Dozens of elders immediately surrounded him, all bursting into laughter. Some offered congratulations, others expressed envy. The usually quiet Zhui Yu Peak had become lively for once.
Qin Yangling immediately deduced that Immortal Chong Yi had emerged from seclusion. He silently tried to use his jade flute to fly away, but how could he quietly escape under the watchful eyes of dozens of elders? Immortal Zheng Xu immediately recognized him as his disciple Qin Yangling and frowned, “Yangling? Why are you here on Zhui Yu Peak instead of cultivating on Tai Mao Peak?”
Yangling immediately bowed respectfully, “Disciple greets Master. I was discussing cultivation matters with Junior Sister Jiang and lost track of time. I happened to be here when Elder Chong Yi emerged from seclusion. The disciple did not intend any disrespect.”
Immortal Zheng Xu had already noticed the flower-like young girl. He was well aware of his disciple’s nature – a philanderer who constantly flirted with young female disciples. While the cultivation world didn’t reject worldly customs and dual cultivation was common, Qin Yangling seemed to seduce women without the pretext of dual cultivation, often leaving them heartbroken. As his master, he had reprimanded him many times but always refrained from truly punishing him due to his talent. Now, seeing Li Fei’s face full of disgust and rejection – she being Elder Chong Yi’s second disciple in many years and surely cherished – and with Chong Yi just emerging from seclusion, it would inevitably be awkward once the situation was clarified.
With this in mind, Immortal Zheng Xu’s expression turned cold as he said sternly, “Kneel and move aside! I’ll deal with you later!”
Qin Yangling had no choice but to retreat far away and slowly kneel, feeling utterly humiliated and unable to lift his head.
Li Fei didn’t even look at him. Seeing Elder Chong Yi smiling at her, she immediately stepped forward, knelt, and bowed, “Disciple respectfully welcomes Master back from seclusion.”
Immortal Chong Yi pulled her up and carefully examined her. After more than three months, this child had grown taller, the childishness on her face had faded somewhat, and her cultivation had already reached the peak of the second bottleneck. He was extremely pleased and nodded, “You’ve grown taller, and your cultivation has progressed. It seems Zhao Min has taken good care of you. Where is your senior sister?”
He squinted and looked around, suddenly reaching out his hand. A letter immediately flew out from the central hall like a butterfly, gracefully landing in his palm. The elders all exclaimed in admiration. Chong Yi wasn’t famous for his combat skills; his spiritual energy perception was exquisitely sensitive. He could instantly detect even the slightest changes in spiritual energy, demonic energy, or miasma. Now, after his period of seclusion, his perception had become even more acute. He could effortlessly grasp the barely detectable traces of spiritual energy left on the letter paper.
It turned out that Zhao Min had left a letter explaining that she had been chosen to participate in a trial in the East Sea for several months. Since the successful exchange between Li Fei’s group and the Sea Faction, similar interactions between the Mountain and Sea Factions have become quite frequent. This time, it was an exchange between personal disciples.
Immortal Chong Yi smiled in understanding, “Oh? It seems contact with the Sea Faction has begun. That’s good.”
After the elders exchanged greetings and congratulations, they quickly left Zhui Yu Peak. Seeing Qin Yangling kneeling far away, Immortal Chong Yi’s eyes showed a curious expression. Immortal Zheng Xu stepped forward and cupped his hands, “My unruly disciple has disturbed your disciple. I will take him back and punish him severely.”
Immortal Chong Yi looked at Li Fei’s expressionless face, then at Qin Yangling’s dejected appearance, and had already guessed most of what had happened. He smiled and said, “My disciples all have bad tempers and are prickly. One must be careful.”
Immortal Zheng Xu led Qin Yangling away from Zhui Yu Peak, and the mountain finally returned to its usual tranquility. Immortal Chong Yi’s gaze fell back on Li Fei. Even during his seclusion, he had been constantly thinking about how to shape this young disciple. As he had expected, her Five Elements control had developed well. If he were to force her to become a support cultivator now, it would be somewhat wasteful.
After pondering for a while, Immortal Chong Yi suddenly said, “Li Fei, during my seclusion, I’ve been thinking about the bottleneck limitations of cultivators. The reason cultivators can only practice high-level immortal techniques after breaking through the third bottleneck is that they need to wait until their spiritual furnace can accommodate the mixing and cooperation of several types of spiritual energy. Your spiritual furnace capacity is already much larger than others, so you can start learning high-level immortal techniques now.”
Li Fei was stunned for a moment, “But Master, I heard that only personal disciples can be taught high-level immortal techniques.”
Teaching high-level immortal techniques only to personal disciples served two purposes: first, it allowed masters to tailor different cultivation methods for each disciple, and second, it prevented those with ill intentions from stealing techniques. Theft of techniques had always been common in immortal sects, especially in famous sects like Wu Yue Ting. Their unique cultivation methods and mystical arts were coveted by many.
Immortal Chong Yi smiled, his brows relaxing, “You are my disciple. I can teach you however I want. What does it have to do with others?”
He raised his hand, and Li Fei saw various spiritual energies flickering in his palm, finally transforming into a ball of light like lightning. Although it was just a tiny ball, it seemed to have the power to shake the heavens, inspiring awe.
