Chapter 46 (Part 1)

After many years apart, they missed each other all the more. The two drank and chatted, and before they realized it, an entire day and night had passed.

When Song Yuanxi learned that Jiang Lanyi had actually entered the Dao through alchemy, he could not help being shocked. Redcloud Peak had many cultivators who specialized in alchemy, but among those who had entered the Dao through alchemy, aside from his father Song Qing, this was only the second person he had heard of.

“Martial Uncle Jiang, why did you choose to enter the Dao through alchemy? Once you do that, it’ll be impossible to switch to other arts in the future.”

That was cutting off every escape route for herself!

Jiang Lanyi, however, did not mind. “From the day I entered Xuantian Sect, I was full of yearning for alchemy. Later, by chance, I entered Redcloud Peak, where Daoist Master Yunxi guided me from the side. My understanding of alchemists became deeper and deeper. The more I understood, the more fervent I became.”

She paused, then gave a bitter smile. “But in the end, I overestimated myself. I recklessly refined a third-level pill and had a moment of sudden enlightenment midway through. A spiritual qi vortex formed, and my cultivation shot straight into Foundation Establishment… If Daoist Master Yunxi hadn’t appeared, given how dangerous the situation was at the time, I’m afraid I would have been left crippled even if I hadn’t died.”

Jiang Lanyi summed up her Foundation Establishment in only a few sparse words, but the fact that his father had acted as her protector was enough for Song Yuanxi to imagine how critical the situation had been.

In his impression, Jiang Lanyi had always been a very steady person. Whether in conduct or cultivation, she valued letting things happen naturally. He had not expected that such a steady person would also act on impulse for once. Sure enough, everyone was the same. They all had moments of willfulness now and then. That was what made someone flesh and blood.

Since cultivation had come up, Song Yuanxi could not help asking one more question. “Martial Uncle Jiang, do you know why my father hasn’t been able to form his Nascent Soul?”

He was curious, and also worried. Since he could not ask the person directly, he could only make indirect inquiries.

Jiang Lanyi said she did not know, but she had her own understanding. “Daoist Master Yunxi entered the Dao through alchemy and is extremely talented in the path of alchemy. I feel that compared with increasing his cultivation, he is more enthusiastic about improving his alchemy level. On ordinary days, when I go to ask him questions, he has never shown any distress or dejection. Instead, his alchemy techniques have become more and more complex. Perhaps all he lacks is an opportunity.”

In the past, Jiang Lanyi had not understood this very well, and had even been very worried for Song Qing.

After all, Xuantian Sect had many cultivators, and no small number of people enjoyed gossiping. His Dao companion, Daoist Master Shuanghua, had smoothly formed her Nascent Soul at three hundred years old and become True Lord Shuanghua. Meanwhile, Daoist Master Yunxi had gone into seclusion several times to cultivate, but in the end, he had only stopped at the stage of great perfection in Golden Core.

But after she herself entered the Dao through alchemy, especially after crossing the threshold of cultivation and entering Foundation Establishment, she seemed, vaguely and indistinctly, to have touched a trace of a subtle Dao rhyme. This was something she could not experience when merely specializing in alchemy!

Song Yuanxi could not understand. The more Jiang Lanyi spoke after that, the more profound her words became. To him, it was like listening to a heavenly book.

“Martial Uncle Jiang, this is the gift I brought you.” Song Yuanxi remembered the proper business and quickly took out the jade box.

Jiang Lanyi accepted it and opened it. What entered her eyes was a pale cyan ball of flame. With only one glance, she could recognize that this was heavenly fire.

“You are a Body Cultivation cultivator. You need heavenly fire. Keep it for yourself.” Jiang Lanyi refused decisively.

Song Yuanxi only smiled. “I already have one. When my father was refining my fire, this was spat out from its belly. It should count as a freebie, right? Since it was buy one, get one free, each of us having one—isn’t that wonderful?”

“You already have heavenly fire?”

“Ah… I have fire.” Song Yuanxi answered vaguely.

Jiang Lanyi did not suspect anything, and only then did she happily accept it. When she examined the few pill markings on the ball of flame and recognized Song Qing’s technique, she knew that this matter had also obtained his approval. Only then did she feel completely at ease accepting the gift.

Jiang Lanyi needed time to refine the heavenly fire. It was inconvenient for Song Yuanxi to disturb her, so after chatting a little longer, he rose and took his leave.

