CH 155

Chapter 155 – The Flourishing Wenyuan Mountain Range

Pure Heart Pavilion was the name of Xu Disheng’s courtyard. Having a pure, single-minded devotion to meditation… the name clearly showed the attitude that the master of this courtyard had towards cultivation.

In the air above the courtyard, a youth wearing the apparel of an Outer Region disciple was descending on a white Spirit Cloud. After hesitating for a moment, he sent a message jade slip into the Pure Heart Pavilion.

After a short while, a hole opened in the barrier of light surrounding the Pure Heart Pavilion and a cold voice echoed out from within. “Come in, Chu Luo.”

The youth in the Outer Region disciple uniform bowed rigidly and said respectfully, “Yes, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”

Only then did he enter the walk through the hole in the barrier and enter the courtyard.

When Chu Luo saw the simple but elegantly refined courtyard, a hint of delighted envy appeared in his gaze. However, he didn’t linger or look around. He walked directly towards the courtyard hall and bowed once more before walking through the door.

Xu Disheng looked at the youth in the lower hall. Although he was dressed in the robes of an Outer Region disciple, his expression was steady and not disturbed in the slightest. His etiquette was considerate and well-placed. The arrogance and boastful air he had about him in the Chu Territory was gone altogether. Only the look in this youth’s eyes showed his exceptional temperament.

“Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Xu,” Chu Luo said, his greeting kept shrewdly short. Afterwards, he lowered his eyes and kept his silence.

“Mm,” Xu Disheng said, putting down the jade slip in his hands. “How has your time staying in the Outer Region been so far?”

“All thanks to Senior Martial Brother Xu’s thoughtfulness in sending me to the errands hall of the Outer Region of Mingxin Mountain, I didn’t experience any difficulties,” he replied.

Far from experiencing any difficulties, he even had plenty of cultivation resources from Emperor Chu, who held him in high importance. As soon as he entered the Outer Region, he bought a Spirit Cloud and even managed to make some friends with some Outer Region disciples who had excellent Spiritual Roots. In his community of courtyards, he could be considered to be thriving.

After a moment of thought, Xu Disheng took out a jade slip and said, “With your resources, cultivating to the Sea of Qi stage shouldn’t take too long. When you take the Peak Entry Examination, if you wish to join Morning Dew Peak, show this jade slip to a human resources disciple on Mountain Affairs Peak. Someone will then make the arrangements for you.”

After a short pause, he continued, “Even if you don’t pass the Peak Entry Examination, I will send someone to alter the result and make it so you pass.”

Chu Luo came forward and accepted the jade slip with both hands. Even with his steady temperament, a hint of emotion crossed his expression. “Thank you for your kindness, Senior Martial Brother Xu!”

“Go on then.”

“Yes,” Chu Luo said, respectfully bowing once more before leaving Pure Heart Pavilion.

Chu Luo took out his white Spirit Cloud. After climbing on it, he turned his head to look back at the clouds and mist surrounding Morning Dew Peak. After getting a hold of himself, he flew off in the direction of the Mingxin Mountain’s Outer Region.

Among the few dozen friends and acquaintances that Xu Disheng had made so far was a Sea of Qi stage genius called Yin Yi. This person’s elder brother, Yin Hetong, was a Dao Foundation stage Deacon of the Human Resources Hall on Mingxin Mountain’s Mountain Affairs Peak.

To a Dao Foundation stage Deacon of Human Affairs Hall, a small matter like the Peak Entry Examination and assigning someone to a Mountain Peak was nothing more than putting in a word. Xu Disheng only needed to send out a message jade slip to let him know.

In the storage pouch that Emperor Chu gave him, there were several Spirit Tools and as many as 800 spirit stones within.

Although this amount of resources couldn’t be considered much to the current Xu Disheng, it was more than enough to show the sincerity of Emperor Chu, who had been in the Chu Territory for a long time. Doing at least this much for Chu Luo was still within reason.

As for Chu Qing’er, Chu Tianhe, and the other people of the Chu Territory, Xu Disheng didn’t pay any attention to them whatsoever. After skimming through their jade slips, he simply destroyed them with Pure Oblivion Water.

The scripture of the Theory of Causality slowly surfaced in Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness. He furrowed his brows as he began to use his Soul Force to examine it.

Countless black threads began to appear around him, spreading out in all directions with him in the center.

What was the goal behind the Theory of Causality that appeared in the cyan jade flute, in something as mysterious as the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda?

Did it truly want him to cut off all causality, every karmic link?

