Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 289 Somersault Cloud?
In Liu Dan's mind, the White Stone Immortal seemed as if he were about to march south and attack the State of Chu at any moment, but in reality, Zhang Chengdao, whom Liu Dan was thinking about...

Actually, I was washing my hands.

I've accumulated quite a few membership bonuses, so of course I'm going to use them all at once.

Ever since Zhang Chengdao discovered the mysterious secret that accumulating 30 member red envelopes greatly increases the payout rate, he has been determined to accumulate at least 30 before drawing any red envelopes each time.

Although theoretically the probability should be the same for everyone, since there's no guaranteed drop, for some reason, every time I have a good run of draws, I always manage to get good items.

Since finally drawing the "Elementary Nascent Soul Book" last time, Zhang Chengdao later drew another "Elementary Divine Transformation Book" in two more 30-draws, directly unlocking the limit of his cheat ability to the Divine Transformation level, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief for a long time.

The higher the realm, the harder it is to break through. Once you reach the Nascent Soul, Out-of-Body, or Divine Transformation stages, if you still need several months or even a year to break through even with your cheat-like abilities, then no matter how talented your disciples are, they will never be able to catch up.

Being a genius simply means having good aptitude, which allows for faster cultivation and easier breakthroughs compared to others. However, it doesn't mean one can achieve Foundation Establishment today, Deity Transformation tomorrow, and Grand Luo Golden Immortal the day after—it's like riding a rocket!

That's not genius, that's enlightenment.

No, even if Zhang Chengdao had opened his gates, he couldn't have done it that fast.

Conservatively speaking, it would take Chang Ping'an and Emperor Ruyan at least several hundred years to catch up to the Nascent Soul stage.

In short, his reputation as a master and sect leader has been temporarily preserved.

Besides the "Elementary Divine Transformation Book", Zhang Chengdao also drew a duplicate treasure, the "Zouwu Bell", and some random purple-quality ornaments. Although their rarity was not low, they were not very useful.

Therefore, Zhang Chengdao carefully washed his hands and touched his face this time, and even specially chose an "auspicious time" to start drawing member red envelopes with great anticipation.

Unexpectedly, after opening the very first member bonus, a red light with a golden glow appeared before my eyes—

This is the shimmering color that only the most precious red glitter items have!
"Acquired the 'Cloud Flight Technique'".

"The Art of Cloud Flight"?
Zhang Chengdao curiously opened the book that shimmered with golden-red light. After flipping through only a few pages, he was greatly surprised by a passage in it.

As we all know, although the cheat code is the cheat code of the "Xianxia System", and the various things it gives are related to the cultivation civilization, the various books are different from the mysterious and obscure descriptions that Zhang Chengdao initially imagined. Instead, they are like compulsory education textbooks, with extremely detailed and clear descriptions.

This meant that even Chang Ping'an, the first disciple of Zhang Chengdao, who wasn't very well-educated, could understand the content—and the text was incredibly varied. For example, Chang Ping'an and Murong Ruyan saw the Xiao Kingdom's text, while Ye Shuyun saw the Chu Kingdom's text. As for Zhang Chengdao himself, he saw simplified Chinese, which was quite amazing.

However, that's not the point. The point is that this book, "The Art of Cloud Soaring," mentions that the most famous and awesome example of the "Art of Cloud Soaring" is the somersault cloud technique used by the famous Monkey King Sun Wukong in a certain time and space!
The Somersault Cloud Technique is a variation of the Cloud Leap Technique. It was created by the Bodhi Patriarch specifically for the Monkey King. Its speed is the fastest among all cloud leap techniques, allowing one to travel 108,000 li in a single somersault.

Of course, this magic spell also had its failures. As a result, Monkey King was imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain and forced to become one of the henchmen under the head of the Journey to the West project...

Even so, which child who grew up reading the story of the Monkey King hasn't fantasized about wearing two whiskers on his head, riding on a somersault cloud, and wielding a golden cudgel to command others?

Unfortunately, the content immediately following the description of the Somersault Cloud technique emphasizes that the Somersault Cloud technique is extremely difficult to learn and that it is impossible for anyone other than the Nascent Soul stage to learn it.

Zhang Chengdao is currently only at the Nascent Soul stage, two major realms away from the Divine Transformation stage, so he can only sigh in vain.

However, at least he had something to look forward to, which made Zhang Chengdao realize that no wonder this seemingly ordinary book, "The Art of Cloud Soaring," was actually a red-flashing item!

Moreover, besides the Somersault Cloud technique, other cloud-riding techniques can still be learned.

Cloud-riding techniques are a broad category without detailed subcategories. Moreover, different cultivators modify them according to their own habits after practicing, resulting in many different types, such as the Somersault Cloud Technique.

