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Chapter 560: Cangting
🕑 Added 2025-01-29 14:00:13 +0000 UTCHis name was Cangting, no surname. According to his foster parents, they named him so because they picked him up on a stormy night. The only reason they saw a baby on the ground was because lightning scared them, causing them to turn around and see him.
Although he was adopted, his foster parents were an elderly couple who once had a child of their own, but because of an accident, he died. Because of this, they treated Cangting like their son. Cangting felt that even if his real parents came and tried to recognize him one day, he would refuse to return with them.
His foster parents were slaves of a noble, but because they did not want him to be tied down when they left, they never gave him their surname, keeping him free. The happy days did not last forever. His foster parents were old and his foster father died when he was thirteen. A year later, his foster mother followed her husband.
Cangting no longer worked as a servant and left the noble’s employment. Because his foster parents were slaves, he only had what little wealth he had saved, but he was not directionless. Since young, a burning desire for strength gnawed at him, but because he was worried about his foster parents, he chose to accompany them until now.
His goal was the Augur Gale Sect. Cultivation was a very distant matter for most people, but they still knew of it. Every once in a while, the forces in the world would appear in mortal cities or settlements to find new disciples. And the Augur Gale Sect was the most powerful force in the local area.
It was not that Cangting didn’t think there was a more powerful force, but even if he knew, what could he do? He was only a weak mortal. How could he travel far? The Augur Gale Sect was already a good choice. Not to mention his age. Most forces recruited children under ten, and he was already fourteen and missed the best chance to lay his foundation.
So, when the Augur Gale Sect came for their annual screening of talents, Cangting appeared and asked to join the sect. However, how could they just let him get what he wished? They originally just wanted to push Cangting away, but he knelt down and begged.
Finally, the testers relented. Cangting was lucky too. They would receive contributions correlating to the number of qualifying disciples they brought back. The batch of children did not have the talent to cultivate, so the testers allowed Cangting to test his qualifications. His qualifications weren’t good, just average. If he was half a decade younger, he could become an outer disciple, but because of his age, he could only start out as a servant-disciple.
Cangting was willing. He knew how precious this chance was. It was not wrong to say that this was one of the few chances for ordinary people to change their destiny.
Alas, he had been too optimistic.
The primary method of the Augur Gale Sect and the source of their name was the Hurricane Testament. Of course, only the core disciples had the opportunity to practice the Hurricane Testament. Regular disciples practiced the Whirlwind Maxim, but servant-disciples like him could only practice the Breeze Method. Just from reading the name, anyone would know how inferior it was.
However, despite the lower quality, the Hundred Day Foundation remained the same. The Hundred Day Foundation was the period when mortals first embarked on the path of cultivation, and it encompassed the time it took them to reach the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. As the name suggested, it generally took them around a hundred days.
It was not that talented people could not cultivate faster, but they needed to acclimate their body to cultivation. If they rushed to enter the Second Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, their foundation would be unstable. Cangting heard that some scions would bathe in precious medicinal baths to lay their foundation before even cultivating, removing the need for the Hundred Day Foundation.
Of course, only families with deep heritage could afford such a thing. And even then, only the most outstanding talents could receive such treatment.
As for Cangting, it seemed that he was not that talented. Although he practiced the Breeze Method every chance he had—which included all the time he had in a day outside of eating, chores, and sleeping—he only reached the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm after a year. And now, it was his second year, but he felt that it would take another year before he reached the Second Stage.
Cangting could only accept that he was not talented. With his talent, it was impossible to promote him to a disciple, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get his hands on the Whirlwind Maxim. Perhaps it may be the fact that he had started cultivating late that affected his progress, but that didn’t mean he would give up.
Even if he only reached the Twelfth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm in his eighties, he would still choose to undergo the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. Even if he died from it and lost the chance to live the last twenty years of his life, he would not regret it.
He thought he would continue his life as a servant-disciple.
His destiny changed two days ago. He saw a group of disciples bullying another servant-disciple like himself, and he wanted to stand up for that servant-disciple. He wasn’t so foolish as to confront those bullies head on. No, Cangting found a deacon elder to stop them.
What Cangting never expected was that the deacon elder appeared, but the group of bullies didn’t fear him. After they saw him, they stopped beating the servant-disciple and left with a swagger. Before leaving, they glared at Cangting for ruining their fun, but they didn’t do anything.
Cangting would later learn that the leader of these bullies was the grandson of the grand elder of the Augur Gale Sect, so the deacon elder didn’t dare to reprimand him. A deacon elder might seem lofty to the servant-disciples, but he was really nothing compared to an inner disciple, much less a core disciple.
