Chapter 415 : Honorific and Path
Chapter 415: Honorific and Path
“This spar truly broadened Junior Brother’s horizons!”
Yue Chenfeng stepped forward, spatial ripples surging around him as he instantly landed on the combat platform.
He first glanced at Su Muyi, who had suffered minor injuries, then turned his gaze toward Chen Beiwu and praised:
“As a newly advanced True Monarch whose cultivation has yet to reach perfection, you were still able to fight Junior Sister Su to this extent. I’m afraid even the Chiefs of the Five Great Grotto-Heavens couldn’t accomplish this.”
“Eldest Senior Brother overpraises me.”
Chen Beiwu smiled calmly: “If Senior Sister hadn’t held back at the end, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to stand right now.”
“Junior Brother needn’t be so modest. A loss is a loss.”
Su Muyi’s gaze fell upon Chen Beiwu’s pale face as she calmly said: “There are only a few late-stage Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the sect capable of injuring me. Among those below late-stage Nascent Soul, Junior Brother Chen, you are the first.”
Truth be told, the gap between a late-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch and a newly advanced True Monarch was like an adult facing a child. The latter basically had no power to resist.
Junior Brother Chen had been able to overcome the strong while being weak and injure her. She wholeheartedly accepted this defeat.
“Senior Sister Su is absolutely right.”
Mo Chen nodded, his expression complicated as he said: “The strength Junior Brother Chen displayed today already far surpasses that of mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarchs outside the Immortal Alliance.”
The upper and lower limits of combat strength among mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Immortal Alliance differed enormously, making them poor comparisons.
In contrast, Nascent Soul True Monarchs outside the Immortal Alliance had roughly similar combat strength, making them easy to use as units of combat strength among Immortal Alliance Nascent Soul True Monarchs.
For example, when he had been at mid-stage Nascent Soul, he could face three True Monarchs of the same realm from outside the Immortal Alliance without falling into disadvantage. Among the Jade Purity True Monarch geniuses of his generation, he had been considered outstanding and had even made a modest name for himself under the honorific True Monarch Arcane Duel.
But compared with Junior Brother Chen, his accomplishments in combat truly paled into insignificance.
‘But then again, there’s no smoke without fire!’ Mo Chen thought inwardly.
Normally, Mo Chen often heard Jade Purity students discussing how extraordinary Junior Brother Chen was, calling him someone with Void Refinement Aptitude.
He had always laughed it off, believing these young juniors had not even truly entered the immortal path and possessed cultivation realms like frogs at the bottom of a well, yet dared to rashly speak of so-called Void Refinement Aptitude. They truly did not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth.
In his view, although Junior Brother Chen had been able to comprehend the Chaos Primordial Origin Dao-Unification Stele and receive guidance from a Dao Venerable’s will, proving his peerless talent, speaking of Void Refinement was somewhat exaggerated.
Without even reaching Divine Transformation, how could one speak of Void Refinement?
But today’s spar between Senior Sister Su and Junior Brother Chen had changed Mo Chen’s view, making him vaguely begin to believe the rumors within the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.
Thinking of this, when he looked toward Chen Beiwu, there was one less trace of condescension toward a junior and several more traces of respect and awe.
“The wind is strong and the fire is hot on this platform. Why don’t we return to Cloud Evolution Residence and continue drinking tea?” Jiang Chuan suggested.
“That works.” Yue Chenfeng slightly nodded.
Cloud Evolution Residence.
The four Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Evergreen Lineage drank tea and chatted leisurely, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Chen Beiwu rarely spoke, mostly taking the role of a listener as he learned from their cultivation experience as Nascent Soul True Monarchs. However, none of the three True Monarchs present dared ignore his existence, and they constantly brought up topics related to him.
As for persuading him not to challenge Xiao Yu on the Life-and-Death Platform, Yue Chenfeng and the others no longer mentioned it.
There was no other reason. Junior Brother Chen’s words had not been false. He had only recently become a newly advanced True Monarch, yet he had already been able to injure Su Muyi.
Once he passed through the weakened period and reached the peak of early-stage Nascent Soul, his confidence in crossing realms to kill Xiao Yu truly could reach ninety percent.
Since that was the case, continuing to dissuade him would instead be inappropriate. After all, Xiao Yu had been the one who acted first.
“Junior Brother Chen, do you have any thoughts of taking charge of the Dongming Evergreen Lineage?” Yue Chenfeng probed.
His ambition lay in Divine Transformation, and he had never been interested in the mundane affairs of the Dongming Evergreen Lineage.
