Seeking Immortality

If we were to say which position was the most important in Jiuhua, then it would be the leader, Supreme Protector, and Mountain Protector Elder.

The leader controls the overall situation, the Supreme Protector is responsible for the training, rewards and punishments of Jiuhua disciples, and the Protector Elder uses the "Jiuji Formation" to defend against foreign enemies and investigate and control every move in Jiuhua Mountain.

In addition to these three positions, there is also a very special position among the elders of Jiuhua. That is the deacon elder.

Compared with the first three, the deacons and elders are responsible for all daily affairs of Jiuhua Mountain, and can receive guests, represent Jiuhua Mountain at various immortal gatherings, and can even express their attitude on behalf of the Jiuhua lineage to a certain extent. To put it simply, the deacon elder is a position that assists the head of Jiuhua in managing Jiuhua Mountain, similar to the role of the housekeeper in the secular world.

But this is not the reason why Xu Qingfan is surprised. The elders of Jiuhua may have great skills, but they are not necessarily good at dealing with these trivial matters. Therefore, based on Xu Qingfan's previous performance, it is not surprising that Zhang Hualing asked him to be the deacon elder.

But what Xu Qingfan thought of was what Yue Qingru said to Xu Qingfan when he introduced Jiuhua Mountain during his lifetime.

Deacon elder, another way of saying it is the preparatory master of Jiuhua Mountain. The reason why the deacons and elders are allowed to assist the head in handling affairs within the sect is to allow him to become familiar with the affairs within the sect as quickly as possible to prevent him from being in a hurry when he takes over.

Although this statement is just a legend, there are a series of things that can illustrate the authenticity of this legend.

For example, Zhang Hualing, the current head of Jiuhua District, was the deacon and elder of Jiuhua before. The previous head of Jiuhua, Li Xuhan, also served as a deacon and elder. Jiuhua's traitor Zhang Xusheng was an elder deacon when he rebelled. It is said that Li Xuhan was unable to make any progress at that time, so he was ready to give up the position of leader to Zhang Xusheng, while he concentrated on cultivating immortality.

The deacon elder before Xu Qingfan was none other than Bao Qingfang, who had already been killed by He Yai. He was the former top master of the "Qing" generation and the highly anticipated next successor of Jiuhua.

And Zhang Hualing, at this time, actually asked Xu Qingfan to serve as the deacon elder of Jiuhua after receiving the initiation, but what did he mean? Does he want Xu Qingfan to take over as the head of Jiuhua?

Although this was the most likely scenario, Xu Qingfan couldn't believe it. Because he had no idea that he had attracted Zhang Hualing in that aspect, and actually let Zhang Hualing treat him as the successor to the head of Jiuhua.

But this legend is only a legend after all. Jiuhua did not clearly stipulate that the deacon elder will definitely be the leader of Jiuhua in the future. Xu Qingyuanfan could not ask Zhang Hualing, "Do you want me to be the leader?" So Xu Qingfan could only suppress this doubt in his heart and silently bow to Zhang Hualing.

Although Zhang Hualing's eyes were calm and calm, he seemed to see through everything about Xu Qingfan in an instant, including Xu Qingfan's thoughts at this time. However, he did not explain much, but said in a calm tone: "Then it's okay, Li Jiuji Cave. There is still one and a half months until the next start. You have just reached the pill formation stage, so you should go back now to stabilize your state."

Although Xu Qingfan was full of questions, when he heard what Zhang Hualing said, he couldn't ask any more questions. He could only silently bow to Zhang Hualing and then leave gently.

Just like that, Zhang Hualing was once again the only one left in this deserted hall.

Silently watching Xu Qingfan's leaving back until he disappeared, Zhang Hualing suddenly raised his head, his deep gaze seemed to penetrate the deep wall of Hualing Hall and reach the top of Jiuhua Mountain. It seemed that the answer he was looking for was there.

"Master, since you want Xu Qingfan to be my successor, then I will follow your wishes and let him be the deacon elder first as the first step to becoming the leader.

"It's just, master. Do you think Xu Qingfan's temperament is really suitable for being the leader of a sect? He has too many worries."

"I just hope that during your lifetime and mine, I can transform him into what a leader should look like."

At the top of Jiuhua Mountain, Liu Huaxiang, who was looking at Jin Qinghan and others with a smile and said nothing, seemed to feel Zhang Hualing's gaze. He also turned his head to look at the location of Hualing Hall on the hillside of Jiuhua Mountain, but his eyes were... It's more profound and far-reaching than Zhang Hualing's. After Xu Qingfan returned to the top of Jiuhua Mountain, he did not mention to Jin Qinghan and others that he would be appointed as the new deacon elder of Jiuhua. After all, this matter was too shocking in some aspects, so he just suppressed it in his heart. Doubtful, he accepted the congratulations from Li Yuhan and others one after another.

