The Longest Man

Most of the titles on the Grand Preaching Ranking were fairly normal.

For example, "One Sword's Light Chills the Ninth Heaven," "Carefree Immortal Venerable," and "Dao Ancestor Like the Wind"...

But what were those on the Annual Preaching Ranking?

First place on the annual ranking: Cultivate a Damn Immortal;

Second place: That Bald Donkey Dared Fight This Poor Daoist for the Nun;

Third place: I Want to Be the Sect Master;

Fourth place: The Sect Master Is My Son;

Fifth place: Inner Sect's Number One Devotion;

Sixth place...

At a glance, not one of them had a proper name.

One had to understand that those who made it onto the Annual Preaching Ranking were practically all outstanding members and leading figures of Immortal Dust Sect's younger generation.

The younger generation of Immortal Dust Sect seemed to have a rather "improper" atmosphere.

Seeing these titles, Li Xiuchang finally began to believe that the key to the Preaching Ranking really had been lost.

He looked around. The area around the Preaching Ranking was packed with people, including both inner and outer sect disciples.

Every one of them had their eyes tightly shut, completely motionless, their consciousness already inside the Preaching Ranking.

A faint, indistinct barrier enveloped each of their bodies.

This was the Preaching Ranking's protection. It ensured that when their minds entered the Preaching Ranking, their safety would be guaranteed, preventing anyone from taking advantage of the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

To establish a connection with the Preaching Ranking, one had to extend their Spiritual Sense into it. That was why these disciples could only use the Preaching Ranking when they were near it.

Li Xiuchang was only at the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation, and his Spiritual Sense was weak. He could barely separate it from his body.

He had to be right next to the Preaching Ranking. He simply leaned against it and sat down, sending his Spiritual Sense into it through his back.

In an instant, the scene before his eyes changed, and his consciousness had already sunk into the Preaching Ranking.

Streams of information came pouring in like raindrops. They were the various rules of the Preaching Ranking.

The first time one entered the Preaching Ranking with their Spiritual Sense, they had to choose a title for themselves.

This title would be bound to their Spiritual Sense and could never be changed for the rest of their life.

Li Xiuchang had originally planned to choose a low-key title, but then he suddenly realized that a title's greatest use was to conceal one's true identity.

So naturally, the greater the difference from his usual conduct, the better.

The more striking the contrast, the harder it would be for others to associate the title with him.

He was low-key in his daily life, so his title ought to be high-profile!

Besides, just look at the names on the rankings. Which one of them was low-key?

After pondering for a moment, Li Xiuchang's thoughts stirred, and he chose a title for himself:

"The Longest Man"!

It was high-profile, and it also happened to be true.

After confirming the title, Li Xiuchang finally saw the scene inside the Preaching Ranking.

The inside of the Preaching Ranking was not a real space. Li Xiuchang's consciousness had no physical form after entering it, so he could not see anyone else, either.

The only thing he could see was a huge "screen" resembling a scroll painting, displaying images and words.

The most eye-catching things were still the two major rankings: the Grand Preaching Ranking and the Annual Preaching Ranking. The difference was that he could now view the rankings beyond the top ten.

Under Li Xiuchang's control, the two rankings immediately began to scroll, showing titles as far down as the top five hundred.

By scrolling through the entire display, he discovered that beneath the two major rankings were also rows of "posts."

These posts were called "Preaching Posts." They were mainly where the members of Immortal Dust Sect shared their insights, realizations, and experiences.

Li Xiuchang swept his gaze over the titles of the Preaching Posts...

"Postpartum Care for a Female Dragon... A Senior Professional Beast Tamer Personally Teaches You How to Serve a Dragon Pet During Its Confinement Month"—Author: Humble Poop Scooper

"Teaching One Spirit Plant Cultivation Method Every Day, Day 40,156, Today's Plant: Lust Dragon Herb"—Author: Yang Dingtian with His Back to the Loess

"One New Experiment a Year: Can Mixing Hellfire Pepper into Immortal Wine Increase Its Strength? I'll Tell Everyone Once I'm Sober"—Author: Sober Once a Year

"Currently Building an Automatically Alchemizing Puppet. I've Encountered a Problem. Fellow Disciples, Put Your Heads Together and Give Me a Hand!"—Author: Three Thousand Puppets Can Lie Flat

"Insights Upon Foundation Establishment"—Author: Little Junior Sister of the Inner Sect

"A Little Trick to Slightly Increase the Odds of Forming a Core"—Author: Accumulating Small Steps to Ascend the Great Dao

"..."

It seemed that the Preaching Posts teaching the techniques of the Hundred Cultivation Arts carried an air of impropriety from their titles to their authors' names, while those sharing cultivation insights were relatively normal.

Those sharing cultivation insights were most likely inner sect members, but that was not certain.

However, those sharing the Hundred Cultivation Arts should all be outer sect members.

In other words, was the general atmosphere of Immortal Dust Sect's outer sect improper?

The Preaching Posts continued downward almost without end. No one knew how many there were. They were the accumulation of tens of thousands of years within Immortal Dust Sect.

Li Xiuchang was quite interested in many of these Preaching Posts.

But he did not open them.

That was because the Preaching Posts could not be viewed unconditionally or without limit.

Reading the key contents of these Preaching Posts required consuming "Dao Tassels," something similar to points.

Dao Tassels were also the sole basis for ranking on the Preaching Ranking.

The Grand Preaching Ranking ranked everyone according to the total number of Dao Tassels they had acquired within the Preaching Ranking.

The Annual Preaching Ranking, meanwhile, ranked them according to the number of Dao Tassels they had obtained over the past year. It was updated once a year, and anyone who had made the top one hundred could not appear on the ranking again.

When the Annual Preaching Ranking was updated, the top one hundred would each receive one opportunity for the Preaching Ranking's reward, "Energized Empowerment."

As a newcomer entering the Preaching Ranking for the first time, Li Xiuchang had received ten Dao Tassels as a reward. But he did not dare to use them casually, because acquiring more Dao Tassels afterward was not easy.

There were only two ways to obtain Dao Tassels.

The first was to publish Preaching Posts, share experiences and insights, or help others solve their problems and answer their questions in exchange for Dao Tassels;

The second was to fulfill certain conditions or accomplish certain achievements and receive Dao Tassel rewards from the Preaching Ranking.

For example, one would receive Dao Tassels once the number of Preaching Posts they had published reached a certain amount, or once a particular Preaching Post reached a certain number of readers.

It was worth mentioning that knowledge within the Preaching Ranking was not divided by status. The cost was uniformly one Dao Tassel.

Reading any Preaching Post cost one Dao Tassel, and paying more was not allowed.

Lowering the threshold for obtaining knowledge was in accordance with the Confucian ideal that "education should be for all, without distinction."

Li Xiuchang's ten precious Dao Tassels had to be spent where they mattered most. What he urgently needed now was a secret art for concealing his Cultivation Level and a Body Refining Technique.

The latter could be sought by trying his luck at the Library Pavilion.

Searching for the secret art of concealing one's Cultivation Level among the vast number and chaotic variety of Preaching Posts was no different from panning for gold in the sand.

Fortunately, the Preaching Ranking had a "keyword search" function.

Li Xiuchang silently recited the words "conceal Cultivation Level," and all the writing on the scroll before his eyes reorganized itself, transforming into Preaching Posts containing the keyword "conceal Cultivation Level."

"Essential for Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger: A Secret Art for Concealing Cultivation Level!"

"A Method for Refining a Magical Artifact That Can Conceal Cultivation Level"

"A Secret Art Essential for Keeping a Low Profile and Cultivating Steadily: The Qi Concealment Art"

"..."

Li Xiuchang opened the first Preaching Post. He found that its beginning introduced the secret art for concealing Cultivation Level, while only the section containing the actual secret art was obscured. He had to pay one Dao Tassel to view it.

This was a secret art that could be cultivated during the Qi Condensation Stage, called the Cage Gauze Technique. At most, it could conceal one's Cultivation Level across two major realms.

After cultivating it, Li Xiuchang could even conceal his true Cultivation Level from a Core Formation cultivator. It was quite impressive.

But in Immortal Dust Sect, Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators were both very common. Only Spirit Transformation cultivators were fewer in number and not so easy to encounter.

Li Xiuchang felt that it would be safer if he could conceal his Cultivation Level from Nascent Soul Cultivators.

For now, the Cage Gauze Technique could only serve as a backup option.