Chapter 555 Chen Clan Seniority, Qingxu(Place) Karma

Lu Wenyuan felt a stir in his heart. Helping the Lu family become a Golden Core immortal clan would be sufficient to repay the kindness he had received over the years.

Within the entire Lu clan, aside from the Patriarch, his relationships with others had grown distant. Helping several beloved kin who were fated to perish achieve Golden Core breakthrough was the greatest assistance he could offer his family.

Centuries later, when his cultivation had reached profound heights, the Lu clan's ties with him had long faded into distant connections of happenstance, no longer bound by deep emotional attachments. Thus, there remained nothing left to trouble himself over.

At that thought, he dropped to his knees, kowtowed 9 times with resounding thuds, and said, "Your disciple Lu Wenyuan pays respects to the master and mistress!"

"Excellent."

Eldrin accepted the grand gesture with grace, then with a flick of his sleeve, he helped the other rise and said, "From this day forward, you shall be the second disciple under our tutelage."

"Since you have become my disciple, you must understand my rules from this day forward."

"As my disciple, you must understand 1 truth. In this life, you need not kneel to heaven and earth, nor bow to immortals and demons, nor submit to power and authority. But you must learn to be grateful."

"By taking you as my disciple, I have bestowed upon you a grace akin to rebirth—this is the grace of attaining the Dao."

"Whether you ascend as an immortal or descend as a demon in the future, so long as you refrain from incurring the wrath of heaven and humanity, and so long as you still remember this master of yours, then I shall remain your staunchest support."

Lu Wenyuan felt his blood boiling with fervor. He promptly knelt and bowed once more, saying respectfully, "Even if this disciple were to fall into the 9 Abysses, I would never forget the grace of my master."

"Hmm."

Eldrin gave a nod and handed Lu Wenyuan an ancient scroll along with a storage pouch. "This contains the refinement method for the 4 Symbols Flag Formation and the treasures required for its crafting," he said.

"This set of formation banners possesses extraordinary power. It was serendipitously obtained by your master after slaying a False Infant cultivator in the past. Now, I have refined and evolved it into 4 personal magical treasures through division and deduction. The formation they create is several times more powerful than its original state."

"By cultivating this treasure as your Life-Bound Array Artifact to its ultimate potential, you should be able to contend against a Nascent Soul True Monarch despite being at the Great Perfection stage of Golden Core. This shall become your means to roam the world unchallenged."

Lu Wenyuan took the treasure, his face lighting up with ecstasy. The entire Lu Clan didn’t possess even a single method for refining a Life-Bound Magical Treasure, yet unexpectedly, he had now obtained a complete set of the most supreme Life-Bound Magical Treasure.

Seeing his expression, Eldrin waved his hand with a light laugh. "Qingfeng is your senior brother. As your master, I have urgent matters to attend to. You should follow your senior brother to handle the affairs of the Lu family."

"In due time, I shall summon you to recreate a cultivation method tailored specifically for the 4 Symbols Dao Body (Spiritual Root), perfectly aligned with your physique."

Lu Wenyuan promptly bowed once more. "Many thanks, Master. This disciple takes his leave."

Ye Qingfeng, standing nearby, offered a slight bow as well, then looked at Lu Wenyuan with a smile. "Junior Brother, please follow me."

The 2 stepped out of the great hall, where Ye Qingfeng (Person Name) cast a glance at Chen Fusu (Person Name), who had been waiting for a long time, and remarked with a faint smile.

"Go on in."

"Many thanks, Ancestral Elder."

Chen Fusu offered a slight bow, glanced at Lu Wenyan, then smiled wryly, "It seems I've gained another ancestral figure of my generation."

Lu Wenyuan finally calmed his emotions, a faint smile gracing his lips.

Though their ages differed little and their natural talents were quite comparable, their statuses had now diverged vastly. Yet in private, they would likely maintain a friendship akin to peers.

With this thought in mind, Lu Wenyuan cupped his hands and said, "There's no need for formalities between us. Allow me to settle the Lu family affairs first, then I shall host a banquet in your honor."

"Then I shall await our Young Patriarch's grand feast."

Chen Fusu smiled faintly and rose to step into the grand hall.

