Zhanxian Chapter 24 – Outer Disciple

When Yang Chen finally emerged from the cultivation room after completing his training, he had already spent one year and four months at the Ye Xiu Manor, including the number of days he had spent in the room. This whole time Yang Chen stayed in the room to train and only came out for little things, like eating and resting and afterwards he went into the room again to cultivate.
However during the cultivation of the Yin and Yang five phases secrets, Yang Chen came across an unforeseen difficulty. In the time he had spent training, he had cultivated the Yin five phases in the first half of the month while he was trying to harmonize the five phases of Yin and Yang, so that he could cultivate them simultaneously. To circulate the innate qi of the cultivation method, Yang Chen had to use his spiritual awareness, refined by the three purities secrets, to control it and only then he was able to succeed. According to Yang Chen’s prediction, by the time when he reached the next stage in the five phases of Yin and Yang cultivation, the difficulty would have increased at least several times. Fortunately, all things were difficult in the beginning, but since he had already grasped the basics of the cultivation method, his cultivation path would become quite smooth in the future.
The cultivation he achieved with the five phases of Yin and Yang secrets was insufficient to refine the strength of the five phases of Yin and Yang to the next stage, the five phases of the Great Yin and Yang secrets. Yang Chen had decided to name the ten types of cultivation method of the five Yin and Yang phases secrets. Regardless of which one of the ten cultivation methods he was training in, Yang Chen called them whatever he felt was suitable and merely named them as first wood, second wood, third fire, fourth fire, fifth earth, sixth earth, seventh metal, eighth metal, ninth water and tenth water. These were the ten types of spirit power.
Naturally, to others it appeared as if Yang Chen was currently cultivating the fire centered method which he had received from the Achievement Room in the Ye Xiu Manor.
These days, the great manager of the Ye Xiu Manor, Wang Yuan, paid great attention to Yang Chen. Not only were each month’s gifts provided to him in sufficient quantity and on time, but it was also very likely that the manager kept watch at Yang Chen’s Profound Pavilion every month, for several days. Every time when the manager was overseeing, he would also provide Yang Chen with guidance related to cultivation methods and all kinds of basic knowledge. Being treated so highly made people envy him.
When Yang Chen came out from his training, Wang Yuan was already waiting for him at the Profound Pavilion. Half a month ago, Yang Chen had said that he was entering closed-door training and that he already had some certainty. But apparently Wang Yuan was totally certain about this, so today he had already been waiting here for Yang Chen. After he saw Yang Chen, both of his eyes shone brightly, after only examining him once he already started congratulating him.
After meeting with Yang Chen today, Wang Yuan had felt something acutely different. On Yang Chen’s body he could clearly sense fire attributed spirit power, this was a clear indication of successfully reaching the qi realm. Previously Yang Chen had to use the reverse five phases cultivation method to suppress his spirit power, but finally, after today he would no longer need that sort of cover up.
After entering the Ye Xiu Manor, even though he had to learn everything from scratch while dealing with several obstructions arranged by Chu Heng at the same time, Yang Chen had still achieved the minimum requirement of reaching the first qi layer in the brief period of one and a half years, now nobody would be able to say that his comprehension ability was weak. As for those preparatory disciples who had entered together with him into Ye Xiu Manor, not one of them had succeeded in reaching the first qi layer, this clearly showed Yang Chen’s superiority.
Although Yang Chen’s basic knowledge seemed to be insufficient to others, no one could stop him from entering the ranks of the outer disciples of the Pure Yang Palace. Even if the Merit Transferring Disciple Chu Heng was present, he would also be unable to do anything.
Yang Chen clearly understood Wang Yuan’s intentions and he had already sworn the oath on his heart’s devil, so Wang Yuan was not worried that he would go back on his promise, but even so he still had to resist the pressure from Chu Heng and he defended Yang Chen in all kinds of matters.
This time was also the same, Wang Yuan had already made some preparations to congratulate Yang Chen when he reached the boundary of first qi layer, long ago. He clapped to signal the two servants behind the door to enter. Both of them were carrying a tray.
