Chapter 799: Gu Xinghan's Inheritance
Even at a glance, the jade disc was clearly extraordinary.
Running a hand over it, the surface felt as smooth and delicate as a young woman's skin.
Initially, Gu Xinghan intended to turn the item over to his elders.
But for some reason he couldn't explain, on a strange impulse, he kept the discovery of the jade disc to himself.
Lying did not come naturally to the young Gu Xinghan.
For days afterward, a guilty conscience gnawed at him, and he found himself unable to meet the eyes of the elders in the valley.
Fortunately, he had always been a solitary child. Moreover, in the aftermath of the recent catastrophe, every cultivator in Longevity Valley was preoccupied with recovery and rebuilding.
As a result, his odd behavior went unnoticed.
Gradually, his anxiety began to fade.
Convinced he had unearthed a priceless treasure, Gu Xinghan spent every spare moment secretly studying the jade disc.
To his profound disappointment, however, days passed, and he still couldn't discern what made the disc so special or what its purpose might be.
It appeared to be nothing more than an unusually beautiful piece of ordinary jade.
Yet, driven by the sort of fantasy that lingers in every child's heart, Gu Xinghan couldn't bring himself to discard it.
Instead, he stored the disc within his dantian, carefully nourishing it with his own spiritual energy.
As the Medicine King Sect completed its reconstruction, Gu Xinghan's attention was forcibly drawn elsewhere.
The previous sect master, Li Fan, had tragically perished in the calamity, leaving the future of the Medicine King Sect hanging in the balance.
Succession in the Medicine King Sect had never been determined by bloodline.
Li Fan had inherited the title only because of Liu Ruchen's final testament.
Now, with Li Fan's sudden death, no successor had been named.
If the position were decided by strength alone, the choice would undoubtedly fall to one of the three Dao Integration cultivators: Liu San, Jiang Yushan, or Fang Zaiji.
Neither Jiang Yushan nor Fang Zaiji had any interest in power, which made Liu San the most likely candidate.
However...
For one, Liu San still considered himself Liu Ruchen's servant and felt he was both unwilling and unworthy to assume the title of Sect Master.
For another, the sect faced a crisis far greater than just a matter of succession.
A more pressing danger stemmed from the thousands of cultivators who had been ejected from the Medicine King Cauldron.
They were all cultivators of the old ways, and nearly all of them practiced the Medicine King Sect's core technique, the *World Saving Longevity Scripture*.
If they were to all awaken at once, a bloodbath would likely erupt within the sect.
Although the three Dao Integration masters had joined forces to put them back into an enforced slumber, without a supreme treasure like the Medicine King True Cauldron, the effect was only temporary.
There simply wasn't enough time to find suitable new cultivation techniques for so many slumbering cultivators.
For these reasons and more, Liu San and the others ultimately decided to follow the example of the Tai Yan Sect and pledge allegiance to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
With the sect's entire future at stake, Liu San, still apprehensive, made a personal trip to observe the Alliance for himself.
Upon his return, the three Dao Integration masters reached a consensus.
Liu San would be their representative, formally visiting the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance to request their allegiance.
Meanwhile, Fang Zaiji used this time to distribute the Terminal Discs to key members of the sect, particularly the young prodigies he had rescued. He explained how to use them, sternly warning them to keep the matter an absolute secret.
The Medicine King Sect was not as renowned as the Ten Great Immortal Sects, but because its disciples were known for their benevolence and life-saving deeds, their legends had persisted for thousands of years. In terms of public recognition, they were hardly inferior to the Ten Sects.
As the second faction from a smaller world to voluntarily seek allegiance, and one with its strength largely intact, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance placed great importance on them.
They dispatched a Dao Integration cultivator, Immortal Sage Qingyun, to oversee the matter.
After touring Longevity Valley under Liu San's guidance, Immortal Sage Qingyun could barely contain his delight.
The negotiations proceeded smoothly, and both sides quickly reached an agreement for the Medicine King Sect to join the Alliance.
The Medicine King Sect would retain a high degree of autonomy; its disciples would only be required to carry a Tianxuan Mirror, just like any other Alliance cultivator.
As for the fact that many of the sect's cultivators had already infiltrated the Alliance ahead of time, Qingyun did not press the issue.
News of the Medicine King Sect joining the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance quickly spread throughout the Xuanhuang Realm.
The announcement sent shockwaves across the land.
It prompted more and more of the smaller worlds to surrender.
True to its word, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance promptly delivered various forms of aid.
Of course, the first order of business was a complete scan by the Tianxuan Mirror.
Once both the Beast Seed Realm and Longevity Valley were brought under the Tianxuan Mirror's purview, the Medicine King Sect received the aid it had desperately sought: new cultivation techniques.
As the sleeping cultivators were awakened one by one and began practicing the new methods, the crisis that had threatened the Medicine King Sect was finally averted.
With the danger past, it was time to look to the future.
The Medicine King Sect now boasted six Dao Integration cultivators, twenty-three at the Soul Transformation stage, and a number of Nascent Soul cultivators.
By the standards of the current cultivation world, they were undeniably a major power.
Yet they still lacked a leader, a veritable flock of dragons without a head.
Though they had pledged allegiance, and their nominal leader was the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, under such a high degree of autonomy, the power of the sect's own leader remained immense.
Moreover, this leader would be the direct point of contact with the Alliance, a position that came with many benefits.
It was a prize that would tempt even a Dao Integration master.
And so, after a period of open disputes and subtle maneuvering, to prevent the newly recovered Medicine King Sect from fracturing once more, it was decided by vote that Liu San would inherit the title of Sect Master.
The young Gu Xinghan was largely oblivious to these proceedings.
He only vaguely registered the arrival of many cultivators in strange attire.
Then, he saw many of the elders awaken from their long slumber.
After a period of turmoil, the outcome, at least, was a good one.
He had a vivid memory of Liu San, the kind old man who had personally instructed them.
But what was it he had taught them, again?
The young Gu Xinghan sank into a fog of thought, trying to recall.
He remained lost in this contemplation for the entire duration of the sect's grand ceremony.
By the end, he still hadn't managed to remember.
Later, when all the sect's disciples were required to enter a Tianxuan Minor Mirror to generate their personal Tianxuan Mirrors, his attention was finally diverted.
To Gu Xinghan, the Tianxuan Mirror, a treasure with countless functions, was far more fascinating than his plain jade disc.
He became completely engrossed, exploring its many uses, and gradually forgot all about the disc.
Until one day, when he formally resumed his cultivation, he noticed something was wrong.
While his peers were all starting to seek out worldly treasures for their Foundation Establishment, Gu Xinghan realized that he seemed to have... possibly... perhaps... already established his.
Gu Xinghan was momentarily stunned.
He didn't dare ask anyone about his body's strange condition.
He could only mull it over in private.
And it was during this process of contemplation that the jade disc, which had remained inert and seemingly mundane all this time... finally showed a reaction.
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