Ge Yuan thought for a while and said “Headmaster, how are you inviting them here?”
Shen Lian did not respond, but as he felt Tiandi Jian was heating up, he then said, “They are here.” His ability to see beyond the sky and listen beyond the earth was way beyond Ge Yuan as he possessed Tiandi Jian and Tongtian Skill.
Ge Yuan knew that the headmaster had Tiandi Jian and hence could easily have an oversight of a large area. He was definitely right when he said they were here.
He responded, “What do we do next?”
Shen Lian replied, “We don’t need to do anything as they are nobody significant. Can you bring along two students to Qing Xuan hall?” He did not sound like he was full of himself for being able to predict that.
Ge Yuan sighed and thought to himself – over the years he indeed forgot about how Qing Xuan was one of the top sects in heaven and earth. Comparatively, Shen Lian’s magnanimity made him feel slightly embarrassed. He said “Wuji, can you get Shoujing and Shouxuan?”
Shoujing and Shouxuan were the two students who were hurt by Zuo Shaoqing. Zhao Wuji went ahead to look for them.
Shen Lian stood up and said, “I will be taking a walk. Doyen, can you wait till the two get here and go ahead. I will follow subsequently.” He went for a stroll in the forest. After Ge Yuan heard that, he did not follow.
Shen Lian did not rush to get back to Qing Xuan Hall but he decided to walk around Tianyuan Peak. Ge Yuan knew that he was rather laid-back, and as Shen Lian had granted his words, it was not a worry for him. He just had to wait until Shoujing and Shouxuan to be here before he headed to the Qing Xuan Hall on Tianyuan Peak.
Among the five peaks of Qing Xuan, Taiyi Peak was the main peak, but Tianyuan was the one that was in the middle. Its spiritual opportunity was also in the middle.
Shen Lian possessed both the Tongtian Skill and also the Taixu Strategy. His ability to detect spiritual opportunity was way beyond most who had yet to reach immortality. While strolling in the hills, the changes in spiritual opportunity were not particularly complicated, but to understand Dao to its fundamental was extremely difficult. He was also thinking about other things when he was detecting the spiritual opportunity at large.
Occasionally he came across some students and they all greeted him.
For those who had sharp eyes, they would be paying attention to Shen Lian’s footsteps, which every step was as gorgeous as the lotus, with extremely deep Qi of Dao.
Shen Lian stood facing a waterfall and he stopped. He made a sword incantation using both his hands. A lotus-shaped sword aura was formed and after gathering the essence from the flora around, it flew towards the waterfall.
The water fell from a great height, pounding the smooth rocks. It was initially misty because of the water, but when the lotus sword aura flew towards it, all the mists disappeared. It was an astonishing sight.
Shen Lian did not stop with his hands. His fingers continued to move as if a great painter was creating a random landscape ink painting. There was a pattern with his erratic movements.
Even if one were to describe how amazing his skill was, it was not comparable to any of the one hundred and eight techniques in Qing Xuan.
After a while, Shen Lian finally stopped. The sword aura dispersed along with it. He turned around and spoke, “Choushi, after looking at it the whole time, what did you learn?”
There was a student of Tianyuan Peak not far behind of him. He looked like he was almost thirty, but as cultivators tended to look younger than their age, he could be more than thirty. His cultivation was average, and it could be said that he was not particularly talented.
Choushi did not imagine that the headmaster would have remembered him, who was just an average student. He was taken by surprise.
Nobody dared to follow the headmaster but he did out of curiosity. He got to observe the whole incantation but he could not tell what the meaning was. Even from his point of view, there were other techniques within Qing Xuan that were better than the incantation the headmaster randomly created.
This was of course because he was from Qing Xuan. Even if he occupied only a common status, he had the opportunity to see the best of the very best. If this sword incantation was seen elsewhere, it would be considered as extraordinary.
Shen Lian responded, “Don’t you think that the incantation I created is just average? Even if it seems to have some essence, you can say it is rather simple.”
Choushi hesitated and said, “It was rather simple, but headmaster, you only created it on a whim and I believe it was incomplete. I believe that if it is polished further, Qing Xuan will have attained yet another great technique.” He understood that being a sycophant would not bring many benefits to great cultivators like Shen Lian, but he still took the opportunity.
Among Qing Xuan’s younger group, there was not anyone who did not respect Shen Lian. For a long time before this, Shen Lian had helped the other students of his level. After he came back to the mountain, he then achieved the Nine Transformations of Huandan and even had a battle with Bai Suhuan with no obvious victory or loss. Ninety-nine percent of the Doyens could not even reach Shen Lian’s level, and hence it was nothing surprising.
Choushi used to ask for advice from Shen Lian before, but at the same time, there were many who did the same. Choushi was not any different and hence he was surprised Shen Lian remembered him. He respected Shen Lian even more.
Shen Lian laughed and said, “If this item goes under the Qing Xuan sect, all the previous generations of headmasters will be laughing at me. Well, since you followed me here, I have something that I need you to help with.”
Choushi replied in respect, “I will follow your order till death.”
Shen Lian replied, “There is no need for death. The Doyen taught you how to cultivate is intended for you to cultivate alongside others, be the support for each other and to achieve immortality. It is not asking you to die.”
A lot of Doyens would probably disagree with this, but it fitted in best with the original heart in cultivation.
The battles among the Doyens, the revenge, and the friendship were all unimportant. If one were to lose his or her life, nothing mattered. However, even if one could understand, it was still a challenge to face it.
Even commoners knew that peace was important, but in the era of the empire, the battles of two armies always took a lot of lives.
Shen Lian did not expect the rest of the world to agree with what he thought. He would not take lives easily, but even if he had to, it never affected his Daoist heart.
It was just like how Buddha too shared anger with the Acala in implementing the Elimination of Evil.
He stopped for a while and said, “This sword incantation, while not being extremely extraordinary, it is not easy to learn it in a short amount of time. I will use some of the sword identity and transform it into sword aura into your body. When you follow me to Qing Xuan Hall later, I will have some use for you.”
Choushi did not expect this was Shen Lian’s order. Shen Lian would not harm him, but to allow other’s sword aura to enter one’s body, most cultivators would be hesitant as they would no longer have any secrets.
Choushi however, did not hesitate and said, “If headmaster you want to do it now, I have no second opinion.”
Shen Lian could tell that he was willing, he then sent some of his spiritual consciousness, combining with the sword aura into his body.
Choushi could feel that the sword aura was extremely active in the body, and it blended in well with his mana. While they were different, they were working well. The sword aura even helped him improve his mana.
This was because the sword aura was born from Shen Lian’s extremely pure Qi of Dan with great quality.
At the same time, there were hidden messages in the sword aura. Choushi felt appreciative of the opportunity.
Shen Lian did not give him a chance to appreciate the power and said, “We will move now to Taiyi Peak.”