Chapter 38: Qi Condensation Manual of the Sublime Spirit Scripture
Two months passed in the twinkling of an eye. Meng Hao had already been a member of the Inner Sect for an entire season. He did not continue to visit the Outer Sect often. Like a fish in water, Fatty had grown accustomed to surviving on his own, and was quite at ease.
Most of Meng Hao's time was spent in the Magic Pavilion.
One day, he sat there cross-legged, a calm expression on his face as he read a bamboo text. He raised his right hand and began to make incantation gestures, causing a magical light to circulate around it and cast flickering shadows onto his face.
A Water Globe appeared, but then unexpectedly transformed into mist and dissipated into the surroundings. Meng Hao frowned, putting down the bamboo text. He reached into his robe and pulled out a glowing jade slip.
It was pure white and blurry inside, as if it were filled with mist. A closer inspection revealed that the surface was actually translucent, like crystal.
"Chen Fan, Xu Qing, Meng Hao. Come to the main temple hall on the East Mountain." The words were spoken by a dignified voice which transmitted out from within the jade slip. It was easily identifiable as belonging to Sect Leader He Luohua.
Meng Hao straightened up the bamboo texts, stood and strode silently out of the main door of the Magic Pavilion, making his way toward the top of the East Mountain.
At almost the same time as he walked out, two figures shot toward the peak. One had a warm, gentle face, filled with righteousness: Chen Fan. The other was beautiful but cold: Elder Sister Xu Qing.
Xu Qing cast a glance at Meng Hao. This was the first time they had seen each other since that evening the previous month.
The three sped toward the peak of the East Mountain, eventually arriving at the main temple hall. It had an ancient feel, the rich ornamentation giving the feeling that it had seen many ages pass. This was a very important place to the Reliance Sect, a place that throughout the generations, only Inner Sect disciples could visit.
Within the main temple hall were nine statues. The foremost one was of an old man, his expression not one of anger, yet still filled with might. His dark eyes seemed to shine with life. His left hand was lifted up in front of him, his chin raised as if he were staring down his nose at all creation. He seemed to emanate a sort of indescribable, domineering air. Behind him, eight statues were arranged neatly, all of them possessing the demeanor of transcendent beings.
Meng Hao had visited this place during his first seven days in the Inner Sect. He had kowtowed before these statues, and knew well that the calm, powerful old man was none other than Patriarch Reliance. The other statues were the other Patriarchs of the Reliance Sect.
Sect Leader He Luohua stood beneath the statues, his back toward Meng Hao and the others as they entered. He stared at the statues as if he were in a trance. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Next to him was Grand Elder Ouyang. He nodded to the three of them, a solemn expression on his face.
"Pay homage to the Patriarch," he said, his voice profound.
Meng Hao, Xu Qing and Chen Fan bowed deeply to Patriarch Reliance, their faces somber.
"I joined the Sect when Patriarch Reliance had been missing for one hundred years," said He Luohua. "At that time, the Reliance Sect was still in its glory days." He sighed and turned around. Meng Hao, Chen Fan and even Xu Qing gazed at him with shining eyes.
He was silent a moment, before slowly continuing: "You have read about Patriarch Reliance in the ancient records, and know how glorious our Reliance Sect used to be… We even had a complete understanding of the three levels of Foundation Establishment. I've called you here today to explain the complete truth.
"The former glory of the Reliance Sect was all due to Patriarch Reliance. Because of his Cultivation base, he dominated the entire State of Zhao. His reputation even shook the Southern Domain. All of that was because of one of the manuals of the Sublime Spirit Scripture." As He Luohua spoke, Chen Fan's eyes began to shine brightly. Even Xu Qing's grew sharp.
Only Meng Hao stared blankly; he had no idea what the Sublime Spirit Scripture was.
"The Qi Condensation manual?" said Chen Fan lightly. He was a senior disciple of the Inner Sect, and knew many secrets. Other things he had worked out through speculation.
"The Sublime Spirit Scripture is one of the three great classic scriptures in the lands of South Heaven," continued He Luohua softly. "It was passed down through the generations since ancient times. Originally it was comprised of seven manuals, but most have been lost. One of them was the Qi Condensation manual, which describes how to establish a Flawless Foundation. The Foundation Establishment manual describes the method to Form a Purple Core, not a Crimson or Mixed Core. The Core Formation manual can enable one to develop a four-colored Nascent Form… In other words, each manual enables one to reach the strongest stage.
