry, those who want to kill me have been confined; although they might come out anytime, to set an example, they should be shut for at least about a year."
Ding Huan knew Yan Mei was somewhat startled.
Yan Mei quickly said, "Can we leave now then?"
Ding Huan shook his head:
"Leaving now would be seeking death. Just focus on your cultivation, don’t worry about anything else."
With Gong Hua and Dong Lishang having so many partners, now they were certainly focused entirely on him. If he dared to leave Purple Mist Valley now, the next moment he would be besieged by True Pill elders.
At Dawn Peak, he was safe for at least about a year.
After a year, it would be tough to say. In Ding Huan’s estimation, neither Dong Lishang nor Gong Hua would likely stay confined at Residual Abyss Cliff for three years.
Even if they were officially confined for three years, they also had the chance to come out anytime.
The minute they could come out, Gong Hua would certainly be the first to find Dawn Peak to finish him off.
If it were up to Gu Mo, when Ding Huan was killed, the most he would do is penalize Gong Hua with a cup of wine and maybe even serve some dishes to Gong Hua.
"Brother Huan, I’m going to cultivate immediately," Yan Mei said, not daring to delay any longer, and hurried off to seclude himself.
Seeing Yan Mei going to cultivate, Lao Liu also grew anxious; he couldn’t achieve Foundation Establishment while just waiting here.
"Brother Huan, what about me?" Lao Liu anxiously scratched his head.
In West Wind City, he had strutted around, forgetting about other things, and now without the chance to strut, he could only think about Foundation Establishment again.
Ding Huan patted Lao Liu’s head:
"Keep looking for Foundation Establishment opportunities; don’t fear failure. When my cultivation progresses further, I’ll come to solve this problem for you."
Lao Liu’s inability to achieve Foundation Establishment was not a matter of ability but due to his poor aptitude.
"Yes, Brother Huan," Lao Liu cheered up.
In his understanding, although Ding Huan’s strength was average, he had many great ideas otherwise, a creature as formidable as one of the Chaos Four Monkeys wouldn’t serve as Ding Huan’s beast pet.
After Lao Liu and Yan Mei went into seclusion, Ding Huan began studying Array Dao.
Ding Huan had already reached the level of a Second Level Array Master, the reason he couldn’t set up a Second Level Array previously was that he didn’t have an Array Flag Magic Artifact.
Now that he had crafted an Array Flag Magic Artifact himself, Ding Huan could easily set up Second Level Arrays.
After becoming a second-level Array Master, Ding Huan did not modify the Protecting Array outside Dawn Peak; he merely set up a Trigger Array at the edge.
Anyone entering Dawn Peak would be detected by him for sure.
After completing these tasks, Ding Huan continued to arrange second-level Killing Trap Arrays, Killing Arrays, and defensive formations outside his own cave mansion.
It took him several days to finish arranging these arrays, after which Ding Huan resumed his study of Artifact Refining.
Ding Huan’s aptitude was average, but his mind was overloaded with too much knowledge about pills, artifacts, talismans, and arrays.
Under Ding Huan’s fervent study, this knowledge of Artifact Refining was quickly linked together.
Two months later, Ding Huan was able to refine third-level Mid Grade Magic Artifacts.
Being able to refine third-level Mid Grade Magic Artifacts was enough for Ding Huan.
He then resumed his studies of arrays.
In the short term, he could definitely not break through to the Star Cloud Realm, and to survive, he could only rely on arrays.
Gu Mo’s way of handling things was to indulge Gong Hua and Dong Lishang.
Gong Hua and Dong Lishang were so fearless not only because of Sect Master Gu Mo, but they also had Elder He, a peak Primordial Soul, backing them.
By the fifth month, Ding Huan could easily set up third-level arrays, even refining a bunch of third-level Array Plates.
Ding Huan wanted to continue learning to arrange fourth-level arrays, but he knew that it was absolutely impossible for him to arrange a fourth-level Array in the short term.
Unless he could break through the Star Cloud Realm or study the Array Dao for another ten years or more.
After replacing all the Protecting Arrays in his residence and locking them with a Concealing Array, Ding Huan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, even if Gong Hua or Dong Lishang came here, he wouldn’t fear them.
