Chapter 21: Borrowing the Pangu Stone Beads

  Cultivation of the nine stages, the third stage is a dividing line. If you reach the third stage of Tongli, it means that you have fully grasped your own strength and have a certain understanding of the human body. Generally, most practitioners and martial artists are stuck at this point. Without any opportunities, they may stay here for their entire lives.

  If you're lucky enough to make it through, there's an even more difficult stage waiting in the back. The difficulty of each level is several times that of the previous one, and it's even harder than breaking through the third level of Tongli. The most difficult part is entering the Yunyun stage from the fifth level of enlightenment. When you enter Yunyun, you can rise into the air with your own strength, which is no different from a land-based immortal. At that time, the boundaries between warriors and mages will also become blurred, except for the difference in attack methods, there are no other major differences.

  Sixth-level practitioners are also called Zong Shi, because at this time you can already establish a sect and widely accept disciples. Wherever you go, you will receive great respect, which is a huge watershed.

  Kai Bao's eyes lit up at this stage, thinking that having such a powerful master would be exciting for everyone. Especially at this moment, being able to look down from high above, an air of grandeur was born.

  Instead, Shen Cong's excitement had worn off after the initial thrill, and his expression became even more subdued. Having gazed out at the high altitude in his previous life, he had already seen much higher altitudes, so what was there to be surprised about now? Especially since Gai Luobang seemed worried that these new disciples would not be accustomed to their first flight, the height wasn't extremely exaggerated, and the stimulation given to Shen Cong was even smaller.

  But Shen's performance fell into Gai Luobang's eyes, and he liked it even more. He felt that his previous persistence had not been wrong. Although his talent was slightly inferior, the path of cultivation was difficult, and the importance of roots and bones was important, but it was not the only reliance.

  Upon arriving at the mountain peak where they would be residing, Gai Bang encouraged everyone with a few words before letting them retreat, leaving only Shen Cong behind. The others couldn't help but feel envious, yet they also understood that there was still a gap between themselves and Shen Cong. After all, having such privileges as the first-place winner was to be expected.

  "From now on, this place will be where you live and cultivate. I hope you can get used to it and like it. If there's anything that doesn't suit you, please let me know in time."

  "Thank you, Master!"

  A warmth rose from the bottom of his heart. This master he had just paid respects to today, now seemed to regard him with great importance and was extremely kind in nature. It seemed that he had truly found a good backer.

  He nodded slightly, looking at Shen Cong's slightly damaged clothes and the mottled marks on Long Que's knife. "Today you've just had a big battle, so I won't say much. You go down and rest first, other things can be said later."

  "Obeying the master's orders!"

  Shen Cong bowed his body, and at this moment, someone else walked in from outside. Through Gai Luobang's introduction, he learned that it was one of Shen Cong's senior fellow apprentices, named Gao Yuan. The Luo Shui Sect is very large, after so many years of accumulation, the inner door disciples are naturally extremely numerous. However, the elders within the sect who are willing to accept apprentices are not many, which leads to many elderly people having a large number of disciples under them.

  Individuals have limited energy, even the strong ones need time to cultivate themselves, and it's impossible for them to spend all their time on their disciples. Therefore, almost every elder who is willing to accept apprentices will categorize their own disciples, giving rise to formal disciples and nominal disciples.

  Kaibang's formal disciples are few, only a total of five, and now with Shen Cong added, there are only six in all. This can be considered as an additional reward for being the champion of the Outer Gate competition.

  Shen bid farewell to Gai Luobang, left the hall, and followed Gao Yuan. Gao Yuan seemed not to be good at talking, all the way silent, only when passing through some unfamiliar places would Gao Yuan open his mouth to explain.

  "This is the courtyard where several of our formal disciples reside. The fields over there are planted with medicinal herbs, you don't need to go take a look. As for the remaining courtyards, you can choose one at will. Further away are the areas where the named disciples live, we don't usually interact with them much, but you shouldn't look down on them because of that. Formal disciples may seem impressive, but if you're defeated by them in the future and lose face, the few of us formal disciples will jointly expel you from our ranks to avoid losing face for no reason."

  The words were spoken calmly, without any intention of looking down on Shen Cong, but simply stating a fact. After saying this, Gao Yuan turned his head to look at Shen Cong, "You've just entered the inner door, your skills are weak, and those named disciples have been practicing for many years, although their talents are average, they can handle you easily. If you encounter provocation, without confidence, it's best to yield appropriately, they won't dare attack you."

  "I'll be careful." Shen nodded and went to the inner gate, where the struggle seemed to have intensified.

  "This is my token, don't lose it, many places need to use this token." He took out a token and handed it over to Shen Cong, "Nothing else, the rest of the time you arrange on your own."

  Gao Yuan was about to leave after finishing speaking, but found that Shen Cong handed a jade box in front of him, "What is this?"

  "Thank you, senior brother, for your previous explanation. I don't know how to repay you, so I can only prepare this small thing. I hope you won't despise it!" Shen Cong said softly. It wasn't bribery, just kindness towards others. Gao Yuan had kindly reminded him of many things earlier, and Shen Cong naturally understood how to be a good person. The item in the jade box wasn't particularly valuable either; it was something from Sun Lin's乾坤袋 (Qian Kun bag) that he had prepared beforehand, which happened to come in handy now.

  The pale face slightly relaxed, "Between master brothers, there is no need for this, your intention is enough."

  "There will be many more things that I'll need to trouble you with in the future, and when that time comes, I hope you can understand. The words were tactfully spoken, but in her heart, her evaluation of Shen Cong involuntarily rose a notch, and she no longer declined his kind intentions, taking the jade box instead."

  "If you encounter something you don't understand, feel free to come find me anytime." He left with a sentence and walked away. Shen Cong smiled slightly, watching Gao Yuan's disappearing back, the purpose had been achieved, and the thing he sent out earlier was also worth it. In the surrounding courtyards, he chose a relatively shaded location, although he no longer feared the sun, but still preferred coolness, the erosion of dark energy had already reached a deep level.

  The room was very clean, and it seemed that someone had been sweeping regularly. Shen Cong didn't need to prepare anything, and as soon as he lay down on the pillow, he fell asleep instantly. He was truly exhausted. In the Dreamland Alley, Shen Cong had killed several people, and the most difficult fight was with Sun Lin. It was almost a matter of life and death, and any slight carelessness could have led to his demise. Under such high-intensity pressure, all his nerves were stretched taut, and now that he had relaxed, he felt extremely fatigued.

  One night without a word, Shen regained his energy from the second day. After a simple practice to maintain his state, he began to wander inside the peak. The mountain peak was named Jianwang Peak, and it was said that a generation of sword kings had emerged from this mountain peak in the past. The reputation was so great that all the cultivators and warriors in the Nitian Kingdom couldn't surpass him, but later on, his downfall wasn't very good, his personality was too extreme, and his ending was also extremely tragic. Despite this, the mountain peak still took its name from that senior's title.

  Jian Wang Peak's inner disciples were numerous, and early in the morning, there were already disciples cultivating. When they saw Shen Cong, this unfamiliar disciple, they cast scrutinizing glances at him. Yesterday, they had already learned that a new disciple had entered the inner sect, and even taken refuge under Gai Luo Bang's seat.

  The formal disciples and the registered disciples, can't say they have a deep grudge, but there are many contradictions. However, several of the formal disciples have profound abilities and it's not that they can be trifled with. On the other hand, this newly admitted inner disciple has some potential to work with. But since it's only the first day, the details haven't been figured out yet, so for now, just observe.

  As for those gazes, Shen Cong didn't mind. Where there are people, there is struggle; this principle has been universal since ancient times and remains so today. Shen Cong never thought of provoking others, nor did he allow others to provoke him, otherwise the iron fist in his hand wouldn't be reasonable.

  Jian Wangfeng's Biyang Courtyard, under the jurisdiction of Jian Wangfeng's eldest disciple, has already reached the late stage of Condensing Yuan. As long as the opportunity is sufficient, he can enter the fifth rank and open his veins, with a very strong combat power.

  "It's rare for you to come here today, what's the matter?" A table of small dishes, Lin Chao looked at his third junior brother eating and drinking there with big mouthfuls, while he himself was slowly sipping the wine in his cup.

  "Missing Master Brother, come here to visit for a while." Zhao Wu sandwiched a piece of fatty meat and swallowed it directly without chewing.

  Lin Chao smiled slightly and drank up the wine in his cup, "If you have something to say, just say it. Otherwise, I may not want to hear it later."

  "Haha, can't hide it from you, brother," Zhao Wu laughed loudly. "It's not a big deal, but I heard that our master took in another formal disciple yesterday, and he's even the first to enter from outside the sect. Have you met him, brother?"

  "Never seen before, yesterday was received by Gao Yuan's junior brother." Lin Chao looked at Zhao Wu, "You ask this matter why, the master is quite concerned about the little junior brother, and Gao Yuan also has a good impression of the little junior brother, don't mess around."

  "With a senior brother around, how dare a junior brother act recklessly?" Zhao Wu's eyes flickered slightly as he replied with a pleasant tone, but his expression was one of disdain. "This time, the outer sect's grand competition first place winner, possesses the fifth-grade treasure, Panshi Pearl, does senior brother know about this?"

  "I've heard that the rewards are much higher than before, and I'm a bit tempted." Lin Chao nodded, a fifth-grade treasure was no trivial matter. At present, Lin Chao only had one fourth-grade treasure, so it was normal for him to have some thoughts about the fifth-grade treasure.

  "The Panshi Pearl can continuously bring in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which is extremely beneficial for cultivation. Now, my junior brother is impacting the fourth stage of the Condensed Yuan Realm, and wants to borrow some time from his younger junior brother to break through the bottleneck. Do you think this method will work?" Zhao Wu looked straight at Lin Chao, he came here today just to talk about this matter. A fifth-grade treasure, how could he not be tempted, and now it's actually in the hands of a newly entered inner disciple, even if it's his own younger junior brother, he wants to take it away."

  "Aren't you afraid of Master's blame?"

  "I only borrowed it and didn't intend to not return it. Even if Master Zhao blames me, I have an explanation." Zhao Wu was completely unafraid, as long as Lin Chao didn't stop him, he had nothing to worry about.

  "Little brother may not necessarily agree, you should understand." This loan, how could it still be returned, Lin Chao was somewhat displeased with Zhang Yang's behavior.

  "Naturally, I will persuade my younger brother to be willing. I can also give him some compensation, as a rental fee, I'm sure my younger brother won't have any other complaints." A cold glint flashed in Zhao Wu's eyes, and he had already thought of a countermeasure.

  Lin Chao shook his head, "Don't spoil the relationship, if the promotion is successful, we still need to return the Panshi Pearl to Little Shidi. When borrowing it, don't be excessive, leave some face." A little Shidi he had never met before, Lin Chao had some good feelings, but it was impossible for him to strongly stop Zhao Wu because of this. The two sides hadn't reached that level of relationship yet, and what he said now was already his greatest effort.

  "Whatever Master Dajun says is natural and reasonable!"

  Zhao Wu burst out laughing, the greatest obstacle has been removed, and the Panshi Pearl is now in his hands. Return it? It depends on his mood.