49 Wood Azure Dragon Scripture

Yao Qian's words gave the First Elder a vague yet certain premonition: the opportunity she had dreamed of for hundreds of years to make the Yao family soar was finally here! She first settled Xueniang in the courtyard at the peak with the richest spiritual energy, and only then led Yao Qian into the secret chamber to talk.

The First Elder asked with affectionate concern first, "Xiao Jiu, have you been doing well these past few years?"

"I've been doing very well. Xiu'er and I were captured and brought to the Wuji Sect together. For the past three years, we've been in seclusion cultivating within one of the sect's secret realms, and we only came out half a year ago." Yao Qian detailed her experiences over the past few years to the First Elder.

The First Elder did not interrupt Yao Qian. She listened intently to the account without cutting in. Hearing that Yao Qian had immediately followed the sect out to reclaim and pioneer barren lands upon leaving seclusion before she even had time to adjust, her expression shifted slightly. However, seeing that Xiao Jiu currently possessed a full and vibrant spirit, she figured the pioneering must not have involved any injuries.

Yet, Yao Qian's next words made the First Elder doubt whether her ears were playing tricks on her—"We returned to the sect two days ago. Right after getting back, the Sect Master took me in as his personal disciple. Senior Eldest Brother said that as a personal disciple, I am permitted to relocate my family to the sect, so I came back."

Yao Qian paused, then said with a troubled expression, "Master also gave me a mountain peak, and right beneath it is a top-tier spiritual vein. Senior Brother said these all belong to me, and even if I leave Master's blessed land in the future, this mountain peak and the spiritual vein can be taken along with me."

"Senior Eldest Brother wants me to properly manage this mountain peak, and he also said he would give me a squad of Dao soldiers," Yao Qian complained, "I can't even feed myself properly, where on earth would I get the resources to maintain Dao soldiers?"

The First Elder subconsciously retorted, "You shouldn't put it that way. Having high-tier cultivators around means we can rest easier when you go out."

Yao Qian replied, "Setting aside whether there are even Dao soldiers at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages to begin with, even if there were, it's not something I could afford to maintain, and they might not necessarily bother to protect me. Rather than entrusting my personal safety to others, it's better to act cautiously myself."

Seeing that the First Elder still wanted to persuade her, she changed the subject and asked, "First Elder, what do you think? Should we move the Yao family into the Wuji Sect?"

The First Elder answered without a moment's hesitation, "Yes! Of course we should!"

The First Elder's absolute decisiveness actually made Yao Qian somewhat hesitant instead. "The Wuji Sect is a Demonic sect, after all."

The First Elder was unimpressed. "So what if it's a Demonic sect? Do you think the Qingmu Valley is some righteous and upright orthodox sect?" A minor, uninfluential sect like the Qingmu Valley sometimes acted even more demonic than actual Demonic sects. "Besides, what if it's a true Orthodox sect? At best, they just maintain a better appearance on the surface; behind closed doors, every place is exactly the same."

To someone like the First Elder who had roamed the pugilistic world for countless years, the difference between Demonic and Orthodox sects was truly negligible. Orthodox sects were certainly no charitable houses; they still required subordinate clans to offer annual tributes and pioneer barren lands. Furthermore, Orthodox sects placed an immense emphasis on rules. Given Xiao Jiu's current situation—even though she had been accepted under the Sect Master's lineage—it was far from certain that an Orthodox sect would be able to elevate her family in such a manner.

The First Elder gently stroked Yao Qian's long hair. "Even without joining the Wuji Sect, the Yao family isn't necessarily safe. My lifespan is running out, and by the time I pass away, if the family still doesn't have a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this ancestral foundation won't be preserved either."

Everyone knew there was an Azure Spirit Bamboo Emperor on the peak of the Yao family's mountain. With a single Bamboo Emperor capable of nurturing such a vast expanse of Azure Spirit Bamboo—comparable to a low-tier spiritual vein—within a few centuries, which family wouldn't be green with envy? While the First Elder was still alive, most people didn't dare harbor greedy thoughts. Once she died and the family lacked a cultivator capable of holding down the fort, this Azure Spirit Bamboo Emperor would become the greatest source of disaster for the Yao family.

"Now that we are entering the Wuji Sect, to say nothing of other things, at the very least everyone's cultivation mental techniques can be upgraded to superior ones. Who knows, someone might even break through to Foundation Establishment," the First Elder said quite optimistically. The scarcity of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Yao family wasn't merely a matter of natural talent.

In fact, the majority of Foundation Establishment cultivators hadn't yet reached the point where they had to rely purely on innate aptitude. Otherwise, why would the Wuji Sect have so many Foundation Establishment cultivators? While this was certainly related to the Wuji Sect's strict requirements for the aptitudes of entering disciples, the most crucial reason was still the cultivation techniques.

As one of the most powerful sects in the cultivation world, the Wuji Sect boasted countless ascendant cultivators, let alone ordinary Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators. This path had already been successfully traversed by countless people. Even the Foundation Establishment cultivation techniques provided for outer sect disciples had been refined by generations of supreme masters, ensuring that the majority of practitioners could successfully advance to Foundation Establishment.

Yao Qian thought about it and realized it made sense. The cultivation world was fraught with danger everywhere; who could say when a Nascent Soul demon beast might wander near Azure Bamboo Ridge and wipe out everyone's lives here? Therefore, rather than wasting time on worry, it was better to concentrate on enhancing one's own strength.

"First Elder, I don't understand these matters concerning the sect; I will still need your assistance," Yao Qian thought to herself, wondering what realm the First Elder was currently at—was she in the Foundation Establishment stage or the Liquid Jade stage? Did she still have a chance to break through to the Golden Core stage? It would be wonderful if she could break through to Golden Core.

Cultivators lived long lives, and from the very beginning of her cultivation, Yao Qian's ultimate goal had been longevity. She had long prepared herself mentally to watch most of her loved ones pass away in this lifetime, yet she still hoped the First Elder wouldn't leave too early. The First Elder's potential in this lifetime had been delayed by the family.

"You don't need to expend too much thought on these trivial matters; you only need to vet the major decisions. The remaining chores will naturally be handled by others for you," the First Elder said. Even without Yao Qian asking, the First Elder would never allow the Qilin child of the Yao family to waste her mind on household trivia.

The First Elder briskly declared, "You rest here for a while. I am going to summon the elders for a discussion and strive to leave with you by the day after tomorrow."

Yao Qian was dumbfounded, blurting out, "So soon?"

The First Elder sighed softly, "If you had come back a few years later, you might have had to search for us in a mortal city." With her lifespan nearing its end and the Yao family lacking successors, several members of the household had intentions of leaving this place. If they didn't leave, were they supposed to just sit around and wait to be hunted down for their treasures and slaughtered?

Yao Qian fell silent. After a moment, she said, "I'm going to the secret chamber to cultivate." It was a good opportunity to further familiarize herself with the *Sun and Moon Wheel Transformation Scripture*, and by the way, ponder the *Wood-Element Azure Dragon Scripture*. The Wood-Element Qi here was also quite rich, which was more than enough for her cultivation.

Seeing Xiao Jiu work so diligently, the First Elder was overjoyed. "You cultivate right here; this is my personal cultivation chamber." She handed the array token of the secret chamber to Yao Qian and then stepped outside.

Yao Qian activated the array of the secret chamber and first concentrated on cultivating the *Sun and Moon Wheel Transformation Scripture*. Her primary task was to store the refined Yin and Yang true qi of the sun and moon into her acupoints. The Yin and Yang true qi within the acupoints she had already refined had now formed a Taiji qi vortex.

Even so, Yao Qian still carefully guided a wisp of solar true qi into it, expanding the acupoint to the greatest extent possible. Through her cultivation over the past few years, she discovered that the true qi capacity within the acupoints could be slowly expanded. Sometimes an acupoint might seem completely filled, but after some time, a little more could be packed inside.

Every time Yao Qian refined a new acupoint, she would store a trace of true qi into the preceding ones, expanding her acupoints to the maximum limit possible. Ever since she began cultivating, most of her cultivation experiences had been figured out through her own contemplation. She had once heard a teacher at the lecture hall say that the Aperture-Opening stage was the foundation of a cultivator's Dao.

The fewer turbid energies there were in the acupoints, the smoother the circulation of true qi would be. Therefore, if conditions permitted, it was best to wear away and eliminate all turbid qi within the acupoints entirely. She possessed a Glazed Pure Body, meaning her body was naturally devoid of turbid qi. Theoretically speaking, she could completely achieve Foundation Establishment right after guiding qi into her body.

