Generally speaking, cultivation methods carried specific spiritual pressures, and could only be unleashed at specific ranks, leaving their power relatively fixed.
Such cultivation methods were of lower grade, collectively termed... unranked cultivation methods.
Because of the dharma ending era, truly high-grade cultivation methods were basically all ancient cultivation methods.
Legend had it that ancient cultivation methods were adapted from fragmentary immortal texts after the dharma ending era. They were sharp weapons for cultivators to fight above their rank, existing in scarce quantities, possessing terrifying power, and boasting extremely high cultivation difficulty.
One could cultivate them all the way from the Qi Refining Realm to the Great Ascension Realm. Although the cultivation difficulty was high, as the cultivation level grew higher and comprehension time grew longer, the application of the cultivation method became increasingly consummate.
Ancient cultivation methods were divided into four tiers.
Heaven tier.
Profound tier.
Earth tier.
Yellow tier.
The heaven tier was the highest-grade broad-spectrum cultivation method! Legend had it that from the dharma ending era until now, the heaven-tier cultivation methods remaining in the cultivation world numbered fewer than ten! That being the case, Master actually still possessed one? Moreover, she didn't look like she treasured the thing all that much...
What on earth was Master's status and background? What was even more exaggerated was—
Letting a mortal like him start out practicing a heaven-tier cultivation method?
As expected of you!
However, a heaven-tier cultivation method given to him meant he profited.
Xiao Ran didn't plan to dig deep into Master's motives, instead placing his attention on how to learn the art of resonance.
The price given by the system shop was ten filial piety points.
Perhaps it would be settled once he fleeced some wool off Master tomorrow.
Yet right now the sun was only at its midpoint and the day was still very early.
Just wait around idly like this until tomorrow?
Wait...
Master was already sleeping? Were sword-wielding elders all this leisurely?
Having been taken in by the immortal sect and the system successively in a single day, Xiao Ran was excessively excited. How could he have the mood to sleep, much less the mood to wait until tomorrow?
He wanted to learn the heart method at the fastest speed!
Master was already asleep, so how could he earn ten filial piety points before tomorrow?
Only someone who understood how to spend money could earn more money.
This was Xiao Ran's financial management philosophy from his past life.
Seven filial piety points were quite a lot. What would be good to buy? Or rather, what could he buy to more effectively show filial piety to Master?
He looked toward the thatched cottage.
Good grief! He hadn't examined it closely before, but now he found that this thatched cottage was far too crude.
Was the real estate price in the cultivation world too high?
Jumping down from the pine root, he walked with light steps close to the thatched cottage, peering inside through the open wooden door...
It seemed barely any better than a doghouse.
Especially—
Master's slender, graceful body was lying sideways like that on the dilapidated pine-wood bed; her fair skin pressed against the grass pillow, drool dripping with the rich aroma of alcohol.
What a waste of heaven's precious gifts! Such a pretty grass pillow was actually ruined by alcohol drool...
Inside the thatched cottage there was no furniture, no dressing table, no kitchen, and no toilet. There was only a single bedroom, not even a disciple quarters.
Restrictive formations that stabilized the thatched walls and warded off wind and rain were carved into the four walls, flickering with a faint blue light that added a trace of immortal aura to the otherwise impoverished doghouse.
Xiao Ran thought to himself that whether it was Earth in his past life or the cultivation world in this present life, housing was a huge problem! Just as he was thinking this, Master suddenly turned over.
A vast expanse of fair skin lazily emerged, faintly visible under the illumination of the blue light—a magnificent sight, and rather unseemly.
The dignified sword-wielding elder of Zongzhi Mountain, a proud talent of her generation whose cultivation level was unfathomably deep, was actually sleeping so soundly that she had only just noticed her disciple peeking at her.
Slightly startled, Lingzhou Yue muddledly said:
"You've been so hard-working today, aren't you going to sleep?"
I need to have a place to sleep first! Xiao Ran's face sank.
"Disciple still needs to cultivate today."
Scoundrel!
Lingzhou Yue was nearly woken to anger by this workaholic dog.
What cultivation were you even going to do with talent like yours? The cultivation method had already been given to you. Just read a book, ponder life, and go through the motions—wasn't that enough? Wasn't sleeping wonderful? The words reached her lips, earnest and well-meaning.
"Although young people have great physical stamina, they still need to maintain moderation. The way of cultivation values endurance; read more, sleep more, and pay attention to combining work and rest."
"Many thanks for Master's concern."
Although Xiao Ran felt that Master might harbor no good intentions, for a bigwig famous throughout the cultivation world to care about his face and offer him earnest advice was already quite good.
