With agility gained through a lifetime of training, Ling Jun evaded the punch targeting his head, pivoted gracefully, and unleashed a powerful kick to his opponent’s ribs. Unwilling to let up as his fellow disciple doubled over in pain, Ling Jun followed up with a decisive strike to the jaw, sending his fellow disciple crashing to the ground.
Ling Jun watched dispassionately as the senior disciple responsible for supervising any duels that took place in the newly opened Martial Hall tended to the one who lost. Though he was an adequate fighter, few people in the valley had any real experience with martial arts. It made Ling Jun dearly hope that his peers would soon realize that he was out of their league and that their constant challenges were a waste of time.
When Elder Mo had first returned from wherever he and the other Elders had disappeared to and announced the sect’s intention to drastically increase their focus on nurturing those with a talent for combat, Ling Jun had been nothing but excited. His excitement remained, but he couldn’t help wishing the opportunity hadn’t led to a barrage of incessant annoyances.
According to Elder Mo, each of the sect’s Elders would be selecting five disciples to permit into Ascending Dragon Caverns to cultivate for a week. More spots in the caverns would also be allocated to each valley depending on how well their disciples performed in the sect’s annual tournament.
Elder Mo had told them that the Verdant Valley Sect had decided to make these changes as a reaction to increasing threats from demonic cultivators and the nearby sects. While many of the other disciples had exchanged worried glances and huddled together in whispered conversations at the news, Ling Jun felt nothing but a surge of determination.
His father had always said that opportunity could be found in chaos, and he intended to take full advantage.
The Elder made it very clear that he would be selecting disciples based on their combat ability, and that he would be paying close attention to any challenges that happened in the valley.
Elder Mo had even gone so far as to directly reveal the disciples for whom he currently had the greatest expectations, which included Ling Jun!
The Elder had obviously been hoping that his actions would spur the valley into a competition, and it had worked. After all, not only would the selected disciples be given the amazing opportunity to cultivate in Ascending Dragon Caverns, but Elder Mo intended to personally help them prepare for the tournament!
It was truly a life-changing opportunity for many of them.
Ling Jun was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a commotion on the other side of the Martial Hall. Looking over, he quickly spotted his… acquaintance surrounded by a crowd as he fought one of the largest disciples of their generation in the valley. It was a tad comical watching someone as small and seemingly harmless as Jin Mao fighting someone so much larger than him with an uncharacteristically serious expression, but Ling Jun wasn’t concerned.
Jin Mao had proven to be decently talented after Elder Mo helped him solve the problems with his cultivation and had already managed to reach the second level of Qi Condensation. Having sparred with Jin Mao several times by now, Ling Jun knew all too well that there was a hidden strength lying beneath that unassuming exterior.
Predicting and avoiding all of his opponent's attacks with his infuriatingly sharp Qi sense, Ling Jun's acquaintance ended the match with a swift, Qi-enhanced kick to the head. Ling Jun couldn’t help but roll his eyes as Jin Mao rushed to help his defeated opponent while wearing a worried expression.
Just as Ling Jun was about to go over to make his way out of the Martial Hall and search for a spot to cultivate, he was suddenly stopped by one of the more annoying disciples in the valley.
“If you don’t mind, I would appreciate the opportunity to trade pointers with you, Ling Jun,” said Du Yun, one of the few other disciples in their generation who had managed to reach the second stage of Qi Condensation. “Of course, I am willing to wait if you need time to recover after your most recent spar.”
Du Yun was always perfectly polite whenever Ling Jun spoke to him, but something about the slender, sharp-eyed disciple always irritated him. He had been forced to deal with disingenuous sycophants for most of his life, so Ling Jun had become fairly skilled at discerning how people really felt about him. Du Yun tried his best, but his commoner background hadn’t taught him how to properly hide the animosity in his eyes.
Ling Jun quickly pushed those thoughts away and decided to accept Du Yun’s challenge. He had long since gotten used to strangers disliking him either out of envy or some other worthless reason, so Du Yun’s feelings weren’t something worth giving much consideration to.