It was only because the cultivation technique she practiced differed from others that she had been delayed for so long. Yao Qian was not in a rush; at her current cultivation speed, she would be able to reach Foundation Establishment in at most two more years. Wuji Sect cultivators who achieved Foundation Establishment within five years were exceedingly rare.

Moreover, she believed that the Tianyan Monument would not let her perform useless efforts. While other cultivators only stored true qi in their dantian, she possessed true qi in every single one of her acupoints. The true qi she wielded in the future would surely crush any existence of the same level. Thinking of the future, she felt even more motivated in her cultivation.

Yao Qian meditated whole-heartedly for several hours, filling more than half of the true qi in a newly opened acupoint before stopping to examine the *Wood-Element Azure Dragon Scripture*. The *Wood-Element Azure Dragon Scripture* was a cultivation technique personally acquired by Ji Lingxiao. He had the authority to impart it to anyone, and therefore, the technique he gave Yao Qian was the complete version, unlike the *Heaven and Earth Yin and Yang Scripture*, which only had the Qi-Condensing stage portion.

The advantage of a complete cultivation technique was that after being deduced by the Tianyan Monument, Yao Qian could know the ultimate realm to which this technique could lead, unlike her primary cultivation technique where she could only blindly cultivate without knowing where it would lead her in the future.

What surprised Yao Qian somewhat was that all the other cultivation techniques she practiced had their names changed after being deduced by the Tianyan Monument, yet this *Wood-Element Azure Dragon Scripture* still retained its original name. Was it because the entire technique had been deduced at once?

Curious, Yao Qian directed her divine sense into the talismans of the *Wood-Element Azure Dragon Scripture*. Once she finished reading the entire text, she was somewhat stunned. She had long since grown accustomed to the various bizarre and eccentric cultivation techniques in the cultivation world, but the cultivation method of the *Azure Dragon Scripture* still managed to broaden her horizons.

This was the first time she had ever seen a cultivation technique that completely abandoned the human form to concentrate on cultivating an avatar, even training that avatar into a dragon. Was it truly because her own level was still inadequate and her perspective too shallow? Pondering this technique, Yao Qian faintly suspected that even her Master might never have practiced it, because the method was truly somewhat bizarre.

She had originally assumed that the words "Azure Dragon" in this cultivation technique were merely a metaphor, but she hadn't expected that it genuinely required one to cultivate a real dragon! Of course, this did not mean refining her own physical body into an Azure Dragon form, but rather refining the breath of the Azure Dragon into a dragon entity.

This cultivation technique was more akin to a Second Divine Soul cultivation method. However, most Second Divine Soul cultivation methods in the cultivation world required a rare heavenly treasure as a foundation during cultivation. For instance, since Yao Qian currently had a worshipping-moon toad egg on hand, she could split off a wisp of her divine sense before the egg hatched, refining the body of the tiny worshipping-moon toad—which still lacked consciousness within the egg—into her own avatar.

She could then control the avatar's cultivation through her separated divine sense, and once the worshipping-moon toad achieved mastery in its cultivation, she would also gain an avatar of a worshipping-moon toad. The cultivation method of the *Azure Dragon Scripture* was similar to the Second Divine Soul method, except that it did not require any heavenly treasures; it only required Wood-Element Qi.

This technique required the cultivator to inhale and exhale Wood-Element Qi, condensing a trace of Azure Dragon Breath within the dantian. The initial Azure Dragon Breath was as fine as a hair and only a finger's length; it required long-term nourishment, using Wood-Element Qi to construct individual Azure Dragon acupoints within its body before this strand of Azure Dragon Breath could awaken its spirit and become like a living creature.

As for the formation of that Azure Dragon Breath, it was also rather illusory and required no particularly complex steps—one simply had to practice long-term breathing and meditation facing the Wood-Element Qi. However, if one's innate aptitude allowed for the cultivation of this text, one would sooner or later cultivate the Azure Dragon Breath; if one was unsuited, one could practice for hundreds of years and still fail to produce it.

Yao Qian: "..." Was it because her own aptitude was exceptional and naturally attuned to wood spiritual qi that her Master had instructed her to practice this technique? Did he hold such high expectations for her?