“I just found it funny, your face wanting to abandon the mountain the moment you felt the impurities invading your body.”

Aotian, in the form of Gu Jian, declared with a calm smile to the two, who were startled by the comment.

Mu Luyin immediately turned to Lei Yun, anxious.

“Brother Yun, did the evil-warding talisman fail?!” she asked in shock, rushing over to him, scanning him up and down and examining the talisman, which was working normally.

The boy did not look at her, but kept his sharp, serious eyes fixed on Gu Jian and the other avatars.

‘It seems they are even less simple than I imagined,’ he thought, increasingly tempted to join the power that had created such mysterious men.

But he also became more cautious in his heart, unable to shake the feeling of being read by the other party. For a reincarnated cultivator like him, that left him unsettled.

“… Brother Yun!! What happened?! Are you alright?!” He was finally shaken out of his thoughts by a panicked Mu Luyin, who wouldn’t stop shaking him.

Blinking dazedly, he placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, signaling her to stop.

“Sister Luyin, please stop shaking me,” he spoke helplessly, but upon seeing the girl’s anxious eyes, his heart couldn’t help but warm slightly. Sighing, he added: “The talisman is fine, it’s working normally,” he explained, trying to calm her down.

But his answer, while easing her worry, also made her furrow her brows. She glanced doubtfully at those men.

‘Why were these people spouting random nonsense again?’ she wondered, a little helpless and annoyed.

Fortunately, this time she didn’t throw a tantrum. Now that she had witnessed the terror of those people’s strength, she knew better than to antagonize them — especially since they could be good allies in such a dangerous place, where practically everyone else was an enemy.

Lei Yun also noticed her glance toward the men, which gave him a headache as he imagined she might get angry again and cause problems at such a delicate moment. Thus, he decided to appease her with the truth.

“Sister Luyin, he was right, I was worried about the impurities entering my body.” His answer immediately made her turn back to him, her worry resurfacing. Then he quickly continued: “The problem isn’t the talisman, it’s working normally. It’s just that… normally it allows a certain amount of impurities, which bother a realm above, to seep in,” he explained with a sigh.

Mu Luyin widened her eyes at him.

“This… what are you talking about?” She looked at him, stunned, blinking in confusion.

Aotian, who was watching the scene, gazed at Lei Yun, smiling inwardly.

‘He reached the same understanding of the purposes of these formations and talismans as I did. That requires a high degree of proficiency in these areas and sharp perception. This kind of comprehension, calmness, and temperament goes far beyond just talent. Perhaps a native wouldn’t think this way and their mind would wander toward other explanations, or simply assume it was some supernatural talent. But how could I, an experienced xianxia reader, fail to notice I have the model of an immortal reincarnator right before my eyes?’

His eyes shone with the thought. He believed that such reincarnators were rarely people of no importance in their past lives. That’s why he figured recruiting the boy would probably help fill some gaps in his high-level combat power via feedback, and just thinking about it already made him excited. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novèlfire.net

His gaze then shifted to the girl and he noticed her confusion wasn’t fake.

‘Changing the subject, it’s a little strange. She really doesn’t seem to know the purposes of the matrices and talismans,’ he pondered, intrigued.

It was normal for common cultivators or lackeys of great powers to be unaware, but for a young lady from a great force, it was odd to be ignorant of such a thing.

Coincidentally, it was at the moment he was pondering these things that the mind of the first ancestor was read by Bao Wuji. And this time, with the new techniques and accumulated experience, Aotian managed to recover eight-tenths of the ancestor’s memory, and many things were clarified.

‘So that’s how it is!!’

A flash of realization appeared in his eyes, accompanied by a tremendous headache as he overclocked his minds to process the vast amount of information.

‘The ancestors and the upper echelons of the continent’s powers truly know that impurities enter the body upon entering the mountain, but they hide this information from the public for fear of offending the powers of the Central Plateau. Besides that, entering the mountain isn’t without benefits, and it isn’t really a cruel trap.’

‘Aside from there being many treasures, it also serves as a hunting ground that strengthens the experience of those who enter. There are also various opportunities that can allow even those without talent to take a step forward in cultivation. In exchange for a delay in the next realm, it’s worth it if done properly.’

‘Normally, these great powers have the strategy of letting those with poor talent enter when they’re at the Golden Core realm, so they can have the opportunity to try reaching Nascent Soul. Those who already had little chance of attaining that realm — if they can trade delayed future cultivation for a shot at reaching a realm they normally couldn’t, it’s worth it.’

