Chapter 140: Morning Bells and Evening Drums, the Nine-Patterned Phenomenon!

Upon learning that Fairy Qingyin intended to assist Cao Xuan in his breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, the gathered experts no longer felt any urgency to depart. Their visit to the Qingyun Sect had yielded little of interest. The six great sacred grounds had observed the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core competition venues, yet they had found no truly promising candidates. Only Cao Xuan, who had grasped the intent of the sword, could be considered remotely noteworthy.

They had originally planned to wait until the conclusion of the Qingyun Cloud Cave to see if anyone successfully achieved a Golden Core, intending to cherry-pick a few "thirty-year-old Golden Core" talents to take back as a formality. In truth, they expected little of substance. They assumed that, in the end, Qing Xuzi of the Xuanhua Dao Sect would simply take a dozen or so thirty-year-old Golden Core practitioners—who were also century-old Nascent Soul cultivators—as a gesture of compensation to the Qingyun Sect and a way to curry favor with Xian Xiangqiu. A four-pattern Golden Core at the age of thirty was, after all, just another mouth to feed. Since Xian Xiangqiu had no intention of joining their sacred grounds, there was no need to flatter a candidate for a dao-seed from another sect.

"How many days do you think this boy will need to finish his breakthrough?" asked Xuedizi with a chuckle, amused by the situation since it didn't involve him directly.

Master Chanding of the Shenglong Temple, rarely interested in such matters, pondered for a moment. "Without the aid of a grand formation, and in a place that is neither a sacred ground nor a mystic realm, I would estimate about ten days if he is aiming for a four-pattern Golden Core."

Liu Ruyan stretched her long legs and sighed, "You've said everything that needs to be said; what's left for us to analyze?"

"The boy only has top-grade spiritual roots. Even if Qingyin spends a fortune on resources, ten days is about right."

They were unaware that Fairy Qingyin had not spent a fortune at all, but was merely utilizing some medicinal pills and artifacts she had on hand. This was precisely why she had been conflicted earlier about whether to interrupt Cao Xuan’s breakthrough, fearing that if her infusion of soul essence failed, he might be left with a subpar Golden Core of less than three patterns, impossible to shatter and rebuild.

After deep reflection, Chen Ru interjected, "Seven days!"

Ancestor Qingmu and the others turned their gaze toward him.

He continued, "Sword intent! Don't forget, the boy has mastered sword intent! We are all from sacred grounds with deep reserves; what do you think the foundation of the Ziyang Sword Sect is?"

Silence descended upon the group. Fairy Qingyin’s clear partiality toward Cao Xuan was surely due to his mastery of sword intent. In their eyes, stripping away the sword intent, Cao Xuan had no other outstanding qualities. As for the rumor of him reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment in a single year, the experts present were skeptical, and even if true, they had spent millennia in the Void Refinement stage, making a year of progress in the second stage of cultivation seem unremarkable.

To them, a genius was defined by reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment within a few years. After all, to break through to the Golden Core stage before the age of thirty, one could not afford to linger in the Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment stages.

Meanwhile, the "unremarkable" Cao Xuan was currently inside the void, causing Fairy Qingyin to swallow hard more times than she could count. She suddenly realized that if Cao Xuan’s cultivation talent were truly this monstrous, and he were to use the Sword Washing Pool to refine his roots into sword-spiritual roots comparable to heaven-grade, he might even surpass the brilliance of Xian Xiangqiu.

According to the known data of the six sacred grounds, Xian Xiangqiu possessed heaven-grade seven-forged spiritual roots, fourth-grade cultivation talent, and other special constitutions. This was why the sacred grounds coveted her so intensely. Cao Xuan’s cultivation talent remained unknown, but in Qingyin’s estimation, it was at least fourth-grade, perhaps even third. The only potential gap lay in his innate spiritual roots.

Fairy Qingyin truly felt the urge to do what the experts outside suspected—to forge Cao Xuan into a four-pattern Golden Core—but that would be an insult to his potential. She could only imagine it; he had already reached eight patterns and the breakthrough had not ceased. He was destined for a nine-pattern Golden Core.

*Could I delay it? What if he waits until the Nascent Soul stage to enter the Sword Washing Pool?* she wondered. *He has mastered sword intent; he will surely reach the Spirit Severing stage. Perhaps he should wait until then.*

*But if he misses the prime age for cultivation and waits until he is thousands of years old to reach Spirit Severing, would that be a waste?* Fairy Qingyin was internally tortured. Should she wash his sword now to ensure rapid early progress, or delay it for a greater ultimate achievement? In her view, if Cao Xuan washed his sword at the Golden Core stage, he might reach four or five forges at most. But at the Nascent Soul or Spirit Severing stage, there was a chance to achieve the same seven-forged sword-spiritual roots as Xian Xiangqiu.

"Hum~"

A sound, like the morning bell and evening drum, resonated, causing Fairy Qingyin to shudder.

"A nine-pattern phenomenon! It is done!"

In that instant, Qingyin decided to leave the choice of the Sword Washing Pool to Cao Xuan. Whatever he chose, there must be a reason. Heaven’s chosen always possessed a subtle, innate intuition.

...

Outside, Qing Xuzi had just begun to speak, "I think three days is unlikely. Qingyin did not know there would be a sword-cultivator prospect at this Qingyun Dharma Assembly, so she may not have been fully prepared..."

Before he could finish, a faint, rhythmic sound of a morning bell and evening drum echoed through the hall. The hall fell into an eerie, suffocating silence.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Six figures vanished from the hall and soared into the sky. The five Void Refinement experts and one peak Spirit Severing expert swept their divine sense across the entire Qingyun Sect.

"Rumble~"

A massive pressure descended, weighing heavily upon the entire sect.

Liu Ruyan snapped, "Little Qingmu, what hidden talent do you have lurking in your sect?"

As they watched Ancestor Qingmu searching frantically alongside them, everyone frowned.

Xuedizi, no longer joking, said in a deep voice, "A nine-pattern Golden Core. A genius of this caliber is too much for your Qingyun Sect to hold. Don't be foolish!"

Master Chanding of the Shenglong Temple recited a mantra, "Amitabha. This child has an affinity with the Dharma and with my Shenglong Temple!"

"Affinity, my foot," Liu Ruyan retorted sharply. "This person might be the future Saintess of our Jade Maiden Sect, or perhaps a Dao-seed of our lineage!"

"Enough. The Qingyun Sect is a subordinate sect of our Xuanhua Dao Sect. This person will naturally be cultivated by us!"

Because of Xian Xiangqiu, Qing Xuzi could afford to give up on some "talents" who were mere thirty-year-old Golden Core or century-old Nascent Soul cultivators, but he could never abandon someone who had condensed a nine-pattern Golden Core. To see the whole from a part, could someone capable of condensing a nine-pattern Golden Core be a mediocrity?

The elders of the five sacred grounds present, including Fairy Qingyin who was still "assisting" Cao Xuan, had likely only reached seven-pattern Golden Cores themselves; eight-pattern ones were rare. They knew that the truly powerful figures within their sects, such as Xian Xiangqiu, possessed nine-pattern cores.

Chen Ru said coldly, "The sound of the bell and drum is faint. He must be hiding in some secret formation or mystic realm within the sect!"