Chapter 413 - 316: Moment of Dharma Demonstration
When Fang Qingyuan appeared riding the hundred-foot-long Wooden Dragon, the jaws of Mao Cheng and the others below dropped. They were so stunned they couldn’t seem to close their mouths.
Beside Mao Cheng, Qi Wenchu, the Qingyuan Sect’s new Honored Guest Elder, whispered, "Has Sect Leader Fang always been so... unrestrained?"
Mao Cheng asked blankly, "Huh? What did you say?"
Seeing Mao Cheng play dumb, Qi Wenchu tactfully closed his mouth and focused on watching Fang Qingyuan’s next move.
Fang Qingyuan guided the Wooden Dragon, circling above everyone’s heads. The hundred-foot-long dragon had a body as thick as a carriage. As it roared past over the crowd, some of the Qi Cultivation Disciples with lower cultivation were so shocked they nearly stopped breathing.
Such a massive creation was majestic even when still, let alone while moving at high speed.
Many of the Qi Cultivation Disciples gazed blankly at the circling Wooden Dragon, their eyes gradually filling with envy and longing. These fluctuations of emotion, of course, could not escape Fang Qingyuan’s Divine Technique, the Voice of All Things.
Seeing that the timing and atmosphere were just right, Fang Qingyuan stopped circling. He had the Wooden Dragon land on the high platform the sect had built for him, but he did not step down from its head.
He stood atop the Wooden Dragon’s head, swept his gaze across the crowd, and began to speak directly.
"Wood is the nature of life in spring, the source of all things. It is the way of the East, sprouting forth from the earth..."
Ancient memories are engraved with the sediment of history and profound stories. Those simple things, carved with the marks of time, undoubtedly possess the most vigorous life force. Wood was just like that.
As Fang Qingyuan spoke, pristine white flowers bloomed from the Wooden Dragon’s body. They then detached from the dragon and floated toward the crowd.
Jiang Wanqin, standing below the stage, reached out and caught one. After examining it and confirming it was a real flower—not some illusion or trick—she gently tucked it into her hair.
The other Qi Cultivation Disciples also caught them one by one. Some even popped them directly into their mouths to taste them.
For this sermon, Fang Qingyuan chose to begin with the Wood element. He focused on the substance and resilience of the Wood Spirit. As he spoke, ring-like patterns representing the passage of years gradually appeared on the scales of the Wooden Dragon, which was the transformed Fish Dragon.
The Qi Cultivation Disciples, who were already captivated, were now listening in a state of utter fascination. Even for those disciples who were less perceptive, Fang Qingyuan would use his Voice of All Things Divine Technique to connect with their hearts and pull them into the Wood Spirit Dao.
As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Qi Wenchu’s disposition and insight naturally far surpassed these Qi Cultivation Disciples. But after hearing just a few sentences, he realized that Fang Qingyuan’s words were profound and supreme teachings.
At first, Qi Wenchu had been subconsciously resistant. He didn’t cultivate the Wood element, and he didn’t think much of Fang Qingyuan’s showy style of demonstration. After all, he had previously seen a Golden Core Cultivator like Qi Wushuang demonstrate their techniques.
But as Fang Qingyuan continued, he couldn’t help but become immersed, cheering for the ceremonial demonstration along with everyone else present.
The atmosphere had grown fervent. Fang Qingyuan carefully guided everyone’s emotions using the Heart-Nature Dao of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires, while simultaneously explaining the insights he had gained cultivating the Path of the Five Elements.
Truth be told, Fang Qingyuan’s comprehension of the Five Elements was far deeper than anyone else present. On one hand, the Cultivation Technique he practiced was an Earth Tier Upper Grade beast-taming classic. On the other hand, it was thanks to his Innate Divine Technique, the Five-Colored Light.
This power originated from a drop of blood left behind by the Five-Colored Divine Bird Peacock from countless millennia ago, whose Cultivation Realm was unknown. From it, Fang Qingyuan had obtained this supreme Divine Technique.