When Jin Qinghan and others all left, Xu Qingfan could no longer bear the doubts in his heart and relayed Zhang Hualing's words to Liu Huaxiang in detail.

It has to be said that Xu Qingfan had regarded Liu Huaxiang as his support without knowing it, but he had never hidden anything from him.

After hearing Xu Qingfan's words, Liu Huaxiang was slightly surprised, because the idea of ​​training Xu Qingfan to be the next head of Jiuhua only existed in his mind, but he never mentioned it to anyone. He didn't expect that Zhang Hualing could guess He is indeed a disciple of Liu Huaxiang. Not only did he not complain about Liu Huaxiang's arrangement of his successor without any notice, but he also quietly tried his best to help Liu Huaxiang realize his ideas. This is really valuable.

However, Zhang Hualing's eagerness to arrange for Xu Qingfan to become an elder deacon is another indication that Zhang Hualing's body has begun to slowly collapse since he forcibly performed the "Dai Tian Jue"?

Thinking of this, a trace of sadness flashed in Liu Huaxiang's eyes. He knew that he only had a few decades of life left, so what about Zhang Hualing? Will he let the white man send the black man in the end? Seeing Liu Huaxiang's silence with a trace of sadness, Xu Qingfan, who was waiting for Liu Huaxiang's answer, couldn't help but feel strange.

But Liu Huaxiang just looked at Xu Qingfan deeply. He turned and left without saying a word.

As Liu Huaxiang's back disappeared in his thatched house, Liu Huaxiang's old voice suddenly sounded in Xu Qingfan's ears.

"The deacon elder is not necessarily the future leader, and the future leader does not necessarily have to be the current deacon elder. You don't have to think too much about these things, just stabilize your realm with peace of mind."

Hearing Liu Huaxiang say this, Xu Qingfan had no choice but to pat Ting'er's shoulder and walked towards his own thatched house.

At this moment, Liu Huaxiang's voice suddenly sounded again.

"Since you are about to become the deacon elder, let me say one more thing. When the position changes, the responsibility will change. In the past, you thought about protecting Ting'er and the companions around you, but in the future, you have to consider the whole Jiuhua more. Qingfan, your vision and character. It's time to change."

Xu Qingfan was slightly stunned and stopped. He thought Liu Huaxiang would say something else. After waiting for a long time, the thatched house where Liu Huaxiang was was still silent. He shook his head helplessly and went to meditate on the first floor.

In the following days. Xu Qingfan's life returned to monotony and leisure. After entering the Jindan stage, in addition to the great increase in skills, the realm and experience are also very different. It is more than enough to guide Ting'er, a cultivator in the Bigu period, at least he will not be evaluated by Liu Huaxiang as "misleading students".

In addition to reading books and drinking tea, Xu Qingfan was ready to continue to debate with Liu Huaxiang as usual, but Liu Huaxiang seemed to no longer be interested in these debates, but just kept raising some things and asked Xu Qingfan how to deal with them if he encountered them. After Xu Qingfan answered, he did not refute it, whether it was right or wrong. He just told Xu Qingfan the possible consequences of following Xu Qingfan's method. Although there was no sarcasm in his words, Xu Qingfan couldn't help blushing when he thought of these consequences.

During this period of time, Xu Qingfan felt that he had learned a lot. Although it was only more than a month. Although Xu Qingfan had read a lot of poetry and books in the past sixty years. But some things can't just be mastered from books.

In addition. After Xu Qingfan entered the Jindan stage, while solving the original doubts in his heart, he had more puzzles about cultivating immortals, such as the conversion between the five elements of heaven and earth, the relationship between the soul and the consciousness, or how the inner elixir in the body drives the body's spiritual energy.

For these, Liu Huaxiang was at hand, and used the most easy-to-understand language to explain these seemingly profound things clearly, which made Xu Qingfan feel enlightened. Compared with Xu Qingfan's stubbornness and immaturity in dealing with human relationships, Liu Huaxiang was very satisfied with Xu Qingfan's understanding of Taoism.

But Xu Qingfan always felt that Liu Huaxiang's knowledge was far beyond the level of a Jindan cultivator, especially since Xu Qingfan had come into contact with Xiao Huazhe, who was about to reach the Mahayana stage, and felt that his knowledge was far less extensive than Liu Huaxiang.

