paranoianovel Chapter 22 Soul Refining Sect
Chapter 22 Soul Refining Sect
"Come!"
Chu Yuan let out a low shout, and with a wave of his hand, a vast amount of spiritual energy surged out, and a thunderous dragon roared as it slammed into the landscape painting.
At the same time, the divine sense of the Extreme Realm surged forth, and a bolt of blood-red lightning shot out from between his brows, piercing straight into the depths of the painting.
Lightning pierced the sky, and crimson light tore through mountains and rivers.
Under the dual impact of the ultimate divine sense and the power of thunder, the landscape painting shattered instantly like paper, turning into countless points of light that dissipated between heaven and earth.
The green mountains collapsed, the clear waters dried up, and the waterfalls stopped flowing. That peaceful and serene world of mountains and rivers vanished in the blink of an eye.
Shuang Qinghua's expression changed drastically, and she took several steps back, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"What?! You've ruined my artistic conception!"
How is this possible? How could a mere Nascent Soul cultivator possibly break through the intent of a Deity Transformation expert?
Chu Yuan withdrew his spiritual power, slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze became unwavering once again.
"Tolerance, that's all there is to it."
Shuang Qinghua remained silent for a long time, then finally sighed and shook her head.
"Enough, enough. You've grasped my meaning; now you may leave."
Chu Yuan glanced at him and couldn't help but think to himself.
He truly deserves to be called a person who attains enlightenment through forbearance; he can even endure this.
He came to provoke them, bombarded the mountain-protecting formation, forced them to make a move, and even broke their mental state. If it were any other Nascent Soul expert, they would probably have been furious.
But Shuang Qinghua simply sighed and let him go.
The word "patience" is truly ingrained in their very bones.
Chu Yuan didn't bother to stay any longer. He had already achieved his goal for this trip; he had personally experienced the artistic conception of Shuang Qinghua.
Although this forbearance did not align with his Dao, it was sufficient for him to gain some insight.
After leaving the Frost Snow Sect, Chu Yuan did not stop. His figure flashed repeatedly in the void as he fled towards his next target.
Although the Snowland Kingdom is impoverished, it has many small sects.
His target was those sects that only had one Nascent Soul stage cultivator in charge.
His goal was simple: to go to the other party's door, provoke them, force them to take action, sense their intentions, and then leave.
No killing, no stealing, just want to see it.
If you are weaker than others and they come to your door to try and comprehend your cultivation, that's your own incompetence; if you are strong enough, you can naturally defeat the challenger. That's how the cultivation world is—the strong are respected, there's nothing more to say about that.
Chu Yuan selected four sects and visited them one by one.
He personally experienced the artistic conception of the four Nascent Soul stage experts and memorized it all.
Each of these artistic conceptions has its own strengths: some use patience to wear down the will to fight, some use ice to freeze and imprison all things, some use raging flames to burn everything, and some use raging winds to sweep across the heavens and the earth.
Each artistic conception has its unique charm. Although it may not conform to his philosophy, it is enough to use it to contemplate, broaden one's horizons, and increase one's knowledge.
After doing all this, Chu Yuan returned to the small courtyard with satisfaction.
Chu Yuan sat cross-legged in the house, closed his eyes and concentrated, sinking his mind into his sea of consciousness, and began to slowly digest the four realms of enlightenment he had comprehended over the past six months.
Four realms of artistic conception, four laws, four completely different paths.
Chu Yuan dissected them one by one in his mind, savoring them carefully, searching for their commonalities and differences.
……
Three years later.
Vermilion Bird Continent, Pilu Kingdom.
High in the sky, Chu Yuan stood on the air. Below him was a continuous mountain range, steep and shrouded in mist. In the valley, he could vaguely see a huge sect complex with black walls and gray tiles, exuding a solemn aura.
"This is the Soul Refining Sect."
One of the three major sects of the Suzaku Star Pilu Kingdom, renowned for its soul-refining techniques.
