Chapter 418 : Ritual and Generous Gifts
Chapter 418: Ritual and Generous Gifts
Inside Shuiyan Residence.
The congratulatory gifts left behind by Jade Radiant Splendor and the other four shone brilliantly, radiating extraordinary spiritual charm.
Xu Lingling swept her gaze over the congratulatory gifts, unable to conceal the surprise on her face.
As far as she knew, the Heavenly Origin Jade Family, Heavenly Origin Xiao Family, Heavenly Origin Wei Family, and Heavenly Origin Zhou Family, the Four Great Dao Venerable Immortal Clans, possessed countless powerful experts and profound foundations. They could almost represent more than half of the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, and their status and authority within the Immortal Alliance could be described as terrifying.
Yet even so, in order to recruit Chen Beiwu, the upper echelons of all four Immortal Clans had dispatched cultivators to jointly deliver Nascent Soul Formation gifts before the Nascent Soul Formation Grand Ceremony.
From this, it could be seen that after Chen Beiwu attained the Dao as a True Monarch, his status was no longer what it once had been. He had now become a highly sought-after figure within the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, and even Dao Venerable Immortal Clans would not take him lightly.
‘Beiwu has completely established his momentum and has already become highly sought-after in the eyes of the Four Great Dao Venerable Immortal Clans. Lingling, what do you think?’
Xu Ziqing gently nudged Xu Lingling with her elbow and transmitted through divine sense.
‘Naturally, I’m happy for Beiwu.’ Xu Lingling glanced at her best friend.
‘Oh, genuinely happy, or pretending to be happy?’
Seeing Xu Lingling feign calmness, Xu Ziqing chuckled softly and transmitted through divine sense:
“You couldn’t possibly have failed to notice that the reason the Heavenly Origin Jade Family sent Jade Radiant Splendor and Jade Radiant Truth to deliver congratulatory gifts was simply to let both sides see whether they found each other pleasing to the eye and whether there was an opportunity to form a marriage alliance.”
“Especially that Jade Radiant Truth. Her bearing is composed and captivating, and those eyes of hers kept staring at Beiwu, unwilling to move away even slightly. Don’t tell me you don’t know what that means?”
Hearing this, Xu Lingling took a deep breath, suppressing the inferiority in her heart as she transmitted through divine sense: “Aren’t you thinking too much!”
If one were to marry, one should marry a daughter of an Immortal Clan.
Those seven words carried considerable weight in the hearts of the Immortal Alliance’s younger generation of geniuses.
Jade Radiant Truth came from a Dao Venerable Immortal Clan, was both a genius of the Radiant generation from the Jade Family’s direct lineage and the top-ranked genius on the Jade Purity Immortal Sect’s Rising Talents Ranking.
By Immortal Alliance standards, whether in talent and ability, background and status, cultivation and temperament, or appearance and figure, Jade Radiant Truth was a first-rate daughter of an Immortal Clan, a genuine genius standing at the very summit of the Immortal Alliance.
It was no exaggeration to say that such a noble daughter of an Immortal Clan had been destined from birth to match with a genius likewise standing at the summit of the Immortal Alliance.
Even renowned Nascent Soul True Monarchs of the Immortal Alliance would carry insufficient weight if they wished to marry a daughter of an Immortal Clan, making it difficult for the Heavenly Origin Jade Family to even regard them seriously.
If the Heavenly Origin Jade Family truly intended to recruit Beiwu as a son-in-law, this temptation was far beyond what young geniuses of the Immortal Alliance could resist.
‘You can fool me if you want, Lingling, but don’t fool yourself as well.’ Xu Ziqing slightly shook her head.
She knew her own limits. Being able to occasionally dual cultivate with Beiwu was already enough to satisfy her, and she had not the slightest intention of competing with noble daughters of Immortal Clans.
Otherwise, once such a noble daughter of an Immortal Clan became angry, she could make Xu Ziqing disappear without a sound at any time.
‘Wait, you really have no hopes at all?’
Xu Lingling suddenly sensed something was wrong and glanced at Xu Ziqing.
‘For me, being able to stay beside Beiwu is enough. Asking for too much would instead spoil things.’
As the thought transmission ended, Xu Ziqing turned toward Chen Beiwu and proactively said her farewells, unable to conceal the joy on her face.
So what if they were daughters of Immortal Clans?
A peerless genius who could even stir the hearts of noble daughters of Immortal Clans had still been seized by her first, allowing her to taste the first soup.
Being able to surpass daughters of Immortal Clans in this matter meant that even if she ultimately obtained no result, her life would not have been lived in vain.
As for her best friend, for the sake of their past friendship, she had already hinted at everything she ought to hint at.