But Liu Huaxiang was a Mahayana cultivator after all, which was too incredible, so even if Xu Qingfan had this idea, it was only a flash.

In this one and a half months, in addition to discussing with Liu Huaxiang, he also often discussed with the visiting Jin Qinghan.

In fact, Jin Qinghan had always wanted to find Xu Qingfan after receiving the initiation and stabilizing his realm, but thinking of Xu Qingfan's gloomy expression before everyone went to the "Jiuji Cave", he was afraid that Xu Qingfan would be more depressed after seeing his Jindan, so he resisted the idea and did not go.

Now Xu Qingfan has also reached the Jindan stage and will not be hurt by the scene, so Jin Qinghan no longer worries. As before, the two of them were practicing in the back mountain, and often looked for Xu Qingfan. However, it was a blessing in disguise. He and Xu Qingfan received a lot of guidance from Liu Huaxiang.

It must be said that although Jin Qinghan was indifferent at this time, he was disproportionately delicate in treating friends.

One and a half months passed quickly. In this month and a half, Xu Qingfan not only stabilized his realm, but also realized a lot. These realizations were not just

This day was the day when the "Jiuji Cave" was reopened, and it was also the last time that Jiuhua Mountain opened the "Jiuji Cave" after the retreat. Xu Qingfan said goodbye to Liu Huaxiang and Ting'er early, and then joined Jin Qinghan and others and flew to a place in Jiuhua.

Xu Qingfan knew that the so-called "Jiuji Cave" was not a real cave or cave, but just a stable spiritual vortex in the "Jiuji Formation", so Xu Qingfan thought that the location of the "Jiuji Cave" would be in the "Jiuji Formation".

But when Jin Qinghan and others brought Xu Qingfan to the destination, Xu Qingfan strangely found that it was just an ordinary open area, but did not find where the "Jiuji Cave" was.

However, although it was much easier to enter the "Jiuji Cave" from the "Jiuji Formation", the "Jiuji Formation" had been sealed at this time. But it was impossible to enter.

On the ground, Zhang Hualing, with a group of elders and other elite disciples who were going to practice in the "Jiuji Cave", had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Jin Qinghan, Xu Qingfan and others coming, they all looked at Xu Qingfan. Their eyes were full of surprise.

At this time, everyone already knew that the person who had reached the pill formation stage and caused the changes in Jiuhua Mountain was Xu Qingfan. Thinking of Xu Qingfan's qualifications, everyone was surprised, so when they looked at Xu Qingfan, their eyes were full of weirdness.

But Zhang Hualing just glanced at Xu Qingfan as if nothing had happened, and seemed to have no special expectations for Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan, on the other hand, saw Feng Qingtian among the crowd at a glance. Ten years no see. Feng Qingtian's skill is getting higher and higher. According to Xu Qingfan's estimation, Feng Qingtian's cultivation at this time is only a hair's breadth away from the late stage of Xu Dan, compared with Jin Qinghan who has just reached the middle stage of Xu Dan. To be one step above the rest.

But as his skills deepened, Feng Qingtian's character seemed to become more and more aloof. Compared with the people gathered together, he just stood far away, and the look on his face made him look even more out of place. Feng Qingtian was also the only one among the crowd who did not raise his head to look at Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan originally planned to say hello to him, but now seeing Feng Qingtian's appearance, he could only stay away from him.

After seeing people coming. Zhang Hualing nodded gently to the other elders, and then began to make decisions with the other elders. The spiritual energy in his body was full of energy, gathering together and fluctuating in a strange pattern.

Not long after, a black vortex suddenly appeared silently in front of everyone's eyes, which was the entrance to the "Jiuji Cave". It was not inconsistent with the huge scene that Xu Qingfan had expected.

After seeing the entrance to the "Jiuji Cave" appear. Feng Qingtian didn't say anything, and immediately stepped into it. It seemed like he didn't want to delay any longer.

Seeing Feng Qingtian's actions, both the Jiuhua elite disciples and the Jiuhua elders frowned deeply, but now that Feng Qingtian had entered the "Jiuji Cave", everyone also Nothing more can be said.

But Zhang Hualing's expression did not change, and he just said to the disciples in front of him: "I don't need to mention the risks in Jiuji Cave. You should be careful after entering."

After everyone responded, Zhang Hualing said to the Jiuhua disciples who had not yet reached the pill-forming stage: "In addition, because some disciples entered the pill-forming stage some time ago, there are only the first seven disciples among you who have reached the pill-forming stage. I can accept the empowerment from the elders, so I have to work harder.”