In just a few strides, he entered the great hall. Upon seeing the 2 figures, he immediately dropped to his knees and declared, "Fusu pays respects to the 2 Ancestors."

"Has it already reached the 'Fu' generation?"

A faint smile touched Eldrin's brow.

Honoring the Worthy and Remembering the Ancestors, Supporting 1 Another and Revitalizing the Clan, Ascending to Immortality and Achieving Eternity. The Chen Clan's 16-character generational sequence had unknowingly reached the "Support" generation. This was only possible because, after the Chen Clan advanced to become a Golden Core Immortal Family, the generational timeline had been extended for each lineage. Otherwise, the 16 characters would likely have been nearly exhausted by now.

"I heard that after advancing to become a Nascent Soul Immortal Clan, the old clan leader decided that henceforth, only 1 generational designation would be used for newborns every 3 100 years. It appears this is indeed true."

Eldrin (Person Name) murmured inwardly, recalling the old patriarch's words: once the Chen family exhausted its 16 designated generational names, no new lineage sequence would be established.

By that time, the mortal bloodline of the Chen family would have been passed down for hundreds, even thousands of generations. 2 individuals of the same age might be separated by centuries in terms of their generational lineage.

At that point, rearranging seniority no longer mattered, for their generational ranks had become too tangled to recall.

In such circumstances, seniority could already be determined by cultivation level.

According to the naming conventions of the cultivation world, those at the Qi Refining stage use the generation name "Xiu", Foundation Establishment stage "Bu", Purple Mansion stage "Xian", Golden Core stage "Deng", Nascent Soul stage "Zu", and Divine Consciousness stage "Xing".

In this manner of establishing seniority, not only would it not affect the Old Patriarch and Eldrin (Person Name)—the founding ancestors with clearly documented bloodlines—but it would also allow later generations of clansmen to elevate their status and standing through their cultivation achievements.

Moreover, with the Chen family's 16-character generational hierarchy, even if they were to 1 day produce an immortal and ascend to become a glorious and eternal immortal clan, this system would remain more than sufficient for use even in the immortal realm.

The Ji Clan of Immortals employed this very practice. Apart from cultivators whose bloodlines could be clearly traced, when a True Lord of the Ji Clan broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, male True Lords would adopt "Fei" (Non) as their generational designation, while female True Lords would take "Fei" (Consort) as theirs.

Thus did Ji Feiye and Ji Feiyan acquire their generational names. As for Freya, she was the direct daughter of Dorian, and since her lineage could be clearly traced, she was naturally bestowed with the generational name "Fei" at birth.

Rank determines seniority.

Eldrin's thoughts raced, yet he could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Having just recently broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, it was far too premature to dwell on the hierarchy of the immortal realms beyond.

Eldrin withdrew his thoughts and turned his gaze toward Chen Fusu, a smile finally gracing his lips. "Since emerging from seclusion, I’ve heard tales of a peerless genius among the Fu-generation. Seeing you today, the rumors do not disappoint."

"You flatter me, Ancestor."

Chen Fusu spoke with palpable excitement. Though he had garnered the attention of several Golden Core cultivators within his clan after his Dao Body was identified, this was truly the first time he had laid eyes on an Infant Soul Ancestor.

Eldrin smiled faintly, his gaze imperceptibly sweeping over the other as if taking measure. After a moment of contemplative silence, he spoke, "The Trinity Dao Body, also known as the Triad Celestial Physique, stands as 1 of the world's exceedingly rare supreme constitutions."

"With your innate talent, you can be considered the foremost among the 3 million cultivators our Chen Family has produced over the past several centuries. With proper nurturing, your future prospects would be truly limitless."

"Alas, since you are a member of the Chen family, I cannot directly take you as my disciple."

As he spoke, he pondered for a moment before retrieving an ancient scroll and handing it to Chen Fusu.

After Chen Fusu had picked up the ancient scroll and finished reading it, Eldrin finally spoke, "This scroll is named the Ancient Canghai Scroll, the foundational ancient text of the Qingxu Sect—a major immortal cultivation sect in the Eastern Sea."

"In ages past, I made a vow to the Verdant Void Sect—to find a worthy successor who could inherit their profound legacy. Are you willing to bear this karmic burden?"