Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 17: The Comfort of Solitude

TL Note: Due to their being a sponsored chapter, there will be a double release today (although this is my second time uploading these chapters since there was a problem with the website). Also, from here on, the names of cultivation methods will be italicized. Thanks to everyone who donated on Ko-Fi, much love! This chapter was really challenging to translate, but I think it turned out well. Please enjoy!

Xu Disheng silently hung his head, his emotions in a turmoil.

After he lost his memories, he had always been lost. But now, he had the opportunity to cultivate Profound Laws and achieve longevity. When he heard what Daoist Lord Qingxin said about the truly vast world out there, he realized that only by achieving a more formidable power could he begin to unravel the mysteries about himself.

Daoist Lord Qingxin seemed to know what he was thinking. “There were some things that you probably shouldn’t have heard. But now that you have, you must remember. The weak will always be weak. You can go now. Pick a pagoda and begin to cultivate on your own. Food will always be sent to Youyang Palace by the guards.”

“Yes, Master. Please excuse me then.” Xu Disheng quelled his broodings, then picked up the Shangqing Profound Law jade slip and left the Cultivation Hall.

On the 7th floor of the Dao Palace, there was a place where one could enjoy the scenery of the whole Youyang palace complex. The expanse of magnificent pavilions stretched out as far as the eye could see, looking even more elegant under the moonlight.

Xu Disheng admired this nightscape, and for a while he was entranced.

Just as he was about to lift his foot to begin his descent down the stairs, Daoist Lord Qingxin’s flat voice was transmitted to him from inside the hall. “Hold on, take this cultivation method to protect yourself.”

An ordinary-looking jade slip wrapped in profound qi landed at his feet.

Xu Disheng bent down to pick it up. He probed the jade slip with his thread of Shangqing Profound Qi, and the cultivation method immediately materialized in his brain. The cultivation method was called Azure Ocean, and had four forms.

The cultivation method, as it was aptly named, allowed the cultivator to control water. The four forms were Amassing Water, Rain Summoning, Controlling Waves, and Capsizing Ocean.

When he examined it closely, he found that the only one that he could cultivate was the Amassing Waves form. The other three required the cultivator to be at least at the Cleansed Meridians stage.

He put away the jade slip and thanked his master respectfully. 𝐛𝐞𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦

“You can leave now.”

When Xu Disheng walked out of the Dao Palace, it was night. Stars filled the sky, and the moon cast bright rays that bathed the ground in a pale luster which shimmered like white jade.

There were more than ten pagodas around the Dao Palace. They seemed to be in a state of disrepair, as if they had not seen use for a long time. It was exceptionally quiet and peaceful as Xu Disheng slowly paced in between the pagodas. About a hundred paces behind him, there was only one armored guard silently keeping watch. He stood there solemnly looking straight ahead, and even if Xu Disheng were to walk past him, he wouldn’t react.

Xu Disheng picked one of the more intact looking pagodas and went inside. The pagoda had 7 layers, and each layer of the pagoda was a little over 3 meters tall. It stood at an imposing height, but the interior was rather empty. There were only a few simple praying mats and Dao platforms inside.

Xu Disheng was momentarily speechless. Could it be that they wanted him to sleep on a prayer mat or on the floor?

Just as he thought that, he heard the bustling of footsteps outside the pagoda gate. A soldier in black armor was bringing along several tens of soldiers with him as they carried in a large, luxurious looking bed. They were also bringing in chairs, tables, daily necessities, brushes and ink, and other kinds of miscellaneous stationery.

The black-armored soldier issued a command to the soldiers behind him, “Put them down for now.” When he turned back around, he saluted Xu Disheng. “Young Sir, His Excellency instructed me to completely renovate the pagoda after you have finished making your selection. May I respectfully inquire whether you would like to live in this pagoda?”

Xu Disheng was surprised at Zhang Keyu’s consideration. This Senior Martial Brother of his was a Prince from an imperial family that possessed an overwhelming level of authority, but he wasn’t putting on any airs towards him. He was really taking care of him quite well.

Even if it was because they were part of the same sect, Xu Disheng remembered this favor firmly in his heart. “Sorry to trouble you all with this. From now on, I’ll be living here on the 7th floor,” he said.

“Understood, Young Sir,” the black-armored soldier replied. He didn’t treat Xu Disheng with any contempt in the slightest despite his age being small.

Every person that was affiliated with the provincial government of Youyang City knew that even though the Youyang palace complex was so big and housed several hundred of the Prince’s family members, the most eminent people residing in this place were not they.

In the entirety of the provincial government area in Youyang City, there was only one restricted area, and that was here.

Even though there were only two words in the phrase “Dao Palace”, those two words carried an incredible weight behind them. Even the Prince was vigilant at all times about upholding the prestige of the Dao Palace.

Of course, there was something the general populace didn’t know. After the taxes from the entirety of the Province’s 19 Regions, encompassing a whole 36000 li radius, were handed over to the provincial government, the sum was then converted into spiritual medicines, treasured herbs, and mysterious treasures, all to provide for the mere few belonging to the Dao Palace.

The top floor of the seven layered pagoda wasn’t all that large. When the soldiers finished cleaning it up and renovating it, there were only two halls: a cultivation hall and a living hall.

