Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 355: Stirring Begins

After digesting the information Zhuo Haiyue had provided him, Wu Yuan came to a realization. If he were to compete in the True Dragon Arena, forget beating the 34 hereditary disciples, even the relatively stronger inner disciples who dedicated centuries to cultivation would be able to defeat him.

My soul may be resilient, but amidst the millions of disciples within the Dragon Star Immortal Sect, who doesn’t have a trick or two up their sleeves? Wu Yuan inwardly mused to himself.

Even if he managed to beat a few disciples, so what?

Sooner or later, I am bound to lose, and it will be a number of consecutive losses. Wu Yuan remained calm.

His abilities had yet to undergo any substantial improvements since his previous performances.

If Sword Immortal Dong Yang hesitated to take him as a disciple before, he still wouldn’t do so now.

Deliberately showing vulnerability and disseminating rumors of being 'fearful of combat' would undoubtedly garner attention given that he was a hereditary disciple. It would also draw criticism and perhaps even mockery.

But, that is precisely what I need. Wu Yuan smiled faintly. Based on the intelligence at my disposal, numerous disciples are keen to embark on risking expeditions or duel with others in the True Dragon Arena as they’ve been stuck in their bottlenecks for too long.

They seek external stimuli to awaken the primal life force within. However, I am unlike them. My cultivation period is still short, and I’ve yet to receive proper guidance.

As long as I am granted time and immersed in the nurturing environment of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect, my strength will burgeon rapidly.

Taking risks to temper myself is unnecessary for now.

Three years of silence, but once I make my move, it will shake the world! When I reach a cultivation bottleneck, or when the Dragon Star Tournament begins, I’ll showcase my full might, naturally subverting the public’s expectations and astounding the higher echelons. Wu Yuan decided.

This, of course, was merely a temporary strategy. If his strength grew faster than expected, Wu Yuan wouldn’t mind building up his reputation sooner and solidifying himself as a peerless genius.

...

As an inner disciple with nearly 2000 years of experience within the sect, Lu Zhu possessed a vast web of connections. Along with the help of the 100 Golden Core subordinates, the news quickly spread.

The Dragon Star Immortal Sect had many disciples, making it challenging for gatherings to take place due to various reasons. However, the Redmoon Immortal Realm and the Dragon Star Immortal Realm allowed for swift communication and information exchange.

Moreover, the hereditary disciples, the elite figures among millions of disciples, naturally drew significant scrutiny.

Consequently, the incident at the entrance of the mansion on Dragon Star Island involving Wu Yuan, Bei Hua, Gong Ling, Hei Lei, and Kuang Long began to circulate rapidly among the disciples.

"Refused a challenge?"

"The newly inducted hereditary disciple, Li Xia, declined Bei Hua's challenge to spar in the arena? He’s so timid? Normally, those who attain hereditary disciple status directly upon entering the sect should possess unmatched talent." Various disciples found their interest piqued as they discussed the matter fervently.

"I’ve looked into him. This Li Xia is closely associated with the Zhuo Family's Princessling Haiyue and has demonstrated his strength on Southmoon Island. It is rumored that he has only reached the first-stage Golden Core phase. Despite his short cultivation period, he successfully conquered level 40 of the one-star tower. His power is truly formidable.”

Amidst the millions of disciples, some were well-informed, swiftly spreading the information they had gathered.

"It makes sense."

"With such strength, even if he ranks lowest among the Golden Core hereditary disciples, he still stands out among the million inner disciples. Why would he shy away from a challenge?"

"He has talent, but his courage is lacking."

"He even found a bunch of excuses to decline Fairy Bei Hua's challenge?"

"The path to immortality is fraught with obstacles. There are no threats to one’s life in voidrealm duels, yet he hesitates to engage in battle? Can such a coward truly be called a hereditary disciple?"

"Fear of defeat is not the issue. As long as one continues to make progress, they will eventually reach the pinnacle. But if one is too afraid to even step onto the battlefield, how can they scale the heights of the path to immortality?" Countless disciples debated, most of them filled with confusion and disdain towards Wu Yuan’s actions.

In fact, many inner disciples added Wu Yuan as a contact and challenged him to a duel. However, all their invitations were rejected!

This naturally sparked an even greater uproar. Even if only one-tenth of the outer and inner disciples heard of this matter, it still amounted to hundreds of thousands of disciples discussing the topic.

