Shang Xi waved her hand lightly.
A strand of sword light as thin as a single hair and balanced between yin and yang shot forth, cleaving through the air.
Then she turned toward Jing Qian and said calmly,
"Chixiao, don't lose focus.
I've already borrowed the Nirvana Phoenix Plume for you.
Have you decided how you plan to use it?"
"That Ghost Phoenix egg is barely qualified.
If you have no better choice, then use it."
With that, she placed the Ghost Phoenix Egg into a Life Furnace, nestling it beside another egg, a fiery-red one that pulsed faintly like a living heart.
The two inheritors of Pure Yang Heaven stood within the innermost sanctum of the Feathered Ascension Sect, a secret place rarely seen by outsiders.
Beside them were Master Tianhe, the sect leader of Feathered Ascension, and his core disciple Ling Mingji, both standing nervously at attention.
After all, not every mid-tier cultivator of the Middle Three Grades could face a Second-Grade Ghost Emperor's divine might as if it were nothing.
Even before the ghostly power arrived, its pressure alone weighed upon the sect's Mountain-Guarding Formation,
causing the ley lines of the earth to shudder and groan.
But the next instant, Shang Xi's threadlike Dual Polarity Sword Light struck back and, impossibly, the two powers met and canceled each other out.
One Fifth-Grade Saint, one Second-Grade Ghost Emperor, their divine arts and mana annihilated each other in perfect balance.
Far away, hundreds of thousands of miles across the realms,
The Emperor of Wuchang watched through the void.
His gaze swept briefly over Shang Xi and then over the little yaksha girl clinging to his neck, rolling her eyes in irritation, and he sighed, withdrawing his hand.
He said nothing more.
A moment later, his face grew awkward as his younger sister, brandishing a massive cleaver, came storming toward his palace gates, howling for revenge.
He rubbed his temples helplessly.
It looked like he was going to have to pay dearly again...
Inside the Feathered Ascension Sect, the tense silence finally broke.
The crowd of disciples and elders let out the breath they'd been holding and turned their eyes back to the two phoenix eggs before them.
Shang Xi took out a small jade flask and said,
"Fellow Daoist Tianhe,
This Heavenly River Primordial Immortal Qi should be enough
for both phoenixes to complete their rebirths.
Your sect's Five-Element Celestial Phoenix will be able
to replenish its missing Heavenly Mandate
and ascend to the Third Grade.
Consider this our payment for borrowing the Nirvana Phoenix Plume."
Tianhe bowed deeply.
"My deepest thanks, True Immortal Shang Xi!
This matter is of great importance to our sect.
We shall give it our full support."
Shang Xi nodded slightly,
uncorked the flask,
and poured out a stream of pure, radiant Immortal Qi,
which cascaded over both phoenix eggs like liquid starlight.
At once, the two eggs began to tremble violently, their shells glowing with life as though infused with blood and flame.
Then she turned to Jing Qian.
"Within half a day, the Ghost Phoenix will hatch.
Have you made up your mind?"
Jing Qian replied without hesitation,
"Please give me a little longer, Master.
Let me try one more thing.
If it still doesn't work, then I'll use the Ghost Phoenix."
With that, his figure flickered
and vanished into the Void Realm.
He appeared beside a familiar companion
, the small, sleeping corn spirit known as Good Corn.
Jing Qian reached out a finger and flicked the top of its golden kernel head.
The tiny spirit jolted awake, ready to throw a tantrum for being disturbed, until it saw who it was.
Its expression brightened instantly.
"Boss!
You here to fish again?
I've already studied the coordinates for the Half-Sky Sea; we just need to drop the hook!"
Jing Qian shook his head with a faint smile.
"Not today.
I've come to discuss something else.
How would you feel about becoming my life-bound Spiritual Construct?"
Although Good Corn had a clear warning carved onto its husk by his father, "Do not subjugate," Jing Qian figured everything was negotiable.
