Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 51: Frame of Mind

Chapter 51: Frame of Mind

TL: Changed the name of Spirit Weapon Pavilion to Spiritual Armament Pavilion. It was revealed in this chapter that the Spirit Weapon Pavilion/Spiritual Armament Pavilion sells Spirit Tools, Spirit Weapons, and consumables, so the term ‘armament’ works a bit better, as it is a bit more inclusive of the types of items being sold in the pavilion.

The jade slip in Xu Disheng’s hands was the record jade slip of the Spiritual Armament Pavilion, which displayed the prices of the lowest-grade Spirit Tools and Spirit Weapons. But the number of items that Xu Disheng could actually afford to buy was painfully few.

After flipping through it again, he found that there were quite a few top-grade Martial Treasures that cost several spirit stones, as well as consumables like charms. However, he wasn’t short for Martial Treasures, and those charms could only be used once. If he were to use one, it would be several spirit stones gone just like that, and that would be too wasteful. There was no need for him to waste his precious spirit stones like that.

Xu Disheng returned the jade slip back to them and turned around to leave. The Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple picked up the jade slip and said to him, “Are you short on money? Here, take a look at this jade slip.”

With that, he flicked his sleeve and tossed out a jade slip, which was slightly smaller and heavier than the standard record jade slip.

Xu Disheng stopped and caught it. He glanced at that Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple, then sank his consciousness into the jade slip.

“Spirit Cloud, 7 spirit stones. Refined by Li Wuya.”

“Standard Longsword Spirit Tool, 23 spirit stones. Refined by Liu Xuan.”

“Standard Daoist Robe Spirit Tool, 30 spirit stones. Refined by Liu Qinsong.”

… …

“Senior Martial Brother, may I dare ask why these Spirit Tools are so cheap?” Xu Disheng raised his head and asked, jade slip in hand.

“These Spirit Tools weren’t put up for sale by the Spiritual Armament Pavilion of Spirit Origin Hall. They were refined by disciples that belong to various Peaks in the Mountain Ranges. These disciples commissioned the Spiritual Armament Pavilion to sell them, and the Spiritual Armament Pavilion only requires a small commission fee in return,” the Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple responded matter-of-factly. “Given that you aren’t aware, you must be a newly admitted disciple. Most older disciples already know of this matter. You can save a lot of spirit stones this way, but there’s a slight difference in the quality compared to the items sold by the Spiritual Armament Pavilion.”

The Spirit Cloud immediately caught Xu Disheng’s eye. Not having one was too inconvenient, to the point that traveling up and down the mountain was a problem. He said, “Then I would like this Spirit Cloud for 7 spirit stones.”

The look on the Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple became somewhat strange. “This Spirit Cloud refined by Li Wuya… although the price is somewhat cheaper, it’s rather peculiar.”

Xu Disheng noticed the disciple’s expression and his thoughts stirred. “Senior Martial Brother, can you bring it out so I can take a look at it?” he asked.

The Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple nodded and turned around, heading to the rear hall. After a while, he came back to the front and waved his hand. A jet-black Spirit Cloud appeared in the hall, its size about the same as an ordinary Spirit Cloud. The only thing different was the fact that it was a sooty black color, looking more like a stormy thunder cloud.

Xu Disheng was about to go to Floating Moon Valley to pick Beauty’s Demise Herb, so it would be really inconvenient if he didn’t have a flying-type Spirit Tool. This black Spirit Cloud was a little less aesthetically pleasing, but all things considered, it was still a flying-type Spirit Tool. Regular Spirit Clouds were at least 12 spirit stones, but he was a little short on spirit stones for that.

Xu Disheng took out 7 spirit stones and said, “Then Senior Martial Brother, I will purchase this item.”

The Spiritual Armament Pavilion disciple didn’t reach out to take his spirit stones. Instead, he waved his hand and summoned the jade slip that was on top of the black Spirit Cloud. He put it in Xu Disheng’s hand and said, “This is the instruction tablet for the Spirit Cloud refined by Li Wuya. You can take a look at it. You also need to pay 1 more spirit stone for the Spiritual Armament Pavilion’s commission fee. There is a commission fee of 1 spirit stone for every 10 spirit stones in price. This transaction is a little less than 10 spirit stones, but you only need to pay 1 spirit stone.”

Xu Disheng took out another spirit stone and handed it over. Then, he took the instruction tablet and swept through it. A voice rang in his ears. “Getting to purchase a Spirit Cloud exclusively refined by me, you’ve really struck gold! Although it’s a little less pretty lookin’ than the rest, it’s a tad faster than ordinary Spirit Clouds since I added a Wind Gathering Array to it. This can be considered a small boon to you little Junior Martial Brothers and Sisters. For the method on how to activate the Spirit Cloud, see the appendix.”

This instruction tablet was also a voice recording jade tablet. The voice speaking was lively and somewhat frivolous, hinting at an eccentric vigor.

After Xu Disheng finished listening to the voice, he wordlessly took the Spirit Cloud and the tablet with the activation method recorded in it, then turned and left the Spiritual Armament Pavilion.

The Spirit Origin Hall had three pavilions in it: the Spiritual Armament Pavilion, the Spiritual Medicine Pavilion, and the Cultivation Method Pavilion.

Xu Disheng looked at the multi-storied Spiritual Medicine Pavilion at the center of the hall, which was the biggest pavilion of the three, but he didn’t go in. As Liu Dian had said before, the spiritual medicines and medicinal pills in the Spiritual Medicine Pavilion were extremely expensive, and weren’t something that outer disciples could afford. He only had a bit over 3 spirit stones on him right now, so there was no point in him even going.

