Hearing this, Cui Dan naturally offered up the gifts he had prepared. The old servant, Uncle Wu, was worldly-wise as well; he kept the matter of the spirit grain firmly in mind, intending to arrange for someone to deliver it upon their return. That exchange would provide yet another reason for their young master to visit. By establishing familiarity first, they would stand a far better chance of cultivating friendship later.
Having accompanied his mistress for so long, Uncle Wu had seen much of the world. He could tell that whether in the effortless ease with which Qian Chen had subdued the Mount Mei fiend earlier or the myriad marvels displayed during his alchemy, Qian Chen was in no way inferior to the true transmission disciples of the great sects his mistress sought to befriend.
To travel far and encounter such an eminent expert in a tiny place like Wukang County was his young master's great fortune.
To put it bluntly, even if a common unorthodox cultivator could refine spirit pills of such extraordinary quality and possessed such sublime mastery over the way of qi dan, their standing would rival that of a true transmission disciple of the Daoist orthodoxy.
No matter which prominent clan or sect they visited, they would be received as an honored guest and never treated lightly... Moreover, the path of spirit pills was usually intertwined with the Daoist orthodoxy.
Superior alchemical traditions like qi dan in particular had to originate from a clear lineage. The demonic path gravitated toward turbid qi, so its medicines could never be so purely spiritual; the Buddhist path had its own distinct tradition of medicine-making with obvious traits; and heterodox and unorthodox schools possessed mixed, chaotic techniques, rendering their alchemical arts far from pure. A cultivator who could produce such pure spiritual qi dan was either a true transmission disciple of the Daoist orthodoxy or a wandering cultivator with deep ties to it.
Qian Chen knew a fair bit about the Daoist orthodoxy, but his knowledge of other factions in the Central Lands was rather limited.
When he questioned the Old Fox earlier, the beast had bluffed him into thinking Mount Mei was some formidable great sect and a pillar of the righteous path. Yet later, when Qian Chen killed one of their men, he discovered that despite the fellow's arrogant bluster, the man folded instantly in actual combat.
How could he not realize he had been fooled?
The Old Fox was likely just a frog in a well who had never witnessed the wider world in his entire life, occupying the lower strata of existence. Now that Qian Chen had finally crossed paths with an aristocratic scion who possessed insight into the upper echelons of the cultivation world, he was glad to converse with him and learn about the broader state of affairs across the Central Lands.
Although Cui Dan found it slightly strange that an esteemed senior expert seemed ignorant of common knowledge in the Central Lands, he was open-minded and cheerful by nature, even somewhat uninhibited and carefree. Beneath the surface, Qian Chen was also a modern man who paid little heed to rigid etiquette. At first, the two sat formally as they conversed, but soon Qian Chen leaned his back against the cloud seat formed by the Flying Cloud Pouch. The fluffy white cloud cushioned his waist much like a sofa from his past life.
Seeing this, Cui Dan could hardly maintain the upright, stiff posture expected of an aristocratic clan. He quietly asked Qian Chen if sitting like that was comfortable. Qian Chen burst into laughter, flicked a finger, and separated two auspicious clouds to lift Cui Dan while providing a seat for Uncle Wu beside him as well.
Feeling his stiff back and waist perfectly cradled by the soft, plush, and resilient contours of the cloud, Cui Dan let out a contented sigh. Imitating Qian Chen, he slumped back against the cloud seat. He relaxed down to his fingertips, relying entirely on the backrest to keep from collapsing completely. Uncle Wu dared not cast aside restraint like the two of them; he could only watch his young master reveal his true, undisciplined nature before the eminent expert.
"For clans like ours, cultivation is passed down through the family, which people refer to as 'classical learning.' My Qinghe Cui clan preserves the dao lineage of the ancient holy sovereigns. In antiquity, when Yuanshi Dao Ancestor first took helm of the Daoist orthodoxy, he dispatched his eldest disciple, Dao Venerable Guangcheng, to the Central Lands to assist the Human Sovereign in order to make the human race flourish. Dao Venerable Guangcheng expounded the scriptures to the Human Sovereign and the civil and military officials, transmitting the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture of the Yuxu lineage.
"This is the origin of classical learning among the clans of the Central Lands.