In this realm’s arts, Escape Techniques were paramount. The Five-Colored Divine Escape, which evolved from the Five-Colored Light, was a Five Elements Escape Technique. Its level was even higher than that of single-element Escape Techniques.
Besides the Five-Colored Divine Light’s ability to counter the transformations of the Five Elements and the supreme speed of the Five-Colored Escape Light, this Innate Divine Technique also subtly and imperceptibly deepened Fang Qingyuan’s understanding of the Path of the Five Elements during his daily cultivation.
Naturally, Fang Qingyuan’s understanding of the Five Elements Dao couldn’t compare to that of the Five-Colored Peacock. If Fang Qingyuan’s current comprehension was a small pond, then the Five-Colored Divine Bird was a vast ocean. And through the Five-Colored Light, Fang Qingyuan’s pond was constantly drawing knowledge from that ocean, destined one day to stretch for a thousand miles.
Time passed bit by bit. The white flowers on the Wooden Dragon’s body bloomed again and again. Thankfully, the Fish Dragon was providing a rich supply of Wood Spiritual Power to sustain it. Otherwise, if the white flowers—such an important visual—had suddenly stopped mid-demonstration, it would have been quite embarrassing.
As a sea of white flowers danced around the crowd, gradually turning the scene into a vast expanse of white, Fang Qingyuan’s tone suddenly shifted. His expression grew solemn as he proclaimed:
"Wood is the wheel of years, the lament of time. One ring is a year, one turn is a season..."
Following his words, the myriad flowers fell and withered. A bleak, desolate atmosphere settled over everyone’s hearts. In an instant, some cried out in alarm, while others were overjoyed.
Only the white flower in Jiang Wanqin’s hair remained fresh and dewy.
Fang Qingyuan paid no mind to how his disciples were comprehending the lesson. With him in control, they wouldn’t fall into a state of cultivation deviation. As for how much they could grasp, that would depend on their individual fortunes.
Fang Qingyuan had now spoken of the Wood element, from its Life Origin to the passage of time marked by its annual rings. A moment later, he shifted again. After the white flowers withered, he pointed a finger, and a massive, three-legged Divine Bird appeared. It stood tall in mid-air, then flapped its wings, unleashing infinite light and heat.
This time, it was the disciples with Fire Spirit Roots who cried out in joyful surprise.
...
The demonstration continued for a full day and a night, from dawn until dusk, and then from dusk until dawn again. During the night, the Three-legged Golden Crow served as a temporary sun, preventing the area from falling into darkness.
After Fang Qingyuan had demonstrated the entire Five Elements Flow, the crowd finally returned to their senses from the shock. Then, before anyone could react, Jiang Wanqin gracefully rose and walked onto the stage. She released her life-bound Ice Cup Flower, which sprinkled a clear radiance to replenish the heavily depleted mental energy of the disciples.
Then, without a word, Jiang Wanqin focused on channeling the illusion of the Ice Cup Flower behind her, providing targeted restoration and Spiritual Power replenishment tailored to each person’s specific traits.
With Jiang Wanqin’s support, the disciples who had exhausted their Spiritual Power and mental energy by immersing themselves in the demonstration now fell one by one into a state of deep meditation.
A short while later, under Jiang Wanqin’s care, the auras of several Qi Cultivation Disciples on the spot began to shift—they had broken through their bottlenecks and advanced their Cultivation Realms.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan, who had already ridden the dragon back to his Quiet Chamber on the mountain peak, smiled. ’This is Jiang Wanqin’s unique way of demonstrating her dao. She doesn’t speak of her cultivation directly, but shows the disciples through practical application what her Path is. If any Cultivators are interested in it, they can seek her out as their master.’
As for Jiang Wanqin’s lazy, hands-off approach, Fang Qingyuan just let her be. She had already made great progress. He couldn’t ask for too much and expect her to suddenly become a chatterbox.
