Chapter 399: Divine Powers Cannot Defeat Wisdom

Original Mountain.

Reception Hall.

"Distinguished guests, pray be seated." Lin Bufan strolled forth with leisurely steps, flicked his sleeve, and slowly took his seat.

Zhu Xuanji, Shen Lingshu, Ning Jiufan, Ning Zhuo, and Lin Shanshan all sat down.

Lin Bufan slowly raised a hand, signaling the attendants of the Myriad Medicine Sect to serve spirit tea and pastries.

Ning Jiufan stroked his beard and smiled, being the first to speak, "Tea and pastries are not truly important. Sect Master Lin, pray tell us about the Shimmering Reflection Wall within the Myriad Demon Cave."

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention was immediately drawn.

Ning Zhuo also chuckled, "So that's it. The treasure within the Myriad Demon Cave is the Shimmering Reflection Wall, is it? Forgive this junior's ignorance, I have never heard of any Shimmering Reflection Wall."

He and Ning Jiufan spoke in concert, the grandfather and grandson working together tacitly, like a united offense from the left and right, cornering Lin Bufan in the main seat.

This caused Zhu Xuanji to glance sideways and Shen Lingshu to raise her brows.

After Ning Zhuo appeared, he sent a transmission to Zhu Xuanji, informing the latter about his discovery of the treasure within the Myriad Demon Cave. His original intention was to treat Granny Yuan and acquire the Myriad Year Fire Essence from Fire Persimmon Mountain, but the unexpected had happened. Granny Yuan and Ning Jiufan had been subdued by Lin Bufan and made captives. He implored Zhu Xuanji to rescue them!

Shen Lingshu secretly pondered, "This Ning Zhuo is indeed skilled in stratagems! This time, specially inviting Zhu Xuanji is to borrow the might of our kingdom's royal family and the prestige of the Divine Constable to restrain Lin Bufan."

"Zhu Xuanji has fallen for the trap! And yet, he had no choice but to fall for it."

"Let's see what this mysterious Shimmering Reflection Wall is."

Zhu Xuanji, meanwhile, felt deeply moved.

He thought to himself, "This Ning Jiufan indeed possesses considerable courage, entering the situation himself. One moment a captive, the next he is calm and composed."

"The Northern Land's 'Gallant Wind' is truly commendable."

Lin Bufan's mood was somber.

He was well aware of the current situation!

He seemed to be in the main seat, having operated here for over a hundred years, a local power, yet in terms of strength, he was the weakest.

The combat power of the Ning family grandfather and grandson, Zhu Xuanji, and Shen Lingshu was already enough to make Lin Bufan apprehensive. Not to mention the colossal forces they represented behind them.

"Zhu Xuanji and Shen Lingshu have come together. I fear there are even more powerful experts of the royal family hidden in the shadows during this trip."

Many enemies and few allies, the defeat was already sealed.

When Lin Bufan welcomed Zhu Xuanji and Shen Lingshu into Myriad Medicine Valley, he had already understood this.

What he needed to do now was to find a foothold in this defeat and safeguard his and the Myriad Medicine Sect's interests!

Therefore, facing the tacit "attack" of the Ning family grandfather and grandson, Lin Bufan did not directly state what the Shimmering Reflection Wall was.

But he also knew that he could not avoid addressing the matter.

Thus, he pointed to the tea service that had already been presented and placed before everyone, saying, "In those years, I was but a Golden Core, lacking sufficient talent in cultivation, finding it difficult to overcome the hurdles and advance to Nascent Soul."

"In my frustration, I chose to travel far and wide, seeking opportunities."

"Heaven was kind, allowing me to unexpectedly enter a formation within the Myriad Demon Cave and encounter Zhang Huaixu."

Zhu Xuanji frowned, "Sage of Calligraphy, Zhang Huaixu?"

Lin Bufan nodded.

Zhang Huaixu was a historical figure, born in the period after the Forbidden Dynasty and before the Night Rain Dynasty.

In his early years, he practiced the Confucian path, and his calligraphy was upright and rigid. After being demoted as an official, he planted trees and cultivated his spirit, imbuing his emotions into them.

