Chapter 177: Chapter 175: The Cultivator Who Kept a Diary

Dragon Transformation Techniques—a complete cultivation technique, with its general principles, spanning from the Qi Refining Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Cultivators of this technique possessed vast Magical Power, as boundless and inexhaustible as the surging sea.

Furthermore, cultivating it to a profound level increased a cultivator’s affinity for Water Element Spiritual Energy.

While in or near a body of water, their Magical Power recovery speed and the effectiveness of their Water Element Magic would be enhanced by over fifty percent.

The first Jade Scroll contained just such a top-level cultivation technique. It must have been Meng Shigui’s own.

’Thankfully, there were no lakes where we fought. Otherwise, he would have been even stronger. With my Glazed Fire Divine Body, I could have defended myself, but killing him would have been nearly impossible...’

Bai Zichen felt a wave of residual fear. Letting Meng Shigui escape would have undoubtedly led to endless future trouble.

His Youlong Sect was merely a Core Formation Level Sect, located in the Outer Sea Ten Thousand Stars Islands tens of thousands of miles away. Even if they were as powerful as the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, a power second only to a Nascent Soul Major Sect, it was unlikely they would cross several nations and mobilize their entire sect to attack Black Mountain.

But the whole affair felt strange. What would compel a Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivator to attack so recklessly in unfamiliar territory, all because the design of a flying sword hinted that its owner might be a remnant of the Fish Dragon Sect? The connections involved couldn’t be simple.

’This cultivation technique leads directly to the Nascent Soul Stage and is even stronger in watery areas or on the open sea. It’s a truly excellent top-level technique... but I already have the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture. There’s no way I’d switch techniques now.’

Bai Zichen inspected the Jade Scroll containing the Dragon Transformation Scripture, setting it aside only after confirming it had no Spiritual Marks on it.

He couldn’t cultivate it himself, and since he couldn’t explain its origins, he couldn’t even hand it over to the Sect in exchange for contribution points.

For now, he could only toss it into his storage bag to collect dust at the bottom. Only when he no longer feared the Youlong Sect, or whatever powers lay behind it, could he take it out and openly pass it on to others.

’Hmm... Since the Youlong Sect obtained this technique from the Fish Dragon Sect, I’ll wait until after I reach Core Formation, then I’ll pass it down to the Bai Family. It can serve as our clan’s core cultivation technique.’

Besides the complete Dragon Transformation Techniques, the Jade Scroll also contained cultivation insights left behind by numerous cultivators.

The majority were penned by cultivators from the Fish Dragon Sect, with only a scant few added by those from the Youlong Sect.

The Bai Family’s Ancestor had been an Inner Sect Disciple of the Fish Dragon Sect, so passing the Dragon Transformation Techniques on to the Bai Family’s descendants felt like destiny.

The next few Jade Scrolls contained Meng Shigui’s cultivation insights and swordsmanship legacies. Finding them of little value, Bai Zichen set them aside.

He soon discovered, however, that Meng Shigui had a habit of keeping a diary.

In the blank spaces of each Jade Scroll, he had recorded his cultivation journey. This indirectly gave Bai Zichen insight into the Youlong Sect and the Ten Thousand Stars Islands.

’He really deserved to die. Who in their right mind keeps a diary...’

Meng Shigui was the son of an ordinary fisherman. For generations, his ancestors went to sea to fish, catching seafood for the Immortal Masters.

At the age of ten, he entered the Youlong Sect. He showed outstanding talent and was quickly bestowed with the Qi Refining Stage portion of the Dragon Transformation Techniques.

The Youlong Sect had only been founded a short time ago and was desperate for exceptional disciples, willing to teach anyone without prejudice.

As for the few top-level cultivation techniques they had plundered from the Fish Dragon Sect’s Transmission Hall, they would immediately be bestowed upon any disciple who exhibited suitable characteristics.

The founding Ancestor of the Youlong Sect didn’t share the common vice of Loose Cultivators who, upon gaining power, would jealously hoard their core techniques as if they were priceless treasures.

It quickly became the fastest-growing of the five major sects in the Ten Thousand Stars Islands.

After beginning his cultivation of the Dragon Transformation Techniques, Meng Shigui’s progress advanced by leaps and bounds. He became the first among his peers to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment.

Furthermore, because he demonstrated great Sword Dao Talent, he was bestowed the Celestial Xin Sword.

At the same time, he was granted the entire set of Sword Refining Secret Techniques that had been passed down from the Fish Dragon Sect.

The Flying Sword that could conceal its user’s presence was called the Willow Leaf Sword; it was a replica of the Tier Three Formless Sword.

In the decades following his Foundation Establishment, Meng Shigui gathered the materials himself. He endured countless failures and immense hardship before finally succeeding in refining it.

