Chapter 68: Heart-Seeking Fruit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Brother Gu, if I remember correctly, the Qingyun sect, the Huolie sect, and the Shenshan sect are about to hold a competition, right?"
At this moment, Li Wuji's gaze landed on Gu Da, who was beside him.
"That's right. There's less than a month before the three great sects' competition!" Gu Da said after thinking for a moment.
"This is an opportunity. We can take advantage of the competition to prepare a surprise for the Qingyun sect!" Li Wuji sneered.
Gu D was momentarily stunned, but then his face turned gleeful.
"Brother Li, you're right. After the patriarch ends his secluded cultivation, Ye Xuan and the entire Qingyun sect will be history!"
"Ye Xuan's talent is too monstrous. As long as he isn't dead, I won't be able to sleep at night!"
Gu Da stroked his beard and smiled.
They had already summoned all the disciples who were collecting qi and blood essence in the outside world because the supply was sufficient for the patriarch to use. There was no need to collect them anymore.
Moreover, the longer those personal disciples stayed in the outside world, the greater the risk of them dying at Ye Xuan's hands.
According to the news from the patriarch, he would break through in less than a month.
At that time, the Great Qian Dynasty would have one more top-tier powerhouse whose cultivation had reached the peak of the core formation realm.
The patriarch would then only need to make a slight move, and he would be able to easily destroy the Qingyun sect. Ye Xuan would also die.
They would blame the death of their personal disciples on Ye Xuan. The Qingyun sect was extremely protective, so they would not hand over Ye Xuan.
At that time, the Xuanyin sect would be able to attack the Qingyun sect in a justified manner.
Then, since the two sects would be at war with each other, the patriarch would be able to justifiably join the fray.
That's right. This was what Li Wuji and Gu Da had in mind.
As long as they told the patriarch that Ye Xuan had learned about the sect's collection of qi and blood essence, the patriarch would definitely kill himbefore he could even reveal the secret.
"This matter is too important. We still need to discuss it with the others!"
Then, Li Wuji and Gu Da left the main hall and went to find the other elders.
…
Ye Xuan, who had just returned to the Qingyun sect, was unaware that the Xuanyin sect had already set their eyes on him before he even moved personally to settle the score with them.
However, even if he knew about the plans of the Xuanyin sect, he did not need to be afraid. After all, he had already entered the middle stage of the golden core realm and was only one step away from reaching the advanced stage of the golden core realm.
Most importantly, his sword intent had already reached the second level.
The cultivation method he practiced was the "Three Thousand Thunder Sword technique", which was a middle-grade Earth-rank technique. The martial techniques and artifacts he had on hand were also extremely powerful. Besides that, he still had part of the remaining power of the seventh-grade Nirvana pill in his body.
Armed with all these, he would be able to suppress an advanced stage Golden Core realm cultivator.
Of course, with his current strength, it would be a little difficult for him to destroy the Xuanyin sect.
After all, the sect master of the mysterious dark sect had already reached the advanced stage of the golden core realm, and the power of the blood essence and qi collected by the mysterious dark sect was enormous. It was highly likely that the patriarch wanted to use this power to reach the peak of the golden core realm, or even break through to the unity realm.
Of course, it was highly unlikely that he could break through to the unity realm just by relying on the power of the blood essence and qi.
After all, it had been hundreds of years since a top-tier unity realm expert had appeared in the Great Qian Dynasty.
The previous unity realm cultivators had basically all left the Great Qian Dynasty.
Of course, it could not be ruled out that the Great Qian Dynasty's royal family still had old unity realm experts hidden within their ranks.
After handing Huang Ling and Xue Min over to Lin Qing, Ye Xuan went to the main hall to look for the sect leader.
"Elder Ye, your cultivation…"
When Wan Shanhai's gaze fell on Ye Xuan, he narrowed his eyes, and a hint of shock flashed across his pupils.
He actually discovered that his spiritual sense was unable to see through Ye Xuan's cultivation level. How long had this guy left the sect? Could it be that his strength had already surpassed his own?
Or was this just an illusion?
For a moment, Wan Shanhai was stuck in a state of shock and disbelief.
He was a middle stage true core realm expert. Even if Ye Xuan had used some sort of technique to conceal his aura, he should have noticed it.
Yet now, he could not sense Ye Xuan's cultivation at all. In his spiritual sense, Ye Xuan was like an ordinary person, without the slightest trace of a cultivator's aura.
"Don't be surprised, sect leader. I just made a slight breakthrough in my aura concealing technique," Ye Xuan made up a lie on the spot with a straight face.
