Free Web NovelChapter 5: Chapter 5: Golden Core Grand Ceremony
「Two days later.」
The sky was high and the air crisp, dotted with fluffy white clouds.
As its name suggested, Supreme Profound Peak was the heart of the Taixuan Sect’s Meteor Dojo. Ordinarily, no outsiders were ever permitted to set foot on it.
But today was different. It was the day of the Taixuan Sect’s first-ever Golden Core Grand Ceremony. The Immortal Palace on Supreme Profound Peak, usually a place of quiet solitude, was now bustling with people.
A White Jade Throne was placed at the head of the main hall, and beside it stood Jiang Han, clad in a Daoist Robe, perfectly still.
Below the dais, two rows of low tables were arranged; a quick count revealed at least two or three hundred. Many tables were already occupied. A closer look showed that the cultivators from smaller sects and Loose Cultivators with lower cultivation levels were seated in the middle and back of the hall. The seats toward the front were reserved for masters from sects considered just a tier below the Dongsheng Continent’s great Three Sects and Six Schools, or for Golden Core Mages from among the Loose Cultivators.
The tables at the very front, as one might expect, were reserved for guests from the Three Sects and Six Schools. Some were already seated, prompting the other guests to murmur amongst themselves via voice transmission.
"Is that Yang Lian, the Five-Clawed Flame Dragon of the Celestial Fire Sect? And who’s the other one?"
"Heh, shows what you know. That’s Ying Tianxiao, the only Top-grade Golden Core Mage in the Shaoyang Sect’s current generation."
"Does the Taixuan Sect really command that much respect? I heard that everyone sent by the Three Sects and Six Schools is a Top-grade Golden Core Mage."
"Just look at this Meteor Dojo. Wouldn’t you say it has prestige? The Taixuan Sect is holding this Golden Core Grand Ceremony, so it must be for someone who has formed a Top-grade Golden Core. The Three Sects and Six Schools are known as the Nine Great Daoist Sects of the Dongsheng Continent. If they didn’t send a Top-grade Golden Core Mage, wouldn’t they be one-upped?"
"So the Shaoyang Sect is lucky it still has one Top-grade Golden Core Mage this generation..."
"Quiet! Do you really think your voice transmissions are a secret from a Golden Core Mage?"
Countless strands of Spiritual Sense crisscrossed the hall below the dais. To anyone with powerful enough Magical Power who cared to listen, it was a chaotic cacophony.
At his table, the man being discussed, Ying Tianxiao, sat quietly on his cushion with his eyes slightly closed, paying the chatter no mind. Across from him sat a young Daoist in a bright red Daoist Robe, attended by two female disciples who were serving him wine. A smirk played on the young Daoist’s lips as he suddenly called out, "Fellow Daoist Ying, we meet again. It must’ve been forty or fifty years. How come it’s always you running around for the Shaoyang Sect?"
Ying Tianxiao’s expression remained unchanged. Without even opening his eyes, he replied, "As the head True Disciple, it is my duty to handle matters for the sect. You need not concern yourself, Brother Yang."
This young Daoist was none other than Yang Lian, the True Disciple of the Celestial Fire Sect who had briefly clashed with Xuzhuang.
Yang Lian wore a mocking expression and was about to say more, but his face suddenly fell. Ceremonial music wafted in from outside the hall, and a herald announced, "Master Xuzhuang of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect has arrived!"
Ying Tianxiao also raised an eyebrow. ’For the last century, the six great True Disciples of Tai Su have been famous throughout the Divine Continent. The sect’s fortune is clearly at its peak, like adding oil to a blazing fire. I didn’t expect them to produce another Top-grade Golden Core so soon.’ He thought about his own Shaoyang Sect. Despite having more than ten True Disciples, he was the only one to have formed a Top-grade Golden Core. Faced with such a potential gap in their lineage, he couldn’t help but open his eyes for a look.
The newcomer’s features were strikingly handsome, his brows slanting up toward his temples, and his eyes glittered like stars. He wore a ceremonial Daoist Robe with large, flowing sleeves. Even someone of Ying Tianxiao’s stature had to silently admit, ’An extraordinary bearing.’
Led by an Inner Sect Disciple of the Taixuan Sect, Xuzhuang walked to the front of the hall and sat at the second table on the right, a position ahead of Yang Lian.
This was because while the Three Sects and Six Schools were collectively known as the Nine Great Daoist Sects, the Three Sects had been spreading the Dao for millennia and had always controlled the orthodox lineage in the Dongsheng Continent. In reality, they were implicitly a cut above the Six Schools. Thus, even though Xuzhuang had only recently reached the Golden Core realm and was less famous than Yang Lian and Ying Tianxiao, his seat was still placed before theirs.
Xuzhuang took the second seat on the right. ’There are three seats ranked higher than mine,’ he noted. ’Two must be for the other two major sects, the Upper Profound Sect and the Spirit Treasure Sect. But that leaves one more... I wonder what great personage could possibly be seated before the Tai Su sect, and by extension, all Three Sects.’
Xuzhuang sat cross-legged on his cushion. His table was already laden with the highest-grade Spirit Fruit, Immortal Tea, pastries, and wine. On one plate alone lay four fruits, each the size of a longan, as round as a pearl, and blood-red. They appeared to be Vermilion Fruits. Though not ancient, they were still exceedingly rare. Behind him, disciples like Yue Nan and Li Changfeng could only stand and stare, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
He had barely settled in when another arrival was announced. The contingent from the Yuxiao Sect entered, with Lin Shanshang leading the way as their True Disciple for this formal occasion. Lin Ling could only follow at her side, though she didn’t forget to give Xuzhuang a quick wink. Their party took the third seat on the right, next to Xuzhuang, and a round of pleasantries naturally followed.
The auspicious hour drew near, and names were announced one after another. Soon, Yu Jing of the Upper Profound Sect arrived and, after taking the first seat on the right, was followed by the Spirit Treasure Sect’s True Disciple, a veteran Golden Core Mage named Xie Zonghuan, who took the second seat on the left. And so, with all of the Three Sects and Six Schools present, only the very first seat on the left remained empty among the foremost positions.
This arrangement seemed to defy many people’s expectations and sparked a fresh round of discussion. Some of the disciples attending the Mages from the Three Sects and Six Schools even grew indignant, though Yu Jing, Xuzhuang, and the other leaders remained unperturbed.
A short while later, with the auspicious hour moments away, every table in the great hall was filled—save for that single, highest seat of honor. Just as everyone’s curiosity was reaching a fever pitch, the herald’s voice, which had been silent for some time, finally rang out again.
"The Star Ascendant has arrived!"
As the name rang out, a Taixuan Sect disciple guided a man into the great hall, leading him straight toward the head seat. The newcomer had the white hair of an old man but the face of a youth. He was tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a blue Magical Robe adorned with patterns of star constellations and Cloud Pattern Talismans that shimmered with radiant light and overflowed with a pure aura.
While the hall didn’t erupt into an uproar, everyone was visibly astonished. Even Xuzhuang and the other True Disciples couldn’t help but wear strange expressions.
So that was who dared to sit before the Three Sects and Six Schools, at the head of all the assembled cultivators. It turned out he was indeed qualified.
And who was the Star Ascendant? He was a Nascent Soul Cultivator, renowned throughout the Divine Continent’s Cultivation Realm and addressed as a Venerable!
A Nascent Soul Practitioner—one who had formed a Primordial Spirit Infant—could already be addressed as a Great Cultivator and held the title of Venerable. In the current Cultivation Realm of the Divine Continent, Primordial Spirit True Men were beings of legend who never showed themselves. Thus, in the eyes of an ordinary cultivator, a Nascent Soul Venerable was the absolute pinnacle. He was, of course, qualified to take the head seat.
But for a dignified Nascent Soul Venerable to attend a junior’s Golden Core Grand Ceremony was enough to make everyone’s expression turn strange. Some were likely sneering inwardly, ’A mighty Nascent Soul Venerable, attending a Golden Core ceremony... He’s willing to throw away all his dignity just to kiss the Taixuan Sect’s boots.’
Xuzhuang, however, entertained no such petty thoughts. ’In the end,’ he mused, ’a Nascent Soul Venerable is a supreme being in the eyes of ordinary cultivators. A Primordial Spirit True Man is a figure on par with Immortal Gods, existing only in legend. In fact, to most cultivators, even a Golden Core Mage represents the pinnacle of power.’ freёwebnovel.com
’But we, the True Disciples of the great Daoist Sects, know the truth. A Primordial Spirit True Man has passed through the Life and Death Profound Gate and achieved true longevity. They are worlds apart from Golden Core or Nascent Soul practitioners. And a Pure Yang True Monarch... that’s a concept on an entirely different plane of existence.’
’A mighty Nascent Soul practitioner attending a Golden Core Grand Ceremony might seem ridiculous, but if it meant leaving a good impression on a Pure Yang True Monarch, it was more than worth the trouble.’