...

"The news has been disseminated? By whom?" The white-robed Bei Hua soon received the news.

She furrowed her brow slightly. As one of the parties involved, while she didn't appreciate Wu Yuan's character nor subscribe to Wu Yuan's Dao Heart philosophy, she didn't believe that Wu Yuan was intentionally avoiding a confrontation.

As fellow sword cultivators, she could sense Wu Yuan's unwavering resolve at the time. Therefore, despite how she personally felt about him, she didn't think that Wu Yuan was in the wrong.

No Dao is better or worse than another; the capable lead the way.

Likewise, no sword heart is right or wrong. One simply needs to follow their heart to reach the pinnacle.

"I did not spread it. Gong Ling and the others have no reason to do so either," Bei Hua furrowed her brow slightly, "Could it be that one of Li Xia’s followers leaked the information?"

She was perplexed.

...

It wasn’t just Bei Hua. Gong Ling, Hei Lei, and Kuang Long were also at a loss as to how the news had spread.

Hei Lei even went as far as to send a separate message to Wu Yuan, concerned that Wu Yuan might suspect him of being the source of the leak.

Of course, Wu Yuan paid him no mind, nor did he feel the need to provide an explanation.

At the moment, Wu Yuan’s thread of Soul Force in the Dragon Star Immortal Realm was reading up on the cultivation methodologies practiced by the various hereditary disciples to gain a deeper understanding of them.

Within the Dragon Star Immortal Realm stood three prominent cities: Mirage Dragon City, Greendragon City, and Heavenly Dragon City.

Greendragon City resembled the typical cities found in the Redmoon Immortal Realm, with a variety of residences, voidrealm taverns, immortal shopping pavilions, the Greendragon Arena, Heir Rankings, and others.

Heavenly Dragon City, on the other hand, was accessible only to cultivators at the Void Refiner phase and above.

Mirage Dragon City served as a hub for various voidrealm trials and housed the Daoist Scripture Tower of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect, drawing countless disciples seeking to participate in trials or learn various teachings.

I should take my time to understand each one, there’s no need to make a hasty decision. Wu Yuan was currently exploring the Daoist Scripture Tower.

As an ancient sect with a history spanning millions of years, one could only imagine the extensive collection of Daoist scriptures held within its walls – each one a top quality teaching.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools.

Wu Yuan had only joined the ranks of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect a few days ago, and had yet to even meet a guidance instructor within the sect, let alone find a master. Thus, there was no rush.

...

As word of Li Xia's rejection of all challenges spread, it reached the ears of the higher echelons of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect and even others beyond the sect.

Following her assignment in Rising Dragon City, Zhuo Haiyue returned to Starsword City, under the jurisdiction of Twin Jade City, as part of her training.

Before completing her trial task, Zhuo Haiyue was required to remain within Starsword City for the long term.

"What? Li Xia declined all challenges? And he has yet to set foot in the Greendragon City of the Dragon Star Immortal Realm since entering the sect?" Zhuo Haiyue swiftly received the news.

"Indeed," the black-robed figure known as Old Yu confirmed. "Earth Immortal Qing Feng relayed this information to me."

“According to Earth Immortal Qing Feng, the matter has stirred some debate within the sect, capturing the attention of several Earth Immortals.”

"No need to worry. Li Xia's refusal is likely due to his own deliberations," she continued with a chuckle, "Afraid of a challenge? When faced with my pressure, he displayed no fear of death. How could he tremble at the thought of defeat?"

The figure in black robes concurred with her assessment.

A person with such willpower could not be cowed by death.

"Advise Earth Immortal Qing Feng to offer guidance to Li Xia and steer him away from unnecessary detours," Zhuo Haiyue instructed, "As for the trivial matter of those challenges... the rules of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect have stood for hundreds of millions of years. They will not impede Li Xia's personal cultivation journey."

"Understood," the black-robed figure nodded.

...

The size of the Daoist Scripture Tower within Mirage Dragon City of the Dragon Star Immortal Realm rivaled that of the library in the Redmoon Immortal Realm's Twin Jade City, perhaps even surpassing it.

On one of the floors.

In terms of sword arts alone, there are more than a million teachings in the Daoist Scripture Tower. And this is just from a quick browse through the tower. Wu Yuan was shocked.

