Chapter 96: Chapter 96 Observing the Gathering Storm
[Cleansing Technique · Experience +1]
[Cleansing Technique (Minor Achievement): 0/300]
Looking down at the Chi Path beneath him, spotless and clean, Wang Chen was truly lost for words.
He had never deliberately grinded to improve his proficiency in this minor spell; he just used it normally, and the experience points always increased slowly.
He hadn’t expected that after half a day, he would actually break through to the Minor Achievement level.
The sun blazed brightly overhead, the sky was clear, and beneath the expanse of blue, along the long Chi Path, every so often one could see a cultivator just like Wang Chen busily cleaning the road.
Or repairing the drainage ditches alongside it.
Others scattered flower seeds at the edge of the road, spurring growth with the “Withered Glory Technique.”
It was a scene of bustling activity, everyone hard at work.
Wang Chen had mostly finished tidying up the section of the path entrusted to him.
He didn’t rush to plant the Purple Brocade, instead sitting down in the shade of a tree by the roadside to rest.
He wasn’t actually tired; he just felt that the task was somewhat absurd and couldn’t muster much enthusiasm.
It was enough to meet the requirements casually—there were no rewards for doing a good job anyway!
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A few nearby cultivators also sat down, gathered together, and whispered amongst themselves.
But they weren’t consciously controlling their volume, and with Wang Chen located downwind and his senses being especially sharp, he ended up hearing the gist of their conversation!
“What on earth is the Defense Area playing at? Cleaning the Chi Path and ditches is one thing, but why bother planting these Purple Brocades?”
This one clearly had a belly full of complaints and couldn’t help but vent.
Another cultivator snickered and replied, “You don’t know? The Purple Brocade is Sect Master True Person’s favorite flower. They’ve planted quite a lot in the Inner Sect!”
“Is that so?”
“What else do you think?”
“I heard that Sect Master True Person likes the Purple Brocade because it reminds him of a childhood sweetheart.”
“The two promised to meet again after achieving their Purple Mansion, and then went their separate ways. When Sect Master True Person finally made his Breakthrough Mansion, he went to look for her, only to find that she had passed away, leaving behind only her favorite Purple Brocade.”
“So that’s the story!”
“To think there’s such a story, it turns out even our Sect Master True Person has a sentimental side.”
“Indeed, indeed.”
“Shh, be careful with your words, do not speak rashly of those above us!”
“Mhm, mhm, mhm.”
Wang Chen hadn’t expected to hear gossip about a Golden Core True Person while here.
He took out some seeds from his Storage Bag and tossed one onto the ground.
Wang Chen channeled mana with his finger toward the seed, casting the “Withered Glory Technique” that he had just mastered yesterday.
This spell wasn’t very high-tier.
With his current Comprehension, it hadn’t taken much time to get started.
As the mana flowed, a bright green light shone from Wang Chen’s fingertip, enveloping the seed on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, several small roots broke through the shell and burrowed into the soil underneath.
The seed sprouted shortly after, growing continuously upwards.
In less than the time it would take to drink half a cup of tea, it had already grown into an upright and elegant seedling!
Although this wasn’t the first time he had witnessed such a scene,
Wang Chen’s heart still filled with a wondrous feeling.
Compared to the Cleansing Technique and Cloud Rain Jue, the Withered Glory Technique undoubtedly showcased the extraordinary nature of cultivators.
Only in this world did the lower-tier cultivators have so little to distinguish them from common mortals!
Wang Chen thought his spells should not be used merely for appearances’ sake.
…
On the sixteenth of March, past 8 a.m.
By the time Wang Chen left home to arrive at the freshly decorated Chi Path, the roadside was already full of men and women, old and young.
The neighbors were all dressed in new clothes, their faces brimming with excitement and joy.
The children were chattering non-stop, as lively as if it were the biggest holiday of the year.
The cultivators from the Defense Area, including the Night Watchmen, patrolled back and forth on either side of the Chi Path to maintain order,
And distributed sheaves of Spiritual Rice to the attendees.
