The Dao of Reincarnation (400-401) (Patreon)

Chapter 400: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 11)

Li Zhiyuan picked up Zhu Hao's storage ring. The cultivation resources inside made him click his tongue in amazement. He then looked at the beheaded skull that still stared with unclosed eyes. That skull still wore a strange bronze mask.

"Zhu Hao was able to conceal his aura... it must have been the work of this mask."

An item like this ought to have been handed over to the sect.

Li Zhiyuan removed the mask. A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes. The mask turned out to be a lower-grade spiritual treasure.

Lower-grade spiritual treasures were rare. Even he possessed only two such treasures, one of which had been bestowed by an elder specifically for dealing with Zhu Hao.

After returning to the sect, Li Zhiyuan handed over Zhu Hao's storage ring.

"Just as expected. I never imagined Zhu Hao would have the audacity to attack and kill fellow disciples."

An elder of the Law Enforcement Hall was furious.

"Li Zhiyuan, is every word you have spoken the absolute truth?"

Some elders remained suspicious, unable to believe that Zhu Hao possessed such an ability as to silently kill eleven inner disciples in succession.

Li Zhiyuan said firmly, "That Zhu Hao practiced some unknown method that allowed him to completely shield his aura so that this disciple could not detect him. Whether or not the culprit is Zhu Hao, the items within the storage ring have not been touched by this disciple in the slightest."

Li Zhiyuan still concealed the information about the mask and fabricated the story of a special technique.

Clearly, the elders present would not easily believe Li Zhiyuan's words, for they had searched the entire storage ring and found no such special technique.

Just as the many elders were about to dig deeper, the woman seated in the highest position spoke. "This storage ring cannot be faked. The culprit is indeed Zhu Hao. Li Zhiyuan has helped the sect eliminate a major threat and has rendered meritorious service. He may be promoted to true disciple."

With the Sect Master's words, the others could only abandon further questioning.

Ruan Hongyao said to Li Zhiyuan, "The sect has always been clear in its rewards and punishments. Merit is rewarded, and faults are punished. There is no need to conceal the matter of Zhu Hao. Announce it to all disciples as a warning."

Zhu Hao's death concluded with Li Zhiyuan's promotion to true disciple.

The Heavenly Origin Sect continued to flourish.

After learning that the mask could help him conceal his aura, Li Zhiyuan did not follow in Zhu Hao's footsteps.

"The flower-picking thief Hua Qieyu of the northern regions was killed by an unknown expert. It truly gladdens the heart. That Hua Qieyu, relying on his superb aura-concealing technique, had ruined who knows how many innocent young women and provoked the wrath of both heaven and men. Who would have thought he would be silently killed? It is truly satisfying."

"Exactly, exactly. Just three months ago, the renowned Thirteen Great Bandits were also silently killed. One must know that when those Thirteen Great Bandits joined forces, even Spirit Sea Realm experts of major sects could do nothing against them. Yet when they died, there was not the slightest sound."

"Half a year ago, demons infiltrated the southwest and slaughtered an entire city, attempting to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm. That demon possessed a talent that allowed it to evade the Spirit Sea Realm experts dispatched by several sects, yet in the end, someone discovered its corpse left exposed in the wilderness."

"With such a terrifying aura-concealing method, could these cases not all be the work of the same person..."

Listening to their conversation, Li Zhiyuan silently added in his heart, 'It is indeed the same person.'

That was right. Ever since obtaining the mask, Li Zhiyuan had begun punishing evil and promoting good. His home had once been destroyed by demons, and he had been discovered by an elder of the Heavenly Origin Sect who was traveling outside and brought back to the sect.

Fortunately, his aptitude was decent, and he had been accepted directly as an inner disciple. The kindness in his heart had not changed with the passage of time.

Upon learning the uses of the mask, he chose to conceal it. He would use the mask to accomplish more things and give meaning to his life.

By now, ten years had already passed.

Relying on the mask, he had done many things, yet he chose to hide his achievements and fame, brushing off his clothes and departing once the matter was settled.

Yet Li Zhiyuan did not change at this time.

He continued to do good deeds in obscurity.

Twenty years later, Li Zhiyuan successfully broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm.

At the Spirit Sea Realm, the things he could accomplish increased even further. Quite a number of deeply sinful demonic figures died at Li Zhiyuan's hands.

The more good deeds Li Zhiyuan performed, the more he was hated by those who did no good.

