Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The moment Ziling stopped speaking, the five-colored divine lights on top of Taiyi Peak disappeared.

A hole opened up in the sky, and one could see the stars in the Universe. The infinite star lights poured from the sky, like the water of the Milky Way, into Qing Xuan Hall located at Taiyi Peak.

Under the bright daylight, to be able to observe the pouring of star lights was one of the rarest phenomena ever.

Lingguang was clearly aware that it was Shen Lian’s intention to make use of the power of the stars to temper the sword.

The stars of Zhou Tian in the depth of the universe did not share the same characteristics, but they gathered as one still. Even if there was just a minor mistake, a huge clash would happen inside the body. As such, for the cultivation techniques in the world, if they chose to take in the star lights, they would only do it during a clear night, and pick only a specific one to cultivate its power. Not many would have been as daring as Shen Lian to directly take in the power of the stars of Zhou Tian to temper the sword body.

One had to know that once the magical sword was formed, it would be one with Shen Lian. During the tempering of the sword, he was tempering his own body. The risk was the same.

The star lights were like water, passing through Qing Xuan Hall directly into a five-colored magical sword.

Shen Lian sat with his legs crossed nearby, and he could feel the power of the stars coming through the five elements magical sword. He felt like his body was placed in lukewarm water, and he could hear the excitement of every inch of his blood and flesh, and that the bones’ composition became denser.

As time went, the lukewarm water turned hot but the power of the stars still kept flowing in. As the energy accumulated without being dispersed in time, the power from different stars began to clash.

Shen Lian had predicted this. His bier was clear. Powerful Shen Lian began to force the circulation of the power of the stars to follow certain characteristics. All of a sudden the world turned upside down.

He seemed to become a giant that stood strong in the world. His breath was turned into the wind, and his voice sounded like thunder.

After he absorbed the power of the stars, the power of his body kept growing, with no end.

Taking in the power of the stars to enhance oneself was not something original created by Shen Lian, but it was what he learned when he visited the eye of the sea for ice light during his retreat for sword cultivation.

In the eye of the sea, there was the Black Water Residence. With his power then, he could break through the prohibition, but there was a long passage of odd-looking writings carved along the path outside the residence. He interpreted the Daoist meaning, and from there he deciphered a small part of an unnamed formula, which was the ultimate method for training the body. The intricacy of it even beat the Art of Gigantes. The only pity was that the formula was not complete, and what Shen Lian did was merely taking in the Daoist meaning. He did not actually understand the writing and hence some aspects of it were difficult for him to understand.

Even then, the part of it which he understood could already allow him to cultivate the power of the stars and obtain a strong body. To the peak of it, his body could be as strong as the wild clan.

If he did not possess the basis, how dared he activated the cultivation of the power of the stars at the last step of the formation of the magical sword?

With a long drawn out sword hum, countless sword auras were let out from Qing Xuan Hall, and even the void was shaking for it.

After a while, the tremble then stopped, along with the sword hum. An ancient looking longsword fell into Shen Lian’s sleeves. He walked out of Qing Xuan Hall slowly.

Ziling was outside the hall, and Lingguang followed suit. She stared at the man that she hated slightly.

This time Shen Lian was dressed in green Daoist clothes. It looked plain, but the sharpness underneath could not be hidden. It was hard for someone to look straight at him.

Shen Lian bowed down and greeted, “Grandmaster.”

Ziling nodded and looked at him, “Do you really need to attend the three-year promise you had with Chen Beidou?”

Shen Lian said, “Even if I don’t go, he will come. If I can’t avoid it, it’s better if I take the initiative.”

“Before I started cultivating, this person had already entered the path of Shen. Even if I have to fight him today, I will not be too confident. Have you got the countermeasure?” Ziling asked.

“I only have the idea to take whatever as they come,” Shen Lian replied.

Shen Lian turned to look at Lingguang and smiled, “My friend Lingguang, are you used to staying at Qing Xuan?”

Lingguang said coldly, “If I am not used to this, will you let me go?”

Shen Lian shook his head, “Naturally no.”

After speaking with the grandmaster of some interesting news, Ziling felt tired, and hence returned to Zifu Peak with Lingguang. Ziling ultimately just wanted to see whether he felt sick after the successful formation of the sword. Under her empowered eyes, it seemed that Shen Lian did not have any problem, and hence there was no point for her to stay.

Her attitude to go and leave as she pleased was similar to Shen Lian.

After Shen Lian sent the grandmaster away, he then tidied up all sort of air messages, and the messages he saw from the Tiandi Jian, about the whole situation at Yuan Continent. It began to take actual shape in his brain.

He did not find it surprising for Choushi to have gathered forces to turn the world upside down. He was surprised to find that Fang Yanying managed to defend the Temple of Killings by herself.

Even though he had laid down some backhanded techniques which could save the kid at the most critical period, none of them was used yet. She already obtained a strong foothold.

As the distance was too far, he was not clear about what changes had happened at where Fang Yanying was. It seemed that he would need to go and have a look.

Shen Lian did not take the pressure from Taisu and Taishang to heart. Despite the little conflicts between the four main Daoist sects, they all shared the same unspoken understanding for ten thousand years. They would try to resolve everything during the Bier Discourse of Dao.

The opposite standing Qing Xuan and Guangqing took had a huge influence on the situation of Yuan Continent, as ultimately Guangqing still had three immortal Zhenrens, and they had formed alliances with several celestial sects, such as Green Lotus Sword Sect and Luofu Celestial Sect. These Xuanmen sects all supported Guangqing, whether it was upfront or not. Some of the smaller celestial sects were already under the control of Guangqing.

The fact that Shen Lian asked Lingguang to be the grandmaster’s servant had created a dent in Guangqing’s prestige. It also triggered hostility.

Qing Xuan was on a decline for hundred plus years. Its influence in the cultivation world in the Yuan Continent was much less than Guangqing in reality.

Even though there was the Temple of Killing as an amendment, and with Choushi turning against the tide, it seemed that they were only doing averagely in the sea region.

The influence of the eight sects of Buddhism was not below the four main Daoist sects of Xuanmen. The eight Zen masters were all Arhat for many years, and it was rumored that two to three of them had achieved Boddhisattva’s highest level.

If the clash between Qing Xuan and Guangqing became official, it would make the Buddhist sects more influential, and it would deal a heavy blow on Xuanmen.

Furthermore, the Zen which was dissonant within the Buddhist sect was not something of significance after Huike’s retreat and Baoyue’s passing.

All the menial tasks and common items disturbed his Daoist heart. Shen Lian had the thought to leave everything behind, as the environment felt restrictive to him.

As the thought flashed through his mind, it was destroyed by Shen Lian.

Living as a human being was a difficult situation; being in the universe was a difficult situation – to shy away from difficulties was not something a Daoist would do.

This was yet another challenge. Achieving great things would make the long life fun and not boring.

To Shen Lian, the meaning of immortality was to enjoy the challenges and fun of life, not just to drift along.

He digested all the messages quickly, and a message from Zhao Xiaoyu caught his attention.