Upon leaving Spirit Origin Hall, he was met with the same scenery from before. People were busily passing by, and various colored beams of light flew past or occasionally landed nearby. Most of the fliers were ordinary flying-type Spirit Tools like Spirit Clouds. From time to time, he spotted people who were using a black Spirit Cloud just like the one he had just purchased.

Xu Disheng walked to the edge of a platform and gazed at the beautiful mountain scenery, thick with ethereal mist and clouds. At a point extremely high in the sky, there was a palace hidden among haziness. Profound cultivators were flying about it using their Spirit Weapons, looking like tiny grains of sand from where he was standing.

Xu Disheng’s heart stirred upon seeing this scenery. For the past ten or so years, he lacked direction and felt lost inside because he had lost his memories. He now felt more and more of a desire to experience an awakening within himself.

He felt his heart stir once more, and he heard an indistinct murmur in his mind. His past was a dense, thick fog to him. He couldn’t get any leads on it, which always drove him crazy.

Xu Disheng carefully tried to dig in and recall his very first memories, but his thoughts were messy and disordered, forcing him to endure a splitting headache in the process.

In his memories, there was pitch black darkness, then a stream of warm white light before he was born into the Xu Clan of the Ruyang Region. But any memories before that were just a misty haze, and he couldn’t recall anything before that point no matter how much he tried.

Subconsciously, Xu Disheng revolved his Soul Force, moving it to wrap around his Baihui meridian point, which slightly alleviated the violent headache he was experiencing. The massive amount of black, resplendent Soul Force in his Baihui sea of consciousness poured into the pitch black expanse of darkness within his memories, somehow forcing open a crack in the blackness.

Xu Disheng’s eyes widened, turning bloodshot. For the first time, an extremely brilliant ray of light shone within his eyes, erupting with vitality.

The tiniest crack was forced open in that pitch black sheet of darkness that was blocking the memories before his birth, from his previous life. Even though it was just an instant before the sheet of darkness sealed back up, he saw something!

In that one startling scene, he saw a purple and gold hem of a robe, and the white jade tiles of the palace hall beneath it. Before the darkness sealed up, he saw the view of his own back!

Xu Disheng clenched his fists tightly, digging his fingernails into his palms to the point of drawing blood. In his heart, he spoke determinedly, word by word. “In this life, I must pursue the truth about my past. Even death won’t stop me. If anyone tries to get in my way of that goal, I will kill them.”

In his sea of consciousness, the cyan jade flute was slowly revolving and spilling forth light as it had for the past 10 plus years, continuously raising the aptitude of Xu Disheng’s body. At this time, it underwent its first change. Its short body slowly grew in length, becoming a long slender cyan flute, and the magnificent light radiating from it became even more pronounced. There were detailed engravings of a dragon coiling around the flute, letting off a mystical aura.

If he wasn’t a reincarnated being, and wasn’t someone who was self-aware since birth, he would probably still be the pampered son of the Ruyang Region’s Xu Clan. He would have been able to enjoy the lavish lifestyle of nobility, but he would have stayed an ordinary mortal for his entire life.

.

Despite being self-aware since birth, he always felt lost and muddleheaded. While he seemed normal on the surface, his inner emotions were like stagnant water, and he had little interest in life. However, entering the You Province Dao Palace had somewhat caused a contemplative mental state to stir within him.

As he stood here at the edge of Mountain Affairs Peak, watching the mist-laden scenery of Mingxin Mountain Range, his dormant heart had suddenly been awakened from its slumber. This was the first time that Xu Disheng had found some clues about the truth behind his previous life, and it stimulated a strong, all-consuming desire to pursue these truths.

Black vortexes swirled in his eyes. The resplendent black ocean of Soul Force in his sea of consciousness had long since become saturated. And now, under the operation of Soul Song, the ocean of Soul Force underwent a change!

The ocean began to tumble and roil with angry crashing waves!

In fact, black wasn’t a color that could normally emit light. Even still, a bright, mystical black light shot radiantly out of the raging ocean of Soul Force. It gradually became smaller and smaller, and eventually formed into an extremely refined, pure black flute inside of his sea of consciousness. Its shape was similar to the cyan jade flute!

The flute, which was made of Soul Force, floated there in his sea of consciousness, surrounded by a myriad of dynamic, twisting threads of black Soul Force. It was constantly absorbing the essence of the sun and moon from the outside world and converting it into Soul Force. Its speed of absorption was over 100 times faster than before!

Xu Disheng’s eyelashes slightly trembled, and his eyes suddenly opened. He looked down at his palms. Before, he could feel that he could only use the Passing Soul Mantra two or three times, but now, it would only consume an extremely small amount of Soul Force out of that Soul Force Flute. Also, the fourth mantra of Soul Song, the Swallowing Soul Mantra, had finally opened up, and he could now cultivate it.

The third mantra of Soul Song, the Sealing Soul Mantra, was an auxiliary technique, and had no offensive killing power. It allowed him to pick a weapon and nourish it continually with Soul Force, turning it into a Soul Vessel. The core of it was the “sealing soul” part, which allowed him to trap a person’s soul inside of the Soul Vessel to increase its might. That soul would never be able to return to the cycle of reincarnation, forever trapped without freedom. It could be considered a very malicious technique overall.

However, Xu Disheng didn’t have any suitable weapons for the Sealing Soul Mantra. He tried it before with the Autumn Water sword, but its quality grade was too low, so it couldn’t be used as a Soul Vessel. He had no choice but to set the matter aside for now.