Chapter 38  : Meaning Of The Transcended

When everyone had finally gathered themselves, Old Man Zhen ordered the servants to clean up the mess. The guards and workers stared at the mess left by the battle with disbelief. However, no one dared to ask a question, so they started to clean the room right away.

The event continued in another courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was a table filled with food. Chen Fan sat down at the head of the table. Although most people around him were wealthier and more influential than Chen Fan, everyone thought that was a rightful place for Chen Fan.

After everyone had settled down in their seat, Chen Fan asked Han Yun: “Do I know you?”

He was very surprised when the girl told everyone about his past. The way she looked at him also suggested that it was not the first time the two had met. After Chen Fan had defeated Master Wu, she was also the first person to have spoken to him.

Han Yun gave Chen Fan an alluring smile and answered, “I grew up with Fei-Fei. We are tight like sisters.”

Chen Fan nodded and said:

“Well, since you are Fei-Fei’s friend, why don’t you sit beside me?”

A broad smile broke over the Old Man Zhen’s face. He nodded at Han Yun and willed her to oblige. With a smile, Han Yun sat down beside Chen Fan. She was a beautiful woman, and the tight suit she was wearing invited more fantasy than just usual business.

Sensing Old Man Zhen’s subtle advance, the other business tycoons cursed in their mind.

“The fox is honey trapping again!”

Their minds raced. Already, they were thinking which ones of their nieces or daughters they could sell to Master Chen in exchange for his support. Master Chen looked like he was in his early teenage years. Therefore he was the most vulnerable to soft words and luscious body.

Unbeknownst to them, Chen Fan didn’t have any lewd intent by inviting Han Yun to sit next to him. He did so only because he wanted to acknowledge her connection with Xu Rongfei.

After everyone had settled in their seats, Chen Fan looked to Master Qi and asked.

“Master Qi, you mentioned that Master Wu was ‘transcended,’ would you please explain what that means?”

Hearing Chen Fan addressing him as “master,” Master Qi felt the honor was almost too great to bear.

“Master Chen, please, I am not worthy of the title ‘master.’”

His defeat at the hands of Master Wu had taken the wind out of his sails. After seeing Chen Fan’s ability to command the thunder and lightning, he had already revered Chen Fan as an immortal.

Since Master Qi’s practice had exposed him to the realm of cultivation and therefore, he knew that Master Wu’s Art of Ghost Reining could not compare with Chen Fan’s Lightning Art. Chen Fan was at least a few magnitudes more powerful than Master Wu.

Nonetheless, Chen Fan had asked a question, and so he shall oblige.” The so-called ‘transcended’ was a phrase used in the small circle of Cultivators. Once we have transcended into the realm of Dao, we would start to possess Dharmic powers which we could use to activate Dharma Artifacts and cast Dharma Spells.

“From the perspective of Taoism, it was called ‘Refine the Aether and Form the Qi,’ while Buddhists call it ‘Solidify the Zen in the Realm of Womb.’ However, to a martial artist, it was simply the process of projecting the external strength inward to form the Internal Force.”

“Every school and sect had their own name for it, but they were essentially the same thing.”

As Master Qi explained to Chen Fan, he couldn’t help but wonder why someone, as experienced as Master Chen, would ask him these most basic questions. At his current level, there should have been tomes compiled to commemorate him and his power.

Despite his doubts, he decided to keep his silence and not to raise any question.

“Ah, that makes sense now!” Chen Fan nodded.

“The so-called ‘Transcendent Master’ or ‘Refine the Aether and Form the Qi’ were all just ways of calling the ‘Foundation Establishment’ Level. There were many schools of cultivation in China and therefore, many different ways to call the same thing. ”

“It seemed that the method of Immortal Cultivation had been passed down to some different sects and groups on Earth. From the skills and techniques used by Master Wu, Elderly Man Wei, and Linbao, I can tell that what they have learned was a far cry from the power of the real cultivators. What a shame.”

Chen Fan lamented.

Master Wu looked like in his sixties, yet he had just reached the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment level. Master Qi was even worse. After having wasted half of his mortal life, he had barely reached the early-stage of the Foundation Establishment level.

If such incompetence was a common theme in the Dao Cultivation on earth, Chen Fan doubted that he would ever find a cultivator who could have reached Ethereal Enlightenment much less the Divine Sea.

He scowled and then asked:

“Wu had shouted ‘The Thunder Art of the Heavenly Master Sect,’ what is that?

“Is he talking about the Heavenly Master Sect of the Dragon Tiger Mountain?”

Chen Fan was dumbfounded when he heard Master Wu calling his Arcane Bulwark of Thunder the Thunder Art of the Heavenly Master Sect. The first thing that came into Chen Fan’s mind was the allusive ancient sect founded by the Heavenly Master Zhang at the Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Chen Fan had heard that there were people who claimed to be the descendants of Confucius. Could it be that someone from the Zhang Family had survived the first Heavenly Master and was spreading the Heavenly Master’s Dharma Spells again?