"That year, Patriarch Reliance obtained the Qi Condensation manual. The reason the heir to the Wang clan joined the Reliance Sect was because of the Sublime Spirit Scripture's Qi Condensation Manual."
Meng Hao's eyes glittered, and his heart began to race. He had heard Elder Brother Chen speak of the different levels of Foundation Establishment. Now that he knew how powerful this magic was that Patriarch Reliance had obtained, he understood why Wang Tengfei had joined the Reliance Sect.
"If I could obtain it…" The strong desire in his heart suddenly began to burn even hotter.
"Sadly, even I have never laid eyes on this Qi Condensation manual, let alone others," said He Luohua. "The scripture was not handed down. It exists only in the memory of the Patriarch." Meng Hao remained silent, and Chen Fan's face flashed with realization. Xu Qing raised her head to look at the statue of Patriarch Reliance.
Silence reigned in the main temple hall.
"Four hundred years have passed, and everyone in the outside world assumes that the Patriarch died during his meditation. Only myself and a few others know that the Patriarch… is absolutely not dead." As his words drifted out into Meng Hao's ears, they seemed to transform into a thunderous roar.
"Four hundred years ago, the Patriarch's Cultivation base had reached the late Nascent Soul stage. And yet, he was reaching the end of his life. In order to break through to the fabled Spirit Severing stage, one must be at least one thousand years old. If not, how can he defy the Heavens to sever his Spirit?
"The Patriarch chose to meditate in seclusion, in order to sever his Spirit body and be reborn. It was a meditation of… four hundred years.
"When he went into meditation four hundred years ago, the Patriarch left a command. Every one hundred years, he would send out some pieces of Vorpal Jade, formed from his own blood. Then, the outstanding members of the current generation of Inner Sect disciples could use the Vorpal Jade to enter his meditation zone. By kindling the Qi and blood inside the Vorpal Jade, they could have a chance, if lucky, to gain enlightenment of the knowledge he permeated throughout the area. Knowledge of… the Sublime Spirit Scripture." He Luohua's words echoed out. Meng Hao lifted his head up, as did the others.
"Success is success. Failure is failure. If things had stayed the same, surely a disciple would have succeeded already. But two hundred years ago, the Patriarch experienced an accident in his cultivation. He almost lost his life. Afterwards, the chances of enlightenment in his meditation zone grew weak, and the restrictive spells stronger. He didn't send any more Vorpal Jades out until five years ago… When he did, he sent out three pieces.
"Three pieces of Vorpal Jade indicate that three individuals may enter. It also reveals how powerful the restrictive spells are in the Patriarch's meditation zone, and means that there are only three areas where enlightenment may occur." He Luohua's voice reverberated throughout the main hall. He flicked his right sleeve, and three blood-red streaks shot toward Meng Hao and the others, to stop floating in front of them.
They were jade-smooth Blood Crystals, also known as Vorpal Jade.
"You three are the only disciples of the Inner Sect, and therefore I bestow these Vorpal Jades to you. Whether or not you gain the enlightenment of the Sublime Spirit Scripture will depend on your luck." With that, he flicked his sleeve again, and the statue of Patriarch Reliance began to hum. Its eyes shone with boundless radiance, and a vortex began to form in front of him.
"Enter," said He Luohua, his voice sounding out like thunder. "I wish you luck in enlightenment." Meng Hao and the others seemed to transform into auroras as they gripped their pieces of Vorpal Jade and shot into the vortex, disappearing inside. Outside, the vortex remained, but without a Vorpal Jade, no one, not even a Cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage, could enter it.
Looking up at the vortex, Grand Elder Ouyang quietly said, "Who knows which of them will acquire the Sublime Spirit Scripture, or… perhaps they will all come up empty-handed."
"It depends on personal fortune, there's no use in thinking too much about it." He Luohua sat down cross-legged next to him and began to meditate.
When Meng Hao entered the vortex, a blinding light appeared in front of his eyes which forced him to close them. A rumbling roar sounded in his ears, and then he heard strange shrieks and screams coming from all directions. After what seemed like years, he felt his body suddenly tremble, and then the sounds ceased. The shrieking turned into silence. He opened his eyes to find himself standing on top of a sacrificial altar that was several meters tall. He looked around.
