Chapter Nine: An Excited Nanmen Luo

Thank you to the readers for your recommendation votes, and for adding this book to your collections... Very well, I must say to those currently reading, I ask for your recommendations and your collections—your support is the driving force that keeps me writing these stories. To break through three times in a single day is truly astonishing; it is likely that, for hundreds of years, such an event has never occurred in Linqing Prefecture.

Yet, Jiang Yan’s ability to reach the fourth stage of Qi Refinement today is thanks, firstly, to the potent effects of the Bone-Easing Pill, and secondly, to the miraculous properties of the Six-Star Platform in the training grounds.

When the medicine’s power first began to surge, the Six-Star Platform restrained its overwhelming force, transforming it into a gentle trickle that gradually dispersed within Jiang Yan’s body. This slow infusion was steadily absorbed by the meridians he had just broken through, filling the previously lacking spiritual power within him.

After the meridians had absorbed enough medicinal strength, Jiang Yan’s surface temperature rose sharply. Due to the unstable foundation brought on by his abrupt breakthroughs to the second and third stages of Qi Refinement, the high temperature forced impurities out through his sweat, purging them from his body. At last, the immense power of the Bone-Easing Pill was completely absorbed, allowing him to successfully break through to the fourth stage.

Letting out a long sigh, Jiang Yan stood up from the Six-Star Platform. Below, Tang Wan gazed up at him anxiously. Seeing him rise, relief flickered across her beautiful eyes as she asked, with a sense of having set down a heavy burden, “Senior Brother Sect Master, how do you feel now?”

With a thought, Jiang Yan summoned the transparent information interface before his eyes:

Name: Jiang Yan
Sect: Mount Hua
Position: Sect Master
Cultivation: Fourth Stage of Qi Refinement
Weapon: None
Technique: Greenwood Art, First Grade, Intermediate Level

He had indeed advanced. From this moment, Jiang Yan was no longer among the lowest ranks of cultivators. Moreover, after ascending to the fourth stage, the sect master system had unlocked a new function: technique investigation.

On the transparent interface, a function to investigate techniques appeared. Jiang Yan felt a secret delight; with this ability, he could discern an opponent’s technique and cultivation level before they even made a move. This would greatly aid him in deploying disciples strategically, maximizing the sect’s advantage in large-scale battles.

With another thought, Jiang Yan’s gaze shifted to Tang Wan below the platform, and her information surfaced on the translucent panel:

Name: Tang Wan
Sect: Mount Hua
Position: First Generation Disciple of Mount Hua
Cultivation: First Stage of Qi Refinement
Weapon: Light Spirit Sword, Basic Mortal Weapon
Technique: Greenwood Art, First Grade, Elementary Level

As expected, after reestablishing the sect, Jiang Yan’s generation became the first of Mount Hua once more, while all previous elders were reset by the system. But this did not trouble Jiang Yan; with the support of the sect master system, he was confident he could raise Mount Hua to a third-grade sect, or even higher. At that level, it would truly be a new legacy founded by him.

Tang Wan practiced the Greenwood Art at the elementary first-grade level, the same basic technique Jiang Yan once cultivated. Compared to his current intermediate-level Greenwood Art, it was much inferior. Jiang Yan decided to begin teaching his junior disciples the intermediate-level Greenwood Art.

“Junior Sister, help me gather a few of our junior brothers and sisters. I have recently acquired the next level of the Greenwood Art. Now that the training grounds are established, I intend to pass this technique down,” Jiang Yan instructed Tang Wan.

Knowing he had ascended to the fourth stage, Jiang Yan became eager to pursue the sect’s mainline advancement quest. The rewards listed in the task had enticed him for quite some time. If, after taking the Bone-Easing Pill, one of his junior disciples could break through to the fourth stage and the other three reach the third, then the sect’s mainline quest would be complete...

Upon hearing that he was about to transmit a higher level of the Greenwood Art, Tang Wan’s delicate face lost much of its surprise; the senior sect master had already brought so many wonders today. She respectfully went to summon Mu Yun, Nanmen Luo, and Yun Ying, who was carrying her Howling Sky Hound. At Jiang Yan’s signal, the four of them each took a seat at a corner of the Six-Star Platform. Beneath the vast starlit sky, Jiang Yan began to teach the intermediate level of the Greenwood Art.