But… something like that was simply impossible! Every being could influence causality with something even as simple as stepping on a blade of grass. Only by making everything that ever existed into nothingness was it possible to completely cut off every karmic link.

Although Xu Disheng had already recovered a portion of his memories, he didn’t want to completely surrender himself to the beck and call of these past remembrances. There was still a heavy layer of fog around some of his memories. There was even a portion of these memories that in Xu Disheng’s opinion, seemed false! It was like a whirlpool of repeating mysteries and riddles, and he was caught in the middle of it, unable to see through it at all.

The pure black Disperse appeared in his palm. Only after he felt the destruction intent on it did his heart begin to stabilize a bit.

No matter if it was the Soul Song or the cyan jade flute, all of them were things that had accompanied him since he entered the cycle of reincarnation and was reborn. However… when he thought of the enigma in his memories, Xu Disheng knew that he couldn’t completely rely on his past memories.

The drop of Pure Oblivion Water was from a scene of the Oblivion Sky River in Xu Disheng’s memories. Adding in the enlightenment he received when he polished the Summon Rain scripture and his peerless comprehension ability and destiny, the Pure Oblivion Water was something that was completely part of his own strength. No one could take it from him.

The faint hint of destruction intent emanating from the Pure Oblivion Water was so dangerous that even Xu Disheng, as the master of it, felt a slight tingling, burning sensation from it whenever it appeared at his fingertip.

After putting away the long calligraphy brush, Disperse, Xu Disheng contemplated for a while before writing several message jade slips. After sending them flying off towards their recipients in succession, he stood up and also left Pure Heart Pavilion.

As an Secret Realms intermediary disciple of Affairs Hall, he couldn’t endlessly enjoy the benefits of the position without paying any price.

He was now headed towards the Third Mountain, Wenyuan Mountain, to meet Wei Yuanwei in one of the Secret Realms. Anyone who held the position of intermediary disciple had to go to the Secret Realms at least once a month to accept and complete assigned tasks within, regardless of which Mountain Range they came from.

Going to the Chu Territory to bring back Qingxin was an order directly from Celestial Tide Spirit Master, and was considered a special task. It was done under the name of recruiting disciples, but it couldn’t be considered a full task.

The purpose of Xu Disheng’s visit to the main branch of Affairs Hall on Wenyuan Mountain to meet Wei Yuanwei was to take on his first task as a Secret Realms intermediary disciple. Since the end of the month was in a few days, he couldn’t put it off any longer.

… …

For a long time now, Wenyuan Mountain was the most flourishing Mountain Range among the Eight Mountains. The mere existence of the main branch of Affairs Hall had transformed the entire vast Mountain Range into an sprawling, unending expanse of city and civilization as far as the eye could see.

The distance between the Mountain Peaks couldn’t be considered far, but at the base of almost every single Peak, there were cities and towns of various sizes, each one meant to house the families of the disciples of the adjacent Peak. Many of them were at the Cleansed Meridians stage, and there were even some that were mortals.

This could be considered something particular only to the Wenyuan Mountain Range. After all, as the most prosperous Mountain Range among the Eight Mountains, the numbers and population density of the disciples was beyond imagination. That was why it was decided many, many years ago for towns to be built at the base of each Peak, specifically to hold the families of the disciples of the Eight Mountains. These cities and towns of varying sizes ended up as the foundation of Wenyuan Mountain, serving a variety of uses.

The courtyards that housed the disciples’ families in the cities of some of the more affluent Mountain Peaks had soared to prices of over a few thousand spirit stones, already outstripping the price of a common Magic Treasure.

In the Shangqing Sacred Sect, the Affairs Hall was a monstrously colossal existence. Spirit Origin Hall, Human Affairs Hall, Examination Hall, and Sect Affairs Hall were all halls subordinate to it.

One level beneath the halls like Spirit Origin Hall were Spirit Armament Pavilion, Cultivation Method Pavilion, and other smaller subordinate halls. The distribution of cultivation resources for every single disciple in the Shangqing Sacred Sect was under the control of the main branch of Spirit Origin Hall, which Refining Hall, Spiritual Medicine Pavilion, and other extremely wealthy smaller subordinate halls were a part of. The complicated organizational structure of the powers under Affairs Hall were what made up a monstrous, nearly inconceivable level of authority.

The Secret Realms Office was simply one extremely small branch of Affairs Hall. They were only in charge of the affairs taking place in the 27 Mortal Secret Realms. There were around a dozen Dao Foundation stage Secret Realms Envoys. The office of Wei Yuanwei, who Xu Disheng was working under, was atop Green Creek Peak, where the Secret Realms Office was situated.