The place was enormous. Up above was black earth, dotted with small crystals that shone like stars, casting a dim light on the surroundings. Nothing was very clear, as if everything were covered with gauze. Various buildings rose up out of the fog.
"How desolate! It seems like no one has been here for hundreds of years." It was Chen Fan's voice, drifting from some distance away. Eventually, he appeared, walking through the fog. In the direction from which he came could be seen another altar, several meters tall.
"The soil up above has restrictive spells cast on it. These are the Sect catacombs." Xu Qing appeared from another direction. Dressed in her silver robe, she appeared matchlessly beautiful.
"I entered the Sect earlier than both of you," said Chen Fan. "Once I performed guard duty at the main temple hall, so I know a few secrets that you two don't. These are definitely the Reliance Sect catacombs. Directly above is the Outer Sect."
Meng Hao walked off the altar to stand next to Chen Fan and Xu Qing. Looking around at the hazy images of buildings around them, he could see plenty of withered plants and flowers. Everything was deathly still.
"This fog is a restrictive spell," said Meng Hao with a frown. "It's making everything appear to be black and white. No color whatsoever."
"Precisely," said Chen Fan with a serious look. "Don't attempt to touch it. Because of the Patriarch's weak state, he's lost control of it. Let us use our Vorpal Jades to find our places of enlightenment." He looked at them. "We don't know how much time we will have to gain enlightenment. Let's all wait for each other, then leave together. Junior Sister Xu, Junior Brother Meng, I wish you success." He cast his spiritual power into the Vorpal Jade, whereupon it emitted a blood-red glow and began to drift away. Chen Fan followed, soon disappearing into the distance.
Xu Qing nodded at Meng Hao, then followed the blood-red glow of her Vorpal Jade in a different direction.
Meng Hao looked around, then was about to activate his own Vorpal Jade when suddenly, a shrill shriek rang out. It grew closer and closer, until it seemed to be only about thirty meters away.
Chapter 39: Patriarch Reliance!
Meng Hao's expression changed. He suddenly saw the fog roiling, and then about thirty meters away a shrieking man appeared. He wore a long tattered robe as he charged toward Meng Hao.
He emanated a fierce heat, which transformed into a ruthless killing aura. Seeing him approach, Meng Hao retreated as fast as possible. This turn of events had happened too quickly. The figure advanced rapidly, and in the blink of an eye it was only nine meters away. Suddenly, it caught sight of the Vorpal Jade in his hand, and its eyes filled with dread and fear.
Meng Hao's heart churned. He poured the spiritual power from within his body into the Vorpal Jade, and suddenly it began to glow blood-red. It illuminated the man in the dilapidated robe, allowing Meng Hao to see him clearly. He was middle-aged, his body gaunt, like some sort of evil spirit.
Blood-curdling screams shot out of his mouth as he retreated. Moving with incredible speed, he disappeared into the fog.
Sweat broke out on Meng Hao's forehead, and he took a deep breath. The feeling the middle-aged man gave him was the same feeling he got from Grand Elder Ouyang, boundless and majestic.
"Don't tell me he was a Cultivator of the Foundation Establishment stage?" Meng Hao hesitated, remaining on guard. He followed the direction of the blood-red light, moving forward carefully. After about half an hour, he stopped in shock. Several figures had appeared, and each of them seemed to have a Cultivation base equal to Grand Elder Ouyang's. Some even seemed to be as powerful as Sect Leader He Luohua.
"Could they be… automatons?" Upon closer inspection, the figures didn't actually seem to be alive. They floated around him in circles, none of them approaching him, seemingly terrified of his Vorpal Jade.
Time passed enough for an incense stick to burn, and they slowly disappeared. Meng Hao continued forward numbly, his breathing agitated, a blank look in his eyes.
"This… this…" he murmured. Ahead of him was a mountain, approximately three hundred meters tall. An ordinary mountain would not cause Meng Hao to act in such away. This mountain was made… of Spirit Stones!
Countless Spirit Stones piled together to form a Spirit Stone Mountain!
Meng Hao had never seen so many Spirit Stones in his entire life. His head spun, and he unconsciously wanted to go take them, but after taking a single step forward, he stopped. The Spirit Stone Mountain was gray in color and seemed to be covered with a fine mist. It was a restrictive spell which prevented anything from touching it.