After all, the little corn spirit ate his food, drank his wine, and lived under his roof. Their relationship was… cordial enough.
So, it was worth a try.
Good Corn blinked his beady eyes and said suspiciously,
"Boss… why're you thinking about my body all of a sudden?"
"If you want to take me in as your spirit, you'd have to cut me off from my dad! That's… really not ideal!"
"I'm the pride of my clan, born with the bearing of a great emperor! One day, I'll climb to the peak of the Immortal Qi Mountains! There's no way my dad would ever let me go."
Jing Qian smiled like a big bad wolf trying to lure a gullible little Red Riding Hood.
"Never mind what your father thinks," he said smoothly. "I'm only asking whether you want to or not."
"Right now, I'm acting Sect Master of the Yanfudao Path. I still have some face, don't I?"
"If you agree, I'll handle your father. You won't have to worry about a thing."
"And I'll even give you a Third-Grade Ghost Phoenix to serve as your own Spiritual Construct."
The little corn spirit was visibly tempted.
It hesitated for a long moment before saying,
"My lord, if you're the Sect Master… can you grant me an official title?"
Jing Qian raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of title do you want?"
"My dad's the Seventh Guardian Deity of Yanfutian,
and my two older brothers are both Minor Guardians of Yanfutian.
If you can give me something better than theirs,
I'll follow you!"
"That's easy," Jing Qian said solemnly. "How about I make you the First Supreme Ultra Guardian Deity of Yanfutian?"
"Good! Good! That's the one I want!
'Supreme Ultra Guardian Deity' sounds way cooler than my dad's!"
"I, Good Corn, shall become your Spiritual Construct!
Those nasty things, Yin Qi, Ghost Qi, and Nether Qi
leave them all to me!"
Then the little corn paused, frowning.
"Wait a second, boss, you already have that scary sword.
How're you gonna fit me in?"
Jing Qian ruffled the top of its golden head and said gently,
"Don't sleep yet. Wait for my signal."
With that, he vanished from the Void Realm
and reappeared in the Feathered Ascension Sect,
facing his master, Shang Xi.
"Master," he said, "I'm ready.
When the time comes, hand the Ghost Phoenix to me."
Shang Xi nodded in acknowledgment.
The four of them waited in silence.
Half a day passed in a blink.
Inside the Life Furnace, the Immortal Qi had been completely absorbed.
A surge of overwhelming mana erupted, crack! Crack! Two sharp snaps echoed as the eggshells broke.
Then, two piercing phoenix cries resounded.
A Golden Phoenix and a White Phoenix burst forth together,
their wings shimmering in intertwined light.
The Five-Element Celestial Phoenix, after ten thousand years of cultivation,
had finally broken through, ascending to Third Grade: Heaven-Mending Rank.
Elated, it spread its wings, ready to soar into the skies,
to announce its rebirth to the world and bring glory to the Feathered Ascension Sect.
But before it could even take flight,
a little girl hefting an enormous sword stepped forward and smack! Brought the blade crashing down on the head of the Ghost Phoenix beside it.
The Ghost Phoenix, far stronger than the Five-Element Phoenix, collapsed on the spot, shivering like a drenched chicken.
The Five-Element Phoenix fell silent immediately,
Its feathers fluff in alarm.
"This… this is my home, right?"
It muttered nervously.
"Since when do we get visitors like this?"
Just then, Sect Master Tianhe stepped forward,
holding a magnificent Nirvana Phoenix Plume in both hands.
"Congratulations, Lord Phoenix, on your rebirth and great advancement in cultivation!"
"Please know, your smooth Nirvana was aided by Pure Yang Heaven's Immortal Qi.
On my own authority, I've lent this Nirvana Plume
to assist Pure Yang's disciple, Daoist Chixiao, in his cultivation.
I beg your understanding and cooperation."
The Five-Element Phoenix,
a wise and ancient being of the Yingfutu Realm,
quickly understood the situation.
