Book 2, Chapter 73 - Haunted

Immortal Soaring Blade

Because of Zhao Jiuge’s order, the Yu family didn’t dare to disturb his cultivation. The next day, no one came to disturb Zhao Jiuge, not even when it was time to eat. Zhao Jiuge was very happy because he got to cultivate in peace and quiet.

Zhao Jiuge was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, but his brows were furrowed. After leaving the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, he noticed that the spiritual energy here was obviously a lot less dense compared to back in the sect. At this moment, Zhao Jiuge somewhat understood why everyone wanted to cultivate in the holy lands. Not only was it peaceful, it was also filled with spiritual energy.

Feeling the spirit force that was slowly increasing in his body, he felt helpless. He looked at the two golden dragons in his dantian that were lazily lying there. Even to this day, Zhao Jiuge still hadn't figured out the mystery of the Sanskrit Divine Body, and he wouldn’t be able to condense the third dragon any time soon.

Then Zhao Jiuge looked at the spirit force in his dantian. It had already become very bright gold and strands of spirit force were floating around it. From the looks of it, his spirit force had reached a limit and he was at the late stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm. He only needed an opportunity to make a breakthrough for the spirit force in his body to turn from gas to liquid and achieve the Foundation Realm, condensing his foundation formation. That opportunity was the Elucidation chapter. When he comprehended the realm of Elucidation, he would be able to condense his foundation formation and reach the Foundation Realm.

If he didn’t have this opportunity, even if he never cultivated the sword art, he could still reach the Foundation Realm. However, that would have to rely purely on his own accumulation, like how dripping water could drill through a stone or an iron rod could be grinded down to a needle. Zhao Jiuge looked at how slow his spirit force was increasing and gave up.

In the end, he could only rely on the sword art, but he had reached a bottleneck there as well. None of the three paths were open, so he couldn’t gain a qualitative leap in strength any time soon. Although the spiritual energy here was thin, Zhao Jiuge still sat down to cultivate. He soon entered the proper state and cultivated for one day and two nights.

……

When the light from the sun tore through the night and scattered on the earth, Zhao Jiuge suddenly opened his eyes and stretched lazily. He suddenly saw a shadow standing outside from the corner of his eye. Zhao Jiuge jumped out of bed. The shadow seemed to notice movement inside the room and moved as well.

The figure bowed slightly and then respectfully said, “Elder immortal Zhao, the family head and the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery are waiting for you in the main hall. We are prepared to head out soon.”

It turned out to be Yu Qingshan’s eldest son, Yu Chunsheng, who had come early in the morning. However, he was afraid of disturbing Zhao Jiuge, so he had waited for a long time until he heard movement inside and then asked.

“I know, I’ll be right there.” Zhao Jiuge's calm voice echoed from the room and then some slight noises came from inside.

Soon, the door was pushed open and Zhao Jiuge slowly walked out. Yu Chunsheng’s eyes lit up. Zhao Jiuge had taken off his black clothes and was now wearing the sword robe from the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. He was carrying the Blue Plum Sword on his back and had the bag containing his clothes on his waist.

A blue sword robe with silver embroidery that formed a silver sword. The clothes completely changed Zhao Jiuge’s aura. The Blue Plum Sword behind him gave off a blue that was very eye-catching.

A black ribbon casually tied up his hair, and his youthful face was slightly cold. Zhao Jiuge  gently nodded, indicating to Yu Chunsheng to lead the way. Yu Chunsheng immediately walked in front, but he couldn’t help but look back at Zhao Jiuge. Today, Zhao Jiuge was completely different from before—it was like night and day compared to when they met.

Yu Chunsheng respectfully led Zhao Jiuge to the main hall. Zhao Jiuge sensed a figure inside the hall exuding spirit force that should be around the Spirit Transformation Realm. Zhao Jiuge immediately concealed his spirit force.

He looked up and saw a middle-aged daoist wearing a grey and white robe. He had a few strands of white hair and his hair was coiled up high. It was held in place by a dark hairpin. He had a whisk in his right hand, and his whole appearance gave off an extraordinary feeling. At this moment, he was smiling and talking with Yu Qingshan about something.

There was a small daoist child behind the middle-aged daoist. The child was about 12 to 14 years old with red lips and a thin body, wearing a decent blue and white daoist robe. The child’s hair was tied up with a white ribbon and he had a purplish gold bag on the waist. A peach blossom wooden sword was strapped firmly around the child’s arms.

On the side sat Yu Qingshan, who was full of smiles, and Yu Xiasheng was quietly standing beside him, listening to what they were talking about. When Zhao Jiuge came in, everyone in the room looked toward him and observed him from top to bottom. It has to be said that right now, Zhao Jiuge didn’t lose out to the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery.