"I see!" Wan Shanhai revealed a flash of understanding when he heard that. He did not question the authenticity of Ye Xuan's words.
After all, this guy was the strongest genius of the Qingyun sect in a thousand years. Was it not quite normal for him to have some attainments in the art of aura concealment?
"After I familiarize myself with controlling this power, if the sect leader is interested in learning it, you can contact me at any time!" Ye Xuan continued.
"That's great!" Wan Shanhai's eyes lit up when he heard this.
As everyone knew, although the sect's qi storage technique could restrain a cultivator's aura, it was still unable to completely conceal it.
However, Ye Xuan had succeeded. If he could also learn the technique, then he would be able to perfectly disguise himself. This way, when facing an enemy, there would be an additional uncertainty that the enemy would have to consider and deal with before choosing to fight.
"May I know the purpose of Elder Ye's visit?"
Wan Shanhai raised his head to look at Ye Xuan.
In his impression, the sect's strongest genius in a thousand years was obsessed with cultivation. Unless there was something important, there was no way he would leave his own cultivation abode.
Therefore, he was also quite surprised by Ye Xuan's sudden appearance here.
"I want to ask the sect leader if there is a reward that increases a cultivator's comprehension value in the sect competition this time?" Ye Xuan paused at first, and then slowly said.
"Yes, I specially prepared a rare natural treasure called the Heart-seeking Fruit! I obtained it in the mystic lunar realm a few years ago. Only by obtaining first place in the sect competition can one receive this reward!"
Wan Shanhai said with a smile.
"Heart-seeking Fruit?"
Hearing this, Ye Xuan revealed an expression of realization.
He had heard a little about Heart-seeking Fruit. It could indeed increase a cultivator's comprehension value, but would only do so by ten points at most.
Even so, it was still an extremely rare treasure that was attractive to most cultivators.
After all, comprehension and bone values were basically innate. Although they could be improved through the use of heavenly treasures, the difficulty of doing so was extremely high.
Most cultivators spent their entire lives trying, but failed to find a single heavenly treasure that could increase their comprehension and bone values!
From this, it could be seen how rare heavenly treasures that could increase one's comprehension and bone values were.
For example, Wan Shanhai had already been a cultivator for about fifty years, and he had reached the middle stage of the true core realm. He was even the sect master of the Qingyun sect. Despite all this, he had only obtained a few heavenly treasures that could increase one's comprehension value.
Chapter 69: Bring Back The Champion Rank
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Naturally, any heavenly treasures that could increase one's comprehension value by a large amount had long been consumed by Wan Shanhai.
In comparison, the Heart-seeking Fruit was undoubtedly of average quality. It was precisely because of this that it was being used as a reward for the sect competition.
"Why don't I give out the rewards for the sect competition?"
Ye Xuan brought up the matter naturally, but he could not help but feel a little awkward as he did this.
Hearing this question, Wan Shanhai stared blankly at him.
According to the rules of the sect, both the sect leader and elders had the right to give out the competition rewards to the disciples, but he still felt that Ye Xuan had sprung this question on him out of nowhere.
After all, from Wan Shanhai's perspective, Ye Xuan was a genius who was obsessed with cultivation, so he should not be interested in things like the sect competition. Moreover, in order to focus on cultivation, he did not even take in a disciple.
Could it be that Elder Ye Xuan had changed after recovering from his injuries?
Wan Shanhai entertained the thought.
Of course, Wan Shanhai did not refuse Ye Xuan's request.
After all, Ye Xuan did have the right to give out rewards, as long as the fairness of the rewards was guaranteed.
"That works too!" Wan Shanhai nodded and agreed.
Then, Wan Shanhai waved his sleeve, and three streams of light suddenly appeared in front of him.
One of them was a fruit that was suffused with a thick white light, one was a pill that was covered in mysterious patterns, and the other was a long sword that was surrounded by sharp sword qi.
These three things were the rewards for the top three ranks.
The first place would receive the Heart-seeking Fruit, which had the ability to increase a cultivator's comprehension value.
The second place would receive an origin condensing pill, which was a first-grade pill. It could help a cultivator quickly condense true essence power, and for cultivators who were at a bottleneck in their cultivation, it had the effect of catalyzing a breakthrough.
The third place would receive the Shuiqing sword, which was a low-grade spiritual artifact.
Ye Xuan looked at them briefly, and then put away the three items.
The reason why he had made this request to Wan Shanhai was because he wanted to use this opportunity to get rewards from the system. How could he miss such an obvious opportunity to gain rewards for free?
