184: Chapter 184 Thirty-Six Peaks, Let's Cause Some Trouble
[Early the next morning, Chu Sheng went to the Elders Court.]
[The Outer Sect Guest Elder assessment was held in the side hall of the Elders Court. Not many people attended; besides Chu Sheng, there were only seven or eight Loose Cultivators.]
[Du Yu was also there, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed.]
[Chu Sheng ignored him, found a corner to sit in, and closed his eyes to rest.]
[The assessment was divided into three stages: cultivation test, combat, and Heart-Nature.]
[The first stage: cultivation test.]
[Chu Sheng walked to the Spirit Testing Stele and pressed his hand onto it.]
[The stele shone brightly, and the aura of the Early Stage of Sea Opening Realm was released without reservation, causing the air in the entire side hall to solidify for a moment.]
[The one presiding over the assessment was an Elder in the Late Stage of Sea Opening Realm, surnamed Meng. He squinted at Chu Sheng and made a note in his book.]
[The other Loose Cultivators whispered among themselves, and Du Yu's expression turned ugly.]
[The second stage: combat.]
[Du Yu was the first to jump out, specifically asking to fight Chu Sheng.]
[Elder Meng glanced at him, then at Chu Sheng, and asked if he accepted.]
[Chu Sheng said he accepted.]
[The two stood on the Training Ground. Du Yu struck a pose, his Body Refining cultivation exploding, muscles bulging like a bull in rut.]
[Chu Sheng summoned the zhu xian sword from his Dantian. It was a single-bladed sword, its ink-black body streaked with dark red patterns.]
[He didn't use his full strength, only employing the Phoenix Immortal Sword Manual.]
[With the first sword, Du Yu retreated three steps.]
[With the second sword, Du Yu knelt on one knee.]
[With the third sword, the tip stopped three inches from his throat, and the Sword Qi tore a rip in his collar.]
[Du Yu's face turned from red to white, then from white to green, like a duck with its neck squeezed.]
[Chu Sheng retracted his sword and turned to leave.]
[The entire hall was silent.]
[Lin Xiao stood in the corner, his face even uglier than Du Yu's.]
[The third stage: Heart-Nature.]
[Chu Sheng was led into a secret room and sat down cross-legged.]
[The Formation activated, and illusions surged like a tide. Mountains of gold and silver, clouds of beauties, mountains of blades and seas of fire, the tragic deaths of friends and family.]
[Chu Sheng sat there, unmoving.]
He had died too many times in the simulator; what kind of illusion hadn't he seen?
Gold and silver? He had the simulator; how much could he not earn?
Beauties? Are they trying to test an old hand with this?
Mountains of blades and seas of fire? He had been cut by people, bitten by Yao Beasts, and swallowed by Devil Kings.
These illusions didn't even qualify to make him frown.
[Elder Meng watched from outside, stroked his beard, and wrote an “A” in his book.]
[The assessment results were announced on the spot.]
[Chu Sheng achieved first place in overall performance, officially gaining the status of “Outer Sect Elder.”]
[His token was upgraded from temporary bronze to official black iron. The front was engraved with “Wendao,” and the back with his name and the words “Outer Sect Elder.”]
[Yue Jianli was also called to the Disciple Hall.]
[Her Heavenly Spiritual Root Aptitude, combined with the foundation of the Phoenix Immortal Sword Art, made the receiving Elder decide on the spot.]
[She would be a key cultivation target, directly accepted as an Inner Sect Disciple, without needing to go through the outer Sect trials.]
[When Chu Sheng accompanied her to register, she was received by a female Elder who looked about forty but was actually at least several hundred years old.]
[She was a Spirit Nurturing stage cultivator of the Dao Palace, dressed in a green Daoist robe, speaking softly but with eyes as sharp as knives.]
["The Eighteenth Peak, Saintess Peak."]
[The female Elder looked at Yue Jianli, nodded, "You will follow me from now on."]
[Chu Sheng's heart stirred.]
[The Eighteenth Peak, Saintess Peak, with a Spirit Nurturing stage Elder in charge.]
[Of Wendao Palace's thirty-six peaks, each Peak Master was at least of Dao Palace cultivation, and Spirit Nurturing stage Peak Masters were not uncommon.]
[He had inquired about the layout of Wendao Palace during his assessment these past two days.]