’The Celestial Xin Sword, the Willow Leaf Sword, the Sound Bamboo Sword... And for Tier Three Flying Swords, the Formless Sword and the Thunder Sound Sword... I see now, I finally see!’

Bai Zichen read the contents of several Jade Scrolls in succession, piecing them together with Meng Shigui’s diary entries from various stages of his life. At last, he was starting to get a clearer picture.

Although the Fish Dragon Sect wasn’t a Sword Cultivation Sect, it was renowned for its art of Sword Refinement.

In particular, they had vast groves of Spiritual Bamboo on their island and used the Wood God Skill to continuously cultivate Spiritual Bamboo of every tier.

They also possessed the complete refining methods for a series of Spiritual Bamboo Flying Swords: the Tier One Ink Bamboo Sword, the Tier Two Sound Bamboo Sword, and the Tier Three Thunder Bamboo Sword.

In the Outer Sea Cultivation World, the Fish Dragon Sect’s Bamboo Swords were in a class of their own.

The Thunder Bamboo Sword was especially unique. For a stalk of Sacred Sound Bamboo to evolve into Thunder Sound Bamboo, it had to endure a trial of Celestial Thunder.

As the violent Celestial Thunder struck the Spiritual Bamboo, it would sprout new shoots from the very brink of death, its life force all but extinguished. These new shoots were naturally imbued with the supreme yang and firm power of Thunder Element Spiritual Power.

This imbued the Thunder Bamboo Swords refined from Thunder Sound Bamboo with the innate Divine Techniques of Exorcism and Shocking Evil, along with the ability to refine Demonic Qi.

This pile of Jade Scrolls before him contained all the Sword Refining Secret Techniques passed down from the Fish Dragon Sect.

Bai Zichen had already received the Sound Bamboo Sword and the Celestial Xin Sword from the Bai Clan Leader.

The remaining refining methods—for the Tier Two Willow Leaf Sword, the Tier Three Formless Sword, and the Tier Three Thunder Bamboo Sword—were techniques that even the Bai Family’s Ancestor had not passed down.

’Looks like I misjudged the man. Some people who keep diaries are good people after all.’

Bai Zichen’s eyes lit up. This way, after he reached Core Formation, he would have two more options for Tier Three Flying Swords.

He had Meng Shigui’s obsession with the Sword Dao to thank for this. Even though Meng Shigui had never even seen a Thunder Bamboo Sword or a Formless Sword, he had acquired the Sword Refining Secret Method early on and kept it on his person, studying it day and night.

He was the Youlong Sect’s most important Core Formation Seed. Naturally, the Core Formation True Men of the sect would not refuse his request for a copy of the Sword Refining Secret Method.

’According to the complaints in Meng Shigui’s diary, the lack of Holy Beast Essence Blood caused their Wood God Skill to degenerate into a common Spirit Plant Technique, no longer able to make the Spiritual Bamboo mutate and evolve...

...Plus, when the Fish Dragon Sect was destroyed, the last few disciples who resisted to the end summoned a True Flame and burned the island’s bamboo forest to ashes. As a result, the Youlong Sect doesn’t even have a single Sound Bamboo Sword or Thunder Bamboo Sword.’

Bai Zichen was lost in thought. He hadn’t expected that the Bai Family’s specialized technique for Spirit Plant Masters had such a grand origin.

’No wonder Meng Shigui was so sure I was a remnant of the Fish Dragon Sect the moment he saw my Sound Bamboo Sword.’

’But my Bai Family doesn’t have this so-called Holy Beast Essence Blood. So why does the Wood God Skill produce such a unique effect in the hands of the Bai Family?’

This matter was, in itself, a well-known tale in the Black Mountain Range.

Initially, after learning of the Wood God Skill’s miraculous properties, it had attracted the covetous gazes of many Cultivation Families.

When they later discovered that one needed the Bai Family bloodline for the Wood God Skill to display its miraculous abilities, they began to treat it as a bloodline-specific technique.

They then switched to softer tactics, attempting to have their own clan members acquire the Bai Family bloodline through marriage alliances.

Strangely, for any Bai woman who married into another family, and for any children she bore, the Wood God Skill would revert to being just an ordinary Spirit Plant Technique.

’Looking at all this information together... could it be that the Ancestor used a Secret Technique to fuse the Holy Beast Essence Blood into the Bai Family bloodline?’

Bai Zichen’s brow furrowed, and he tapped his fingers rhythmically.

The information regarding the Bai Family’s Ancestor and the Fish Dragon Sect was a tangled mess. Every time he unraveled one clue, more mysteries would appear.