Master Qi cracked a smile and then replied:

“House Zhang Of the Dragon Tiger Mountain was founded a thousand years ago; their art had long been lost.

“This Heavenly Master Sect was different; it is a major sect in the Dao Branch. Although it was also located at the Dragon-Tiger Mountain, it had nothing to do with the Zhang Family. My teacher had told me that this sect was well known for its Thunder Art of the Immortal Clouds. It was used to counter any demonic and fiendish yin-spirits. It was said that a few hundred years ago, a grandmaster descended from the mountain and banished countless nefarious occults. However, no one had heard of the sect within the recent half-century.

“Based on Master Wu’s accent, I deduced that he was from the Dong Du area of the Zhong Zhou Province. The cultivators living in that area were notorious for their Ghosting Reining and Blood Bending abilities. Their hatred and fear toward the Thunder Art of the Heavenly Master Sect were ingrained in their collective memory, and therefore, Master Wu had blurted out its name when he saw the similarities.”

Master Qi said. By then, he could no longer hold back the curiosity, and so he asked:

“Where does Master Chen hail from? Who is your teacher?

“My master had told me that the only sect that had the ability to bend the natural elements such as thunder was the Heavenly Master Sect. So, are you...”

Chen Fan cracked a smile and then shook his head.

“I have been focusing on my cultivation ever since I was a child, and had learned very little about the current goings-on in the cultivation realm

“But my sect was unrelated to the Heavenly Master Sect.”

Although Chen Fan’s Arcane Bulwark of Thunder was the most rudimentary spell in the realm of Immortal Cultivation, it was far ahead of the most powerful Dao Cultivation Art.

Master Qi had a lot more questions in his mind, but he had kept them to himself. He nodded and praised Chen Fan:

“Master Chen was able to achieve such a high level of attainment at such a young age. I am confident that you will become a god-like existence when you are my age.

“Compare to you and your teacher, I feel that I have wasted all the fifty-six years of my life. ”

Master Qi heaved a sigh.

To Master Qi, Chen Fan’s current level of attainment was even higher than that of a Transcendent Masters. It would be difficult to find another person whose power was on par with the boy. Master Qi couldn’t help but wonder how powerful Chen Fan’s teacher had to be in order to produce such an incredible disciple.

Chen Fan kept his silence and didn’t reply.

His teacher Cangqin the Immortal Cultivator had lived more than eight hundred and forty thousand years. He was considered old even among those Perfected Immortal who had achieved Dao Reunion Level. In the eyes of these mortals, he might as well be an Immortal God; after all, only the gods were able to swallow the sun and create matter out of nothing.

As the two conversed on the topic of cultivation, the rest of the guests simply listened, despite the fact that they understood nothing. Nonetheless, they listened quietly and didn’t interrupt.

Before today’s event, everyone thought the stories that involved Reining Ghosting, or Commanding Thunders were high tales. If anyone talked about such a topic in front of them, they would have thought that the speaker was a lunatic.

However, now, they believed in every word that came out from the mouth of Chen Fan and Master Qi.

“These incredible stories about gods and immortals are all real! What an eye-opener!”

A lot of the guests exclaimed in their mind.

Old Man Zhen always kept an open mind on this subject and therefore he was not as shocked by the revelation as most other guests.

Old Man Zhen chimed in and said

“Master Chen and Master Qi!

“We are so proud and fortunate to have both of you here at the Chu Zhou City. Master Chen had achieved such unthinkable attainment at a young age; no doubt he was a rare talent in the field of cultivation. Master Qi, on the other hand, was knowledgeable and highly respected for his sense of honor.”

As an experienced public speaker, Old Man Zhen knew exactly what to say to praise both masters equally without hurting the ego of either one of them.

Master Qi knew that he was not worthy of being named alongside with Master Chen, but a proud smile broke over his face nonetheless. Although he was not as powerful as Master Chen, he was more knowledgeable than the boy and was better connected.

“No kidding! Master Chen, you can summon the thunder when you are just in high school. I bet you that when you graduate from university, you would be a... a god!” Third Lord of Wei smiled ingratiatingly at Chen Fan.

“It was my honor and my niece’s fortune to have you as a friend!”

Chen gave the Third Lord a sidelong glance as he was surprised by his ability in brown-nosing.

The Third Lord’s words reminded the rest of the guest to pledge their loyalties and heap their praise onto Chen Fan. Soon, Chen Fan was surrounded by a dozen business magnates of the Chu Zhou City who tried to outdo each other in praising the young genius.

The bodyguards and servants looked at Chen Fan with a great measure of jealous.

He was only sixteen years old, yet he had already achieved the unthinkable. He was the very definition of a diamond in the rough

Han Yun studied Chen Fan with an expectant smile on her face. Soon, he would be hers.

After some time, Old Man Zhen spoke again.

“Master Chen, What do you think we should so with the Eight-Trigrams-Plate?”