"Ah, I see. Very well, leave it to me.
I won't disappoint our friends from Pure Yang Heaven."
It accepted the plume from Tianhe's hand
and, with the strength of its newly reborn Third-Grade body,
activated its divine power.
Across from it, Jing Qian cradled the half-dead Ghost Phoenix in his arms,
watching curiously as the plume's energy began to glow.
The Nirvana Phoenix Plume, a rare Chrono-Dao Offering Talisman,
possessed an extraordinary and mysterious power.
When bestowed upon a cultivator,
It could open a temporal rift
a wormhole connecting the user
to a specific moment in their own past.
It couldn't rewrite history on a grand scale,
But it could influence the user's personal fate
a priceless chance to rebuild one's foundation.
Jing Qian fixed his target moment precisely:
The instant before, he had subdued the Innate Immortal Sword Embryo.
As the plume's temporal power took hold,
he immediately stepped into the Void Realm.
He tossed the half-conscious Ghost Phoenix before Good Corn and barked,
"Time's short, suppress the phoenix, now!"
Good Corn instantly sprouted thousands of golden roots,
wrapping the Ghost Phoenix like a cocoon.
This ability, a spirit suppressing another spirit,
was the divine power granted by Good Corn's innate Heavenly Mandate.
Not even its father could perform such a feat.
Jing Qian had only discovered this hidden talent
after awakening his Three-Life Eye.
At that moment, the power of the Nirvana Plume
fully erupted.
A shimmering temporal shadow unfolded before Jing Qian, showing him the scene of his past self,
head bleeding, ramming himself into the sword to tame it.
Then Jing Qian kicked the "Supreme Ultra Guardian Deity."
i.e. Good Corn
straight into the time rift.
At the same instant,
the corn spirit extended its roots into Jing Qian's consciousness,
leaving behind a single golden corn kernel in his Sea of Consciousness.
Present Jing Qian reflected his spirit across time,
sending that kernel into the past,
where it sank into the Sea of Consciousness of his earlier self.
And in that past moment,
as "Past Jing Qian" struggled to subdue the Immortal Sword Embryo,
he suddenly sensed a corn seed sprouting inside his mind.
Through it, his spirit connected directly
to the distant, present-day Good Corn.
The three Heavenly Mandates of Yin Qi, Ghost Qi, and Nether Qi
Each, lacking one or two Life Measures,
was completely borne away by that little corn seed.
Past Jing Qian had done the impossible: he successfully subdued the present Good Corn across time itself.
The shimmering temporal illusion created by the Offering Seal's divine power lasted only a few brief moments before shattering like a dream bubble vanishing without a trace.
Yet, astonishingly, the connection between Jing Qian and Good Corn endured, fully intact.
Even his original Dao resonance with the Sumeru Immortal Sword Embryo remained unaffected.
From this moment onward, Jing Qian had successfully subdued two supreme-grade Spiritual Constructs, establishing an unparalleled foundation.
When he advanced to the Subduing Spirit Realm, his cultivation would double, perhaps even more than double in strength!
But Good Corn was no ordinary Spiritual Construct.
It was a true seed of the Second-Grade Grandmaster True Corn,
whose name was carved into the Stele atop Mount Immortal Qi itself.
Though it shared the same "Void Mother Tree" classification,
Good Corn belonged to the True Corn lineage, a divine bloodline in its own right.
The instant it was subdued,
countless threads of karma, fate, mana, and bloodline erupted from within it,
coiling madly around its body and dragging it toward the void.
Before it could be torn away,
a black jade longsword stabbed in from the side, its edge slicing effortlessly through every binding thread,
as if cutting melons and vegetables.
Freed in an instant, Good Corn froze in shock.
"So this is what you meant by talking to my dad?!"
"You call this a discussion? This is daylight robbery!"