The prospect of receiving a system reward by giving someone else's property to his disciples was something that made him truly happy!
Of course, Wan Shanhai also had many personal disciples, and each one was extremely powerful.
In Wan Shanhai's heart, one of his disciples would definitely win first place in the sect competition, and it was precisely because of this that he was willing to take out the Heart-seeking Fruit. The so-called sect competition was just a formality.
Ye Xuan also understood this, so when he made the request just now, he felt extremely awkward.
He was intercepting someone else's reward!
As long as he sent out Li Qingyan, Wan Shanhai's disciple would not be able to obtain first place in the competition.
Although Wan Shanhai's disciple was already in the eighth level of the true essence realm, and was only half a step away from the ninth level of the true essence realm, Li Qingyan had the obvious advantage over him.
The cultivation methods and martial techniques that Li Qingyan cultivated were all extremely high-level. Most importantly, Li Qingyan's comprehension value was extremely high.
Ye Xuan had yet to spar and train with her. As long as Ye Xuan trained Li Qingyan's actual combat experience, the latter's actual combat ability would be greatly strengthened.
Therefore, the probability of Wan Shanhai's disciple defeating Li Qingyan was extremely low.
"Sect Leader, are there any rewards for the competition of the three great sects that can increase comprehension?"
After Ye Xuan put away the rewards for the Qingyun sect competition, he asked another question.
Wan Shanhai first nodded, and then shook his head.
"The heavenly treasures for the competition of the three great sects are provided by the three great sects themselves, and there are a total of three rewards. For the champion's reward, I provided a thousand-year ice silk armor, the Huolie sect provided a third-grade soul returning pill, and the Shenshan sect provided the most generous reward, which is an extremely rare heavenly treasure called the Spirit Burst Flower!"
"However, among these three rewards, only the Shenshan sect's reward has the ability to improve a cultivator's comprehension value! This thing is even more precious than the Heart-seeking Fruit. I had not expected the Shenshan sect to have been willing to pay such a price!"
Having said this, Wan Shanhai smiled and continued.
"But at the same time, this also means that the Shenshan sect believes that they have a great chance of becoming the champion of the three great sects competition! It is said that the Shenshan sect has indeed produced a disciple with an extremely monstrous level of talent!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wan Shanhai could not help but look at Ye Xuan.
Of course, no matter how monstrous the other party's level of talent was, it could not be compared to Ye Xuan.
Unfortunately, Ye Xuan's cultivation had grown too rapidly. Now that he was an elder of the Qingyun sect, he had already lost the qualification to participate in the competition between the three great sects.
"It seems that the Shenshan sect is indeed very confident!" Hearing this, Ye Xuan could not help but smile.
Obviously, whether it was the Shenshan sect or Wan Shanhai, they all felt that their disciples would definitely be able to win the competitions, which was why they were willing to take out such rare heavenly treasures as rewards.
After all, a farmer's waterway would not flow to an outsider's field. If they were not certain that their disciples could win the competitions, they would not have been willing to pay such a price.
There were less than five days before the Qingyun sect competition, but a full 24 days before the competition between the three great sects.
He had plenty of time.
Then, Ye Xuan bade farewell to Wan Shanhai and returned to Lingjiu peak.
As soon as he arrived at Lingjiu peak, he immediately called Li Qingyan and Yue over. He planned to properly prepare his disciples during this period of time, so as to increase his chances of winning the competitions.
"Greetings, Teacher!"
Li Qingyan and Yue bowed to Ye Xuan.
"Rise!" Ye Xuan nodded, and then said slowly, "In five days, our Qingyun sect competition will commence. You will represent me and participate. Just bring back the champion rank!"
"We will obey Teacher's orders!" Yue and Li Qingyan responded obediently.
"However, before you participate in the sect competition, I will try my best to raise your cultivation levels!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Xuan's gaze fell on his two disciples.
Other than admiring his disciples' fairy-like beauty, he was also examining their information.
Li Qingyan
Comprehension value: 299
Innate bone value: 79
(Dual-spirit physique: Innate affinity with both wood and fire attributes)
(Note: One can only fully activate the dual spirit physique after stepping into the true essence realm. Innately suited to be an alchemist, it can be said the owner of the dual spirit physique can achieve twice the result with half the effort when it comes to alchemy!)
Yue
Comprehension value: 234
Innate bone value: 329
(Sword Jade Physique: A rare physique that is naturally compatible with Sword Dao. Its owner's bones are like fine jade. When this physique is cultivated to the great success stage, the owner can cultivate the most powerful sword qi in the world.)