Although the area itself wasn’t large, it became very well-furnished. There were all kinds of interior decor, ranging from woven mats, a large bed, folding screens, mirrors, tables, chairs, cupboards, and much more. This wide selection of items also consisted only of exquisitely refined commodities.

Xu Disheng was sitting upright on a Dao platform in the cultivation room, looking out of the pagoda. His mind was somewhere else.

Five years after being born, spending each day mindlessly, he now had a place he could call his own. His body belonged to the Xu Clan, but he felt no sense of belonging to them. He could be considered close with his own mother, Jin Yu, but that was about it.

This pagoda was extremely quiet and serene, making him feel lonely. But his heart was still calm, and he somehow even began to feel a sense of belonging here already, as if he had long gotten used to this solitary pace.

Suppressing his thoughts, he summoned his strand of Shangqing Profound Qi to enter the jade slip containing the Shangqing Profound Laws.

General Outline of the Shangqing Sacred Sect Profound Laws.

The cultivation method appeared in his mind. When Xu Disheng saw the words ‘Shangqing Sacred Sect’, his gaze grew sharp, and he could hear Daoist Lord Qingxin’s words reverberating in his ears.

“There were some things that you probably shouldn’t have heard. But now that you have, you must remember. The weak will always be weak.”

He retracted his gaze and looked at the 3 parts of the cultivation method.

The first part was the one that he wanted to cultivate, the Shangqing Profound Laws. The second one was called Talisman Law, and the third was called Incantation Law.

The Shangqing Profound Laws were the basics to cultivating profound qi. The next step for him was to circulate the profound qi within his meridians according to these laws, and slowly transform the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy into his own Shangqing Profound Qi until his meridians were completely filled with it. At that time, he would be considered to have reached the Cleansed Meridians stage.

Xu Disheng lightly shook his head. At this speed, he shouldn’t even think about the Cleansed Meridians stage. With the speed he was going, he didn’t even know how long it would take to make his strand of Shangqing Profound Qi become even slightly thicker.

Besides, this strand of Shangqing Profound Qi currently had no other uses to him besides allowing him to view jade slips. At this moment, it was simply too weak. It would take him many years of hard cultivation to slowly strengthen it, so he didn’t become impatient.

Xu Disheng couldn’t help but think back to that time earlier today when Daoist Lord Qingyu reprimanded Zhang Keyu about his cultivation progress. He thought of the bitter laugh that Zhang Keyu gave, and now he felt that he could understand what he was feeling at that time.

He had Grade 2 Profound Meridians, and his progress was already this slow. But Zhang Keyu was already 30 years old, and only had Grade 3 Profound Meridians.

He supposed that it wasn’t that Zhang Keyu was slacking in the amount of effort he put towards his cultivation. It was likely that it simply wasn’t possible to speed it up by much at all, and it could only be accomplished through lots of time and constant effort. There were no shortcuts.

The lifespan of normal people was around 80 to 100 years old. But if they broke through to the Xiantian realm, martial Xiantian cultivators could increase their lifespan to 200 years. For Profound Law Xiantians, they could increase their lifespan to 500 years, forever retaining a youthful appearance.

Xu Disheng sat there and quietly meditated.

The cyan jade flute revolved within his sea of consciousness in the Baihui meridian point, slowly spilling out cyan light, which nourished his sea of consciousness and meridians. Black soul power was present all throughout his sea of consciousness, slowly absorbing the essence of the moon to gradually strengthen him.

The Spirit Temple in the Shenque meridian point was in the heart, and it was the important location to martial cultivators since it was the place where they stored their qi.

Xu Disheng had never cultivated Martial Techniques before, so the space in this meridian point was empty. Occasionally, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy that he absorbed would simply pass by this area.

In the Jianggong meridian point, a strand of Shangqing Profound Qi swam about, strengthening itself with Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

Xu Disheng rummaged through the clothes that he changed out of earlier and took out the string of Buddhist prayer beads, which were shining dimly with white light. It was a damaged Martial Treasure with extremely strong protective power. This was something given to him at birth by his easygoing uncle, Jin Qingzhao.

He also looked at the white jade pendant, which was called the Murky Heart Jade. This was the greeting gift that Daoist Lord Qingyu gave to him. Not only was it a completely intact Martial Treasure, but it also was an extremely precious top quality item.

When he placed the pendant close to his body, a refreshing strand of qi would flow throughout his body, which even slightly increased the operating speed of his Shangqing Profound Qi.

There were still the two jade slips next to him: the Shangqing Profound Laws, and Azure Ocean.

Xu Disheng looked at the few belongings he had, and actually felt somewhat at ease.

He didn’t think any further, and sat down cross legged. He began to revolve the Nourishing Soul Mantra to transform the essence of the moon into Soul Force. At the same time, he was constantly revolving the Shangqing Profound Laws to absorb the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

The five year old child gradually delved deeper into the dry and dull world of cultivation.

There was a certain poem that went like this.

Floating Immortal Order

I don’t know where the immortals are, following their dreams in vain;

Aside from the moon at the end of the horizon, no one knows.

Sword dancing under the moonlight, a beautiful woman emerges within a dream;

Silently watching the world with hands tucked in her sleeves, not daring to recall the bygones of yonder past.

A great gale rises as he steps upon on a myriad of clouds in the midst of an intoxicated dream;

The immortal road is distant, the mortal world bitter.

Constantly looking back with complex yearning;

Unable to bear this mortal coil.