CH 162

Chapter 162 – Sweeping Undercurrent

“Thank you, Spirit Master.”

Xu Disheng put away the blue and white Daoist robe and the jade pendant. After cupping his hands in salute once more, he left the great hall.

On his way out, he looked at the gigantic pill furnace. The two pill assistants were still constantly using their technique on the pill furnace. The pill aroma coming from within was becoming more and more rich, clearly hinting that it wouldn’t be long until the pill inside was complete.

“Someone at the Sea of Qi stage killing four beings at the Dao Foundation stage?” Celestial Tide Spirit Master muttered to himself. Clearly, he didn’t really believe what Xu Disheng said about his secret ghost Dao technique. “He Chong, take my personal token, go to the Zhao Territory, and look into this matter in detail.”

The space next to him twisted, and a figure appeared not long after. Although this figure was heavily restraining the aura of his peak Dao Foundation stage cultivation, it was still extremely terrifying!

“Yes, Young Clan Head.” He Chong said, bowing and accepting the order. His body began to fade away again shortly after. He was a member of the He Clan, and had followed Celestial Tide Spirit Master for several hundred years now. Even though they were in the Shangqing Sacred Sect, he still referred to him as ‘young clan head’.

“Wait a moment,” Celestial Tide Spirit Master said, turning to look at him. “If you come back from your investigation and find that what he said was true, draft a sect jade slip for me and send it to Clearheart Peak of Shangqing Mountain… nominating Xu Disheng as a candidate to become a Sacred Son of the sect.”

The title of Sacred Son wasn’t reserved only for the people who earned the number one spot in the Sea of Qi and Dao Foundation divisions of the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament. If they possessed outstanding talent and comprehension and were nominated by a Divine Core stage Spirit Master, they could also have a chance to receive the title of Sacred Son.

If it was true that Xu Disheng, with his Sea of Qi stage cultivation, was able to turn the tables and slaughter four Dao Foundation stage beings while under passive circumstances like being ambushed and caught in a death trap, then this nomination for Sacred Son wouldn’t be considered excessive at all.

After all, even the Sacred Sons of the Sea of Qi division stage that emerged from the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament every 50 years would have to use everything in their arsenal to barely come out victorious against even the most ordinary of Dao Foundation stage cultivators.

But if Xu Disheng was actually able to wipe out four Dao Foundation stage cultivators, with one even at the peak Dao Foundation stage, then his strength already far outstripped the category of the Sea of Qi stage, and this situation simply couldn’t be explained by a mere ‘secret ghost Dao technique’.

The Shangqing Sacred Sect had never forbidden its disciples from having secrets. On the contrary, in all of the countless years of the Sacred Sect’s existence, the positions of the disciples that had heaven-shocking secrets all rapidly rose up in the sect under their protection. Thus, these geniuses would feel grateful to the sect and the sect’s legacy would continue to live on and become even more prosperous and powerful.

Now that Celestial Tide Spirit Master knew that Xu Disheng held some heaven-shocking secret, he wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, Xu Disheng’s position in his heart rose to a level of extremely high importance. In the end, the Human Realm was full of absurd and extraordinary things. It wasn’t strange at all for there to be plenty of people who unintentionally obtained an inheritance or secret treasure and rose to greatness.

It was just like Sacred Son Feng Shao, fifty years prior. By obtaining a Saint Lord-level inheritance, he went from an ordinary Dao Foundation stage disciple that no one had ever heard about to a famous genius that all of the disciples of the Shangqing Sacred Sect watched with passionate gazes, all in a single bound. In just fifty years, he had become a Divine Core stage Spirit Master and obtained peerless glory and honor. He was now even aiming for the position of Mountain Master of the Fourth Mountain, Wenyuan Mountain Range. The speed at which he rose up in the sect was flabbergasting.

After He Chong accepted the order and left, Celestial Tide Spirit Master was left sitting alone in the hall. At some point in time, a Go board had appeared in front of him. He reached out his hand and picked up a white piece, then slowly placed it on the board.

The White Heron Robe was an extremely magnificent and ornate robe, and a genuine Psychic Magic Treasure worth several tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Xu Disheng changed out of the black Daoist robe Spirit Tool and put on the White Heron Robe. When he poured a bit of profound qi into it, an inexhaustible blue profound light appeared, coalescing into a transparent blue barrier of light with a sturdy defense.

There were also three spells recorded within, based on the White Heron Robe. The first spell, which was called the White Heron’s First Cry, could be practiced at the Sea of Qi stage. Once it was activated, it could even block an attack from an ordinary Dao Foundation stage cultivator!

This Psychic Magic Treasure was proficient in defense and signified Celestial Tide Spirit Master’s change in attitude towards Xu Disheng, showing that he was seriously willing to give him such a valuable treasure.

Even his eldest son, He Junyu, only had the one attack/defense oriented Psychic Magic Treasure, the Thunderflame Pagoda.

Although the Thunderflame Pagoda was stronger than the White Heron Robe by a good amount, the value of a Daoist robe that was at the rank of a Psychic Magic Treasure didn’t even need to be explained.

In the past, Xu Disheng always wore dark colors. He was still handsome, but it gave him a kind of unapproachable feeling.

Now that he was dressed in an ornate blue and white robe with his hair tied up by a white jade band, his calm gaze and pretty features were accentuated, making him look like an elegant prince with the charm of a god.

Climbing onto the Dharma Breaking Sword, Xu Disheng began to fly in the direction of the Wenyuan Mountain Range.

