Chapter 786

“A direct disciple of the formation dao.”After mulling it over, Lu Qing immediately put on a respectful expression.

“May I ask, seniors—after becoming that great one’s disciple, what may this junior cultivate?”

“You passed a formation trial. On the path of formations, you possess unparalleled talent. What you will inherit is naturally the master’s formation inheritance,” the old Yellow Dragon said as if it were obvious.

Lu Qing fell silent for a moment, thinking of the eight trial passages outside.

Then he asked, “That great existence—aside from formations, is he also highly proficient in other paths of cultivation?”

“Of course!” This time it was Ming Feng who answered.

A look of boundless reverence appeared in its eyes.

“Our master is, throughout all ages, the most dazzling and peerless of supreme mighty beings. There is nothing he cannot do, nothing he does not master.

Formations, pills, talismans, artifact refining—any of the countless immortal cultivation arts.

Every single one, he reached the realm of a Dao-Union grandmaster, and his own cultivation reached the legendary Huadao realm.

Back in the ancient era, he stood at the very pinnacle of cultivation.

Across the entire starry sky, there are indeed some mighty beings whose cultivation could compare to our master’s.

But when it comes to vast learning and many talents, to knowledge that pierces heaven itself—there was not a single one who could match him!”

Ming Feng’s words sounded exaggerated, yet the black savage bull and the old Yellow Dragon showed not the slightest sense that it was overstated.

Even their waists seemed to straighten unconsciously, wearing a look of pride-by-association.

Plainly, for the master Ming Feng spoke of, their awe and reverence came from the heart.

Nothing he couldn’t do, nothing he didn’t master.

Hearing that, Lu Qing was stunned as well.

No wonder there were eight trial passages outside—so the one who created this secret realm was actually that broadly learned.

Worthy of a Daoist of Transcendence from legend!

And with that, Lu Qing’s interest only grew.

“Three seniors—if I become that great existence’s direct disciple, then besides formations, may I cultivate other techniques as well?”

“Other techniques?”

The old Yellow Dragon and the others all looked at Lu Qing, their gazes a little strange.

“Is it not allowed?” Lu Qing’s heart jolted.

“It’s not that,” the old Yellow Dragon shook its head. “As the master’s direct disciple, you may naturally cultivate other techniques as well, but I advise you not to do so.”

“Why is that?”

Lu Qing’s mind stirred. Could there be some hidden reason within this?

“That is naturally because greed for too much leads to mastery of nothing. Cultivating multiple paths at once looks glorious, but it very easily scatters one’s focus, and in the end you become someone who understands a bit of everything, yet excels at nothing.”

This time, it was Ming Feng who answered Lu Qing.

“Little one, I understand what you mean. Just now you heard me speak of our master’s heaven-piercing scholarship and boundless knowledge, and you felt longing, wanting to imitate him.”

“But that’s impossible. Our master’s wisdom is as vast as the endless sea, which is why he could be proficient in all things and master all things.”

“For anyone else to be like him—no matter what they cultivate, they can infer ten from one and grasp it with ease—even a Daoist of Transcendence couldn’t do that.”

“Once, the master had a direct disciple who wanted to do as you do now, imitating the master by cultivating several paths at once.”

“In the end, that disciple wasted away the years and could only stop at Nascent Soul Nine Tribulations. He never broke through to the Dao-Union realm before his lifespan ran out, and he died in meditation within his own cave dwelling.”

“That disciple was once deeply cherished by the master. For that, the master regretted it for a long time. Later on, whenever he spoke of it, it was always with a sigh.”

“Yes, little one,” the old Yellow Dragon also said. “Your talent in formations is astonishing beyond compare. Even compared to the master’s former direct disciples of the formation dao, you are still stronger.

If you can wholeheartedly cultivate the formation dao, your future achievements are immeasurable.

There is truly no need to involve yourself in other cultivation paths and abandon what is fundamental for what is secondary.

The formation dao is likewise a heaven-reaching great Dao. Cultivate it to the highest depth, and you can still enter the Huadao realm.”

“And even if you wanted to cultivate other techniques right now, at most you’d only obtain some basic techniques,” the black savage bull said loudly.

“Ever since that year when the master’s beloved disciple died in meditation, the master sealed away the profound techniques of each cultivation path separately.”

“And he gave strict orders: if any disciple under his banner wishes to cultivate another road, they must pass the trial passage he set for it. Only then may they enter the Formation-Inheritance Grounds and receive the inheritance.”

“Therefore, even we cannot break the rules and open the inheritance grounds of the other cultivation paths to you.”