Truly remarkable! Only a sect with a history spanning over a hundred million years could gather so many. Even though Wu Yuan only had access to simplified versions, the summaries provided were enough for him to recognize the extraordinary nature of each sword art teaching. All of them could be cultivated to the ninth-level True Intent stage!

These sword art teachings must have been crafted by the predecessors of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect throughout the ages or procured from external sources. Wu Yuan mused to himself.

This was the foundation of a large sect. It was nearly impossible for a single individual to replicate such a feat.

Yet, despite the plethora of sword teachings, only a few dozen manuals can be cultivated all the way till the Archimmortal phase. For the Tribulation-level manuals, there are around a thousand times more. Wu Yuan reflected.

The distinction between sword art teachings and sword manuals or codices was clear in his mind – the former embodying the application of one’s Dao comprehension on the sword path while the latter delved into techniques, mana cultivation, and even arcane arts.

Each Archimmortal-level sword manual was a rare gem, coveted by many loose cultivators.

By right, a sect that has not produced a single Archimmortal-level sword immortal shouldn't possess this many. Were they acquired from external sources by the sect's Archdemon? Wu Yuan pondered, his thoughts swirling.

Wu Yuan had learned of the mysterious Archdemon in the sect from Zhuo Haiyue, but any discussion about it was conspicuously absent within the sect itself.

It was as though this figure didn’t exist at all.

The Daoist Scripture Tower of the sect is filled with various teachings, encompassing sword arts, saber techniques, evasion arts, equipment forging, alchemy, and more. As Wu Yuan’s gaze swept over the wealth of knowledge, he pondered quietly. But one cannot simply access these teachings for free.

There were access restrictions in place, as well as dragon crystal requirements.

Dragon crystal serves as the internal currency of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect. Its use is even more widespread than ethercrystal within the sect.

Within the sect, whatever ethercrystal can accomplish, so too can dragon crystal. What ethercrystal fails to achieve, dragon crystal will be able to accomplish.

Wu Yuan's eyes fell on the quantity of dragon crystals allotted to him – ten million dragon crystals!

This generous gift was bestowed upon every hereditary disciple upon joining the sect, a one-time reward. Should one desire more dragon crystals, the only way was to rely on their own efforts.

Ten million may sound like a lot. Yet, Wu Yuan's gaze shifted to the virtual immortal slip before him: ‘Dark Earth Sword Codex’. An Archimmortal-level sword codex, the Dark Earth Sword Codex required ten million dragon crystals for the complete set, three million for the initial and middle segments, and 100,000 for the initial segment alone.

In essence, the sect's gift was barely enough for Wu Yuan to acquire the complete set of the Dark Earth Sword Codex.

With ten million dragon crystals, I could purchase multiple pieces of first-grade spirit equipment from within the sect. Wu Yuan sighed silently.

This indicated that the worth of one dragon crystal equated roughly to one catty of ethercrystal in the external world!

Although it was feasible to convert one dragon crystal to one catty of ethercrystal through the sect, this was not the smartest usage of dragon crystals.

Using dragon crystals to buy treasures and cultivation artifacts from the sect is extravagant and not worth it. Wu Yuan discerned.

To obtain dragon crystals, there were primarily three avenues. The first was completing various trial tasks for corresponding dragon crystal rewards. The second was achieving breakthroughs in the major cultivation phases such as Amethyst Cradle or Void Refiner. As a reward, the sect would grant a one-time gift of dragon crystals. Thirdly, exchanging ethercrystal directly for dragon crystals, wherein a treasure valued at ten catties of ethercrystal sponsored to the sect would yield a gift of one dragon crystal.

In theory, a disciple with an ample supply of ethercrystal could exchange it for dragon crystal without limit.

Exchanging ethercrystal for dragon crystals to procure resources within the sect? Wu Yuan shook his head in disapproval.

It was a foolish and costly strategy.

Wu Yuan recognized that the Dragon Star Immortal Sect was systematically amassing ethercrystal treasures from its multitude of disciples through the third method.

Dragon crystals are best utilized for exchanging precious resources unattainable with ethercrystal. Wu Yuan concluded.

I must obtain the Dark Earth Sword Path, starting with the initial and middle segments.

This would satisfy his current cultivation needs.

Hm? Earth Immortal Qing Feng is at my mansion to pay me a visit? Wu Yuan was abruptly startled.

An Earth Immortal was here?

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