Regardless of whatever motive she had, at least she wasn't the kind of heartless woman who turned hostile and refused to acknowledge him when day broke, but rather wanted to maintain a long-term master-disciple relationship.
If the filial piety system had a personality, it would definitely give Xiao Ran a thumbs-up—
Your master is truly amazing! With the system backing him up, Xiao Ran could suck up to her until she couldn't take care of herself.
Alright, the newest filial duty task was determined: build an imperial bedchamber complete with disciple quarters for Master.
Checking the system shop, Xiao Ran found the price of the max-level architecture skill (civilian use)—
3 filial piety points! This was simply too cheap... massaging Master's shoulders and pinching them a few times would earn enough.
However, Xiao Ran didn't purchase the max-level architecture skill immediately.
Filial piety points could buy blood packs to save lives. To prevent an urgent need for filial piety points when accidents happened, he had to first gather the building materials and confirm his own safety before purchasing the max-level architecture skill.
First of all, he needed to obtain Master's consent.
Xiao Ran didn't directly express his filial piety.
"Speaking of sleeping... Disciple wishes to build a disciple quarters on the mountain."
Settling into a new lazy sleeping posture, Lingzhou Yue completely supported her disciple's cause of sleeping. Had she not needed to sleep herself, she would have wanted to personally help him chop wood down the mountain.
"You may. This can also be considered a form of cultivation; just model it after Master's thatched cottage when you build one."
"Understood."
As far as building a wooden house went, the raw materials on the mountain were clearly insufficient.
Xiao Ran prepared to go to the outer sect for help.
He then followed the winding mountain path down the mountain.
The path was very steep, covered with mountain rocks and thorns. A moment of carelessness would send one plunging into the clouds to be smashed to pieces.
Filial piety points could indeed buy blood packs to protect Xiao Ran's life, but his current filial piety points fell far short.
He touched his space ring. Inside was a high-grade treasured sword issued by the sect. If only he could use sword flight...
Pity that, let alone sword flight, he couldn't even open his space ring.
At the thought that gathering one hundred filial piety points would allow him to reach qi refining and perform sword flight, he felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
The climb down the mountain was very slow.
It wasn't until afternoon that Xiao Ran safely arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Passing through the jungle and the valley, he arrived in front of rows of stone buildings crawling with vines.
This was the outer sect disciple administrative office, and also the location where Xiao Ran had registered for entry.
Facing him, he saw the taskmaster who had held an extremely cold attitude toward him during the assessment registration—
Zhang Shun.
This was a middle-aged man whose eyes were as narrow as leaves, whose build was short, plump, and sturdy, and who radiated a sense of power.
The tides turned.
Re-entering this place, Xiao Ran had already donned a cyan direct disciple robe.
Compared to the previous cold-tongued taskmaster, his status was at least three tiers higher.
A taskmaster was merely at the Body Tempering peak, a representative of the outer sect disciples.
Above the taskmaster were outer sect instructors or ordinary inner sect disciples, all of whom were at the Qi Refining cultivation level.
Above them were inner sect elite disciples, starting at the Foundation Establishment cultivation level.
Above that were direct disciples; cultivation level didn't matter, what counted was talent and potential.
Zhang Shun gritted his teeth, staring straight at Xiao Ran with quite a bit of unconvinced defiance, unable to squeeze out a single word for a long time.
He watched helplessly as the dirt slope at his feet abruptly rose, transforming into a towering mountain difficult to look up at.
On what grounds! He was nothing more than a pretty boy, yet he actually wanted him to call him Senior Brother?
Even though Xiao Ran's talent was zero, he was after all a direct disciple, and there was no way he would lower himself to the level of a miscellaneous laborer like Zhang Shun.
His appearance in this place was in itself a resounding slap to the face, let alone the fact that he was wearing the direct disciple robe.
Zongzhi Mountain advocated upholding the Dao heart and free cultivation. Courtesy was not a sect rule, so there was no need to force the other party to salute.
This was also the source of Zhang Shun's confidence as he puffed out his chest and persisted in not greeting him. He was cold to everyone; there was no need to suck up to a direct disciple of dubious origin who might collapse at any moment.
Although I, Zhang Shun, am an outer sect disciple, my life is tough, and I don't know how to bow! Thump, thump, thump, thump—
Just as this was happening, Zhang Shun's immediate superior, the prestigious outer sect instructor Lin Yunzi, jogged out of the stone building at a speed unbefitting his age.
Straightening his robes, he bowed deeply with cupped hands toward Xiao Ran:
"Disciple Lin Yunzi greets Uncle-Master Xiao."
Before you continue