Strictly speaking, the art of cloud soaring is also a type of "escape technique," but unlike ordinary Five Elements escape techniques, the most prominent features of the art of cloud soaring are speed and endurance.

The speed of the cloud-riding technique refers to its speed over long distances.

For example, if you use the Cloud-Soaring Technique, you can reach a distance of a thousand miles in an instant. However, if you use an ordinary escape technique, not to mention whether you can travel a thousand miles, even if you can, it will be difficult to travel quickly.

There's an old saying: "Immortals roam the North Sea in the morning and visit Cangwu in the evening."

It's said that immortals love to use the art of cloud-riding. They can travel in the North Sea in the morning and arrive in Cangwu by evening. This North Sea is not the one in the capital, but refers to the sea in the far north. Cangwu refers to the legendary far south.

Those who can soar through the clouds begin their journey at dawn from the North Sea, then travel through the East Sea, West Sea, and South Sea, before returning to Cangwu. Cangwu is actually a dialect of Lingling in the North Sea. Only by traveling throughout all four seas in a single day can one be considered to have soared through the clouds.

Hmm... By this standard, it's definitely faster than the modern airplanes Zhang Chengdao flew before he traveled through time, but it probably can't keep up with the return capsule that performed the Sanger ballistic trick.

With a technique that was both practical and impressive right in front of him, Zhang Chengdao couldn't resist learning it as soon as he looked at the "tutorial" in the book.

The art of cloud soaring also requires incantations. Even the Monkey King needs incantations to use the somersault cloud. Zhang Chengdao was naturally no better than the Monkey King, so he obediently recited the incantations in the book word by word.

"Heaven and earth are natural, and impurities disperse. Within the cave lies mystery, and the primordial energy shines brightly. Clouds and mist drift and gather. Transform the void into reality, and swiftly manifest! So be it!"

As the incantation was recited, a white mist gradually condensed around them, and then slowly turned into a very dense "cloud".

The white clouds in the sky that ordinary people see with the naked eye from the ground, no matter how strange their shape, are actually loose and often quite large.

It's just that they're far apart, so many of them look like small clumps.

Before Zhang Chengdao transmigrated, when he was a slave, he often traveled by plane and observed clouds. He found that they were indeed all "fog" up close, unlike the "clouds" depicted and shown in movies, TV series, and various fantasy games.

The clouds that he had "summoned" were very similar to the somersault clouds in movies and TV shows. They were small, only about three feet square, and very dense, like a ball of cotton or poplar fluff.

Zhang Chengdao tried stepping on it—and it was actually solid!

The fabric feels a bit like down, with a nice "elasticity," much more comfortable than those "walking on clouds" slippers. However, sometimes there's a feeling of being suspended in mid-air, like I might fall. But since my wind manipulation skills are already superb, even if I fall, I definitely won't die.

So, immediately afterward, Zhang Chengdao followed the steps in the book and rose into the sky on a cloud.

At first, he had some trouble maintaining his balance and swayed back and forth, but soon, Zhang Chengdao mastered the knack and was able to easily ride the white clouds and stroll around in the sky.

"Huh? Is that our sect leader?"

The first person to spot Zhang Chengdao in the sky was Lu Mao'er, who was slacking off at fishing.

As Murong Ruyan's personal disciple, Lu Mao'er and her fellow disciples enjoyed the same "private lessons" that other outer disciples could not have—the kind of one-on-one instruction from Murong Ruyan—but the pressure they faced was also incomparable to that of other outer disciples.

"Logically speaking, if you can't even achieve Qi Induction in the assessment a month from now, then you should stop holding the title of inner disciple and all go back to be outer disciples!"

Murong Ruyan was notorious for her fierceness, and she spoke very bluntly to her disciples: "However, I have higher requirements here. You can ask me anything you don't know, but if you are a dullard who cannot cultivate Qi within ten days, then you may leave!"

According to the "White Stone Immortal Dao Book", a normal cultivator can draw qi into their body in 10 days, unless their aptitude is too poor.

The problem is, this standard is the standard for a world with normal spiritual energy concentration!

The concentration of spiritual energy in this world is far below that standard, and it's even a bit harsh. After all, even Zhang Chengdao's personal disciples usually need several days to draw qi into their bodies. As for these outer disciples, it's common for it to take ten days or half a month, so they can't be considered dull at all.

At least Ye Shuyun and Tang Xiaoyu's personal disciples did not have such demanding requirements.

Under Murong Ruyan's high-pressure policies, the five disciples quickly began to absorb Qi into their bodies one after another. Even Shi Liuer, whose aptitude was obviously slightly inferior to the others, only took five days to absorb Qi into her body.

