The ancestor is incompetent!

Chapter 5 Deacons' Meeting
Li Yuan shook his head and sighed. He decided to practice peacefully. It is better to be safe than sorry.

At this moment, the moon was at its zenith, and it was obviously late at night. The spiritual energy in the market was weak, and it was impossible to practice. So he found an old tree, climbed up, meditated and adjusted his breathing, preparing to rush back to the mountain gate tomorrow morning.

There is an inn in the market town, but Li Yuan is a poor man, and it is too extravagant for him to spend spirit stones just to rest for a night.

In the second half of the night, an old Taoist priest also came under the tree, looking for a place to rest like him.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and looked at the old Taoist priest. The old Taoist priest smiled and bowed: "Excuse me for disturbing you."

"We are all from the same sect, you are too polite." Li Yuan replied calmly. There are foundation-building cultivators in the market, and a medium-sized protective formation has been set up. Ordinary cultivators dare not take action in the market, so this is the safest place at night.

Moreover, from what he saw, he was just a casual cultivator who had a hard time practicing Taoism, and there was not much to gain.

Li Yuan sighed in his heart that the world of cultivation is not only filled with flourishing sects and markets, and senior masters admired by thousands of people, but there are more mediocre little cultivators like him living in the corners.

After daybreak, Li Yuan got up and spent ten spirit stones to buy a bunch of low-grade talismans, a total of twenty-six.

Most of these talismans were small ones such as fire bomb talismans, ice talismans, and divine travel talismans. Since it was difficult for him to practice magic, he simply used these talismans instead.

After packing up, Li Yuan left the market and found a corner to change into the clothes of a Qi Ling Sect disciple. Sect disciples were considered to be not to be trifled with in the eyes of casual cultivators.

Li Yuan could only act like a bully, as he actually had very little experience in fighting and his combat effectiveness was actually pitifully weak.

He knew his own limitations. Sect disciples relied on their skills, cultivation, good talismans and magical instruments to suppress independent cultivators, but he had none of these. Moreover, independent cultivators were people who had experienced many ups and downs. Li Yuan would not look down on anyone.

Along the way, they met three or five monks who were heading to the market town. After seeing Li Yuan's clothes, they all turned away. After all, the Qi Ling Sect was also a medium-sized sect nearby, and if they provoked these disciples, who knew if they would be attacked by the older ones.

When the sun was setting, he finally returned to the mountain gate, panting.

Li Yuan is not afraid of being despised or laughed at, as long as he is always the most insignificant person in the eyes of everyone.

Therefore, he was exhausted from all the traveling and looked quite embarrassed when he stood in front of the two brothers guarding the gate.

"Hey, Junior Brother Li Yuan is back." Senior Brother Zhao from yesterday said with a smile, "Is he being chased? Why is he running so fast?"

Li Yuan took a breath and said, "I'm sorry to make you laugh, but I was afraid that someone would rob me."

"Haha, Junior Brother Li, you underestimate our Qi Ling Sect. Who dares to act rashly within a few dozen miles of the mountain gate? The ancestor's divine sense can detect it with just a glance." Senior Brother Zhao couldn't help laughing and said, "Be more at ease next time. Okay, let's go back to the mountain.

There was some noise in our mountain gate this time."

"Noise? What happened?" Li Yuan asked curiously.

"You don't know yet, right? Just yesterday, among the new disciples brought back by Elder Wang Yi, there was actually a genius with earth-grade spiritual roots!" Another gatekeeper couldn't help but say it.

"What? Earth-grade spiritual roots!" Li Yuan was surprised and said, "Doesn't that mean we will have one more ancestor in at most a hundred years?"

"Who says it's not true?" Senior Brother Zhao said with some emotion, "Spiritual roots are destiny.

I heard that Qifeng and Lingfeng have been fighting for this new disciple. Even the head of Qifeng has come out of seclusion. Tsk tsk, I wonder which peak will accept him. "

Li Yuan returned to the mountain gate. When he passed Lingfeng, he could hear many disciples discussing the new disciple Li Yunming.

"And they have the same last name, which is rare."

He thought it was none of his business, so he turned around and went back to his cave, where he met three or two fellow disciples along the way.

It seems that the mountain sect has been recruiting a lot of disciples in the past few years. I’m afraid there are almost two hundred of them?

After returning to the cave, closing the restrictions, and regulating his breathing, Li Yuan was ready to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining in one go!
If he hadn't changed to practice the lower Yuan Zhen Jue, he might have still failed. After all, there were many examples of disciples in the sect.

But now he has changed to practice the spiritual lower Yuan Zhen Jue to supplement his foundation and has more confidence. In addition, he has the Black Smoke Python Heart Pill, a precious medicine that harmonizes the heart, qi and acupoints, so the possibility of a breakthrough is naturally much greater.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and concentrated, mobilizing the spiritual power in his body and circulated it according to the middle stage Qi training method, moving the Qi through the Shenque, the coccyx, and the heart meridian.

As soon as it approached the heart meridian, the resistance suddenly increased. He didn't have time to think and hurriedly swallowed the Black Smoke Python Heart Pill. As soon as it entered his stomach, heavy water floated up and his heart beat so violently that Li Yuan's face turned red.

Fortunately, this water-attributed heart pill was quite extraordinary. A stream of pure warm and cool water vapor rushed into his heart, carrying his spiritual power through nine meridians and finally into the heart point.

Li Yuan concentrated all his attention on drawing spiritual power and injecting it into the blood in his heart. The blood became full of energy and absorbed the spiritual essence. The mortal blood became immortal blood. In an instant, the spiritual energy around his body stagnated, and then it suddenly circulated, frantically swallowing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth several feet around him into his body.

The blood in the heart is hanging in the internal organs, the skin and flesh have been cleaned, the blood has been turned into spirit, and the spiritual energy in the dantian has also increased by more than ten times.

Li Yuan suppressed his surprise and silently regulated the remaining spiritual energy in his body. It was more than ten days later that he finally opened his eyes.

He stood up, his spiritual sense was clear, and his spiritual awareness could completely cover his courtyard, at least several dozen feet away.

"In the middle stage of Qi Refining, blood becomes spirit, it is indeed extraordinary!"

Li Yuan tried to cast a spell again. He pinched the magic formula in his hand for three breaths. Suddenly, a ball of fire appeared. The scorching heat made the boy's face red.

"Okay, okay! With my current level of cultivation, I can perform this most basic fire bomb technique faster.

It seems that the Xia Yuan Zhen Jue has a limit on the difficulty of practicing the spells that damage the mind and hurt the soul. "

The middle stage of Qi Refining may not be worth mentioning in the vast world of cultivation, but for Li Yuan, it is the fulfillment of his long-cherished wish.

……

When it was time to take charge of the daily affairs a few days later, Li Yuan came to the Lingfeng Hall and immediately caused a sensation.

"Hey, Li Yuan, you actually broke through to the middle stage!"

"Is my divine sense wrong?"

"This is too outrageous!"

A group of fellow disciples gathered in front of Li Yuan, talking about what was going on.

Li Yuan still looked harmless, and said shyly: "Junior brother, I made a breakthrough by luck."

"quiet!"

An old Taoist holding a sword on his back walked out from the front of the hall and shouted coldly. None of the disciples dared to speak anymore.

This is because the elder in front of him is one of the few elders in the sect who practices swordsmanship and has extremely strong combat power.

"I will be in charge of the general affairs assignment this time."

The old Taoist holding the sword glanced at everyone present, and compared them with the jade slip in his hand. Suddenly, he exclaimed softly, flashed in front of Li Yuan, and asked in surprise: "You kid, you actually broke through the middle stage of Qi Refining so quickly?"

Li Yuan was startled. The gap between the late and middle stages of Qi Refining was so huge that he didn't even realize that the old man had appeared in front of him. "Reporting to Elder Gu, I was blessed with a spiritual blessing not long ago and suddenly broke through the bottleneck. My cultivation level has greatly improved. Then I went to Wenshan Market and bought a Black Smoke Python Heart Pill. I was lucky enough to enter the middle stage!"

"Tsk tsk, you are also lucky." The ancient elder smiled, "It's the luck of the Qingfeng Pavilion's true cultivators. I will thank you later."

Li Yuan was a little confused. The reason why he dared not hide his aura was because the spiritual lower Yuan Zhen Jue and the lower Yuan Jue were from the same lineage and it was difficult to tell the difference. He also had no other adventures except the Xuanyuan Wanmu Realm, so he dared to admit it generously.

"I don't know what the elder is talking about..."

"Last month, a cultivator in Qingfeng Pavilion mastered the Taoist art of [True Yuan Water Wall] and achieved foundation building. The heaven and earth within a radius of hundreds of miles felt it, and the Kan water and Yuan water sublimated. The Xia Yuan Jue you practiced belongs to Yuan water, so it is reasonable that you can make great progress in your skills."

Elder Gu smiled and said, "Since you have reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, next year will be the Deacon Conference, so you should become a Deacon disciple as soon as possible."

"Yes, disciple thanks the elder for his guidance!"

Li Yuan understood and accepted it calmly without any objection.

Next, Elder Gu began to assign miscellaneous tasks. As expected, Li Yuan was assigned the task of engraving the ban.

Li Yuan, who had already reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, naturally found it much easier to carry out this forbidden task. After completing his one-month rotation, he returned to the cave abode.

After reaching the middle stage, Li Yuan was no longer a laughing stock in the eyes of his peers, and many of them came to visit him.

Li Yuan did not put on airs and received everyone warmly.

Although it was shocking that he broke through to the middle stage of Qi Refining at the age of 25, it was not big news compared to the newcomer Li Yunming.

Li Yuan doesn't care about fame or being in the limelight at all and is happy to keep a low profile.

After a few days, he continued to practice hard and hung a sign outside the door to thank the visitors.

Don't underestimate the small realm of the Qi Refining Period. A mid-stage cultivator can easily defeat three or five early-stage cultivators, and a late-stage cultivator can even fight against ten mid-stage cultivators. If you want to fight in a smaller realm, it is only possible with the talismans or powerful magic weapons bestowed by the elders.

As for the higher realms, even a hundred Qi Refining cultivators are no match for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, unless they use sophisticated formations to fight against one or two of them.

If Li Yuan had a magic weapon in his hand now, it would be no problem for him to deal with ordinary early-stage cultivators, but he was too poor to afford it.

I can only continue to practice hard and rely on my monthly salary to save.

As for other means of making a living, Li Yuan didn't dare to waste time on other things. He didn't have good talent to begin with. If it weren't for the miraculous effect of Xia Yuan Zhen Jue, he would probably have to wait until he was in his fifties or sixties to break through the initial stage and reach the middle stage.

Li Yuan remembered the sign inside the door, Puppet.

He was only familiar with puppets, and he had fully mastered the thirty-six external prohibitions of the Jiamu puppet while doing housework.

There are only a few core internal restrictions left, plus five materials for refining puppets, such as spiritual wood, spiritual liquid, etc., it may not be impossible for him to make a puppet himself.

As long as he can refine a puppet, it doesn't matter if he is weak, he can completely rely on the puppet as his own combat power.

Moreover, as long as you become a deacon disciple, the sect will give you a puppet in the middle stage of Qi Refining for free!
Fighting one on your own may not work, but using the majority to bully the minority may not be the answer.

While practicing, Li Yuan also began to slowly study the four core internal prohibitions of the Jiamu puppet.

There is no difference between the Jiamu puppet and Yimu puppet in the Wan Kui Sutra and the puppets in the sect, but the core internal restrictions are much more complicated. It took more than a year to master the four internal restrictions.

Li Yuan was most familiar with the Jiamu puppet, so naturally he had to start with it. Now that the magic ban was complete, the only problem left was to use the earth fire to refine the puppet's body.

Over the past year, his cultivation level has not improved much. After all, the gap between the middle and late stages is much more difficult than the gap from the early to middle stages.

On this day, October 15th, the disciples of Qi Ling Sect put down what they were doing and rushed to Fengxian Square in the center of the two peaks, just because this was the Deacons' Meeting held every five years.

Li Yuan and four other disciples who had broken through to the middle stage within the past five years stood side by side in the center of the square to receive the imperial edict.

More than two hundred disciples stood around, some envious, some jealous, some disdainful, but they could only stand on both sides of the road.

Eighteen huge red-gold pillars stood in the square. On the high platform in the front stood more than ten elders. In the middle were the masters of Lingfeng and Qifeng. Their auras were far superior to those of the others, and they were intimidating without even getting angry.

The leader of Qifeng Peak, Wang Qiu, on the left, is a middle-aged man who looks to be over fifty years old. His face is dignified and his cultivation has reached the peak of Qi Refining.

The master of Lingfeng on the right was a young scholar in his twenties. He was handsome and stood out in the crowd of old men in a white robe. Many female disciples were reluctant to take their eyes off him.

"Brother Helian, there is only one disciple from your Lingfeng at this meeting of deacons." Wang Qiu said calmly: "While focusing on cultivation, don't forget your responsibilities as the master of a peak."

Helian Wei laughed awkwardly, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. The disciples in my Lingfeng are all different, unlike Qifeng, where all of them are from the Wang family of Yuncheng, and many elders have taken the trouble to teach them."

"Haha, Junior Brother, how far have you come in the past five years?" Wang Qiu changed the subject and asked about cultivation instead.

"It's just another five years, what can we gain? The difficulty of Dao Cang is far beyond my imagination." Helian Wei shook his head, "I heard that Uncle Wang personally accepted that earth-grade spiritual root as his disciple a year ago, but he didn't let him into your Qifeng?"

"Since Master Uncle has accepted a disciple, he can no longer belong to me, Qi Feng. This is the sect's rule." Wang Qiu said with a smile: "Let's first give these new disciples some gifts."

"Please go first, senior brother!" Helian Wei smiled and stretched out his hand, then took half a step back.

Wang Qiu nodded, raised his hand and pointed towards the sky. A bright light fell and turned into a decree that he held.

"Deacon disciples, listen to my orders!"

Li Yuan and the other five people knelt respectfully at the same time, bowed their upper bodies, and said in unison: "Disciple is here!"

"The immortal way prospers, and immortality is endless. Respect heaven and earth to pray, absorb all energy to become a spirit.

Today, I hold the order of Xuanyuan and collect your blood to offer to the spirits of the ancestors. I hope that you will be filial to your ancestors, be close to your fellow disciples, be upright, live up to your ancestors, and not bring harm to the younger generations. …

Glorify Qi Ling, and let the immortal path last forever!"

"Disciple will obey the law!"

Li Yuan and the other four bowed down at the same time, and then bit their index fingers, letting out a drop of blood, which was absorbed by the precious order held by the leader of Qi Feng. The five of them felt something in their hearts.

This is a treasure similar to the soul lamp. As long as you absorb their essence and blood, you can sense their life or death even if they are thousands of miles away. You can even sense their approximate location by activating secret methods.

Only after going through this process can one be considered a true disciple of Qi Lingmen!

After the ceremony was over, Helian Wei stepped forward and said, "From now on, you will be the steward disciples and be protected by our Qi Ling Sect. Your every word and action will represent the name of our Qi Ling Sect. I hope you will do more righteous things, practice hard, and enter the later stage as soon as possible!

Today, according to the custom of the sect, we grant you the inherited spirit puppets to protect you!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves, and five green rays of light fell in front of them, transforming into five puppets, some holding wooden swords and some holding magic bows.

(End of this chapter)