Fang Qingyuan had arrived on a dragon and departed on one, leaving an indelible impression in the hearts of his disciples. This was especially true for the new generation of Cultivation Immortal Seedlings, who had seen Fang Qingyuan very few times over the past decade. Seeing him now, they were completely captivated by their Sect Leader’s style.
Half a month after the lecture, several more Qi Cultivation Disciples broke through their bottlenecks and advanced their cultivation. However, there were no cases of anyone breaking through from Qi Cultivation Perfection to Foundation Establishment yet. But that didn’t matter. The seeds had been sown, and all Fang Qingyuan had to do was wait patiently.
...
「Five months later.」
The first batch of Four-winged Cyan Jade Dragonfly Beasts in the Immortal Mansion reached maturity.
Inside the Immortal Mansion, the Bee Queen rarely wriggled out from the Purple Bamboo Forest. She came out to observe the group of beautiful creatures with their cyan-white wings.
These dragonflies, about two meters long, had four wings as white and cyan as jade. The wings beat at an extremely high speed, yet each of the four moved independently, working in an interlocking fashion without any chaos.
Thus, these dragonflies could fly sideways, vertically, and even backward. Compared to clumsy flying mounts like Eagle Beasts, their maneuverability was in a completely different league.
However, while these Cyan Jade Dragonflies were extremely agile, they had little combat power and insufficient stamina. It was impossible to use them as long-distance Camel Beasts.
They were only truly useful for short-distance escapes or when dueling with people and beasts. Fortunately, White Mountain Cultivators often found themselves in life-or-death battles, which was why the Cyan Jade Dragonfly would become wildly popular.
If this were the Qi Yun Territory, these Cyan Jade Dragonflies would likely just be appreciated as novelties.
Fang Qingyuan was also here, watching. He personally witnessed giant Water Scorpions crawling out of the marsh, climbing onto trees, drying their bodies, and beginning their metamorphosis.
After a difficult transformation, the once-ugly Water Scorpions shed their old exoskeletons and grew four slender, cyan-jade wings. Then, under the light and heat cast down by the Three-legged Golden Crow above, these wings began to harden. Finally, the Cyan Jade Dragonflies injected a bodily fluid they secreted into their wings, and in the next moment, they took flight.
Shedding their ugly past forms, they would welcome a brilliant insect life, mate with a favored partner, produce offspring, and live out their short, happy existence.
This was supposed to be the future for these Cyan Jade Dragonflies. But the moment their wings could fly, a dark shadow swept over them, and Fang Qingyuan sucked them into his Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner. What awaited them were the cold Engraved Beast Pattern Bone Needles.
That was the perspective of the Cyan Jade Dragonflies. In Fang Qingyuan’s eyes, however, each of these "little cuties" represented beautiful Spirit Stones. They represented the food and expenses for his sect’s disciples, and in years of disaster, the rations for over two hundred thousand mortals.
Because of the Cultivators’ presence, the mortals of the Qingyuan Sect usually enjoyed favorable weather and bountiful harvests when they farmed. But while they could handle light winds and small rains, they were powerless against the kind of natural disasters that even Cultivators feared.
Furthermore, this was newly settled land near the Barbaric Wilderness, so the soil wasn’t particularly fertile and was periodically plagued by natural disasters. For the two hundred thousand people of the Qingyuan Sect to eat their fill, they sometimes needed to buy grain from outside powers. The Qingyuan Sect led these negotiations, dealing with other Cultivation Sects, and the currency used was, naturally, Spirit Stones.
In the Cultivation Realm, Spirit Stones were the true hard currency. The gold and silver used by mortals were fine for small-scale transactions, but once a certain limit was exceeded, no one would accept anything but Spirit Stones.
As the Cyan Jade Dragonflies were collected into the Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner one by one, the number of newly transformed dragonflies rapidly dwindled. Just as the Qiankun Banner was about to envelop one that had just emerged and was preparing to take flight, Fang Qingyuan suddenly cried out in surprise.
"Huh? A dragonfly with five wings? A mutation?"