Hearing what Zhang Hualing said, everyone looked at Xu Qingfan, but Xu Qingfan just smiled calmly.

After finishing speaking, Zhang Hualing waved his hand and said, "Go."

When Xu Qingfan followed everyone into the "Jiuji Cave", everything in front of him shocked him.

When the entrance to the "Jiuji Cave" appeared, Xu Qingfan looked at the silent scene. He was also disappointed with the "Jiuji Cave" and thought it was not as exaggerated as in the legend.

But it was not until he entered the "Jiuji Cave" that Xu Qingfan realized that not only was there no exaggeration in the legend, but it did not describe the magical possibility of the "Jiuji Cave".

As Xu Qingfan knew before, "Jiuji Cave" is not a real cave, but a stable spiritual energy vortex. After entering, you will only see chaos in front of you, with no width, length or depth. It seems that the world has not yet opened, but it is colorful. , dazzling the ears and eyes, but it is the aura transformed by the aura of the five elements.

Although it is not far-reaching, it is as if there is no gravity in it. It can be suspended in the air without any effort. The air around him had a thicker feeling, as if he was in mud, but this was because the spiritual energy had become extremely dense and had liquefied.

But I don’t know why there is so much spiritual energy in the "Jiuji Cave", but no one can feel a trace of spiritual energy at the entrance, which is very strange in retrospect.

Just when Xu Qingfan was shocked by everything in front of him, he heard a guardian elder who followed said loudly: "Now everyone is free to choose a place to practice. I and other elders will pay attention to your situation at any time to prevent you from In addition, as you know, because it requires a lot of spiritual stones to maintain the Jiuji Cave, this will be the last time you enter the Jiuji Cave to practice, so please. Take your time."

After saying that. The elder just floated in mid-air, sat cross-legged, and began to close his eyes and meditate.

After hearing the elder's words, everyone realized that time was running out. Ten years seemed like a long time, but for cultivators, it just passed by in a flash, so they all started to find a place to meditate and practice. During Xu Qingfan's test, everyone who entered the "Jiuji Cave" except him had already sat down cross-legged to practice. He was the only one who was standing, which made him feel like he stood out from the crowd. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head. Like everyone else, he found a secluded place to sit cross-legged and closed his eyes to practice.

However, despite Liu Huaxiang, Zhang Hualing and others' previous warnings, and Xu Qingfan being wary, he still underestimated the risks of this "Nine Extremes Cave".

Because he did not dare to increase the mutated withered energy, Xu Qingfan was running the Feng family's exercises at this time, as well as an unknown set of exercises taught to him by Liu Huaxiang.

But at the moment when Xu Qingfan was meditating and doing his exercises. The viscous spiritual energy around him was like an orphan who had found a home, rushing towards Xu Qingfan's body one after another. Both the speed and quality were more than ten times higher than those outside the cave. Xu Qingfan was caught off guard and was greatly surprised. His luck was different. This technique begins to absorb and refine the spiritual energy that rushes into the body.

At the beginning, Xu Qingfan could refine the spiritual energy that rushed into his body one by one, but the amount of spiritual energy was so large. The quality was so pure. As more and more spiritual energy rushed into Xu Qingfan's body, Xu Qingfan was a little flustered. Although he absorbed it with all his strength. But it was still far from enough. Whether it was the Feng family secret method or the unknown technique passed on to him by Liu Huaxiang, the speed of refining was far behind the speed of the spiritual energy rushing in. The excess spiritual energy accumulated in Xu Qingfan's body. As the spiritual energy accumulated more and more, Xu Qingfan only felt that his body had a sense of expansion.

When Xu Qingfan wanted to stop, he was horrified to find that he could not stop at all, otherwise the spiritual energy that kept rushing into his body would make him explode and die.

It was not until then that Xu Qingfan finally understood one tenth or two tenths of the risks in this "Jiuji Cave". Practicing here is not because you want to become stronger, but because the environment here forces you to become stronger. Once the speed is a little slow, you will be harmed by the environment here.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingfan realized it too late. At this time, the spiritual energy had already filled his entire body. Xu Qingfan felt that if there was only a little more spiritual energy, his body would explode.

And those elders who were originally the guardians did not react to Xu Qingfan's change at all! !

In desperation, Xu Qingfan could only run the "Withering and Flourishing Art" that he was deeply concerned about at the same time in addition to running the Feng family secrets and unknown skills.

As Xu Qingfan began to run the "Withering and Flourishing Art", the two spiritual energies of Mu Yi spiritual energy and the mutated withered energy also began to circulate quickly in his body.