Chapter 75: Chapter 58: My Grandson Is a Dao Material; Grandpa Must Strive

He the Venerable carried two bamboo cages, inside which were five newly purchased Spirit Bird Long-Feathered Pheasants.

He tilted his head back to look at the clear sky:

“Brother Yi, look. The weather’s changing again.”

Jiang Yi’s expression remained unchanged as he strolled down Shuangfeng Street.

“A Great Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer is stationed here. It’s only natural for their Qi Mechanism to influence the heavens and cause some abnormalities.”

Since the two Elders from the Zhao You Sect and the True Gu Sect arrived, Sanhe District had lost its former tranquility, as if a small temple had just welcomed two living Buddhas.

This was especially true at noon and late at night, presumably when the two Elders were gathering and refining Spiritual Energy.

For a hundred li around, the area would sometimes be engulfed in scorching heat as if one had fallen into a furnace, and at other times, a bone-chilling cold would set in as though one were trapped in a pit of ice.

One had to wear thin clothes to go out at noon, yet pile on several quilts to sleep at night.

Jiang Yi, living in Dai Pavilion, was fine. But He the Venerable, staying on Shuangfeng Street, wasn’t spared the trouble and had grumbled under his breath several times.

According to him, the Lower Cultivators who couldn’t even afford the twenty-talisman-coin shacks had it even worse.

Every morning, you could see stiff corpses frozen to death by the roadside. Before long, Wudu Hall and the Yin Puppet Sect would pay to have them collected.

They vanished like wisps of smoke in the wind, leaving hardly a trace in this world, let alone drawing the attention of any onlookers.

“Tsk, tsk, how magnificent! Now that’s what I call a Cultivator! They can change the weather just by meditating. If they want it to be sunny, it’s sunny; if they want it to be cloudy, it’s cloudy!”

He the Venerable was filled with envy. It was a pity he lacked ambition, or he might have added, “A great man should be just so.”

“Brother Yi, when you enter the Inner Peak, you’ll surely be just as magnificent!”

’Old He, you sure dream big!’

Hearing this, Jiang Yi chuckled.

“A High Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer… that’s a threshold only our Sect Leader can even hope to reach. Countless disciples from the Direct Lineages, supported by their Village Clans, spend their entire lives hovering around the Sixth or Seventh Layer.

Worse still, some break through the Fifth Layer only to squander half their lives, unable to advance another inch.”

He the Venerable listened in a daze. From his perspective, it was hard to imagine the sheer chasm that separated the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer from the Twelfth Layer.

Jiang Yi gazed toward Zhizhen Garden. He saw the sky there was brightly lit, where a pillar of flame surged like a mountain peak, glowing with gold and red light.

He knew at a glance that it was the Elder from the Zhao You Sect, absorbing and expelling Spiritual Energy.

’If it weren’t for that business with Daoist Can, the Zhao You Sect would have been an excellent choice. Their Dharma Lineage seems to cultivate Ding Fire, which is highly compatible with me,’ Jiang Yi lamented internally. It was truly difficult to find a lineage in the Mixed Demon Dao without some hidden danger.

Unless you were born a noble of the Dao Race, even after struggling tooth and nail to enter the lofty gates of a Branch Sect, there was no guarantee you wouldn’t end up as “Great Medicine” for one of those Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer Cultivators.

In such a world, what hope or future was there for a commoner as insignificant as a blade of grass?

Thinking of this, Jiang Yi found he could almost understand why Lu Xuan looked down on him.

It was like someone sitting safely on the riverbank, accustomed to watching the desperate struggles of those drowning in the water.

So when they suddenly saw some reckless upstart who looked like he might actually make it to shore, they would naturally feel a bit displeased.

’He’s just from a mere Village Clan. Who is he pretending to be?’

The corner of Jiang Yi’s mouth twitched in a sneer.

’That Senior Brother Xiao Tongquan from the Qianji Sect is supposedly descended from a former imperial clan, but doesn’t he still have to compete for a spot on the Inner Peak just like everyone else?’

Someone from a mere Village Clan Direct Lineage was far from being one of the people on the shore.

In reality, they were all in the water, just drowning at different depths.

…

…

Returning to Dai Pavilion, Jiang Yi specifically asked the chef to prepare the five Spiritual Birds.

They were free-range Long-Feathered Pheasants, raised for one hundred and eighty days, and were not cheap, costing nine hundred talisman coins in total.

Following the guest’s instructions, the chef deftly slit their throats to bleed them, scalded them in boiling water to pluck their feathers, and cleaned the pheasants until they were spotless.

As he worked, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself:

’Such fine Long-Feathered Pheasants would make a delicious stew. To only take the breast meat and throw out the rest… what a terrible waste.’

When the chef was finished, Jiang Yi, as if sensing that it would be wasteful, gave an order:

“Add some restorative herbs to the rest, stew it into a good soup, and send it to the Cloud Viewing Upper Room on the second floor.”

He’d only been living well for a few days; he couldn’t develop extravagant habits.

Jiang Yi figured his Grandpa should be coming out of seclusion soon and would need Spiritual Food to replenish his strength and nourish his qi and blood.

It was a perfect opportunity to present a borrowed gift and show some filial piety!

As for mashing the chicken breast into a paste, Jiang Yi didn’t let the chef do it. He did it himself, forming the minced meat into strips the length of two fingers, then freezing them with a purchased Ice Mirror.

’Next is the final part of [Practicing the Orbit].’

With a thought, Jiang Yi summoned the Celestial Book and carefully reviewed the instructions within.

’According to the instructions, after midnight, I am to go to the West Suburban Shed on Shuangfeng Street, leave the offering, and depart quietly.

