Chapter 651: Great Technique The Sound of the Empty Valley

After the Earth Vein Pill was successfully refined, Chen Mobai naturally called Qing Nü to express his gratitude. His luck was good this time; the call connected immediately. The two naturally began discussing their recent situations. Their last meeting had been over two years ago, when Chen Mobai had gone to Mount Wangwu Grotto-heaven for his performance review.

"What have you been up to lately?" Chen Mobai asked.

"I attempted Core Formation, but failed," Qing Nü replied.

Her words slightly surprised Chen Mobai. Although she had previously mentioned attempting it without damaging her foundation or roots, he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"Why didn't you notify me?" Chen Mobai asked.

"You are currently governing two cities, and it's not good for you to leave without a special reason, so I didn't want to trouble you," Qing Nü explained.

"What's the big deal?" Chen Mobai scoffed. "At worst, I'd give up my status as a Kaiyuan Hall councilor. Besides, you could also come to Danxia City to attempt Core Formation."

Upon hearing this, Qing Nü on the other end of the line fell silent for a moment, seeming a little touched, but then she laughed and continued to answer. "I have a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root, and your location has a fire meridian, which isn't suitable for my Core Formation."

"Ah, right, I forgot about that," Chen Mobai said. "So, did you attempt Core Formation at Jumang Dao Academy or Mount Wangwu Grotto-heaven?"

"Mount Wangwu Grotto-heaven," Qing Nü clarified. "Jumang Dao Academy only offers one opportunity, and I definitely want to save it for the critical moment when I truly attempt Core Formation."

"What's the problem?" Chen Mobai pressed. "Wenren Xuewei and I are on good terms, and I imagine she'd do me a favor, allowing you to use the Tier 4 water meridian a few more times."

"Oh, then I'll let you know next time I try," Qing Nü said.

Chen Mobai then asked Qing Nü about her insights into Core Formation. She shared some of her feelings during the failed process and also had many questions, seeking advice from Chen Mobai, a True Golden Core expert. Chen Mobai naturally answered all her questions. For anything he didn't know, he used his high-level access on the cultivation assistance software to search for answers and tell her. After listening, Qing Nü grew even more impressed with him. Her tone of admiration greatly satisfied Chen Mobai's vanity.

"Oh, by the way, the Earth Yellow Pill I asked you about last time has finally been refined recently," Chen Mobai said. "I wanted to thank you..." Finally, he remembered the main purpose of his call.

"Actually, you don't need to waste your time on alchemy," Qing Nü replied. "If you need any pills, just let me refine them."

After hearing this, Chen Mobai subtly indicated that he might need a Tier 4 alchemist. Qing Nü fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then said, "Regarding Tier 4 pills, my current abilities are insufficient; I can't refine them. However, you can find people on the Alchemist Association's website. As long as the price is right, many Tier 4 alchemists will be willing to help."

Chen Mobai genuinely didn't know this and immediately asked Qing Nü for more details. It turned out that within the Immortal Sect, due to resource scarcity, many Tier 4 alchemists, despite having the necessary skill, sometimes wouldn't get a chance to refine a Tier 4 pill for a year, or even several years. Therefore, if a company managed to gather the materials for a Tier 4 pill and needed someone to refine it, the Tier 4 alchemists at the Alchemist Association would even be willing to help for free, just to get the opportunity. The truth was, within the Immortal Sect, opportunities to refine Tier 4 pills were exceedingly rare. Apart from the six major pharmaceutical factories, which operated their furnaces annually, other smaller pharmaceutical factories and companies typically needed about ten years of gathering to collect enough materials for a single batch.

Since Chen Mobai mostly focused on secluded cultivation within the Immortal Sect and rarely sought connections beyond those from the Martial Arts Dao Academy, he truly knew little about the high-tier alchemists of the Immortal Sect. Upon hearing this, he immediately expressed surprise, asked Qing Nü for the website address, and prepared to check it out after the call ended.

The Immortal Sect's Alchemist Association, just like the Talisman Master Association, had a Nascent Soul Grandmaster serving as its president. This person was Grandmaster Three Wonders from the Grand Medical Academy, a Tier 5 alchemist of the Immortal Sect. However, besides Grandmaster Three Wonders, Grandmaster Peach Blossom and Grandmaster Yuan Xu were also Tier 5 alchemists. Whenever the Immortal Sect refined the Three Nascent Soul Elixirs, one of these three individuals was essentially required to preside over the process to ensure no accidents occurred.

After learning about these situations from Qing Nü, Chen Mobai wondered if he could ask someone from the Alchemist Association to help refine the Spirit Water of Returning Yang. However, considering that the medicinal ingredients hadn't been fully collected yet, and some ingredients weren't available in the Immortal Sect, he would need to come up with a perfect excuse to legitimize them.