Hearing the three strange beasts’ persuasion, Lu Qing fell silent.

He naturally understood the reasoning they spoke of.

But he could not reveal the matter of the Spiritual Powers within him.

As for charging the other passages—besides the talisman path, the rest would not be easy to pass.

After all, no matter what, he was still only a four-tribulation Nascent Soul.

Though his foundation and accumulated depth were no weaker than any Nascent Soul cultivator, in hard power he still found it difficult to contend with those top-tier Nascent Souls.

Thinking to this point, Lu Qing already made his decision.

He respectfully bowed to the three strange beasts.

“This junior was reckless and ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. Many thanks to the three seniors for waking me up.”

Words alone proved nothing. If he wanted other inheritances, it seemed he could only rely on raising his cultivation in the future, then venturing into the other passages.

Seeing Lu Qing come to his senses, the three strange beasts all revealed smiles.

They had feared Lu Qing might be the stubborn type, arrogant and bent on his own way. After all, geniuses were often proud.

Now it seemed this little one was willing to listen.

With that, the three strange beasts grew even more satisfied with Lu Qing.

“Alright. Now we’ll prepare the master-taking ceremony for you, then send you into the formation inheritance grounds,” the old Yellow Dragon said.

“Senior, this junior still has one matter.”

Hearing talk of taking a master, Lu Qing’s heart moved, and he hesitated slightly as he spoke.

“What matter?”

“This junior earlier claimed to be a wandering cultivator, but in truth I do have a lineage, and my own master is still alive. So regarding taking a master…”

“That’s only a small matter. It does not hinder anything,” the old Yellow Dragon laughed. “On the path of cultivation, the capable come first. Having a master is normal. Before my master left, he already instructed that even if one has another sect or teacher, one may still enter under his banner.”

Otherwise, over these hundreds of thousands of years, which cultivator who entered this secret realm to explore didn’t have their own lineage?

If they minded this, they would have long since thrown everyone out. How could they have tolerated them entering to explore three times?

“Then that is good.”

Hearing the conditions were so lenient, Lu Qing finally relaxed.

As for taking another master, he had no resistance at all.

After all, that was a Daoist of Transcendence—an unrivaled mighty being standing at the very top beneath the starry sky.

Fully qualified to be his master.

Lu Qing also noticed that the old Yellow Dragon had just mentioned that Daoist of Transcendence had already left.

But he did not ask further.

Right now he had not formally taken the master yet, and many things were not suitable to probe too deeply.

“Now you’re at ease, yes? You can take the master?” the old Yellow Dragon said with a smile.

Lu Qing’s expression turned solemn. “This is this junior’s honor.”

“Good!”

The old Yellow Dragon waved a hand. Lu Qing immediately felt a force of space envelop him.

Before he could react, his vision spun as the world turned over.

When he came back to himself, he was in a new space.

The first thing that entered his eyes was a gigantic white jade statue.

The statue was in the image of a scholar, holding a book scroll and gazing into the distance.

Yet no matter what Lu Qing did, he could not clearly see its face.

It was plainly right before him, but when he looked closely, it was as if it were hidden deep within clouds and mist—impossible to make out.

Lu Qing’s heart tightened. He understood the extraordinariness of this white jade statue.

For something that even a Nascent Soul like him could not see through, it was likely yet another astonishing treasure.

“Little one, this is one of the master’s Manifestations. Go forward and kowtow to him a few times. That will count as taking the master,” the old Yellow Dragon’s voice sounded.

Though surprised at how simple the ceremony was, Lu Qing still obediently went forward and knocked his head to the white jade statue.

He did not see, however, that behind him, the old Yellow Dragon and the other two beasts wore rare looks of tension.

After three kowtows, an indescribable aura spread from the white jade statue and settled upon Lu Qing.

That aura was like a breeze, giving Lu Qing no sense of threat at all.

Yet he seemed to hear a gentle voice sounding from the depths of his heart: “Not bad.”

Lu Qing’s body shook. He hastily raised his head to look at the white jade statue.

But what he saw was that the statue was exactly as before, without any change.

Only behind him, the old Yellow Dragon and the two strange beasts, upon sensing that breeze, thoroughly relaxed, joy rising on their faces.

“It seems the master also acknowledges our choice.”

“Three seniors, just now that was…” Lu Qing could not help asking.

“No need to mind it. That was the master’s acknowledgement of you. Little one, congratulations—you have officially become the master’s direct disciple.”

That Daoist of Transcendence’s acknowledgement—wasn’t he said to have already left?

Lu Qing’s doubts only deepened.