The Star Ascendant either didn’t know what the cultivators around him were thinking or simply didn’t care. He calmly followed the guide to his seat at the head of the hall. He even offered a smiling nod to the Golden Core Mages from the Three Sects and Six Schools.
The others, of course, found this perfectly acceptable. A Nascent Soul practitioner was an exalted being to the common cultivator, but for a Top-Grade Golden Core Practitioner, breaking the Core to form a Soul was an expected and natural progression. There was nothing wrong with addressing him as a Fellow Daoist.
With that, all the guests had finally arrived, and the auspicious hour was at hand. A long, melodious bell chime rang out, followed by another, and another, spreading across the land. After the ninth and final chime, a young Daoist with his hair bound in a star crown entered with a ceremonial entourage. He was tall and slender with sharp, severe features, and he wore a look of smug satisfaction that he did not bother to hide.
Seeing him enter, Jiang Han, who had been standing at the head of the hall, finally moved. He cupped his hands in salute. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Qiao, on forming a Top-grade Golden Core." All the seated cultivators, including the Star Ascendant, immediately rose to their feet and declared in unison, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Qiao, on forming a Top-grade Golden Core!"
Amid the chorus of congratulations, the Daoist walked to the White Jade Throne, then turned and cupped his hands. "I, Qiao Feifeng, thank all of you, Fellow Daoists. Please, be seated."
Once everyone was seated again, Qiao Feifeng formally took his place on the throne. Jiang Han stepped before him, a smile on his face. "Junior Brother Qiao, on behalf of the sect, I congratulate you on forming a Top-grade Golden Core."
A Taixuan Sect disciple brought forward a jade platter. Upon it rested a *jue* vessel filled with True Sand. Each grain was like a jade pearl—plump, round, and brilliantly translucent. Within each grain, clouds and mist seemed to churn, enshrouded by a five-colored haze.
It was a vessel of Five Elements True Sand. A single grain contained Spiritual Qi equivalent to tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, making a full *jue* worth no less than a small-scale Spirit Vein. Yet, its abundance of Spiritual Qi wasn’t even its most precious attribute. The sand contained the Five Elements Spiritual Truth in perfect balance, allowing it to adapt to any form. It was said that regardless of one’s cultivation technique or type of Magical Power, the sand could be refined at will, directly increasing one’s Magical Power with no waste. It was a treasure that all cultivators coveted.
The appearance of this treasure sent another small shockwave through the hall, though no one was so undisciplined as to cry out.
After Jiang Han’s congratulations, the Star Ascendant, being in the seat of honor, slowly rose and stepped forward. Though he had come alone, he produced a jade box from his sleeve and personally congratulated Qiao Feifeng. He was followed by the representatives of the Three Sects and Six Schools, including Xuzhuang, who presented the gifts prepared by their respective sects. Finally, the other cultivators came forward one by one to offer their gifts.
This procession alone took the better part of half a day to complete, finally bringing the formal congratulations to a close.
Only then did the cultivators in the hall finally begin to touch the Spirit Fruit and Immortal Tea on their tables. Disciples and serving maids from the Taixuan Sect filed in, weaving through the tables to refill tea and replenish the platters of Spirit Fruit.
Jiang Han stood up once more and announced loudly, "Fellow Daoists, a few days ago, I made an arrangement with my fellow Daoists from the Three Sects and Six Schools to hold a small martial gathering as part of today’s ceremony, so that our disciples may spar and learn from one another."
This statement naturally caused a stir. The well-informed among the crowd were already aware, but for many others, it confirmed their suspicions. ’So the Taixuan Sect’s Golden Core Grand Ceremony wasn’t going to be a quiet affair after all. The real show is finally starting!’
Jiang Han nodded toward the True Disciples of the Three Sects and Six Schools. He took a small cup from a disciple behind him, held it up, and declared, "Since the Taixuan Sect is hosting this gathering, it is only natural that we offer a prize. This item is called Jade Sun Divine Sand. It possesses a wondrous quality, much like the Five Elements True Sand. While the Five Elements True Sand can directly increase one’s Magical Power, this Jade Sun Divine Sand can naturally purify it. Whichever disciple takes first place today will be awarded this prize."
"Of course, any Fellow Daoists present, or any of their disciples, are welcome to participate, as long as their cultivation is in the Dao Foundation Realm."
At these words, the faces of the cultivators from the smaller sects and the Loose Cultivators lit up with delight. Many began rubbing their hands together, eager for a chance to compete.