If I do this for five consecutive days, I will be granted an audience with the [Venerable Supreme].’

Jiang Yi grew ever more curious. Just which [Venerable Supreme] would be summoned by following such a ritual?

’The two Elders from the Zhao You Sect and the True Gu Sect are staying at Zhizhen Garden, so I can’t use the Celestial Book rashly.

Otherwise, I could just ask it directly. If the divination doesn’t take long, I’d know everything.’

Jiang Yi washed his hands, straightened his clothes, and went to wait outside the Quiet Chamber.

A restrictive formation isolated the inside from the out, so he couldn’t hear any distinct sounds.

After waiting for about four hours, he vaguely felt several fluctuations in the Qi Mechanism, which seemed to resonate with the Fire Attribute Radiance inside his own body.

’Grandpa did it?’

Jiang Yi looked up just as the tightly shut door to the Quiet Chamber swung wide open.

A long-faced Yang Xun, dressed in a black robe, strode out in high spirits.

“It’s all thanks to you for enlightening me, Ah Yi. I’ve reached the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer!”

He roared with laughter and couldn’t resist reciting aloud:

“For fifty years I’ve been confined, but in a single day, I’ve shattered my chains… Huh? Why don’t I see that old dog Lu Ting?

Never mind, I’ll go to his house later and recite it to his face.”

Yang Xun glanced around and, seeing that only Jiang Yi was present, reined in his poetic outburst, deciding to let it stew for a while longer.

“Congratulations on reaching a new level, Grandpa.”

Jiang Yi said, cupping his hands in salute.

“I had a pot of chicken soup made from a Spiritual Bird specially prepared for you.”

Yang Xun was greatly gratified. Having entered the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, his body had been tempered by Spiritual Energy. The aura of old age and decline around him had faded, and he appeared vigorous and hale.

“No need to drink it yet. First, come with me to see Master Lu. It’s been so long, I miss him dearly!”

Jiang Yi chuckled to himself. It seemed his Grandpa had been terribly frustrated for the past few decades.

「Four hours later, at the entrance of a quiet courtyard.」

“Master Lu, no need to see me out! We had such a pleasant chat today, I’ll be back again tomorrow! I hope you’ll prepare some fine wine to help wet my throat…”

Yang Xun strode proudly down the steps, his face even more flushed than when he had first emerged from seclusion, looking as though he had enjoyed himself to the fullest.

This time, Master Lu was standing at the entrance to see them off, forcing a smile as he spoke:

“If Brother Yang is willing to visit, I will of course welcome you with open arms!”

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yang Xun led Jiang Yi away, his hearty laughter audible from several streets away.

“How utterly humiliating!”

Once they were gone, Master Lu’s face turned grim as he cursed aloud,

“That old bastard with no heir! He has one foot in the grave and he can still make a breakthrough? Dammit!”

This time, it was Lu Xuan’s turn to offer comfort.

“There’s no need to be angry, Grandpa. That old bastard Yang Xun only broke through to the Sixth Layer. Once I enter the Inner Peak of the Yin Puppet Sect, with the clan’s full support, I’ll reach the Seventh Layer in five years at most!

When that time comes, I’ll crush them both under my heel!”

’All talk and no action!’

’He’s eaten plenty of Nourishing Essence Pills, but he’s still stuck at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer!’

Master Lu’s anger was difficult to quell, and he now found even his precious grandson, Lu Xuan, to be an eyesore.

To think that after suppressing Yang Xun for most of his life, he was now on equal footing with the man.

’No wonder he asked me to search for a Spiritual Object a while ago. It was for his breakthrough.

If I had known, I would have sabotaged him… A miscalculation! A terrible miscalculation!’

Master Lu huffed, flicked his sleeve, and stormed back into his room. He tossed and turned, still unable to sleep even as midnight arrived.

The recent arrival of the two Elders from the Zhao You Sect and the True Gu Sect in Sanhe District had already put him, the Grand Steward, under enormous pressure.

Waiting on these two great figures was like serving two great Buddhas; he was terrified of offending or angering either one.

Moreover, he couldn’t figure out the reason for the two Elders’ visit, and his subtle inquiries had yielded no answers.

Now, as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. With Yang Xun advancing to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, he felt even more suffocated.

“This won’t do! I must also focus on my Cultivation!”

Master Lu sat bolt upright, giving up on sleep entirely.

He gritted his teeth.

“If that old bastard Yang Xun can pass the Sixth Layer, then so can I! My talent, Spiritual Resources, and even my Technique are all superior to his. I might even have a shot at the Seventh Layer!”

…

…

Dai Pavilion, the Cloud Viewing Upper Room.

Jiang Yi continued to go over the improved Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique with Yang Xun, confirming that his Grandpa’s methods for gathering and refining Spiritual Energy were now broader and less restricted.

He sat on the couch, nodding slightly.

“Ding Fire Qi comes in good and bad qualities, high and low grades. For instance, ’Mingtang Qi’ is difficult to refine, and therefore hard to gather.

But Beimang Ridge has many Fire Cloud Ore Veins, which are perfect for producing ’Heyan Qi.’ Grandpa, you can use that as a substitute from now on.”

Yang Xun deeply agreed.

This was a good path, one that could save him years of painstaking effort.

Once they had finished going over the Cultivation Technique, Jiang Yi spoke again.

“With my Dao Wisdom, I should be able to improve the Little Refining Yuan Fire Control Technique one more time.

Grandpa, you must strive onward, aim for the Seventh Layer, and climb to a new peak.”

As the saying goes: when one’s grandson possesses Dao Wisdom, the grandpa must strive onward!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep