Imperial Cultivation

“Earth Dragon Pearl…” Chu Zhiyuan murmured.

He searched his mind.

He quickly found some records about Dragon Pearls.

Within the Four Great Secret Realms, there are various strange beasts, powerful and unparalleled, far surpassing the beasts of Great Jing and the rest of the world.

Among the Four Great Secret Realms, there are dragons.

Without Grandmaster guarding, any dragon running out of the secret realm could wreak havoc on the world, and countless common people and martial arts experts would lose their lives.

Only the top experts among Grandmasters can kill dragons.

Only by killing dragons, slaughtering dragons, can one obtain Dragon Pearls.

The Earth Dragon Pearl should be the Dragon Pearl of an Earth Dragon.

He recalled the treasure catalog of the Heavenly Treasure Bureau. Surprisingly, there were no Dragon Pearls in the treasure catalog, but there were some other items related to dragons.

Such as the lowest-level Dragon Blood Stone, only of the Ninth Rank.

Other items had sharply increased ranks.

Earth Dragon Armor, Seventh Rank.

Earth Dragon Blood, Sixth Rank.

Crimson Dragon Blood, Fifth Rank.

Dragon Tendon Bow, Dragon Tooth, Dragon Eye, with different ranks, all higher than the Sixth Rank, and even Dragon Blood was already of the Third Rank.

…

Lu Wan sighed and said, “This Earth Dragon Pearl was obtained by a disciple through a lucky encounter. It is quite beneficial to cultivation. Unexpectedly, the Hou Tu Sect came to claim it, saying it was theirs.”

“You didn’t give it to them, and the Hou Tu Sect is dissatisfied?”

“Yes.”

“…Do you know the background of the Hou Tu Sect?”

“I heard that the Thirteenth Prince, Prince Huai’s concubine, is the daughter of the Hou Tu Sect’s leader.”

“Are you thinking that the Hou Tu Sect wouldn’t dare to do anything to you because Grandmaster Song is here?”

“…Indeed, we didn’t expect this.”

“Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t go too far, considering the Grandmaster’s reputation… It seems that the Earth Dragon Pearl is very important to them.”

Even with Prince Huai’s mansion as their backing, the Hou Tu Sect wouldn’t dare to provoke a Grandmaster casually. If they dare to provoke, there must be a reason: first, this Earth Dragon Pearl is too important to them; second, they have a justifiable reason.

In the Great Jing Dynasty, no matter how powerful a Grandmaster is, they still need to be reasonable and cannot act recklessly, especially when it involves the royal family.

Lu Wan was silent.

Chu Zhiyuan said, “So you are determined not to give them the Earth Dragon Pearl?”

Lu Wan shook her head, “If we give it to them, another sect will come and say that a certain treasure originally belonged to them, asking our sect to return it.”

“That’s unlikely. Not every sect has Prince Huai’s mansion as its backing.” Chu Zhiyuan said, “…Of course, it won’t be just the Hou Tu Sect either.”

As far as he knew, many sects in Jade Capital were related to royal mansions.

Lu Wan said softly, “Isn’t the Hou Tu Sect relying on Prince Huai’s influence to do this? Doesn’t Prince Huai’s mansion care about them?”

“Thirteenth Uncle’s side…” Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

From what he understood, Prince Huai’s mansion wouldn’t care.

After all, from the Hou Tu Sect’s perspective, there was nothing wrong with wanting to get back their own treasure that had fallen into someone else’s hands.

Different positions, and it’s hard to say who is right or wrong.

Lu Wan lightly furrowed her beautiful brows, revealing a disappointed expression, “Originally, I didn’t want to disturb Martial Uncle Song with trivial matters.”

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled.

This was a blatant threat.

You have your backing, and I’ll bring out my backing. Let’s see whose backing is stronger.

This was the style of martial arts practitioners, straightforward and not playing those empty games.

The Hou Tu Sect’s actions were still considered euphemistic, but directly crippling a Flying Flower Sword Sect disciple upon arrival was quite tyrannical.

It was evident that they didn’t take the Flying Flower Sword Sect seriously. So what if Grandmaster Song was here? They were certain that Grandmaster Song wouldn’t do anything to them.

At this time, Song Feiqiong actually had no choice but to deal with the Hou Tu Sect; otherwise, it would be difficult to protect the Flying Flower Sword Sect.

The Hou Tu Sect had never produced a Grandmaster, so they didn’t understand Grandmasters at all, nor did they know the changes in their mentality and perspective.

Once one becomes a Grandmaster, their mentality naturally changes. Worldly affairs are like fleeting clouds, all phenomena are illusory, and they only pursue the ultimate nature, emotion, and belief in their hearts.

Therefore, they won’t be too constrained and will fight if they want to.

As long as they don’t directly attack the emperor, directly deal with the princes, or cause chaos in the world, the emperor will turn a blind eye.

So, this time, the Hou Tu Sect would definitely suffer.

But if that really happened, Prince Huai’s mansion would lose face, and the imperial family’s face wouldn’t look good either.

“Elder Lu, tell me, what exactly is this Earth Dragon Pearl?” Chu Zhiyuan said, “Is there anything that can replace it?”

He only knew the origin of the Dragon Pearl but didn’t know its wonderful uses. He wanted to take the opportunity to inquire about it.

