Chapter 175: The Path Less Taken
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
It goes without saying that people should be clothed according to their status in society as well as their respective circumstances.
All of the cultivators of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, while dressed differently individually, bore the same type of sword.
The disciples of the Great Void Sect would all be clothed in a robe as white as the clouds in the sky.
The Intense Flaming Sword Sect would all be clad in a brilliant scarlet.
As for the now-defunct Great Thunderclap Temple, they were even more particular in their attires. Their robes came in crimson, bright yellow and graphite. Some of them bore golden threads while other possessed jade buttons. Also, robes differed in the style in which they were worn. Some preferred to wear their robes like a coat while others let it sling across their right shoulders. With the number of monk robes it possessed, the Great Thunderclap Temple could open a clothing retail shop.
The examples mentioned above were hardly mere formalism.
Having a neat and distinctive uniform was crucial for any sect. For outsiders, it could raise the image of the sect while for its own disciples, it promoted a certain esprit de corps.
It was just like how Lin Feng's school in his previous life required him to wear uniforms. However, while there was dissatisfaction among the student populations towards the uniforms, it stemmed from the uniforms' poor designs.
With a wave, Lin Feng's four disciples were enveloped in a purple mist. It destroyed their previous attires and changed into four purple robes that wrapped themselves around his disciples.
"I am allowing you to exhibit your creativity. What kind of uniforms do you want?"
The four of them looked at each other, and Xiao Yan said, "Master, I like black."
Lin Feng smiled, and with a flick of his finger, a black coat wrapped itself above Xiao Yan's purple robes.
"I prefer a longer ceremonial robe," Zhu Yi said while bowing to Lin Feng. Lin Feng smiled, and in a spark of inspiration, he clad Zhu Yi with a purple ceremonial robe.
Wang Lin smiled, "I have no special request."
His final attire was similar to Xiao Yan's, less the black coat.
Xiao Budian smiled sheepishly and said, "Master, I like the clothes I wore when I was young. It was made from the furs and pelts of a hundred beasts."
Lin Feng laughed, "No problem, but if I recall correctly didn't that piece of clothing expose your butt? I'll help you make another one, how about it?"
No matter how shameless Xiao Budian was, he blushed upon hearing that. His three seniors stared at him deviously, which made him feel a little bit exposed, especially his nether regions.
"Then...forget it," Xiao Budian said with a grimace.
Lin Feng was only joking with him. With a tap of his finger, a short-sleeved attire fell upon Xiao Budian. The top of this attire was unlike anything else in this world, and it slightly resembled t-shirts in Lin Feng's previous life.
Xiao Budian waved his little white elbows around, and he smiled in delight. He felt carefree.
Lin Feng was not particular about Xiao Budian's unique tastes. He was still young and there was a chance that his taste would change as he grew older.
While all of them were clad differently, the purple in their clothes was similar to Lin Feng's own purple robes. Other than that, a Taijitu was also embroidered in their clothes.
The Taijitu did not exist in the Grand Celestial World, but Lin Feng used it as the basis of his sect, and hence it became his sect's symbol too.
As the purple mist engulfed Zhu Yi and Wang Lin, Lin Feng used his powers to obtain a sensing of their progress.
Wang Lin knew that his progress was slow and that his mastery was the lowest. Hence, in the days Lin Feng was away, he stayed in the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World and meditated throughout.
Unlike Xiao Yan and the other three who played on Mount Yujing, Wang Lin appeared to have spent his entire time in the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World meditating. He spent almost ten years there, longer than the other disciples.
Wang Lin appeared to have matured into a young adult already. Despite his ordinary appearance, his eyes sparkled and his aura was composed and well-cultivated.
Before Lin Feng left, Wang Lin was only a Qi Disciple Level 5. Now, he was close to surpassing Qi Disciple Level 12 and completing his qi training.
Based on his innate ability, it would require almost ten years for him attain that level. However, with the help of Mount Yujing and the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World, as well as the assistance of the blessed spots which supplied an endless amount of aura, Wang Lin finally reached the peak of his qi cultivation.
Lin Feng thought, "Wang Lin will probably improve the most after he finished cultivating his aurous core. Past the aurous core stage, cultivation depends more on intelligence than innate ability."
Zhu Yi progressed decently as well. He had already reached the end of the foundation establishment stage and he had already cultivated his own crucible.
However, Zhu Yi's spiritual altar and crucible too were only first class, rather than supreme.
Lin Feng became composed, "Come, let me see what surprise did you bring to the table?
With a glance, it was evident that Zhu Yi's crucible was different from that of ordinary people.
Xiao Yan's crucible, superficially, did not appear too different from that of an ordinary person. Only with additional probing would one realize that he had incorporated the secrets of the primordial fires into it.
Zhu Yi's crucible, upon the first gaze, stood out. Everyone knew that prodigies were different from ordinary mortals, even down to the way they farted.
His crucible only had two legs!
Lin Feng almost choked on his saliva upon seeing it clearly.
In reality, there were crucibles with three legs and there were crucibles with four legs.
When a cultivator formed his own crucible, barring those who used special spells and hence formed three-legged crucibles, most of them would form four-legged crucibles.