“The spiritual energy of heaven and earth has five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The subtle differences in the quantities of each element’s spiritual energy, when combined, result in an endless variety of high-level immortal techniques. This lightning technique is formed by combining water, fire, and metal spiritual energies. Famous immortals all have their unique skills. Lei Xiuyuan’s master, Immortal Guang Wei, is renowned throughout the world for his Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder Technique. A thousand years ago, our sect had an exceptionally talented immortal who could combine five types of spiritual energy. That ever-changing Sen Luo Technique has not been inherited by anyone since. Li Fei, I believe you will eventually be able to inherit this legendary Sen Luo Technique.”
Master had too much confidence in her… Li Fei secretly wiped away her sweat. She hadn’t even broken through the third bottleneck, yet he was already thinking about the Sen Luo Technique.
“Master, that exceptionally talented immortal… was he the one who cut off the Yaksha’s horn?” She suddenly remembered what Senior Sister Zhao Min had said and couldn’t help but ask softly.
Immortal Chong Yi finally showed some surprise. He sighed, “You know about that too? Did Zhao Min tell you? Yes, that immortal’s Daoist name was Qing Cheng. He was on the verge of truly attaining the Great Dao and escaping the cycle of life and death, but he was severely injured in a fierce battle with a Yaksha. He cut off the Yaksha’s horn, but it escaped. Immortal Qing Cheng left the sect to search for celestial herbs and spiritual medicines and never returned… These are all events from a thousand years ago. Most of the immortals from Wu Yue Ting at that time have perished, and those who are still alive mostly hide within the sect, not concerning themselves with worldly affairs. In the past thousand years, our Wu Yue Ting has never produced another immortal as exceptionally talented as him.”
Li Fei listened intently and couldn’t help but ask, “Master, what do Yakshas look like, and… what do those overseas foreigners look like?”
Immortal Chong Yi smiled, affectionately patting her head, “Oh? You went to the East Sea once and now you’re interested in these legends and anecdotes? I’ve never seen overseas foreigners myself. During the Sea Calamity five hundred years ago, I was just a newly initiated disciple, so I only heard about it. Overseas foreigners come in strange forms, but some also look exactly like us. Yakshas just have two black horns on their heads; otherwise, they’re no different from ordinary people.
However, they move like the wind and have terrifying offensive power. During the Sea Calamity five hundred years ago, only two Yakshas appeared, yet they caused heavy casualties among the immortal sects of the Central Plains. If that entire race had come out in full force, the immortal sects of the Central Plains would have ceased to exist long ago. The Sea Calamity remains a mystery to this day, and the true nature of the overseas lands is only known through rumors. Perhaps we’ll be able to unravel some of these mysteries after the upcoming Sea Calamity?”
Seeing Li Fei listening in a daze, he smiled again, “These things don’t concern you. Before the Sea Calamity arrives, countless immortals and elders will shield you. Even if the sky falls, they will hold it up for you. Just focus on your cultivation. Today, you can start by trying this Giant Stone Technique.”
Immortal Chong Yi raised his sleeve, and Li Fei felt a boulder taller than a person falling from the sky at incredible speed. If she hadn’t dodged quickly, she would have been flattened. Immortal Chong Yi opened his palm, erecting an earth-element wall, and said, “Also, watch carefully.”
A flicker of fire-element spiritual energy appeared in his palm, and the boulder instantly exploded. The shattered stone fragments were like blades, still wrapped in raging flames. Countless stone fragments violently struck the earth-element wall. Li Fei was shocked to see the light of the earth-element wall rapidly dimming. Immortal Chong Yi immediately erected another earth-element wall. This process repeated, and after erecting three walls, the dust finally settled. A fine spring rain began to fall. Li Fei was so astonished her jaw nearly dropped – the ground in the courtyard had been blasted open, creating a huge, deep hole! Moreover, there were countless small holes all around, presumably created by the stone fragments. There was hardly an intact spot left within several dozen zhang.
Could the power of high-level immortal techniques be so terrifying?
“Five parts fire-element spiritual energy, five parts earth-element spiritual energy, combined and then triggered with three parts fire-element spiritual energy. Sounds easy, right? You should learn this Giant Stone Technique in the next few days.”
…It might sound easy, but in practice, it was incredibly difficult. Li Fei struggled to control the amount of spiritual energy. Even the slightest deviation would prevent the giant stone from forming. She remembered what Ri Yan had said before – that practicing high-level immortal techniques was true cultivation, and what she had been doing before could only be called releasing spiritual energy. Now she finally understood what he meant. Compared to this, throwing immortal techniques at stone puppets earlier was just consuming spiritual energy.
She put in a great effort and finally managed to combine the fire and earth’s spiritual energies correctly. When she released it, she saw a small stone block only as tall as her lower leg materializes in front of her. How could this be called a giant stone?!
Immortal Chong Yi comforted her from behind, “It will get better with practice. For your first attempt, a stone this size is quite good.”
Her kind-hearted master was always encouraging her.
Li Fei began to silently calculate the amount of three parts of fire-element spiritual energy. Just as she was about to release it, thinking she had finally gotten it right, she suddenly heard Ri Yan’s hoarse, aged voice beside her ear, “Oh? Finally starting to learn high-level immortal techniques?”
Startled, she lost control of the fire-element spiritual energy. With a “bang,” the stone split cleanly in two, the break surprisingly smooth and even.
Li Fei turned to look at the lone fox spirit, both helpless and annoyed. His narrow, pale green eyes revealed a hint of disdain as he snorted, “Can’t even perform a simple Giant Stone Technique properly. What a fool.”