Chapter 152: CH. 152 | Nine-Heaven Myriad Clone Art
Zhu Wei agreed right away, no negotiation needed. The new deal Lin Tian had laid out was extremely promising for him. There were two clear benefits for Clan Zhu.
First, they wouldn’t need to get involved with Sect Lingxian in any way, including protecting it.
That meant they could keep their good standing with the Qin Sect Alliance without any worries.
Second, the matter of supplies and resources. If Lin Tian had asked a small clan for this kind of thing, they’d probably struggle.
But not Clan Zhu. They held full power over the city, had plenty of money and technique treasures, and owned the best auction pagoda in town.
Meeting Sect Lingxian’s needs was an easy matter for them.
But what Zhu Wei was really counting on was Lin Tian’s effort. He knew Lin Tian’s ability and capacity were well beyond his own, even though the two of them were both late stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
So this man was the only hope Zhu Wei had left for bringing Zhu Zirong and Zhu Xian home.
He tapped his bag of holding and handed over the heaven grade clone technique to Lin Tian.
Just from its look and the qi aura radiating off the scroll, anyone could tell how high quality the technique was.
Lin Tian accepted the clone technique with a small smile, then tucked it away into his own bag of holding.
"I’m counting a great deal on you, Sect Leader Lin," Zhu Wei said, bowing his head in respect.
"As it happens, I was already planning to head to the Saintess Spring Valley to seek heavenly enlightenment. Since our goals line up, I don’t mind helping you out," Lin Tian said firmly.
Zhu Wei smiled along with him. Along with the technique scroll, he also handed over a jade token, two jade tokens in fact.
Lin Tian took them and checked their contents by channeling spiritual qi through them.
The contents of the two jade tokens turned out to be maps leading to two ruined castles within Saintess Spring Valley.
Just rough sketches, but they’d probably go a long way toward helping Lin Tian track down the two missing people.
"Study that map carefully, Sect Leader Lin. This trip might be dangerous, so I’d like to suggest sending two of my elders to—"
"No, Clan Leader Zhu," Lin Tian cut in, "I’ll go alone. Bringing anyone else along would just slow me down."
Zhu Wei nodded with a smile, understanding what Lin Tian meant. Once he had what he needed, Lin Tian said his farewells to Zhu Wei, and Cao Ying and Wu Yue did the same.
The old man walked them out all the way to the door of the clan’s main building.
Lin Tian and the two women with him changed their appearance right away, disguising themselves in black robes.
One of the clan’s grand elders noticed that Zhu Wei had been talking with Lin Tian from Sect Lingxian. He came to see his clan leader.
"How did the deal go, Clan Leader Zhu Wei?" the grand elder asked.
"We won’t need to protect the sect or its disciples. Lin Tian only asked us to provide a few items," Zhu Wei answered.
"Items? You mean technique scrolls? He must have asked for high level technique scrolls," the grand elder said. Zhu Wei just let out a small laugh at that.
"You’re wrong, Zhu Han."
"The highest level technique he asked for was only Sect Grade."
"Sect Grade? Wait! So he only asked for mortal, profound, and sect grade technique scrolls?"
"Yes."
The grand elder was stunned, unable to figure out why Lin Tian would ask for something like that. But compared to a request to protect the sect, this was an easy ask to fulfill.
"Then Clan Zhu is in the clear. We can stay off the Qin Sect Alliance’s radar," the man said, sounding relieved.
"That’s right," Zhu Wei said, "Gather the clan elders. I’ll assign tasks to them regarding this."
"Yes, Clan Leader Zhu."
Elsewhere, Lin Tian and the others walked through the city gates, then flew off quickly, leaving Zhu City behind. Wu Yue turned to look at him as she kept flying alongside.
"I’m impressed. You squeezed a good deal out of them," Wu Yue said.
"Clan Zhu is a major clan, the ruler of a big city like Zhu City. That request was nothing hard for them. But why did you ask for that in the first place?"
"What I mean is, you’re about to risk your life in that valley. You should be getting something out of the deal too," Cao Ying said.
Lin Tian gave a small smile, still flying in the lead with Cao Ying and Wu Yue on either side of him. Both women kept their eyes fixed on him.
"To me... Sect Lingxian matters most."
"I’ve realized that as our number of disciples grows, we need enough techniques and knowledge for them to keep improving," Lin Tian explained.
"Just by asking Clan Zhu for that, we can solve the problem."
"I don’t mind not getting a great technique for myself. But I can’t just sit back if my disciples aren’t growing the way they should," Lin Tian said.
Cao Ying and Wu Yue exchanged a glance, both breaking into wide smiles and nodding.
Even with his mind full of his own pursuit of heavenly enlightenment, he was still thinking about his sect.
That touched both women and made them happy. Slowly but surely, their view of him had been shifting the more time they spent with him.
At first they’d seen Lin Tian as cruel and without morals, but in the end, he turned out to be a responsible and sharp minded sect leader.
He only did those brutal things to protect his sect, nothing more.
"You can head to that valley with an easy mind. Wu Yue and I will train your disciples in that technique," Cao Ying said.
"Forget about my own freedom for now. Just focus on finding a way to break through to Soul Formation. I don’t think Sect Lingxian is as bad as I used to think," Wu Yue said.
Lin Tian looked at each of them in turn, then smiled and nodded, pleased, "Thank you. I know I can count on you both."
The three of them kept flying without stopping, cutting through the sky and clouds until the Lingxi Mountains came into view ahead, with Wind Dragon Peak catching the sunlight against the sect’s white marble walls.
They arrived at the sect, where the many disciples training in the front courtyard immediately lowered their heads in respect.
"Greetings, Sect Leader Lin."
"Greetings, Grand Elder Wu."
"Greetings, Sect Protector Ying."
Wu Yue and Cao Ying waved back at them as they passed. The disciples went back to their training and cultivation, while Lin Tian and the others headed into the sect’s main building.
"I need to be alone to study this clone technique," Lin Tian said.
"Of course. We’ll be right outside keeping an eye on the other disciples."
He walked in and sat down at his cultivation altar. After a long search, he’d finally gotten his hands on a clone technique from Clan Zhu.
He tapped his bag of holding and let the technique scroll hover in front of his face. There was no seal on it at all, so he could study it right away.
He raised his hand and unrolled the scroll. The name of the clone technique was written clearly across it.
"Nine Heaven Myriad Clone Art..."
His eyes lit up with a bright white glow as he studied the scroll closely using his cultivation eyes.
[Detail Technique:]
[Name: Nine Heaven Myriad Clone Art]
[Grade: Heaven]
[Desc: A Heaven Grade technique that draws on Dao Intent, Qi, and part of the user’s Qi Soul to create up to nine true clones. The higher the user’s cultivation, the stronger the clones that can be created.]
Since I’m limited to nine clones, I need to be careful and not use them carelessly.
For now, I’ll make one new clone to stay behind at the sect and run things here.
Lin Tian’s hands formed the technique’s seal, and his Absolute Dao Emperor Comprehension ability kicked in, immediately absorbing the essence of the technique.
A stream of golden qi flowed out of the scroll and into Lin Tian’s forehead, sinking fully into his dantian and stirring his subconscious mind into grasping the essence of the technique.
Normally it only took Lin Tian a few hours to grasp an Earth Grade Technique, but since the clone technique was Heaven Grade, it was taking noticeably longer.
Lin Tian couldn’t afford to rush. The Clone Technique was too complex. Even a small mistake in understanding it could turn out badly down the road.