Chapter 559: One More Step
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
After listening to what Zhu Yi said, Lin Feng's gaze flashed slightly as he said, "There are very few people in the world who can trigger the acclaim of the saints like you. You can probably list them out with your fingers."
Zhu Yi nodded his head, "Jiao Junchen's literary knowledge is not bad. After interacting with him, I am sure that he is knowledgeable about the ways of the ancients and possess true understanding and knowledge about them. However, when he took the examinations earlier on and ranked first in the Great Qin Empire, he did not trigger the acclaim of the saints."
"Very few people are able to pull this off. After thinking about it for a while, while I don't have any evidence, I think only one person is capable of it."
Lin Feng smiled as he said a name. Zhu Yi smiled too and nodded his head, "For those literati who had withdrawn from the world, I doubt that they will be targeting me. Hence, amongst those who are still active in the world, I can only think of him."
"No harm in that. In the end, you still managed to beat him," Lin Feng said calmly. "We'll settle this in the days to come."
He looked at Zhu Yi and said, "In the subsequent days, take good care of your nascent soul. Only then will you be able to solidify your mastery."
Lin Feng then smiled and said, "Zhu Yi, your fortune is miraculously good. However, I will still give you what is due."
Zhu Yi smiled slightly and said, "The Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel had accompanied me in my course of study. Both of us benefitted from our mutual interaction. Hence, we decided to move forward together."
Zhu Yi wore a white jacket over the long, purple robe of the Celestial Sect of Wonders that he normally wore at this moment. The white jacket is classic and ancient, possessing an ancient air about it.
At this point, the white jacket emitted a soft, white glow. An aromatic gust came from the robe, smelling of new books and ink.
From the white light, one can hear the chanting of many students. Initially, it was rather soft. Then, it became louder and louder. It was almost as if every single reader in the world was studying together.
The concentration of every single literati in the world appeared concentrated. It shook the heavens and resonated through time.
In the white light, the shadow of a scholarly but sturdy-looking old man appeared. When he saw Lin Feng's King of the Boundless Sea Physical Spell Body, he clasped his hands together in greeting.
Lin Feng's second disciple managed to trigger the acclaim of the saints and obtain first in the examinations. He earned the title of the foremost literary saint and was able to amaze the many statues of his forebears in the examination hall. He also managed to impress Great Zhou's Empire premier literary magic treasure.
The Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel!
The robe worn by the Supreme Holy Teacher of the Antiquity Era was actually a Metaplasia-stage magic treasure.
The ability of this magic treasure was extremely unique. In the hands of ordinary cultivators, it won't be very useful. It would just be a regular piece of cloth.
However, in the hands of a cultivator with both a high mastery level and good literary skills, its power would be very eye-catching.
Earlier on, Zhu Yi's father, the Marquis of Xuanji Zhu Hongwu, decided to pursue knowledge and stopped his cultivation career. He then became an epoch-defining Neo-Confucianist and was able to assist the Great Zhou Empire Liang Pan in managing court affairs in the position of Grand Advisor.
Zhu Hongwu had been the most likely person in the Great Zhou Empire to trigger the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel. However, he missed by just a tiny bit.
Since then, the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel stayed in the examinations hall like an ordinary piece of cloth.
No one would have thought that after a few decades, Zhu Yi's groundbreaking essay would trigger the acclaim of the saints. While his mastery was still in the late-Aurous Core stage, he was still able to activate the magic treasure and manipulate it.
This event caused a shockwave throughout the Great Zhou Empire. It was highly controversial, but in the end, the Zhou Emperor Liang Pan made the final call over it. He allowed Zhu Yi to take the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel out of the examination halls and to bring it with him wherever he went.
Zhu Yi said, "Master, my encounter with Senior Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel is fateful. In the future, we will traverse the world together and spread wisdom and morality to all humanity."
"This is your Fate. You decide," Lin Feng smiled, "For you to possess such ambitious goals, I am heartened."
