Chapter 559 Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch
"Grass cultivation?"
"I too am a grass cultivator from some remote place," Jiang Ding muttered to himself.
Bandits will always be bandits.
They have their progressive aspects and their brutal and backward ways. The two simple words 'grass cultivation' thus perfectly bring out these qualities.
Immortal Baimei wishes to earn a Nascent Soul Opportunity within the Blood Cloud Eighteen Knights through his military exploits, but it seems quite difficult now.
Of course, even if it were not so, he would not ally with people like Blood Cloud and the others.
With their disordered nature, acting independently and ruthlessly, it is innumerable times safer to be their enemy than to become their comrade.
Jiang Ding walked slowly along the broken Formation Method, stepping into the interior of Dizifeng Peak where the formation was breached.
Storage bags and treasures floated around him, and then the restrains were broken, revealing their contents to his sight, which were not much, adding up to a little over a hundred million Low-grade Spirit Stones.
This situation was very common—except for those who were truly alone, no one would carry large amounts of valuable items in their storage bags when they knew they were entering dangerous territory.
Blue circles of Demolishing Spirit Demolishing Skills' Spiritual Light spread out to clear the lingering aura and the remnants of the Divine Soul's fluctuations around him.
In fact, under the coverage of the Sword Intent of Destruction, these auras were unlikely to remain. Casting the magic again was merely a precaution.
This was all part of the Xianmen Sect predecessors' exploration experience, which had formed a complete set of methods. One only needed to follow them.
Jiang Ding stopped at the bottom of the peak, looking towards the rows of bamboo and wooden hermitages.
After ten thousand years, the bamboo and wood were still green, but as the formations were breached and the breeze blew, the bamboo faded in color, the hermitages collapsed into dust, and smoke billowed forth.
This was the place where new disciples of the Luoxu Clan resided when they first joined, made of mundane materials and naturally incapable of enduring ten thousand years unscathed.
Jiang Ding's thoughts stirred, and his Divine Sense enveloped the surroundings, isolating the inside from the outside.
The sound of the wind ceased, and the collapsing and fading hermitages halted, maintaining their original state, no longer continuing to deteriorate.
"It's right to prevent others from coming in," Jiang Ding nodded. "Archaeology is a delicate task. Much history lies within these ruins that seem not worth a single Spirit Stone. If they were to be plundered violently like grave robbers, all traces would be lost. What use would a few Spirit Stones be then?"
With great care, his Divine Sense probed into the hermitages about to turn to ashes, searching meticulously, occasionally recording some things.
The scribbles of mischievous children on the walls, wooden carvings, clothes hanging beside the bed, paintings, etc., were all scanned and filed into his Sea of Consciousness.
After several minutes, over fifty Jade Slips appeared in front of Jiang Ding.
These Jade Slips were extremely fragile, even a breath causing a breeze might turn them into a handful of white ash. Their internal structures were all damaged, rendering them unreadable by Divine Sense.
This was how it was even for Nascent Soul Monks. It wasn't a matter of ability.
"But then again, my specialty is archaeology, and I didn't do too badly in that," Jiang Ding reflected for a moment, and a magic technique surfaced in his mind.
A third-order Low-grade Magic Technique, Jade Simple Restoration Technique, one of many restoration techniques under the archaeology category, essential for finals, specialized for Jade Slips.
Jiang Ding manipulated the Mana Technique, muttering words, and a hazy light appeared at his fingertips, which he carefully placed onto the Jade Slips.
The light flickered and slowly penetrated into the Jade Slips, restoring their structures.
A moment later,
The Jade Slips solidified somewhat and no longer seemed on the verge of dispersal. They could now accept the probing of Divine Sense.
Of course, any severe shaking was still problematic, they might collapse at any moment.
Jiang Ding's Divine Sense surged into them.
"...On the seventh day of the fifth month, I met Junior Sister Zhou..."
