Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 105: River In the Sky, to Whence It Came

Chapter 105: River In the Sky, to Whence It Came

“This place is Cultivation Hall,” Wei Tianhe said as they slowly descended, looking over the massive, sprawling building complex below them.

There were several thousand massive palace rooms, packed tightly together in a close network. In the air, there were many disciples coming and going in an unending stream.

A broad survey of the wayfaring disciples revealed that most of them were at the Dao Foundation stage. There were very few Sea of Qi stage disciples here.

As soon as they landed, an extremely young white-robed disciple came forward, and he was actually at the Dao Foundation stage!

“Did you make a reservation? If not, hand me your jade identity tablet and let me know which practice room you want to choose,” the white-robed disciple said with a cold look at the two. With a single glance, he could tell that the two of them were bumpkins from the lower ranked Mountain Ranges, so he didn’t treat them that nicely.

Xu Disheng didn’t really mind the white-robed disciple’s attitude. He was at the Dao Foundation stage after all, and judging by his proud attitude, he was most likely a direct disciple of Heart Refining Mountain. It would make sense for him to look down on disciples from other Mountains.

“I would like to choose a practice room for water element cultivation methods,” Xu Disheng said.

The white-robed disciple had already looked over their jade identity tablets. Seeing that they were from the Sixth Mountain, Mingxin Mountain, his attitude became even more irritable.

He returned their jade identity tablets, then gave a look over the two of them before replying, “Surgetide Hall. 220 spirit stones for one day.”

Wei Tianhe spoke up carefully, “Martial Uncle, I…”

“Who are you calling your Martial Uncle? I’m only 39 years old this year, and I already broke through to the Dao Foundation stage. My outer appearance still looks this young, so why in the world are you calling me Martial Uncle?” the white-robed disciple shouted reprovingly, clearly very sensitive about the age topic.

Wei Tianhe was even more terrified. Normally, he would call people at the Dao Foundation stage ‘Martial Uncle’, but why did this person from the Heart Refining Mountain have to be like this…?

This was also his first time coming here, but at least he had a map jade slip of Cultivation Hall.

“Senior Martial Brother, here are 660 spirit stones. I want to cultivate there for three days,” Xu Disheng said. He separated out the appropriate number of spirit stones and put them into a storage pouch, then handed them over to the white-robed disciple.

The white-robed disciple’s expression cleared up a bit. He took the storage pouch and looked inside, then handed Xu Disheng a jade tablet. His tone became a bit more mild as he said, “Activate the jade slip, follow the signal from it, and go to the 35th room of Surgetide Hall. You have a time limit of 3 days.”

Xu Disheng took the jade tablet and thanked him, then walked into the endless complex of palace rooms.

Embarrassed, Wei Tianhe came forward and said, “Senior Martial Brother, I want to try breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage.”

“Profound Foundation Hall. 700 spirit stones for one day,” the white-robed disciple said coldly.

“700 spirit stones? It’s not 600…?” Wei Tianhe muttered, his complexion changing.

“What’s the matter? It’s 700 spirit stones, take it or leave it.”

With a disheartened expression, Wei Tianhe gathered up every single spirit stone scattered throughout his storage-type Spirit Tool, and somehow just barely managed to scrounge up 700.

Only then could Wei Tianhe hobble into the complex of palace halls.

… …

In the 35th room of Surgetide Hall…

Xu Disheng walked into the hall and activated the jade tablet, then closed the light barrier that surrounded the outside of the hall. Then, he looked around doubtfully at the vast, spacious hall.

A white-haired old man slowly appeared before his eyes. His expression was indifferent as he gazed at Xu Disheng.

“Show me the water-type cultivation method you plan to focus on cultivating,” the white-haired old man drawled lazily. He waved his hand, making a reclining chair appear behind him, then immediately sat into it.

As if he detected the hint of doubt in Xu Disheng’s eyes, the old man smiled and said, “Is this your first time coming to Surgetide Hall? You must be. All of the disciples who frequently come here know me. For those who don’t, well, it’s gotta be their first time then.”

Xu Disheng nodded and said, “Then senior, you are…?”

The white-haired old man shook his head and said, “I’m not a human. I’m a demon, but I have a certain level of mastery in water-type cultivation methods, that’s all. After being captured, I’ve been stuck with the repetitive work of instructing other people for several thousand years now. What you’re looking at now is just my clone. There’s one of my clones in each of the 72 rooms of Surgetide Hall.”

Xu Disheng was silent. There was clearly a story behind it.

But he didn’t open his mouth and waste any more time. He did as he was told and demonstrated the Amassing Water form and the Summon Rain form of Azure Ocean, once each.

“The Azure Ocean cultivation method? Among water element cultivation methods, it can only be considered medium grade,” the white-haired old man said, reclining deeper into the chair with a yawn. “But those two forms you showed me can’t even be considered to be at the most basic level. This cultivation method is a waste in your hands.”

Xu Disheng furrowed his brows slightly, but he didn’t retort. He bowed and said, “Please instruct me, senior.”

“I vaguely remember that the last time someone came here to ask me for my guidance on the Azure Ocean cultivation method was about 10 years ago,” the white-haired old man said, seeming to dig through his memories. “Let me ask you. What is water?”

“What is water?” Xu Disheng echoed, pondering for a moment before lifting his head and replying, “I don’t know.”

“Good!” the white-haired old man praised, “If you don’t know, then you don’t know. There’s no need to force yourself to come up with a response.”

Still sprawled in the chair as before, he reached out a hand, causing a ripple to appear in the void before him.

A mass of water droplets appeared in the air. Each and every droplet was clear and colorless, emitting a pure water elemental qi.

He moved his finger, and the water droplets instantly shot out in all directions like a torrent.

Some of the water droplets whizzed right past Xu Disheng’s ears, each one cutting through the air with a sharp sound. If these water droplets were an attack aimed at him… he simply wouldn’t have been able to block it!

The entire hall was instantly destroyed, leaving no sound. All that remained was a pond of clear water, with the light barrier from before still surrounding the outside.

After a while, the room and its walls returned to how they were before.

The white-haired old man squinted his eyes and said, “This is the real might of the Summon Rain form of the Azure Ocean cultivation method. Do you understand now? You probably won’t be able to learn this in just three days. Ten years ago, there was a brat who was learning a water screen incantation. It took him two whole months, and he ended up spending 13,000 spirit stones here before he could thoroughly master it.”

This white-haired old man was proficient in countless water-type cultivation methods. In his eyes, the Azure Ocean cultivation method was just a medium grade cultivation method. With some casual hand seals and a bit of modification, he could increase its might by over ten times.

He Junyu’s water screen technique from the Amassing Water form may very likely have been learned here.

Xu Disheng tried his hardest to think back on the subtle changes in the heaven and earth spiritual energy when the old man used the Summon Rain form, and tried to carefully comprehend it.

He reached out a hand in the same way, then made a light gesture.

A transparent droplet of water appeared before his eyes, clear and colorless. Xu Disheng didn’t use the Corrosion Incantation here, only using the purest version of the Summon Rain form.

“You have three days remaining. I can demonstrate it for you three times. Just now, that counted as one time. When you need me, just call for me,” the white-haired old man said. He looked at the water droplet that Xu Disheng condensed and shook his head lightly. Then, he closed his eyes and laid back into the reclining chair, as if he was about to take a nap.

… …

Three days passed by in the blink of an eye.

Xu Disheng was still continuously condensing water droplets and letting them dissipate in an endless cycle. In the end, he could only bring the number of water droplets up to 20.

“There are still six hours remaining,” the white-haired old man said, sitting up. His expression turned cold as he said, “You won’t be able to cultivate it to mastery in such a short time. If you don’t have any more spirit stones, you best prepare to head back.”

Xu Disheng gave a sidelong glance, but didn’t reply, continuing to continuously condense water droplets.

The old man didn’t mind. He summoned a water orb, fiddling and tossing it around in his hand as he minded his own business.

… …

“You asked me a few days ago what water was, right?” Xu Disheng asked in an indifferent tone.

The old man turned his head and replied, “And? Do you know?”

“This is my answer,” Xu Disheng said as he lowered his head to look at his palm, his bangs covering his bright eyes. A black water droplet appeared in his palm, slowly revolving in midair.

“Summon Rain.”

The black droplet suddenly vanished. It appeared above the white-haired old man’s head a moment later and fell down towards him!

A look of astonishment appeared in the eyes of the old man. He casually erased the black droplet of water and stood up for the first time. “You actually managed to comprehend a hint of the aura of Pure Oblivion Water!”

Xu Disheng gazed at the old man, but inwardly, he was recalling the memories residing deep within his sea of consciousness.

He could vaguely recall the white jade tiles of that palace hall, and the purple and gold hem of a robe.

But it was improving with each passing day as his Soul Force also grew. He could already recall more and more of that image.

In that memory, a faint, hazy piece of a black heavenly river above his head was becoming visible to him. The waters of this black river surged and roiled furiously as they raced along unendingly into the limits of the heavens, flowing off to an unknown destination.

He thought back to the moment that image of the black river above his head appeared, and remembered the voice that appeared in his heart. “Every drop of Pure Oblivion Water in the Oblivion Sky River possesses the power of creation, and has the ability to bring about annihilation.”

Xu Disheng looked at the old man and said, “Thank you.”

He used his jade identity tablet to open up the exterior light barrier and left without even looking back.

The white-haired old man extended his palm. The black droplet of water within gradually disappeared, leaving behind a faint red mark on his palm.

“That child’s power of comprehension… He could actually perceive a hint of Pure Oblivion Water out of nowhere?” the old man muttered to himself, no longer appearing as indifferent as before.

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