Hearing this, Xu Lingling tightly furrowed her brows, complicated thoughts filling her heart as she likewise bid Chen Beiwu farewell.
Chen Beiwu glanced at the neatly arranged congratulatory gifts on the table and did not continue trying to make them stay.
Originally, he had agreed with Xu Ziqing and Xu Lingling to eat lunch together, but with the Immortal Clan congratulatory gifts before him, coupled with the two women proactively saying their farewells, there was nothing wrong with postponing this meal until later.
After leaving the cave dwelling to see the two women off, Chen Beiwu hung up a seclusion sign, returned inside, and lightly swept his sleeve. Golden Egg, Iron Egg, Snowle, and Zhiling, the four little fellows, all appeared together.
“Na!”（Good stuff!）
Snowle moved closer to the jade box sent by the Heavenly Origin Zhou Family, his nose twitching slightly.
Although restrictions isolated it, the perception from his bloodline still allowed him to detect how extraordinary the item stored within the jade box was.
“If you like it, open it and take a look.” Chen Beiwu smiled.
The Five Mystical Dowry gifted by Purple Radiance Demon King concerned Zhiling’s future cultivation expenses, so he would not use it lightly.
But the Nascent Soul Formation congratulatory gifts sent by the Jade Family, Xiao Family, Wei Family, and Zhou Family were different. They were extremely valuable, and even if he could not use them himself, he could resell them and exchange them for his upcoming cultivation expenses.
“I’ll help you open it.”
Golden Egg moved the fastest, opening the Zhou Family’s jade box with one claw.
In an instant, an indescribably fresh fragrance of plants and wood filled the entire cave dwelling.
“Gulp.”
Golden Egg’s three heads swallowed simultaneously, suppressing the restlessness in his heart.
What a fragrant treasure!
Merely inhaling a breath of its fragrance caused the bloodline within his body to become active, and even his Inner Core faintly stirred.
Seeing this, Snowle felt greatly threatened. Pretending not to notice, he took a step forward and used his body to block Golden Egg’s line of sight before looking toward the jade box.
Inside the jade box was a Mystical Lingzhi approximately seven cun tall. Its roots were purple-gold, while the color of its cap alternated between silver-white and crimson-gold. Specks of starlight appeared across its surface, as though Yin and Yang alternated in a self-contained cycle, appearing truly extraordinary.
“This is Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi!”
Chen Beiwu’s eyes moved, unable to conceal his joy.
Although Mystical Medicines were divided into different ranks, their actual value was far from something that could be summarized by their specific rank alone. Mystical Medicines of this kind were collectively called Supreme Grade Mystical Medicines.
Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi, also known as Celestial Yin-Yang Lingzhi, was a Supreme Grade Mystical Medicine that almost never circulated on the Immortal Alliance market. Its preciousness was such that it had never even appeared at a Myriad Treasures Association auction.
There was no other reason. Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi could draw upon the Dao Resonance of Celestial Star Radiance and substitute for a Nascent Soul True Monarch during advancement and breakthrough. It was a key resource for cultivators completing the ritual of seeking the Dao and pursuing Truth, and could even greatly improve the effects of Four Origins Dao Attainment during the process of seeking Truth and Position.
‘What a lavish gift!’
Chen Beiwu took a deep breath.
The sect had not even held his Nascent Soul Formation Grand Ceremony yet, but the Heavenly Origin Zhou Family had privately delivered such a generous gift. Once the Nascent Soul Formation Grand Ceremony began, wouldn’t the formal Nascent Soul Formation gift they presented be even more extraordinary?
As expected, no matter how talented a cultivator was, if they did not become a Nascent Soul True Monarch, they could never truly become a major figure within the Immortal Alliance!
“Na?”
Sensing the importance Chen Beiwu attached to it, Snowle cautiously spoke.
“If you want it, take it and plant it first.” Chen Beiwu naturally had no objection and readily agreed.
Before Snowle advanced to Fourth Realm Demon King, the Creation Origin Art 【Five Qi Origin Forest】 he awakened could already accelerate the maturation of spiritual medicines and treasure medicines.
Fourth-Rank Mystical Medicines planted within the Origin Forest for more than a year could even have their medicinal potency increased by a full twenty percent.
After advancing to Demon King, Snowle’s Five Qi Origin Forest had become even more extraordinary, gaining the ability to increase the age of Mystical Medicines.
However, rapidly increasing the age of Mystical Medicines required expending large quantities of Five Elements Mystical Qi. Unless it was an exceptionally precious Fourth-Rank Mystical Medicine, Snowle simply could not bear to expend Five Elements Mystical Qi on increasing it.
“Na.”
Snowle revealed a smile and happily put away the Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi.
“Outside of your usual cultivation, you can use Five Elements Mystical Qi to nourish the Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi.” Chen Beiwu reminded him.
His Dao Seed Nascent Soul had yet to become flawless, so he temporarily had no use for the Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi.
Once his cultivation reached the peak of early-stage Nascent Soul and he wished to advance to mid-stage Nascent Soul, he could consider the circumstances then and decide whether he needed to use the Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi as a resource for his Truth-Seeking Ritual.
“Na.”（No problem）
Snowle rapidly nodded in agreement, afraid Chen Beiwu might change his mind and take the Heavenly Stem Star Lingzhi back from him.
Zhiling blinked and looked toward the congratulatory gift sent by the Heavenly Origin Wei Family, appearing somewhat eager to try.
“You open it.”
Chen Beiwu naturally would not spoil her mood and allowed Zhiling to open it.
“Click!”
With a soft sound, the box lid slowly opened, revealing five brilliantly shining spirit stones of different colors before Chen Beiwu’s eyes.
These spirit stones were approximately the size of pigeon eggs and naturally formed, without the slightest impurity.
The radiance flickering within each spirit stone corresponded respectively to the Five Elements, causing the spiritual forces of Heaven and Earth throughout the entire cave dwelling to become exceptionally active.
Golden Egg, Iron Egg, and Snowle looked at these spirit stones, curiosity appearing in their eyes.
They had seen plenty of high-grade spirit stones, but had never seen special spirit stones of this kind.
“Ying.”
Among the four pets, only Zhiling recognized what these spirit stones actually were, causing her eyes to brighten.
She knew that Chen Beiwu had recently been worrying about cultivation resources for Nascent Soul True Monarchs. She had not expected the Heavenly Origin Wei Family to be so thoughtful as to deliver such treasures.
“Zhiling is right, these are all supreme-grade spirit stones.” Chen Beiwu softly said.
Although both were spirit stones, supreme-grade spirit stones and high-grade spirit stones were two entirely different existences.
High-grade spirit stones contained vast and abundant spiritual forces. They could be used to establish Fourth-Rank Mystical Formations or allow Nascent Soul True Monarchs to absorb spiritual forces for cultivation and restore the Heavenly Stellar True Qi within their bodies, but they were not irreplaceable.
Supreme-grade spirit stones were different. Their preciousness did not lie in the vast spiritual forces they contained, but in their extreme condensation and characteristics approaching the origin of Heaven and Earth Dao Resonance.
Precisely because of this, the greatest value of supreme-grade spirit stones was not for cultivation, but for guiding the Dao.
When Nascent Soul True Monarchs verified their own Dao path and conducted the Ritual of Seeking Truth and Emulating Heaven, they required an extremely stable spiritual-force core to maintain the operation of the entire Dao-Seeking ritual and thereby draw down Heaven and Earth Dao Resonance for breakthrough.
Thus, for Nascent Soul True Monarchs, supreme-grade spirit stones were true hard currency and genuine high-rank cultivation resources.
In the Myriad Treasures Association group chat, Nascent Soul True Monarchs frequently offered Fourth-Rank Mystical Pills, Mystical Talismans, Mystical Medicines, and other resources to purchase supreme-grade spirit stones, yet no one was willing to trade. This was also why Chen Beiwu had been troubled over True Monarch cultivation resources.
If even Fourth-Rank cultivation resources could not be exchanged for supreme-grade spirit stones, how could the high-grade spirit stones commonly circulating on the Immortal Alliance market possibly compare?
‘In terms of value and scarcity, this congratulatory gift from the Heavenly Origin Wei Family is no worse than the Zhou Family’s gift!’ Chen Beiwu thought inwardly.
The Great Dao was formless, giving birth to Heaven and Earth.
Borrowing beasts meant borrowing the Dao, cultivating Truth meant verifying Truth.
Before his cultivation reached the peak of early-stage Nascent Soul, Chen Beiwu could not use the Primordial Origin Grotto-Truth Fundamental Immortal Art to question the Dao through his Nascent Soul and learn exactly what his own Ritual of Seeking Truth and Emulating Heaven would require.
However, according to Chen Beiwu’s deductions from the Immortal Alliance classics he had consulted, an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch conducting a Truth-Seeking and Position-Seeking ritual would require roughly one supreme-grade spirit stone to activate the ritual.
Even genius True Monarchs of the sect who consumed more would only use two or three supreme-grade spirit stones.
This meant that, under ordinary reasoning, the five supreme-grade spirit stones within the box would at least allow Chen Beiwu to complete one Truth-Seeking Ritual.
Closing the jade box, under the gazes of all his pets, Chen Beiwu carefully put away the five supreme-grade spirit stones and placed them into his storage ring.
