A new day was beginning at the Bamboo Sword Sect, but the discussions about the previous day were still intense among the sect’s upper echelon.

The sparring match between Jian Huiyin and Feng Zhen had been impactful enough to make it clear that the Infinite Dao Sect was even more powerful than they had imagined.

However, this hadn’t reached the ears of the younger generation of either sect. After all, it had been a friendly spar, and spreading the fact that the leader of the Bamboo Sword Sect had fought an inner elder and remained at a disadvantage until the end would undermine the sect’s authority.

But for Aotian, that had just been a minor episode. At that moment, he was in his room inside the cave mansion, eyes closed, legs crossed, surrounded by elemental stones that were slowly dimming. It was clear he was cultivating.

During the fifteen-day journey, he had continued cultivating. However, after reaching the Foundation Establishment realm, the time needed to progress increased drastically, and Aotian hadn’t advanced even a single level yet.

Still, the time wasn’t wasted. He was close to making a breakthrough.

Moreover, during the expedition period, Aotian had not only sought out resources but had also continued to learn more and more about this world, gradually forming his own sense of common knowledge.

For instance, he had discovered that perfect-quality single-element roots usually took about two to three years to complete Qi Refinement — which was why they were extremely valued by all sects.

But, just as they were terrifying in cultivation, they were equally rare. Perfect roots, in general, were rare. So far, among the disciples Aotian had recruited, only Xiao Ling had one — and a single-element root at that. He had been lucky to find her.

Of course, with Aotian’s synthesized techniques, a disciple with perfect mixed roots could cultivate at the same speed as one with a perfect single-element root — but still, there wasn’t a second perfect root in the sect.

Regarding Foundation Establishment, he learned that perfect-quality single-element roots typically took about seventy years to perfect that realm — assuming ideal conditions, like a second-tier spiritual vein, good resources, no deficiencies, no poisoning, and full focus on cultivation without laziness.

The average lifespan for someone in the Foundation Establishment realm ranged from two hundred to two hundred and fifty years, meaning cultivators with perfect single-element roots had a good chance of reaching the Golden Core realm.

If the root was high-quality instead of perfect, the required time doubled to 140 years — still considered excellent.

Of course, all of this assumed uninterrupted, ideal cultivation. But a cultivator’s life is far from peaceful. Many factors hinder progress: lack of resources, conflicts, expeditions, the need to master techniques, serious injuries… not to mention that one cannot just live cultivating nonstop.

And since single-element roots are rare — and high-quality ones even more so — having both traits simultaneously made them extremely hard to find. Worse still, many are born among mortals and never discovered, explaining the low number of experts in the desert.

As for medium-quality roots, the time doubles again, reaching 280 years to complete Foundation Establishment. Cultivators with such roots are generally seen as hopeless when it comes to reaching the Golden Core, due to their limited lifespan. Needless to say, the same applies to low-quality roots.

Of course, these rules aren’t absolute. Cultivators can have their lucky chances and rise… but in the desert, such opportunities are almost nonexistent.

As for the influence of special physiques on cultivation, Aotian only knew that they allowed those who possessed them to cultivate faster, adding a layer of extra talent.

Thinking over this collection of facts, Aotian felt grateful for his system and the abilities of his avatars.

‘Thankfully, my synthesized techniques can greatly speed up the cultivation process and also give hope to those cultivators with mixed roots.’ Aotian reflected, a small smile forming on his lips.

During the journey to the sect, his outer elder avatars also cultivated in their spare time, accumulating experience for him. And with Bao Wuji personally overseeing his cultivation, Aotian was making rapid strides on his path toward immortality.

‘Immortality… funny word. Even though my cultivation slowly extends my lifespan and power, that word still feels so far away — especially compared to the 250 years I have… or even the thousands Bao Wuji still has left to live… Hey, now that I think about it, if I die of old age, do I respawn in a new avatar with renewed youth? Or do I just keep dying of old age again and again until I run out of avatars?’

An absurd question popped into his mind.

‘Bruh!!’ He shuddered just imagining the possibility of dying repeatedly of old age within minutes.

‘System, what happens if my main body dies of old age?’ Aotian tried asking.

[Apologies, Host, the information you requested is not available.]

‘Predictable…’ Aotian rolled his eyes internally at the system, which basically only knew how to repeat that phrase whenever he asked anything.

Putting aside his scattered thoughts, Aotian slowly refocused on cultivation.

His speed wasn’t exactly slow compared to the disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect — who mostly had high-quality roots — thanks to the high-level minds of his avatars helping him cultivate. His pace wasn’t inferior to that of a cultivator with medium-quality roots — maybe even slightly better.

And Aotian was already researching ways to improve the quality of his own roots.

…

That afternoon, a loud shout echoed through the valley of cave-mansions for both inner and outer disciples.

“Inner and outer disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect. Gather here at once!”

The powerful voice reached every cave, activating the formations, which blocked the sound and emitted soft alerts for the disciples inside their mansions.

Even the more hidden cave of Aotian received the alert, and a few minutes later, he and Rihai stepped out of their respective rooms.

Rihai looked at Aotian, confused.

“Who’s calling us?” she asked, unsure if he would know.

“Must be Bao Hui, the inner elder of the Treasure Pavilion. He’s also temporarily responsible for the inner disciples,” Aotian replied simply, taking her hand and leaving the cave at her side.