Moreover, the names Hou Tu Sect and Earth Dragon Pearl made him draw connections.

Perhaps other Dragon Pearls weren’t as important to the Hou Tu Sect. Only the Earth Dragon Pearl might be in line with the Hou Tu Sect’s Scripture of the Imperial Heaven and Empress Earth, or in line with the Earth Deity.

It should involve the secrets of cultivation.

Lu Wan’s bright eyes flickered as she stared at Chu Zhiyuan.

She finally bit her red lips, made up her mind, and slowly said, “The Earth Dragon Pearl contains power, an extremely strange power that can replenish the lack of inner energy and true energy, like another dantian.”

“Helpful for cultivation?” Chu Zhiyuan said.

This was similar to his own Earth Element Art.

The Earth Element Art still required mental effort to activate, but the Earth Dragon Pearl could directly replenish it. It was indeed extremely beneficial to cultivation.

Especially for practicing martial techniques.

To master a martial art, there are generally two dimensions: one is comprehension, being able to understand its essence and then truly master it; the other is skill, being able to practice it until it is pure and proficient, where practice makes perfect and can create wonders.

Like his own Great Avalanche Sword Art, he quickly mastered it with his extremely high comprehension, but he couldn’t improve its power later on.

Using the Great Avalanche Sword Art once drained all his true energy. Without the Earth Element Art and Heaven Element Art, he could only practice it once a day, thirty times a month, and three hundred and sixty times a year.

But with the Earth Element Art, he could practice it more than three hundred and sixty times a day.

Moreover, practicing once a day for three hundred and sixty times is completely different from practicing three hundred and sixty times a day.

Without the Earth Element Art and Heaven Element Art, the current power of the Great Avalanche Sword Art wouldn’t even be half of what it is now.

It can be seen how beneficial the Earth Element Art and Heaven Element Art are to cultivation.

The Earth Dragon Pearl also has the same effect.

This kind of treasure is indeed tempting. No wonder the Hou Tu Sect couldn’t abandon it because of the Grandmaster.

However, this Earth Dragon Pearl is still different from his own Earth Element Art.

The Earth Dragon Pearl is similar to a spiritual pill that replenishes inner energy and true energy. Although it’s not the kind of spiritual pill that directly improves cultivation, it’s still an external force and will still affect the path to becoming a Grandmaster.

The Earth Element Art, on the other hand, draws the power of heaven and earth, and it won’t affect the path to becoming a Grandmaster.

…

Lu Wan nodded, “Yes, it is extremely helpful to cultivation. I haven’t heard of anything that can replace it.”

Chu Zhiyuan sighed and searched his mind for any treasures with such effects.

The treasures in the Heavenly Treasure Bureau are as numerous as clouds. There must be this kind of treasure, but he only knew the names and wasn’t very clear about their respective wonderful uses.

There are many spiritual pills in the Heavenly Treasure Bureau that restore inner energy and true energy. These spiritual pills can save lives at critical moments, so they are very precious, and no one is willing to use them for training.

“Elder Lu, can you inquire about how your sect’s disciple obtained it through a lucky encounter?”

Lu Wan said, “Extremely good luck. He accidentally broke into an ancient predecessor’s cave. The Earth Dragon Pearl was inside the cave, left to be given to someone with fate.”

“Was this predecessor from the Hou Tu Sect?”

“It was an Elder.”

“They think it should be returned. You must be reluctant, thinking that whatever they say is what it is. There is no such reason.”

“Even if the person in that cave was really an Elder of the Hou Tu Sect,” Lu Wan said, “it was still given by this Elder and didn’t state that it should be sent back to the Hou Tu Sect.”

“No one would hand over this treasure.” Chu Zhiyuan nodded, understanding the Flying Flower Sword Sect’s thoughts.

Handing over a treasure that has already been obtained, losing it again, is unacceptable to anyone.

Moreover, the Flying Flower Sword Sect has another concern. If they really hand it over, it would be a sign of weakness, appearing weak and easily bullied, and anyone could bully them.

If that were the case, it would be a joke, both embarrassing Song Feiqiong and making it impossible to attract talented young people to join the Flying Flower Sword Sect.

Chu Zhiyuan was thoughtful.

Besides Prince Huai’s mansion, does the Hou Tu Sect have any other shadows behind it?

He suddenly raised his voice and shouted, “Gao Daren!”

“Your Excellency.” Gao Lingfeng pushed the door open and entered.

Chu Zhiyuan said, “Bring over the Hou Tu Sect’s files again, the more detailed the better… Also, have the Supervisory Division submit the Hou Tu Sect’s files as well.”

Now is a special period, so he has the authority to view the Supervisory Division’s files. After this period, he probably won’t have it anymore.

“…Yes.” Gao Lingfeng was stunned, but finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

The Supervisory Division is the head of all departments, above all departments. It has always been the Supervisory Division calling for the files of the Six Ministries and various departments, and there has never been a time when the Six Ministries called for the Supervisory Division’s files.

The Prince’s Heir is indeed different from ordinary officials.

After Gao Lingfeng left, Chu Zhiyuan looked at Lu Wan, “Elder Lu, you can go back for now. I will investigate this matter thoroughly.”

Lu Wan cupped her fists, “Then I will trouble Your Excellency.”

She got up and gracefully exited the room, leaving the Ministry of Rites.

Chu Zhiyuan paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.