Chapter 396: Winter to Spring, Zhu Yi Rushes for His Examination
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng was patient and politely listened with a faint smile as Wang Lin droned on and on. Wang Lin looked at his master with embarrassment as he realized what was going on.
Lin Feng laughed and said, "Everything else aside, this daughter-in-law still has no home. I have let your parents down."
Wang Lin opened his mouth speechlessly before he laughed frustratedly and shook his head. "Looks like my parents are going to nag at me again when I return." He seemed frustrated, but his heart was filled with warmth.
Lin Feng waved his hands and said, "Okay. Go ahead, and stay safe on the road!"
"Seems like you are in a tough spot. However, from my perspective, I think you are actually very blessed."
Wang Lin bowed down with respect. "Yes, master. I shall make my move first, please take care of your yourself."
Wang Lin returned to the Forest Abode, which was still a simple and plainly constructed wooden house, except the additional room for his disciple Li Xingfei. Li Xingfei was seated in her meditating position when she saw her master. Immediately, she stood up to attention to greet Wang Lin, "Greetings, master."
Wang Lin’s emotions were settled down by now and his expression was plain and inscrutable. However, that did not mean that he was cold towards his own disciples.
Li Xingfei was still in the Qi cultivation stage and was practicing the Eight Trigrams Variorum which was a mantra developed by Zhu Yi. Only when she reached the foundation establishment stage could she start practicing Wang Lin's Heavenly Extreme Path Sutra.
After Wang Lin handed Li Xingfei her assignments, he proceeded to pass her a jade letter and said plainly, "I have to leave the mountain for a period of time. During this time, continue to practice diligently. When in doubt, open the jade letter and you will find the answers to your questions."
"I have already spoken to your Second Senior Uncle. If you still are unable to find your answers, you can head to the Heavenly Temple to look for him. (Translator’s Note: The Second Senior Uncle is translated as such to remain faithful to the original Chinese text. This refers to a practitioner one generation higher that is from the same sect as the individual’s master. The number refers to seniority). He will be able to advise you accordingly."
Li Xingfei hesitated for a moment and said quietly, "Master, can I follow you?" Her voice became softer and softer as she watched Lin Feng with anxious eyes.
Wang Lin did not mind her company, but still shook his head and said, "I do not need you to come with me for now. Just stay here and concentrate on cultivation. The spiritual energy of Mount Yujing is far denser than that of the outside world and will aid you a lot in your journey."
"Yes, master." Li Xingfei.
Wang Lin disappeared into thin air in an instant and left Mount Yujing using Lin Feng's talisman after bidding his farewells to his seniors and juniors. Subsequently, he flipped his hands and took out a token which had a white elephant's mark on it.
The token started to beam with white light and flickered a few times in a air before a white elephant the size of a tiny mountain marched out from the clouds.
Wang Lin rode on its head and the white elephant roared before it started to move forward. The mountains shook and the Earth trembled, and a crack appeared as the white elephant carried Wang Lin within and vanished.
Watching Wang Lin leave from the tree branches of the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree from afar, Lin Feng resumed his work on the massive purple banner. He needed to merge the souls of the two cultivators from the Aeolus Sect who were in the advanced stage of the Nascent Soul with the Cosmic Form in order to form the False Immortal. Besides fortification, Lin Feng also made improvements to the purple banner which was then subsequently inserted into the False Immortal. The process of forging a magical device was extremely complex and time-consuming.. For Lin Feng, who was aided by the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree, the Heaven-Revolving Purple Clouds and his masteries of mantra, it still took him a couple of months to forge it successfully. On one hand, it was because he wanted to ensure that the magical item was fundamentally fortified. On the other, Lin Feng was also deeply inspired and driven to forge it to perfection.
During the process of forging, Lin Feng also made advancements in his masteries of mantra.
Many concepts of forging items were devised. They were an extension of Lin Feng's understanding of the universe and individual masteries of mantra as well as the exercise of his reasoning.
Many people were marveled by the nemesis of Shi Tianhao and Shi Tianyi as they were extremely gifted in the masteries of mantra since they were young.
From the moment he entered this world till today, it had only been a little more than ten years. Over the decade, he managed to reach the intermediate Nascent Soul Stage and this speed of ascension was otherworldly and unprecedented.
The system played a huge part in his swift rise in power. Even so, the time he took to reach the intermediate stage of Nascent Soul was still very impressive and formidable.
The reason why Lin Feng could advance at such an impressive pace was because of his strong fundamentals. However, advancing at that pace came with a cost - there were many small things that he did not have the opportunity to savor or study. Therefore, during that process of forging the purple banner, he took the chance to consolidate his knowledge and the tie up the loose ends in his own mantras.
His discoveries were relatively satisfactory. After this process of consolidation, Lin Feng would have a comparatively smoother journey in his path of cultivation in the future.
A few months passed, and Lin Feng managed to obtain several lucky-draw chances but he refused to use a single one and saved everything.
He wanted to give himself time to prepare, and when the opportune moment arose, he would go all in on the gamble.
Other than studying the purple banner in those few months, he was also able to study the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl.
At this point in time, he knew that the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl had no direct relation to the Holy Demonic Emperor. Lin Feng was also close to fully understanding its capabilities, but he there were some things he still needed to test and confirm.
"Not just replication of non-living objects, it can also replicate living objects." Lin Feng pinched the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl between his fingers. He tried replicating himself before and it was a "success" in some sense as the replicated Lin Feng looked the same when he compared it to himself.
The avatar had a will and consciousness of its own, but it was not independent - instead, it shared the same consciousness as the real Lin Feng. It had the same qualities as the Avatar of Ares and the Steel Tree Avatar, but its powers were exactly the same as his original body.
Its physical appearance to its abilities were identical as Lin Feng’s original body. Besides Lin Feng himself, nobody would be able to tell which is the avatar and which is the original body.
Lin Feng thought, "Back then the Heavenly Wind Holy Man used this magical item to replicate the Nine Heavens Squall Formation, he unknowingly rendered it unusable for a short period of time. Or else, he could have replicated himself and ran in opposite directions which would then have definitely split Golden Crow Grand Sage and me up to chase him down."
There was a buffer time as to how frequent things can be replicated depending on the life force required by it previous replication. The stronger the life force of a replication, the longer it would take for the next replication to be performed.
Every time it was used to replicate something, whatever that was replicated would eventually return and become white. It would then take another seven days before it can fully return to its glorious bright golden color and became usable again.
There was also a limit to what the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl can replicate. Things like Mount Yujing, Black Heavenly Treasure Tree and Two Elements of Creation Formation could not be replicated.
The Two Elements of Creation Formation lacked some materials and its power could not yet be maximised. However, the level of complexity of this magic formation was also off the charts and the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl was unable to replicate its strength and profundity.
Objects like the Flaming Dragon Celestial Armor, Lin Feng's False God and the Soul Creator Seal however, could all be replicated by the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl. Whereas, things like the massive Sword inside the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World and the crippled soul of the Golden Crow Grand Sage could not be replicated.
His last discovery could be considered a substantial one as it allowed Lin Feng to know the upper limits of the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl.
Even though the Golden Crow Grand Sage’s soul was damaged, it was still superior to that of a demonic lord, but it would definitely be weaker than an undying demon soul stage Grand Sage.
From the perspective of power, it was probably equal to that of the False Immortal and weaker than the Flaming Dragon Celestial Armor.
However, the False Immortal and the Flaming Dragon Celestial Armor could both be replicated, but the remnant soul of the Golden Crow Grand Sage could not.
Lin Feng’s guess was that the upper limits of the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl could be limited at first-level immortal soul stage power levels. The Pearl was unable to replicate anything above the first-level immortal soul stage.
The powerful Nine Heavens Squall Formation was an exception as it was a special formation which drew support from the power of the Heaven and Earth. Furthermore, the Nine Heavens Squall Formation was not as complex or as powerful as formations like the Two Elements of Creation Formation and the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation.
"Hmm, this is however, still a worthy magical item. If used correctly and to its full potential it would definitely come in handy," Lin Feng said he studied the pearl in front of him once more.
"Instead, it is the connection to the Holy Demonic Emperor that cannot be verified, so I shall leave that aside for now."
Lin Feng carefully kept the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl and stood up from his meditative position on the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree while looking at the horizon.
"The winter is almost ending. This year's spring shall be the start of Zhu Yi's examination,"
The Wasteland Valley had been tranquil and quiet for over six months, and was finally restored to its original excitement and liveliness.
Xiao Budian (Shi Tianhao) who had been recovering from his injuries in the Nirvana World's Grand Moon Lake had recently come out of it. Even though he was still weak, there were streams of green light rippling below his skin
Worried that his little junior's body would be harmed and overstrained from the prolonged semi-submergence of his body in the Grand Moon Lake, Yang Qing remained by his little junior's side throughout the whole process and constantly bathed him in the Heaven-Revolving Purple Cloud and Grand Moon Primordial Water.
At that point in time, after having to semi-submerged himself in the Grand Moon Lake, all he had to do was guide the spiritual energy in his body to circulate smoothly. After which, his physical body and mana would be at an even higher level than before he was injured.
However, Shi Tianhao was more concerned about his plants and animals in the valley as Tun Tun could have harmed them while he was recovering.Fortunately, knowing Shi Tianhao, Lin Feng brought Tun Tun out of the Wasteland Valley which left the little Tao Tie cursing and bitter for months, but made Shi Tianhao so emotional until he cried.
He smiled at the sight of Wasteland Valley being restored to its liveliness and he arrived right outside Zhu Yi’s Heavenly Temple.
Lin Feng felt a few waves of weak but vigorous mana coming from inside as he entered the ancient temple - it was Zhu Yi's disciple practicing.
Zhu Yi was also present inside the Heavenly Temple. His expression looked warm and amicable, but he was strict and meticulous when advising and teaching his disciples.
Having felt Lin Feng's presence, Zhu Yi immediately walked out and greeted his master, "Greetings, master."
Lin Feng smiled and replied, "Zhu Yi, Winter has passed and Spring has arrived, are you ready for your examination?"
"Although I have been consistently practicing mantra and the cultivation world is infinite, I have never forgotten the principles of being a student and a scholar and I have been waiting for this day to come," Zhu Yi replied joyfully.