“That won't be necessary. I’ll trade pointers with you now,” Ling Jun said confidently. “Let’s do this as quickly as possible so that I can return to focusing on my cultivation in preparation for the tournament. I don’t have all day to waste on fighting everyone who asks.”
Ling Jun wished that his fellow disciples would understand that they were fighting against their own interests by making challenges they couldn’t win. The more time that he had for cultivation, the more likely he would be able to win the valley another spot in the Ascending Dragon Caverns.
Unfortunately, Ling Jun could tell from the growing hostility in Du Yun’s eyes meant that he didn’t understand this.
“Thank you for sparing your valuable time. I’m truly grateful for your magnanimity,” said Du Yun as he took on the stance of the Verdant Valley Sect’s most basic water-aligned martial arts, the Green Mist Palm.
Ling Jun could tell that Du Yun had a talent for martial arts by the steadiness of a stance that he had only spent a few months learning, but that talent wouldn’t be enough to secure him victory against an opponent who had both talent and experience.
“You’re very welcome,” responded Ling Jun as he took the stance of his Clan’s martial art, acting as if hadn’t heard the mockery in Du Yun’s words. “Provide me with a good fight and I’ll allow you to trade pointers with me again in the future. Feel free to begin whenever you like.”
The moment that he was done speaking, Du Yun immediately took him up on that and attacked with a series of surprisingly quick palm strikes. Ling Jun calmly deflected each of these blows as he carefully watched his opponent in search of an opening until he was suddenly surprised by a blow aimed at his throat that he hadn’t seen coming.
In a burst of Qi-enhanced movement, Ling Jun swiftly ducked beneath the blow and aimed a kick toward Du Yun’s knee that his opponent hastily jumped back to avoid. Once there was a sizable enough distance between them, Ling Jun took the opportunity to examine his opponent and spotted a faint green mist floating around Du Yun’s hands.
Has he already achieved such proficiency with the Green Mist Palm? Ling Jun marveled internally. His Qi control must be quite good if he can manifest the mists at the second stage of Qi Condensation.
The Green Mist Palm worked by allowing the user to create green mists around their attacks that seeped into their enemy’s body with each blow and confused their perception of reality. At higher levels of cultivation, the mists could even be turned solid and be used by the practitioner to either attack enemies directly or defend from their attacks. It was a very versatile martial arts style and was extremely popular among cultivators whose spiritual root favored water Qi.
Now that he understood what was happening Ling Jun checked his own meridians and forcefully expelled the foreign Qi from his body. He felt the slight distortions in his perceptions disappear even as Du Yun dashed back in and unleashed a flurry of blows.
Ling Jun made sure to dodge all of his opponent’s strikes instead of blocking this time before countering by grabbing Du Yun’s outstretched arm, pulling him in, and striking him in the stomach with his knee. Instead of doubling over in pain as Ling Jun had expected, Du Yun surprised him for a second time by glaring up at him and spitting out a stream of water in his face that forced him to let go.
Ling Jun found himself torn between admiration for Du Yun’s swift mastery of a cultivation technique and indignation at the dishonorable tactic employed. However, he didn’t have much time to think about it before Du Yun was once again attacking him, this time with much more success as his blows were actually landing.
Although he tried his best to defend himself, Ling Jun had trouble avoiding his opponent’s strikes when his eyes still stung from the water that had just been spat in his face. When it became clear that he would actually have to use his own cultivation technique in response, Ling Jun felt a mixture of embarrassment and frustration.
Embarrassment because he had been foolish enough to underestimate his opponent and had been placed on the back foot as a result, and frustration because this was yet another moment where he had been made to feel foolish due to his preconceived notions. That had happened far too many times since Ling Jun had come to the sect and he was quite frankly getting tired of it.
His eyes firm with determination, Ling Jun watched for where Du Yun’s next blow would land and quickly used the Thornbark Defense technique. There was some risk since using even a single cultivation technique at his level consumed the majority of his available Qi, but the same should be true for Du Yun.
When his opponent’s next attack struck his chest, he immediately pulled back in pain as his palm made contact with sharp thorns, allowing Ling Jun to retake the initiative.