Another thirty years passed.

Some demonic figures noticed the clues and took the opportunity to set an ambush for Li Zhiyuan... In the end, Li Zhiyuan still chose to keep the appointment. Relying on the mask's ability to conceal his aura, he forcefully killed that fierce demonic figure.

Yet this had been a death trap aimed specifically at Li Zhiyuan from the very beginning. With the death of the demonic figure, Li Zhiyuan had nowhere left to hide. He was already surrounded by an inescapable net. Even though his cultivation was profound and he managed to break out of the encirclement, he still suffered irreversible injuries.

Li Zhiyuan lay beneath a tree. He removed the mask from his face and touched it with his palm.

"Thank you..."

Yet in the end, he was still going to die. Directly ahead lay the Heavenly Origin Sect. He could faintly make out the outline of the sect.

Li Zhiyuan held the mask in both hands, covering it over his chest, and lay beneath the ancient tree as he quietly passed away.

After Li Zhiyuan's death, the bronze mask that had previously shown no movement suddenly began to tremble, and a brilliant light flared up.

The mask actually leapt from a lower-grade spiritual treasure to a high-grade spiritual treasure. This was simply inconceivable...

The brilliant light from the bronze mask was especially conspicuous within the forest.

...

Liu Yizhi was merely an ordinary outer disciple of the Heavenly Origin Sect who had only recently joined. He could not compare to those wealthy young masters who had joined the sect at the same time and who constantly had pills for cultivation.

Coming from a poor family, it was already fortunate that he had been able to enter the Heavenly Origin Sect. Here, talent was worthless. He was a genius, yet who among those who could join the foremost sect of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty was not a genius?

If Liu Yizhi wanted to cultivate faster and advance to higher realms, he had no choice but to venture deep into this forest to gather spirit herbs and spirit medicines. Danger and opportunity coexisted.

"What is that?"

After searching fruitlessly for half a day, Liu Yizhi was astonished to discover colorful light enveloping the area ahead. This reminded him of the descriptions of heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the ancient texts.

Liu Yizhi's heart raced with excitement. No wonder he had not encountered a single spirit herb or medicine today. It turned out a great treasure had been waiting for him here.

When Liu Yizhi carefully approached, the original brilliant light gradually faded. In the direction ahead, he discovered a middle-aged man in tattered clothes, his body mottled with bloodstains, leaning against a large tree without any movement. The only noteworthy thing was that the middle-aged man still held a bronze mask in his arms.

Mm... at a glance, it looked like a treasure.

Only after confirming that the middle-aged man was dead did Liu Yizhi dare to approach. The middle-aged man had left behind a storage ring. When Liu Yizhi opened it, the dazzling array of treasures left him wide-eyed with amazement.

Liu Yizhi saw the familiar attire.

"This... this is an inner elder of the sect!"

Chapter 401: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 12)

Liu Yizhi felt ice-cold all over.

An inner sect elder had actually died here. And he alone knew of it. His first instinct was to report the matter to the sect. The death of an inner sect elder was no small affair. Yet he quickly suppressed the thought.

Discovering the elder's death would earn him some credit, true enough, but that credit would amount to little more than a few dozen low-grade spirit stones or a handful of second-grade pills. Before today, such a reward would have seemed an unimaginable fortune to Liu Yizhi. Now, however, the contents of the storage ring alone far surpassed any such prize.

The spirit stones alone numbered in the tens of thousands, piled into a small mountain. Alongside them lay a dazzling array of pills and treasures.

"Elder, if your spirit still lingers in the heavens, do not blame this disciple," Liu Yizhi said. "My talent falls short of Zhang Hong, Song Xing, and the other true prodigies. My background cannot compare to Wang Xingjian, Zhao Jingfu, and those born into great clans. Though my heart for the martial path remains firm, it has become a burden that holds me back."

With that, he knelt, pressing his forehead and all five fingers firmly against the ground in a deep, respectful kowtow toward the corpse.

"Though this disciple Liu Yizhi never knew the elder in life, I swear that should I one day reach a realm of true power, I will find the enemy who killed you and avenge you."

Clutching the storage ring, Liu Yizhi rose. He found a stretch of barren ground, dug a deep pit, and carefully lowered Li Zhiyuan's body into it.

"Elder… for now, this is all your disciple can do, to let you rest in the earth. Should fortune one day smile upon me, I will raise a proper stele in your honor. Please forgive me."