He struggled for some time, not quite willing to give up. When he reached a position about sixty meters from the Spirit Stone Mountain, he suddenly felt a fierce sense of imminent danger. Looking at the mountain with a sigh, he stopped in place.
He knew that if he got too close, his body and soul would be reduced to ashes.
At a loss for a long moment, he turned his head and reluctantly left the Spirit Stone Mountain behind.
More time passed as he followed the blood-red glow, enough for an incense stick to burn, and soon the hazy image of a building appeared in the fog ahead of him. It had a courtyard, filled with withered plants and weeds. A stone sat in the middle of the courtyard, about half the size of a person. It was the only thing in sight that was neither black nor white, nor was there any fog visible near it.
The Vorpal Jade floated toward the large stone, then stopped above it. The blood-red glow began to fade.
Meng Hao walked forward and inspected the area around the stone. This must be one of the areas for enlightenment. He sat down cross-legged onto the stone and looked at the Vorpal Jade floating in front of him. His eyes began to gleam.
"Throughout all these years, many people have come here, and none have successfully achieved enlightenment. When the blood-red glow of the Vorpal Jade fades, it means the time to attempt enlightenment has arrived." Meng Hao frowned. A strong desire burned in his heart to acquire the secrets of the Qi Condensation Manual. Originally, Wang Tengfei should have been given this opportunity. But Meng Hao knew that his latent talent was simply ordinary, and he had little chance of success.
He didn't allow the Vorpal Jade to fade, but instead looked up at it, a strange light shining in his eyes. After a bit of time passed, he clenched his jaw, then grabbed it stubbornly.
"This time, I don't care what happens; I will achieve the enlightenment of the Sublime Spirit Scripture!" Determination filled his voice as he slapped his bag of holding and produced the copper mirror. Grabbing a handful of Spirit Stones, he prepared to begin the duplication process.
Meng Hao had been a member of the Inner Sect for a month. Inner Sect disciples received significantly more Spirit Stones than Outer Sect disciples. Combine that with his profits from the shop as well as the Outer Sect disciples who were trying to ingratiate themselves to him, it ensured that his bag of holding contained many Spirit Stones.
But suddenly, his expression changed as he found that the Spirit Stones distributed by the Sect were incapable of duplicating the Vorpal Jade. It wasn't that the copper mirror had lost its efficacy, but rather that there simply weren't enough Spirit Stones. Even mid-grade Spirit Stones were useless.
He stared at the Vorpal Jade for a while before suddenly pulling out seven or eight of the extraordinarily large Spirit Stones he had left. He hesitated for some time, then ground his teeth. Eyes growing red, he put one of the Spirit Stones down onto the mirror, and before he could even put down another piece, the Copper Mirror began to glow with a blinding light, and instantly, fifteen pieces of Vorpal Jade appeared. Meng Hao stared, dumbfounded. Originally, he had assumed he would need multiple Spirit Stones to make it work. But then he ended up with fifteen of the Blood Crystals.
These were Blood Crystals, congealed from Patriarch Reliance's own blood. Seeing fifteen of them appear left Meng Hao stupefied.
"What… what kind of Spirit Stones are these?" He sat in a daze, thinking back to how he had used two thousand of them that time, and his heart ached.
These large Spirit Stones were definitely some type of extraordinary object.
For now, the most important thing to Meng Hao was the Sublime Spirit Scripture. He clenched his jaw and set aside the matter of the two thousand Spirit Stones. Extending a Blood Crystal, he caused it to fade. As it did so, the blood red glow settled around Meng Hao and an indistinct voice could be heard. He slipped into a dream-like trance, unaware of the passing of time.
At this same moment, Xu Qing and Chen Fan, in their respective enlightenment areas, were also surrounded by the blood-red glow. Their latent talent was beyond ordinary, so their chances of achieving enlightenment were somewhat greater. In Patriarch Reliance's meditation zone, everything was based on latent talent. So-called luck is the same.
After an indeterminable period of time passed, the red glow around Meng Hao faded, and he began to regain his senses. He seemed to be somewhat at a loss. After some time passed, he had completely recovered, and yet his mind was blank. Not even a scrap of information from the Sublime Spirit Scripture was there.
