Chapter 356 – The Birthday Banquet Begins

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Divine Phoenix Island was extremely powerful. They did not lack in those that pretended to be humble, nor did they lack in talents. However, nobody knew just how many of these talents were truly loyal to Divine Phoenix Island.

The beautiful woman didn’t fully approve of Lin Ming just because of her words. But, she could affirm in her heart that Lin Ming wasn’t someone who faked appearances.

A truly ungrateful person that forgot grace and held no virtues, well, their promises were useless. As for those righteous individuals that didn’t betray their mortality, there was no need to have them make any promise. Thus, the beautiful woman gave Lin Ming the greatest degree of freedom equal to a secret disciple.

“First you will apprentice under Yu’er. She will also be the one to hand down and teach you the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle. This old woman is called Yuhuang. Later, you will also call this old woman Master Ancestor Yuhuang! If you can blossom in radiance within the year or maybe if you reach the Houtian realm before 17 years of age, then I will personally teach you.”

The beautiful woman spoke her words and then left. Mu Qianyu bowed to see her off, and Lin Ming also deeply bowed like a good disciple.

In a flash, only Lin Ming and Mu Qianyu were left in the hall. The serious expression that Mu Qianyu had quickly faded, and as she looked at Lin Ming, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Lin Ming subconsciously traced his nose, sheepishly saying, “What makes Miss Mu smile?”

“What did you just call me?” Mu Qianyu winked, grinning as she sardonically looked at Li Ming.

“Ah…” Lin Ming was a bit embarrassed, “Master Mu.”

“Who are you calling Master Mu? Just call me Master. I didn’t think that Master would place you under me as my disciple. In fact, you are my very first disciple. Divine Phoenix Island has over 30 core disciples, and around 20 of those were from the Vermillion Bird Faction and another dozen or so from the Blue Lian Faction. All of those disciples have masters that are Revolving Core powerhouses, and I’m the only one whose cultivation is below the Revolving Core realm!” Mu Qianyu sounded a bit excited. The first time being someone else’s master always gave a very unusual feeling.

Lin Ming was utterly speechless. He thought that being Mu Qianyu’s disciple was an outlandish and strange turn of events. In truth, he was hoping to apprentice under an elder. For instance, that old lady Yuhuang.

It looked like the only route he had was to show off his talents as soon as possible and attract the attention of that old woman Yuhuang, so he could apprentice under her and quickly get rid of this crappy status.

Mu Qianyu noticed Lin Ming’s astonished expression and that it was somewhat funny. She continued to say, “Alright, I won’t mess with you. I know your status is only temporary. I’ll be honest with you. You haven’t yet obtained the approval of my master. Although I’ve already spoken of your talent to Master, seeing is better than believing. Whether it is entering the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm or my senior uncle’s 400th birthday banquet, both are opportunities for you to display your talent. The sooner you can enter as a disciple of my master and become a direct disciple, the more advantageous it will be for you.

The 10 direct disciples of Divine Phoenix Island were all taught by top masters like old lady Yuhuang. Although Mu Qianyu was a monstrous genius, in terms of being someone’s master, she simply didn’t have the experience.

Lin Ming said, “I have to attend Tianguang Revered Master’s celebratory birthday banquet?”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“Mm. Since you’re a core disciple, you naturally have to participate in the birthday banquet. It is also a process for my master to approve of you. Remember, although you will be entering the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm, there are also good areas and bad areas. One kind is for the ordinary group which can only enter around the periphery of the Divine Phoenix Mystic Realm. As for the other, they may enter the main Ancient Phoenix central hall. The difference between the two is astronomical, and there is a limit of 16 individuals that may enter the main hall. 10 of those will be the direct disciples, leaving only 6 spots for the core disciples. If you can’t display a great enough talent, then one of those spots won’t be given to you.”

“So it’s like this…” Lin Ming’s mind stirred. Naturally, he didn’t want to miss out on this Ancient Phoenix central hall.

“Now return. And don’t underestimate everyone else here. They are all talents that are much higher than anyone from the Seven Profound Valleys. Even if Jiang Baoyun was placed here, he wouldn’t be anything special.” As Mu Qianyu spoke, she flipped her hand and two red jade slips appeared in her palm.

“This is the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ jade slip. Take good care of it and definitely don’t lose it somewhere!”

Lin Ming took a deep breath and solemnly took the jade slip. This was the core cultivation of Divine Phoenix Island, its value could be imagined.

Although there was most likely a special mark on this jade slip to track its location, for Mu Qianyu to give this jade slip to him like this was already a reflection of the enormous trust she held in him.

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That night, the moon hung bright in the sky. Lin Ming sat in the garden of his little building, tranquilly meditating over the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’.

Of the two jade slips, one recorded the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’, and the other contained insights from when Mu Qianyu had cultivated it. Not only were they the experiences of Mu Qianyu, but also the experiences that many other seniors had left behind, all of them reorganized by Mu Qianyu and completely engraved onto the jade slips. When she had been cultivating, she had also held a jade slip in her hands. Whenever she thought of something useful, she would record it.

Those things that were recorded in the jade slip were all mostly related to the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’. There were some supplementary materials, some skills, some analyses on how to make a better breakthrough, and other such experiences. This small jade slip was the accumulated wisdom of generations of wisdom.

“Good stuff!” Lin Ming couldn’t help but exclaim.

Although the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ was a top cultivation method, it was still incomplete. If one didn’t have these supplementary materials, it would be even more difficult to cultivate.

Lin Ming used a full half hour to skim through the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ and then laid down the jade slip, rubbing his forehead. The ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ was shocking; it was even more terrifying than when he had first cultivated the ‘Heretical God Force’.