"Afterward, the Human Sovereign founded the Heavenly Zhou, enfiefed the world, purged fiends and devils, expelled barbarians, abolished shamanic cults, and caused the human path to prosper. Ten thousand years passed, and several tens of thousands of years later, when the virtue of the Zhou Son of Heaven began to wane, feudal states arose in unison. Back then, classical learning was no longer limited to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture of the Yuxu lineage popular among the Human Sovereign, his officials, and many clans; it also included the Dao De Jing, transmitted to the Hundred Schools by Supreme Dao Venerable Xuandu, and the Supreme Clarity Scripture of Salvation, which the Three Mao Perfected Lords introduced to unorthodox paths.
"These three formed the fountainheads of classical learning in later generations of the Daoist orthodoxy! Today's clans either trace their heritage to the Human Sovereign, feudal lords, and high ministers of the Great Zhou; or they studied under the Hundred Schools of Thought; or they were influenced by the Maoshan lineage's widespread transmission among unorthodox paths. The scriptures handed down within families all originate from these three. At their root, they are all lineages of the Daoist orthodoxy.
"As for Buddhist scriptures and canons, though they are popular among the common folk and found in clans, sects, and great monasteries, they have not been adopted by prominent clans that place great weight on ancestral heritage. However, it is said that Great Wei in the north was originally barbarian; seizing the north amidst the chaos of the previous dynasty, Buddhist classical learning is widely practiced among clans there, unlike Great Jin which adheres strictly to Daoist classical learning."
Qian Chen smiled and asked, "Then is your Cui clan's ancestral scripture also the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture?"
Cui Dan gave a wry smile and shook his head. "How profound and boundless is the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture? It is the fundamental law of Yuxu Palace. Though Dao Venerable Guangcheng widely disseminated it, our forebears could not grasp even a ten-thousandth of it. Most merely borrowed its fundamental principles to devise alternate methods of cultivation, merely appending 'Mysterious Scripture' to the title to indicate its origin.
"Ancestors of our Qinghe Cui clan attained the Primal Spirit and handed down cultivation methods like the Motto, the Four Bright Monthly Ordinances, the Nine Marshes Water Methods of Various Rivers, and Understanding Destiny and Piercing the Purport. Yet our foundational law remains the one practiced by the Jiang clan, feudal lords of the state of Qi in the Great Zhou—the Heavenly Derivation Five Virtues Mysterious Scripture.
"The Heavenly Derivation Five Virtues Mysterious Scripture originated from the core tenets of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture transmitted by Dao Venerable Guangcheng to the Son of Heaven and feudal lords of the Great Zhou. The Jiang lords of Qi obtained it as the Yang Heaven Mysterious Scripture. Our Cui clan is a branch of the Jiang clan and received a portion of this scripture's essentials. Later, an ancestor apprenticed under the School of Five Elements in the state of Qi and achieved the Primal Spirit under Dao Venerable Dayan, Master Zou.
"Thus, they were able to bring together the Nine Heavens Mysterious Scripture of the Guangcheng lineage and the Dao De Jing of the Xuandu lineage.
"With the core essentials from the Yang Heaven Mysterious Scripture and the Five Elements Heavenly Derivation True Scripture, an ancestor of heavenly talent forged a path to attain the Primal Spirit. Subsequent talents of the Cui clan continually achieved the Primal Spirit along this path, filling in and refining it until it became this Heavenly Derivation Five Virtues Mysterious Scripture."
Hearing such a vast family history spanning from the medieval era to the present, and learning that the Cui clan had produced dozens of Primal Spirit True Persons, Qian Chen could not help but feel moved.
"Oh? To achieve the Primal Spirit, it must indeed be an open avenue to the Great Dao. With such ancestral roots, does the Cui clan still possess Primal Spirit True Persons today?"
Cui Dan smiled bitterly. "That was several tens of thousands of years ago at the earliest. Today, the path of cultivation in the Central Lands is at a low ebb. Among the clans, aside from the ancient Human Sovereign and Five Emperors clans, and the medieval Hundred Schools and feudal lord clans that might still possess foundation reserves of the Primal Spirit rank, what clan dares claim to have a Primal Spirit holding the fort? Even the imperial Sima clan of Great Jin relies on a single Primal Spirit ancestor to suppress their fortunes and sustain their dynasty!
"The few ancestors who openly preside over our Cui clan today are merely Core Formation grand cultivators. After all, if a family's foundation is too formidable, it inevitably invites the suspicion of the imperial family..."
Regarding ancient history, Qian Chen actually knew more than Cui Dan...