No longer underestimating Du Yun, he immediately funneled the rest of his Qi into his muscles and unleashed a quick series of blows that left his opponent with no chance to counter or evade. Now that he was fully focused on fighting Du Yun, the gap between their skills quickly became apparent as Ling Jun gradually wore him down.
With a final powerful punch to Du Yun’s solar plexus, Ling Jun sent him sprawling onto the floor of the Martial Hall gasping for breath.
Breathing heavily, Ling Jun observed his opponent for several more moments until he was certain that he was no longer able to continue fighting. After a few moments, Ling Jun realized that a quiet had fallen over the Martial Hall, and he glanced around, curious to discover the cause of the silence. It was only then that he saw the small crowd of disciples who had gathered to watch the fight between him and Du Yun.
Ling Jun saw many expressions from the disciples of his own generation, including respect, annoyance, and the typical envy. Some of the senior disciples were the same, but there were many more who watched him warily.
“Ling Jun! That was great,” Jin Mao cheered excitedly, pushing through the crowd. “Why didn’t you tell me that you managed to learn a cultivation technique?”
“It wasn’t exactly something that I wished to announce,” Ling Jun said with exasperation. “Techniques are typically things that cultivators keep to themselves when doing so is convenient.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
It had taken him a significant amount of time to complete the mission to document all of the plants in the valley, but it had been worth it. Elder Mo had rewarded him with a very useful cultivation technique as payment.
Ling Jun would have preferred to only reveal it during the tournament, but his pride would have never allowed him to lose a spar against Du Yun. Reminded of his opponent, Ling Jun turned to look for him, only to see his fellow disciple hurriedly striding out of the Martial Hall.
As he tuned out Jin Mao’s excited chattering, a part of him couldn’t help but wonder about the disciple who had actually managed to push him so far.
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In the privacy of his own home, Mo Duan smiled as he used his spiritual sense to observe the ongoings of the Martial Hall.
He hadn’t been certain if his plans would work as intended, but things seemed to be going well. Not only had his announcements succeeded in motivating his disciples to work hard at their cultivation, but singling out those who he wanted to feel the most pressure had proven to be a good idea.
He obviously hadn’t been able to tell them the entire truth but telling them that they would be able to go to the Ascending Dragon Caverns as a reward was a good enough motivation. In reality, the disciples selected to go to the Secret Realm would be escorted into the caverns, and forced to take on an oath of confidentiality, It was only then would they be sent to the Secret Realm through a teleportation formation that Elder Feng had constructed in the deepest portions of the caverns.
Not only that but the disciples would also be under the impression that they were being transported to a specialized training area constructed by the Verdant Valley Sect. It was a bit of a flimsy lie, but it was one that was difficult for the sect’s enemies to disprove.
Anything that the sect could do to obfuscate the truth was to their advantage.
Mo Duan was guaranteed to be able to send at least five disciples into the Secret Realm for the first trip. However, considering the lower initial martial and cultivation abilities of most of the cultivators in his Valley, he could not provide sufficient resources to all of his students. Since that was the case, he obviously intended to pick five disciples and focus on strengthening them as much as possible. The more powerful they were, the more likely they would be to actually acquire the Spiritual Plant that Mo Duan needed.
It was a little regretful that Mo Duan would need to focus on a select few disciples while neglecting the rest, but there was little else that he could do. The nature of cultivation made it significantly more cost-effective to focus resources on a few talented individuals compared to distributing them to many. Besides, those few disciples would have a greater chance of securing more slots into the Secret Realm if they were powerful, and they would also contribute more to the valley by taking higher-ranked missions from the Hall of Administration.
Mo Duan also knew that he had several disciples who had very little interest in combat, so he hoped that they would have their turn to shine once his valley expanded into growing Spiritual Plants. But for now, focusing his efforts on raising up the most talented of his disciples was the best thing that he could do for his valley.
Mo Duan hadn’t been certain at first who those five disciples would be, but he had a decent idea. The two older disciples who he was counting on to reach the Foundation Establishment realm, Xiao Li and Xue Chenying, were obviously among them. Ling Jun was also one of them, for reasons that were equally obvious.