According to the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’, if one filled in the empty spots and restored this cultivation to the full glory of the Ancient Phoenix Clan – and also cultivate it to the highest levels with the pure bloodline of the Ancient Phoenix – one could rebirth themselves in the fires of nirvana.

After nine nirvanas, they could reach Perfection of this cultivation, becoming immortal and indestructible.

Even the two Supreme Elders’ memories that Lin Ming had inherited didn’t dare to boast about any cultivation like this. The senior that left behind the Sorcerer Pagoda also lived for tens of thousands of years, but in the end was unable to escape the samsara of life and death, eventually leaving the mortal coil after failing his closed door seclusion.

However, considering the characteristics of the phoenix itself, this ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ didn’t seem to be like empty talk. Of course, whether or not any of this was true couldn’t be verified. To complete the entire Ancient Phoenix Clan’s secret technique was simply a dream.

As Lin Ming’s conscious was immersed within the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’, he also quickly entered into the ethereal martial intent state, sealing off his six senses and letting the flow of time drift past him.

The rich fire origin energy flowed into Lin Ming’s body, forming a vortex of origin energy that swirled around him. This was the rich fire-attribute origin energy of the Parasol Tree Pavilion; if one practiced the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ here, they would have twice the result with half the effort.

After the origin energy entered Lin Ming’s body, it was all absorbed by the Heretical God Seed without even the least bit leaking out. It could be said that Lin Ming’s body was a bottomless pit; whatever went in, wouldn’t come out.

Even Mu Qianyu had been shocked by Lin Ming’s talent at fire-attribute cultivation methods. She had called him the ‘child of flame’.

The Heretical God Seed began to excitedly stir, and the Flame Essence that revolved around the Heretical God Seed began to howl. After some time, an invisible ring of fire rippled outwards from Lin Ming, quickly spreading. This invisible ring of fire was fast like a gust of wind, rustling all of the parasol tree leaves of the forest.

Those that lived near Lin Ming’s little building were mostly Vermillion Bird Faction core disciples, and they were extremely sensitive to fire origin energy fluctuations. As the felt the fire origin energy blowing in the wind, they were surprised.

Just what was that?

Everything had happened too fast; they didn’t have time to investigate just what the source of that fire origin energy was. They released their senses to detect the source, but after being unable to find anything, eventually gave up.

The fire origin energy gradually faded. Lin Ming let out a long breath and opened his eyes. He had finally reached Perfection of the ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ cultivation method’s first layer!

If it wasn’t for too many pill toxins being left in his meridians, then reaching Perfection of this cultivation method’s first layer would have already been enough to help Lin Ming break through to the peak of Pulse Condensation.

From the Pulse Condensation period to the Houtian realm and Xiantian realm, the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians’ was no longer applicable to help him advance. However, this ‘Vermillion Bird Forbidden Divine Chronicle’ seemed as if it were tailor made for his body, perfectly complementing with the Heretical God Force and allowing Lin Ming’s cultivations to increase by leaps and bounds. In addition to Lin Ming’s ethereal martial intent, his martial talent no longer hindered him.

Lin Ming cultivated for the entire night until early the next morning. As the day dawned, the entire Parasol Tree Pavilion was bustling with lively activity; today was Tianguang Revered Master’s 400th birthday banquet.

A Revolving Core martial artist could live up to 500 to 600 years old. As they only had a few century birthdays in their life, naturally they had to make grand arrangements.

The Senior-apprentice Brother Zhang that lived across from Lin Ming knocked on his door in the morning and began to talk to him about the banquet and the rules he needed to follow. His superiors had already informed him that he needed to bring Lin Ming to attend the banquet.

“For this banquet, eight great sects have arrived to attend the celebrations. There are more than 10 Revolving Core masters and 100 Xiantian masters. Nearly everyone else that isn’t a Xiantian master is a core disciple of their sect, and each one has talent comparable to a monstrous genius. Heh, such a great scene, let alone you, even I rarely see this. Don’t make a fuss about everything just because you’re a newbie, otherwise you’ll lose face.”

As Zhang Zhen spoke, he looked over Lin Ming’s clothing to see if there were any faults. Since eight great sects had gathered together, everything had become a matter of the sect’s honor. Naturally, no one could slack off in any aspect.

Lin Ming smiled and nodded. Although this Senior-apprentice Brother Zhang was a bit arrogant and overly stiff, his heart actually wasn’t too bad. These days he had taught Lin Ming many of the rules and customs of Divine Phoenix Island.

“Those that can enter the banquet stage are already famous characters. You’re a bit young and your cultivation is also low, and you’re even a new disciple, so there shouldn’t be anyone that is willing to take the initiative to challenge you. Just have a good time and eat everything you can. This birthday banquet has the best feast with delicacies from everywhere. If you eat a big meal, it will be equivalent to many years of hard earned cultivation for a common martial artist.”

“Also, if someone challenges you and they are a bit older, you don’t have to bother with them. There will be some senior-apprentice brothers that will stand up for you. You can compare skills with someone who’s close to your level though, but don’t go beyond that. Understand?”

“I understand.” Lin Ming didn’t refute Zhang Zhen’s words. The scenario that no one would take initiative to challenge him was only Zhang Zhen’s wishful thinking. As Lin Ming had walked down the road these past days, he could feel the gaze of others on him. There were disciples of Thundercrest Sect, and also disciples of Storm Valley.

Lin Ming didn’t know any of these people. They were probably ordered to bother him at the behest of others after arriving at Divine Phoenix Island.

Zhang Zhen looked at the time and said, “The birthday banquet will begin in half an hour. Let’s go over now.”