Chapter 251 - 248: The Promise
In the span of a year, Shen Changchuan also used the Sect’s collection to master both the Basic Alchemy Technique and the Junior Array Master legacy he had previously obtained, reaching 100% completion.
Unfortunately, the Basic Alchemy Technique could only be used to refine Elixirs needed by low-to-mid-level Cultivators in the Qi Introduction Realm.
He was not yet capable of refining higher-level Cultivation Elixirs.
Thus, throughout his year of practicing Alchemy, Shen Changchuan himself gained little personal benefit, aside from selling the byproducts through Dawan Village to recoup some Spirit Stones and the many Wasted Pills that allowed Xiaofeng to rapidly advance to the Qi Introduction Ninth Layer.
No, that’s not quite right.
It wasn’t completely without benefits.
Practicing the Hundred Skills of Cultivation was, in itself, a pastime to soothe the mind, a respite from the fatigue of his arduous regular Cultivation.
Moreover, during this process,
Shen Changchuan discovered that with each practice session, his control over his own Divine Sense grew more and more profound.
Compared to Alchemy,
fully mastering the Junior Array Master legacy brought Shen Changchuan immense benefits.
The story of these benefits began a year ago.
A year ago,
Shen Changchuan had accidentally discovered a treasure trove deliberately concealed at the bottom of the Dawan River.
From it, he obtained a seedling of the Cyan Essence Water Grass and a Token engraved with the character "Xiang."
After some investigation and a series of subsequent events, Shen Changchuan came to understand the general story behind it,
and in the aftermath, he was led to a treasure site: the ruins of a cave abode in a secret location within the Demon Beast Forest.
But unfortunately,
the cave abode ruins—suspected to have been left by a Soul Emergence Realm Disciple who escaped the Xiangshan Sect—was sealed by an extremely powerful Array, making entry difficult even with the Token.
At the time, Shen Changchuan had no choice but to set the matter aside,
planning to return and open it once he was strong enough.
Now, having mastered the Junior Array Master legacy, he took the opportunity during a trip back to Dawan Village—an excuse to get away—to secretly visit the cave abode ruins.
Relying on his newfound knowledge of Arrays and the Token in his hand, Shen Changchuan finally managed to disable the sealing Array Restriction and enter.
However, after going to all that trouble,
the haul from within the cave abode ruins left Shen Changchuan rather disappointed.
The cave abode seemed to be merely a temporary shelter for that Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator.
The body of the cave’s master was nowhere to be found, which meant, of course, that there was no inheritance to claim.
The cave contained some Spirit Stones, but not many.
Also on a shelf were Elixirs, likely used for Cultivation by Soul Emergence Realm Cultivators,
but after two or three hundred years, those poorly preserved Elixirs had lost almost all their Medicinal Power, turning into a pile of useless residue.
Compared to the expected legacy of a Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator, the value of these items was practically negligible.
Shen Changchuan was, understandably, disappointed.
However, he hadn’t come away completely empty-handed,
for in one of the cave’s rooms, he discovered numerous Jade Slips containing notes.
They recorded a wide variety of information about the Immortal Cultivation Realm, all sorts of Magic—even techniques at the Soul Emergence Level—and various Cultivation insights, legacies, and more.
This trove of knowledge would serve to further expand Shen Changchuan’s own foundation.
And among all this,
what Shen Changchuan considered the greatest prize—
the very reason he felt the benefits from mastering the Junior Array Master legacy far surpassed those of the Alchemy legacy—
was that among them
was an Advanced Skill for the Cyan Wood Sword Light—
a Divine Technique called the Sanqing Forest Sword Array!
You see, for all this time, Shen Changchuan had never stopped scouring the markets and making inquiries, searching for a follow-up Advanced Skill for the Cyan Wood Sword Light.
But he had always come up empty-handed.
He never imagined he would find the complete Advanced Skill here,
and a Sword Array Divine Technique at that!
Shen Changchuan didn’t know the meaning behind the name of this Divine Technique,
but among the thousands of Magic techniques he had heard of, none bore the title "Divine Technique," which was enough to tell him just how precious they were!
And indeed,
a brief glance at its description was enough to reveal the terrifying power of this Sword Array Divine Technique!
However,
Shen Changchuan didn’t lose his head and immediately start cultivating it with his progress bar panel.
He considered the deeper implications.
’This cave abode ruin was likely left by a Disciple who luckily escaped the Xiangshan Sect... In other words, a remnant of a rival Sect.’
’Since this Sanqing Forest Sword Array Divine Technique is so powerful, it was probably a famous technique of the Xiangshan Sect back in the day... I’d better ask Master about this first to avoid any future misunderstandings.’
To avoid being mistaken for a remnant of the Xiangshan Sect,
Shen Changchuan decided to be upfront with his master and ask for his opinion first.
After all, with Master Wandering Dragon’s background and status,
he wouldn’t covet this Divine Technique.
"Our Immortal Sect destroyed the Xiangshan Sect long ago, and while there’s some hidden history there... the Xiangshan Sect’s Cultivation Techniques are still considered part of the Righteous Dao. They aren’t some wicked Demon Dao arts that must be forbidden."
"Furthermore, after the Xiangshan Sect was destroyed, many of the scriptures and Cultivation Techniques from their collection were absorbed into our own Immortal Sect’s Scripture Pavilion, becoming part of our Sect’s foundation."
"These resources are available to all Disciples, high and low. Anyone can use Contribution Points to redeem them for Cultivation."
"How could the Immortal Sect brand a Disciple as an enemy remnant just for cultivating one of its techniques?"
"If that were the case, would Disciples even be allowed to cultivate the resources and legacies they acquire while out training in the world?"
"You can cultivate this Divine Technique without any worries."
Master Wandering Dragon was a bit exasperated by Shen Changchuan’s concerns.
So he explained the situation to him carefully.
At the same time, however,
Master Wandering Dragon also offered a word of caution to Shen Changchuan:
"It looks like you want to master this Divine Technique and then, during your Foundation Establishment Stage, condense it into a Divine Seed, correct? As your master, I advise you not to waste your energy..."
"Even among geniuses with Divine Sense so powerful they can leave their bodies before even reaching the Soul Emergence Realm, only one or two in ten succeed in condensing a Spirit Body during their Foundation Establishment Stage. To go a step further and successfully condense a Divine Seed on top of that... such a person is one in ten thousand!"
Many self-proclaimed geniuses have tried, only to find their efforts were as fruitless as drawing water with a bamboo basket, wasting their prime years in the process.
Master Wandering Dragon did not want Shen Changchuan to follow in those footsteps.
"But Master, what if I’m the one who succeeds?"
Master Wandering Dragon froze,
then burst out laughing.
"If you really succeed, then a great fortune awaits you!"