During this period, Gu Mo was too busy trying to reclaim Purple Garden Mountain, which belonged to Purple Mist Valley, and had no time to come after him.
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Liu Yinzhu, as Gu Mo’s capable assistant, was naturally also very busy.
Ding Huan decided to take this opportunity to cultivate for a while.
With such excellent conditions at Dawn Peak, using half a year for refining and arranging seemed a bit wasteful.
When Ding Huan began his Cultivation, Yan Mei and Lao Liu sensed it.
The thick Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was swept away by Ding Huan, enveloping Dawn Peak once again in a short time.
Fortunately, a Concealing Protecting Array kept this place hidden, and the outside couldn’t see the rampant spiritual energy here.
Feeling his cultivation rapidly improving once again, Ding Huan muttered to himself that it didn’t matter if his aptitude was poor; he had top-level Cultivation Techniques.
Besides, he was a gene spiritual root, and gene spiritual roots couldn’t be considered poor aptitude, right?
With such rich Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi being swept away, Ding Huan was one hundred percent sure that there was a Spirit Vein beneath Dawn Peak.
As for what grade the Spirit Vein was, he didn’t know, and he didn’t need to know.
In less than ten days, Ding Huan had refined the fourth group of Star Cloud, and then the shape of the fifth group of Star Cloud appeared.
Several months later, Ding Huan had refined the tenth group of Star Cloud.
This made Ding Huan somewhat anxious; it seemed that as long as he kept absorbing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, he could keep refining new Star Clouds in his Dantian.
According to the principle of nine being the ultimate number, he should have refined nine groups of Star Clouds and then sought to break through to the next realm.
However, Ding Huan swiftly calmed down.
For ordinary Cultivators, Foundation Establishment was the latter stage of refining essence into Qi, and True Pill Realm was the beginning of refining Qi into spirit.
From Foundation Establishment to True Pill, even for a genius cultivator, it would take about ten years, right?
If you remove the time he spent cultivating Luo Shijin on Earth.
How long has he been cultivating now? Just over a year, how could he possibly break through the Star Cloud Realm to the next realm so quickly?
He continued to refine Star Clouds.
As time passed, when Ding Huan had refined twelve groups of Star Clouds, he felt that he seemed unable to condense the thirteenth group of Star Clouds.
Could it be that twelve was the limit for the Great Universe Technique Star Cloud stage?
If that was really the case, then he had to continue deducing the Cultivation Technique beyond the Star Clouds.
Thinking over, he had been here for more than a year.
Why hadn’t Gong Hua come yet? Was his judgement wrong?
While Ding Huan was thinking, he sensed that the Protecting Array of Dawn Peak had been triggered.
Someone was coming.
Very soon, Ding Huan’s Divine Will saw Liu Yinzhu rushing up urgently.
"Ding Huan!" Liu Yinzhu and Ding Huan were old friends; there was no need for prior notice to visit.
Ding Huan came out, and Liu Yinzhu looked somewhat haggard; her cultivation hadn’t progressed much.
This made Ding Huan quite emotional; these Sect affairs should have been left to those elders who originally stood up to support Gong Hua.
Gu Mo burdening Liu Yinzhu with all the Sect affairs rendered Ding Huan speechless.
Now was the prime time for Liu Yinzhu to make progress in cultivation. Not cultivating in seclusion, but running around every day for trifles, was really too much.
If Gu Mo needed someone to handle affairs, did it require Liu Yinzhu to run around in person?
"Sister Yin Zhu, come in and have a seat," Ding Huan invited Liu Yinzhu into the guest room to sit down.
Seeing that Ding Huan’s cultivation didn’t seem to have increased much, Liu Yinzhu wasn’t sure.
After all, she hadn’t noticed when Ding Huan reached Foundation Establishment; the higher Ding Huan’s cultivation seemed, the more indistinguishable it appeared on the surface.
"Ding Huan, I came today to tell you to be careful. I think that Dong Lishang and Gong Hua will be coming out soon," Liu Yinzhu was also quite helpless.
The Sect Master wanted to utilize the strength of these two elders; she couldn’t say much, considering her modest strength.
What surprised her was that upon hearing her words, Ding Huan showed no surprise, but instead said,
"Are they going to start a war with the Nine Sounds Sect?"
(Today’s update ends here. Good night, friends. I ask for your monthly ticket support!)