The Long Journey to Immortality

Chapter 296 Sermon Part 2

Compared to the Central Plains, the Great Yu Dynasty has more abundant cultivation resources, a more vast land, and a larger number of mortals. There are still some cultivators in the Great Yu Dynasty who have reached the Nascent Soul stage.

Besides the thirty-one Nascent Soul cultivators in the Jitian Palace, there are also quite a few Nascent Soul cultivators and rogue Nascent Soul cultivators scattered in various state and prefecture sects.

According to the opinion of most cultivators of the Great Yu Dynasty, the total number of these three items combined is probably close to three digits.

However, in Dongzhou Prefecture, which ranks only in the middle among the thirty-two prefectures, Nascent Soul cultivators are still a "rare species".

There is one at Jiulong Mountain and one at Xuanyu Temple.

There is a well-known story about these two Nascent Soul cultivators that circulates among the cultivators of Dongzhou Prefecture.

According to the story, the only two Nascent Soul cultivators in Dongzhou Prefecture were actually close friends during their Qi Refining stage, cultivating together in a small sect in Dongzhou Prefecture.

Because of their outstanding talents, they were sought after by Jiulong Mountain and Xuanyu Temple, two of the top sects in Dongzhou Prefecture at the time.

Due to various secret reasons, the two friends had to part ways and each joined a different sect to cultivate on their own.

A hundred years later, the two exceptionally talented individuals reached the Core Formation stage almost simultaneously, but their relationship was severed due to a female cultivator, foreshadowing the division that would plague Dongzhou Prefecture in recent years.

After nearly three hundred years of arduous cultivation, the two finally advanced to the Nascent Soul realm and became leaders of their respective sects. Their complex relationship of grudges and enmities turned the two sects, Jiulong Mountain and Xuanyu Temple, which had previously had a good relationship, into mortal enemies.

With grudges between them, and having been trampled on by their "friends" for nearly a thousand years by relying on their talent, cultivation level, and the support of the Jitian Palace, it's no wonder that now that Jiulong Mountain has seized this opportunity to turn the tables, they have played all the cards they can without the slightest hesitation, hoping to bring Xuanyu Temple down within three years or even one year.

However, after several rounds of rumors, Han Lu only believed about 50% of such stories. But because the story was so widely circulated, she felt its credibility could be loosely raised to 70%.

There are bound to be some discrepancies in the details.

However, there is one thing: the two Nascent Soul cultivators from Jiulong Mountain and Xuanyu Temple must have a history, and there are quite a few stories between them.

This time, Xiao Ran was not drunk.

On the contrary, he, who had only had a small drink yesterday, was in high spirits today. In front of Han Lu, he said confidently, "Today, after listening to Master Yuanri's sermon, I will definitely gain some insights and benefits."

Han Lu assumed Xiao Ran was slightly drunk and didn't respond, but muttered to herself, "What could a fake Core Formation cultivator like you possibly gain from listening to a few words from a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

When the two followed the crowd to Zhenglong Mountain, the main mountain of Jiulong Mountain, the square where the lecture hall was set up was already full of people.

To demonstrate the supreme status of Nascent Soul cultivators, a three-tiered platform, twenty to thirty meters high, was erected for Yuan Ri Zhenren.

The few seats were reserved for the Golden Core cultivators who were present.

There were only twenty seats, all arranged on the second floor of the lecture hall, so that when the True Man Yuanri gave his sermon, the Golden Core cultivators would not fall short of the demeanor of their senior masters.

The rest of the audience had to find empty seats in various parts of the square and sit on the ground.

Those who arrive early can sit near the podium, and those with good eyesight can even see whether the Golden Core cultivators on the second-floor podium have moles on their faces.

Those who arrived a little later, like Han Lu and Xiao Ran, could only sit in the center of the square, barely managing to find an empty seat.

Those who arrive later can only sit on the mountain steps or in the green space at the edge of the square, participating in this grand preaching event as marginalized individuals.

Upon arriving at the square, Han Lu and Xiao Ran tacitly found a spot that was neither too close nor too far away, each taking out their usual meditation seats and sitting down in the square.

Because the cultivators sitting around them were all Qi Refining cultivators, their arrival together attracted the attention of several other cultivators nearby.

Ignoring the gazes that were circling over her, Han Lu said to Xiao Ran with a smile, "I wonder what Master Yuanri of Nine Dragons Mountain will say later."

Xiao Ran speculated based on his own thoughts, "They should take care of cultivators at all levels."

"I wonder if there will be a scene similar to that in ancient times, when Senior Fang Han broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm and discussed the Dao on the spot, allowing the cultivation of all the young cultivators to rise rapidly."

