Chapter 174 Five Hells Illusion
It was really useless for these outer sect elders to quarrel here. No matter what the result of their discussion was, Uncle Su could overturn it with a word.
What they feared most was that Uncle Su was not from a cultivation family, but a pure casual cultivator. Moreover, he had never had a dual cultivation partner since he started cultivating, so he had no descendants, let alone a family.
For a long time, although Uncle Su did not say it, he was extremely dissatisfied with the major family forces in Dancao Mountain. However, he was very scheming and did not reveal many things. Moreover, he was devoted to pursuing the great way and was unwilling to interfere too much in the affairs of the sect, so he had been at peace all along.
But True Man Changqing did not think that Uncle Su would always be like this. Moreover, judging from his nearly two hundred years of life experience, Uncle Su was probably waiting for an opportunity, and the reduction in the number of foundation-building pills this time might be that opportunity.
Changqing Zhenren knew this very well. Although he also wanted to bring more benefits to the family, at this critical moment, he also knew the principle of keeping a low profile, so he chose to wait and see.
Her Highness Cuixia, Tao Ling also watched coldly. She had long disliked these old guys in front of her, but she also did not intend to take the lead. Moreover, as a true disciple, it would be too arrogant to want to reverse the current situation of Dancao Mountain.
Moreover, her identity this time was just to represent her master Wu Daozi to convey the refining situation of this foundation-building pill. As for how to distribute the subsequent foundation-building pills, she did not care.
Suddenly, the temperature in Cuixia Palace dropped sharply. The whole palace seemed to have changed from a hot summer to a bitter winter in an instant. Everyone's face changed.
A cold wind suddenly blew in the Cuixia Palace, and in the center of the palace, a ball of light flashing with a hazy green light suddenly appeared. This ball of light stretched rapidly and formed a human figure in the blink of an eye. The human figure became clearer and clearer in the shocked eyes of everyone, and soon a middle-aged monk in his forties appeared in front of everyone.
This man had a white face and no beard, a slender body, his hands behind his back, and a smile on his face with regular features.
With the appearance of this man, an astonishing spiritual pressure suddenly swept the entire Cuixia Palace.
After seeing the face of the visitor clearly, everyone, including Changqing Zhenren, stood up and bowed.
"Greetings to Uncle Su."
"Greetings to Uncle Su."
"Get up." The white-faced monk looked around at everyone and said lightly, and as he spoke, the huge spiritual pressure surrounding him began to dissipate, making all the people who bowed and saluted breathe a sigh of relief.
"I came here as a shadow clone of Xiaohan Light to convey the order of Patriarch Tianyi."
"Disciples and others respectfully obey the order." Upon hearing this, everyone knelt down with respectful expressions.
Patriarch Tianyi is the only Yuanying Patriarch in the entire Dancao Mountain. In a sense, the reason why Dancao Mountain can prosper for a long time is mostly due to the existence of this Yuanying Patriarch.
Facing Patriarch Tianyi, even Changchun Zhenren, as the head of Dancao Mountain, dare not be negligent in the slightest. For anyone in Dancao Mountain, they are just floating clouds in front of this ancestor, and life and death are also in his mind.
Seeing everyone kneeling, the white-faced monk showed a satisfied look on his face, and said lightly: "This time, the purple spirit flowers obtained in the cave trial are more than 20% less than in previous years. Except for a few left for refining the Green Flame Pill, the rest of the foundation-building pills are 30% less than in the past."
"This is also due to the rise and fall of the destiny of the heaven, which cannot be resolved by human power. However, the reduction in the number of foundation-building pills will inevitably lead to a considerable number of disciples in our sect's outer sect disciples who meet the foundation-building conditions being unable to successfully build their foundations because they cannot get the foundation-building pills."
"For many years, the cultivation resources of Dancao Mountain have been tilted towards your families, resulting in unfair distribution and endless resentment among low-level disciples."
At this point, the white-faced monk glanced at everyone with cold eyes. When the outer sect elders heard this, they shook their bodies, showing their inner uneasiness, but no one dared to look up and look directly at the white-faced monk, let alone refute.
With a sneer, the white-faced cultivator continued, "In view of this, the ancestor decided to open the "Five Prisons Illusion" for the continued development of the sect. Anyone who can pass the three realms can get a foundation-building pill, and from today on, the "Five Prisons Illusion" will be opened once a year.
"The number of people who pass the Five Prisons Illusion will determine the distribution of the foundation-building pill, and the previous distribution standard of the foundation-building pill will be invalidated."
"Open the Five Prisons Illusion?" Upon hearing this, the old face of Changchun Zhenren, who had not been moved for decades, suddenly changed.
"Uncle Su, the Five Prisons Illusion is extremely dangerous. Although there will be no life-threatening danger, once the clearance fails, it will inevitably have a profound impact on the cultivator's own Taoism. It is based on this that after the ancestor Tianyi formed an infant seven hundred years ago, he announced the suspension of the Five Prisons Illusion Trial. Now?"
The white-faced cultivator looked at the Changqing Zhenren expressionlessly and said calmly, "This decision was made by the ancestor Tianyi. Wang Daoxuan, are you questioning the ancestor's decision?"
Changqing Zhenren was frightened and turned pale. He knelt on the ground again and kowtowed repeatedly. He kept begging for forgiveness. He regretted it to the extreme. Questioning Tianyi Patriarch was a serious crime that would land him on the Soul Slashing Platform. Although he was the head of Dancao Mountain, he would be doomed if he angered Tianyi Patriarch.