Over time, he gained insight from the plants and trees, taking heaven and earth as his teacher, integrating nature into his character cultivation. He studied calligraphy and created a unique wild cursive script called "Grass and Wood True Words." Every stroke and line was naturally formed, as if spontaneously generated by nature. The characters written were sometimes as swift as a storm, sometimes as gentle as a light cloud, all secretly containing the rhyme of heaven and earth.

Later generations honored him as the Sage of Calligraphy!

Historical records clearly stated that the Sage of Calligraphy had long since passed away. However, Lin Bufan encountered him in the Myriad Demon Cave, so clearly this Sage of Calligraphy was not that Sage of Calligraphy and was related to the Shimmering Reflection Wall.

Indeed, Lin Bufan said in the next moment, "What I encountered was certainly not the Sage of Calligraphy himself, but rather an image he left within the wall after he discovered a clue to the Reflection Wall here and had a wondrous encounter. You can understand it as a Dharma Body."

"Although I lacked the talent for cultivation, the Sage of Calligraphy's Dharma Body also guided me and imparted a part of his inheritance."

"With this inheritance, I comprehended some of the Grass and Wood True Words, successfully cultivated spirit herbs, and used this to break through Golden Core and form a Nascent Soul, advancing to a Nascent Soul cultivator."

Following this was the information that Ning Zhuo, Zhu Xuanji, and others were able to investigate.

Lin Bufan, with his Nascent Soul cultivation, rose to become the leader of the Myriad Medicine Sect. He implemented drastic reforms, using various means to eliminate dissidents, clear out corruption, and purify the Myriad Medicine Sect's foundation, removing the parasites.

One of his most well-known methods was to bypass the established rules and outdated contracts, directly relocating the entire sect to its original site. As a result, even if many old forces' contracts survived, they lost almost all their benefits, becoming mere empty and useless papers.

Lin Bufan said, "I did not hesitate to pay a heavy price to relocate the entire sect to Myriad Medicine Valley. On the surface, it was because the spiritual springs here are abundant, suitable for cultivating various medicinal herbs, fully utilizing the Sage of Calligraphy's inheritance I received."

"In reality, I wanted to continue seeking the opportunity within the Myriad Demon Cave."

"In the time that followed, I descended into the cave multiple times but was blocked by the formation. I repeatedly fought and failed, but no matter how many attempts failed, it could not shake my will."

"Finally, one day, the Sage of Calligraphy Zhang Huaixu appeared again. He told me that the spiritual wall was of great significance. Even if it was ownerless, the awaited master should be a pillar of the human race, a genius among geniuses, and it could never become the private property of a mundane cultivator like me, urging me to abandon my extravagant hopes."

"I was consequently disheartened for quite some time."

"One day, I was moved by emotion and created this spirit tea. Please, everyone, have a taste."

The people in the hall were somewhat caught off guard.

They had been listening intently as Lin Bufan recounted hidden past events, and they hadn't expected him to suddenly change the subject to spirit tea.

But everyone had just been listening attentively and with full focus, and they still had the inertia of their attention, so they couldn't help but turn their gazes to the cups beside them.

The cups were rustic, resembling red pottery, with many indentations on the surface, giving them a feeling of being roughly made.

In the cups, the tea leaves were an orange-red like the autumn sunset, with faint mountain-like patterns visible on the leaves.

Shen Lingshu became interested, was the first to pick up a cup, and took a sip.

He savored it for a moment, then immediately praised, "Good tea."

Ning Zhuo also drank.

Upon first taste, it was slightly bitter, with a subtle woody fragrance, like the cold air that greeted you when you first entered a mountain forest.

As the tea soup slid into his mouth and he savored it carefully, the tea flavor gradually deepened, producing a hint of sweetness with an endless aftertaste.

After drinking, there was a warm feeling in his throat, as if he saw a vast landscape silently standing in the passage of time. And the words of departed friends whispered in his ears, causing one to be immersed and inevitably feel a sense of melancholy.