Unlike other sects, the Soul Refining Sect never takes on children as disciples from among mortals, nor does it hold any disciple-acceptance ceremonies.
There is only one way to enter the Soul Refining Sect: first become an outer disciple.
The threshold for becoming an outer disciple is extremely low. Regardless of aptitude, background, or cultivation level, one only needs to pay a certain amount of spirit stones to obtain the status of an outer disciple.
However, the outer disciples are not true disciples of the Soul Refining Sect. They are not qualified to learn the core techniques of the Soul Refining Sect, nor are they qualified to enjoy the sect's resources.
Chu Yuan knew they were merely nourishment.
Every three years, the Soul Refining Sect holds a grand competition, which all peripheral disciples can participate in.
Only one person will be selected from the competition, and that sole winner will become a core inner disciple and truly step into the threshold of the Soul Refining Sect.
As for the others, their lives or deaths are irrelevant.
Even so, every year countless cultivators flock to it, fighting tooth and nail to squeeze into the ranks of the outer disciples.
Because the Soul Banner Technique of the Soul Refining Sect is simply too powerful.
Chu Yuan cast his gaze into the distance, where the Soul Refining Sect was visible in the distance.
Dozens of miles away from the sect, a gentle ripple spread silently, like an invisible wall enveloping the entire Soul Refining Sect.
This is the protective formation of the Soul Refining Sect.
Chu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the strength of the great formation.
He's very strong, but his purpose in coming here is to learn the Soul Banner technique, not to fight.
Since there is a path to becoming an outer disciple, he naturally doesn't mind taking it.
He landed and stood steadily outside the mountain gate.
Just then, a streak of purplish-red light burst forth from the horizon behind him, moving at incredible speed and arriving in the blink of an eye.
The light faded, revealing an old man with black hair, a gaunt face, and sharp eyes. He wore a black robe embroidered with dark red skull patterns, clearly a disciple of the Soul Refining Sect.
The old man landed in front of Chu Yuan, looked him up and down, and frowned slightly: "Who goes there? Which sect are you a disciple of?"
Chu Yuan glanced at him; early stage of Core Formation, not worth mentioning.
"Without belonging to any sect or faction, I have come to join the Soul Refining Sect and become an outer disciple."
The old man stared at Chu Yuan for a moment, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.
He couldn't discern the depth of this person's cultivation level. Could it be that this person's cultivation was above his own?
The old man was slightly startled, but remained outwardly calm, nodding and saying, "Come in. The recruitment of outer disciples will be completed in a few days."
Chu Yuan nodded without saying anything more and followed him into the mountain gate.
The moment you pass through the protective array, a spiritual energy much denser than that of the outside world wafts over.
Chu Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but a slight thought stirred in his heart: the Soul Refining Sect truly lived up to its reputation.
They handed over spirit stones, registered, received identity jade tokens, and were assigned cave dwellings.
The whole process was ridiculously simple; they didn't even ask a single extra question.
The Soul Refining Sect's peripheral disciple system is less about accepting disciples and more about raising pigs.
Anyone with spirit stones can enter; once inside, their life or death is no longer the sect's concern.
The competition, held every three years, selects only one person; the fate of the rest is predictable.
Chu Yuan took the key to the cave dwelling and followed the mountain path upwards until he arrived at his own cave dwelling.
The cave is small, but its advantage lies in its tranquility. It is located in a secluded place halfway up the mountain, and is surrounded by simple barriers that are sufficient to prevent outsiders from easily peeping.
He entered the cave, sat down cross-legged, and quietly spread his divine sense.
His divine sense silently enveloped the area within several miles, taking in everything in the outer disciple area of the Soul Refining Sect.
The cultivation levels, conversations, and movements of those peripheral disciples all fell into his perception, as if he could see the lines on his palm.
He quickly learned the necessary information: the next Soul Refining Sect Grand Competition would be held in three months.