Of these two servants, one was a man and the other a woman, the man was Shen Da and the woman was the female servant who had used the Illusion Talisman. Both of them were carrying a tray in their hands, each. One tray held a beautiful pouch, while the other one was fully packed with spirit stones.
“This is for you. After you have become qualified to the Nine Earth Manor, my teacher has made this qiankun pouch for you.”
Wang Yuan grabbed and threw that qiankun pouch into Yang Chen’s hands and introduced it very enthusiastically:
“You only have to put a mark of your spiritual awareness into it, then you can use it.”
In his heart Yang Chen was very calm, but on the surface he showed a surprised expression when receiving the qiankun bag, and in accordance with Wang Yuan’s instructions he used his spiritual awareness to brand it. Soon after that he pretended to feel some kind of difference and began to browse the inside.
Wang Yuan did not trouble Yang Chen this time. When he had received his own qiankun pouch for the first time, he was also like this and unable to contain his joy, so he absolutely understood Yang Chen’s mood right now. After waiting until he had fiddled enough with the pouch, Wang Yuan handed him the spirit stones on the second tray and said:
“Since Uncle Master Chu has said that you will have the status of a third qi layer disciple, you will receive one jin of spirits stones every month, then. Previously you had no expenses, so you were not given any money, but now all of the spirit stones, from the time when you joined the sect until today, will be supplied to you.”
Yang Chen was not impolite and received them to put them into the his new qiankun pouch. As soon as Yang Chen was finished with everything, he dismissed all of the servants. Only then did Wang Yuan ask:
“Younger Disciple Yang, are you planning to go to the Nine Earth Manor right away or do you intend to stay in the Ye Xiu Manor for some more time? In my opinion, my generation of cultivators is a little bit more mild and honest in comparison.”
Now that Yang Chen was officially an outer disciple, according to common sense, he would naturally go to the Nine Earth Manor, where almost all outer disciple practiced cultivation. Only now that Chu Heng was acting as the Merit Transferring Disciple, it may be assumed that he would also try to use any way to take care of Yang Chen there. If he stayed at Ye Xiu Manor, he would enjoy special consideration.
But every matter had its own merits and demerits. If he continued to stay at the Ye Xiu Manor, he would have to wait for the three year period to come to an end, but Chu Heng would also be nearing the end of his term as the Merit Transferring Disciple and would be replaced with someone else. At most, he could waste Yang Chen’s one and a half year, but it was also possible that he might not need to directly confront Chu Heng and could cultivate calmly.
Even if the Nine Earth Manor had Chu Heng, almost all others there were outer disciples. No matter whether it were the cultivation methods, the allocation of resources and spirit stones or the interaction between outer disciples, all of them were far better when compared to the Ye Xiu Manor. After all, the Ye Xiu Manor was only to teach the preparatory disciples. Even if he had Wang Yuan to guide him, it could still not be compared to the directions given by foundation stage inner disciples.
Moreover, compared to the Ye Xiu Manor, the Nine Earth Manor was rich in spiritual influence, which also had many advantages for cultivating. If it weren’t for Chu Heng, going to the Nine Earth Manor was the best choice. But just because of Chu Heng, Wang Yuan was asking for Yang Chen’s opinion.
“We cultivators always welcome difficulties, if, just because of one person, Uncle Master Chu, I bind my steps and not go forward, I will just remain a mediocre person in my entire life!”
Yang Chen was aware of Wang Yuan’s meaning, but he still didn’t accept Wang Yuan’s good intentions, but rather resolving himself, he simply said:
“Today, if I cower, then in the future I will also shrink back from everything, it could also be assumed that I am simply unworthy of Senior Disciple Wang’s attention and care. So I will ask Senior Disciple Wang to make the arrangements that I may leave for the Nine Earth Manor in a few days!”
In his previous life, just because Yang Chen had that kind of cowardly nature, he had ended up like that in the end, in this life he would not repeat the same mistakes.