The last two slots had been much more up in the air, which was one of the reasons that Mo Duan had decided to spur his valley’s competitive spirit. The Verdant Valley Sect had a fairly large population under its control, which meant that they took in more new disciples than most sects. Even though his valley was the least populated, Mo Duan had a little under a hundred disciples under his mentorship, most of whom he knew little about.
This world was a decidedly unfair one, but Mo Duan still intended to give each of his disciples as much of an opportunity as possible.
After a few weeks of competition, he was now fairly confident about which disciples he would be focusing on. Including the three that he had already chosen, Jin Mao and Du Yun would both be excellent additions.
Jin Mao’s heritage gave him a natural advantage now that he was aware of his unique circumstances, and he displayed a surprising amount of talent. He would need extra care to adapt any cultivation technique he used to his physiology, but Mo Duan thought it worth the effort.
Du Yun, on the other hand, was an individual who he wouldn’t have expected to show as much promise as he did. The boy showed strong determination and good talent, but there was a reason that he hadn’t been chosen by any of the other Elders. Du Yun suffered from a rare defect in his meridians that made him prone to suffering Qi deviations that actually made it painful for the boy to cultivate at all.
Cultivation was an activity that felt fairly pleasant for most people. Du Yun would need to acquire some fairly expensive medicines to cure his affliction, and it was anybody’s guess whether or not the boy would burn out before he managed to do so.
None of the other Elders were willing to invest resources into someone who was such a risk for so little gain, but Mo Duan felt differently. Determination and persistence were crucial qualities in any cultivator, and Du Yun possessed them in spades. That was why he had chosen the boy for his last spot, despite there being a few other notable disciples in his valley.
Mo Duan was very pleased with both Jin Mao and Du Yun, and he looked forward to seeing what they would accomplish. It didn’t hurt that they both seemed to have formed a connection with Ling Jun, although in two completely different ways. Mo Duan hoped that they would be able to push each other to improve themselves.
If he hadn’t known any better, Mo Duan would have considered it the hand of fate. However, the far more likely explanation was simply that Ling Jun possessed a rather… polarizing personality. That was something that he would need to work on eventually, but Mo Duan already had too much on his plate to worry about Ling Jun being a bit rude.
Just as he was about to sweep his spiritual sense through the rest of the valley to check up on his other disciples, Mo Duan noticed a paper crane flying towards his home.
Ah, the Patriarch must have finally sent his reply…
Mo Duan patiently awaited the arrival of the message as it glided through his window and unfurled itself on his desk. Once he finished reading, his smile broadened even further.
He had always been confident that the Patriarch would approve his request to take a few of his disciples outside of the sect, but he was glad that he had received such a prompt response
Despite the prevailing air of suspicion surrounding him, Mo Duan was still an Elder of the sect and a formidable cultivator who commanded the respect that accompanied such positions. The sect’s leadership had no legitimate grounds to restrict his movements as if he was some kind of prisoner.
Of course, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be keeping a sharp eye on him and making efforts to verify that he actually went where he said he would. Mo Duan had no doubt that the leadership had many tricks up their sleeves to protect their own interests that he didn’t truly know about. After all, both his predecessor’s memories and recent experiences had made clear to him that the Verdant Valley Sect was rather good at keeping secrets.
Mo Duan rose from his seat, exited his residence, and began making his way over to a specific area of the valley that he had deemed off-limits to his disciples.
As he strode along, Mo Duan started to think over some of his most immediate objectives once he traveled outside of the sect. Although his primary goal was obviously to further the cultivation of the five disciples he had chosen as much as possible, there were a few other things that Mo Duan needed to do.
Now that his valley’s facilities had been adequately upgraded and his disciples were beginning to grow in cultivation, Mo Duan felt that it was time to concentrate on his valley’s unique specialization. Every other valley within the sect excelled in specific areas, which in turn allowed them to generate a sizable income by offering these services to people outside of the sect. If Mo Duan ever wanted his valley to produce enough resources to justify how much he had already invested into it, then he would need to follow their example.
He had already resolved to concentrate on cultivating and nurturing valuable Spiritual Plants in Tranquil Garden Valley, but something like that required careful planning and preparation. Not only that, but Mo Duan needed to start establishing relationships with influential local powers if he wanted to effectively market and profit from these Spiritual Plants.