Aside from getting tasks at the Secret Realms Office on Green Creek Peak, Xu Disheng also wanted to get to Splendid Commodity Peak several days in advance. He had many Spirit Tools that he had no use for, and he even had a number of common Magic Treasures that he wanted to exchange for spirit stones. The Smoky Cloud Screen and the Soul Suppressing Vestment had been destroyed, and the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda had completely transformed back into the cyan jade flute. No matter how much Xu Disheng tried to activate it, it had no reaction. In the next years and even decades, it would probably be impossible for him to use it again.

However, he had a lot of spirit stones. In the Internal Disciple Tournament, he had earned several tens of thousands of spirit stones from He Junyu’s bet alone. Right before he left the Zhao Territory earlier, he had done a rough sweep of their wealth. The strength of the Zhao Clan’s direct descendants was average, but their pockets were lined with spirit stones, padding Xu Disheng’s own purse quite a bit.

Adding onto that were the rewards given to him by the Mingxin Mountain Range at the end of the Internal Disciple Tournament, as well as an assorted variety of cultivation resources. Right now, Xu Disheng’s personal wealth already outstripped many ordinary Dao Foundation stage disciples.

After all, most ordinary Dao Foundation stage disciples had only one common Magic Treasure and several of them at most. The Dao Foundation stage disciples who had Psychic Magic Treasures usually had considerable family backing and were targets of many peoples’ envy.

For example, take Bai Honghua, the father of Bai Zhehua, and a Deacon of Morning Dew Peak. He made quite a bit of profit from day to day, but he only had two Magic Treasures.

The Peak Master of Morning Dew Peak, Lu Changge, only had three common Magic Treasures in his possession, one of which had been given to Xu Disheng. But now, it had already been destroyed and became fused with the Pure Oblivion Water, transforming into the Magic Treasure known as Disperse.

Green Creek Peak was as conspicuous as ever, sticking out in the Wenyuan Mountain Range like a sore thumb. The eye-catching mountain was just as offending to the eyes no matter how much time went by.

Xu Disheng put away the Dharma Breaking Sword, landed in front of the dark green great hall that Xing Xing had brought him to last time, and walked in.

“Envoy Wei,” Xu Disheng greeted, cupping his hands upon seeing several people inside.

Seated in the seat of honor, Wei Yuanwei said, “At ease. Did you finish your task?”

Xu Disheng nodded and came forward, handing over the affairs jade slip.

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“I was aware that this was your first time carrying out tasks, so I chose a relatively easy one for you,” Wei Yuanwei said, a hint of a smile appearing on his grave and stern face. He took the affairs jade slip and sank his consciousness into it.

The smile on his face froze and gradually turned serious. He looked carefully at the jade slip and said, “What is this? This isn’t the task I assigned to you.”

As he spoke, his tone became strict, and he looked over at the several disciples standing by.

“Envoy… Disciple doesn’t know,” one of the disciples said in a low tone after mustering up the courage to speak up.

Wei Yuanwei’s brows furrowed deeper. He suddenly seemed to think of something. “Weren’t there several disciples from the Mountain of Law who came to help out with some matters? Did they perhaps take the wrong one?”

“That may be possible,” the same disciple said, letting out a breath as if he had found a path out.

After all, giving an intermediary disciple the wrong affairs jade slip could potentially be a huge mistake, but there was also a chance for it to be downplayed as a small slip-up. If the intermediary disciple managed to safely finish the task and return, then it would just be a small matter and could be easily glossed over.

Xu Disheng looked closely at those disciples. Last time when he came with Xing Xing, none of the disciples that were there at the time were here now. It suddenly became clear in his mind and he said, “Thank you for your guidance, Envoy Wei. This task was just as straightforward.”

Wei Yuanwei’s brows were still furrowed, but he didn’t continue to delve into the matter. He simply nodded and said, “No problem, but this task couldn’t be considered simple. A whole 3,000 mortal souls, and having to pry them out of the hands of those ghosts belonging to the Zhao Clan… You did well, being able to finish this task.”

Xu Disheng took out a wooden box and came forward, offering it to Wei Yuanwei.

After checking it briefly, Wei Yuanwei nodded again and said, “This task was specially raised by Wooden Construct Spirit Master, but it has been sitting here gathering dust for a while. All this time, I wasn’t able to assign this task. I don’t know who messed up and assigned this task to you, but you having the luck and destiny to be able to finish it is really quite fortunate.”

“It was all thanks to Envoy Wei’s guidance,” Xu Disheng said.

The more Envoy Wei examined Xu Disheng, the more pleased he felt. “You can go then. When the reward from Wooden Construct Spirit Master arrives, I’ll send it to you by storage jade slip.”

After agreeing, Xu Disheng bid farewell and left the great hall.

Xu Disheng didn’t care that much about Wooden Construct Spirit Master’s reward. Even if the rewards were generous, with the way Wei Yuanwei did things, he would definitely take a big cut out of it.

Back when they had gone to the Chu and An Territories, Wei Yuanwei had forced him and Xing Xing to pay up 30 spirit stones each. It would be some kind of fantasy tale if he didn’t deduct a portion from the reward.

Following the map in the invitation jade slip sent to him by the Grand Erudition House, Xu Disheng eventually arrived at Splendid Commodity Peak in the Wenyuan Mountain Range.

Although there were still several days until the Grand Auction, Splendid Commodity Peak was flooding with people, and countless beams of light were arriving at the Peak with every moment. Colorful beams of all different shades illuminated the horizon as the disciples flew over like carp in a river.

There were many famous shops on Splendid Commodity Peak that were heavily frequented by the disciples.

For now, Xu Disheng was planning to find a store where he could exchange his extra Spirit Tools and Magic Treasures for spirit stones, and then he could search for the things he needed.