Wang Chen also received a bundle.
The spiritual rice, with ears and stalks, glittered like gold, as if enchanted by some spell, looking exceptionally jubilant.
According to the cultivators from the Defense Area, this was a tribute offered to the ancestor of the sect.
The Cloud Sun Sect’s ancestral worship ceremony.
The tribute was to none other than the Ancestor of Cloud Sun, who founded the Cloud Sun lineage fifteen hundred years ago!
Though a bundle of spiritual rice might seem trivial, it represented the disciples’ reverence and adoration for their forebear.
Countless graceful purple brocades bloomed along the Chi Path.
Yet, as time passed, the initial excitement and thrill gradually wore off.
What remained was the tedium of waiting.
Some impertinent children grew impatient and started crying to go home.
The result was either being silenced by a hand over the mouth by their parents or receiving a stern “lesson” on their backsides.
As the hour approached the end of 9 a.m., the new Village Chief from the Yi Ten Defense Area hurried over, shouting, “Hurry, hurry, everyone rush to Cloud Mountain City, the Sect Master True Person won’t be coming here!”
The crowd was in an uproar.
After toiling away for two to three days and enduring the blazing sun for over an hour,
now they were told the Sect Master True Person wouldn’t come.
To say go to Cloud Mountain City—it was a good fifty miles away from this place!
Most people lost interest, yet they could not withstand the Village Chief’s encouragement or even threats.
Therefore, they had no choice but to run towards Cloud Mountain City as fast as they could, some even summoning their armor and horse sigils.
Of course, the majority of those swift on their feet were young cultivators; the elderly, women, and children mostly went back to their own homes.
Wang Chen actually didn’t want to go, feeling like he was being made a monkey of.
But with the Village Chief watching from above and the cultivators from the Defense Area supervising below, he had no reason to drop out, not being old, frail, sick, or disabled.
So Wang Chen followed the crowd and tapped an armor and horse sigil for himself, heading straight for Cloud Mountain City.
Upon arriving, he saw that the area outside the city along the Chi Path was already densely packed with people; it was unclear just how many Outer Sect cultivators the Defense Areas had mobilized for this viewing.
Those who arrived late, like Wang Chen, had no chance to squeeze in and were forced to stand even further from the city gates.
Merely a tool for holding ears of rice!
Wuu~
After half more of a two-hour period, the resounding sound of the horn came from the north.
The onlooking crowd suddenly buzzed with excitement, everyone craning their necks toward the direction of the sound.
Soon, a long procession appeared in everyone’s line of sight.
Leading the procession were sixteen Battle Cultivators, knights carrying ceremonial weapons.
They wore Mysterious Iron helmets with lion embellishments, inner cloaks adorned with colored patterns, Geng Metal armor resembling mythical creatures over the top, and rode Green-Eyed Dragon-Scaled Horses.
Each one of them appeared extraordinarily heroic!
Following the knights was the Eight Treasures Cloud Chariot, pulled by eight giant white elephants.
Sect Leader Ji Guantao sat atop in his Cloud Dragon Robe, majestic as a mountain, the focus of tens of thousands of eyes!
Six Purple Mansion Elders walked beside the Yunluan, with hundreds of Inner Sect Disciples marching boldly to guard the sides.
Behind them, thirty-six green oxen pulled wagons one after another.
The people standing along the Chi Path offered ears of rice respectfully to the coachman boys.
As a gesture of honor to the Ancestor of Cloud Sun.
At that moment, under the blazing sun with flowers in full bloom, the grandeur of Cloud Sun outshone all its predecessors!
Dong~
When the Fixed Sun Bell in Cloud Mountain City rang, the Eight Treasures Cloud Chariot carrying the Sect Master True Person came to a halt.
Silence fell around, and the thousands of cultivators held their breaths.
It was at this moment that a figure suddenly darted out from the crowd of onlookers.
And knelt down in front of the procession!
———
The second update delivered.