Chapter 354: A Hundred Flowers Bloom
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Leaving Xiao Yan a hapless smile on his face facing Hu Yanyan alone, Lin Feng walked off with Xiao Budian.
Earlier on, Zhu Yi returned to Mount Yujing, bringing along his examination scrolls.
After returning to the mountain, Zhu Yi took over the responsibility of training the second-generation disciples from Kang Nanhua.
With the abundance of spiritual energy on top of Mount Yujing, the group of teenagers were able to improve really quickly. Their progress was astounding. Even though Zhu Yi was no longer around, no one slacked off. After Zhu Y returned to Mount Yujing, he assessed their mastery. He was satisfied with all of them.
Lin Feng was pleased with this too. “If they continue to progress at this rate, then the foundation of our sect will be extremely stable. Other than increasing the mastery of our disciples, our sect needs some refurbishing as well.”
During the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, the sect managed to increase its prestige and make a name for itself. For the sect to occupy a position of respect and importance in the entire Grand Celestial World, such a step was very important.
As the sect’s external image improved, its internal facilities and training must follow suit. The sect can only continue to progress if the two progressed equally.
Arriving at the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree and before the three-storied Tripitaka Block, Lin Feng stepped into the block with Xiao Budian giggling behind him.
After receiving Lin Feng’s telepathic message, Zhu Yi, Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing too came to the building too. The last person to arrive was Xiao Yan.
Wang Lin did not come with Lin Feng’s permission. He had to focus all of his energy on his closed-door training in the hopes that he could form his aurous core soon. Under the protection of Lin Feng, he had been sent into the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World.
Lin Feng stood in the center of the Tripitaka Block and the said smilingly, “All of you know why is the Tripitaka Block special, right?”
Xiao Yan and the rest nodded their heads. They knew that while the bookshelves appeared to be empty, but anyone could fill it up with their own mantras and spells. The bookshelves would then turn them into manuals at the founder’s desired speed.
Furthermore, even if the manual was incomplete, the bookshelves could attempt to complete it by deducing what may be the possible mantras.
This is a very special ability indeed, as subsequent disciples of the Celestial Sect would be able to obtain the manuals and spells of other sects, even if they picked up only a tiny bit.
The bookshelves before them were still rather empty. It only had the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, the Art of Acalanātha and ten other manuals and spellbooks. However, with time, more and more would be accumulated here. It could even be the best-kept library of spells and techniques in the entire world.
“Today, I will assign some work for you,” Lin Feng said, smiling. “With our sect’s trademark Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams, combined with your respective understanding and mastery of spells and auras, I want every single one of you to form your own, individual mantra.”
“I don’t need it to be complicated or deep in meaning. I only want you guys to show me what you had truly mastered and understood.”
Lin Feng smiled and looked at each of his disciples. “Please don’t take it as if I’m trying to give you guys more work. This is a practice that will help you improve greatly. Every single one of you.”
“As Wang Lin is busy with his aurous core formation, and thus at a very critical point right now, he will not be doing this just yet. After he formed his core, however, he too must do this.”
Zhu Yi said, “I understand master’s intentions. By coming up with our own manual, we would go through our knowledge of our own powers once again and ensure that we are clear about each and every step. This will allow us to cultivate even faster in the future, am I right?”
Xiao Yan nodded his head, “It is also a form of meditation. In compiling what we know, this will allow us to reflect on ourselves and find out what have we missed.”
Xiao Budian rolled his eyes and asked, smiling, “Master, is there a time limit for this task?”
Lin Feng shot him a half-smile and said, “There’s no time limit. You can only leave the Tripitaka Block once you are done with your own manual.”
“Ah?” XIao Budian was dazed. The rest of them looked at Xiao Budian scornfully. “Are you still thinking about all the food that you want to eat?” Lin Feng asked.
Xiao Budian replied in a displeased tone. “No! I know what is important and what isn’t! I can always eat later!”
“However, if I don’t leave the Tripitaka Block in time, Tun Tun would eat everything that I managed to accumulate. She isn’t very good with her manners.”
Xiao Budian then looked at Lin Feng, “Master, while I’m in the Tripitaka Block, can you lock Tun Tun up?”
Everyone face-palmed upon hearing this, even Lin Feng, who tapped Xiao Budian’s head and said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll help you take care of your food.”
After that humorous bout, Lin Feng composed himself and said, “For the majority of you, your understanding of our sect’s mantra had reached a certain level. Under Zhu Yi’s guidance, the second-generation of disciples had worked hard on their foundations.”
“Hence, after every single one of you had compiled and summarized your own spells, I will arrange for the most outstanding members of the second generation to acknowledge you as their masters. They will then become your official disciples.”
Xiao Yan and the rest of them exchanged glances. Zhu Yi and Yue Hongyan looked normal, while Xiao Yan and Xiao Budian were smiling. They found this extremely interesting. Yang Qing, however, looked uneasy.