[The Ninth Peak was Ye Gucheng's, the main base for the Sword Cultivator lineage.]
[The Thirteenth Peak was Feng Qingyang's, the Body Refining lineage.]
[The Eighteenth Peak belonged to the Elder before him, surnamed Shen, known as "Saintess Fairy," one of the few female Peak Masters in Wendao Palace.]
[Chu Sheng took the opportunity to ask Zhao Tie more about Wendao Palace.]
[Zhao Tie was a chatterbox; as long as it didn't involve secrets, he'd spill everything.]
["The thirty-six peaks of Wendao all have Peak Masters who are at least of Dao Palace cultivation."]
["It is said that the first eight peaks each have a Great Dao Attainment Realm expert overseeing them..."]
[He lowered his voice, "Hard to say. Anyway, that wendao bell on the mountain is a Magical Artifact-level item."]
[wendao bell.]
[Chu Sheng remembered this name.]
[A Sect Magic Treasure of Magical Artifact level.]
[He had the four swords of zhuxian, which were Magical Artifacts.]
[The power of a Magical Artifact was incomparable to a heaven rank magic treasure.]
[Wendao Palace had a Magical Artifact guarding the Sect, showing its profound foundation.]
[Chu Sheng asked again, "Does our Sect have any Old Ancestors in the Divine Ability Realm?"]
[Zhao Tie was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "I really don't know. Not just me, even ordinary Peak Masters might not know."]
[He pointed in the direction of Wendao Peak, "If that person is still alive, they should be in seclusion beneath Wendao Peak. If they're dead... that bell should ring."]
[Chu Sheng didn't ask further.]
[Three days after the assessment, Yue Jianli followed Elder Shen to the Eighteenth Peak.]
[At their farewell, she stood at the mountain gate and looked back at Chu Sheng.]
[She didn't speak, but in her clear, cold eyes, there was a very faint trace of reluctance.]
[Chu Sheng smiled at her and said, go, I'll wait for you here.]
[She nodded, turned and left, her steps light but steady.]
[Chu Sheng returned alone to the dilapidated stone house in the Outer Sect.]
[Du Yu's ostracism came faster than he expected.]
[This unbacked Northern Region Loose Cultivator first had someone deduct two-tenths of his cultivation resources, and then someone left a pile of Yao Beast dung at his door.]
[Chu Sheng looked at the pile of dung, was silent for three seconds, then kicked it away.]
[He couldn't be bothered to argue with these people.]
[It wasn't magnanimity; it was unnecessary.]
[He came here not to contend with Du Yu, but to bind to the Sect and absorb the Luck of Wendao Palace.]
[These clowns, he would deal with them one by one once he had a firm footing.]
[The Library Pavilion belonged to the Outer Sect; it didn't have many Cultivation Techniques, but it had plenty of miscellaneous books.]
[Chu Sheng didn't read Cultivation Techniques; he read Sect Records, Geographical Records, and Biographical Records.]
[He wanted to understand the LuckVeins of Wendao Palace.]
[The Old Grandfather secretly guided him from the ring, helping him understand the Formation layout of Wendao Palace.]
["The core of Wendao Palace's Luck lies at the Spiritual Vein convergence point beneath the main peak."]
[The Old Grandfather's voice came from the ring, very low.]
["The Spiritual Veins of the thirty-six peaks all branch out from there, like the roots of a tree. If you want to bind, that's the best location."]
[Chu Sheng searched through all the miscellaneous books in the Library Pavilion and finally found a clue in a yellowed book called "Wendao Palace Landscape Records."]
[The book said that beneath the main peak of Wendao Mountain lay an ancient Spiritual Vein, and the Spiritual Veins of the thirty-six peaks were all its branches.]
[A secret chamber was built at the convergence of the Spiritual Veins, and only the Sect Master and a few Grand Elders knew its entrance.]
[Chu Sheng closed the book and silently repeated "Grand Elder" three times in his mind.]
[Wendao Palace had Grand Elders, and more than one.]
He had never seen these people in the simulator, but they existed.
Perhaps they were in seclusion deep underground, perhaps slumbering in a Secret Realm, or perhaps they were on a mountain peak directly above him, watching these ants come and go.
"It's time to find an opportunity to cause some trouble."