As the words left his lips, something struck the ground. The dead elder's hands had finally loosened their grip on the mask he had held so tightly against his chest. Liu Yizhi knew at once that the mask was no ordinary object. No common item would have remained clutched in an inner sect elder's hands until the very end.

He picked it up. The surface was cold and smooth, radiating an unmistakable aura of quality.

"Thank you for this gift, Elder. Your disciple will not fail the trust you have placed in him."

The hands that had clung so desperately to the mask had suddenly released it. Liu Yizhi took this as a sign that the elder's spirit approved of him, and the thought filled him with fierce emotion. He finished burying Li Zhiyuan, then forced down the trembling excitement in his chest and raced back to his quarters in the sect, a clean and tidy stone-brick dwelling.

Only after confirming that no one was nearby did he dare relax. Carefully, he drew the mask from his robes and began to study it in earnest.

Yet after a long while, he still could find nothing extraordinary about it. He knew it had to be a fine treasure, but having seen so little of the world, he could not judge its true rank.

"A mask is meant to be worn, isn't it?"

The thought struck him suddenly, and he cursed himself for being a fool. He had never encountered a treasure of this caliber before and had half expected some secret chant or a drop of blood to claim ownership. Even if he had bled himself dry, the mask would not have stirred.

He placed it over his face. The moment the cool surface settled against his skin, Liu Yizhi felt a subtle change within himself, though he could not yet name what it was.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Liu Yizhi. A thin membrane formed over the surface of his body. At that moment, a fierce hunger seized him, yet his mind grew sharper and clearer with every passing second.

The Spirit Awakening chapter of the Heavenly Origin Art was the foundational technique every outer sect disciple of the Heavenly Origin Sect had to learn upon entry. Its grade was modest; at best, it could carry a cultivator to the peak of the ninth level of the Spirit Awakening Realm. Progress within the art was divided into four stages: entry, minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, and perfection. The closer one drew to perfection, the faster one's cultivation advanced, the difference sometimes reaching several times over.

Liu Yizhi had spent three months after joining the Heavenly Origin Sect to reach a minor accomplishment in the Spirit Awakening chapter. Now, in an instant, it leapt to a major accomplishment, and his cultivation broke through from the sixth level of Spirit Awakening to the seventh.

The seventh level. For an outer disciple who had only recently entered the sect, that already marked him as something of a minor genius, with a real chance of entering the inner sect if he continued to work hard.

"This mask actually heightens my thinking and sharpens my comprehension!"

Liu Yizhi wanted nothing more than to throw back his head and laugh aloud, yet he dared not. He clamped a hand over his mouth. He knew he had stumbled upon an enormous opportunity. With it, entry into the inner sect, even rising to the rank of an inner sect elder, no longer seemed impossible.

Armed with abundant resources and the comprehension-boosting mask, his progress became rapid. In only a single year, he reached the peak of the ninth level of Spirit Awakening. Notably, within the first month of obtaining the mask, the Spirit Awakening chapter of the Heavenly Origin Art had already been elevated to perfection under its influence. Without that, he could never have advanced so quickly.

Beyond the ninth level of Spirit Awakening lay the Spirit Gathering Realm. The free technique distributed by the Heavenly Origin Sect stopped at the peak of Spirit Awakening. To obtain a Spirit Gathering technique, he would have to enter the Scripture Pavilion and select one himself. The storage ring did contain Spirit Gathering techniques, yet Liu Yizhi dared not cultivate any of them. He had concealed an inner sect elder's death and claimed the elder's treasures as his own. If the truth ever came to light, even ten lives would not be enough to pay the price.

Fortunately, because he had reached the peak of the ninth level of Spirit Awakening within two years, the sect allowed him to choose one free Spirit Gathering technique as a form of cultivation support.

He selected a technique called the Earth Origin Art to serve as his path forward after Spirit Awakening. With the mask's aid, he sealed himself away for more than two months, doing nothing but cultivating between meals. At last, he achieved entry into the Earth Origin Art, and his cultivation broke through into the Spirit Gathering Realm.

The Spirit Gathering Realm. Of all those who had entered the Heavenly Origin Sect in the same batch as him, only Zhao Jingfu, whose talent and background were both outstanding, had reached it, and even then he had not been ahead by much. Zhao Jingfu had long since caught the eye of an inner sect elder and would, in due course, be accepted as a formal disciple by a true power-holder once he entered the inner sect.