ninety thousand miles

Chapter 428 Tea
The old palace master said: "If all preparations are completed and one can ascend, then the number of people who can ascend in the Four Gods Palace should at least double."

"Yang Jiu is right," said Master Wang, "We still don't know what the rules of ascension are. We have only summarized some standards from the experience of our predecessors. Although most of the cultivators who have successfully ascended are within this standard, it cannot be denied that there are many cultivators who have reached the standard but still have no hope of ascending or have failed to ascend. There are also some cultivators who, although they are outside the standard, can ascend to become immortals, such as... such as Immortal Yun Yi."

“Even the seniors who have ascended to the upper realms, they seem to be unable to explain how to successfully ascend.” The old palace master continued with what Sect Leader Wang said, “Dan Chen, if you say that everyone in Xuanyue Sect has lost their faith in Taoism because of Xiao Hong’s failure to ascend…” He shook his head and said, “Then it’s the Sect Leader’s fault.”

"I had not yet taken over as the head of the sect at that time." Headmaster Chu said, "I know everything you said, and everyone in Xuanyue Sect knows it too." He emphasized, "You didn't listen carefully just now. Xiao Hong created a wind control technique. This wind control technique was once listed as one of the nine magic techniques of Xuanyue Sect. Before that, there were only eight magic techniques."

The old palace master said: "I know this too. I have fought with Elder Xiao and experienced his wind control technique. It is indeed unique, but also..."

"At that time, his wind control technique had not yet reached perfection. After it reached perfection, he rarely used it," Sect Leader Chu interrupted the old Palace Master and said, "Before he ascended to heaven, my uncle told me that Elder Xiao had already made some initial progress in wind control."

"Really?" Sect Leader Wang stood up suddenly.

Sect Leader Chu said, "What I say here is of course true. Do I have any need to deceive you? Or do you think that I, Chu Danchen, have colluded with the remnants of the demon clan and am misleading you?"

Sect Leader Wang quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "How could that be? If we were to suspect you, why would we call you over and tell you everything? But according to what you said, it's impossible...

The old palace master frowned and then drooped his eyebrows.

Sect Master Chu said in a slower tone, "The Xuan Sect has been passed down till now, and our three sects are not completely ignorant of the upper realm. Immortals who have just ascended to heaven need to practice for hundreds or thousands of years before they can achieve the initial path, and Elder Xiao..." His face was grim, "After Elder Xiao woke up, the first thing he said was that the Heavenly Dao would not allow him to ascend."

"Although the cultivators in Xuanyue Sect follow different paths, we are from the same sect, so we all have similarities in our understanding of the great Dao. If the Heavenly Dao does not allow Elder Xiao to ascend, what about the others?" Sect Master Chu picked up the teacup again and put it down again. "So afterwards, we asked the seniors in the upper realm."

"What did they say?" asked Master Wang.

"They also said they didn't know." Sect Leader Chu replied, "Although not many people knew what Elder Xiao said, only two or three people at the beginning, and those who knew would not tell others, this feeling of despair continued to spread. Elder Xiao's wind control technique was no longer allowed to be practiced by disciples in the sect. Until Uncle Beiyu successfully ascended."

"No wonder these years..." Sect Leader Wang asked, "What about your master? Is he still in seclusion?"

Sect Leader Chu replied, "He is still here. He passed the position of Sect Leader to me ahead of time because of this. It's just that... Senior Master Beiyu has ascended, but he hasn't yet."

“Perhaps, Elder Xiao cannot ascend to heaven precisely because he had only just completed his path to enlightenment in the mortal world.” The old palace master guessed.

Sect Master Chu shook his head and denied it, saying, "There are also seniors in Xuanyue Sect who ascended to heaven after their path was initially established, and the various phenomena he experienced during his ascension were all different from those of ordinary ascensions."

The three masters started discussing about the path to ascension. At first, Li Chuan could understand what they were saying, but as they listened, he found it even more mysterious.

So he took advantage of an opportunity and asked, "After Elder Xiao failed to ascend, did he stay in Xuanyue Sect or go somewhere else?"

Sect Master Chu stared at Li Chuan for a while and said, "He recuperated in Xuanyue Sect for a hundred years and finally could walk. During these hundred years, his disciples and grandchildren have been looking for natural treasures that can heal his injuries... His eldest disciple Hong Ning died under the claws of his companion spirit beast for picking a wind grass. His most valued young disciple Du Lin also died because of being involved in a dispute among cultivators." The old palace master listened with a frown, "As for wind grass, it should be planted in the Xuanyue Sect's medicine garden, right? Even if there was a shortage that year, it shouldn't be difficult to exchange some from other sects, right?"

Sect Leader Chu said, "We have tried our best to provide for Elder Xiao, and we have not deducted any money. However, it is still not enough, and we also need it elsewhere."

He picked up the teacup again, and just as he was about to put it down, the old palace master couldn't help but say, "Danchen, is my tea so unpalatable to you?"

Sect Leader Chu said: "It is indeed too hard to swallow."

The old palace master said, "You haven't even taken a sip, how do you know it tastes bad?"

Sect Leader Chu said, "It's not like I haven't drunk it before. Everything in your Four Gods Palace is good, except for the Qingai tea you serve to guests. It's really unpalatable."

Li Chuan glanced at his teacup. He had already drunk half of it. He thought the taste was okay, slightly sweet. After drinking it, he felt refreshed. It was obviously not an ordinary tea.

Master Wang took a sip of tea and said, "I think it tastes OK. You are too picky."

"I have been holding back until you brought it up. So how could I be picky?" Sect Leader Chu said unconvinced.

"Let's continue talking about Elder Xiao," the old palace master brought the topic back to the topic. He said, "Did his cultivation recover later?"

Sect Master Chu said, "After he was able to get out of bed and move around, he asked all the disciples in his sect to switch to other people. Everyone advised him not to do so, but he firmly believed that only by completely severing their ties with him could they have a chance to ascend."

"After that, he began to deal with the resources he had, including magic weapons, spiritual plants and various materials. After exchanging them all for spiritual stones, he gave some to his former disciples and the rest to the sect."

"After that, he left the sect and went far away."

"Hasn't he come back?" asked Master Wang.

"Six hundred years ago, he came back once. At that time, his cultivation seemed to have recovered. Everyone was happy for him and asked him to stay. He refused. Since then, he occasionally sent back news. He also accepted a few new disciples and asked them to return to the sect to participate in some fighting trials."

"After Uncle Beiyu ascended to heaven, he came back once again. By then, his cultivation had fully recovered. We asked him to stay again. Although he didn't agree at that time, I could see that he wanted to stay."

"But after that, he never came back. There were news reports about him in the first few decades, but then he disappeared again. I thought he was somewhere, trying to comprehend the way of heaven in order to ascend to heaven for the second time, but today you told me that he attacked your disciple."

Sect Leader Chu made another request: "Yang Jiu, I must confront Wen Guying face to face. If what he said is true, I can afford to pay for the sword. If he is slandering Elder Xiao, he must bear the consequences."

(End of this chapter)