Dao Lord: Starting from a Top-grade Golden Core

Chapter 115: Chapter 75: Past Karma (Part 2)

After a moment of contemplation, Xuzhuang bowed respectfully. "I am willing. When the time comes, how am I to find Venerable Moonlight’s reincarnation?"

Daochen Zhenren said, "There is no rush. For the time being, you may wait here in the sect. I will issue a decree once Venerable Moonlight has reincarnated."

At this, seeming to have concluded their official business, Daochen Zhenren smiled and added, "Is the treasure I gave you proving useful, Junior Brother? Why have you not yet refined the Golden Mercury?"

Xuzhuang said with a note of resignation, "I have been cultivating diligently. I should be able to refine the Golden Mercury very soon."

"Mm," Daochen Zhenren nodded, a cryptic smile on his face. "Junior Brother, you should still focus on your cultivation. It would be best to forge your Nascent Soul as soon as possible..."

Xuzhuang’s heart skipped a beat. He sensed a hidden meaning in Daochen Zhenren’s words, but the Zhenren left them unfinished. Instead, he simply said, "Go on. Remember my words. If you are unclear about anything in your cultivation, you may come and ask me."

Xuzhuang was still mulling over the hidden meaning in Daochen Zhenren’s words, and hearing this offer, he couldn’t help but feel a flash of delight.

’Ever since I started cultivating, I may not have had a master to personally impart the teachings, but here in the Tai Su Sect, there have always been experts giving sermons and elders offering pointers. I know full well that a single piece of advice from a senior, given from their elevated vantage point, is often worth more than ages spent fumbling in the dark.’

’And to receive guidance from a Primordial Spirit True Man, no less? What kind of karmic fortune is that?’

He immediately bowed deeply in thanks. Daochen Zhenren naturally accepted the gesture. But unexpectedly, as Xuzhuang straightened up, he clasped his hands and asked, "If I may ask, Senior Brother, why is it that the formed is born from the formless?"

Daochen Zhenren laughed and pointed a finger at Xuzhuang. "You, Junior Brother..."

—

By the time Xuzhuang stepped out of the Cloud Palace, two moons were already hanging in the sky.

Above the sea of clouds, with nothing to obscure the view, the sky was a brilliant expanse of starlight. Xuzhuang looked up, and a thought suddenly arose in his mind: ’Among these countless stars, how many of them harbor life? How many are counted among the Great Thousand Worlds? How many seekers of the Dao are out there? Are there other paths of cultivation that lead to the Great Dao, aside from the Profound and Demon Daos?’

’And what of those stars, hanging eternally in the highest heavens? What do they represent?’

Xuzhuang gazed in silence for a while longer before pulling his eyes away. Yet the ambition that stirred in his heart—to travel the Star River and soar through the void—did not recede with his gaze.

"I really should put my mind back on cultivation," Xuzhuang murmured to himself. He lingered no longer, launching himself into the air as a brilliant streak of light that shot through the clouds, heading for Chongyun Peak.

Xuzhuang traveled at great speed and quickly returned to his cave residence. After settling down in the main hall and pondering for a moment, he flicked a finger, sending out a messenger talisman. Then, he closed his eyes and waited.

Mere moments later, two figures entered the cave residence. They were none other than Li Changfeng and the jiaolong, Lieyun.

As the man and the jiaolong entered, they saw Xuzhuang sitting in the place of honor. Li Changfeng, still in his ceremonial robes, paid them no mind as he strode forward, bowed deeply, and said, "Greetings, Master."

The jiaolong, Lieyun, was now covered in azure scales, bearing a faint resemblance to the former Marquis Fuhai. Its demonic aura, however, was far more potent than the Marquis’s had ever been. Evidently, the years spent residing in Yunmeng Marsh had been of endless benefit to its cultivation.

Its slick personality, however, remained unchanged. Upon seeing Xuzhuang on his seat of honor, it immediately shrank down, flew onto the nearby table, and said with a fawning tone, "My lord, your little beast is here."

Xuzhuang acknowledged him with a faint grunt, then raised a hand. A powerful force lifted Li Changfeng to his feet. He asked him directly, "Changfeng, did you gain anything from your travels?"

Before Xuzhuang had left for the Dharma Origin Grotto Heaven with Sun Suzhen, Li Changfeng had already bid him farewell to resume his travels. He only returned to the sect when the Tai Su Orthodox Sect issued a decree summoning its members for Daochen Zhenren’s succession ceremony.

Li Changfeng replied respectfully, "Master, I have been cultivating diligently and have not dared to be complacent. I have just finished gathering the Inner Three Medicines. During my travels, I was also fortunate enough to find two of the outer medicines. I only need a stalk of Immortal Ganoderma to have all six."

Xuzhuang nodded slightly. "The sect should have some Immortal Ganoderma in its stores, and of the very highest quality at that."

"I wish to follow your example, Master," Li Changfeng said hastily. "I want to travel the Divine Continent and gather the great medicines myself to temper my cultivation..."

"Not so fast," Xuzhuang said with a wave of his hand. "I, your master, understand your intent. This Immortal Ganoderma will not be a baseless gift."

Li Changfeng immediately replied, "What are your instructions, Master? I will go through hell and high water for you. I would not dare ask for the great medicine as a reward."

