Chapter 122: The Chosen One

“Senior Brother of the Sect Leader, in my opinion, it’s best not to let those two fall under the same master. Their backgrounds are similar, and if they stay together, every time they see each other, memories will resurface. Such lingering resentment could cause trouble in the future.” The speaker was none other than Tian Buyi, the head disciple of Great Bamboo Peak.

Dao Xuan nodded after hearing this. “You may choose first.”

Then, a group of head disciples began to compete among themselves.

In the end, Lin Jingyu became a disciple of the head disciple of Dragon Head Peak, the Taoist Cang Song, while Zhang Xiaofan joined the tutelage of Tian Buyi, head disciple of Great Bamboo Peak.

As for Yang Wenhao, everyone shook their heads when looking at him.

Yang Wenhao was no child like Zhang Xiaofan and the others; he was nearing his twentieth year. Ideally, cultivation should start in childhood.

Still, Yang Wenhao was not without a chance, but his progress would definitely not be as good as the children’s, given his age.

In the end, no one was willing to take him in except Dao Xuan, who accepted him as a disciple.

Yang Wenhao himself wanted to become Dao Xuan’s disciple, for Dao Xuan was undoubtedly the strongest among the seven peak head disciples.

He followed Dao Xuan to Tongtian Peak.

“I can’t detect your innate talent; neither can others. I don’t know how gifted you are, but I hope you cultivate diligently.” Dao Xuan sighed; his expectations for Yang Wenhao were not very high.

After all, even unknown talent wouldn’t change much, especially if it wasn’t extraordinary.

Yang Wenhao said nothing; he didn’t want to argue.

Then, Dao Xuan handed him the sect’s martial art, the Qingfeng Technique.

The Qingfeng Technique was the entry-level skill of Qingyun Sect. Had Yang Wenhao had high talent, Dao Xuan might have given him the Taiji Xuanqing Dao directly.

Yang Wenhao was not discouraged; progress must be made step by step. When Dao Xuan saw his talent later, he would naturally grant him more opportunities.

After Dao Xuan left, Yang Wenhao integrated the Qingfeng Technique into his Heavenly Dao cultivation method.

With the integration, he instantly felt his cultivation speed increase greatly, helped by the rich spiritual energy around him.

A week later, Yang Wenhao broke through again, reaching the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

When Dao Xuan came to check on him again, he was quite surprised: “You’ve already learned how to cultivate!”

“Mm.” Yang Wenhao nodded.

“How is your perception of spiritual energy?” Dao Xuan asked eagerly.

“It feels like streams of pure energy merging into my body,” Yang Wenhao said. “After cultivation, my body feels light and my spirit refreshed.”

Dao Xuan nodded, joy evident on his face. He had thought Yang Wenhao was an ordinary disciple but had never expected him to be a genius, breaking through cultivation within just a week.

Yet, after probing Yang Wenhao’s power again, Dao Xuan still shook his head.

For some reason, he still couldn’t see through Yang Wenhao’s strength.

It seemed something blocked his attempt to assess him fully.

Still, he was pleased and didn’t dwell on it.

“I will now teach you the Taiji Xuanqing Dao,” Dao Xuan said.

“Okay.” Yang Wenhao nodded.

A single Qingfeng Technique had enabled his breakthrough in a week; the Taiji Xuanqing Dao would surely accelerate his progress even more.

He integrated the Taiji Xuanqing Dao again into his Heavenly Dao method.

However, Dao Xuan only taught him the first level of the technique; there were second and third levels beyond that.

One day later, Yang Wenhao sought out Dao Xuan.

“What is it?” Dao Xuan looked at him with some puzzlement, wondering why he wasn’t cultivating.

“Master, I have already reached the first level of Yuqing,” Yang Wenhao said.

Hearing this, Dao Xuan was astonished. “What! In just one day, you’ve already broken through?”

“Yes, Master.” Yang Wenhao nodded.

He was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator; Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing were merely stages within that realm.

At Foundation Establishment, he felt that with his current fifth level strength, he was at the Yuqing first level in this world of Zhuxian. Given time, breaking through to Shangqing would not be a problem.

“This is the second level of the Taiji Xuanqing Dao incantation. Memorize it well.” Dao Xuan recited the second level to Yang Wenhao.

When asked if he had memorized it, Yang Wenhao nodded, confirming he had.

This made Dao Xuan hold his young disciple in even higher regard.

The next day, Yang Wenhao came again.

“Master, I’ve reached the second level,” Yang Wenhao said.

Dao Xuan trembled and looked at him as if he were looking at a monster.

“My disciple, are you some kind of prodigy?” Dao Xuan asked.

Yang Wenhao scratched his head. “Master, how about this: you teach me Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing all at once, so I won’t trouble you so much.”

Dao Xuan was touched but shook his head. “No, the path of cultivation cannot be rushed. I will teach you the third and fourth levels later. You must consolidate your current realm.”

Two days later, just when Dao Xuan thought his prodigy disciple had finally settled down, Yang Wenhao came again.

This time, he arrived flying on a sword.

Sword flight requires reaching the fourth level of Yuqing, meaning he had already attained that stage.

Yang Wenhao was somewhat surprised himself. When he broke through to the fourth level, he realized he could fly on a sword.

Though it consumed spiritual energy rapidly, it was still possible.

Normally, one would need to reach the Golden Core stage to do this, but—

The system explained that every world was a real world, not an illusion. The rules were not all based on the main world; each world’s great Dao differed. Therefore, Yang Wenhao’s cultivation in different rules caused this anomaly.

This explained why he could fly on a sword at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

Seeing Yang Wenhao flying in on his sword, Dao Xuan was greatly shocked.

“Disciple, stop talking nonsense. Here, take these later-stage cultivation techniques,” Dao Xuan said, sorting through the manuals and handing them over.

Yang Wenhao scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Is there something else, disciple?” Dao Xuan asked.

“It’s like this, Master. You said after reaching the fourth level, I could learn other spells. Could you teach me a few? I’d like to learn,” Yang Wenhao said.

Dao Xuan hesitated, then said, “With your current cultivation, you can’t learn too many. I’ll teach you some basic sword techniques.”

After Dao Xuan finished teaching, he asked if Yang Wenhao had learned them.

Yang Wenhao nodded and said something that made Dao Xuan very sad: “Master, these sword techniques are rubbish. Can’t you teach me something powerful? After all, I’m your disciple. You shouldn’t keep it all to yourself.”

(End of chapter)