After ending his call with Qing Nü, Chen Mobai was about to head to Xuanshuang Company to see Yan Bingxuan, but then he received shocking news: his maternal grandfather was on his last breath. Chen Mobai immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed to Qingshan Village.

Tang Lu was enduring on his bed. Upon seeing Chen Mobai enter, his aged face broke into a happy smile. Chen Mobai held his hand, feeling the last vestiges of warmth and vitality ebb away, and for the first time, showed an expression of pain and sorrow.

"Son, your grandfather is truly content, having seen you one last time before he passes," Tang Pancui said, coming over to hug the sobbing Chen Mobai and comforting him repeatedly.

Tang Lu died peacefully of old age at 119. Although the lifespan limit for Qi Condensation cultivators in the Immortal Sect was 120 years, life was never entirely free of hardship. In his youth, Tang Lu had suffered significant loss of vital essence due to various labors. Later, even though Chen Mobai bought many longevity-boosting pills, the damage was too old to be fully restored, leaving a year's deficit. Chen Mobai originally had a Xuan Tian Wujin Pill, but he had given it to his father, Chen Xinglan, because his repeated failures in attempting Foundation Establishment had damaged his original lifespan, making ordinary longevity pills ineffective. Therefore, in the Immortal Sect, dying peacefully of old age was considered a joyous occasion. Many cultivators who pushed too hard attempting Foundation Establishment didn't even live to be a hundred years old, like Chen Mobai's paternal grandparents.

After Tang Lu's body was cremated, Chen Mobai personally placed his ashes into the tomb.

"Son, your grandfather has always been proud of you. He certainly wouldn't want to see you sad," Chen Xinglan comforted Chen Mobai, who forced a smile. Standing before the grave, he watched as the cemetery staff carved Tang Lu's name and other information onto the tombstone.

Although he had long anticipated this day, the true separation of a beloved family member by death still made Chen Mobai feel the impermanence of life, a dreamlike fragility.

"Dad, Mom, you two must live a long time!" Chen Mobai suddenly realized that his parents were also ninety-six years old. In terms of lifespan, they only had at most twenty-four years left before they too would pass away peacefully like his grandfather.

"Son, birth, aging, illness, and death are natural laws," Chen Xinglan said, quite open-minded. "Your mother and I have lived wonderfully, having you in our lives. We will accept death calmly, and you shouldn't be sad when that time comes. Just place our ashes together." He had already resigned himself to his fate after repeated failures at Foundation Establishment. His and Tang Pancui's only regret was likely not being able to see Chen Mobai get married and have children. In the Immortal Sect, only those whose cultivation could no longer advance would consider marriage and having descendants. Chen Mobai, currently at the peak of his potential and lauded as having the talent for Deity Transformation, certainly wouldn't be considering this now.

Chen Mobai didn't say anything in response, but he clenched his fists. He decided that next, in the Heavenly River Realm, he would find a way to collect longevity elixirs similar to the Xuan Tian Wujin Pill. Even if it meant potentially exposing some things within the Immortal Sect, he wouldn't care for his parents' sake. He hoped the Void Blind Box could legitimize his acquisitions.

After Tang Lu's burial, Chen Mobai stayed in Qingshan Village for half a month, recalling the myriad details of his childhood life there with his grandfather. Memories that had once been somewhat blurry gradually began to resurface. He remembered the grand ambitions he had once declared to his grandfather: "When I grow up, I want to be the highest official in the Immortal Sect!" At the time, Tang Lu had merely chuckled happily. While others scoffed, he had joyfully patted Chen Mobai's head, saying he would await the day Chen Mobai brought glory to the old Tang family. Unfortunately, after Chen Mobai grew up, although he still harbored a desire for official positions, he mostly prioritized self-preservation, even voluntarily giving up opportunities to become an official in the Three Great Halls. Thinking about it now, he had betrayed his own dream.

"Grandfather, the day I become the Lord of the Immortal Sect, I'll come tell you immediately!" Chen Mobai spoke to Tang Lu's tomb as he left.

Upon returning to Danxia City, he began cultivating even harder. It was this time, with the death of an elderly family member, that made him realize the importance of cultivation. If Tang Lu had succeeded in Foundation Establishment, he wouldn't have died now... If he possessed the strength for Nascent Soul formation, perhaps he could have traded with the Xuanyao Dao Palace for a Xuan Tian Wujin Pill...

Yan Bingxuan heard about this from somewhere and specifically came to comfort him for half a day. "As cultivation steadily progresses, life and death separations become common," she said. "Five years ago, my grandparents also passed away one after another..." She shared her feelings, recalling how sad she had been then, and it was also the first time she had seen her great-aunt, Yan Qiongzhi, shed tears, because they were her last direct blood relatives among her elder siblings and their spouses. "But time can heal all wounds."