Xuzhuang’s gaze drifted into the distance for a moment before he said calmly, "In five years at the earliest, eight at the latest, I want you to go to the Upper Profound Sect and deliver a letter to Zhong Shenxiu on my behalf."

"You can treat this task as part of your training. When you return, I will write a letter. You can take it to the Ministry of Affairs Hall to claim the Immortal Ganoderma."

Li Changfeng paid no mind to the mention of the Immortal Ganoderma. "Your disciple obeys," he said. After a moment’s hesitation, he was unable to contain his excitement and asked, "Master, rumors on the Divine Continent say that Zhong Shenxiu has been delaying his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm because he is waiting for a battle with you."

"You’re ordering me to deliver a letter to the Upper Profound Sect... Does this mean..."

Xuzhuang remained noncommittal, cutting him off. "For now, just stay within the sect and focus on your cultivation. I am about to enter seclusion to attempt my breakthrough to the great accomplishment stage of the Golden Core. If there is anything you don’t understand about your own cultivation, you may ask me now."

When it came to cultivation, Li Changfeng cast aside all modesty. He quickly organized the questions that had built up in his mind and asked them one by one. Most of them concerned the cultivation of the *Tai Su Sword Qi of Form and Formlessness*, with a few relating to the practical application of his swordsmanship.

Leaving aside the high level of Xuzhuang’s own swordsmanship, his profound understanding of Dao techniques made guiding Li Changfeng a trivial affair. He would often answer in just a few words, yet each explanation was like a thunderclap, leaving Li Changfeng in a state of sudden enlightenment.

In less than an hour, he had answered all of Li Changfeng’s accumulated questions. Li Changfeng again bowed deeply to the floor, thanking his master with great reverence.

Xuzhuang sat and accepted the bow without stopping him. Before Li Changfeng had even stood up, Lieyun looked at Xuzhuang and stammered, "My lord, what about this little beast?"

Xuzhuang asked quizzically, "What is it? Do you have cultivation problems too?"

"Don’t you have any orders for your little beast, my lord?" Lieyun asked anxiously.

It was not that Lieyun had ceased to be lazy. The truth was, ever since arriving at the Yunmeng Marsh, an Immortal Blessed Land, he had rarely seen Xuzhuang’s face.

At first, Lieyun felt free, with no one breathing down his neck. Cultivating in the Blessed Land yielded twice the results for half the effort, and he was absolutely delighted. As time passed, however, worry began to set in.

’If I’m no longer valuable to my lord and get kicked out of Yunmeng Marsh, what then? Am I supposed to go back to the East Sea and be some wild demon? Go back to that miserable life?’

Lieyun had been overjoyed when Xuzhuang summoned him today. But the moment he saw his lord, he sensed that the man’s cultivation had once again grown by leaps and bounds, which only made him more anxious about his own worth.

Xuzhuang chuckled, pointed at the slick-headed jiaolong, and instructed, "When Changfeng sets out, you are to go with him."

Lieyun was ecstatic. "Don’t you worry, my lord! Your humble servant will protect Xiaolizi... er, the young master... the Daoist! I’ll ensure his safety!"

Xuzhuang shook his head and said, "Your duty is to ensure that no unnecessary accidents occur on this trip. Do you understand?"

Lieyun understood instantly and nodded obediently.

Xuzhuang added, "And don’t neglect your own cultivation. If you make enough progress, I might consider fetching the *Dragon Power Method* from Langhuan Tower for you. It can teach you how to increase your Demonic Power, and perhaps you’ll be able to advance to the next level one day."

Lieyun’s head bobbed up and down in a frantic series of nods. He then raised the upper half of his body, mimicked a Daoist’s formal bow, and exclaimed, "Thank you for your guidance, my lord!"

"Go on," Xuzhuang said.

Once the man and the jiaolong had obediently departed, Xuzhuang waved a wide sleeve. The gates to his residence swung shut, and the restrictive arrays activated. In a flash, he was inside his quiet chamber.

Xuzhuang’s former jade couch had now been replaced by the Profound Ice Couch he had acquired from the Dharma Origin Grotto Heaven. Cultivating upon it helped to clear the mind and calm the spirit, and it even provided a small boost to the cultivation of Daoist arts. The effect wasn’t significant, but it was better than nothing.

Xuzhuang settled onto the ice couch and drew an item from his sleeve. It was the Chiwen Kui Body Burner, an incense burner with an ebony base inlaid with gold and silver. This was the very treasure Daochen Zhenren had given him.

This item’s function was similar to that of the Glazed Truth Condensing Pot—extracting Spiritual Truth—but it was far more effective. It could process Golden Core Jade Pills, medicinal elixirs, true cinnabar, and various other cultivation materials. It could even refine the Core Power a cultivator expended, returning it to them to be used again.

This function might seem as useless as a chicken rib, but it allowed a Golden Core Cultivator to experience the wondrous state of their Core Power endlessly welling up from its source, never regressing.

’With this, I can definitely refine the Golden Mercury within five years.’

Xuzhuang tossed the Chiwen Kui Body Burner into the air before him. At once, all the Core Power in his body billowed out as a thick, roiling cloud of smoky qi.

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