Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 5

Volume 6 Chapter 5: The Three Achieve Enlightenment (Part 1)

Just when Xu Qingfan seemed to have made up his mind and seen through everything, Mr. Liu was outside Master Jiuhuan’s room, arguing.

"Jiuhuan, don’t think you can act high and mighty just because you are senior. Tell me, why did you do this to Qingfan? What do you mean by it? If you don’t explain everything clearly, our issue is not over."

Mr. Liu, a great master and one of the top three in the Righteous Alliance, seemed like a ruffian in the mortal world, calling out in front of Jiuhuan’s room for his little brother’s justice.

In fact, Mr. Liu had been causing a commotion in front of Master Jiuhuan’s room for several hours, but Master Jiuhuan remained silent, showing no sign of responding.

In the space between Mr. Liu and Jiuhuan’s rooms, Master Tianhan from the "Mercy Cloud Temple," one of the twelve masters of the Righteous Alliance, was at a loss. After hearing Mr. Liu angrily explain the situation, he felt troubled as it indeed seemed Master Jiuhuan had made a mistake, but it also seemed wrong for Mr. Liu to shout in front of his mentor’s door.

In fact, Mr. Liu cared much more about this matter than everyone else imagined.

The ancient ritual of divination with turtle shells has gradually declined and even been lost. This is not only because the turtle shells made with this method can be used less than three times, but more importantly, it requires the practitioner to sacrifice a part of their own lifespan.

Very few people in the cultivation world know about this, and Mr. Liu is one of them, which is why he was so surprised before and now cannot let go of Master Jiuhuan.

If Jiuhuan simply disliked Xu Qingfan and plotted against him, that would be one thing. But if that is the case, why sacrifice his own lifespan? It is important to know that Jiuhuan is alive now thanks to the entire "Mercy Cloud Temple" using precious elixirs and skilled masters to support him. It is clear how precious lifespan is to Jiuhuan.

So, what purpose does Jiuhuan have in sacrificing his lifespan for Xu Qingfan? Mr. Liu trusts Jiuhuan’s wisdom and insight, and Jiuhuan is probably the only person in the cultivation world who can fully understand the secrets of heaven, so Mr. Liu must know what he saw and what he thought to take such actions.

Finally, under Mr. Liu’s loud insistence, even Master Jiuhuan, who has studied Buddhist scriptures for three thousand years, could not bear it anymore and finally responded.

"Mr. Liu, please come in."

Inside the bamboo house, Master Jiuhuan’s aged voice could be heard.

In Master Tianhan’s worried gaze, Mr. Liu stormed in through the door, seemingly even angrier because Jiuhuan had kept him waiting for several hours.

But as soon as Mr. Liu entered Master Jiuhuan’s room, his angry expression suddenly vanished, turning into one of great seriousness and calm.

Sitting cross-legged in front of Master Jiuhuan and staring at Jiuhuan, who was still with his eyes closed, Mr. Liu finally spoke, "Tell me, why are you plotting against that child Qingfan, even willing to sacrifice your own lifespan?"

Jiuhuan slowly opened his eyes and then suddenly smiled slightly, beginning to talk about something completely unrelated.

"Master Liu, now that you have reached such a level in your skills, you should understand that the secrets of heaven cannot be seen by beings like us. The more you force yourself to see, the more backlash you will face from the heavens."

"Don’t say you are doing this for Xu Qingfan’s good. If he reaches the Mahayana Stage in the future, he will be able to withstand the backlash of the Heavenly Way."

Mr. Liu said with a cold smile.

Master Jiuhuan shook his head and sighed, "You still don’t understand. The Heavenly Way is vast and endless; no one can withstand its backlash, not even the masters. The reason you have been able to deduce the secrets without fearing the backlash is because what you’ve deduced is only one of countless possibilities and not significant to the Heavenly Way, so you can bear it. Otherwise, in thousands of years with so many masters in the cultivation world, why haven’t they discovered the ‘Nether’ organization? Why can’t you deduce the true extent of the ‘Nether’ organization’s purpose now? It’s not that you cannot deduce it, but that you dare not."

"So what?" Mr. Liu did not deny it and coldly retorted.

"I have calculated it and seen the true future of a certain moment."

Master Jiuhuan spoke lightly.

Mr. Liu said harshly with a cold smile, "What’s wrong? Aren’t you afraid of the Heavenly Way fighting back?"

"For a person about to die, whether sacrificing half of the remaining life or facing the backlash of the Heavenly Way is not so frightening," Master Jiuhuan explained slowly. "Surviving for three thousand years is far too long for a cultivator who hasn’t reached the Mahayana Stage; it is truly time to pass away."

Mr. Liu was silent for a moment and asked, "Is your life about to run out?"

"There are three months left."

"What did you see in the future? Is it related to Qingfan?" Mr. Liu suddenly asked after a brief silence.