"...Fire Crow Skill... Our small Falling Void Sect is not comparable to... If only I could be like the Shuoyang Ancestor, who also started with mediocre talent..."
"...Fortunately, I did not join the Liudao Sect..."
Within the jade slip were diaries of low-level disciples from the Luoxu Clan some ten thousand years ago, as well as essential details about magic, personal insights, family letters, and so on.
Through these, many things from ten thousand years ago can be glimpsed, and customs of the time understood.
"Ten thousand years ago, the Northern Plains were filled with sects."
Jiang Ding slowly comprehended, deep in thought, "Was it that invincible mighty figure? He changed everything by his own hands, influencing everything to this day."
Moreover, in the correspondence of these disciples, many mentioned a person called Shuoyang Ancestor, with words full of admiration, pride, and longing.
When discussing the situation outside their sect, they often displayed a sense of superiority, feeling that their sect was the most esteemed and showing a great sense of honor and belonging to their own sect.
The information collection of the hermitage is complete.
Jiang Ding rose and flew towards the peak, passing by the preaching platform, the children's school, the ancestral hall, etc., each yielding some findings.
The foundation-building cultivators who tutored these new disciples of the Luoxu Clan left behind jade slips, paintings, and other descriptions about the Luoxu Clan in more detail.
The Luoxu Clan was a sect highly skilled in the Space Dao and was one of the three great forces of the Northern Plains at the time, subtly asserting itself as the number one sect of the Northern Plains.
It wasn't always so; not long before, the Luoxu Clan was only one of the many large sects in the Northern Plains. Though it was also prosperous and flourishing, it was far from being the number one sect.
It was not until a figure known as the Shuoyang Ancestor appeared that the sect rapidly entered its golden age.
"The Shuoyang Ancestor…"
Jiang Ding muttered this name revered and respected by both the sect's disciples and instructors, filled with many speculations.
At that moment, he did not dare to jump to conclusions and continued onwards.
This place was called Dizifeng Peak, which indeed did not have any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Even if there were, they were nothing but some already damaged Magic Tools. However, the value of the information contained was much more precious than any Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.
The Mengxue Palace.
Jiang Ding reached the peak and, with a slight sweep of his Divine Sense, immediately saw a palace storing a large number of magic jade slips, Mana Techniques, and various other works, totaling over thirty thousand volumes—all First-order and also including travel notes, miscellaneous learning, and so on.
They were presumably used for teaching the disciples of the Luoxu Clan.
"Not bad."
Jiang Ding was delighted.
These items could enrich the Xianmen Library and might contain much knowledge not possessed by the Xianmen Sect.
Do not think that because the Luoxu Clan was far inferior to the Xianmen Sect, this knowledge is without value.
The cultivation knowledge of the Luoxu Clan was not just the exploration of a single sect but also the culmination of countless years of cultivation exploration inherited from previous cultivation sects.
A world's unique knowledge accumulated over tens or hundreds of thousands of years is invaluable. Perhaps some seemingly unremarkable magic could provide insight into the Refining Nothingness realm.
Using a special preservation spell from his archaeological skills, Jiang Ding waved his hand, and the Mana Technique complied, entering the Storage Jade Pendant.
Jiang Ding's gaze, however, was fixed on a statue in front of the Mengxue Palace.
It was a handsome man with a robust and attractive appearance, wearing white robes that fluttered as he gazed into the distance, his attire bearing some resemblance to the one worn by the Six Dao Saint, Yin Dao.
Even his features seemed similar.
The 'Heavenly Man' described in the Canon of Heavenly Man Transformation by the Liudao Sect seems to be as such, approaching this ideal without reservation, believing it to be the body of a True Immortal and the ultimate goal of the Immortal Path.
Beneath the statue, many engravings praised his accomplishments.
"Shuoyang Ancestor, Shuoyang Heavenly Monarch, unifying the Northern Plains, for thousands of generations, the name of Falling Void spreading across the world, the foundation of the sect forever verdant and enduring..."