These short few sentences left an indescribable feeling in Wang Yuan and also unknowingly stirred some kind of heroic emotions in him:
“Well said! Younger Disciple Yang, I appreciate your feelings, wait for ten days and after ten days, I will have my people see you off to the Nine Earth Manor!”
Originally Wang Yuan was a mild type of person which resembled Yang Chen’s impression of him in his previous life. He didn’t have too much of a desire to fight, if not, it would have been unlikely for him to be sent to supervise the Ye Xiu Manor.
But Yang Chen’s words had caused some kind of enlightenment to flash in his mind, restricting his insecure feelings, which had constantly made him think of his shortcomings and so on, but now Wang Yuan felt that his cultivation energy faintly vibrated, appearing as if he was about to break through at any moment. This sensation made him both excited and expectant. This type of enlightenment was an opportunity that would appear seldomly, he could not do anything about Yang Chen’s affairs and could only push away these matters for several days.
Moreover, even if he immediately went to arrange everything, Yang Chen could still not become an outer disciple right away. Every sect had its rules and Yang Chen clearly understood the rules of the Pure Yang Palace. If a preparatory disciple, who has met the required criterion, wanted to become an official outer disciple, there had to be a ceremony and only then could he be considered to have genuinely entered the sect. All outer disciples and the Merit Transferring Disciple had a ceremonial relation of being master and disciple.
Sun Hai Jing and Chu Heng had precisely this kind of relation between them in the beginning, but after looking at Sun Hai Jing’s spirit root it was determined that in the future he would also enter the Luminous Moon Hall, so naturally he started to curry favor with Chu Heng and Chu Heng in return started to pay attention to him, thus the relationship between the two individuals became more intimate when compared to others.
Even if Wang Yuan wrote a writ to send the news, he would still have to wait for several days before Yang Chen could leave. Yang Chen was also not very anxious to go and used this time to make some talisman papers.
After sending off Wang Yuan, Shen Da arrived in front of Yang Chen, appearing very respectful. After the last time when Yang Chen had beaten them unconscious, Shen Da had always treated Yang Chen this way. As soon as Yang Chen had been properly seated, Shen Da fished out a small jade bottle from his qiankun pouch and very respectfully handed it to Yang Chen.
“What is this?”
Yang Chen didn’t extend his hand to take it, but rather looked at it and asked in great surprise.
“Young Master Yang, these are yang qi pills, refined from the Profound Yang Fruit from the last time.”
Shen Da explained quickly:
“This belonged to Young Master Yang’s initially, now I am returning them to Young Master Yang.”
Explaining all of this, Shen Da finally placed the jade bottle on the table in front of Yang Chen.
Yang Chen stared at Shen Da for a good amount of time, then he shook his head and said:
“You should use them, it isn’t that useful to me.”
Shen Da became very anxious, why didn’t Yang Chen accept the bottle, did he still doubt them? After Yang Chen defeated him empty handedly, Shen Da had conceded sincerely, but he was an intelligent person and had known that immediately after the fight Shangguan Feng had entered closed-door training and after just two months he succeeded in building his foundation, becoming an inner disciple. And today he personally saw Wang Yuan and Yang Chen discussing something and after that Wang Yuan had also hurriedly entered closed-door training, it would be a miracle if there was nothing fishy about it.
Thinking about Yang Chen’s behaviour around the two appointed managers, it was not difficult for Shen Da to understand that they must have gained some huge benefits from Yang Chen. If not, how could they agree to offend the inner disciple Uncle Master Chu and face his anger, just to assist Yang Chen? Moreover, Shen Da had also recognized that fruit peel, the Profound Yang Fruit’s peel which had been in Yang Chen’s possession. What this implied was self-evident.
If he did not embrace Yang Chen’s leg at this time, then after Yang Chen left the Ye Xiu Manor, he would not get any more opportunities like this. Shen Da and all of the other servants who had been beaten in that last fight had discussed it and afterwards Ho Lin had refined the fruit peels to produce this yang qi pill, but rather than swallowing it, they offered it to him today.