Reselling them was absolutely impossible. Supreme-grade spirit stones were far too precious!
If he wanted to cultivate to perfected True Monarch, he needed Four Origins Dao Attainment and had to complete four Truth-Seeking Rituals. Five supreme-grade spirit stones alone were far from enough.
The next second, Golden Egg looked toward the congratulatory gift sent by the Heavenly Origin Xiao Family and proactively wanted to open the box.
One could never be too careful.
Chen Beiwu had grievances with the Heavenly Origin Xiao Family. Even though Xiao Yu could not possibly go insane and risk universal condemnation by tampering with a Nascent Soul Formation congratulatory gift, being cautious was always better.
“Go ahead.”
Chen Beiwu glanced at Golden Egg, somewhat surprised by the little fellow’s excessive caution.
Golden Egg solemnly raised a claw, not daring to be careless as he activated the Three-Aspect Indestructible Mystical Ability.
As the existence under Beiwu with the strongest defenses and greatest overall capabilities, such dangerous matters naturally ought to fall to him.
“Buzz!” The jade box opened, and the restrictions were released.
There were none of the sinister methods Golden Egg had imagined, nor any treasure overflowing with spiritual forces. Inside the box was only a Mystical-Sealing Jade Bottle and a gold-stamped card.
Chen Beiwu’s gaze moved, discovering that four large characters were prominently written on the label of the jade bottle 【Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill】.
‘Interesting.’
Chen Beiwu raised a brow.
The Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill possessed extraordinary effects. After an early-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch consumed it, they would not need to undergo fetal breathing and sitting in oblivion or seclude themselves for a hundred years. Instead, it could render the Nascent Soul flawless, allow complete mastery of Nascent Soul power, and enable one to reach the peak of early-stage Nascent Soul.
“Could it be poisoned?” Influenced by Golden Egg, Iron Egg tightly furrowed his brows, always feeling that the Xiao Family harbored malicious intentions.
“Poisoned?”
Zhiling was stunned and looked toward Chen Beiwu.
Were human cultivators really that sinister? They would actually hide poison within a Nascent Soul Formation congratulatory gift!
“Stop making wild guesses.” Chen Beiwu smiled speechlessly.
If Xiao Yu were truly stupid enough to hide poison within the Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill, Chen Beiwu would genuinely laugh himself to death.
Leaving everything else aside, with the pill as evidence, even if Xiao Yu came from a Dao Venerable Immortal Clan, the crime of plotting to murder the Jade Purity Immortal Sect Chief alone would be enough to condemn him completely.
“Na!”（I’ll do it!）
Snowle extended both hands, picked up the jade bottle, and proactively removed the stopper sealed by restrictions.
In an instant, a Pure Yang aura containing vast vitality suddenly erupted.
“Na.”（No problem）
Snowle gently sniffed and indicated that there was nothing wrong with the Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill.
Chen Beiwu was not surprised. His divine sense moved, and the gold-stamped card within the box fell into his hand.
He opened the card and saw faint spiritual light circulating through the seal-script characters written in Crimson Flame Sand, emanating a trace of special conception.
“Respectfully Presented to True Monarch True Martial:”
“True Monarch shattered the Core and formed the Nascent Soul, manifesting the Great Dao, becoming a genius of this generation of the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.”
“Evolution, as a direct son of the Ranked Lineage of the Xiao Family, heard of this and could not help but admire you greatly.”
“……”
“Respectfully submitted by Xiao Evolution, direct son of the Xiao Family’s Ranked Lineage”
Chen Beiwu slowly closed the invitation and lightly tapped Golden Egg’s head with his fingertip.
Just as he had expected, wherever people existed, conflict existed, and Dao Venerable Immortal Clans were no exception. The direct sons of the Xiao Family’s various lineages were far from a monolithic whole and instead competed fiercely with one another.
Xiao Evolution of the Xiao Family had even subtly pointed out in the card that he and Xiao Yu were not on the same side.
This was a good thing.
In this way, if Chen Beiwu wanted to kill Xiao Yu through a contest on the Life-and-Death Platform, he would not need to regard the entire Heavenly Origin Xiao Family as a hypothetical enemy.
“What did the card say?” Golden Egg did not activate his divine sense and insisted on squeezing all three heads closer.
“Nothing much, just a gift to recruit me and express goodwill. He wants to meet me.” Chen Beiwu handed the card to Golden Egg.
“Showing excessive courtesy for no reason means either treachery or theft. Could there be a conspiracy?” Golden Egg muttered softly.
“Whether there’s a conspiracy or not, we’ll know after meeting him.” Chen Beiwu said unconcernedly.
No matter how high Xiao Evolution’s status within the Xiao Family was, he was still only a Foundation Establishment cultivator.