In antiquity, the Human Sovereign who unified the Central Lands was also known as the Son of Heaven.
The dynasties they founded were called Heavenly Dynasties. The Heavenly Zhou Human Sovereign who received Guangcheng's teachings, whom Cui Dan had mentioned, was the Zhou Son of Heaven—founder of the Heavenly Zhou Divine Dynasty. Before the Zhou Son of Heaven ascended with the staunch backing of the Daoist orthodoxy, there was the Heavenly Shang Divine Dynasty, backed by the ancient Heavenly Court and founded by blood descendants of the Heavenly Emperor. Earlier still was the oldest, the Heavenly Xia Divine Dynasty, supported by ancient deities of the shamanic cult.
The Heavenly Xia Divine Dynasty was established by descendants of Divine King Yu, whose ruler was titled 'Hou'! This was the Xiahou clan...
In antiquity, 'Huang' and 'Hou' were interchangeable, so they could also be called the Xiahuang clan.
The Heavenly Shang Divine Dynasty was established by descendants of the Taiyi Heavenly Emperor of the celestial realm, whose ruler was titled 'Di'! This was the Dishang clan...
The Heavenly Zhou Divine Dynasty was supported by the Three Ancestors of the Daoist orthodoxy, whose ruler was titled 'Son of Heaven'! This was the Zhou Son of Heaven...
The fortunes of each of these three ancient divine dynasties—Xia, Shang, and Zhou—stretched across a million years. The descendant families of the Xiahou clan, the Dishang clan, and the Zhou Son of Heaven—the ancient Ji, Jiang, Feng, Ying, Si, Dishang, and Xiahou clans—were known as the ancient Human Sovereign and Five Emperors clans. Only later came the medieval era, when the authority of the Zhou Son of Heaven in the Heavenly Zhou Divine Dynasty decayed and numerous feudal states arose, followed by the recent antiquity era of Immortal Qin and Immortal Han, two cultivation dynasties that unified the Nine Great Provinces.
There were feudal states under surnames such as Cao, Qi, Yun, Jiang, Dong, Yan, Gui, Mi, Yun, Gui, Si, Zi, Ji, Feng, and Ying. Those medieval feudal states whose lines survived to the present day, apart from the states founded by the ancient Human Sovereign and Five Emperors clans, were all known as medieval feudal lord clans...
The medieval era also saw the lineages of the Hundred Schools of Thought. These masters, who were at least Dao Lords, established the predecessors of many contemporary major sects, such as the Dayan Five Elements Sect, the Divine Farmer Hall, the Wu-Yue Sword Pavilion, the Cloud Firmament Palace, the Spring and Autumn Pavilion, and the Mohist School... Within these sects were families of exceedingly ancient heritage, bearing surnames like Yang, Zhu, Zou, Kong, Meng, Zhang, and Zi. These families were either rooted within the sects as family lines or had entered secular society to pass down their bloodlines.
They were known as the medieval Hundred Schools clans.
Finally came those like Cui Dan's line, descended from the ancient world of Human Sovereigns, the medieval Hundred Schools, or even grand masters and wandering cultivators who had attained the Primal Spirit within major sects in more recent years.
Those with long heritages, like the Qinghe Cui clan, possessed deep ties to ancient and medieval clans and sects. Across generations, dozens of their esteemed forebears had achieved the Primal Spirit and ascended, giving them foundations no weaker than medium and small sects.
Those with shallower heritage might merely be cultivation clans formed because a sect's Primal Spirit ancestor favored their own kin or handed the reins of sect authority to their descendants.
Cultivators, after all, were inherently selfish. Once successful in cultivation, far more chose to elevate their own descendants than take on outside disciples. Even if a True Person accepted both disciples and descendants, they invariably favored their own flesh and blood.
Hence, the path of cultivation spread far more easily along bloodlines. A Primal Spirit True Person could often inadvertently establish a minor clan. If worthy successors maintained power over the sect after that ancestor's ascension, several generations were enough to forge a deeply rooted aristocratic clan.
Clans formed this way that passed down their legacy within a sect were called cultivation clans. Those that passed down their lineage independently in the mortal world, if they achieved anything of note, occupied at least a commandery as their seat of power and were known as commandery-prominent clans.
The ancient Human Sovereign clans, the medieval feudal and Hundred Schools clans, and today's commandery-prominent cultivation clans—these were the origins of the aristocratic clans of the Central Lands.
Chapter 46