Seeing that Yang Chen did not receive it, Shen Da knelt down immediately without thinking and respectfully said:
“Young Master Yang, we are aware that Young Master has boundless prospects and in the past we have offended you, so we request the superior Young Master to punish us!”
“I have already forgotten about that affair.”
Yang Chen laughed. He already didn’t have enough time to cultivate, how could a few servants possibly make life difficult for him? He was not a narrow-minded person like Chu Heng.
“Young Master, we four people only desire to be able to serve Young Master!”
Shen Da did not hide anything and directly told his request to Yang Chen. While he was speaking, outside of the door the three people appeared in a flash and moved in front of Yang Chen and knelt down beside Shen Da in a row. These three people were Ho Lin, Ting Yuan and Gu Qin, precisely the servants who had been beaten by Yang Chen in the beginning.
Actually, Yang Chen hadn’t expected this kind of event as, regarding these four people, he didn’t harbor any ill will in his heart. Although these these four people had initially acted against him under Chu Heng’s arrangements, after going through Yang Chen’s lesson they had sincerely served him without any mistakes. Yang Chen was quite satisfied regarding this.
Now these four wanted to follow Yang Chen to follow his future development and also to borrow an opportunity to advance themselves. All of them wanted to move forward and Yang Chen was unlikely to obstruct their progress. In any case, these four could easily be employed, as among the servants their cultivation was considered quite profound. Yang Chen also didn’t care whether they were following him, as in the Nine Earth Manor he would also get servants to serve him.
Seeing that Yang Chen was still thinking, all four of them glanced at each other and soon after that groveled in front of him and uniformly said:
“Please permit us, Young Master Yang!”
After a moment when these four had saluted Yang Chen by kowtowing, they heard Yang Chen’s promising voice:
“Ok! Get up!”
Just as these four people delightedly got up, they discovered that the jade bottle containing the yang qi pills which they gifted to Yang Chen was still on the table before them.
“Young Master, these originally belonged to you, we only refined them, that’s all!”
Naturally Shen Da and the others did not dare to request for this kind of thing, they only wanted Yang Chen to give them a few pointers when the occasion arrived, just that would already be sufficient.
“Which of you refined this? Ho Lin?”
Yang Chen asked as he glanced at Ho Lin. Ho Lin hastily nodded.
Yang Chen laughingly reached out his hand for the jade bottle and took out a pill. After cautiously inspecting it for some time, a small flame suddenly appeared above his finger and wrapped around the pill in his hand.
It was just a yang qi pill, nothing more. It didn’t even require Yang Chen to use the Supreme Elder’s pill secrets and profound pill scriptures skill. Although Yang Chen’s flame was small, after a moment, that pill had already started burning and broke into small pieces. Soon after that there were more than ten medicinal pills within the bottle. After that, Yang Chen took out all of them and also formed them into more yang qi pills, which he then loaded into the jade bottle and placed before the four people again.
“The yang qi pills were slightly unrefined. I just dispelled a few impurities.”
Seeing that those four were still somewhat hesitant to receive them, Yang Chen once again said laughingly:
“This stuff really has no use for me, you can take them!”
Those four exchanged a glance again and only then did Shen Da reach out his hands to take the jade bottle, as if he was receiving some precious treasure. After Ho Lin had witnessed what just happened, his eyes were filled with worship towards Yang Chen. A person who could refine a pill empty handedly and extract the pill medicine, even if it was just a yang qi pill, his future prospects couldn’t be measured.
“Oh right, Shen Da, your cultivation base is not bad, in the evening just take two yang qi pills and directly swallow them, maybe with the sudden burst of energy you will able to break through and cross the bottleneck of the third qi layer.”
Yang Chen advised Shen Da.
“Properly meditate and feel the cultivation energy and if you hold the medicine in your mouth for half of the time, you will have a chance of at least seventy percent for success!”