Across endless time and space, True Corn, sensing the last flicker of connection to his child,
sent a message through the Dao's current:
"So the No-Money sect master has taken to abducting other people's children now?"
"You know, child traffickers are everyone's enemy!"
"If you don't give me a proper explanation,
don't blame me for being an uncooperative father!"
Despite the complaint, his tone carried more amusement than anger.
Jing Qian, utterly calm, replied:
"No need for haste, Senior.
I've already achieved the Saint Manifestation.
When I ascend to Mount Immortal Qi one day,
I'll add your name to my merit record as an apology gift."
True Corn's hearty laugh echoed through the void.
"Ha! Those words are good enough for me."
"Good Corn, serve your No-Money master well.
When you make something of yourself, don't forget your old man."
When the last trace of his father's voice faded,
Jing Qian finally completed the subjugation.
From that moment on, his Yanfudao cultivation gained its core Spiritual Construct anchor.
With the Void Mother Tree as his life-bound Spiritual Construct,
his path was now vast and profound beyond measure.
But even more importantly
Good Corn's innate gifts perfectly complemented Jing Qian's Ghost-Driving cultivation.
It was this perfect synergy that had driven him to spend so much effort,
even at the cost of owing True Corn a personal favor,
to claim it for himself.
When the subjugation was complete,
Good Corn's true nature unfolded before Jing Qian's mind's eye:
Spiritual Construct: Good Corn
Category: Outer Dao Moon
Rank: Second Grade - Void Mother Tree
Heavenly Mandates: Guardian of Servants, Soul Seed, All Life Flourishes
Title: The Construct of Souls
This spiritual root of his
boasted exactly as it had bragged before a peerless prodigy among prodigies.
It carried three major dominion-type Heavenly Mandates,
making it a natural-born master of spirits and demons.
With it overseeing his cultivation,
Jing Qian's Ghost-Driving arts would advance by leaps and bounds.
In a short span, however, Good Corn had experienced too much, first subduing the Ghost Phoenix,
then being subdued itself by Jing Qian.
Overwhelmed, the little corn spirit sat cross-legged atop the phoenix's head
and promptly fell into a deep sleep once more.
As for the Ghost Phoenix,
its fate was downright tragic.
Freshly reborn,
it had been hammered half to death by a "great demon,"
and now, robbed of freedom,
it had become a mount for a kernel of corn.
If phoenixes could cry, they would have been sobbing already.
Still, resistance was futile.
It could only lie there obediently,
carrying its tiny master on its head.
But under Good Corn's All Life Flourishes Life Pattern,
streams of vibrant life energy began to pour from the corn spirit's body,
slowly healing the Ghost Phoenix's wounds.
Jing Qian let the plant and bird rest as they pleased
and quietly withdrew from the Void Realm.
Far away, upon a fast-drifting meteor,
No-Eyes and True Corn were resting,
waiting for their next cross-world expedition.
True Corn, having just "lost" his son,
showed no sign of sorrow.
In fact, he looked quite pleased.
"Old friend, my boy's finally found his place," he said cheerfully.
"With that No-Money little lord watching over him,
he'll have no trouble growing up strong."
"That little lord… achieving the Saint Manifestation already, what a monstrous talent! I didn't expect that."
"Still, with no one left to guide him,
he's bound to draw the attention of Yanfudao sooner or later."
No-Eyes rolled a fresh eyeball between his fingers and said lazily,
"Yanfudao just went back to sleep.
He's got, oh, a hundred, maybe a hundred and eighty peaceful years ahead of him."
"After that? It's up to his own fate."
Back in the Feathered Ascension Sect,
the hall was empty save for Shang Xi, who remained waiting.
Tianhe, Ling Mingji, and the Five-Element Phoenix were long gone.
Jing Qian stepped forward, bowed, and said:
"Master, I did not fail you.
I've subdued a Third-Grade Ghost-Driving Spiritual Construct.
I can now be granted the title of Yanfuzhi."
