Longzang

Chapter 37 A Wonderful Person Like an Orchid
A flying sword flew out of the Azure Sky Hall and headed towards the Valley of New Disciples.

On the flying sword, Wei Yuan carried a large bag in his arms, not daring to look at Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng remained expressionless, focusing solely on activating the flying sword, its speed more than twice as fast as when they went to the Azure Sky Palace.

In the blink of an eye, the flying sword arrived above the courtyard. Zhang Sheng did not land, but picked up Wei Yuan and threw him down from several feet in the air. Then he turned around and left, turning into a rainbow light and disappearing into the sky without lingering at all.

Wei Yuan fell headfirst, gritting his teeth and bracing himself for a hard fall. But just before he hit the ground, a gentle force surged through him, like a pair of hands lifting him up. Although he still fell flat on his back with a thud, it was only painful; his bones and muscles were not injured.

Wei Yuan grimaced as he got up. Fortunately, he was naturally resolute, and although he was panicked when he fell, he did not cry out, so as not to embarrass himself in front of the other disciples.

Back inside, Wei Yuan placed the backpack he was carrying on the table. He first took out three jade bottles. The jade bottles were of excellent quality, engraved with the characters "Xuanming," and each bottle bore a lifelike depiction of a celestial mountain. The jade bottles themselves were priceless, so the pills inside must have been invaluable. These three jade bottles contained the Chonglou Dinghai Pill, specifically for Wei Yuan to strengthen his foundation.

True Immortal Burning Sea was a man who couldn't keep a secret. In just a few words, he revealed the value of these three pills, each worth over ten thousand taels of immortal silver. With the monthly salary of a new disciple, Wei Yuan would have to save for over two hundred years without eating or drinking to afford just these three Sea-Stabilizing Pills.

In addition, there was a heavy bag of immortal silver in the backpack, worth five hundred taels, which was pocket money given to Wei Yuan by the Burning Sea Immortal.

Finally, there was a jade token in Wei Yuan's possession, a token of True Immortal Fenhai, granting him free access to the Azure Sky Palace. In other words, Wei Yuan could visit True Immortal Fenhai at any time, as long as the immortal wasn't in seclusion. However, while it was said to be free, the Azure Sky Palace was high in the sky, and Wei Yuan couldn't fly before achieving his Dao Foundation; he couldn't go there even if he wanted to, and could only have Zhang Sheng carry him. Needless to say, Zhang Sheng's expression was extremely unpleasant when this was mentioned.

It wasn't until this moment that Wei Yuan came to his senses and couldn't help but marvel at how generous his grandmaster was, casually bestowing upon him several hundred years' worth of monthly silver.

However, everything has its ups and downs. Although he gained the favor of his master, his master was clearly very unhappy. After this trip, it is unknown when he will be able to calm down.

Wei Yuan sighed, not understanding why Zhang Sheng was so angry. Did it really matter that much whether something looked good or not?

Wei Yuan found a mirror and looked at himself in it, but he really couldn't see what was so good about him.

However, given Zhang Sheng's magnanimity, he probably wouldn't get really angry over such a small matter; his anger would pass quickly. Wei Yuan thought to himself.

Wei Yuan took out a Chonglou Dinghai Pill, went to the quiet room, calmed his mind, and swallowed the pill. He then began cultivating, instantly losing himself in the world around him. Each pill was taken once, and the next could only be taken seven days later; other than that, there were no special precautions to take.

This time, the scenery in my sea of ​​consciousness changed. A bright red line appeared on the back of the jade toad, and fine raindrops continuously fell from the void. As the raindrops fell, the ground gradually expanded.

Wei Yuan remained in his jade toad form, knowing that the raindrops were formed from the power of the Chonglou Sea-Stabilizing Pill. They did not belong to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nor were they from the heavenly fortune. Therefore, they did not come from the full moon, but appeared directly as raindrops. So he continued to concentrate on absorbing and exhaling the moon's essence.

The Chonglou Dinghai Pill was indeed miraculously effective. When the meditation ended at dawn, the visualization diagram had expanded by more than three feet overnight, and was now close to two zhang in size. The boulder and the jade toad had also increased in size accordingly, and even the full moon in the sky had nearly doubled in size.

Zhang Sheng has already explained the cultivation process of the "Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon" painting in detail. The first step is to visualize the painting. During this stage, the scope of the visualization painting will gradually expand. Ultimately, the size of the visualization painting indicates the strength of the foundation. The larger the painting, the stronger the foundation. The more refined the painting and the more obvious the unusual features, the higher the quality of the foundation.

