Xiuxian: But It's Not a Game

Chapter 315 The Benefits of Celestial Immortals Preaching the Dao, Another Sudden Enlightenment (6K)

PS: Here's a patch: Master's sermons have been changed to once every three months; once a month before was too frequent.

One morning a month after she started her training, Su Yu suddenly received a message from her fourth senior brother, Li Yingxin:

"Junior brother, the teacher is giving a sermon today, so don't be late."

"Just went out."

He had this matter in mind long ago and had been preparing for it for a while.

When we arrived at Dragon Turtle Peak, we saw that the other senior brothers had already arrived in front of the Dragon Turtle Hall.

This was the first time Su Yu had met several senior brothers and sisters since entering the sect: two members of the Heavenly Eye Clan, one member of the Thunder God Clan, one member of the Stone Heart Clan, and two human members, her fourth senior brother and fifth senior sister.

The eldest and third senior brothers looked exactly like the person with the third eye that Su Yu had seen at the Wind God Tower, except that their third eyes were closed. The senior brothers and sisters chatted idly in the square, but their expressions were fake and they didn't seem close at all.

Upon seeing Su Yu's arrival, one of the Heavenly Eye beings, whose level was the highest present at 295, smiled and said:

"Junior Brother is here!"

Everyone's gaze shifted, and scrutinizing eyes all fell upon him. The Fifth Senior Sister's voice rang in their ears:
"We fellow disciples may not get along, but we can't show it. When we're out in the world, we still have to maintain the appearance of harmony among fellow disciples."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister."

Su Yu smiled and bowed with clasped hands.
"Su Yu greets all senior brothers and sisters."

"You're too kind, junior brother."

The second senior brother, from the Thunder God Clan, asked with a kind expression:
"Junior brother, you've just become an apprentice. If you have any questions, you can come with your master to find your senior brother. Your senior brother will definitely answer your questions."

"Thank you, Second Senior Brother."

The Thunder God Clan looks almost exactly like humans, except for a lightning bolt-shaped fleshy mark between their eyebrows. Apart from that, they are almost indistinguishable from humans. However, the Thunder God Clan also has another battle form. Once activated, their bodies are surrounded by lightning, and they grow a pair of lightning wings, naturally wielding the power of lightning.

This talent isn't very strong in the early stages. Initially, it only reduces the cooldown of lightning spells and increases their power. When you reach Foundation Establishment, you automatically gain the Thunder God's Dharma Body or True Body. Later, you directly transform into the Thunder God, making your pure killing techniques extremely powerful.

However, their talent is both their strength and their weakness. Due to their talent, the power system of the Lei Gong clan is extremely monotonous, and more than 90% of the entire clan follows this path.

This makes the Thunder God clan extremely powerful in one-on-one combat, but their limited abilities put them at a disadvantage in team battles, making them inferior to the human race, whose abilities are more diverse.

Sixth Senior Sister is from the Stoneheart Clan. This race is born with strong physical bodies and is good at body refining. The Stoneheart talent can make them immune to many special negative characteristics. Overall, their potential is not considered strong among many races.

So far, Su Yu has seen the following races: Horned Demons, Fire Clan, Six-Eared Clan, Heavenly Eye Clan, Thunder Clan, Stone Heart Clan, Mermaids, and Snake Clan.

In his view, the strongest in terms of overall strength and racial potential are the Sky Eye Clan and the Human Clan. The Sky Eye Clan is also humanoid, with the same intelligence and learning ability as the Human Clan, and also has the innate Sky Eye talent, which should theoretically be higher than that of humans.

However, the Heavenly Eye Clan's reproductive ability cannot compare to that of the Human Clan. Moreover, the Human Clan was once the protagonist of the Destiny and was created by the Sage Nuwa. Their bloodline contains the bloodline genes of many powerful beings from the ancient primordial era. As long as they are lucky or their cultivation reaches a certain level, they can excavate the bloodline within their bodies, and their strength and potential will immediately increase.

Of course, the creation of the Heavenly Eye Clan was probably not simple, but even if it was not simple, it could not compare to the human race created by the sage Nuwa herself.

In Su Yu's view, the Sky-Eyed Humans had the advantage in the early and mid-game, the game leveled out in the late game, and humans became stronger in the very late game.

Therefore, all things considered, they are even and belong to the T0 tier.

The Six-Eared Clan is basically a complete imitation of the human race. The only difference is that the Six-Eared Clan has six ears and their six senses are stronger than those of humans, but the difference is not significant. However, the Six-Eared Clan lacks some potential in terms of bloodline.

Therefore, all things considered, humans are superior, and the Six-Eared Clan can only be considered as T0.5, officially classified as T1.

The Horned Demons, Fire Clan, Thunder Clan, Stoneheart Clan, Snake Clan, Mermaid Clan, and so on, each have their own advantages and are not much different, all belonging to the T2 tier.

In the contest between civilizations destined for each other, the final outcome is never determined by the strength of the early and mid-stages. No matter how strong a race's talent is, it can only guarantee some advantage in the early stages. However, this contest between the protagonists of the era will last for at least hundreds of thousands or even millions of years, and only those who laugh last will be the victors.

Therefore, the key to victory or defeat lies in the racial potential and the speed of reproduction.

Only those with potential and a large population can ultimately succeed.

The seven disciples, though from different clans, chatted idly at the entrance of the main hall for a while, until a young boy emerged from the hall, bowed to each of them, and announced in a loud voice:
"The Master's sermon is about to begin. Gentlemen, please enter the hall!"

After the group finished their dry chatter, they returned the greetings to the boy and entered the hall according to their ranking among their fellow disciples.

Su Yu was the last to enter the hall. Her master had not yet arrived. There was an empty jade throne at the head of the hall, with seven jade cushions below it, four on the left and three on the right. The eldest brother, Huai Meng, sat on the left, the second brother on the right, and the third brother on the left, standing side by side with the eldest brother.

Su Yu sat at the bottom, with her fifth senior sister next to her.

No one spoke; everyone sat cross-legged and motionless, and the hall was quiet.

After waiting a while, the hall suddenly became bright. Su Yu looked up and saw golden light shining from the top of the hall. It was countless fine golden runes. He realized that his master had arrived.

As their gaze fell from the top of the main hall, they saw their master appear on the jade throne at the head of the table at some unknown time. Everyone immediately bowed in respect.
"Disciple pays homage to Master!"

"No gift!"

Ye Lingfeng flicked his sleeve and said in a clear voice:

"The sermon begins today!"

"The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the named is the mother of all things. Therefore, it is constant."

"This is called profound, profound beyond profound, the gateway to all wonders,"

The Tao Te Ching is a very classic text, transmitted by the Supreme Celestial Venerable of the Tao Te Ching. It has survived the Investiture of the Gods, the Journey to the West, and countless millennia into the new era of great calamity. Today, it is an essential doctrine for all schools of Taoism.

This scripture contains the principles of heaven and earth, and it is most effective in conveying the preacher's ideas to the listeners.

From ordinary immortals to powerful golden immortals, everyone can use the Tao Te Ching to explain their own principles and beliefs, just as there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand people, and a thousand different interpretations for a thousand immortals.

As the Master imparted his teachings through preaching, more runes appeared in the sky above the main hall, quickly condensing into golden flowers that floated down from the ceiling. Runes at the feet condensed into golden lotuses that emerged from the ground. It was truly a scene of heavenly flowers falling and golden lotuses springing up from the ground.

The flowers and golden lotuses on the ceiling increased in number and slowly spread outwards, soon filling the entire hall.

Su Yu caught a glimpse of a flower falling on her senior brother out of the corner of her eye. The senior brother raised an eyebrow, a barely perceptible look of joy appearing at the corner of his eye.

A few golden lotuses touched the third senior brother and merged into his body, and a hint of joy appeared on the third senior brother's face.

Smallpox and golden lotus were continuously absorbed by the fellow disciples, and each of them showed joy, as if they had gained some enlightenment.

Su Yu looked up and saw that some golden flowers had fallen on him, but to his surprise, they did not merge into his body.

As he was wondering, he suddenly heard his master's voice:
"Quiet your mind and listen to the teachings!"

The voice boomed like a great bell in his ears, making him feel dizzy and dazed, but all his distracting thoughts disappeared, leaving only the teacher's sermon echoing in his mind.

"The spirit of the valley never dies; it is called the mysterious female. The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. It exists continuously, and its use is inexhaustible."

"Heaven and earth endure. The reason why heaven and earth can endure is that they do not live for themselves, therefore they can live long. Thus, the sage puts himself last and yet comes first; he puts himself outside and yet survives. It is not because of this..."

In that instant, Su Yu's mind became clear, and she suddenly entered a state of enlightenment.

A cool sensation seeped into his body from his forehead, making his mind clearer.

A warm feeling welled up in his chest, making him feel refreshed inside and out.

In his enlightened state, Su Yu clearly knew that absorbing a golden flower would convert into 100 billion cultivation points, and absorbing a golden lotus would convert into 1 cultivation points.

"So this is the benefit of a master preaching!"

As he gained some insight, a faint gravitational pull emanated from him, and the golden flowers and earth lotuses floating around him slowly approached him. Previously, they had been repelled upon contact, but now, after entering the state of listening to the Dao, these golden flowers and earth lotuses merged into his body upon contact.

His absorption speed was so fast that it surpassed that of his fellow disciples.

Ye Lingfeng, seated at the head of the table, nodded slightly upon seeing this:

"good!"

He smiled slightly and continued his sermon.

As time passed, Su Yu's condition improved as he continued to absorb the Golden Lotus. The feedback from the lotus made him absorb faster and faster, and soon he had surpassed others by a large margin. The gravitational pull emanating from him continued to expand until, at a certain moment, Su Yu's consciousness suddenly entered a peculiar state.

"Buzz!"

A mysterious aura emanated from him, instantly drawing in most of the ceiling flowers and golden lotuses in the surrounding hall, forming a funnel-shaped vortex of golden flowers and lotuses.

The strange occurrence startled the other fellow disciples nearby, who all looked surprised upon seeing what was happening.

"Epiphany!"

Surprise quickly turned into envy.

Ye Lingfeng, seated at the head of the table, nodded with a smile. With a flick of his whisk, the golden flowers and earth lotuses scattered around the corners of the hall drifted toward Su Yu under the influence of an invisible force.

"The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things without striving, dwelling in places that others disdain, thus it is close to the Way."

Su Yu couldn't hear the scriptures, but he could sense them in this profound state of enlightenment.

In this state, without Su Yu's own awareness, his cultivation points and Dao cultivation in his experience pool were consumed at an extremely fast rate.

With the accumulation from previous learning and the knowledge gained from listening to the Dao, Su Yu's experience pool now contained a staggering 12 trillion cultivation points and 485 million Dao cultivation points. These were rapidly consumed in an instant, disappearing completely like flowing water in the blink of an eye.

These cultivation points and spiritual attainments naturally integrated into his body during his state of enlightenment, continuously enhancing his ancient dragon bloodline.

When a master preaches, he doesn't just spout nonsense based on the Tao Te Ching. Instead, he uses his own theories to explain the Tao Te Ching and uses it as a vehicle to convey his own principles.

Ye Lingfeng specializes in bloodline cultivation and body refinement, so the benefits he gains from lecturing are mainly in these areas.

Even if one enters a state of enlightenment, the improvement will be in this aspect; it is impossible to suddenly gain enlightenment about swordsmanship.

In a state of sudden enlightenment, all cultivation points and Daoist cultivation were exhausted, and Su Yu's ancient dragon bloodline continued to improve.

Initial progress is 2/100.

With all cultivation points and spiritual power exhausted, and with the help of his master's sermons, his bloodline progress rapidly increased.

+3
+4
+8
I used up all my cultivation points and Taoist cultivation to upgrade to +9 in one go.

"Almost +10."

Su Yu had a sudden realization: every time the Ancient Dragon Bloodline reached level 10, there would be a minor qualitative change. Without hesitation, he decisively poured all the Heavenly Dao Origin Power stored within the Zhenhai Realm into it, combining it with the excess power from +9, finally allowing the Ancient Dragon Bloodline to surpass its limit, reaching +10/100.

"Buzz!"

The moment the Ancient Dragon Bloodline was upgraded to +10, a halo rose behind Su Yu's head, within which a crimson dragon roared back and forth, its terrifying pressure causing the senior brothers to look solemn.

With each roar, the red dragon's size increased, and its energy and blood also expanded.

Su Yu's true form remained unchanged, but her aura gradually grew stronger.

After expanding back and forth for the tenth time, his body suddenly swelled up and then quickly shrank back to its original size, with faint flames appearing on his body surface, outlining the dragon scale patterns.

The flames traced patterns back and forth, and the dragon scales quickly solidified, soon transforming into solid pieces of red jade dragon scales. The flames, imbued with rich life force, flowed back and forth within the red jade dragon scales, and a faint dragon's might emanated from his body.

A sudden enlightenment has been achieved!
Su Yu slowly opened his eyes, stretched out his hands in a loose clenching motion, feeling the surging power within his body like a volcano, then laughed heartily as he stood up and bowed to the head of the table.
"Disciple thanks Master for imparting the Dao!"

Ye Lingfeng subconsciously stroked his beard and chin, a smile on his face, and said:

"This is something you've accumulated on your own; I only provided some guidance."

After the master and disciple exchanged pleasantries, all the senior brothers and sisters smiled. However, apart from the fourth senior brother and the fifth senior sister, who were both human and genuinely congratulated and envied the master, the other fellow disciples from different races were filled with resentment, jealousy, and envy. But they had to show respect to their master and offered their congratulations with clasped hands.

Su Yu accepted their congratulations with a smile.

After they finished speaking, Ye Lingfeng flicked his whisk and said in a deep voice:

"Today's sermon is now complete."

Su Yu was already eager to go back and see the benefits of this enlightenment, but then she heard her master change the subject and say:
"I recently crafted a magical artifact, and today I'll use it to test your cultivation. The disciple who performs best will receive this artifact."

Su Yu looked up and saw that her master was holding a triangular banner with a red jade pole and a fiery cloud as its flag. Its attributes were already shared with everyone.

True Sun Fire Banner (Tenth Tier): A rare item, a precious treasure for wielding True Sun Fire.

True Fire of the Sun: Activates the treasure flag to unleash True Fire of the Sun, capable of burning mountains and boiling seas. Power: 50+100% spell damage. Maximum range: 100 kilometers. Mana consumption: 3000 points/second. Special effect: True fire extinguishes demons and destroys them.

Sun God Thunder: Can condense Sun God Thunder to injure enemies, with a damage of 100 million + 300% magic damage, a casting range of 100 kilometers, a damage radius of 3 kilometers, a mana cost of 10, a cooldown of 3 minutes, and the characteristic of being incinerated.

True Fire Subdues Demons: The true fire of the sun is extremely strong and yang, and can deal 100% extra damage to demons, monsters, and ghost weapons, ignoring 100% resistance of demons, monsters, and ghost weapons.

Annihilation: Killed by the true fire of the sun or the thunder of the sun god, leaving no trace of the body, and cannot be resurrected by conventional means, with a death penalty of +100%.

Note: Only pure Yang magic can unleash its maximum power.

"What a wonderful treasure!"

Su Yu immediately transmitted her voice to her fourth senior brother and asked:

"Senior brother, is Master going to reward us with this treasure?"

Li Yingxin immediately replied telepathically:
"Yes, after each sermon, Master would give us a treasure as a reward, which would be either a tenth-tier flying sword magic weapon, a top-grade elixir, or other special treasures that could improve our cultivation."

"How do you argue about this? By fighting?"

"That won't happen. After all, everyone started at different times. If it's a PK, how can the younger junior brothers and sisters compete with the older senior brothers and sisters? Generally, it depends on everyone's cultivation results during this period, or other aspects, such as magic, comprehension, various immortal cultivation skills, or magic power, the Five Elements Dao, etc. Any aspect is possible. We try our best to give the new junior brothers and sisters a chance to compete."

"Hmm, thank you for clearing up my doubts, senior brother."

"Also, don't rush to leave later. After we finish competing for these, Master will assign a task that rewards a lot of sect contributions or merits. You can take a look."

"Ah."

After shutting down the communication, Su Yu couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

"Is this the benefit of having a master who's a bully?"

He recalled that his master Jin Yinian, whom he had apprenticed under in the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect, was just a tool. After passing on the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect's cultivation method, he was no longer of any use. His success was basically due to his own efforts and the help of his grandmaster.

This time, after becoming Ye Lingfeng's disciple, I finally realized the benefits of having a powerful master.

He had just glanced at the notification panel when he gave a sermon every three months. Each of the falling golden flowers could be converted into 100 billion cultivation points, and each golden lotus could be converted into 10000 points of cultivation. If someone with strong abilities could absorb 100 golden flowers in one go, that would be 1 trillion cultivation points. Even with their cultivation level, they could save a lot of time.

Moreover, the golden flowers and lotuses he just absorbed during his enlightenment numbered far more than a hundred, perhaps even over a thousand, resulting in trillions of cultivation points and millions of Dao cultivation points.

In addition, there's always a treasure included in each sermon, and you can acquire a large amount of sect contribution points. All things considered...
"Master is awesome!"

At this moment, Ye Lingfeng, who was at the head of the table, spoke again:
"This month's assessment is very simple; it will test your understanding of the Five Elements magic."

Upon hearing this, Su Yu shrugged, realizing that she wouldn't be eligible for the rewards from this assessment.

He has only reached the level of knowing various Five Elements spells through his cultivation so far. Most of his knowledge comes from practicing the Five Elements True Scripture, and he has never properly studied Five Elements spells.

Currently, the level of Five Elements magic is only so-so, except for the Fire element which is extremely powerful due to the Fire element law.

In addition, his cultivation level was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, which was inferior to that of his senior brothers and sisters who were all at the Golden Core stage. The suppression of his cultivation level alone was enough to overwhelm him.

At this moment, Fifth Senior Sister's clear voice rang in his ears:

You probably won't have a chance to pass this assessment.

"I know."

"But you don't need to be discouraged. You've only just started. There's a long road ahead. And based on past experience, your master will tailor an assessment method for you in the next few years, just like we did back then."

"Oh! That's good."

Su Yu felt relieved and quietly watched as her senior brothers and sisters stepped forward one by one to demonstrate their understanding of the Five Elements magic to their master.

A ball of flame rose in the senior brother's palm and quickly transformed into a firebird.

The firebird is incredibly lifelike, with clearly defined feather lines. Its pupils are flames of a different color than the flames on its body, and it moves with extraordinary agility, as if it were alive.

Su Yu carefully examined the situation, assessed it in her mind, and realized that she could do it too.

The Crimson Dragon has mastered the Fire Law by +20. Even if his true form doesn't reach +20, it still possesses the Fire Law, allowing him to control flames to an extremely exaggerated level. Lifelike is just the starting point; it truly gives flames life, though it doesn't last long. But it's perfectly fine for combat.

The flames dissipated, and then coalesced again into a stream of water that transformed into a lifelike fish that swirled in my palm.

After water comes metal, then earth, and finally wood.

It is clear that the eldest brother is most proficient in fire and earth elements, average in water and wood elements, and least proficient in metal elements.

Then the other senior students demonstrated one by one, and their skill levels seemed to be similar.

However, Su Yu's own skill level was too low, so he dared not determine which senior brother was the best.

When it was finally Su Yu's turn, he simply waved his hand and said:

"Junior brother, I am skilled in swordsmanship and close combat, but my Five Elements magic is too poor, so I won't go on stage to embarrass myself."

Since we can't win anyway, we might as well hide our weaknesses for now.

The senior brothers and sisters smiled, and Master said nothing, glancing at everyone before saying:
"Huai Meng performed the best in this demonstration, so this treasure is yours."

With a wave of his hand, the fire banner transformed into a stream of fire and flew into the hand of the eldest brother.

"Disciple thanks Master for bestowing this treasure."

Ye Lingfeng nodded slightly and continued:

"Next, I need to refine a batch of pills and obtain a batch of spiritual materials."

With a flick of his finger, a burst of spiritual light exploded into seven parts, flying to the crowd. In a flash, it transformed into a light screen displaying a series of alchemy materials and the sect contribution points that could be exchanged for those materials.

The quantity is small, but they are all top-quality spiritual materials and even immortal medicines that are extremely rare on the market.

"The period is three months; you can send the spiritual materials at any time."

Having said this, he flicked his whisk and vanished in a flash of light.

"The sermon is now concluded. Disciples, you may leave."

As soon as the teacher left, the disciples no longer maintained a facade of harmony. The second senior brother, Qiao Ke, was the first to stand up, cup his hands in greeting, and then transformed into a bolt of lightning and flew out of the main hall.

Then the sixth senior sister left.

Fifth Senior Sister Li Zijing turned to look at Su Yu and asked:
"Junior brother, shall we go back together?"

"Let's go together."

The three of them bowed to their senior brother, who was in a very good mood, and then left the main hall together.

On the way back to Hongyu Peak, Li Yingxin said to him:

"The spiritual herbs or elixirs required for the tasks posted by Master are available on the market, but the posted price is 50% higher than the market price. You can go out to collect them, or if you don't have time, you can go to the market to buy them directly and earn some money."

"Thank you, senior brother, for your advice."

Back at Hongyu Peak, Su Yu opened the panel and found that several of the medicines her master needed were available in Zhenhai Realm, and some were even sold by major merchants.

"I'll ask around later where these medicinal herbs are produced. If they're too far away or too rare, I'll just buy them directly."

Putting the matter aside in an instant, Su Yu turned her gaze to the notification panel and began to review it from the beginning, starting with her master's sermon.

"Hint: You have listened to a celestial being preach and have gained 100 billion cultivation points."

"Hint: You have gained 1 points of cultivation by listening to a celestial being preach."

There are many such prompts, thousands of them, scrolling down from top to bottom. The more you scroll, the denser they become, until finally the panel changes and the prompts are no longer sermon prompts, but rather prompts for sudden enlightenment.

"Hint: You listen to the celestial being preach, feel a sense of enlightenment, and enter a state of sudden enlightenment."

"Hint: You are currently in a state of enlightenment."

(End of this chapter)