Seeing that everyone was quietly tasting the tea, Lin Bufan appropriately said, "This tea was created by me, and I named it 'Rivers and Mountains, Departed Friends.' The tea tree is rooted in the most barren soil and requires infusion with the spirit fluid extracted from tens of thousands of different medicinal herbs every day to grow and produce tea leaves."

"I commemorate the ancestors, and also use this as my aspiration, to rise up anew."

"On one hand, I specifically sought out many orphaned children, measured their talents, and accepted them all as disciples. On the other hand, I ordered the Original Mountain deity to infiltrate Myriad Medicine Valley and the other three peaks for long-term strategic planning. Finally, I implemented a new policy, attracting cultivators to reside on Lesser Strife Peak, encouraging them to continuously compete. This method is to gain the goodwill of the Reflection Wall."

"The Shimmering Reflection Wall was originally the palace wall of Immortal Consort Jing Yu. Immortal Consort Jing Yu was a scholar who knew everything under the sun. With the aid of the Martial Emperor's treasury, she studied and practiced the techniques collected from across the entire world at that time. Over time, the wall became spiritual and gained wondrous power."

"It can reflect all sorts of people in the world and preserve specific images. You can understand this as a special kind of Dharma Body."

"The Sage of Calligraphy Zhang Huaixu whom I encountered earlier was one of them, intentionally left behind by the Sage of Calligraphy himself at that time, as an inheritance for future generations."

The hall was silent.

On one hand, everyone was rapidly processing the impact of this hidden information. On the other hand, everyone felt a sense of emotion.

Lin Bufan encountered a setback but did not give up. Instead, he found a different path and tried various other methods.

He had been managing this place for over a hundred years. This was a lonely plan for a hundred years, unwavering, enduring, and waiting for the right time.

The spirit tea he created, "Rivers and Mountains, Departed Friends," was surely an expression of his aspirations. He wanted to emulate figures like the Sage of Calligraphy Zhang Huaixu, with an aspiration that would endure and mountains and rivers that would remain unchanged!

Lin Shanshan's eyes were red, and she was the most moved. Only now did she understand her father's painstaking efforts and scheming, laying out plans spanning a hundred years. How difficult a task this was.

Ning Zhuo inwardly cried out, "Amazing, truly amazing!"

"I've learned, I've learned so much."

Lin Bufan's maneuvering with words had allowed him to advance despite being in a losing position.

The atmosphere in the reception hall greatly softened. Zhu Xuanji and Shen Lingshu had been aggressively pressuring him, with the intention of questioning him. But at this moment, they both developed a lot of goodwill towards Lin Bufan and gained more understanding of him.

Lin Bufan cleverly used the tea and pastries to express his philosophy, gaining recognition from others. While preserving his dignity and the authority of a Sect Master, he used the relationships between Ning Zhuo, Lin Shanshan, and Linghu Jiu to bridge the distance between him and the Ning family, turning enemies into friends to the greatest extent!

Truly worthy of being Lin Bufan, truly worthy of being a figure with real power who had managed the entire sect for over a hundred years.

Could the Myriad Medicine Sect not prosper and flourish under such a leader?

Ning Zhuo was ashamed to find that compared to Lin Bufan's social skills, his frequent use of the Fate String technique was actually a form of regression, a lack of ambition, and laziness.

"Sect Master Lin Bufan, a true hero!"

"I must take him as a role model and study hard!!"

"If I always rely on the Fate String divine ability for assistance, how can I possibly improve in this area?"

"Even if the Fate String is powerful, it is limited by cultivation. It cannot plant Nascent Soul seeds, and even planting one on Linghu Jiu would be detected."

"But this kind of communication skill is like a gentle spring rain at night, moisturizing things silently."

"Wonderful, indescribably wonderful."

Immediately, Ning Zhuo decided to rely less on divine abilities in the future and focus on digging deeper into his own potential.

It is not difficult to use divine abilities. The difficulty lies in being skilled without using divine abilities.

Ning Zhuo witnessed this realm and ability in Lin Bufan today.

"Indeed, techniques are limited by cultivation, but wisdom can be boundless!"