Daoist Competition-Chapter 1049 - 264: Xuanming Heavy Water (2)

Zhang Yan had no doubt in his heart. Even though he had just easily refined a cluster of Xuanming Heavy Water, it was due to fortuitous circumstances. If he were to try again, it would absolutely not be as easy.

To transform all three hundred and sixty-five drops of You Yin Heavy Water into Xuanming Heavy Water might take more than several years, which would be somewhat not worth the effort.

He weighed the matter quietly. Although this Divine Beast Egg was extraordinary, he didn’t know when it would hatch. Keeping it in the hall would not only be detrimental to its nourishment but could also affect his own cultivation, so it needed to be moved elsewhere. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After considering, he said to the Mirror Spirit, "Zhang Jing, move this object below. Report to me if there is any change."

The Mirror Spirit responded steadily, gently stroked his palm, and turned the Array Gate. In the blink of an eye, the egg was moved elsewhere.

Zhang Yan called from his heart, bringing out the Mountain and River Child, and instructed, "Zhang Ju, watch over that object carefully. Collect any remaining Xuanyin Water Qi each day and make sure none is left behind."

The Mountain and River Child bowed and said, "I will diligently follow the master’s decree."

After Zhang Yan finished instructing, he saw Jing You still eagerly looking at him, seemingly waiting for his arrangement. After a brief thought, he took out a Jade Box and said, "Wait inside."

Jing You immediately wore a bitter face, but dared not defy, muttered something, and transformed into a white light that entered the Jade Box.

Zhang Yan smiled and said, "You’ve endured for one thousand five hundred years, so why fret over a few more? Once I exit seclusion, I will release you, as I still have use for you."

After saying this, he closed the Jade Box and casually tossed it into his pouch.

Now that the Cave Mansion was quiet, he no longer divided his attention. He closed his eyes, and the key points of the Five Elements Escape Technique’s cultivation method emerged from his Heart Sea, flowing across his mind.

To utilize this cultivation technique, one must first cultivate a breath of Five Elements Qi. He, however, had the Supreme Mysterious Five Elements True Skill and could surpass this barrier, already having a natural advantage over others.

Actually, the Daoist Skills of the Xuanmen all require matching Divine Skills techniques to practice together to achieve half the effort for double the result. If one were to practice another sect’s Dharma technique, it would take a very long time, and there is no guarantee of deep mastery.

In this sense, the Five Elements Escape Technique naturally complements Zhang Yan’s own cultivation method, like it was tailor-made for him, a rare shortcut indeed.

Zhang Yan initially thought that even with difficulties, he could easily overcome them by putting in some thought, but upon truly practicing this Divine Skill, he found its complexity and profoundness far exceeding his expectations.

No wonder this Divine Skill ranks third among the Twelve Divine Abilities, yet rarely chosen. To achieve basic mastery of this method, more than a hundred years is needed.

Even Qi Yuntian practiced the Little All Heaven Moving Technique derived from the Five Elements Escape Technique, which indicates how difficult this method is to train.

What is particularly troubling is that the cultivation method contains only the Five Elements combined refining method, multiplying its complexity.

Typically, once a cultivator starts learning, they can only slowly hone it over several decades, possibly gaining some insights.

However, Zhang Yan found this approach inappropriate. Cultivating it in such a manner would waste time for nothing, and at critical moments couldn’t be relied upon, far from what he had hoped for, especially with the Demon Tribulation already started and the need to attend the Sword Fighting Conference—he could not afford to waste time.

Thus, he came up with a method, which is to use the Nine-Numbered Taishi Lingbao Xuanming Scripture to separately deduce the Five Elements Skill.

Fortunately, this technique originally stems from the Five Skills and Three Scripture of the sect, sharing the same origin as the Five Elements Escape Technique, so this step was the right one for him.

In fact, this is not an easy task. Anyone else using thirty to forty years would be considered normal. Even knowing they could do it this way, most would give up at the mere thought, unwilling to waste mental energy on it.

But Zhang Yan had the Broken Jade in hand, so he needn’t worry about that. Since he achieved Nascent Soul, not only did he deduce the Water Escape Technique from it, but he also trained it to a usable extent.

Next, he planned to deduce the Earth Escape Technique.

After reviewing the entire technique once more, he took a deep breath, sat firmly, reached out to grasp the Broken Jade, closed his eyes, and immersed his heart and spirit within it.

Since achieving Nascent Soul, a day within the Broken Jade equaled over eighty days in the outside world. Immersed fully, he became unaware of the outer world’s passage of time.

This time, when he awoke from meditation, he glanced at the Carriage Plate placed in the stone chamber and realized a year had already passed.

Calculating the time, it should be the sect’s grand competition. However, the Sect Leader’s decree states, "You shall not concern yourself with sect affairs," so it was not appropriate to join the excitement.

Moreover, now that he was a Nascent Soul True Master, ranked fourth among the Top Ten Disciples, having slain Elder Hu with a single sword strike, his reputation soared. Even without appearing in the competition, no one dared question his strength.

He pondered for a moment, cast a spell into the Little Pot Mirror, and soon Zhang Jing emerged, bowed, and asked, "What instructions does the master have?"

Zhang Yan said, "Did any Flying Books arrive at the Mountain Gate while I was in seclusion?"

The Mirror Spirit replied, "There was one, but it was unnamed, so I don’t know which sect member sent it. Would you like to see it, Master?"

Zhang Yan guessed it was a letter from Elder Qi, avoiding mention of names for some reason, so he said, "Bring it for me to see."

The Mirror Spirit brushed his sleeve, producing a letter, stepped forward, and respectfully handed it over.

Zhang Yan took it, opened it, glanced through, and understood. Without showing emotion, he set it aside, considered for a moment, and said, "Write a letter to the Lower Court residence, informing Caiwei to let Zuo Cheng return to my Mountain Gate."

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