‘Next come the talented ones, like the young masters, who are only allowed to enter once they reach the Nascent Soul, thus avoiding the sacrifice of their excellent cultivation speeds in the earlier realms. Since it’s difficult even for such talents to reach Soul Formation, the powers choose to help them advance better and faster with the opportunities within the mountain once they reach the Nascent Soul realm. This greatly increases their chances of rising to a higher realm. If they can achieve Soul Formation, it’s already a bloody profit, and they don’t mind spending a few decades or even centuries purging impurities once they get to that level.’

‘Lastly, the cultivators who advance to Soul Formation don’t hesitate to come to Shadowfallen Burial Mountain. After all, for a mid-continent like the Beiyan Continent, this realm is already the limit, and any increase in strength at this stage is only an advantage. They couldn’t care less about harmful impurities when it only affects the next realm of cultivation.’

‘So, in truth, the mountain isn’t as negative as I thought for those with limited prospects. On the contrary, it’s quite advantageous. The only problem is entering too early when one has great prospects, like those poor talented men who don’t belong to major powers and have no understanding of these things. They come too soon, end up wasting years or even decades purifying impurities in the following realms, and re-enter with each breakthrough, getting trapped in that cycle and losing even more time.’

Aotian sighed, finally seeing the bigger picture, while discreetly glancing at Mu Luyin.

‘Her parents probably haven’t told her yet, which is why she doesn’t know. Since she has no guards and came to the mountain in such a dangerous period, she likely ran away from home somehow. None of the cultivators from other powers besides the 12 allied clans came, for fear of ambushes — including the most powerful clan of the Beiyan Continent, the Mu family. That must be why she’s alone… but it’s strange, where is her protector, letting her run headfirst into danger like this? Well, that doesn’t matter to me.’

He reflected without surprise at knowing such things. After all, the number of minds he had read was no joke. His knowledge already surpassed that of most natives of the continent.

Aotian shook his head and analyzed his mental map made with Bao Wuji’s treasure-radar ability, ignoring Lei Yun, who was explaining things to the shocked and incredulous girl, seemingly completely in the dark about it all.

His attention fell upon a point on the mental map, filled with marks representing Core-Tier, Nascent-Tier, and even Formation-Tier spiritual plants.

‘It looks like some kind of spiritual garden, considering the density of high-level plants. And it’s not far, apparently located within the second boundary.’ Aotian’s eyes lit up.

He felt he would gain greatly by going there. And in this world, the size of the gains was always equal to the size of the troubles.

[Mission:

Explore the Possible Spiritual Garden

…

Danger Level: Very Dangerous]

Aotian sighed at the danger level, but since it wasn’t “fatal,” he decided to take the risk this time.

‘Haah… what kind of shitty protagonist would I be if I didn’t do one or two stupid things out of greed and recklessness?’

He thought in amusement, trying to hide the slight tightness he felt in 73 different bellies.

‘Uhh… come on, Aotian, don’t be a coward or overly cautious. You need to take some risks to achieve great gains. Honor your name! If you miss this chance, you’ll have to wait ten years to try again.’

Cheering for himself to push away the uncertainty, while anxiously biting his main body’s nails, he took a deep breath and made his decision.

Looking back at the couple beside him, he saw they had stopped talking.

Mu Luyin wore a complicated expression, while Lei Yun, after explaining and calming the girl, remained powerless before the potent impurities slowly seeping into his body. He was starting to seriously consider leaving the place to avoid wasting too much time dealing with impurities in the future.

Seeing this, Aotian perked up and decided to strike while the iron was hot.

Controlling Gu Jian to smile maliciously, he shamelessly offered:

“If you’re worried about the issue of spending too much time purging the impurities in your body in the future, you can choose to join our sect. With our powerful cultivation techniques, a few minutes are enough to deal with this superficial amount that is building up in your body.” He placed his hands behind his back, raising a confident eyebrow at Lei Yun.

The boy immediately looked at him with suspicion.

Even with his top-tier cultivation technique in the world, he wouldn’t dare claim it would take only days to purge impurities, let alone minutes.

Lei Yun’s suspicion was clearly visible to Aotian, and he had already expected such a look. But that only deepened the amusement and interest in his eyes.

Gu Jian stroked his beard confidently, staring straight into the boy’s eyes.

“Don’t believe it? How about this, let’s make a deal right here and now. You join my sect, and I’ll give you the techniques suited for you. If there’s any falsehood in what I’ve said, you can turn back and leave the sect without consequences or enmity. But if it’s true, you’ll be a good and loyal disciple. What do you say?”

He offered, smiling with a bright and honest gaze that completely startled the couple.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep