Chapter 267: 218 Zhangg Report of Achievements!
Her face is as swift as lightning; the seasons pass like a fleeting breeze.
The grass turns green, the frost has already whitened; the sun sets in the west, the moon returns to the east.
...
Time flows on.
In the blink of an eye, forty years have passed.
On this day.
Outside Mount Tailao, a streak of wind and thunder swept over, suppressing its escaping light, revealing a figure within.
Clad in blue robes, wielding a long sword.
Graceful and dignified.
"Brother Dai."
"Junior Master Dai."
"Immortal Master Dai."
This person landed outside the mountain gate, and the disciples of Heaven Mending Sect bowed in greeting, their attitudes filled with respect, as they clearly recognized him.
"Hmm."
The blue-robed swordsman nodded slightly and strode briskly into the mountain.
Inside and outside the mountain gate.
A group of disciples watched his departing figure, unable to restrain themselves from murmuring to one another—
"What a ’Jade-faced Judge,’ his aura is drenched in killing intent!"
"That’s only natural. Dai Zong specializes in Sword Dao, his Sword Qi is imposing. Since joining the sect forty years ago, he has slain eighty-six late-stage Qi Refinement demons, and countless minor demons of the early and mid-stage Qi Refinement. How could he not carry such heavy killing intent?"
"Too monstrous."
"A second-order Alchemist, a second-order Artifact Refiner, practicing cultivation at lightning speed, wielding sharp techniques. Dai Zong is practically an all-round genius, utterly without weakness. No wonder several True Persons in the sect praise him as Heaven Mending Sect’s ’greatest True Inheritor in ten thousand years.’"
"He’s only 108 years old, yet he’s held the top position on the Immortal List for three years now."
"Unparalleled!"
"Comparing oneself to him is asking for envy!"
...
The disciples discussed fervently, some were envious, some jealous, and some admiring, all feeling that such a talent was as unattainable as a towering mountain, completely beyond imagination.
None of the chatter reached Chen Jichuan.
Returning from Slaughter Ring Sea, he entered the mountain gate and headed straight for the Examination Hall.
"Elder Yan."
"This disciple comes to report merit."
Chen Jichuan strode into the Examination Hall, walking directly to its depths, where an elderly man with white hair sat. He presented a Recording Pearl along with several magical treasures, a fragmented bone, and several bottles of blood.
In Heaven Mending Sect, ordinary disciples reporting merit and undergoing assessments are handled by the hall stewards and deacons.
Only True Inheritors are attended to by the hall elders, who are second-order True Persons.
This shows the respect afforded.
"Haven’t seen you in a while."
Elder Yanw sounded lazily, showing he was familiar with Chen Jichuan.
It wasn’t surprising.
Being the sect’s top-ranked figure on the Immortal List, even lofty second-order True Persons should have heard of him. Especially for Elder Yanw, who frequently dealt with True Inheritors.
Greeting Chen Jichuan casually.
Elder Yanw then looked at the items on the table before him.
Seeing them clearly—
He suddenly started—
"Blood Evil Banner?"
"Five Lusts Net?"
"Trapped Dragon Pearl?"
"You—"
Elder Yanw shot up, his eyes fixed on the three magical treasures laid out, then grabbed the desiccated bone in his hand, pinching it, and opened the bottles of blood to sniff them.
His expression immediately turned varied and colorful; staring at Chen Jichuan, he couldn’t help asking, "Did you injure or kill the ’Hundred Desires Demon’?!"
Blood Evil Banner.
Five Lusts Net.
Trapped Dragon Pearl.
These were all signature magical treasures of the Hundred Desires Demon Yanchen from Slaughter Ring Sea. Although merely second-order magical treasures, Yanchen was, after all, a second-order True Person, cultivating the Red Dust Hundred Desires Technique to profound levels, capable of fully unleashing the powers of second-order magical treasures.
Not particularly strong among second-order True Persons.
But formidable nonetheless, beyond the scope a first-order cultivator could fathom.
Yet here was Chen Jichuan presenting Yanchen’s blood, bone, and signature treasures.
Elder Yanw was naturally astonished.
"Yanchen is dead."
"Elder Yan can check the Recording Pearl."
Chen Jichuan pointed to the green pearl on the table.
This was a standard magical treasure of Heaven Mending Sect, activated with mana to record images and sounds within a certain range and time.
When Heaven Mending Sect disciples carried out missions externally, the Recording Pearl was mandatory to prevent interference or cheating by elders.
"Dead for real?"
Hearing this, Elder Yanw quickly took up the Recording Pearl, activated it with mana, creating the sensation of the world spinning, time shifting, and momentarily felt transported to Slaughter Ring Sea.
Before him—
Chen Jichuan erected a Dharma Platform and performed spells, as the scene shifted to show an entire island engulfed by a spell formation.
Elder Yanw couldn’t identify the island initially.
But soon after, he saw Chen Jichuan casting ’Taiyin Stealth Technique,’ silently infiltrating the island, weaving seal techniques to summon Five Thunders, provoking a blood-red-robed old demon.
"’Hundred Desires Demon’ Yanchen!"
"This is Wulou Island!"
Recognizing the location, Elder Yanw moved about the projected scene, adjusted viewing angles, and watched closely.
He saw Chen Jichuan start with ’Five Thunders True Skill,’ maneuvering with ’Little Four Nine Wind and Thunder Escape Method,’ attacking with ’Seven Elements Relieving Calamity Ruyi Tiangang Splitting Light Sword Technique,’ and shielding himself with ’Three-in-One Indestructible Golden Light Body Protection Technique.’
He engaged Yanchen evenly for a time.
Yanchen summoned the Blood Evil Banner, countered by Chen Jichuan with the Fire Dragon Hairpin.
The Five Lusts Net was broken by Qianling Five Fire Divine Thunder.
The Trapped Dragon Pearl was overcome by Supreme Thought Beads.
Later.
Chen Jichuan unleashed Gui Water Divine Thunder, leaving Yanchen battered and crippled, then leveraged spells and formations to strike him down completely.
...
"Fire Dragon Hairpin."
"Qianling Five Fire Divine Thunder."
"Supreme Thought Beads."
"Gui Water Divine Thunder."
After reviewing the Recording Pearl, Elder Yanw looked at Chen Jichuan and remarked, "You sly boy! You planned meticulously to eliminate Yanchen from the start!"
Fire Dragon Hairpin, Qianling Five Fire Divine Thunder, and Supreme Thought Beads were specifically countermeasures against Yanchen’s treasures.
Gui Water Divine Thunder complemented Chen Jichuan’s offensive capabilities.
Combined with his masterful techniques and pre-arranged spells, this resulted in Yanchen’s decisive slaying.
It seemed like a swift victory.
But in truth—
"An hour of battle requires ten years of preparation."
"Searching for these countermeasures and gathering such quantities of Gui Water Divine Thunder must have cost considerable effort, right?"
Shifting from shock to admiration, Elder Yanw grinned at Chen Jichuan.
"Indeed, it took quite some effort."
"But killing Yanchen makes it worthwhile."
Chen Jichuan responded with a smile, adding further, "These treasures and Divine Thunder all have documented origins and are ready for the Examination Hall’s review anytime."
Heaven Mending Sect places utmost importance on the integrity of True Inheritors, forbidding interference or cheating in any form.
Thus, upon completing a major achievement such as slaying the Hundred Desires Demon, Yanchen’s validation process was stringent.
In addition to the Recording Pearl, Heaven Mending Sect’s Examination Hall would send second-order True Persons to conduct on-site inspections. Further checks would scrutinize the battle’s assets, including the treasures, talismans, and Divine Thunder, ensuring their pedigrees were flawless.
Not a single detail, lack of thoroughness, or gap in recording could result in credit denial.
As cautionary tales from Elder Cheng Beixuan and True Disciple Xue Xiao had warned him upon joining the sect many years ago.
Over the years, Chen Jichuan had suffered minor setbacks due to these rules. Thus, for this crucial battle against a second-order old demon, he meticulously prepared to avoid missteps.
"You’re a second-order Alchemist and Artifact Refiner. Your wealth is probably even deeper than mine."
"I have faith in you."
"But the procedures for the Examination Hall can’t be neglected."
Elder Yanw’s words were not mere platitudes.
Given Chen Jichuan’s talent and expertise in alchemy and artifact refining, acquiring two second-order magical treasures and stocks of Divine Thunder were minor endeavors.
No need for masterly intervention or cheating.
In truth.
This victory over Yanchen owed half its credit to those treasures and Divine Thunder but equally relied on Chen Jichuan’s own robust foundations and adept mastery of techniques.
"Six high-level techniques!"
"Aside from ’Five Thunders True Skill,’ the other five are likely at the third realm, correct?"
Elder Yanw’s eyes gleamed with undisguised admiration and praise.
In the Cultivation World, techniques fall into four tiers by rank and nine tiers by mastery.