Zhu Yi bowed deeply towards Lin Feng and the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel followed in his stead.
"I said earlier that regardless of who managed to form his nascent soul, I will bestow upon you a magic treasure," said Lin Feng. "This shall be your magic treasure. Together with the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel, you can go anywhere under the sun."
Lin Feng's actual form on Mount Yujing waved his hand and the purple clouds broke open the void. A bolt of black light shot through the skies and appeared right before Zhu Yi.
It was a black stone tablet with the words 'Eternal Night' carved on it. It gave off a powerful suppressive aura and it was almost as if it was trying to get all creations in the world to fall asleep.
That was the Immortal Soul stage Eternal Night Demonic Stele.
The magic treasure was not a result of Lin Feng's own cultivation, but instead, he took it from others. Its background was not so simple. It was the treasure from the powerful Night Demon Sect and was powerful beyond belief. At the same time, it was the only
Metaplasia-stage magic treasure that Lin Feng possessed.
While this treasure was in the Metaplasia-stage, Lin Feng was able to subdue it after he reached the Immortal Soul stage.
The Eternal Night Demonic Stele was normally asleep and its personality was neutral most of the time. It can be very easy-going and was unlike the other, bloodthirsty magic treasures formed through the Satanic Way.
After experiencing Lin Feng's power and allowing Lin Feng to bring it to its next level, the Eternal Night Demonic Stele very quickly submitted to Lin Feng.
Now, after Lin Feng passed it to the Zhu Yi, the black light on the Eternal Night Demonic Stele flashed and a middle-aged man in black robes appeared. He looked at Zhu Yi uninterestedly.
Zhu Yi's gaze too fell upon the Eternal Night Demonic Stele as he assessed it.
The original soul of the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel next to him turned its gaze over too. The two powerful Metaplasia-stage magic treasures looked at each other before quickly looking away.
The Eternal Night Demonic Stele thought, "His Tao powers are extremely strong and he appears gifted. With the protection of the master of the Celestial Sect, he has a bright future ahead."
"More importantly, he has a high fortune level and his luck is astounding. From the words of the Master of the Celestial Sect, he was able to command the obedience of a magic treasure before he formed his nascent soul. Such fortune is prodigious."
The Eternal Night Demonic Stele normally was not stubborn. He did not oppose to Lin Feng's choice and expressed his willingness to go with Zhu Yi.
Looking at this scene, Lin Feng swallowed his smiled and nodded approvingly. In the hands of others, the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel was trash. In Zhu Yi's hands, it could demonstrate its extremely powerful abilities. Coupled with the Eternal Night Demonic Stele, the two magic treasures, even if they were unable to reach their maximum potential, they would still be extremely stunning.
Lin Feng's King of the Boundless Sea Physical Spell Body entered Zhu Yi's forehead. Calmly, Zhu Yi looked towards Tianjing City. He could subtly feel that after the King of the Boundless Sea had disappeared, there were people looking at him.
One of them brimmed with severity. He was very familiar with it as it was the gaze he feared the most when young.
That was the gaze of the Marquis of Xuanji, Zhu Hongwu.
Zhu Yi exhaled and closed his eyes. He no longer cared for the external world as he sought to meditate and nourish his nascent soul.
In Tianjing City, the Marquis of Xuanji, Zhu Hongwu, retracted his gaze. He sat on a giant chair facing the dragon throne, upon which sat the Zhou Emperor Liang Pan.
Liang Pan too retracted his gaze as he looked at Zhu Hongwu and said slowly, "The second one."
Zhu Hongwu nodded his head, "Yes, Your Majesty."
After Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and the rest displayed their prodigious talents, everyone assumed that their rise will fill in the gaps in leadership in the Celestial Sect of Wonder's upper level. After these gaps had been filled, the Celestial Sect of Wonders would truly have consolidated its position as a powerful sect.