To be precise, a three-legged crucible was in no way inferior to a four-legged one. Based on differences in spells alone, a crucible possessed ten classes, from the ninth class to the first class and then the supreme class.
However, no one had seen a two-legged crucible before!
Furthermore, it was rather steady too...
Lin Feng stared speechlessly at Zhu Yi's crucible. Under normal circumstances, it too should have four legs. Now, it only possessed two neatly-aligned legs, whereas two other legs were missing.
This first class two-legged crucible, however, was the real deal. It did not appear to have any other problem, and it would not interfere with Zhu Yi's cultivation as he persevered towards aurous core stage.
However, why did it look awkward?
"Perhaps this was the result of incomplete spell mastery?" Lin Feng analyzed. "However, the spells I taught him were not lacking in anything. Did this little b*stard added something of his creation into it like Xiao Yan?"
Probing deeper, Lin Feng realized the reason, "He used the the Dark Path, which combined both Light and Darkness in its formation."
Lin Feng suddenly recalled bringing Zhu Yi and the others along to the Sea of Storms, where he had met a cultivator who had failed to transcend and obtained his essence, his spells and his magic items.
"I remember that spell, it was called the Dark Mandala Formation. It appears that the cultivator who failed to transcend used a spell combining both Light and Darkness." Lin Feng suddenly understood. "Zhu Yi did not learn his spell in totality, he only absorbed a part of it and inserted it into his crucible."
Light and Darkness were the earliest and the most mysterious elements of creation. Both the path of light and the path of darkness were amongst supreme wisdom of the universe, and the boundless Tao was incorporated into them
Lin Feng's Two Elements of Creation Formation had a Change of Light and Darkness in it. It was as powerful as the Change of Heaven and Earth and Change of Life and Death.
Zhu Yi's current situation arose because he incorporated elements of the Change of Light and Darkness into his cultivation.
However, it appeared that he absorbed more Darkness than Light in his cultivation.
If only there were some magic item that possessed the power of the Light for Zhu Yi to use, then it would balance the Darkness in his cultivation and his crucible would achieve its perfect form.
Lin Feng smiled derisively, "The so-called prodigy does not want to take the usual path. As for the supreme spiritual altar and the supreme crucible, only an unskilled fool like me would have any use for them."
Thinking about that, he looked at Wang Lin. "When you start building your spiritual altar and forming your crucible, will you give me some deviation too?"
"None of them saves me any trouble," Lin Feng sighed quietly as he swooshed his robes. The main thing for him to do right now would be to bring them out and meet his guests.
As Lin Feng walked, he asked, "Tianhao, the spiritual altars in your aura sea. Do you know how many have you created?"
"Master already knows?" Xiao Budian asked while scratching his head. He replied, looking slightly perplexed, "I believe it there to be nine?"
"Nine?" Lin Feng did some mental sums, and he realized the uniqueness of Xiao Budian's situation. He wondered what would Xiao Budian pull off once he started cultivating his golden elixir.
Regardless, as his master, Lin Feng must do his best to help him.
"When I was on the system screen, I remembered seeing something called the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus, which is one of the most elegant items under the heaven. It's one of the best items for combining and harmonizing various forms of energy. I wonder if it will benefit Xiao Budian."
Lin Feng thought, "The number nine seems to be extremely prevalent. I wonder if there's a link?"
Exiting the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World, Lin Feng brought his four disciples to meet his guests.
As expected, the four disciples, especially Xiao Budian, dazzled Kang Nanhua and Yue Hongyan with their brilliance.
In particular, Yue Hongyan's eyes brimmed with limitless respect for Lin Feng.
Kang Nanhua smiled and said upon meeting the four disciples, "I had received much guidance from my lord and hence, I am akin to half a disciple. However, I cannot compare to you immediate disciples. Just call me by my name."
Xiao Yan looked at the rest of them, while Zhu Yi said smiling, "We'll just call you Mr Kang."
Amongst the four of them, only Wang Lin had accompanied Lin Feng to the Great Swamp of the Ancient Regions and had seen Kang Nanhua. Then, however, Wang Lin was hidden in the Black Cloud Flag, and he did not present himself to him.
However, Kang Nanhua's every word and action did not escape Wang Lin's gaze. After Wang Lin's introduction, Xiao Yan and the rest understood Kang Nanhua's personality.
Zhu Yi, in particular, had endless respect for Kang Nanhua's fidelity to his promises.
Now, after having met Kang Nanhua and realizing that he had no false air of seniority over them, Zhu Yi and the rest were even more respectful towards him.
Kang Nanhua, however, praised them incessantly, "Having the four of you as the future pillars of the sect is more than enough in inspiring awe of our sect."
Lin Feng forced a smile and shook his head, using his spell he communicated to Kang Nanhua, "In all honesty, something had been bothering me."
He did not mention the deviations exhibited by Xiao Budian and the rest but only said that he had been searching hard for the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus.
Kang Nanhua, upon hearing that, was silent for a while. Then he said, "While I don't have this on me right now, I know a place that you should visit. Who knows? Perhaps you may even benefit from it? At least, according to what I know, the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus had appeared there before."