He sighed, having anticipated this all along. He took out another Blood Crystal and continued to seek enlightenment. Time passed, and even after having used up fourteen Blood Crystals, he still had not succeeded. His heart ached, and he wasn't sure if he should continue. Gnashing his teeth, he pulled out another large Spirit Stone and duplicated more of the Vorpal Jade Blood Crystals. Once again, he activated the blood-red glow, which then covered his body as he began to seek enlightenment.
By this time, the blood-red glow surrounding Xu Qing and Chen Fan had faded. However, they did not rise, instead choosing to remain seated in meditation, not sure when enlightenment might occur.
As for Meng Hao, he seemed to have gone mad, continuously activating Blood Crystals, trying again and again to achieve enlightenment. Anyone who saw this scene would surely go crazy with jealousy.
After activating the twenty-seventh Blood Crystal, Meng Hao suddenly heard what sounded like a voice murmuring next to his ear in the dream-like trance world. He could clearly hear two words.
"Sublime… Spirit…"
When Meng Hao opened his eyes, they were filled with determination. Without hesitation, he pulled out the twenty-eighth Vorpal Jade Blood Crystal, and once again sought enlightenment.
By this time, Xu Qing and Chen Fan had returned to the altar to wait for Meng Hao. They were a bit surprised when they didn't see Meng Hao, but they weren't sure which direction he had headed in, so they couldn't easily search for him. They decided to sit in front of the altar and wait for him.
By the third day, they were beginning to grow impatient and also a bit worried. Of course, they did not even consider that he might have achieved enlightenment, but rather worried that some sort of accident had befallen him.
"Did something happen to Junior Brother Meng?" said Chen Fan worriedly.
Xu Qing didn't respond, but she looked worried.
After a bit of discussion, they decided to begin looking for him. Unfortunately, because of the frequent appearance of the automatons, their search went quite slowly.
Meanwhile, Meng Hao sat, hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot, murmuring to himself. His words made no sense; they seemed to simply express his desire for the Sublime Spirit Scripture. He pulled out the forty-third Blood Crystal, and the thick, red glow again surrounded him. In fact, the area he was in never lacked the red glow. Meng Hao had gone all out in his search for enlightenment. If he ran low on Blood Crystals, he simply duplicated more.
As of now, he could clearly hear the voice in his ear, but just couldn't commit it to memory. He could only continue on in another attempt.
There was something that nobody, not Chen Fan or Xu Qing, nor frenzied Meng Hao, had noticed. After the Blood Crystal ceased to glow, it would transform into a barely discernible blood-red light, which would then enter into the ground and pass into a secret chamber below the catacombs.
There, a withered body sat cross-legged, seemingly lifeless. The room was filled with the feeling of death.
Every time one of the blood-red lights entered the room, the body would assimilate it, and begin to change slightly. By the time the third light entered the body, there seemed to be some shred of life in it.
The light of life was dim, though, and the body was unable to do anything except sit there.
This was Patriarch Reliance. The Vorpal Jade Blood Crystals were congealed from his own blood, and contained his aura. After being activated, they would return to him, continuing his life. Without them, he would be thoroughly dead.
Originally, he had planned to postpone his death in this fashion, until the very last spark of his ruthless and ambitious life was extinguished, where upon he would pass into death. He was already in a state of despair. He spent most of his time in deep sleep, awaking only occasionally, and briefly, whereupon he would sink back into slumber. He had no energy to waste on superfluous matters.
As for the Vorpal Jade, this was an arrangement he had prepared many years ago. Were it not for them, he would have passed into death hundreds of years ago.
"These are the last three pieces of Vorpal Jade…" Now that they had returned, he had regained consciousness. He sighed and went back to sleep, knowing that he would probably never wake up again.
And yet suddenly, a fourth blood-red light entered the secret chamber and fused with his body. He woke again, shocked.
"I am… already out of Vorpal Jade. Could I have remembered incorrectly… Hm?" Even as he talked to himself, a fifth blood-red light appeared, making its way into his body.
He observed, dumbstruck, as a sixth, seventh, eighth blood-red light appeared… By the third day, countless blood-red lights had appeared, one after another, continuously fusing with his body. Patriarch Reliance's heart surged with excitement, and his face filled with hope. Suddenly, his eyes opened.
"These… holy hell, these are clearly not my blood, but they are definitely my Blood Crystals. What's going on? What the hell is going on?"
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