It is said that when Shi Liuer learned that everyone had successfully guided their Qi into their bodies, she cried in distress. She stayed up for two days and two nights without eating or sleeping, enduring the hardship until she finally succeeded in guiding her Qi into her body. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and faint from the tension.

Among the five, Lu Mao'er was the first to guide Qi into her body, so she has been using the excuse of cultivating by the Heavenly Pool to slack off at the Heavenly Pool.

The literal meaning of "slacking off".

There were quite a few fish that Zhang Chengdao had specially put into the Heavenly Pool earlier. There were no fish fry for sale in the shop, but he had purple-quality items [Peach Blossom Fish] and gray-quality ingredients [Miscellaneous Fish], [Blue Fish], [Carp], and [Red-scaled Fish] in his backpack. Zhang Chengdao dumped them all in and let them fend for themselves in the Heavenly Pool. Unexpectedly, he reaped a bountiful harvest. Soon, he could see all kinds of fish swimming around in the Heavenly Pool. Sometimes, Lady Liao would report to her and come over to catch some, which would be made into free dishes and distributed in limited quantities to the disciples of the sect.

Lu Mao'er accepted Liao Niangzi's order to help catch some fish—this was a volunteer job, there was no money, the reward was a pot of "perfect boiled fish".

It is said that the dish was originally called "Boiled Fish in Water". However, the sect leader heard about it from somewhere, tasted it, gave some guidance, and then personally named it "Perfect Boiled Fish in Water".

"Although people have different tastes and there is no perfect dish in this world, this boiled fish is the 'perfect boiled fish'!"

The sect leader spoke thus, prompting many disciples to attempt to comprehend the profound mysteries within…

Lu Mao'er wasn't the only one catching fish by Tianchi Lake; Zhong Hui, who was equally passionate about food, was also there.

Zhong Hui was earnestly trying to catch fish, and even made a rather crude fishing net for it. The effect was not ideal, but it was better than nothing. After hearing Lu Mao'er's surprised voice, he also curiously looked up.

Under the blazing sun, the sect leader, Immortal Baishi, dressed in very familiar clothes, was seen from Zhong Hui and Lu Mao'er's perspective as he walked through the clouds against the light.

A faint golden light emanated from the edges of his body, making him appear as a silhouette, or perhaps as if he were part of the golden sunlight. He exuded an indescribable air of solemnity, appearing aloof and unapproachable.

"Is the sect leader flying on clouds?!"

Zhong Hui quickly realized that something was wrong with his sect leader.

Although she couldn't fly on the wind yet, her second senior sister told her that the clouds in the sky were actually like water mist, without any physical substance, so it was impossible to collect them or fly on them. Therefore, the strange stories in the library about walking on clouds were not quite right, and they were definitely not the kind of clouds in the sky!
But now it seems... how come the sect leader can ride on clouds?!

Lu Mao'er's eyes were also filled with doubt: "It seems so? Do we need clouds to fly? I remember when my senior uncle and my master flew, there were no clouds, right?"

Zhong Hui said, "What they're using is called 'Wind Control Technique,' which uses the wind, so of course they don't use clouds!"

Lu Mao'er frowned and pondered for a while before answering, "Then the one that uses clouds would be called 'Cloud Control Technique'?"

Zhong Hui was shocked by Lu Mao'er's thought process, but it didn't sound wrong, so she could only stammer, "Uh... this... I've never seen this before, maybe..."

As they were talking, the sect leader, Immortal White Stone, rode a cloud closer and closer to the two of them, until he landed on an open space not far in front of them, and the white cloud disappeared with a "poof".

"Hey, you two are fixing this here..."

Zhang Chengdao wanted to say "cultivation," but when he looked down, he saw Lu Mao'er holding a carp that was swishing its tail. He quickly swallowed his words and said, "Hehehe, catching fish here?"

Zhong Hui replied enthusiastically, "Yes! It was at Lady Liao's request! We'll have boiled fish tonight!"

On the other side, Lu Mao'er, who has always been straightforward, chose to ask directly—

"May I ask, Sect Master, were you standing on clouds just now? I heard that my eldest uncle and master used the 'Wind Control Technique' when they flew in the sky. Did you use the 'Cloud Control Technique'?"

Zhang Chengdao had just learned the Cloud-Soaring Technique and was in a good mood when he heard this. He replied with a smile, "Hehehe, this is not called 'Cloud Control Technique,' but 'Cloud Soaring Technique.' The cloud I'm riding is not an ordinary cloud, but a 'Somersault Cloud.'"

"Somersault Cloud!?"

The two stared wide-eyed. Lu Mao'er and Zhong Hui, who had clearly never heard of this name before, were so surprised that they couldn't speak!
(End of this chapter)