If Little Junior Brother was interested in taking charge of the Dongming Evergreen Lineage, he would gladly free himself from those burdens.
Hearing this, Su Muyi and the other two also looked toward Chen Beiwu together.
“That is exactly my intention.” Chen Beiwu nodded, making no attempt to conceal his ambition.
By taking charge of the Evergreen Lineage and possessing its sphere of influence and foundation, the efficiency with which he harvested fate in the future could also increase considerably.
“Good, very good.” Yue Chenfeng relaxed inwardly and smiled: “As for the handover, I’ll arrange for my disciples to communicate with Junior Brother.”
It truly had not been easy. Second Junior Sister, Third Junior Brother, and Fourth Junior Brother were all people who refused to handle affairs.
Now that Junior Brother Chen was willing to shoulder the responsibility, he could finally put aside the mundane affairs of the lineage and enter full seclusion to attain the Dao as a True Venerable.
“Right, Junior Brother, now that you’ve attained the Dao as a True Monarch, what honorific do you plan to use?”
Hearing this, Yue Chenfeng and the other two’s eyes moved slightly as they looked curiously toward Su Muyi.
According to Immortal Alliance convention, cultivators who attained Nascent Soul and entered the ranks of True Monarchs should possess an honorific befitting their status and clarifying their Dao.
For some cultivators, an honorific was linked to their own Dao path and fate, its importance even surpassing their true name, requiring extreme caution.
But Mo Chen had already asked Junior Brother Chen once before. Now Su Muyi was asking again. Could it be that she had some good suggestion?
“Does Senior Sister have any good ideas? I thought of two honorifics, but I feel neither quite fits, so I still need to consider them further.”
After pondering for a moment, Chen Beiwu felt discussing the honorific with his fellow disciples might give him more inspiration.
“Oh, what honorifics? Junior Brother, could you tell us?” Su Muyi became even more interested.
Mo Chen and Jiang Chuan exchanged glances, their curiosity also piqued.
“One is Clear Affinity.” Chen Beiwu said.
Clear Affinity?
True Monarch Clear Affinity?
Yue Chenfeng’s eyes moved slightly.
If man can remain constantly clear and tranquil, all Heaven and Earth shall return.
There were many True Monarchs in the Immortal Alliance who used honorifics containing Constant Clarity, but none who used the two words Clear Affinity.
At least in Yue Chenfeng’s memory, no True Monarch among the Thirteen Immortal Sects used this honorific.
“Would the words Clear Affinity perhaps lack a little enterprising spirit?” Su Muyi advised.
Junior Brother Chen had inherited his teacher’s lineage, was both the Jade Purity Chief and someone who had received guidance from Primordial Origin. Taking such an honorific seemed somewhat ordinary and would make it difficult for his name to shake the Immortal Alliance.
Hearing this, Chen Beiwu slightly furrowed his brows, thoughts rapidly turning within his heart.
Clarity was the root of fate, and tranquility gathered myriad fortunes.
Fate transformed into a web of affinities; when fate flourished, affinities naturally arrived.
Chen Beiwu possessed a supreme treasure like Nine Breaths Chaos and believed that on his path of immortal cultivation, he needed to constantly preserve clarity within his Spiritual Platform and not become lost in fate.
Taking the tranquility of the heart as the root, drawing upon the fate of Heaven and Earth for use, and transforming myriad benevolent affinities into paths—only then could this be the orthodox Dao of cultivating Truth by borrowing beasts.
That was why he had thought of the honorific ‘Clear Affinity’.
But Senior Sister Su’s words were not without reason either. True Monarch Clear Affinity sounded somewhat like an elderly cultivator, neither domineering nor resounding, far less imposing than the words Primordial Origin.
“Junior Brother, what is the other honorific?”
Jiang Chuan’s thoughts differed from Su Muyi’s. He felt Clear Affinity was quite good and wanted to hear the other one for comparison.
“True Martial.”
The moment Chen Beiwu said this, Eldest Senior Brother and the others were all stunned.
True Martial?
Truth represented orthodoxy, while Martial represented divine might.
Without orthodoxy there was no Truth, without divine might there was no Martial; Truth and Martial united as one.
Internally refining utmost Truth to cultivate the Immortal Dao, externally refining utmost Martial into Mystical Abilities and arts.
The more Yue Chenfeng and the others considered it, the better they felt this honorific was. At the very least, it sounded far more forceful and domineering than True Monarch Clear Affinity.
Moreover, Immortal Alliance cultivators cultivated Truth by borrowing beasts. Whether Divine Transformation or Void Refinement, when cultivation reached its end, what they ultimately sought was the word ‘Truth’. Meanwhile, the word ‘Martial’ could also connect with Junior Brother’s personal name, making it memorable.
