Chapter 418 - Revolutionizing the Swords Gate's Cultivation Techniques
Great Wilderness, Swords Gate.
Zhong Yue had returned to the Seal Suppression Hall. Upon hearing news of his return, Qiu Jin'er rushed down from the golden summit to him and said, "Senior martial brother, you're finally back. I heard that two Martial Heavenly Masters and Sha Qishan were hunting for you, my soul nearly died when I heard that. Headmaster just summoned me, she was asking of your whereabouts."
Zhong Yue was moved. He laughed and said, "Don't worry, am I not back now? Tell me about the Great Wilderness and South Barren war."
During the war, Jun Sixie placed down the Four Symbol Banners, forming four keeps along the border. These Four Symbol Banners were so strong that they weren't able to unleash their full powers with only Swords Gate's support. But because Shui Zian used up all of his tokens and requested the help of many experts, they were able to fully power the Four Symbol Banners.
Through the four keeps, the four legendary beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird and Black Turtle, were revived, and they fought against Clan Master Xia and Zhurong Yanqin.
However, the Eight Dragons Heaven Suppression Cauldron alone needed more than half of Swords Gate's prowess. While Shui Zian was still heavily wounded and with Fang Jiange alone, Swords Gate still had a hard time in the war. That was even with the reinforcements from the two new human tribes, but unfortunately, the South Barren had way too many magnates and giants.
The Zhong Li Celestial Race came with many gigantic war beasts.
The war took a significant toll on both factions, with Swords Gate suffering greater losses due to the Zhong Li Celestial Race greatly outmatching them in divine weapons and experts. The mountain ridges to the south of the Great Wilderness were crushed into pieces. And it was only because of the ten great tribes of the Great Wilderness summoning their guardian spirit to help the human race that they could hold back the Zhong Li Celestial Race.
Even so, the odds were still against Swords Gate, and just as Swords Gate was on the brink of destruction. Ao Fenglou arrived with the Coiling Dragon Sword cast out the saint weapon into a giant dragon that covered the entire border.
His arrival with the Coiling Dragon Sword marked the end of the war as the Zhong Li Celestial Race was afraid that the Eastern Sea dragon race would seize the chance and wage war on the South Barren.
"After that, it became battles of mouths." Qiu Jin'er said in embarrassment, "Headmaster Jun, Elder Shui, and the other elders quarreled with the Zhong Li magnates and giants, and they argued for over a month's time. The Zhong Li Celestial Race says that our Swords Gate ambushed the Fiery Capital, while Headmaster Jun kept demanding proof of their allegations.
"Then the Zhong Li Celestial Race said the Swords Gate stole their Four Symbol Banners, and Headmaster Jun answered that the Four Symbol Banners were ours in the first place. She questioned their claims and asked them to provide evidence again. The Zhong Li Celestial Race then said that you are the evidence. They also said that you have the Golden Peng Sword and the Kun Peng Divine Wing Saber. But Headmaster Jun kept on firing back with the same demand for then questioned back for evidence."
Zhong Yue burst out in laughter as he imagined the scene of Jun Sixie shamelessly denying all of their claims.
However, it was also impossible for the Zhong Li Celestial Race to present any evidence. The ambush on the Fiery Capital and Shui Zian's rescue were done with altered appearances. As long as they were not caught red-handed, there is no way they could prove anything.
"Elder Shui then said the Zhong Li Celestial Race ambushed him, nearly killing him and the Zhong Li Celestial Race also asked for evidence of that. All in all, everything was just a mess."
Qiu Jin'er then said, "After some time, they were all tired, and Ao Fenglou came in again, saying that the Ao Clan will ally with the Swords Gate. Seeing that they couldn't gain any benefits from this whole affair, the Zhong Li Celestial Race stopped the war and retreated. Because the Nan Lu Mountain Ridge was destroyed in the war, Headmaster Jun ordered a fortress to be built on top of the Nun Lu Mountain Ridge ruins. Senior Martial Brother Fang was tasked to lead some other Qi Practitioners and stand on guard in the fortress. Right there, there are still some skirmished with the South Barren occurring, but no lives were taken. It was just that the Qi Practitioners were engaging in the battles to vent their anger."
Zhong Yue smiled and said, “The destruction of the Nan Lu Mountain Ridge is also a good thing.”
Seeing a puzzled expression on Qiu Jin'er face, Zhong Yue smiled, and he explained, "The Great Wilderness is like a basin, it is surrounded by mountains. But now, as the landscape has changed, we have to build a fortress. This fortress is the proof that humanity is now in the crosshairs of the other races. However, this also means that the Great Wilderness human race will be able to step into the outside world. It is an opportunity for us to expand."
Zhong Yue had been to many places and had seen many things. Those other races, other than their sacred land stationed in the middle, also had fortresses and sentries on their borders. It was only the human race that lacked any of this. They could only guard their Swords Gate as they were too weak to send out the Qi Practitioners to be stationed in any other place.
A border fortress not only served to protect but also to act as a frontline from which they expanded their territory.
Crisis was always concomitant with opportunity!
If the human race wanted to grow, they had to learn from the other races.
“Brat, are you finally willing to come back!”
Suddenly, Jun Sixie rushed into the Seal Suppression Hall, and her beautiful eyes glared at Zhong Yue who was drinking tea with Qiu Jin'er. She angrily said, "Did you just come back to spend some quality time with junior martial sister? How dare you not come to the golden summit and report to the headmaster first?"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er quickly stood up. Zhong Yue then offered her a seat while Qiu Jin'er poured her a cup of tea. Jun Sixie took a sip and praised, "Good tea! Junior Martial Brother Zhong, seems like you had quite an enjoyable out there to be able to procure such high-quality tea! What tea is this?"
Zhong Yue smiled, he replied, "This is the Gentian Tea. It was gifted by the clan master of the Bai Zhe Clan."
Jun Sixie nodded and said, "Give me some later. Do you know what happened a few days ago? All of the godly spirits, divine weapons, and even the gods came out. A world war nearly broke out! It was really scary, all of the races were terrified, and if any one of those godly spirits and gods launched a single attack back then, the whole Ancestral Star would have become a war zone; countless were bound to die."
Zhong Yue gave a bitter smile as he thought, It's not like I was asking for it, even I didn't know it would come to this. I guess I better keep the truth away from Senior Martial Sister Jun. Otherwise, she will punish me again.
"Senior martial sister, since we have a fortress on the ruins of the Nan Lu Mountain Ridge, why don't we also build a fortress at each of the west, east, and north border as well?" Zhong Yue suddenly asked.
Jun Sixie shook her head and voiced her concerns, "With Swords Gate's power as it is now, we don't have enough Qi Practitioners to station in all four border fortresses. We are still weak, and the Nan Lu Fortress has already taken up a considerable portion of our power out from Swords Gate. Now, we only have three magnates: myself, Senior Martial Brother Fang, and Elder Shui. I'm the headmaster, and I need to be in Swords Gate itself; Elder Shui is our ambassador; his task is to maintain diplomatic relations with the other races, while Senior Martial Brother Fang will be the one manning in the Nan Lu Fortress, guarding against the South Barren Zhong Li Celestial Race. I hate to admit it, but this is the best we can do for now."
Zhong Yue then smiled in understanding, "Senior martial sister, a few years later, we will have more giants and magnates. The border fortresses will have to be built, sooner or later. I'm just suggesting that we prepare everything before it happens."
Jun Sixie laughed, she said, "I know what you mean. Zuo Xiangsheng, Tian Yanzhong, you, and Junior Martial Sister Qiu, the four of you will become magnates soon. You four can be tasked with manning the border fortresses. But have you ever thought of the fact that Swords Gate only has a few thousand Qi Practitioners? How can such a few force be sent out to the four border fortresses?"
"Which is why we need to change our disciples' first visualization art."
Zhong Yue then said solemnly, "Our current introductory visualization art that is too weak; it is slow, ineffective, outdated. If we want to have more Qi Practitioners in the future, the【Swords Gate Visualization Art】will have to be replaced!"
All this while, the outer disciples of the Swords Gate had cultivated the【Swords Gate Visualization Art】. Even Zhong Yue started out his cultivation with it. He knew just how crude and ineffective the technique was.
"Furthermore, we need to set up a stone tablet in every tribe and engrave the new visualization art on it to allow anyone, young, old, male, and female, to cultivate it!"
Zhong Yue continued, his tone was deep and serious, "Let the humans cultivate from young. Let them build their foundations from the beginning, and not only that, the Qi Practitioners of Swords Gate will have to go out to the tribes and teach them the paths of cultivation. With this, the Qi Practitioners of Swords Gate will soar in number! In addition, we need to bring in more human tribes from the other barrens, the more people, the more Qi Practitioners!"
Jun Sixie was moved, but she was still hesitant. She pondered and ran the thought through her mind before saying, "You are right. But our Swords Gate mainly uses sword users. The【Swords Gate Visualization Art】is more relevant and suitable for us. After we become Qi Practitioners, our cultivation technique will progress systematically, and the higher we go, the harder it is to change. If we change it into some other visualization art, then the foundation will be lost … without it, the whole Swords Gate cultivation techniques will become a mess. This is too big a price to pay…"
However, Zhong Yue answered calmly, "Then change the whole cultivation system of Swords Gate!"
Jun Sixie exclaimed in shock, "Change them all? This is the system we have developed for tens of thousand years. It is the most suitable for cultivating Qi Practitioners, how can we change it? Who will be changing it? Junior martial brother, you must be fooling around, how can the cultivation system be changed on just your words?"
“I will do it!”
Rays flashed across Zhong Yue's eyes, and he said, "Give me two months. I will rebuild the whole cultivation system for our Swords Gate!"
Jun Sixie gazed deeply at him, she then shook her head and said, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, these cultivation techniques were accumulated by Swords Gate over the course of tens of thousand years. It is not easy to change them all."
Zhong Yue smiled and answered, "Senior martial sister ... two months. I just need two months. If I can't do it, or that the cultivation system I have finished is not any better, we can just throw it away and retain the old one."
Jun Sixie nodded stood up, "Alright, two months you have!"
Zhong Yue personally sent her away from the Seal Suppression hall, and he said, "Two months later, may the senior martial sister, and the ten elders of the Elder Council come and look for in the Jade Forest. Also, senior martial sister, please remember to build the other three border fortresses."
Jun Sixie was helpless against him, she then said, “If you can’t do it, then the fortresses will be wasted, they will be abandoned.”
She then raised a hand at Zhong Yue and ordered, “The tea!”
Left with no choice, Zhong Yue could only take out his Gentian Tea and immediately, Jun Sixie snatched half of them away from him. She then turned and left.
“My tea … only a quarter is left…” Zhong Yue moaned and sighed.
Qiu Jin'er then walked to his side, and she asked, "Senior martial brother, can you really do it in two months? Restructuring the cultivation system of our Swords Gate?"
Zhong Yue then strode forward to the Jade Forest and laughed, "How is that even a question? Jin'er, follow me to the Jade Forest, I'll teach you the art of sculpting."
…
When they reached the Jade Forest, Zhong Yue's heart ached in pain as he gazed at the jade statues that the old man sculpted before. He let out a deep sigh and started teaching Qiu Jin'er the same way that the old man had taught him before.
Qiu Jin'er then gave it a try, and it wasn't long before she was meticulously controlling her Sword Qi and jade rocks. Beside her, Zhong Yue was seated in the lotus position, staying in that position unmovingly for over a month's time. As the two-month deadline drew near, Zhong Yue suddenly stood up, and a surge of Sword Qi emerged on the tip of his finger. And like a soaring dragon, he started sculpting on the jade rocks.
Soon, a replica of the Swords Gate was sculpted out. Its surface was etched with totem patterns that profound yet simple. It was easy to cultivate even for those who had no formal cultivation experience.
Two months of time passed in just the blink of an eye, Jun Sixie and the ten elders of the Elder Council had come to the Jade Forest.
“Junior Martial Brother Zhong, is your work done?”
Jun Sixie was at the front. Just as she entered into the Jade Forest, her body quivered lightly, and her feet stopped as she stared toward the front alongside the ten elders behind her.