"Bingxuan, I hope there will never be a day when we part in life or death..." Chen Mobai said. These were words he had spoken before. After hearing them, Yan Bingxuan nodded with a determined expression.

"I will definitely achieve Core Formation, so you won't be alone in your old age."

Chen Mobai heard this, and a faint, forced smile, long absent, appeared on his face. But there was one sentence that neither of them spoke aloud: With the talent Chen Mobai had currently displayed, it was highly probable he would be among the future Nascent Soul cultivators of the Immortal Sect. Mere Core Formation, however, wouldn't allow her to accompany him into old age. Yan Bingxuan thought of the elegant young woman in green from Jumang Dao Academy. Only a peerless individual of her caliber and talent would truly be able to keep up with him without falling behind!

Meeting with a long-unseen friend and sharing their thoughts, Chen Mobai felt his mood improve slightly. However, Tang Lu's passing also made Chen Mobai feel the end of an era. Many of his high school classmates' grandparents had also passed away one after another that year. His maternal grandmother, half a year after Tang Lu's death, passed away from sorrow. This time, Tang Pancui wept heartbrokenly. The mother and daughter shared a very deep bond, and this time, it was Chen Mobai comforting her. However, they were both mentally prepared for this, as the elderly couple had also been classmates and were the same age. After placing his maternal grandparents' ashes together, Chen Mobai, with a somber expression, once again lit incense, then walked over to comfort his still-weeping mother.

The successive deaths of his relatives plunged Chen Mobai into a rare period of despondency that year. However, during this year, his Pure Yang Dharma Body achieved another breakthrough. During his morning cultivation one day, the high-grade spirit stone in his palm completely withered, causing his Water and Wood spiritual roots to each lose 1 point, while his Fire spiritual root gained 3 points. And less than three years had passed since his last breakthrough. Evidently, the Golden Crow Holding Sun Pill's effect in promoting the Pure Yang Dharma Body was superior to that of pure Yang spiritual power.

Gold 23, Wood 44, Water 34, Fire 90, Earth 38.

Looking at the values on the spirit-testing instrument's screen, Chen Mobai made himself perk up again and went to the Divine Tree Secret Realm, a place he hadn't visited in a while. After obtaining the Longevity Art, he no longer had any urgent need for other grand arts, so he casually chose a concrete phantom image of a valley. However, after finishing reading about this grand art within his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, Chen Mobai's face was filled with surprise. This art was named 'Sound of the Empty Valley'. Once mastered, it had no offensive power, but was similar to the 'Myriad Spirit Sense', allowing one to listen to the vibrations of various foreign objects. However, compared to the Myriad Spirit Sense, the 'Sound of the Empty Valley' had a much wider scope of application. Besides plants, it could listen to various minerals, spiritual qi, and even the void, restrictions, and spells.

Chen Mobai didn't quite understand the precise function of this grand art yet, but he immediately used his Saint Son authority to cultivate it directly to the Tier 3 level before the Grand Dao Tree, via empowerment. Once he reached Tier 3, Chen Mobai couldn't resist listening intently within the Divine Tree Secret Realm. But soon, various high-pitched, chirping, and chaotic grand sounds, as if magnified tens of thousands of times, flooded into his ears, causing him, caught off guard, to instantly experience tinnitus and deafness. Even though he promptly stopped the grand art, drops of blood still seeped from his ears. His ears were effectively ruined. However, Chen Mobai's Longevity Dao Body, cultivated through years of arduous effort, now came into play. Soon, his ears fully recovered to their pristine state.

After this experience, Chen Mobai reduced the power of this grand art to one-thousandth of its full strength, then took out a spirit stone and began to listen. Gradually, he seemed to hear within the spirit stone the sound of stable yet surging ocean tides, as if the water was spiritual qi, but held calm by a mysterious restraint, awaiting gradual absorption and extraction. Chen Mobai heard the spiritual qi whispering, seemingly possessing simple sentience. Some yearned for the outside, wanting to be absorbed, while others, mixed with impurities from the earth, lay bloated and settled deep within. Within a small spirit stone, it was like a discordant musical score. The more Chen Mobai listened, the more immersed he became, as if discovering a new world.

After listening to the spirit stone, Chen Mobai became somewhat familiar with the 'Sound of the Empty Valley'. He began to listen to the countless hundreds of Scarlet Yang Spirit Trees nearby. A sensation similar to Zhuo Ming's 'Myriad Spirit Sense' allowed him to quickly discover two trees that were nearly ready to advance into Tier 2 Azure Yang Spirit Trees, only lacking the crucial balance of Earth and Fire qi with their own Wood spiritual qi. With Chen Mobai's help, one of them successfully advanced. Upon seeing the newly advanced Azure Yang Spirit Tree emitting benevolent aura towards him, Chen Mobai couldn't help but feel a wave of satisfaction.

Then, he turned his head and looked at the Grand Dao Tree not far away!