After taking a few breaths to recover from the shock, Qingfeng spoke. "This Five Elements Formation lineage you mentioned... I think I've heard Master speak of it. It was the signature skill of a certain sect two hundred years ago, but it was eventually phased out. If that's the case, what the Scripture Library contained were probably just the basics and some introductions to the Five Elements Formation. You could break Master's grand formation with just that?"
"Of course not," Chen Changsheng shook his head. "As I said earlier, Master's legacy comes from Shangqing Temple, and he isn't particularly skilled in formations. Under such circumstances, it's highly unlikely Master could create his own formations from scratch. So, his knowledge of formations must all originate from the Shangqing Temple's Scripture Library. In my second year after entering the sect, Master showed me that piece of Lightning-Struck Wood. To crack the core formation Master had set up, I spent a year reading all the formation-related books in the Scripture Library. After comparing them, I discovered that the formation Master had laid down was a fusion of the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation and the Big Dipper Formation, with some of his own modifications added in. At the time, I attempted many times but consistently failed to breach it. Just like that, Master's formation blocked me for a full five years."
"Later, I found texts on the Five Elements Formation in the Book Tomb, and I also came across some of his personal insights and notes on formations. That's when I finally understood how Master had managed to fuse the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation and the Big Dipper Formation together – he had used principles from the Five Elements Formation as the bridge. Once I understood how the formation was constructed, I began attempting to break it again. It took me another year and a half to finally succeed and enter. Ultimately, ten days ago, I completed the coffin."
After listening to Chen Changsheng's account, everyone was speechless. Qingfeng looked at the Primordial Spirit Expert with a gaze that seemed to say, "Master, your Lightning-Struck Wood 'died' a worthy death."
Regarding Chen Changsheng's actions, the Primordial Spirit Expert found himself caught between laughter and tears. This kid had spent a full eight years just to turn his Lightning-Struck Wood into a coffin! He truly didn't know whether to praise his perseverance or scold him for being foolish. Eight years was not a short time, even for a cultivator. The mortal lifespan limit was barely over a hundred years. The lifespan limit for Foundation Building cultivators was two hundred years. For Golden Core, it was five hundred years. Nascent Soul stage cultivators lived around eight hundred years, and only Transformation Spirit Ancestors could break the thousand-year mark. And this disciple of his had spent eight years on such a trivial matter! Did he really not worry about his lifespan at all?
...
Wuliang Secret Realm
They descended slowly from the sky. The entrance to the Wuliang Secret Realm was already crowded with disciples from large and small sects.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the Primordial Spirit Expert! Fifty years no see, you actually broke through to the mid Nascent Soul stage! Congratulations!" No sooner had Chen Changsheng and the others landed than Zhao Dezhu, the leader of the Linglong Sect, came over with a beaming smile to greet them.
But faced with Zhao Dezhu's enthusiasm, the Primordial Spirit Expert didn't give him a friendly look. "Speak if you have something to say. This humble Daoist has no desire for excessive conversation with someone as vulgar as you."
Hearing this, Zhao Dezhu put on a pained expression. "Primordial Spirit Daoist, you are, after all, a follower of the Dao. Why is your temper so fiery? Although my cultivation level is just a tad higher than yours, and my disciple is just a tad more capable than your disciples, you shouldn't be angry all the time over such small matters! I know you're jealous that I took on such a good disciple. To reach the late Nascent Soul stage before even two hundred years old – such talent has never been seen in the entire Great Qian Empire! If I could actually find another one, given our friendship, I'd definitely help you find one too."
"Pah! Who wants your lousy disciple?! I have a better one! So what if your disciple reached the late Nascent Soul stage before two hundred? My disciple will reach the late Nascent Soul stage within a hundred years! Just you wait!" Having said this, the Primordial Spirit Expert stormed off, leading Chen Changsheng and the others away in a huff.
Watching them go, Zhao Dezhu grinned, then turned and hummed a little tune as he walked towards the sealed entrance of the Wuliang Secret Realm, his hands clasped behind his back.
...
"I can't stand it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get! Qingfeng, you take your junior brothers in later. I'm going back to have another 'discussion' with that scoundrel Zhao Dezhu!" Not long after parting ways, the Primordial Spirit Expert, stewing in his anger, turned around and went back to find Zhao Dezhu.
Watching his Master's behavior, Qingfeng just smiled and didn't intervene. Zhao Dezhu and his Master had a life-and-death friendship; he had been watching them bicker for a hundred and fifty years.
At that moment, Chen Changsheng, who had been surveying their surroundings, suddenly spoke. "Senior Brother, I heard the Linglong Sect has a genius called the 'Longevity Fairy.' Why don't I see her here?"
"The Longevity Fairy has gone to the border of the Great Qian Nation. It's not just her; even Tianfo Temple's Meditation Master Yixiu has gone."
"Yixiu... Meditation Master?" Hearing this name, Chen Changsheng couldn't help but voice a question from the depths of his soul.
Qingfeng, assuming Chen Changsheng was unfamiliar with the title, explained, "Meditation Master Yixiu is the successor of Tianfo Temple and is considered the second most talented genius in the Great Qian Empire, after the Longevity Fairy. He's just over a hundred years old and has already reached the late Golden Core stage. It's said he's the one most likely to surpass the Longevity Fairy."
Learning that the once timid and kind-hearted little monk had also become a figure who could hold his own, a wave of emotion washed over Chen Changsheng. That little monk Yixiu used to seek him out every few days to debate Buddhist doctrine, often losing more than he won. Time is truly the most powerful 'technique' in the world. I merely took a nap, and the little monk from back then has become a Meditation Master.
After his moment of reflection, Chen Changsheng spoke again. "Senior Brother, why did they go to the border?"
"What else? To wage war against the Night Moon Country. As a nation of the demon race, the Night Moon Country fights a great war with the Great Qian Empire every two hundred years. Although the Great Qian Empire has won many times, they've never been able to eradicate them. Recently, for some reason, the Night Moon Country launched the war early. It's only been a hundred and seventy years since the last great war; they've moved it up by a full thirty years. It is rather puzzling."
Upon hearing this, the slight smile on Chen Changsheng's face gradually faded. He had read records about the wars between the Great Qian Nation and the Night Moon Country in the Book Tomb. They were massive, brutal conflicts involving both cultivators and mortals, the horror of which words could scarcely capture. Even Nascent Soul experts risked falling in battle. And regarding the Night Moon Country launching the war early... a faint sense of unease stirred within Chen Changsheng.