Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

The two had known each other for over twenty years.

Not to mention Lei Jun had reached the cultivation level of the Upper Three Heavens, Ji Chuan, with his exceptional talents, was also at the Daoist Artifact Refining Sect’s Sixth Heavenly Realm. This realm, within the Daoist Artifact Refining Sect, was known as the Immortal Seed. Forming the Immortal Seed, transforming one’s cultivation, and eventually reaching Pill Resolution to attain the Seventh Heavenly Layer cultivation, was an extremely important stage of cultivation.

Generally speaking, for someone with Ji Chuan’s cultivation level and talent, most of his focus at this stage would likely be on his own cultivation, striving to break through to the Seventh Heavenly Layer.

Unfortunately, Mount Shu had repeatedly suffered great calamities, severely damaging its vitality. It had sustained heavy losses in many aspects and was beginning to experience a shortage of manpower. He Dongxing and his disciple Ji Chuan, who had always maintained close ties with the Celestial Master Mansion, were thus dispatched to Dragon Tiger Mountain this time.

Since Ji Chuan had said so, Lei Jun did not insist but made another arrangement: "In that case, Brother Jidao, you are free to choose a suitable place in the mountains, and our sect will then make the arrangements. We cannot delay your cultivation."

Chu Kun, smiling beside them, said, "Senior Brother, let me handle this. Brother Jidao, you need not worry."

Lei Jun: "Good."

Ji Chuan, not one for excessive politeness, sincerely thanked Lei Jun and Chu Kun.

After thanking them, Ji Chuan looked at Chu Kun with some emotion. "I have long heard of Fellow Daoist Chu’s great reputation," he said. "I had few opportunities to meet you before. I hope I’ll be able to visit you more often in the future."

Chu Kun replied, "Brother Jidao, you are too kind. I am young and inexperienced; it is I who should ask for your guidance."

Ji Chuan smiled, first looking at Lei Jun, then back at Chu Kun. "Fellow Daoist Chu, you are too polite."

He didn’t say much more, but looking at the current Chu Kun, he was reminded of the Lei Jun from before.

Chu Kun and his senior brother Lei Jun were roughly ten years apart in age, and Chu Kun was not yet forty this year. Yet, he was already a cultivator of the Taoist Talisman Sect at the Sixth Layer of Heaven Dao Seal Realm.

Both were cultivators of the Sixth Heavenly Layer, but Chu Kun had reached this realm at a younger age than Ji Chuan.

As far as Ji Chuan knew, it had taken Chu Kun about twelve years to reach the Fourth Layer of Heaven from the time he formed his Original Talisman. This speed had already shocked countless people.

Among the recent successors of the Celestial Master Mansion—excluding Tang Xiaotang, whose cultivation progress before reaching the Upper Three Heavens was terrifyingly fast—only Lei Jun had advanced from the first stage of the Fourth Layer of Heaven to the Sixth Heavenly Layer in nine years, faster than Chu Kun.

Although there was still a considerable distance to the Seventh Heavenly Layer realm, Chu Kun’s rapid progress forced the outside world to once again regard the Celestial Master Mansion with new respect.

However, to the outside world, Chu Kun was even more reclusive than Lei Jun, rarely leaving the mountain and seldom engaging in Duels of Magic or life-and-death battles. Therefore, despite his rapid advancement, Chu Kun’s reputation felt somewhat unsubstantiated. However, because of his senior brother Lei Jun—who had accumulated experience and gradually proven his own exceptional prowess in Duels of Magic—the outside world currently dared not underestimate Chu Kun. Instead, they tended to overestimate him.

Ji Chuan said little, but from his expression and actions, Chu Kun could roughly guess his meaning, feeling a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

With an example like Lei Jun around, it’s impossible for me to keep a low profile!

At this moment, he truly empathized with the helplessness his Eldest Senior Brother, Wang Guiyuan, often felt from being passively thrust into the spotlight.

...Only, at such times, Taoist Master Chu completely forgot that Taoist Wang’s helplessness was partly due to his own contributions as the Third Junior Brother.

The date of the grand ceremony on the fifteenth of January was gradually approaching. The expected guests arrived one after another, and preparations for the ceremony, both inside and outside the Celestial Master Mansion, became more complete by the day.

On the night of January fourteenth, the ceremony preliminarily began. This involved the Water Cleansing Banishment Ritual, followed by worship of the True Saints and Homage to the Stars, observing purification fasts and inviting the Masters, and finally, commencing the rites after an overnight vigil. The process was the same as when Lei Jun himself had participated in the Transcension Ritual years ago. The only difference was that back then, he was a Tao Boy who followed instructions and went through the motions. Tonight, however, he was the High Merit Master presiding over the grand ceremony.

During the phase of commencing the rites after an overnight vigil, Lei Jun was responsible for leading the worship and proclamation, praying to The Supreme Heaven and the ancestral masters as a prelude to the official grand ritual offerings.

On the following day, January fifteenth, Lei Jun presided over the entire procedure: singing praises to the Dao, proceeding to the ceremonial altar, entering the Earth Door, ascending the Heaven Gate, offering the Ten-Directions Incense, burning the Summoning Talisman, offering incense at the principal position, reciting the ritual incantations, and then personally holding the incense burner to perform the furnace-lighting ceremony, among other proceedings.

As evening approached, it was time for the true establishment of the ceremonial altar and the Transcension Ritual itself. Guests like Xu Duan, Lü Jinduan, and Ji Chuan, who were there to observe, only took their seats to watch as evening fell.

Generally, the attending guests focused on the disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion participating in the Transcension Ritual, keen to see which promising young talents had emerged in recent years. However, on this occasion, as everyone watched the Transcension Ceremony, their attention was first drawn to the tall, purple-robed Taoist presiding over the grand event.

"Among the High Merit Masters from the Celestial Master Mansion who have presided over the Transcension Ceremony in recent years, he is remarkably young," Xu Duan remarked while watching Lei Jun.

The Vermilion Bird Elder from the Pure Yang Palace, Lü Jinduan, nodded slightly. "He’s not even fifty yet."

Tang Xiaotang had, of course, been younger when she reached the Upper Three Heavens cultivation. But, strictly speaking, she was still a Tao Boy at the time, and no one was in a rush to entrust her with major responsibilities back then. By the time Tang Xiaotang took over the position of Celestial Master, she had advanced from Tao Boy straight to Celestial Master. The first time she presided over a Transcension Ceremony, it was already in her capacity as Celestial Master.

Xu Yuanzhen, however, never participated in such events.

"Brother Xu, you must have heard, correct?" Lü Jinduan said to Xu Duan. "This friend of ours from the Celestial Master Mansion, Lei, previously displayed a second Dharma Manifestation in the Southern Wilderness, apart from his Doumu Star God Dharma."

Xu Duan nodded. "I’ve heard about it."

He shifted his gaze. In the distance, General Lu Fang of the Great Tang Shenji Army, who had personally witnessed the manifestation of Lei Jun’s Xuanxiao Thunder Ancestor Dharma, was also present as a guest, observing this Transcension Ceremony of the Celestial Master Mansion.