Rihai watched him with curiosity. Aotian had likely been separated from the sect for a long time — he shouldn’t know about temporary positions. But she knew he had some sort of discreet, long-distance communication with the sect’s elders, something already proven when he immediately knew he had been found by the sect months before Bao Wuji arrived to fetch them.

“Elder Bao Hui? Is he the grandson of Ancestor Bao we saw earlier in the main hall of the Bamboo Sword Sect?” Rihai asked curiously as they left the cave hand in hand.

“Yeah, that very same Bao Hui.” Aotian smiled and nodded.

They didn’t waste any more time and leapt across the rocks on the cliffside, leaving the depression where their cave mansion was located.

They ran toward the origin of the voice, from where a Foundation Establishment aura was leaking out, signaling the disciples where to go.

It didn’t take long before they reached a stone plaza where dozens of people were gathered, and more were still arriving.

Most were dressed in gray — the robes of outer disciples — while one or two wore white, indicating they were inner disciples.

As they approached, some disciples looked at them, and a few even dared to be slightly enchanted by Rihai’s beauty, which made Aotian’s face darken as he stepped in front of her, glaring coldly at the men.

At the very least, those who had looked, upon seeing Aotian and realizing he was holding her hand, smiled apologetically and turned away, avoiding any further staring.

‘Should I expel a few male disciples?’ Aotian wondered.

He only considered expelling them because they didn’t keep staring and actually apologized; otherwise, he might have had more extreme thoughts.

Rihai squeezed his hand, as if she could sense what he was thinking, and shook her head at him with an amused smile.

Looking into her eyes, he seemed to understand what she was saying.

‘Don’t be like that. Don’t use your influence to expel them. They didn’t look in a rude way, and when you intervened, they stopped,’ Rihai’s eyes said.

Aotian wrinkled his nose, slightly grumpy.

But then, he felt gazes turning toward him, and looking around, he noticed that some female disciples were watching him with interest. If Rihai was a great beauty among women, Aotian could proudly say he was also quite the specimen among men.

Rihai’s eye twitched, and she stepped in front of Aotian, shooting an irritated look at the girls. Faced with this, the female disciples averted their gazes, powerless.

Rihai turned to him and spoke with her eyes.

‘Perhaps your influence is necessary.’ She looked at him seriously, and Aotian couldn’t help but be amused by the scene.

He kissed Rihai’s forehead, and the two set the matter aside, returning their focus to waiting for the meeting to begin.

Meanwhile, farther off, a cute and sweet little girl with black braids on both sides of her head, dressed in gray, was watching the couple Aotian and Rihai with stars in her eyes.

“Sister Ling, that couple is so beautiful! But I’ve never seen them before,” Lin Xiaoxue, the little girl who had once asked Elder Zhao for marrow cleansing pills, exclaimed with admiration and a bit of confusion.

Xiao Ling, the only disciple with perfect roots in the Infinite Dao Sect, dressed in white with a heroic ponytail in her blue hair, looked in that direction with curiosity.

“It’s true.” She was slightly impressed by the couple’s beauty, but almost immediately looked away and smiled at Lin Xiaoxue, not particularly interested in where they came from. She figured they must have been recruited while they were away on expedition.

Even if she wasn’t particularly interested in the couple, she didn’t want to be rude to this little sister she was very fond of, so she still smiled kindly and nodded at her.

Lin Xiaoxue looked at her older sister and, realizing she wasn’t that interested in them either, dropped the topic and went back to talking with her.

“Sister Ling, you just arrived and haven’t had time to pick up your Foundation Establishment technique yet, right?” she asked, blinking her large, bright eyes.

“Yes. Junior Brother Cang Song and I were the last batch of disciples to arrive, and we couldn’t get our techniques since the elders weren’t available yesterday. Sister Xiaoxue, you’ve also reached perfection in Qi Refinement and are eligible to receive your technique using merit points. We can go pick ours together later.” Xiao Ling smiled gently at the little girl.

“Uhm!” she nodded happily, but her face quickly turned a bit bitter. “Sister Ling, it’s a shame you only arrived now. Otherwise, you’d already be a Foundation Establishment cultivator by now. It seems the sect gave some way for older disciples to cultivate, and when they arrived, they had already perfected Qi Refinement, advancing to Foundation Establishment shortly after,” she spoke with a bit of reluctance.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like the older disciples or didn’t want them to advance. But her older sister had ended up being left behind for arriving late to the sect, and she thought that was a shame.

“Oh! Is that so?” Xiao Ling, who had only arrived a little over a day ago, hadn’t yet had time to learn about these things and was surprised to hear it.

“Yes,” the little girl Lin Xiaoxue nodded quickly, her braids swinging back and forth. “And most of the disciples, like me, reached Qi Refinement perfection during these days we’ve been at the Bamboo Sword Sect. If Sister Ling had come back earlier, with your talent, you’d definitely be far ahead of all of us,” she said with conviction, looking firmly at her gentle Sister Ling.

Xiao Ling simply smiled at her and gently shook her head, unconcerned.

‘It was just a few days’ head start for them. With my talent, I won’t be left behind for long. I never want to lose to anyone in this life.’

With that confident thought and firm gaze, she watched as the rest of the disciples arrived.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep