Chapter 274: It’s Hard to Repay Gratitude
While Lin Feng was not present, he too clearly heard how Huo Chen mocked right before he left.
His comments were: While you are not wrong, you will still die a horrible death.
Speaking from the heart, Huo Chen’s mocking of Wang Lin was on point. No matter how calm Wang Lin was usually, he too would surely be incensed by this statement.
The disparity between him and Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and Xiao Budian had long been a major headache for Wang Lin ever since he joined the sect.
Currently, amongst Lin Feng’s six immediate disciples, other than Xiao Yan and the other two, Yue Hongyan was in the later stage of Foundation Establishment, Yang Qing too had established his spiritual altar and reached the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage. This made Wang Lin’s position extremely awkward.
However, everyone within the Celestial Sect of Wonders knew that Wang Lin’s actual battling ability was extremely strong. While Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing may have a higher level of mastery compared to him, if they were to really fight the winner would not be so easily determined.
However, the problem was that outsiders did not view it as such. What they saw was that while Wang Lin was Lin Feng’s third disciple, he possessed the lowest mastery.
Lin Feng shook his head and smiled, "Huo Chen, is it? You are sc*ewed!"
Under Lin Feng’s guidance, Wang Lin maintained his cool at all times. He transformed the pressure on him into a source of motivation rather than envy towards his compatriots. However, the pressure was always there and needed a release.
At that moment, someone took the initiative to offer himself as Wang Lin’s stress ball.
As for the late Aurous Core stage Huo Ming, while Wang Lin wanted to take revenge on him personally, he still had to wait a while. As for the late Foundation Establishment stage Huo Chen, it would be simpler.
"You little jerk, you better pray to all the gods and Buddhas that you are not matched with Wang Lin during the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai. If not, you would be beaten so badly until you own parents could not recognize you." Lin Feng said with a hint of schadenfreude. "For such a powerful person like Wang Lin, could you honestly expect to get away so simply after mocking him? Do you fear that you have too long to live? Even if you managed to avoid him during the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, I would like to see you as Wang Lin’s little test subject after he completed his training in the Ancient Huanghai World."
"It appears that there’s hope for the Great Qin Empire to rein in this bunch of wild wolves, the Huo Family." The voice of an elder suddenly sounded.
Lin Feng turned his head and looked at the elder next to him who was clad in purple robes. He smiled briefly and said, "I am sorry that you have to see that, Blue Pavilion Holy Man."
The purple-robed old man smiled and shook his head. He had a jovial air about him, but no one would dare to underestimate him for he was a powerful cultivator in his Immortal Soul stage with a terrible ultimate move.
The Blue Pavilion Holy Man was one of the three holy men of the Purple Clouds Sect. In terms of rankings, the Blue Pavilion Holy man was the big disciple of the current master of the Zixia Sect, the Thunderclouds Holy Man. The Blue Pavilion Holy Man had achieved the Immortal Soul stage a few thousand years before him.
Today, while he was polite about his sudden visit, Lin Feng felt a bit curious as he could not understand his intentions.
The Purple Clouds Sect resided in the eastern regions of the Great Qin Empire. It was located at the intersection between the Great Qin Empire and the Great Zou Empire and was one of the top sects in the Divine Lands. Its power was between that of the Heaven Lake Sect and the Heavenly Master Sword Sect.
While it could not compare to the Three Great Holy Grounds of yore, it surpassed the Sun Moon Sword Sect and the Sword of Radiance Sect.
Lin Feng only just knew that the Purple Clouds had been invited to the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai. He just heard from Dao Zhiqiang that the Blue Pavilion Holy Man sought to meet with Lin Feng and that he was the leader of the Purple Clouds Sect for this conference.
"The Purple Clouds Sect’s powers are extraordinary and one ought to give the Heaven Lake Sect due respect." While Lin Feng had faith in Xiao Budian and the rest, Lin Feng took caution. "Do not fail because you let your guard down."
The Purple Cloud Sect claimed descent from the Omnipotent Thunder Lord from time immemorial. The grandmaster of the Purple Clouds Sect and its founder, the Purple Clouds Holy Man, was one of the direct disciples of the Thunder Lord, establishing its claims to the
Rumors had it that the spell the Thunder Lord cultivated was the most powerful thunder spell of all times, the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
There was a saying that the source of Creation was the sound of thunder. As the Thunder Lord’s power could destroy the Chaos and create a universe, he thus earned his nickname.
As the Purple Clouds Sect inherited his thunder spells, it could honestly be said to be the best thunder sect in the Divine Land.
The Blue Pavilion Holy Man was one of its three great leaders. For him to request a meeting so suddenly while keeping a low profile, Lin Feng’s curiosity was naturally piqued.
"I heard that one of your disciples cultivated the Infinite Thunderstorm spell. Truly powerful." Once one had reached the level of the Blue Pavilion Holy Man, there was no need for formalities nor fake politeness. Everything must be said with brutal honesty. "My humble sect has an unreasonable request and I hope you could help with that."
Lin Feng arched his eyebrows. Could it be that they like Xiao Budian’s Infinite Thunderstorm spell, and want it for themselves?
That was not just a matter of being disrespectful; it actually warranted a beating.
The Blue Pavilion Holy Man realized that his words may be misinterpreted and rushed to correct himself. "After I heard about it from my juniors’ descriptions, I had some questions in my heart and I hope that you could answer them for me."
"Had your disciple ever cultivated the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell?"
Here, Lin Feng’s head spun and he suddenly remembered some information about the Purple Clouds Sect. He suddenly understood.
While the founder of the Purple Clouds Sect was the Purple Clouds Holy Man, who was the big disciple of the Thunder Lord and had inherited much of his powers from the Thunder Lord, what was regrettable was that he did not manage to learn everything from him.
The Purple Clouds Holy Man cultivated an imperfect version of the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. While there were historical accounts as to what was missing from it, most of it had already been lost to time.
As for Lin Feng, the first spell he obtained, the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell, was derived from the imperfect version of the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
However, the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell was an extremely rare and valuable spell brimming with potential.
One can understand the potential of a complete version of the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder just from it.
The Purple Clouds Holy Man was truly lived up to his name as a sect founder. While parts of the spells were missing, he managed to find another way to perfect the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
This method was called Experiencing Thunder Tribulations, which involved getting struck by thunder while relying on one’s own intelligence and intuition to understand its secrets. As such, the manual of the Purple Clouds Sect was known as the "Heavenly Tribulation Dao Manual".
Other cultivators would undergo the thunder tribulations only after they reached the peak of the Aurous Core stage and was about to enter the Nascent Soul stage.
However, cultivators of the Purple Clouds Sect who cultivated the "Heavenly Tribulation Dao Manual" would experience the thunder tribulations as Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. They would also experience it more than once.
After passing through each phase, they would have to experience a thunder tribulation. Hence, in one’s entire cultivation life, they would have to experience nine thunder tribulations before successfully advancing to the Nascent Sou stage.
While the thunder tribulations were weaker than those experienced by every cultivator as they formed their Nascent Soul, the mastery of the Purple Clouds Sect cultivator was way lower than those cultivators in their Aurous Core stage. Hence, the chance of them successfully making through the thunder tribulations was extremely low.
Other than that, however, there was no other way to perfect the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. As such, generations upon generations of disciples of the Purple Clouds Sect rushed to use this method despite knowing its extreme risks.
After tens of thousands of years, countless of cultivators and masters died in a thunderclap.
And that was because of that, everyone within the Purple Clouds Sect sought to find the missing piece while using the current dangerous methods.
"However, it could also be that the disciples of the Purple Clouds Sect were stronger because they experience so many thunder tribulations. It could be said to be a form of compensation."
Many thoughts floated in Lin Feng’s mind, but it was gone in an instant.
"You’re right. I had unintentionally came across the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell. While it was not as exquisite as my spells, it was extraordinary in its own right and hence, I let my disciple cultivate it."
Lin Feng admitted it openly as with the Blue Pavilion Holy Man’s status, for him to come personally and ask about it would mean that he was 100% sure Lin Feng had it.
The Blue Pavilion Holy Man nodded and said sincerely, "My humble sect had been searching for the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell for thousands of years. Today, after finally finding it, I hope that you could agree to my request. We would be immensely grateful."
While he did not say it explicitly, it was clear what his intentions were at this point. If Lin Feng had any request, he could raise it. As long as it was not too difficult, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man would agree.
Lin Feng smiled slightly, "You are being too kind, Blue Pavilion Holy Man. I believe in pleasing people, and this could be counted to be a token of friendship between our two sects."
He flicked his finger and a small ball of light appeared before the Blue Pavilion Holy Man. He accepted it and with his mana, he immediately recognized it as the entire manual for the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell.
It was perfect, without any missing information or hint of deceit.
The aspiration of his entire sect for thousands of years had been realized as well as his personal goal for thousands of years. He became emotional in that instant.
Even after obtaining the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell, the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder was still incomplete but with only a few missing pieces. It was a great progress in reconstructing the Great Way of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder for the Purple Clouds Sect.
The Blue Pavilion Grandmaster steadied himself and raised his head to look at Lin Feng. His gaze appeared to be searching.
While Lin Feng was unperturbed, he just smiled slightly as if he was happy for helping the Purple Clouds Sect re-create their spells.
After being silent for a long while, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man clasped his hand and bowed before Lin Feng and said seriously, "I represent my entire sect is appreciating our appreciation for your assistance."
Lin Feng smiled. He did not work for free, but what he obtained from the Purple Clouds Sect today was valuable beyond measures; their gratitude.
Any form of debt could be repaid, except gratitude.
If he were to demand something of the Blue Pavilion Holy Man, the nature of their meeting would change into one of a transaction. After the transaction, there would be no follow-up.
And now, the transaction made the Purple Clouds Sect in his debt. This could be useful in the future.
For the Celestial Sect of Wonders to rise and establish itself amongst the other sects, it must possess powerful allies.
Of course, the Purple Clouds Sect could choose to not acknowledge its debts and turn their backs on him.
As for Lin Feng, he did not lose much by giving away the Nine Clouds Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Spell. If the Blue Pavilion Holy Man were to default on his debts, Lin Feng had his way to deal with him.
However, right not it appeared that the Purple Clouds Sect, or the Blue Pavilion Holy Man at least, appeared to have remembered the kindness Lin Feng had shown him.
Lin Feng smiled as he waved his hand, "Like what I just aid, I hope that our two sects could become friends."
The Blue Pavilion Holy Man smiled and said, "I am sure that my disciples would be glad to see this too."
The two of them laughed.
"Lin Feng of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, come out!"
While laughing, a cold voice sounded from outside. Its tone was deeply unfriendly.
Lin Feng’s expression did not change as his heart grew cold, "Such mana, an Immortal Soul stage cultivator?"