However, he was now in a resting and adjustment period. He had nothing to do all day. Once a person had free time, it was easy to start making trouble, so Song Yuanxi simply wandered back and forth among Redcloud Peak, Qingtian Peak, and Wanhai Peak.

He was now at the eighth level of Qi Refining. He was no longer the little disciple at the first level of Qi Refining from back then. Walking between the various peaks, he could often hear those disciples calling him “Senior Brother.”

Disciples who did not know him called out, “Hello, Senior Brother.”

Disciples who looked slightly familiar said, “Greetings, Senior Brother Song. Hello, Senior Brother Song.”

The disciples who were especially familiar were enthusiastic. “Senior Brother Song, are you out making your rounds again? Your little daily life sure is comfortable.”

Whether familiar or not, Song Yuanxi treated everyone equally. With a smile on his face, he raised his arm a full one hundred and eighty degrees and nodded repeatedly.

“Hello.”

“Hello, junior brothers and sisters. You’re all so hardworking. Keep it up!”

“Well, well, isn’t this the little crybaby from Wanhai Peak? Hurry up and go refine artifacts, or you’ll get scolded by the elder again later.”

After ten-some days in a row, the Qi Refining disciples of the three peaks became immune to Song Yuanxi’s face. Everyone knew that Xuantian Sect had a ninety-nine-year-old Qi Refining senior brother who wandered around all day, teasing cats and dogs, with no idea what cultivation even was.

There was an honest young disciple who could not stand it and went to a Golden Core elder to report him, saying that Senior Brother Song Yuanxi wandering around like this greatly affected the disciples’ cultivation. The young Qi Refining disciples already lacked sufficient mental stability. Seeing such a leisurely senior brother come over every few days to “inspect their shifts” made them feel terribly restless.

That honest young disciple was from Qingtian Peak. The Golden Core elder found it hard to discipline a disciple who was not from his own peak, so he made a trip to Wanhai Peak and told Wanhai Peak’s Golden Core elder about the matter.

It had been more than sixty years since he had last heard of Song Yuanxi’s “heroic deeds,” and the Golden Core elder had almost forgotten such a person existed. Now, after recalling him slightly, his expression became very awkward.

That muddleheaded brat had returned to the sect?

The Golden Core elder worked hard to smile and told the two peaks that he would definitely curb this unhealthy trend.

In the end, he sent He Man to do ideological work on Song Yuanxi.

That day, Song Yuanxi had tidied himself up and was about to go out for a stroll. The moment he opened the door, he bumped into the person who had come.

He looked up and smiled brilliantly. “Senior Brother He? Ah, no, I should say Martial Uncle He. How do you have time to come over?”

He Man was also happy to see Song Yuanxi, but since he was “shouldering an important mission” today, he still solemnly wrapped an arm around him and turned him back into the courtyard, then carefully relayed the elder’s words.

“It’s not against the law for me to stroll around!”

“Against the law?”

“Ah, no! What I mean is, I left the sect for decades, and I missed the people and things in the sect very much. Especially the three peaks I’m familiar with. Every blade of grass and every tree moves me emotionally. I’m just walking around everywhere to ease the pain of longing.”

This was an answer He Man had never considered. Moreover, Song Yuanxi’s tone was sincere and his gaze was earnest, making He Man unable to speak too harshly.

But in the end, he had a quick mind. He knew how to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, so he used something more interesting to divert Song Yuanxi’s attention. That matter was the grand ceremony soon to arrive in Canglan Realm: the competition among the various sects!

“The sect competition?” Song Yuanxi’s expression turned subtle.

He Man did not notice and began an endless introduction of matters related to the sect competition.

“Yuanxi, you’ve been outside for many years, so you may not understand the sect competition very well. But that’s all right. This Martial Uncle is very familiar with this area, so I’ll explain it all to you one by one.

“First of all, this sect competition is jointly organized by Canglan Realm’s Three Great Sects and Four Great Powers. It happens once every hundred years, and the host venue usually rotates among the Three Great Sects. Of course, a thousand years ago, the Four Great Powers were also quite strong and once served as the host venue… Last time, it was hosted by our Xuantian Sect. This time, it’s Tianyi Sect’s turn.”

Song Yuanxi, however, remembered the plot of the original book. The four words “sect competition” were truly eye-piercing. They immediately made him recall exactly how the original owner had kicked the bucket. Wasn’t it precisely during the sect competition, when he was injured by mistake, stabbed through the dantian by a sword, causing his spiritual qi to collapse? He could not even be saved in time.