Shang Xi nodded slowly.
"You joined my Pure Yang Heaven first," she said softly,
"Yet you must claim Yanfuzhi's title before that of Pure Yangzi.
The blame lies with me. I've not built my sect strong enough to hold you."
"Master, you're mistaken," Jing Qian replied with a smile.
"Nothing is more important than following you.
And don't worry, I'll take the Pure Yangzi title too."
"For now, I'll see to my next task.
You'll hear good news soon."
They bowed to each other
and then parted once again.
Jing Qian's form flickered out of the sect, but this time, he didn't open his Three-Life Eye
to perform a vision jump.
Instead, he appeared beside a Signal Ghost, his old messenger anchor.
After so long,
he had returned to Hunzhou Island,
descending once more within the Prefectural Pagoda.
He strolled casually out of the tower,
flashed through the air a few times,
and appeared before the gates of the Jing Clan Tower.
Without his presence stirring trouble, the building had remained peaceful, and in his absence, it had become the commercial heart
of both the Hunzhou Seaside Market and the entire island.
The place now bustled with merchants and civilians,
thriving more than ever.
Jing Qian sent out a pulse of mana to announce his return,
Then, I walked leisurely up to the top floor.
From here, surrounded by crystal walls and commanding a panoramic view, he could look out across most of Hunzhou Island.
The interior gleamed with luxury.
This was the private residence he had reserved for himself.
He reclined in a chair and let out a slow breath,
feeling at ease for the first time in ages.
Before long, Li Yuan entered,
bowed respectfully, and reported,
"Scholar, as you instructed,
I've gathered all the island's youths of proper age in the city.
They await your next command."
Jing Qian nodded.
"Move them outside the city walls."
"Yes, I'll see to it."
In the years since Jing Qian's departure,
with no greater cultivator overseeing affairs,
Li Yuan had taken full control of Hunzhou's administration.
Freed from bureaucratic shackles,
his natural talent for governance flourished.
Under his management, Hunzhou had become
not only tightly organized
but also prosperous and vibrant.
Commerce thrived,
people lived well,
and even ordinary mortals
enjoyed a level of comfort once thought impossible.
Jing Qian nodded to himself,
quietly impressed.
Yes… He's done well.
The immortal, tireless "nuclear-powered workhorse" deserved a little extra care from him.
Li Yuan moved with terrifying efficiency. In barely an hour, he had gathered more than thirty thousand boys and girls, ages twelve to fifteen, into the old Dragon Python riverbed and lined them up in order.
These youths came from Hunzhou Island's population of tens of millions, and all of them were born to ordinary families. Without what was about to happen, most would have become the island's laboring poor, selling their strength for a thin living.
But today, a chance capable of changing fate had fallen into their laps.
Each child held a wooden placard with a number on it.
They waited, taut with nerves.
All at once, a very young, striking swordsman flashed into the air above them.
An instant later, an upright eye opened in the center of his brow.
The vertical eye was pitch black, its pupil a bead of blood, as if it could swallow all light, eerily wondrous.
The eye turned in a slow arc, as though it had gathered all the information it needed.
The swordsman spoke:
"Number nineteen!"
"One thousand four hundred fifty-seven!"
"Thirteen thousand two hundred eleven!"
"Twenty-five thousand nine hundred eighty-two!"
"Thirty thousand and forty-four!"
"The five of you wait for me before the Prefectural Pagoda. The rest, collect your reward and disperse."
With that, the swordsman vanished.
The crowd that had been holding discipline together immediately broke into a jumble of shouts. The five selected and the thirty thousand passed over everyone had emotions to vent.
Relying on the Three-Life Eye, Jing Qian had, in a sliver of time, cast a flurry of Fate-Calculator arts. Using the divine eye's power, he had forced five prodigies with extraordinary Life Measure out of a sea of children.
The three boys and two girls each possessed at least six taels of Life Measure, outstanding in talent and foundation.
