Chapter 226 | After My Side Profession Hit Max Level, I Transmigrated

When the banquet came to an end, the tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks were all cleared away, and the lively voices gradually quieted down. Before long, the mountain peak fell quiet, human noise fading until only the surrounding chirping of birds and calls of beasts remained.

President Song walked up to the ritual altar and sat cross-legged. The gathered cultivators brought out futons they had prepared in advance and sat down as well, expectant looks on their faces.

Opportunities to hear a Golden Core grandmaster lecture on the Dao were rare, and this sermon was set to last for seven whole days. Cherishing such a scarce chance, everyone sat upright with solemn expressions.

Shi Yu also stayed behind after the banquet, joining the rest to listen to the upcoming sermon and discussion on the Dao.

President Song had been known as a genius in his youth, yet even so, he had remained at the Foundation Establishment Realm for a full century. Over those hundred years, he had advanced toward the Golden Core step by step through painstaking cultivation, endowing him with vast experience. He possessed many insights highly applicable to Foundation Establishment cultivators, hitting the key points repeatedly in his words. Most guests who stayed behind were at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and none listened without marveling in admiration.

Some even found that President Song's words instantly resolved cultivation problems that had plagued them for years without answer. Overwhelmed with excitement, they looked at President Song with deep gratitude, practically revering him as a god.

When President Song reached an inspiring part of his talk, he sat and debated the Dao with several fellow cultivators of deep cultivation. It was a spectacular exchange that treated everyone present to a marvelous sight.

As for Shi Yu, having only recently entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, she had very little relevant cultivation experience. She found few points of resonance with President Song's insights, so for the most part, she listened in a haze of confusion.

Yet she was not discouraged and listened attentively throughout, committing President Song's words to memory by force so they might serve as nourishment and yield insights during her own cultivation in the future.

Beside her, the three siblings of the Zhou family had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and understood even less. Seeing Shi Yu listening quietly with utter concentration, they refused to perform too poorly and forced themselves to endure for another day or two. Finding no gain at all—and instead ending up dizzy, lightheaded, and with unstable aura from the profound words—they secretly shook their heads, gave up listening to the sermon, and began meditating to regulate their breathing instead.

Qingzhou, however, persevered alongside Shi Yu from beginning to end.

When the seven-day Dao Assembly came to an end, every guest in attendance—regardless of status, age, or youth—bowed respectfully, making three deep bows as they chorused together, “We thank True Lord for his teachings.”

...

With the assembly concluded, President Song floated away, and the crowd's focus shifted back to Shi Yu once more. True to their original intent, everyone gathered around with warm enthusiasm, calls of “Miss Shi” and “Fellow Cultivator Shi” rising from all directions.

Shi Yu dealt with the cultivators coming to curry favor or request pills for a while, unable to break free for a time.

Only when Wen Wen approached did she find a lifesaver. Leaving behind a quick message that all pill requests were to be handled by Wen Wen, she seized the chance to drag Qingzhou, the Zhou family, and the others along as she slipped away.

Seeing the requests fluttering in like snowflakes, Wen Wen thoroughly enjoyed herself. She gently reassured the anxious crowd, systematically recording each request to present to Shi Yu for selection later on.

After leaving the peak, Shi Yu played host at Miaoyi Tower, chatting at length with the members of the Zhou family before finally returning to her cave dwelling.

Finding a moment of quiet, she sat on a stone stool, propped one arm on the stone table before her, rubbed her forehead, and let out a soft sigh.

Seeing the tiredness on her face, a pair of distinct-jointed, slender white hands reached over, fingertips gently pressing onto her temples and slowly massaging them.

Qingzhou's massage technique was hardly sophisticated, but his fingertips were cool and wrapped in water spiritual Qi. Its tranquil, harmonious effect was remarkably potent, easing much of the throbbing sensation in Shi Yu's head.

Shi Yu enjoyed it for a moment before speaking languidly, “In two months, we will take Mo Tong and leave Lingtai Prefecture. As for Ji Yu, if he wants to come with us, we'll bring him along; if not, we'll leave him extra cultivation resources.”

Qingzhou nodded silently and asked, “Where do you wish to go, Ah Yu?”

“Shiyan Academy.” Shi Yu paused before continuing, “A place renowned as the ‘Number One Academy in East Continent,’ gathering the young geniuses of the entire continent. I must go see it for myself.”