Unfortunately, before three powerful strange beasts who had surpassed the Nascent Soul realm, he could not just activate his Spiritual Powers to observe everywhere.

This place was clearly extremely important at a glance. If he stared around indiscriminately and provoked their displeasure, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Still the same as before—if he wanted to investigate the cause, he would have to endure a while longer.

In any case, he had already become that great one’s disciple. The days ahead were long; there would be plenty of time later to slowly investigate.

So Lu Qing did not press further. Instead, he bowed again and asked somewhat ashamedly, “Three seniors, this junior has taken the master, yet I still do not know my master’s venerable name.”

“The master’s given name is not something we may call directly,” the old Yellow Dragon said. “You only need remember that the master’s Dao name is Daoist Guixu.”

“Daoist Guixu.”

Lu Qing understood. This matched the information he had investigated—there was no mistake.

“Alright. The master-taking rite is complete. Ah Qing, do you wish to immediately enter the formation inheritance grounds and accept the inheritance now?”

After Lu Qing successfully took the master, the old Yellow Dragon’s address to him also became more intimate.

Lu Qing pondered for a moment, then said, “This junior still has some matters I wish to ask the three seniors.”

“Ask.”

The old Yellow Dragon was not surprised. It knew that cultivators from outside would naturally be filled with endless curiosity about the Gui Xu Secret Realm.

So it was normal for Lu Qing to have many questions.

However, Lu Qing’s first question made the three strange beasts freeze.

“May I ask the three seniors—how long, in total, does this secret realm remain open each time?”

“You dared to enter to explore, yet you don’t even know the time limit for the Gui Xu Secret Realm’s opening?” the old Yellow Dragon said in surprise.

The black savage bull and Ming Feng also looked at Lu Qing oddly.

By rights, this was already the third opening of the Gui Xu Secret Realm. Each time it appeared in the world, it remained for one hundred years. Information like this should have long been widely known outside.

Lu Qing held a token and entered alone—yet he didn’t know this?

Lu Qing gave a bitter smile. “To tell the three seniors the truth, this junior entered this secret realm purely by accident. It was not by my own will.”

“What, could it be someone forced you to come in?” the old Yellow Dragon asked.

But on second thought, it felt that was not right either.

There was not much danger within the Gui Xu Secret Realm.

Unless some blind fool did something incredibly stupid, there was basically no threat to life.

On the contrary, those smaller palaces outside the Immortal Palace still held some decent opportunities.

What kind of person would be willing to hand opportunities to others, yet not come in to explore themselves?

“No one forced this junior. The reason I came in here is entirely because of this item.”

Lu Qing took out the Void Flying Boat from the Heaven and Earth One Qi Bag.

“This is… a Void Flying Boat?”

Seeing the silver flying boat Lu Qing produced, the three strange beasts were startled at first, then all showed looks of sudden understanding.

“So that’s how it is. It was this Void Flying Boat that brought you here. No wonder. I didn’t think you would have the opportunity to obtain a Void Flying Boat.”

“I ask the senior to enlighten me.”

Lu Qing took out the Void Flying Boat because ever since entering the Immortal Palace, he had felt a summoning sensation from within it.

As if somewhere inside the Immortal Palace, something was calling to him.

Before, with the situation unclear, he naturally didn’t dare ask casually.

Now that he had successfully taken the master, and these three strange beasts seemed not hard to deal with, he finally brought it out.

“This matter is a long story. This Void Flying Boat is a component of a Dao artifact that the master refined.

That year, the master fought a great battle with an enemy. That Dao artifact also suffered significant damage, and its components scattered.

Later, after the master heavily injured that enemy, he himself was also badly wounded.

And because of certain reasons, he was in urgent need of leaving, so he had no time to retrieve the scattered components of that Dao artifact.

Who would have thought that one of those components would end up in your hands?

This Void Flying Boat bears the imprint and aura the master left behind. The Star River Formation outside naturally would not block you.”

Though the old Yellow Dragon spoke calmly, Lu Qing heard the peril beneath it.

To be able to fight Daoist Guixu to the death, wound him, and even cripple his Dao artifact—

There was no need to think: that enemy must also have been a Daoist of Transcendence.

As for Daoist Guixu repelling the enemy and then hurriedly leaving without even collecting and repairing his own Dao artifact—

This surely involved an enormous secret.

But since the old Yellow Dragon would not speak further, Lu Qing naturally could not keep pressing.

He could only continue, “Then, senior—about the question I asked earlier…”

“Each time the Gui Xu Secret Realm appears in the world, it remains open for one hundred years. After one hundred years, it will sink back into concealment, and no one will be able to enter again.”

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