“In the original book, the cannon fodder older brother did participate in the sect competition at ninety-nine. But at that time, Song Yuanxi had already established his foundation. Now that it’s my turn, I’m only at the eighth level of Qi Refining.”

Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment were two entirely different cultivation stages. In the cultivation world, Foundation Establishment was generally accepted as the threshold for stepping onto the path of immortal cultivation. As for Qi Refining… it was nothing!

The difference between his cultivation and the original owner’s was so large. Did that mean the plot was becoming more and more unreliable? Then the plot of him getting killed off during this sect competition should also change, right?

After all, the Song Yuanxi in the original book had never been to the Jincheng Song family, had never been injured and entered the secret land, and had never possessed Earth Fire.

As for him, with Earth Fire in hand and a Dàfeng fledgling at his side, this counted as having unlocked a golden finger!

After thinking back and forth, Song Yuanxi felt that he could do it again. He became eager to try the sect competition. So he looked up and asked, “Martial Uncle He, how do you sign up for the sect competition? If I want to participate, how should I join the selection within the sect?”

He Man’s smile froze. After a moment of silence, he said, “Yuanxi, for this sect competition, the lowest cultivation level allowed to participate in the matches is Foundation Establishment.”

“?”

“The sect competition is meant for friendly exchange between the various sects, and also for discussing the Dao, mutual feedback, and mutual assistance. During every sect competition, whether in the matches or the Dao discussions, there are cultivators who experience sudden enlightenment and advance. Therefore, communication between the various sects is especially important. In Canglan Realm, there is also a Prodigy Ranking, using Foundation Establishment and Golden Core as the baseline, ranking the top one hundred from the sect competition. Those are the true prodigies, the genius cultivators publicly acknowledged by Canglan Realm.”

He Man went on at length about a great deal of information related to the sect competition, intending for Song Yuanxi to thoroughly understand it. Yet the more Song Yuanxi listened, the more wrong his expression became.

He Man did not know what was going on and asked worriedly, “Yuanxi, what’s wrong?”

Song Yuanxi: “…”

His mood was complicated. He wanted some quiet.

He had finally persuaded himself not to be afraid and to bravely participate in the sect competition, only to be told in the end that he did not even qualify?

This was like making every pre-competition preparation, only to be told at the end: Sorry, your registration was unsuccessful.

“Wonderful. Now I don’t have to worry about getting killed off at all. I’m completely and utterly an outsider.” Song Yuanxi accepted this cruel reality with tears in his eyes.

However, the sect competition was a grand ceremony. Since he could not be a competitor, then he would be a good spectator.

Song Yuanxi’s mentality shifted very quickly. He began collecting on a large scale the list of Xuantian Sect disciples preparing to participate in the sect competition. Seeing that many of them were people he knew well, he immediately decided to become a cheer squad and cheer for them from the audience seats.

“Martial Uncle Ji is participating, Martial Uncle He is participating, Martial Uncle Jiang is participating, Martial Uncle Liao is participating…”

Song Yuanxi decided to treat everyone equally and go cheer for every single person. To accomplish this was not easy. It required very good coordination and scheduling. In that case, a list of the sect competition matches became extremely important. The match schedules, the specific rules, and the order of the competitors—Song Yuanxi immediately thought of using connections. For this matter, he had to go find his mother!

“Mother, you’re being too direct with that. We can be a bit more tactful.”

“Between mother and son, what need is there for courtesy? Just say it. If I can do it, I can agree to it.”

Because they had been separated for sixty years, Jiang Wanrong’s doting toward her eldest son had deepened even further. If not for fear that his cultivation would become dispirited, she would have wished to give him every good thing she had.

When she heard that Song Yuanxi wanted the list of matches for the sect competition, Jiang Wanrong only thought for a moment before agreeing.

“Mother, do you have that thing right now?” Song Yuanxi’s eyes shone.

Jiang Wanrong laughed so hard she almost choked, then slapped him. “You’re really dreaming beautifully. Only the sect master and the elder leading the team have the match list. How would I have that sort of thing?”

“Then, Mother, you…”

“The person leading the team this time is your maternal grandfather. The match list isn’t anything important. I’ll just copy one from your maternal grandfather.”

Jiang Wanrong immediately went to Qingtian Peak to ask her father for the match list.

When True Lord Junhong heard that his eldest grandson wanted it, he could not help being surprised. “Yuanxi isn’t participating. What does he need it for?”

Jiang Wanrong shook her head. “I’m not sure. From what I heard him muttering, it seems like he wants to establish a cheer squad.”

“And what is a cheer squad?”

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