’A Tier Four Shapeshifting Great Demon definitely wouldn’t qualify to be called a Holy Beast. It would probably have to be a Tier Five Demon Beast... Every drop of Essence Blood from a demon beast of that tier contains terrifying power. If a Foundation Establishment Cultivator tried to fuse with it, the only outcome would be their body exploding.’

’What method did the Ancestor use to allow all descendants of the Bai Family to draw upon the power of the Holy Beast Essence Blood?’

Meanwhile, from the last Jade Scroll, Bai Zichen learned more about the enemies he had made.

Meng Shigui was dead, but a visit always leaves a trace.

Since this concerned a remnant of the Fish Dragon Sect, he was certain the other party would spare no effort in their investigation.

In a Cultivation Realm with Divination and Divine Calculation, as well as various other arts of inference, the chance of being exposed still existed.

Fortunately, for one, Black Mountain was tens of thousands of miles away from the Outer Sea Ten Thousand Stars Islands; for most cultivators, they might as well have been two separate worlds.

Ninety-nine percent of cultivators from the two regions would never meet in their entire lives.

Second, Secret Techniques of inference like Divination and Divine Calculation were extremely difficult to master. Even a Core Formation True Man who specialized in such arts could, at best, provide only a vague answer.

With only a general direction as a guide, trying to find a specific cultivator tens of thousands of miles away was hardly better than searching for a needle in a haystack.

This last Jade Scroll recorded a detailed Nautical Chart, marking the various powers of the Outer Sea.

The Youlong Sect and its allies were marked in green, hostile powers in red, and neutral parties in yellow.

The diary-loving Meng Shigui, who clearly had a strong desire to unburden himself, had written detailed profiles for each power. These included everything from their heritage and origins to an analysis and commentary of their sect’s strength. It effectively turned Bai Zichen, a cultivator who had never even been to the Outer Sea, into an expert on the region.

’The Ten Thousand Stars Islands alone control a sea region ten times the size of Liang Country. The Outer Sea is truly boundless, and it’s no exaggeration that it hides numerous Transformed Great Demons. The areas of the sea that Human Race Cultivators can actually set foot in are tiny...’

The territories in the Outer Sea occupied by human cultivators were merely a few scattered points, all located closer to the mainland.

Deeper into the Outer Sea was fundamentally the domain of Transformed Great Demons.

The five Core Formation Level Sects, led by the Youlong Sect, occupied the Ten Thousand Stars Islands. Their founding ancestors were either Honored Guest Elders of the Fish Dragon Sect, famous Loose Cultivators from the Outer Sea, or titans of the Demon Path.

These five sects often engaged in open and secret struggles with each other, but they were surprisingly united on the matter of dealing with remnants of the Fish Dragon Sect.

Over the past few hundred years, there had been instances of Fish Dragon Sect disciples appearing in the Outer Sea—those who had been lucky enough to escape the slaughter, or those who had survived simply because they were away from the sect, training.

As long as news of them spread, the Five Sects would join forces and hunt the Fish Dragon Sect remnants to the ends of the earth until they were dead.

The Five Sects varied in strength. Powerful ones, like the Youlong Sect, were overseen by three Core Formation True Men. Weaker ones, like the Sea Heaven Sect, struggled to get by with only a single, elderly Core Formation True Man.

’Five hundred years ago, the ancestors of these sects were merely Honored Guest Elders of the Fish Dragon Sect, affiliated powers, or Demon Cultivators living at the mercy of others... How could they possibly have overthrown the Fish Dragon Sect, a sect with a ten-thousand-year legacy and a Nascent Soul True Monarch!’

His gaze shifted upward on the Nautical Chart. A palm-sized area was colored a deep, dark green, the shade clearly emphasized on purpose.

A Transformed Great Demon, respectfully called the Dragon Monarch by the Demon Beasts of the Outer Sea, was said to possess a True Dragon Bloodline and held immense influence even among other Great Demons.

Back then, it was this very Dragon Monarch who had summoned several Great Demons, gathered tens of millions of Sea Beasts, and surrounded Hornless Dragon Island.

At the critical moment, a highly regarded Honored Guest Elder within the Fish Dragon Sect activated a Tier Four Ban Breaking Talisman—a gift from someone with ulterior motives before the battle—which destabilized the Hornless Dragon’s Tier Four Array and defiled the island’s Spirit Vein.

Seizing the opportunity, several Great Demons revealed their True Bodies and used Great Divine Techniques to shatter the Tier Four Array. They annihilated the Divine Soul of the Fish Dragon Sect’s Nascent Soul Ancestor and bathed Hornless Dragon Island in blood.

When it came down to it, the five sects of the Ten Thousand Stars Islands today had been nothing more than accomplices who cheered from the sidelines and cleaned up the aftermath. They could hardly be considered the main force responsible for the Fish Dragon Sect’s destruction.