For various reasons, Han Lu is a staunch believer in the past, so naturally she had to say a few words in support of Senior Fang Han.

"I think it's difficult."

"Senior Fang Han has just advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm and passed the tribulation of lightning. He is in a state of harmony with heaven and man. When he preaches, the sun and moon change color and thunder roars, as if heaven does not want Senior Fang Han to impart these great laws of heaven and earth at will."

"Although Master Yuanri is also a Nascent Soul cultivator, he is only at the early stage of Nascent Soul, and his cultivation is much weaker than Senior Fang Han's."

"Not to mention that True Person Yuanri has been stuck at the early Nascent Soul stage for nearly a thousand years, his understanding of the world is probably..."

Noticing the slightly hostile gazes of several Jiulong Mountain disciples around her, Han Lu changed to a few more tactful words, "He should be somewhat inferior to Senior Fang Han when he was giving his sermon."

Han Lu guessed that if she said "a world apart", she would inevitably be ridiculed by the Jiulong Mountain disciples around her.

The less trouble, the better.

After listening to Han Lu's analysis, Xiao Ran was slightly surprised. "Is Fairy Han very knowledgeable about the stories of this ancient cultivation era?"

"I've done some research," Han Lu said without mincing words.

She felt that in the Great Yu Dynasty, there were probably few cultivators who knew more about the stories of ancient Eastern cultivators than she did.

To let Xiao Ran know how powerful the ancient human cultivators were, Han Lu, at Xiao Ran's request, quietly used her storytelling skills to tell him stories from the era of ancient cultivators.

In just a moment, the surrounding cultivators were drawn to the story Han Lu was telling, and they all moved their seats slightly closer to hear it more clearly.

After telling two and a half stories, the large bell hanging on the first floor of the platform was rung by the five monks together.

Upon hearing the bell that symbolized the start of the sermon, Han Lu immediately shut her mouth.

The surrounding cultivators, including Xiao Ran, were slightly reluctant to leave because they hadn't heard the second half of the story, but they didn't want to urge Han Lu to finish it.

After this fifteen-minute period, Xiao Ran's image of Han Lu underwent some changes.

He thought to himself, "I never expected that Fairy Han wasn't really as cold as ice; she can tell such a wonderful story."

"When we get back to the courtyard, I'm going to pester Fairy Han to tell her the whole story of how Senior Fang Lin fought against three Nascent Soul True Spirits."

Amidst the eager anticipation of all the cultivators, Yuan Ri Zhenren, the only Nascent Soul cultivator from Nine Dragons Mountain, made his entrance in a very simple manner.

Chapter 297 I Have a Problem

There was no cloud-riding or sword-flying; Master Yuanri didn't even use the famous Nine Dragons Carriage from Nine Dragons Mountain.

Master Yuanri simply acted like a Golden Core cultivator, departing from his residence on Mount Jiulong and flying through the air to arrive at the plaza platform on time.

If it weren't for the fact that Master Yuanri was seated on the third floor of the lecture platform, and the bell hadn't rung immediately, causing the Golden Core cultivators from Nine Dragons Mountain on the second floor to stand up and pay their respects, the bell wouldn't have rung immediately.

Cultivators like Han Lu and Xiao Ran, who had never seen the true face of Yuan Ri Zhenren, would definitely think that some Golden Core senior had mistakenly sat in the wrong place and mistakenly entered the third floor of the lecture platform.

Although he was one of only two Nascent Soul cultivators in Dongzhou Prefecture, Master Yuanri was known for his unpretentious manner.

If this sermon hadn't been part of the grand celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the founding of Kowloon Mountain, perhaps even this three-tiered platform, which is over 20 meters high, wouldn't have been set up.

It is highly likely that Master Yuanri sat on the blue bricks of the square with the other cultivators who came to listen to the lecture.

After the arrival of Master Yuanri, the main speaker, the cultivators who had been whispering in the square immediately shut their mouths.

As the echoes of the bells faded into the mountains, the square was so quiet that even breathing sounded unusually harsh.

According to Master Yuanri's wishes, he will be the main person in charge of this sermon, and he will be the sole host. The Golden Core cultivators and disciples of Jiulong Mountain will only need to listen.

Because he achieved Foundation Establishment and Core Formation at a young age, Yuanri Zhenren does not appear as old as his actual age suggests.

He looked to be in his early thirties, and he had specially changed into new clothes and had his hair trimmed for today's sermon. He looked even younger than Xiao Ran, the unkempt cultivator.

Sitting cross-legged on the third level of the platform, Master Yuanri used magic to make his voice loud enough for the cultivators sitting at the edge of the square to hear clearly. Then he quoted from classical texts and said, "After passing through the tribulation and breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, the ancient cultivator Wang Han, who lived for 100,000 years, opened the platform to preach. He spoke of the laws of heaven and earth, the true meaning of the universe, the past, present, and future, and the true meaning of seeking truth and immortality."