After that event, it seemed news spread that he offended the grand elder’s grandson and no one wanted to associate with him. That wasn’t the end, as he was suddenly dragged to the wilderness and beaten up. That was yesterday.
Once again, he was dragged into the wilderness and beaten. Not only that, he was punished because he did not finish his chores. Cangting wanted to argue, but the deacon elder didn’t care.
Cangting wasn’t stupid. He had been sacrificed. Although the grand elder’s grandson didn’t directly kill him, it wasn’t far off. If he was unlucky, he would be too injured to return after one day and a beast might kill and eat him in the wilderness. Or he might sustain a grievous injury. Even if he died, no one would care. Who would trouble a core disciple for a dead servant-disciple?
The best end would be that those damn bullies lost their interest after beating him up a few more times, but Cangting was unwilling to let things end like this. He clenched his fist. If he could swallow this, would there be any justice in this world?
While thinking about what to do, he felt his wrist become heavier, and the beetle that disappeared earlier appeared on his wrist again, like some sort of vambrace.
“What a sad state you are in.”
Cangting tensed. “Who?”
He stood up and looked around, but he couldn’t find anyone.
“Calm down, I’m directly speaking into your mind.”
“Speaking in my mind?” Cangting’s eyes widened. “Are you a legendary core formation master?”
“Hah? Legendary core formation master? Since when could core formation masters be considered legendary?”
“Then, are you a nascent soul grandmaster?” Cangting asked, still looking around. Before breaking the void, the highest realm a cultivator could reach in this world was the Nascent Soul or Soul Nourishing Realm.
“Stop guessing, kid. My origins are far greater than you think.”
“Then where is Senior?” Cangting asked. After looking around a bit, he glanced at the beetle on his wrist. “Are you this thing on my wrist?”
“…sure.”
Although Cangting felt something off, he didn’t care and continued to ask questions. Although the senior was this strange object, he still remained respectful. “Why is Senior on my wrist, what is Senior’s origin?”
“This thing, as you call it, is an artifact that many people from higher realms would fight to the death over. The Lightning Beatle Morpher.”
Cangting felt his heartbeat speed up. Was this his chance? Was he going to ascend to heaven in one step? However, as soon as those thoughts appeared, a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face. “Is this farewell, Senior?”
“Farewell? What do you mean?”
“Senior must be a legendary artifact, but how could a legendary artifact choose me? I’m just a cultivator with below average talent.”
Silence filled the air after Cangting finished speaking. He sighed. As expected, did he guess right?
“Below average talent? You? You only think so because you practice their useless cultivation method. Although I admit the Augur Gale Sect’s Hurricane Testament has its merits, it’s too exclusive. People without corresponding spiritual roots will receive half the amount for twice the effort. Who knows how many talented seeds they ruined?”
Cangting felt a small hope fill his chest. Was the Senior saying what he thought he meant?
“Especially you. Most people have spiritual roots corresponding to five elements. Even if they are not compatible with the Hurricane Testament, they can still cultivate it. You are different. You possess a Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Root, a rare talent even in the immortal rank realm. As long as you have the corresponding cultivation method, you will soar into the skies.”
“Senior, do you have such a method?”
Cangting’s fate changed that day. His rise would become a legend in the realm, one that would be passed on for eras to come.
***
Tianyi left after seeing father and son reunited. Well, the current relationship should develop into something more akin to a mentor and mentee. Although he didn’t know how the relationship would change when—if Jinshu revealed everything, it was no longer in Tianyi’s hand.
He returned to the Primordial Realm. Jinshu was his disciple and a monarch, but like his master, he wasn’t assigned any duty. So, he had a lot of time just like his master, meaning that his disappearance won’t affect anything.
“Hm,” Tianyi stilled after entering Nine Heavens Peak. Now that he thought about it, all his disciples were quite free. Aside from the war, Leng Junfeng and Ming Xingyun didn’t have anything to do either. He hadn’t thought about it at first since he was used to it. Even when he was part of Jade Peak, he and his mother didn’t have much to do.
They had the status and honor, but no true power. Well, they were still given dividends every period. Although it wasn’t as much as those elders with duties, it was still quite a lot for idle people.
For a moment, Tianyi wondered if the Immortal Court was suppressing them, but after a second, he rejected the idea. He knew his mother. Even if she was in charge, it would be the people under her doing the work and planning, while she would be a figurehead and nothing more. Tianyi himself didn’t want to tire himself. With his current importance, he didn’t need to do such menial work.
Maybe when Tianyi grew bored in the future, he would ask for some assignments to pass the time or experience a different side of life. For now, he had no such thoughts. He was still focused on increasing his strength, and now that he rested enough, it was time to focus again.
