Daoist Magic of Little Bamboo Mountain

"I wonder whether these Yin-Yang Eyes have any special uses."

Looking at his altered pupils in the mirror, Li Chuan muttered to himself, then began testing the effects of his Sage Mode, which combined Daoist True Essence.

It was basically the same as the Sage Mode he understood. His Chakra reserves had increased dramatically, his physical body had been greatly strengthened by Sage Mode Chakra, and his five senses had become sharper.

The power of both the ninjutsu and Daoist spells he cast had also been enhanced.

The only thing still unclear was his eyes, which had turned into Yin-Yang symbols. He could sense that they seemed to have some special function, but without anything to compare them to, he could not test it.

Still, this was already very good. At the very least, his strength had once again improved across the board in Sage Mode.

Most importantly, unlike Naruto, whose accumulated natural energy could only sustain Sage Mode for five minutes and required Shadow Clones to gather more, Li Chuan’s Golden Core True Essence was abundant enough to maintain it for two or three hours without issue.

Once he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage in the future, he would probably be able to maintain it for one or two days.

His attempt at Sage Mode had gone even more smoothly than he had expected. This showed that, compared to the natural energy outside, the True Essence transformed through cultivation techniques within his Dantian was indeed more suitable.

After dispelling Sage Mode, Li Chuan went into the city to buy some local food. He packed it up, used Apparition to leave the town, then controlled the Crimson Spirit Fire Pearl and flew toward Little Bamboo Mountain.

An hour later, Little Bamboo Mountain, blanketed in stretches of bamboo forest, came into view.

Little Bamboo Mountain had not produced a Nascent Soul cultivator in thousands of years, so it naturally lacked the ability to keep the entire mountain floating in the sky.

However, the whole mountain was protected by the Thirty-Six Divine Bamboo Restriction of Heavenly Evolution laid down by the founding patriarch. Without the sect’s specialized Daoist Hand Seal, even a Nascent Soul cultivator could not force their way in, making it fairly secure.

"Open!"

Landing amid the sea of trees, Li Chuan formed a Daoist Hand Seal according to Li Qingfeng’s memories. Soon, the forest before him shifted, revealing a small path leading into the mountain.

After flying along the path for a while, he saw a small valley shrouded in flowers and grass.

Several exquisite courtyards stood within the valley. On the lawn before them, several disciples at the early Foundation Establishment stage were practicing basic Five Elements Daoist spells.

This was the site of the Little Bamboo Mountain sect.

"The spiritual energy concentration is about twice that of the mortal world. As expected, it can’t compare to Emei."

Landing on the grass and putting away his magic treasure, Li Chuan immediately sensed the concentration of spiritual energy in the small valley and could not help sighing inwardly.

The spiritual energy concentration at Emei was ten times that of the mortal world. Even with the same cultivation aptitude, cultivating at Little Bamboo Mountain versus Emei would produce a tremendous difference.

If Daoist Qingzhu, Li Qingfeng’s master, had not been accepted into Little Bamboo Mountain back then but had instead become a disciple of Mount Emei, then with his aptitude, he probably could have cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage as well.

Still, there was no point complaining about such things. If Daoist Qingzhu had not been accepted as a disciple of Little Bamboo Mountain, he most likely would never have had a chance to cultivate at all. He would have lived to seventy or eighty and then died.

Perhaps this was the providence spoken of in cultivation.

Few people possessed the aptitude for cultivation. Fewer still had both the aptitude and the opportunity to be discovered and brought into the cultivation world. Of those, only a tiny number could enter top cultivation sects.

And even entering a top sect did not guarantee a smooth path of cultivation. Quite a few were killed by Demonic Path cultivators and refined into magic treasures.

Even if one remained in the sect, the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and trials of love still awaited.

"Senior Brother is back!"

Seeing Li Chuan descend from the sky, the disciples practicing their spells all excitedly gathered around him.

Including Li Qingfeng, Little Bamboo Mountain had ten people in total.

The oldest and most highly cultivated was Daoist Qingzhu. He had cultivated for four hundred years and was at the peak of the Golden Core stage. He was currently the sect master.

Then came Li Qingfeng’s three martial uncles. All were at the peak of Foundation Establishment, each over one hundred and forty years old. They had basically remained in seclusion the entire time, hoping to accumulate enough True Essence to condense a Golden Core before their lifespans ran out.

Li Qingfeng had been in the sect for twelve years and had only seen them six times, each appearance occurring when a new disciple joined.

According to Daoist Qingzhu, Little Bamboo Mountain had originally had two martial uncles at the Core Formation stage, but they had been killed by Demonic Path cultivators while traveling outside.

As for Li Qingfeng’s seniors, they had either exhausted their lifespans or undergone Soldier Dissolution and reincarnated.

Thus, the six people remaining in the sect were all Daoist Qingzhu’s disciples.

Those three martial uncles had not taken disciples. They simply had no time to teach anyone; all their time was spent accumulating True Essence and forming their Golden Cores.

Among the six disciples, Li Qingfeng was the eldest. The rest were junior brothers and sisters younger than him, with the youngest junior brother only twelve years old this year.

"Here, take these and eat."

As he handed the packaged snacks and pastries to his younger junior brothers and sisters, Li Chuan suddenly frowned and asked the second junior sister beside him, who was only two years younger than him:

"Mingyue, isn’t Master in the sect?"

The small valley was not large, and he was also at the Core Formation stage. Naturally, he had immediately noticed that aside from the three martial uncles cultivating in seclusion, his master’s presence was nowhere in the valley.

"Senior Brother, Master saw that you had not returned, so he went out a month ago to look for you.

What? You didn’t run into him?"

Second Junior Sister Mingyue revealed a surprised expression upon hearing Li Chuan’s words.

She had thought Senior Brother had returned because he had met Master. She had not expected the two of them to have missed each other.

"Looks like he was worried because I passed the agreed return date."

Li Chuan nodded, having roughly guessed what had happened.

Daoist Qingzhu’s concern was understandable. After all, his two junior brothers had been killed by Demonic Path cultivators while traveling. Although Li Qingfeng had only returned to his rural hometown to settle his worldly ties,

Li Qingfeng, as the eldest disciple, had always been steady and reliable. Unless something had happened, he normally would not have remained away from the sect for over a month past the agreed time.

And that was indeed what had happened. The original Li Qingfeng had long since been killed by a Demonic Path cultivator, his soul having reincarnated.

"I was delayed by some matters. It’s fine. If Master can’t find me outside, he should return to the sect soon to check. We just need to wait for him here."

After reassuring his second junior sister, Li Chuan went to the small room where the sect stored its manuals.

When he had first arrived in this world, he had not yet begun cultivating. Afraid that Daoist Qingzhu, who was at the peak of the Golden Core stage, would see through him after he returned to the sect, he had chosen to cultivate in town for two years before returning.

Later, he went to Emei, and his cultivation had long surpassed Li Qingfeng’s. But because he had been focused on breaking through to the Golden Core stage, he had ended up two months late.

Now, his cultivation was at the same Core Formation stage as Daoist Qingzhu, while his strength far surpassed Daoist Qingzhu’s. There was no longer any need for him to tread carefully. Since Daoist Qingzhu was out searching for him, this was the perfect chance to look through more of the sect’s texts.

Little Bamboo Mountain was a small sect with few texts, all stored in a small wooden house. It also lacked the restrictions and entry requirements of major sects. Anyone who wanted to could enter at any time to browse and study.