Chapter 219 - 216: Crisis Resolved
Faced with the pressure of a master at the Soul Emergence Level, the three of them dared not hide anything and had no choice but to reveal all their most closely guarded secrets.
The story began over three hundred years ago.
Over three hundred years ago, the Qi Clan was just one of the minor Immortal Cultivation Clans, having only recently risen and been established for a few generations.
The strongest member in their entire small clan was merely at the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer, making them completely unremarkable in the region.
However,
it was then that, in the short span of ten years,
someone in the Qi Clan suddenly broke through to the Soul Emergence Realm!
As a result, the once-small Qi Family was like a pauper who had struck it rich overnight.
In the blink of an eye, they soared, joining the ranks of the Soul Emergence Clans!
This was, in fact, utterly unbelievable!
After all, even for well-established Immortal Cultivation Forces—those with an unbroken lineage of Ninth Layer Peak Cultivators—it would take over a century of accumulation just for a descendant to attempt a breakthrough to the Soul Emergence Realm!
For Immortal Cultivation Forces trying to ascend to a higher tier,
they lack not only the legacy knowledge for advancing to the Soul Emergence Realm—the key insights, experience, and even the necessary Immortal Cultivation Techniques—
but they also face deficiencies in many other areas, such as a shortage of Soul Emergence Pills and various Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects.
Building such a foundation is no easy task.
Thus, if a century of careful management and accumulation allows even one descendant to successfully break through to Soul Emergence,
leading their clan to become a Soul Emergence Clan,
it would be considered a stroke of incredible luck!
By contrast,
the Qi Family was a minor clan whose strongest member had a Cultivation of merely the Qi Introduction Seventh Layer.
How could they possibly enable one of their own to ascend to the heavens in a single step and break through to Soul Emergence in just ten short years?!
Setting aside all the other requirements for breaking through to Soul Emergence,
a Cultivation Technique for the Soul Emergence Level alone
was something the Qi Family, whose ancestors had always struggled at the bottom rungs of society, could not possibly have possessed back then!
"According to the journals left by our ancestors, one night three hundred years ago, they saw a meteor streak across the sky. At the same time, an unbelievably terrifying aura blanketed the heavens and the earth..."
"Later, disciples from the Yuqing Immortal Sect came to investigate, but they left after finding nothing."
"And yet, ten years after that day, the Qi Family’s Soul Emergence Realm expert emerged out of thin air..."
"Our ancestors suspected that the incident that day was caused by a remnant of the Xiangshan Sect passing through this area while fleeing... and due to some unknown turn of events, the Qi Family stumbled upon a great fortune."
"And just like that, by using that rich inheritance, the Qi Family was able to rapidly produce a Soul Emergence Realm Cultivator for their clan!"
Gang Leader Qiu explained slowly and deliberately.
As he spoke, his voice was tinged with a hint of envy.
"The reason the three of us joined forces against the Qi Family, besides the Sea of Blood between our ancestors and theirs, is largely because our own Cultivation has reached the Ninth Layer Peak. We can’t advance any further and need to plan for the legacy of the next step: the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment and Soul Emergence..."
"Since the Qi Family has produced a True Cultivator of the Soul Emergence Realm, they must possess the legacy for advancing to Soul Emergence. We even suspect its origin is the Xiangshan Sect disciple who fled here all those years ago..."
"The Xiangshan Sect, after all, was once an Immortal Dao Major Sect that dominated an entire domain. It was a great power that even had a Master Profound Pill in its ranks. Their legacy concerning the breakthrough to Soul Emergence must be incredibly detailed and complete..."
"That’s why the three of us joined forces and attacked the Qi Family. We hoped to seize what we believe is the Xiangshan Sect’s Soul Emergence legacy from them, so that we could continue on our own paths..."
"As for this sudden, strange turn of events, we don’t know the specific cause either. But if I had to guess, I’m afraid it must be related to that old incident from three hundred years ago..."
Gang Leader Qiu’s words
plunged Shen Changchuan into deep thought.
’Perhaps Gang Leader Qiu is hiding something. There might be even more secrets he isn’t revealing.’
’But some things are likely certain.’
’The source of this disturbance—the entity that my so-called brother Shen Chong is probably fighting right now—must be related to a former disciple of the Xiangshan Sect.’
Three hundred years ago
was precisely when the Yuqing Immortal Sect launched its final offensive and destroyed the Xiangshan Sect’s Mountain Gate.
After that, the Xiangshan Sect was wiped from existence.
’Xiangshan Sect...’
Shen Changchuan repeated the name to himself, a subtle look in his eyes.
In fact,
the Cultivation Technique listed on his progress panel was, in fact, the Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique.
It was the very same Qi Cultivation Technique created by the Xiangshan Sect—the former hegemon of the Southern Domain, destroyed three hundred years ago—for Cultivators in the Qi Introduction Realm!
He hadn’t acquired this Qi Cultivation Technique by stumbling upon some lost treasure in a Workshop and becoming a remnant of the Xiangshan Sect.
Rather, he had chosen it from the Shen Family’s own Scripture Pavilion.
During that war three hundred years ago,
the Shen Family Ancestor had poured the clan’s entire strength into following the Yuqing Immortal Sect’s campaign against the Xiangshan Sect, earning considerable merit in the process.
It was because of this that the clan was able to establish itself in Tian Nan City, occupying numerous Spirit Fields and Spiritual Lands over a vast area to serve as the family’s foundation.
In the course of that campaign against the Xiangshan Sect, they naturally acquired a great deal of plunder.
This Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique was one of the most unremarkable of those spoils, and it was placed in the Shen Family’s Scripture Pavilion, becoming part of the Shen Clan’s collection.
The Shen Family, of course, has its own inherited Qi Cultivation Method.
It was even rumored that the core family method had special properties beyond the Soul Emergence Realm, making a Cultivator’s combat prowess significantly greater than that of their peers at the same level.
Unfortunately, these core Cultivation Techniques were generally reserved for members of the direct bloodline or for talented individuals who had earned the clan’s special attention.
With Shen Changchuan’s ordinary aptitude and humble origins, it was practically impossible for him to ever access the clan’s core legacy.
Thus, after some deliberation, his predecessor
had chosen the Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique from the Scripture Pavilion.
His predecessor’s reasoning at the time was that even though the Xiangshan Sect had been destroyed and the clan’s copy of the Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique was incomplete—stopping at the Soul Emergence Realm—
requiring one to switch to a different Technique after reaching the Soul Emergence Realm,
the Xiangshan Sect had, after all, once been the hegemon of an entire domain. Even the current Shen Clan was a far cry from its former glory.
The Qi Cultivation Technique it produced must have its own profound mysteries.
Cultivating it had to be better than practicing any of the other available Qi Cultivation Techniques.
Besides,
for his predecessor, the Soul Emergence Realm was like the moon’s reflection in a well—a beautiful but unattainable dream.
’Perhaps I have a chance to obtain the legacy Techniques for the Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique, for the Soul Emergence Realm and beyond?’
The thought surfaced in Shen Changchuan’s mind.
In all his Cultivation so far,
he hadn’t noticed any particular advantages or differences in the Xiangshan Qi Cultivation Technique compared to other Qi Cultivation Techniques.
But, just like his predecessor, Shen Changchuan didn’t believe that the foundational Qi Cultivation Technique of a Major Sect could be so simple.
Just as Shen Changchuan was lost in thought,
suddenly,
the commotion from the core of the Qi Family’s compound ceased.
The dark canopy overhead
began to gradually dissipate.
The pervasive sense of danger
also vanished with it!