The third realm, ’Body Fusion,’ attunes the technique to the cultivator, adapting it naturally and seamlessly.
This represents the harmony of body and technique, aligning with cosmic principles.
Late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators who open all 365 Fetal Storage Major Acupoints and saturate their Qi Meridians can refine techniques into their bloodlines.
Such refinement allows potential inheritance of bloodline techniques by descendants.
However, ’Body Fusion’ mastery is required for this process.
Compared to low- and mid-level techniques.
Reaching such mastery in high-level techniques is evidently far harder while yielding far greater power.
For ordinary True Disciples in Heaven Mending Sect, cultivating even one high-level technique to the third realm is a remarkable milestone.
Chen Jichuan, however, had accomplished cultivation of five high-level techniques to ’Body Fusion’ by the age of 100 during the Qi Refinement Stage—a rare feat indeed.
"A fortunate coincidence!"
Chen Jichuan met Elder Yanw’s admiring gaze with humble words.
He understood his own circumstances.
Every technique, from ’Little Four Nine Wind and Thunder Escape Method’ to ’Seven Elements Relieving Calamity Ruyi Tiangang Splitting Light Sword Technique,’ was refined by him from merging lower-order skills—familiar and intuitive paths.
This made cultivation easier compared to jumping into unfamiliar high-level techniques without precedent.
Traces were evident.
Moreover, he had honed his foundation through 500 years of rigorous practice in Qinling and Great Hui Worlds.
After the Qinling World experience, he gained Dao Fruit insights, improving further. Though merely present in Slaughter Ring Sea for forty to fifty years, facing tougher opponents and benefiting from Nine Refinement Immortal Mansion’s cultivation facilities propelled his growth.
Thus, the mastery of these five techniques reached the third realm.
Among the remaining techniques—
’Mystical Gate Skill’ counted as a mysterious craft.
’Dutian Rakshasa Chaos Yin Yang Nine Netherworld Reincarnation Life and Death Treasure Method’ rarely saw use.
Leaving them aside for now.
’Five Thunders True Skill,’ a personal focus for Chen Jichuan, still fell slightly short, residing at the second realm, ’Technique Alignment.’
Highlighting the difficulty of advancing techniques.
For long-established skills, this issue persists, let alone techniques newly acquired in this realm. To avoid premature exposure, these appeared sparingly in public demonstrations, even absent from Recording Pearls.
"Solidifying the reputation of being ’the greatest True Inheritor in ten thousand years’ is still beneficial to me."
"After advancing to second-order, lacking past experience, exhausted resources, lagging in alchemy and refinement growth—as cultivation deepens, breakthroughs will slow considerably."
"My flaws will inevitably show."
"Therefore, leveraging this True Inheritance Stage is crucial to secure adequate gains."
Having understood Heaven Mending Sect’s rules and systems thoroughly, Chen Jichuan had long devised strategies.
True Inheritors represent the sect’s future.
Heaven Mending Sect prizes True Inheritors immensely, particularly the top-ranked ones.
Among them.
The top three spots on the Immortal List hold the greatest significance.
"In Heaven Mending Sect, killing late-stage demons and providing second-order magical treasures earns corresponding Great Merit. Slaying second-order demons and providing third-order treasures grants corresponding Superior Merit."
"Both merits can be exchanged for cultivation resources, techniques, cultivation methods, and treasures within the sect. Anything needed, the sect provides.
"Yet only Immortal List top-three members who’ve sustained their placement for ten years can access super-level techniques."
"Others can only exchange for high-level techniques at best.
"Including second-order True Persons."
Of course.
Second-order True Persons have other channels to gain access to super-level techniques. These, however, accommodate late bloomers and are as difficult as earning top-three Immortal List status.
Take Master Baiyun.
Despite being a seasoned second-order True Person, he had yet to earn a super-level technique.
Chen Jichuan was self-aware; if someone like Master Baiyun remained unable to achieve this, he had no realistic hope even if he advanced early.
Instead, he poured energy into leveraging his True Inheritance phase—
Rapid cultivation.
Relentless demon hunting, accumulating merits.
Striving to obtain super-level techniques during this phase itself.
His consistent effort finally bore fruit.
"Ten years ago, I reached the third position of the Immortal List."
"Three years ago, I claimed the top spot."
"I’ve now stayed in the top three for ten years. Only the required merits remained short, but slaying Yanchen suffices."
Inwardly, Chen Jichuan brimmed with anticipation.
...