Yet without Jing Qian's hand plucking them out, given Hunzhou's current cultivation landscape, most of these children would have spent their lives mired in the muck of the mortal world, squandering their gifts.
In this world, talent mattered, but a chance to walk the Way was rarer still.
Now Jing Qian had offered them a new road, thorny, yes, but blazing with possibility.
By the time the five candidates, led by Li Yuan, had climbed the heights to the cloud-piercing Prefectural Pagoda, its great doors stood open, and the sword-bearing cultivator was waiting within.
Li Yuan handed them over and withdrew, leaving the five to shuffle awkwardly at the threshold.
Jing Qian's voice rang out:
"You children of the ordinary world bear talent for cultivation, but for lack of birth would sink into the mundane and waste the chance of the Great Way.
"I have chosen you five because I would open a lineage and must accept disciples to inherit what I teach.
"In my sect, there is teaching for all without discrimination. We judge neither background nor family, only talent and effort. If you are willing to enter my gate, I will treat you equally and grant you the chance to step onto the Path.
"But I will speak the ugly truth first: my sect carries heavy karma. Once you enter, there is no slipping the net; life and death may both be in doubt. Think about it clearly.
"If you would join, come upstairs with me. If not, go back down the mountain."
He turned and walked into the pagoda.
Below, the five didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat. They followed at once.
They met again on the third floor, where three life-furnaces roared, heat slamming at the face.
The five youths were soon scorched raw by the blaze, but not one turned and ran.
Jing Qian nodded, satisfied with their resolve.
They were children from the very bottom; their grip on opportunity was nothing like the pampered.
He spoke again:
"Since you entered of your own will, I will grant you a chance.
"I will teach you the Reincarnation Birth-Fate Determination Method, a first-rate gateway law.
"Then here and now you will draw down fate-fire to temper your bodies. Only those who set a life-pattern can truly enter, as outer-gate disciples of my sect."
The Three-Life Eye opened once more; a beam of sight fell upon the five.
At once, they fell into an utterly real illusion.
Within it, they started from the basics, learning foundational cultivation knowledge and the full, orthodox text of the Reincarnation Birth-Fate Determination Method.
Compared to the day Jing Qian himself first entered the Path, this chance was leagues better.
One by one, the five surfaced from the vision. Without needing a word from Jing Qian, each formed seals and worked the method, luring a tongue of fate-fire from the furnace before them to burn upon their bodies.
A never-before-seen rite of determining fate began.
Jing Qian's care was meticulous. He even bestowed each of them a lump of pure life essence.
With such generous terms and the iron will born of hardship, failure was almost impossible.
In less than a day, all five had stepped through the gate.
Through the Three-Life Eye, Jing Qian saw clearly: four of the five had awakened Purple-Pupil life-patterns.
And the boy with the heaviest Life Measure seven taels and one qian had awakened a Golden Root life pattern!
A top-tier fate-binding method, high-grade fate-fire, and a great cultivator standing guard, these five enjoyed the treatment reserved for disciples of the grandest sects and clans.
While the five were immersed in breakthrough, Jing Qian took out his official seal, stirred his Ninth-Rank Spirit Official authority, and issued a decree:
"Herewith: The Yanfudao lineage establishes itself in Hunzhou to transmit the Law, and five youths have successfully set their life-patterns.
"This is duly reported to the Academy for the record. Permission is granted for the Yanfudao lineage to establish teaching and spread the Way within the bounds of Hunzhou.
"Permission is granted to recruit disciples and transmit scripture and method. Let mountains and rivers within and without hear this edict!
"Signed: Hunzhou Scholarch, Jing Qian."
Leveraging his authority as scholarch, Jing Qian forcibly re-founded Yanfudao on Hunzhou soil, completed the Academy filing, and obtained official standing.
Granted, the former top academy on par with Qingbei Yanfudao when raised anew, amounted at best to a private kindergarten.
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