Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 1338 The Dao Tradition Platform

Chapter 1338: Chapter 1338 The Dao Tradition Platform

Two days later, Master Xiaomeng’s cave residence opened, and a handsome man walked out. He couldn’t be called good-looking, but his masculine charm was undeniable, akin to Feng Jun.

As soon as he walked out, a woman floated over in front of him. It was Master Xiaomeng, "Oh, why do you look like this now?"

"I didn’t do much," the man, who was Qu Jianlei, replied. When a cultivator forms their Golden Core, they can use the tribulation thunder to subtly adjust their appearance. He smiled and spread his hands, "This is how I looked when I met you."

Master Xiaomeng rolled her eyes at him, "Can’t you talk without being shameless?"

Qu Jianlei laughed heartily, "Only a true master can afford to be so shameless. When I was at the peak of the ethereal realm, how would I dare talk like this?"

Xiaomeng snorted with exasperation but felt something was off. She looked at him again and finally realized, "Why are you taller?"

When she first met him, she was taller. Later, as he aged, he became slightly shorter. Now they appeared to be the same height, and he seemed slightly taller.

"Of course," Qu Jianlei replied proudly. After forming a superior grade Golden Core, he naturally felt a bit inflated, "When I first formed my Golden Core, I decided I must be taller than you. How can a dignified man be shorter than a woman?"

At this point, he couldn’t help but sigh, "Who would’ve thought it would take over two hundred years to achieve this dream."

Increasing one’s height with the formation of a Golden Core is quite easy, even on the Earth Plane where there’s limb-lengthening surgery. In the Cultivation World, height isn’t a critical issue, but it showed his care for her—this was also the cause of his first failed attempt at forming a Golden Core.

Master Xiaomeng shook her head with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "You’re skilled in covert operations. What do you need to be so tall for? It’ll affect your combat strength!"

"I fear no one in direct confrontation," Qu Jianlei retorted indignantly, then a mysterious smile appeared on his face, "Besides, if you’re too short, some moves just aren’t as fun..."

"What moves?" Master Xiaomeng was puzzled for a good two minutes. As he kept making suggestive gestures and winks, she finally realized what he meant, decisively delivering a flying kick, "You bastard, what’s in that head of yours all day!"

Qu Jianlei was sent flying and lay on the ground wailing, "Ouch, my realm hasn’t stabilized yet. I’m going to fall..."

Master Xiaomeng knew she hadn’t put much force into that kick—at least not enough to injure an intermediate-level ethereal realm cultivator. Hearing his wailing, she paused, but still went over to take a look, "And you call yourself a Golden Core Master, so shameless and bold."

As the two were fooling around, the Divine Sense of the sect head reached them, "Master Qu, you’ve exited seclusion? Please come handle the procedures for your promotion to Patron. Xiaomeng, you’re here too... come along."

The two heard the voice and quickly stopped joking, exchanging a glance.

They were companions of over three hundred years, never separated for long periods. With some shared experiences, a single look conveyed everything.

The procedures for becoming a Patron were straightforward: receive a token and imbue it with a strand of divine sense, and it was done. This divine sense wasn’t meant for harm; it was purely an identification mark.

Once the Patron procedures were completed, Qu Jianlei’s Rongxun status would be revoked—there are no Masters in Rongxun Hall. However, because he was once Rongxun and a guardian of the Crimson Pheonix’s legacy, they obtained his consent to enter the orthodox platform.

In every sect, the orthodox platform is sacred, almost equal to a Crimson Pheonix Golden Core Elder. Rongxun Hall could barely be called a protector of the orthodoxy, but it’s essentially staunch disciples defending the orthodoxy.

Simply put, those admitted to the orthodox platform as Patrons have a higher status than ordinary Patrons. Even if ordinary Patrons want to join, only trusted individuals are accepted, akin to each sect’s protector.

The status of a protector is equivalent to that of a Golden Core Elder. Some protectors even hold a higher status than Golden Core Elders within the sect.

The sect head believed there was no necessity for Qu Jianlei to become a protector, "...We trust you as a protector, but protectors don’t enjoy the benefits of a Patron and occasionally have to make sizable donations to the sect, which I don’t think is suitable for your current situation."

Qu Jianlei nodded with a smile, "I admit, being poor is being poor. I don’t have the backing of any clan or sect."

In truth, he had moved away from poverty. After over two hundred years as a Guest Elder of the Crimson Pheonix, who knows how many covert operations he had conducted. With the sect as a shield, he took advantage when performing tasks.

Some people splurged after earning money, and he did indulge a little, but he intended to leave most of his wealth to Xiaomeng.

Even so, the wealth he accumulated on his own could never surpass that of the big clans and powerful organizations.

Admitting this made it straightforward to enter the orthodox platform; he dropped a drop of blood onto an Ink Gold token. This token would be placed in the orthodox platform for Patronage and summoned when the sect needed him.

It might sound like obligations without rights? Correct, joining the orthodox platform doesn’t grant many rights. Instead, in times of major crises, they’d call upon you for assistance, but it signifies a recognition of your strength and trustworthiness.