“The honorific True Martial carries an extremely lofty and weighty intent. It requires considerable boldness, but it does suit Junior Brother Chen.”
Yue Chenfeng, Mo Chen, and Jiang Chuan nodded approvingly, not understanding what Junior Brother Chen was dissatisfied with.
Everything became obvious through comparison.
Compared with the words True Martial, the more they thought about it, the more ordinary they felt the honorifics they had chosen back then were.
“Junior Brother, why not take the honorific Dao One?” Su Muyi voiced her thoughts.
Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Three gives birth to myriad things.
In her view, as the inheritor of the sect’s Primordial Origin Great Dao, Junior Brother Chen taking Dao One as his honorific would not only accord with the Primordial Origin Great Dao, but would also better fit Junior Brother’s cultivation path.
If Su Muyi had not known her own limits and understood the principle that ‘an honorific is like a vessel; if too heavy, it easily harms its bearer’, and known that her destiny and fate could not bear such an honorific, she probably would have already chosen it when she attained the Dao as a True Monarch.
“Senior Sister Su’s proposed honorific Dao One is also good. Allow me to think about it a little more.” Chen Beiwu replied.
Among all the honorifics, the one he favored most was True Martial, but he also felt determining his honorific now was somewhat too early. If Golden Egg and the others came up with new ideas later, it would be difficult to change.
“Junior Brother, seeking completeness in all things and planning before acting are both good.”
At this point, Jiang Chuan paused slightly and teased: “If you fail to decide when you should, you’ll instead suffer from indecision. If Junior Brother worries that the honorific chosen now won’t fit well enough, you can simply change it after attaining the Dao as a True Venerable in the future. Why struggle so much over an honorific? Just follow your heart.”
“Senior Brother’s reminder is right. Then True Martial it shall be.”
Chen Beiwu took a sip of tea and no longer thought further.
“Attaining the Dao as a True Venerable is nowhere near that simple!”
Hearing Junior Brother Jiang’s joking words, Yue Chenfeng shook his head.
If he had not repeatedly entered seclusion without gaining any insight and developed distracting thoughts, he would not have sent a divine thought incarnation out of seclusion to watch the entire process of Junior Brother Chen attaining the Dao as a True Monarch, hoping to draw analogies and gain inspiration.
“Right, Senior Brothers and Senior Sister, there’s something I don’t understand.”
Seeing the topic suddenly become serious, Chen Beiwu hurriedly changed the subject and voiced the doubt in his heart.
Namely, after attaining the Dao as a True Monarch, how should he obtain cultivation resources, such as the Nascent Soul Nourishing Liquid and Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill required for the cultivation of an early-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch?
The former was still manageable. Senior Sister Su had gifted him a portion of Nascent Soul Nourishing Liquid as a Nascent Soul Formation gift. The difficult one was the latter.
The Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill was not the legendary Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, but was instead refined from nine Fourth-Rank Low-Grade Mystical Medicines that harmonized Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements Qi.
This pill had extraordinary effects. It could stabilize the Nascent Soul of an early-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch and allow them to quickly pass through the weakened period most dreaded by Nascent Soul True Monarchs, rather than spending a hundred years in fetal breathing and sitting in oblivion.
However, as far as Chen Beiwu knew, the vast majority of Immortal Alliance Nascent Soul True Monarchs would not purchase Nine Revolutions Restoration Pills.
There was no other reason, only that it was expensive!
For something to make ninety percent of Immortal Alliance Nascent Soul True Monarchs prefer entering seclusion rather than expending enormous cultivation resources to purchase this Mystical Pill and rapidly pass through their weakened period, the price of the Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill could be imagined.
Only some second-generation True Monarchs from Dao Venerable Immortal Clans and True Venerable aristocratic clans did not care about this expenditure and were willing to exchange cultivation resources for a hundred years of time.
“Junior Brother wants to buy Nine Revolutions Restoration Pills?” Jiang Chuan was somewhat surprised.
Wasn’t Junior Brother from a declining family?
How could he even afford Nine Revolutions Restoration Pills? Was his wealth actually greater than his own!
“Senior Brother Jiang misunderstood.” Chen Beiwu said: “Jade Purity credits offer too little value for Nascent Soul True Monarchs. I simply want to understand the paths True Monarchs of the sect use to earn cultivation resources.”
One did not know the price of firewood and rice until managing a household.
Nascent Soul True Monarchs sounded infinitely glorious and, in the eyes of Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators, were lofty and powerful existences comparable to immortals.
However, only after Chen Beiwu truly entered this realm did he understand what it was like.
In terms of being high, the status of a Nascent Soul True Monarch truly was very high. Even within the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, they were qualified to serve as Scripture Banquet Scholars, receive the reverence of countless Jade Purity geniuses, and draw generous salaries.
But in terms of being low, it was truly far too ‘low’!
Putting aside the elusive Void Refinement Dao Venerables and not even mentioning the Divine Transformation True Venerables pressing down overhead like mountains.
For Nascent Soul True Monarchs to attain the Dao through the Four Origins and advance through the four Origin realms of mid-stage, late-stage, peak, and perfected Nascent Soul, seeking Truth and Position to attain perfection required not only spirit roots, Mutual Participation Beasts, and comprehension, but also an enormous quantity of cultivation resources.
Yes, exactly. The higher a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s realm became, the greater the vast cultivation resources required for rapid advancement would increase proportionally.
Before advancing to Nascent Soul True Monarch, in terms of wealth, Chen Beiwu had relied on Southern Wilderness resources and could be considered modestly well-off among Golden Core True Persons.
He basically lacked none of his cultivation necessities, while the sect had prepared the resources for forming his Nascent Soul. Normally, he only needed to cultivate.
But after attaining the Dao as a True Monarch, if Zhiling’s dowry was excluded, Chen Beiwu, who had no family support, could be called utterly poor.
As for relying on the sect?
Sorry, find a way yourself.
The path of immortal cultivation lay in struggle, and a Nascent Soul True Monarch was already a powerful figure in their own right.
The sect had already done everything it reasonably could by nurturing you to the Nascent Soul True Monarch realm.
If a powerful True Monarch could not rely upon themselves to cultivate after leaving the sect’s support, and could not render service to the sect, then what use was there in nurturing such an immortal cultivation genius?
Jade left uncarved could not become a vessel, and geniuses were the same.
If exceptions were made for peerless geniuses, allowing them to enjoy all the sect’s resources without tempering, experience, or growth, then such geniuses would sooner or later die beneath the calamities of Divine Transformation without even having the opportunity to repay the sect.
Yue Chenfeng smiled and explained: “Within the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, after a disciple attains the Dao as a True Monarch, there are roughly six paths available.”
“The first is to remain within the sect to cultivate, transmit the Dao and teach, and serve as a resident lecturer of the Jade Purity Immortal Sect or as a Scripture Banquet Scholar.
The advantage of this path is its honorable tranquility and stability. One can both browse the sect’s immortal cultivation classics and Dao scriptures while frequently remaining beside teachers and elders. It suits cultivators with steady Dao Hearts who dislike the disturbances of mundane affairs, and its safety is also guaranteed.
The only drawback is that the salary is not high, making it difficult to sustain a True Monarch’s daily cultivation.”
Hearing this, Chen Beiwu deeply agreed.
It was precisely because he knew remaining in the sect to cultivate and serving as a Scripture Banquet Scholar meant being stably poor that he had asked his Senior Brothers and Senior Sister about other paths.
“The second is to take an external appointment and govern a region. Nascent Soul True Monarchs of our sect can enter the three great Immortal Alliance institutions, the Imperial Law Pavilion, Worldly Affairs Hall, and Law Enforcement Bureau, serving respectively as Grand Scholars of the Imperial Law Pavilion, Conduct Directors of the Worldly Affairs Hall, or High Censors of the Law Enforcement Bureau, governing the affairs of a commandery, wielding authority, tempering their Dao Hearts amid the myriad manifestations of the mortal world and the countless states of human affairs, while accumulating Immortal Alliance Merit.”
“However, once one enters worldly affairs, responsibilities entangle the body and struggles for power are unavoidable. Every year, Nascent Soul True Monarchs lose sight of their original hearts for the sake of cultivation, accept enormous quantities of cultivation resources, fall from office, receive severe punishment from the Immortal Alliance, and delay their cultivation.”
Chen Beiwu raised a brow.
Taking an external appointment and becoming entangled in affairs truly would make it difficult to free himself, and would be unfavorable for traveling to the Southern Wilderness to harvest resources.
Ultimately, even if governing a region within the Immortal Alliance might allow him to harvest fate, it was still far less reliable than expanding the sect’s territory within the Southern Wilderness and harvesting fate there.
Yue Chenfeng slightly emphasized his tone: “The third is to devote oneself to the star domains and become a Star Conqueror.
Those who choose this path must pass layer upon layer of assessments before they can successfully join the Star Nexus directly subordinate to the Immortal Alliance and serve as a Star Conqueror.”