"Everyone is connected to the future, but he is very special. And that future is one we all do not wish to see."

"The so-called heavenly secrets are just the greatest possibility among countless possibilities for the future. There are still endless possibilities; you should understand that."

Mr. Liu seemed to think of something and said slowly.

"So I want to change the future into the way we hope to see it."

"So you want to design a change for that child Qingfan’s fate?"

"A person’s fate can only be changed by themselves; no one else, no matter how powerful, can do it. Moreover, his fate is not what he desires. Even if I don’t design these changes, he will still try hard to change it himself."

Mr. Liu knew he could not get any more words from Jiuhuan, who seemed determined to take what he had glimpsed into the grave. After all, the more people who knew, the more unpredictable his plan would become. So, he said nothing more, stood up, and walked towards the door.

But just as he reached the door, Mr. Liu suddenly turned around and said to Master Jiuhuan, "Do you know? I have always disliked you. You always see yourself as a wise hermit, thinking you can save everyone’s life at critical moments. You believe you are right, standing on a high moral ground, able to change others’ thoughts and fates at will. Do you think you are a god?"

Master Jiuhuan, however, was not angry; he just smiled gently and replied, "Aren’t you, by labeling me like this, also thinking you are right?"

After Mr. Liu left, Master Tianhan entered Jiuhuan’s room to greet him.

"Bring Bo Guangyan to my room."

Master Jiuhuan said.

※※※※

In the days that followed, whether it was Xu Qingfan, Mr. Liu, or Master Jiuhuan, it seemed as if nothing had happened, and they each carried on with their own tasks.

For example, Xu Qingfan, while busy refining the new magical items, was also working steadily to strengthen his power outside of Jiuhua. At the same time, he was managing Jiuhua with Li Yuhan and Dongfang Qingling. Every day was filled with activities, and everything was as busy as it had always been.

During these busy days, three significant events happened for Xu Qingfan.

On the third day after Xu Qingfan used the divination turtle shell to glimpse his future, Little Black finally fully healed and returned to Xu Qingfan’s side.

On the seventh day, Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu all emerged from their training. Not only did they each break through their previous limits, but they also refined the magical items given to them by Xu Qingfan, quickly increasing their strength.

On the tenth day, the Medicine Pill Masters finally transformed the precious materials Xu Qingfan had given them into spiritual pills. They made the "Vitality Pill" from the essence blood of the "Snow Jade Spirit Turtle," which is a healing medicine and can extend lifespan, even more effective than the "Blood Spirit Pill." They also created the "Ice Crystal Pill" from the inner core of the "Snow Jade Spirit Turtle," which can restore and increase a cultivator’s Spirit Qi and greatly stabilize a cultivator’s mindset. Additionally, there was the "Heavenly Continuation Pill," made from the liver of the "Ice Giant Elephant," which is for spirit pets. After taking this pill, a spirit pet’s abilities would greatly increase.

After receiving these spiritual pills, Xu Qingfan shared one "Vitality Pill" and one "Ice Crystal Pill" with each of the three disciples. He then took ten days to give Little Black all twenty "Heavenly Continuation Pills." Although Little Black appeared to have gained some strength after taking them, there were still no signs of a breakthrough.

The demon beast broke through from Earth level to Heavenly level, which was extremely difficult, even more challenging than a Golden Core Stage cultivator breaking through to the Mahayana Stage.

Xu Qingfan looked at Little Black, who swallowed the "Heavenly Continuation Pill" without changing his demeanor at all, and quietly felt amazed.

Three months later, Xu Qingfan finally refined all his newly obtained magical items for himself. The masters of the Righteous Alliance had been gathering at the peak of "Ronghua Mountain" for some unknown reason, and without their guidance, the cultivators of the Righteous Alliance did not dare to fight the Southern Wasteland demon beasts, which delayed this decisive battle over and over again.

One night, Xu Qingfan pondered over the "Dragon Summoning Order," looking very thoughtful.

He was considering whether to refine it for his use right now.

Refining the "Dragon Summoning Order" was different from refining the previous magical items; most of those items originally belonged to Xu Qingfan. The Old Beggar and others only added some precious materials to enhance their abilities, so the time and effort Xu Qingfan spent refining them were not long.

However, the "Dragon Summoning Order" was different. It was not just a magical item; it was a treasure. As far as Xu Qingfan knew, even a master typically needed several years to refine a treasure. With Xu Qingfan’s level of skill, no one knew how long it would take to refine the "Dragon Summoning Order," because it was rare in the cultivation world for a non-master cultivator to obtain a treasure.

This was also the reason why Xu Qingfan had not yet refined the "Dragon Summoning Order."

Just as Xu Qingfan was deep in thought, suddenly, two powerful and strange waves of Spirit Qi startled him awake.

On that night, something unprecedented happened in the Righteous Alliance.