Tang Wan watched her senior brother, calm and composed as he expounded upon the technique, her starry eyes filled with joy after initial astonishment. The technique he described was closely related to what she had practiced before, but deeper and more refined. As she listened, she unconsciously began circulating her spiritual power, and the barrier that had long prevented her own advancement seemed to stir restlessly at last.

“Senior brother must have inherited the legacy of some powerful talisman master. Otherwise, how could he possess a technique so perfectly suited for us?” Tang Wan grew more certain of Jiang Yan’s secret inheritance. With this thought, her gaze toward him was no longer merely filled with affection and respect, but also a trust that required no justification...

For several days, Jiang Yan gathered his disciples at the training grounds to instruct them, waiting patiently for their breakthroughs. Once they reached the second stage, he would have them take the Bone-Easing Pill. Afterward, they would certainly reach the third stage, and if even one could break through to the fourth, the sect’s very first mainline quest would be accomplished, and he could claim the system’s reward.

...

“Bang—” As Jiang Yan sat cross-legged on the Six-Star Platform, cultivating in silence, a faint pop reached his ears. Had his realm not advanced, he might not have noticed it at all. The sound was like that of shattering a barrier during a breakthrough. Opening his eyes, he saw Tang Wan beside him had also opened hers, surprise and delight shining in her gaze.

“Senior Brother Sect Master, I’ve broken through to the second stage!” she said joyfully to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan’s heart leapt with happiness. His junior sister’s progress brought him one step closer to completing the main quest; the rewards for advancing the sect beckoned ever nearer. If the sect could be promoted to a recognized rank, the prizes promised by the system...

At that thought, Jiang Yan suddenly had an idea: if he offered the Bone-Easing Pill as a reward for junior disciples’ diligence, wouldn’t that greatly encourage Mu Yun and Nanmen Luo’s enthusiasm for cultivation? As for Yun Ying, she was another matter entirely—he would find other ways to aid her, especially since the little girl had already disappeared somewhere.

Clearing his throat, Jiang Yan drew the attention of the other disciples seated at the corners of the platform. With a twist of his wrist, a small, milky-white porcelain bottle appeared in his palm.

“Junior Sister Wan has broken through to the second stage. As sect master, I have decided to reward her. This is a Bone-Easing Pill. From now on, anyone who advances to the second stage may claim a pill from me,” Jiang Yan announced, handing the white bottle to Tang Wan.

“Bone-Easing Pill!” Mu Yun’s round face was full of astonishment, his mouth agape, eyes bulging as he stared at the bottle.

Nanmen Luo, with his homely features, was equally dumbfounded, eyes fixed on the porcelain vial as he muttered to himself, “Bone-Easing Pill...”

Tang Wan’s delicate face was suffused with joy. Though she had anticipated a reward from her senior brother, she had not expected the Bone-Easing Pill to be bestowed specifically for her breakthrough. Delight enveloped her as she accepted the pill, her slender hand trembling involuntarily. As her fingers brushed Jiang Yan’s, a gentle warmth rose in her heart: “Senior Brother Sect Master’s hands are so warm...”

A flush crept over Nanmen Luo’s homely face. “Senior Brother Sect Master, if Nanmen Luo breaks through to the second stage, will you also grant me a Bone-Easing Pill?” he asked, voice ringing with excitement, his words nearly spattering Jiang Yan.

But Nanmen Luo’s agitation was understandable. The Bone-Easing Pill was not only a powerful aid to cultivation, capable of transforming a practitioner’s constitution, but it also possessed a quality particularly favored by women—changing one’s appearance. Nanmen Luo, burdened by his unattractive looks, was never mocked on Mount Hua, but every descent to the mortal world brought a fresh round of ridicule from both cultivators and commoners. This constant humiliation weighed heavily on his usually steady spirit. If he could take the Bone-Easing Pill and alter his features, how could he not be excited?