Lin Feng then said slowly, “As to who will become your official disciple, I will not force them. Whoever wishes to follow you will follow you. Fate will play a certain role in this, as well as how your interact with them.”
“Today, by letting you go through your spells I am also preparing course materials for prospective disciples in the future. This will prevent us from teaching them the wrong things,” Lin Feng said, still smiling. “Your official disciples, upon reaching the Qi Cultivation stage, can either cultivate your own mantra or Zhu Yi’s Yi Zi’s Eight Trigrams Variorum. There’s no restriction.”
“However, once your disciple reaches the Foundation Establishment stage, then there’s no need to cultivate the Yi Zi’s Eight Trigrams Variorum anymore. They will cultivate only your spell.”
Xiao Budian smiled and said, “Second Senior’s Variorum is the most suitable for Qi Cultivation stage cultivators. There isn’t a need to change.”
Lin Feng said, “As for every single one of you, my mantra has always been ‘the master must show the way, while the disciple has to walk it’. Hence, for the mantras that you will be coming up with, the most important thing is for you to pass down the most important and most crucial parts of it.”
“What I want is for a hundred flowers to bloom, rather than see a thousand copies of the same script.”
The group of disciples all agreed, with Yang Qing hesitating for a bit. He looked at Yue Hongyan and said nothing.
Lin Feng noticed this and asked, “Is there something you want to say, Yang Qing?”
Yang Qing bowed and said, “Master, I joined you not too long ago. I feel that my understanding of the Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams is not yet enough. I don’t think I can take up such a big role.”
Lin Feng looked at Yang Qing and smiled. He could more or less guess his reasoning.
The problem that he mentioned was indeed one of the reasons. The other reason, however, was the fact that he only formally joined Lin Feng with the second-generation disciples despite having lived on Mount Yujing for a period of time beforehand.
However, the moment Yang Qing and Yue Hongyan joined the sect, Lin Feng took them on as his direct disciple. To ask the second-generation disciples to acknowledge him as their master may be slightly awkward.
However, the reason behind this could not be clearly explained as well. It did not concern only him, as Yue Hongyan was in a similar spot. She too joined Lin Feng during the sect-opening ceremony at Shazhou City.
Lin Feng smiled and said, “Come up with your own mantra first and then I’ll see if it’s good enough.”
Yang Qing nodded his head. Yue Hongyan, who was next to him, looked at him and said nothing.
From a certain perspective, Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing were similar. Their personalities were both very straightforward, but it did not mean that they were stupid. Instead, it just meant that they were not particularly picky about many things.
As for Yang Qing’s worries, Yue Hongyan too felt it. However, her opinion differed from Yang Qing’s, but she did not say anything. Instead, she planned to wait for Lin Feng’s decision.
In reality, Lin Feng himself also knew what made Yang Qing felt awkward. However, Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing were different from the second-generation disciples.
Before they joined his sect, they too participated in the Battle of Shazhou City with Xiao Yan and the rest. The only difference was that they had yet to formally acknowledge Lin Feng as their master. The two of them were also in their Foundation Establishment stage, and hence their starting points differed from the other second-generation disciples.
Furthermore, their potential values were much higher than the second-generation disciples.
However, this could not stop some people from feeling uneasy and thinking that Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing were able to achieve so much in so little time. Only Lin Feng knew their true potential as the rest were unable to judge it as empirically as him.
Despite Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing being in the late-Foundation Establishment stage and the mid-Foundation Establishment stage respectively, many would feel that Lin Feng was biased in their favor. This was normal thinking.
Hence, Lin Feng thought, “A person’s heart is the hardest thing to understand. However, with the right incentives and the right arrangements, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Lin Feng had already considered everything carefully so he did not care too much.
While his disciples derived their own mantras in the Tripitaka Block, Lin Feng walked out alone and entered the medicine room.
He lifted his head to look at the sign that wrote “Celestial Golden Pavilion” and sighed, “Xiao Yan had to attend to something. Today, I have to do it myself. I hope that they will not be too harsh.”
He walked into the medicine room and took out some spiritual enhancement herb as well as a few other already-prepared medicines. He flicked with his finger and pulled up the recipe for the Spiritual Replenishment Elixir.
He slammed his palms together and the Grand Sun Primordial Flame began to slowly descend into the Ethereal Heart Cauldron. With a giant ‘boom’, the fire of the Cauldron itself began to burn.
On the ground, the image of the eight trigrams began to shine. With a wave of his hand, the Wind and Fire Fan began to fan too.
With the spiritual enhancement herb as the main ingredient, Lin Feng chucked a few of the herbs into the Ethereal Heart Cauldron. Instantly, a medicinal aroma could be smelt.
Lin Feng looked at the cauldron as he felt a sense of panic, “F*ck, ever since I cultivated the Thunderous Echo Elixir I haven’t done any cultivation of this sort. Now I am rather unfamiliar with the steps. Will it blow up in my face?”