In most societies, a good reputation can sometimes be useful, and in the honor-oriented Kunhao Plane, a good reputation is especially valuable.

After completing the procedures, the sect head directly asked, "Master Qu, was your opportunity for forming your Golden Core the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit?"

"I don’t know what kind of fruit that was," Qu Jianlei shook his head and replied candidly—Feng Jun really didn’t tell him.

The head could not delve deeper—she herself didn’t know what the fruit was called until she asked someone, "The size of a baby’s fist, with a strange fragrance, sour taste, strong spiritual energy and vigorous vitality... is that correct?"

Qu Jianlei thought for a moment, then slowly nodded, "It’s definitely sour, extremely sour, and the rest... well, pretty much."

Actually, what impressed him most was not the sour taste or the strong spiritual energy—although he was also deeply impressed by that—but the vigorous vitality.

During the process of being struck by Tribulation Thunder, he felt several times that his whole body was being sliced into pieces, right down to the bones, then the bones burned, and even his soul shattered to near annihilation—and then miraculously he came back to life.

That painful experience, he never wanted to recall again. If in the future he has the fortune to transform into a baby, this would probably become one of his Heart Demon Tribulations... right?

The head, seeing he answered forthrightly, continued to ask, "Is the fruit’s seed still around?"

Qu Jianlei blinked and asked in confusion, "The seed... wasn’t it supposed to be consumed together? It’s even more sour, and bitter!"

He indeed consumed the seed, which was much harder than the fruit pulp, but with the teeth of a Golden Core Master, is there anything that can’t be chewed if they want to?

The seed was required by Feng Jun to be consumed, saying it was to eliminate traces, and that the vitality contained in the seed was even stronger.

After hearing this, the head sighed dejectedly, "This fruit can’t grow on this plane, would Qu Patron conveniently tell its origin?"

Qu Patron smiled apologetically, "About this... it’s really inconvenient."

"I understand," the head nodded, "Under such circumstances, it’s normal for Qu Patron to have some unavoidable difficulties in forming a core."

After a pause, she spoke again, "But this fruit... don’t spread the name of the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit, this fruit is of great use to me, if it can still be obtained, or if there are ways to obtain it, I will surely give a generous reward."

Upon hearing this, Qu Jianlei smiled and nodded, "That is certain."

How rich are his life experiences? If one plays those temple calculations, perhaps not as good as the head, but in playing the tricks of the human heart in the martial underworld, he fell from being a favored child of heaven to blending into Rongxun Hall just to survive; in these two hundred years, what warmth of human relationships hasn’t he seen?

Not to mention that in these two hundred years, he has done dirty work for the Crimson Pheonix Sect, lived and died countless times, he himself can’t even count them. If he were a bit slow-witted, he’d have died long ago and end up in the ditch.

He knew the head harbored suspicions about him, but their approach was not bad, not only calling him but also calling Master Xiaomeng, presumably to lay things out in the open—his private advancement is not really appropriate to be mixed with the Crimson Pheonix Golden Core.

In a large sect, a pair of Golden Core partners advancing and retreating together will somewhat trigger some balance of power issues—especially when one Golden Core isn’t from the native sect, it’s even easier to spark topics like "inside-outside collusion."

That’s why, the head’s evaluation of Chi Luan’s approach: "Like me," can’t say they lack means, but is relatively magnanimous.

Seeing him answer like this, the head also smiled, "Then you go, the matter of entering Dao Integration Platform will still need to go through some formality in the sect later, but you don’t have to worry about it... Xiaomeng, stay back."

Qu Jianlei took his leave, leaving behind the two female masters.

The head, after a moment of silence, spoke, "Xiaomeng, the friendship between us sisters in the past no longer needs to be mentioned... I just want to ask, was it you who helped find this fruit?"

Master Xiaomeng shook her head very decisively, "Really not me, it was Qu Jianlei’s own fortune... if I had helped to find it, even if nothing else were mentioned, could I really not tell you the clue?"

"Then please help me inquire," the head sighed, speaking quietly, "It’s really important to me... he only acknowledges you."

She is not without the ability to force Qu Jianlei to speak, after all, just a cultivator who has just formed a core, but the cost would be too high, potentially even reducing the Four Great Sects of Kunhao Plane to three—she doesn’t want to be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

This is no exaggeration, a major sect forcibly seizing the opportunity of its own patron—even one admitted to the Dao Integration Platform, once spread, the entire sect’s credit system would collapse.

"I’ll do my best, he might not listen to all I say," Master Xiaomeng nodded, with a slight smile appearing on her face after a pause, "He keeps remembering that after forming a core, his height should surpass mine, and as for the result... well, you’ve seen it sister."

"Haha," the head couldn’t help but laugh, she actually knows all the movements on Xiaomeng’s side quite well, but remembering this process also found it amusing, "He truly cares about you, otherwise what’s there to fight over such height?"

But... what kind of explanation is there for that kind of style?

(Update ends, summon monthly tickets.)