Chapter 3555 — The Bitter Senior Brother
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"Heh, we still fall far short!" Bitter Senior Brother shook his head. "Our foundation in cultivation was never as solid as theirs to begin with. So even at the same peak of the late Heaven Rank—great perfection—there is still a gap. Breaking through to the Heavenly Way, which is my current level—what we call an accomplished expert of the Foundation Establishment stage—even here there are distinctions of strength. Don't be fooled by how fine the Azure Cloud Pavilion's name sounds; when it was first named, it meant that those of humble origins could rise straight to the blue clouds here. But... heh heh. Also, do not mention the term 'Heavenly Way' again. The Heavenly Way is a vast category; if you tell others you are an expert of the Heavenly Way, they will think you arrogant!"
"Oh? We can't even say that?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. In the mortal realm, did they not all speak of the Heavenly Way? Could there be even higher levels above Foundation Establishment? As for the matter of the three pavilions, Wei Zhao did not much care for the moment.
"Indeed. What is called the Heavenly Way is an ethereal, collective term for a level." Bitter Senior Brother was generous with his words, telling all he knew and holding nothing back. "Previously, we cultivators refined qi and refined the body, both inner and outer schools—all of that was the elevation of the body's strength. The Heavenly Way, however, is a pursuit that defies heaven itself. You may also understand it as true cultivation. What came before was cultivation; now it is true cultivation. In the mortal realm before the Heavenly Way, your strength was equivalent to the Qi Refining stage among true cultivators. Only upon setting foot on the Heavenly Way does one enter the Foundation Establishment stage—only then has one truly touched the path of true cultivation."
"You are of the Heavenly Way, yet you are not the strongest?" Wei Zhao had not expected that there seemed to be many gradations even above the Heavenly Way.
"Naturally. I am only an expert of the early Foundation Establishment stage. Above me there is the peak of early Foundation Establishment, the mid Foundation Establishment..." Bitter Senior Brother explained.
Hearing this, Wei Zhao's earlier self-satisfaction plunged straight to the bottom of a valley. Back in the mortal realm, he had used the Omnipotent Heart Method together with the Chronicle of Creation's Battle Verse and the fourth layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, Seizing Heaven, to break through to the Heavenly Way—a brand-new level of strength. Wei Zhao had thought he had already reached the endpoint of cultivation, the final station!
All he had to do was set foot on Cloud Terrace Island, find Zhang Lifeng, the peerless medical sage and alchemy god, and find a way to revive Yu Xiaoke and the Pangolin—then he could go back. But to his surprise, Yu Xiaoke had still not awakened, and now seven more inheritors had fallen unconscious. The weight on Wei Zhao's shoulders was truly mountain-heavy.
Still, that was endurable—he could simply ask Zhang Lifeng about it all together. What he had never expected was that his own strength was in fact the weakest! It seemed to sit rather at odds with the grand, high-profile manner in which Wei Zhao had intended to search for Zhang Lifeng upon arriving here.
"All right, but from the look of it, our Azure Cloud Pavilion is the most harmonious of the pavilions. Bitter Senior Brother is so amiable, while those two envoys from before were proud to death!" Xiao Che nodded in agreement.
He did not think there was anything wrong with joining the Azure Cloud Pavilion. He was a low-key person, and after coming here he would naturally keep a low profile as well. He had no backing, and his own strength was not especially great, so he was careful in all things.
"Harmonious? Heh heh..." Bitter Senior Brother gave a strange laugh. "I will say no more. You will understand once you go and see for yourselves..."