"In terms of cultivation, I am not even one-tenth as good as Senior Wang Han, and in terms of Daoist practice, I am far inferior to Senior Wang Han. Therefore, I do not expect you to advance and break through like those cultivators who listened to my lectures 100,000 years ago. I only hope that my crude words can help you answer your questions and guide you through the maze."

"When I give the sermon, fellow Daoists, you don't need to be too reserved. Just treat it as if you are listening to a morning class, just like when you were in the Qi Refining stage."

……

Yuan Ri Zhenren's words made many cultivators in the square relax their straight backs a little.

Although he wasn't sitting as casually as usual, he wasn't as tense as when the bell rang for the arrival of the Yuanri Immortal.

Based on these words, Han Lu added the labels "pragmatic" and "approachable to lower-level cultivators" to Yuan Ri Zhenren.

Although it is unknown whether this is a persona that Yuan Ri Zhenren could fabricate at this time for the purpose of subsequent expansion plans, at least at this moment, the temperament and affability that Yuan Ri Zhenren showed were very much to the liking of Han Lu and many Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After Yuanri Zhenren observed the changes in the physical condition of the cultivators present, he nodded in satisfaction. He squinted and contemplated the rising sun for a moment before speaking again, officially beginning this sermon.

The previous few words have already foreshadowed the content of the sermon by Master Yuanri.

Therefore, when Master Yuanri began his lecture on cultivation from the Qi Refining stage, no one present was surprised.

Although it was called a sermon, it was more like Master Yuanri sharing his cultivation experience and insights as a senior in the cultivation world, guiding the younger generation on the key points to pay attention to at each level, and what techniques and details to be aware of to help them improve faster at a certain level.

Some of these are well-known, familiar topics, while others are unique insights from Nascent Soul cultivators.

The latter part of the content, along with some true stories about Yuan Ri Zhenren, made this lecture still firmly capture the hearts of the vast majority of cultivators, allowing them to sit in the square and listen attentively as Yuan Ri Zhenren sat on the platform and performed a monologue.

Han Lu is not among the "vast majority".

After all, she possessed some of the memories of Xiaoyaozi, a Nascent Soul cultivator.

She already knew many things that seemed novel to non-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Even so, she sat calmly in the square, listening attentively like the other cultivators, without showing any sign of being different.

In order to accommodate the majority of Qi Refining cultivators in the square, an hour and a half of the originally planned four-hour lecture was spent guiding the Qi Refining cultivators and answering their questions.

When the sun was high in the sky, Yuanri Zhenren began to tell the story of his cultivation during the Foundation Establishment stage.

At this point, about two-thirds of the Qi Refining cultivators relaxed.

With the groundwork laid by Master Yuanri's words and the fact that it was lunchtime, many Qi Refining cultivators who needed to eat three meals a day took out a portion of food they carried with them from their storage bags and carefully ate it in the square to fill their stomachs.

After all, proportionally speaking, only one or two out of twenty Qi Refining cultivators can advance to the Foundation Establishment stage.

These experiences related to Foundation Establishment were of little relevance to ordinary Qi Refining cultivators like them.

Master Yuanri only spoke for less than an hour about the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation.

This left Xiao Ran, who was full of confidence and high expectations for the sermon, slightly disappointed.

When discussing their experiences in cultivating to the Golden Core realm, apart from cultivators like Han Lu and Xiao Ran who believed they could or were about to advance to the Golden Core realm, and those who were already in the Golden Core realm, the other cultivators all entered a state of weariness and slackness.

Apart from no one leaving, many monks were doing their own things in the square.

After all, these things are too profound, and not everyone can understand them.

But most importantly, for 95% of the cultivators present, this experience and knowledge would be completely useless even if they consumed Foundation Establishment Pills every day.

Because the Golden Core cultivators belonging to other sects are the ones that Nine Dragons Mountain most wants to win over.

Therefore, Master Yuanri was exceptionally serious when he lectured on the cultivation of the Golden Core realm, especially on how to strengthen the Golden Core and make it develop Dan patterns to advance to the middle stage of the Golden Core realm. He spent a lot of time on this topic, speaking for a full quarter of an hour.

When Yuan Ri Zhenren had completed the Golden Core stage, he was still only at the early Nascent Soul stage and had remained at this stage for two years. He only spent a few words talking about the cultivation story of the Nascent Soul stage.

It wasn't that he hadn't gained much insight into Nascent Soul cultivation over the past millennium, but rather that he felt that in his current state, saying too much would only mislead others. It was better to talk less, or not at all.