Lingtai Prefecture was too comfortable for her. Lately, Shi Yu had felt a subtle sense of complacency setting in. She knew that if she wanted her path of cultivation to reach far, she had to constantly temper herself, facing trials in adversity and danger.

Lingtai Prefecture was where her heart was at peace, but it was not her final destination. She had to leave.

After discussing future arrangements with Qingzhou, Shi Yu did not idle. She retrieved several spiritual materials and a few medium-grade spirit stones, intending to refine a new spirit-testing artifact.

Her previous spirit-measuring ruler had been refined quite crudely, capable of measuring only the quality of low-grade spiritual meridians, unable to register anything higher.

Over all this time, the Life Spring water had continuously nourished her. Having just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm as well, her body's meridians, flesh, and dantian spirit lake had all benefited. Sensing a clear improvement in her spiritual meridian quality, Shi Yu wanted to refine a new testing artifact to check it.

Having stepped into Foundation Establishment, crafting such a small gadget was effortless. She finished refining it in merely an hour.

The newly refined spirit-testing artifact was a disc, divided into three concentric layers corresponding to low-, medium-, and high-grade spiritual meridian quality. Each layer was further divided evenly into nine segments, representing one-fraction to nine-fractions.

Holding the spirit-testing disc in her palm, Shi Yu slowly channeled a strand of spiritual Qi into it. The first segment of the outermost layer lit up, after which the light rapidly advanced forward, lighting up and extinguishing segment by segment until it reached the middle layer, continuing its advance.

Eventually, the glowing light slowed and came to a stop at the fifth segment of the middle layer.

“Medium-grade Five-fractions.” Shi Yu put away the spirit-testing disc, the corners of her lips turning up in a smile.

A Medium-grade Five-fractions Spiritual Meridian might not be extraordinary, but it would no longer hold her back. Furthermore, as long as she had the Life Spring water, her spiritual meridian quality would continue to improve. Perhaps one day, she might once again possess a supreme-grade Fire-attribute Spiritual Meridian—vibrant as a blazing sun, vast, and red-hot.

...

Over the next two months, Shi Yu spent considerable time immersed in the Legacy of Subtle Wonders across the Refinement, Array, and Talisman Associations. Once she absorbed all the content from the ancient books and jade slips within, she spent time fulfilling numerous pill requests for the Alchemist Association. Afterward, she frequently sought out the presidents and elders of the four associations to exchange insights.

Though called an exchange, in truth, she filled in the missing or vague parts of the Legacy of Subtle Wonders according to her own comprehension. She compiled these into four jade slips, made several rubbings of each, and thoroughly explained them to everyone.

None of them looked down on her in the slightest due to her youth. Across the four associations—Refinement, Alchemy, Array, and Talisman—the presidents and elders listened intently to her explanations and recorded every word.

The foundation of the four associations, which had been lacking and fell behind other prefectures, slowly caught up as a result.

Everyone knew that having left behind such precious wealth, the day of Shi Yu's departure drew ever closer. Though feeling a touch of regret, at their level of cultivation, parting was an everyday occurrence, and they easily accepted it.

Moreover, Shi Yu's departure did not mean she would never return.

The Dao path was long; there would always be chances to meet again.

Before leaving, Shi Yu cleared out a batch of belongings. Some low-tier or poor-quality spiritual materials were mostly useless to her now that she had become a Tier-4 weapon refiner, so she simply refined them all into low-grade artifacts.

Refining these low-grade artifacts took little time; simple baubles could be forged in under an hour, while slightly more complex ones took at most a day or two.

In the end, there were over a hundred pieces in total. She handed them all over to the Xie Clan Auction House, making a clean break from her excess stock.

Although these were mostly low-grade artifacts, given Shi Yu's current skill, every single one turned out as a fine piece of work.

The Xie Clan Auction House attached great importance to this, going so far as to host a dedicated auction event just for her.

These artifacts, while not high in grade, possessed impressive quality—perfect for wealthy young disciples of influential families with low cultivation. Consequently, a fierce bidding frenzy ensued, earning her a grand total of several hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.

As for the shop, since Ji Yu agreed to leave with them, Shi Yu closed the shop and sent someone to return the shop deed to the Zhou family.

Finally, the day of departure arrived. Shi Yu alerted no one, leaving a letter on the stone table outside her cave dwelling. As the first rays of morning mist glowed in the sky, she released her cloud boat and leaped aboard.