The other ten or so outer sect elders were all pale, not daring to breathe, let alone plead for Changqing Zhenren. Some of them were even secretly happy. After all, Changqing Zhenren had occupied the position of head for more than 60 years, and the rest of their families had been quite oppressed.
The white-faced monk looked at everyone coldly. After a while, he said in a slightly softened tone: "Get up. The Five Hells Illusion is opened to select those with firm Dao hearts from the outer disciples. And it is also the most fair way to distribute the foundation-building pills. Don't think that the ancestor doesn't know the little tricks in the hearts of your major families."
Everyone stood up carefully after hearing this, but they didn't dare to breathe, and stood with their hands hanging down in fear.
"But this can't be blamed entirely on you. We cultivators don't cultivate ourselves to the point of not recognizing our relatives. It's reasonable to use the power in our hands to favor our own people. Ancestor Tianyi also understands this. However, the selection of talents in the sect must not be determined by family relationships. If this continues, our Dancao Mountain will inevitably decline and never recover."
Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, the white-faced cultivator continued: "The opening of the Five Prisons Illusion is imperative, but if all five realms are opened, it will be too difficult for outer disciples to pass. Therefore, anyone who can pass three realms can get a foundation-building pill. This is the Five Prisons token, which can be used to open the illusion. Daoxuan, you will be in charge of this matter. The starting time is set one month from today."
Wang Daoxuan took a two-inch long silver token from the white-faced cultivator. The words "Five Prisons" were written in ancient seal script. After taking the token, he slowly stepped back a few steps and stood with his hands hanging down.
"Okay, I have passed on the ancestor's decree. I hope you will not slack off on it. Next month, when the Five Prisons Illusion is closed, I will personally come out of seclusion to distribute foundation-building pills to all the outer disciples who have passed the trial. And for the top ten who can get out of the Five Prisons Illusion in the shortest time, Tianyi will also issue three spiritual tools and seven top-grade magic tools to encourage the lower-level disciples in the sect."
"Spiritual tools?" Several outer elders couldn't help but reveal a burning look in their eyes. You know, spiritual tools are also very tempting to them. In a large cultivation family like theirs, unless there is a Jindan cultivator, there are not many spiritual tools.
"And the first three people who get the spiritual tool reward, I will personally accept them as registered disciples. Once the foundation is successfully built, they will officially become my disciples and become one of my true disciples." The white-faced cultivator said another piece of information that stunned everyone.
"Okay, the ancestor's decree has been passed on. Everyone must do their best to follow it. If there is any mistake, the ancestor will be angry. You can think about the consequences yourself." After the white-faced monk finished speaking, his body began to blur again, until it finally turned into a green light spot and disappeared.
The cold atmosphere in Cuixia Hall also disappeared, and everyone stood up, each of them relieved.
However, they were not in a good mood. They never dreamed that the Five Prisons Illusion, which had been closed for hundreds of years, would be reopened. It seems that the Tianyi ancestor was determined to rectify the family power in the sect.
This was not a good thing for them. Seven hundred years ago, the Tianyi ancestor had just condensed the Nascent Soul, and the issuance of the Foundation Establishment Pill at that time was determined by whether the outer disciples in the Qi Refining Period in the sect could pass the three realms in the Five Prisons Illusion.
Any outer disciple who can successfully pass the three realms will be granted a foundation-building pill. Seven hundred years ago, two to three thousand purple spirit flowers could be picked from each cave trial, and the five major sects issued more than a hundred foundation-building pills every year.
However, there are less than a hundred outer disciples in the Qi-refining stage who can pass the first three realms of the Five Prisons Illusion, which leads to an awkward situation. In addition to the part of the foundation-building pills issued each year, there are also surpluses. After Tianyi Patriarch was promoted to Yuanying Patriarch, he felt this and issued an order. In addition to selecting outer disciples in the Qi-refining stage through the Five Prisons Illusion every year, the major cultivation families can also recommend the more outstanding Qi-refining disciples in the clan and grant them foundation-building pills.
Although the Five Hells Illusionary Realm can indeed select excellent outer disciples, the trials are too harsh, causing many outer disciples to lose their Daoist hearts after participating in the trials. Therefore, a hundred years later, the Tianyi Patriarch decided to cancel it and instead allow the major outer elders in the sect to jointly recommend outer disciples to be given foundation-building pills.
As a result, due to the increase in the number of disciples of the cultivation families in Dancao Mountain, they gradually controlled the bottom-level power of Dancao Mountain, and the distribution of foundation-building pills also changed. Although the outer disciples of the Qi Refining Stage who entered the sect through the cave trials would be given a foundation-building pill according to the rules, it was unknown whether it would really fall into the hands of these people in the end.
Moreover, the outer sect elders with family backgrounds in Dancao Mountain used various means to take the foundation-building pills that should belong to these Qi-refining outer sect disciples who entered the sect through the cave trials or forcibly exchanged them for very little. Such things happened one after another.
However, as the lowest-level Qi-refining outer sect disciples of the sect, with their background as casual cultivators, although they were full of resentment, they had no way to do anything. Under such circumstances, the assassination of family members also happened one after another. Even last year alone, there were as many as seven or eight Qi-refining cultivators who were taken to the Soul-Slaying Platform.