Looking at it now, the criteria for the rise appeared to be nascent soul formation.
After Xiao Yan and the rest officially formed their nascent souls, it was akin to an announcement to the world that they officially ascended the stage of the Divine Lands and showed off their potential and powers. At that time, they would become a force that one cannot underestimate.
In the blink of an eye, the time had come.
For people in Liang Pan's and Zhu Hongwu's level, nascent soul stage cultivators did not necessarily worry them. However, their next problem was that after Zhu Yi and the rest formed their nascent souls, they would be able to dominate all cultivators below the Immortal Soul stage.
Very few people can achieve the Immortal Soul stage. Liang Pan and Zhu Hongwu did not need to care. The few Immortal Soul stage cultivators of the Great Zhou Empire did not need to care. However, everyone else cared.
Particularly since Zhu Yi and the rest would soon ascend to even higher levels.
"It's not that important now," said Zhu Hongwu quietly. "The worst-case scenario has yet to happen and Mount Yujing is ultimately not a magic treasure. However, we don't know what other tricks the Master of the Celestial Sect possesses."
Liang Pan said, "It does not matter if he has any trick or not. As long as our preparations are sufficient, that's enough. The Celestial Sect of Wonders could serve as a check to the Great Void Sect while the Great Zhou Empire watches the situation. That too was why I allowed Zhu Yi to take with him the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel."
Zhu Hongwu said respectfully, "Your Majesty is indeed wise."
After Wang Lin, news of Zhu Yi's soul formation spread throughout the world, together with the news that he triggered the acclaim of the saints and obtained the Metaplasia-stage Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel.
If it were any normal cultivator, then it was still fine. However, the power that both Zhu Yi and Wang Lin had demonstrated caused even Immortal Soul stage cultivators to notice.
The two disciples under Lin Feng ascended to the Nascent Soul stage with one being more powerful than the other. The overall trend of the sect appeared to be like a wave, with one wave being more intense than the other. It further increased everyone's attention and focus on the impending battle between the two Shis of the Heavenly Dragon Ancient Land.
Shi Tianhao of the Celestial Sect of Wonders attracted more and more attention while Shi Tianyi, with the Great Void Sect as his backer, was in no way inferior.
Borne with polycoria with supreme Tao Foundation, he formed his nascent soul before he was 17 and was an immediate disciple of the Great Void Sect. However, despite the many layers of light over Shi Tianyi, his aura appeared more and more inferior to his brother Shi Tianhao's.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders commanded increasing amount of awe from everyone and after Zhu Yi's ascension to the Nascent Soul stage, Lin Feng noticed through the system that the sect's prestige level was extremely close to his target.
He believed that the after the battle of the two Shis in the Heavenly Dragon Ancient Land, he will able to reach his target as long as Shi Tianhao won.
At this moment, in Mount Baiyun, a big-sized youth sat in a cave and quietly cultivated his mana.
This youth was no other than Shi Tianyi, Shi Tianhao's upcoming rival.
After returning from the Void Battleground, he had been doing nothing but closed-door training. Only recently did he leave his cave. Now, he was doing his final tapering before the match.
A white cloud appeared before him and morphed into the shape of a woman. It was the Elegant Cloud Holy Woman.
Shi Tianyi opened his eyes and bowed, "Master Elegant Cloud."
While one of his eyes was injured in his battle against Wang Lin, it was fully healed by now and no one could see any sign of injury.
However, he was no longer the feared cultivator with polycoria that he used to be. Now, just like any normal person, he possessed only one pupil in each eye. He had lost all powers associated with polycoria.
Even the Great Void Sect could only treat his external injuries and let him regain his sight in that eye. They could not, however, help him to regain his powers.
At this moment, Shi Tianyi regained his usual sense of calm. It was not because he did not care about the loss of his left eye, but instead, there was a stronger power now that could help him erase this humiliation.