If it wasn’t for the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery, he wouldn’t have dressed in such a high-profile manner. It has to be said that he had come on this mission on the behalf of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, so he couldn’t be looked down upon.

Yu Xiasheng’s beautiful eyes lit up and then she covered her mouth to smile. When the red-lipped daoist boy saw Zhao Jiuge arrive, he stared at Zhao Jiuge with an unfriendly gaze. The atmosphere suddenly became oppressive. Although the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery was smiling, his eyes were cautious and also contained a hint of coldness.

In the cultivation world, one’s faction was very important. The most famous were sword cultivators, Daoist, and Buddhism, while the rest were merely rogue cultivators or small factions. The Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery originally came with the intention of solving this difficult matter, but it turned out that there was a sword cultivator here as well, so he immediately became competitive. In addition, whether it was sword cultivator, Daoist, or Buddist they all had to gain experience to hone themselves.

Daoists travelled the world to cut down ghosts and demons as their responsibility.

Buddhism’s responsibility was to the people, to show mercy and compassion.

Sword cultivators focused only on honing their sword dao—they lived by the sword.

That’s why even though it was the first time they had met, they didn’t like each other. The atmosphere became so oppressive, the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery almost released his spirit force. Seeing that the situation was not right, the sly Yu Qingshan immediately stood up and laughed. “Let me introduce the two of you. This is the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery, and this is the disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, Zhao Jiuge. Both of you are experts, I’ll trouble you two for this matter.”

“Hmph, a mere disciple wants to compare to my master,” the daoist boy behind the daoist muttered in disdain. The arrogance on his lovely face was obvious.

Although his voice was not loud, the room was only so big, so everyone in the room clearly heard the boy. Yu Qingshan looked troubled and secretly looked at Zhao Jiuge’s reaction. Fortunately, Zhao Jiuge was still calm like he didn’t care.

Yu Xiasheng’s beautiful eyes were filled with excitement. She just hoped everything would be more chaotic. It was the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery who took the lead to greet Zhao Jiuge. He nodded slightly and revealed a fake smile. “This daoist is the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery. I heard that the old family home was haunted and intended to go help resolve this matter. I wonder, what is young hero Zhao’s opinion on this matter?”

After hearing the little boy’s muttering, Zhao Jiuge felt dissatisfied, but he remained silent because he didn’t know anything about the other party. However, when the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery didn’t even stand up to greet him, anger surged in his heart.

He thought for a long time and couldn’t think of a place called the Qing Feng Monastery. Not to mention, as the lord of the monastery, he was only at the Spirit Transformation Realm. He was mostly a rogue cultivator who passed by and couldn’t even be considered a third rate sect member. Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge was too lazy to even put up a pretense. Instead, he replied in a slightly playful and provocative tone, “Oh? I don’t really have any opinions, but I’m also here to solve this problem. How about we compete to see who is better?”

After hearing this, the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery’s face became gloomy. Before, when he saw Zhao Jiuge’s appearance and age, he didn’t take him as a threat. But when he saw the sword and the aura Zhao Jiuge gave off, he felt a bit wary. However, based on his own cultivation level and Zhao Jiuge’s age, he didn’t think Zhao Jiuge could be very strong. He also had never heard of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect and thought it was similar to his Qing Feng Monastery. Thus, he gloomly accepted the challenge. “Good, I want to see how skilled the young hero is.”

The entire Huaxia Dynasty was very vast, with countless mountains and rivers. The Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery was an ordinary daoist who accidentally obtained a copy of the Clear Mind Mantra. He had reached the Spirit Transformation Realm on his own and traveled here, so he had never heard of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. Otherwise, no matter how brave he was, he wouldn’t dare to accept. Furthermore, although Zhao Jiuge was young, his cultivation was not weak. However, Zhao Jiuge’s spirit force was contained inside his body, so the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery couldn’t detect it.

The Lord of the Qing Feng Monastary couldn’t even imagine in his wildest dream that Zhao Jiuge was already at the late stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm at such a young age. Aside from talent, one’s cultivation method was very important. Poor cultivation methods like the Clear Mind Mantra would never get you far. A superior cultivation method would not only allow one to cultivate faster, it would also enable one to reach much higher realms. The Sanskrit Heart Sutra that Zhao Jiuge cultivated was certainly extraordinary, so his cultivation pace wasn't slow. If someone more talented were cultivating this, they would progress even faster.

“Let us all go, I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to see exactly what kind of ghost is haunting that place.” Zhao Jiuge directly ignored the Lord of the Qing Feng Monastery and turned toward Yu Qingshan.

Only the little daoist boy looked at Zhao Jiuge with indignation, but Zhao Jiuge only left him with the sight of him leaving.

Everyone left the room and prepared to head to the Yu family’s ancestral home to see exactly what was causing that place to be haunted for the last several months.

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