The visualization diagram is like building a framework for the physical body. Only after the visualization diagram is fully manifested in the sea of ​​consciousness can the actual physical body be forged. The earth corresponds to muscles, the boulder to blood, the jade toad to bones, and finally, the full moon to consciousness. Each time a stage of physical body forging is completed, the corresponding part of the visualization diagram will become vibrant and full of spirit. Once all stages are completed, the visualization diagram will develop its own spirituality, at which point the foundation for the Dao can be formed.

The Six Universal Cultivation Techniques have been in existence for hundreds of years, and the Taichu Palace has long accumulated enough examples of their cultivation. Among them, the fastest record for cultivating the "Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram" is to manifest the visualization diagram in three days and to forge the Earth-Rank Dao Foundation in half a year. The one with the most solid foundation and the highest achievement is to manifest a twelve-zhang visualization diagram in thirty-six days and to forge the Immortal Foundation in five years.

Having finished his cultivation, Wei Yuan realized the terrifying power of the Chonglou Dinghai Pill. A single pill had expanded his visualization diagram by more than three feet. Three pills would expand it by at least ten feet. Originally, Wei Yuan's innate talent was eight feet, considered excellent, corresponding to an eight-foot visualization diagram. Taking three Chonglou Dinghai Pills was equivalent to raising his foundation to nine feet. From there, it would depend on how much Qi he could circulate into his foundation.

The next day's lesson was on the Foundations of the Dao. Wei Yuan had already read the introductions to the various courses and knew that the Foundations of the Dao was actually a cultivation course. This course guided disciples on how to cultivate and forge their foundations, fill in any gaps, and leave no regrets, so that they could go further on their path of cultivation.

Upon arriving at Qisi Hall, Wei Yuan saw a piece of jade paper and a pill already laid out on his desk, and a blue futon had been placed on his chair. The jade paper contained a cultivation manual titled "The Method of Returning to the Origin and Stabilizing Qi." Wei Yuan picked it up and read it carefully. The method was simple: accurately measuring a person's physical constitution. If the result of a time-based measurement was like a splashed-ink landscape painting, then the result of the Qi-stabilizing method was like a meticulously detailed flower-and-bird painting, depicting the foundation with even greater precision.

The name of today's lecturer was written on the jade paper. Upon seeing the name, a small commotion arose among the students.

"Wow, it's Xu Henshui!"

"Which Xu Henshui?"

A girl said, "You don't know? He is a disciple of the True Lord Wuqi of the Creation Temple, passed down from a previous generation. His master is nominally a True Man, but in reality, he was taught by the True Lord! Moreover, it is said that he has an extremely handsome appearance and superb cultivation. What's even more special is that his Dao foundation is an orchid!"

Upon hearing this, many people immediately lost interest: "Orchids? Aren't those the lowest grade of Dao Foundation? None of us taking classes here will ever reach the Human Rank Dao Foundation, right?"

The girl scoffed, "Ignorant fool! Let me tell you, Master Xu's orchid is a one-of-a-kind plant in the world, an absolute foundation for immortality!"

Another girl leaned over and asked, "So, what does Teacher Xu look like?"

"Does this even need asking? Go see for yourself in a bit!"

Amidst the noisy chatter of the children, the side door of Qisi Hall suddenly creaked open. The students immediately fell silent, all staring intently at the entrance. Even Wei Yuan, usually indifferent, couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity, wanting to see just what kind of extraordinary figure the renowned Xu Henshui was.

As the side door opened, a light blue robe was first swung in, followed by a handsome young man. However, he concealed his face with a fan, making it impossible to see his features!
Even without seeing his face, one could tell from his figure that he was extremely beautiful. His water-colored robes swayed without wind, and when worn by a person as fluid as water, the very step he took through the door was in harmony with the natural rhythm, light and graceful, just right, as if a subtle fragrance wafted over, indescribably refreshing and delightful.

Even Wei Yuan was intrigued by this one step and wanted to see the man's face. Just as everyone was filled with anticipation, a slender, jade-like hand suddenly reached in from outside the door, grabbed the man by the back of his neck, and lifted him out.

"Make way, I'll teach this class!" A powerful and authoritative voice rang out from outside the door.

"But……"

"No buts! It's decided!" The voice from outside the door brooked no argument.

"What are you doing? Don't..." the man exclaimed in surprise, then his voice quickly faded into the distance, becoming barely audible in the blink of an eye.

A woman walked into Qisi Hall, slammed the door shut behind her, and smiled at the stunned students.

With that smile, Wei Yuan suddenly felt that the world before him had brightened up.

(End of this chapter)