Chapter 10: Tripartite Forces

Chapter 10: Tripartite Forces

Usually, a raging storm would not last long. At nightfall, the rain became less intense. Although it did not stop completely, the heavy downpour turned into a drizzle.

In the night, an old man crossed the city wall and entered Fengtai County. He walked through several muddy alleys and came to the long street in front of the county government office.

At this time, the long street was quiet. The doors of the houses on both sides of the street were closed. There were no lanterns hung up, so it was pitch black. The county government office was already deserted, and the open gates looked like a terrifying beast gaping in the night.

The old man with white hair walked along the street and came to the vast grounds in front of the county government office. He held a white paper lantern in his hand, and the candlelight in the lantern swayed slightly. His shadow swayed with it.

Using the light from the lantern, the old man walked slowly and stopped occasionally, watching his steps. Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com

The traces of the fierce battle that happened had been washed away by the heavy rain. The Green Phoenix Guards had also taken away the corpses. However, the old man happened to stop at the precise spots where the bodies used to be, as he made his way to the gates of the county government office.

When he finally reached the gates, he glanced at the two holes in the threshold and stepped over them. He paused for a moment in front of the broken screen wall before entering the front hall.

There were still traces of the fight in the front hall. The old man examined the marks for a long time and felt that they were most likely the doings of a Daoist disciple.

However, the old man was still not entirely sure, so he continued to make his way to the back residence and came to the courtyard where Qi Xuansu and Li Sanxin dueled. He slowly squatted down, put the white paper lantern aside, pressed his palms on the ground, and slowly closed his eyes.

For a moment, he could see fleeting scenes of the past in his mind of Qi Xuansu and Li Sanxin fighting, but their faces were blurred.

After about half an hour, the old man slowly opened his eyes. He looked relieved because he could finally conclude without a doubt that the Daoist disciples were fighting among themselves.

The old man straightened up again, taking the white paper lantern with him. Due to his old age, his knees actually cracked and popped as he stood back up.

However, a Xiantian Being would never regard this old man as a regular elderly person in his dying years. That was because the old man’s magical ability to use the earth’s energy to recall what happened at a place was a unique geomancy technique.

The old man was a Diviner in the Dream Realm, which meant that he was at the Yuxu stage of Xiantian Beings.

As the name suggested, the so-called Dream Realm was the ability to travel and enter other people’s dreams as a spirit.

There were many stories of individuals meeting a master or a god in a dream who gave them advice or taught them magic. These stories were not fabrications of the mind but most likely an encounter with a Diviner, who had gone into someone’s dreams.

There were some Diviners with bad intentions who, after reaching this realm, entered women’s dreams to be intimate with them. When the woman woke up, she thought it was just an erotic dream and did not suspect that someone was harassing her in her dream state.

The Daoist Order repeatedly issued warnings about such incidents. However, rumors still spread from time to time about female disciples who met handsome men in their dreams after offering incense at certain Daoist temples.

Naturally, the arrival of a Yuxu-stage Diviner at Fengtai County was not because of the death of a seventh-rank county magistrate, but because of the Xuan Jade.

In fact, Jiang Bieyun’s expectations were on point. This time, the three major Daoist sects had sent their disciples to retrieve the Xuan Jade, and this old man came from the Zhengyi Sect.

This enabled the qi in the body to circulate freely so that the cultivator could manipulate it at will. It was the only way qi could be released out of the body to move objects, strike others from a distance, or heal injuries.

Qi Xuansu was not a Qi Refiner. He was a Rogue Cultivator with a relatively low status within the various lineages. However, the principle of using qi to heal wounds was the same. Any blocked meridians would be cleared wherever qi passed through, allowing the blood to circulate properly and thus allowing the external wounds to heal faster.

The rain became lighter, and the sky darkened. It was unwise to continue his journey in the mountains at night, so after some hesitation, Qi Xuansu decided to stay in the dilapidated temple for the night so that he could continue healing. After all, the Green Phoenix Guard was not so capable as to search the entire Maoxian Mountain overnight.

After nightfall, the dilapidated temple was pitch black. Qi Xuansu completed 36 minor circuits in qi circulation and felt that his injuries had healed. Then he took out Li Sanxin’s flying sword and gently stroked the blade with his fingertips. There was an engraving that read, Green Snake. He figured that it was the name of this sword. Judging from the patterns on it, he inferred that the sword should be from the Lu Clan of the Taiping Sect.

There were three major sects in the Daoist Order. Among them was the Taiping Sect, which had three factions within itself, namely the Li Clan, the Shen Clan, and the Lu Clan. The Li Clan was the most powerful, followed by the Lu Clan and the Shen Clan. Li Sanxin was probably from the Li Clan.

As a Daoist disciple, Qi Xuansu knew a little bit about the techniques of the Lu Clan. This sword was of excellent quality in terms of the casting technique and the materials used. It was a pity that such a treasure fell into Li Sanxin’s hands. Li Sanxin was only at the Kunlun stage and could barely control the flying sword. Moreover, this was such a high-quality flying sword, which was completely wasted on that man.

But having said that, Qi Xuansu was lucky that Li Sanxin was a novice. If Li Sanxin was in the Yuxu stage of cultivation and could utilize all of this flying sword’s potential, Qi Xuansu would not have been able to defeat him.

Qi Xuansu tried to inject some qi into the Green Snake. He discovered that Li Sanxin was not great at controlling the flying sword, but the latter had cultivated that sword well. Li Sanxin was willing to put a good amount of his qi into this flying sword to cultivate the Sword Embryo.

In a flying sword, the raw material and casting skills were not the only important variables. It had a lot to do with the effort of cultivating the sword. It was like sailing against the current. If one did not advance, one would regress. Since Qi Xuansu intended to sell this sword at a good price, he had to get a buyer as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would lose its value.

These external objects were generally divided into four grades: mortal, spiritual, treasure, and immortal.

Mortal objects that corresponded to Houtian Beings were made of refined iron and were worth nothing to Xiantian Beings. The Green Phoenix Guard’s Sheep Saber and Flying Squirrel Armor were mortal objects, while the Slim Tiger Saber and the Bull Dragon Armor were top-tier among the mortal objects.

Above that were spiritual objects corresponding to Xiantian Beings. Most of these objects were made of rare materials and contained spiritual energy. The objects were no longer “dead” because they had spirituality and were very mysterious. This flying sword, the Green Snake, was a spiritual object.

If a Daoist disciple was successful in reaching the Yuxu stage of cultivation, they would be given a spiritual object. However, those not from any sect would have to spend a lot of effort to obtain a spiritual object.

Treasures, which corresponded to the Heavenly Beings, were precious, as the name suggested. It had spiritual and mystical properties.

Semi-immortal objects were ranked above treasures. Qi Xuansu had never seen one before. He merely heard of a semi-immortal object being gifted to a prodigy from the ancestral court who had attained the Guizhen stage of cultivation. That prodigy was only one step away from ascending to the Heavens.

Above that were immortal objects, which were not something ordinary people could learn of. Perhaps only the 36 Sages could obtain such things.

Qi Xuansu tried cultivating the flying sword with the Sword Controlling Technique.

1. One of the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "jing" means essence, the fundamental source of one's energy important for major stages of development (puberty, menopause, etc.). ☜

2. Another element in the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "qi" means energy that flows through all meridians, used for daily operation. ☜

3. The last of the Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine, "shen" means spirit, the guiding force for one's emotions and intelligence, and a gateway to connecting oneself to the universe. ☜