While the entire process was rather tedious, Mo Duan’s previous life had equipped him with a decent grasp of business operations, so it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to.
Besides… It'll be nice to get out of here and see some of this new world with my own eyes.
Upon reaching his destination, Mo Duan refocused his attention back to the present. While the area wasn’t any different from the rest of the valley—aside from the formation that he had paid Elder Feng to create that prevented his disciples from entering—Mo Duan had plans for it in the future.
In the future, he intended to use it as a personal garden in which he could grow Spiritual Plants that were either more dangerous or needed to be kept secret from his disciples, such as those that were distinctly Pre-Separation. But for now, it was little more than an empty field.
Mo Duan proceeded to walk to the center of the field before inhaling deeply. Once he felt like he was ready, Mo Duan then began channeling his purest wood Qi to his heart meridian and started molding in accordance with the specific cultivation technique that he intended to use.
After several minutes of this, he could feel the energy in his heart meridian coalesce into a vibrant and pulsating force as the initial stage of the technique was completed. Slowly, a small seed emerged from his chest, breaking through the surface of his skin without causing any pain or injury before falling into Mo Duan’s hand.
It’s much prettier than I expected, Mo Duan thought to himself as he studied it.
The seed was a brilliant jade green, with veins of red running along its surface, and emitted a powerful Qi equivalent to a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. He could also feel a nascent connection between himself and the seed that had yet to fully develop.
Once he was done studying it, Mo Duan carefully buried the seed deep into the ground and settled into a position to begin cultivating.
As he entered a meditative state, the field’s ambient Qi began flowing through him, Mo Duan meticulously converted it all into pure wood Qi and directed it down toward the buried seed. Immersed in the peace of cultivation, it wasn’t long before he lost track of time.
Once it was finally done, Mo Duan opened his eyes to see that several hours had passed and the sun had already fallen. He could feel that the connection between himself and the seed had grown much stronger than before and that the cultivation technique was ready to be completed.
Mo Duan stood up and stepped several feet away before sending one last burst of Qi into the ground and completing the technique.
Almost immediately, a small sapling sprouted from the earth where the seed had been buried and rapidly matured before Mo Duan’s eyes, with its leaves unfurling and bark thickening. Before long, the tree began to undergo an extraordinary transformation as its bark morphed to take on features. Its branches twisted and reformed into arms while its roots slowly retracted from the ground and turned into feet.
After a few more moments, the transformation was complete. Standing before Mo Duan was an exact physical replica of himself that exuded the aura of a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Mo Duan studied the clone with fascination before tentatively focusing on the connection between it and himself. Ordering the clone to open its eyes, Mo Duan was struck dumb as suddenly found himself looking at the world through two different perspectives.
Freaky…
The Arboreal Twin Soul Art was probably the most interesting cultivation technique that his predecessor had ever managed to get his hands on, although he rarely ever used it. The technique allowed the user to create a perfect clone completely under their control, but it had a few notable weaknesses that prevented his predecessor from using it.
Not only was the clone significantly less powerful than the original, but it also weakened the cultivation of their true body as long as the clone continued to exist. Mo Duan turned his senses inward and could tell that he would only be able to call upon the strength of a Middle Core Formation realm cultivator.
It was still more than powerful enough for anywhere he would be traveling to, but Mo Duan could understand why a paranoid cultivator would never want to weaken themselves, even temporarily. It didn’t help that Mo Duan would suffer minor damage to his cultivation if the clone was ever killed.
For these reasons, his paranoid predecessor had never revealed this ability to the sect’s leadership, but Mo Duan didn’t have the same concerns. If they ever changed their minds and decided to kill him, then Patriarch Songyu already had plenty of ways to do so. He had more important things to concern himself with than hypothetical scenarios he wasn’t in a position to change.
Mo Duan spent the next hour adjusting himself to the strange feeling of existing in two different places at once as he gave the clone a series of commands. Once he was certain that the clone would serve his purposes, Mo Duan let out a deep sigh of relief.
Now that I have a way to remotely monitor my disciples, it’s time to concentrate on my plans for my time away from the sect, Mo Duan pondered as he began making his way back home.