A Grand Feast for Guests

Just as Lu Xuanji was comprehending the Spring Wind Spirit Wood Art, the Grand Elder was also teaching Ye Feixue the minor divine power, the Heavenly Fire Art.

The Heavenly Fire Art primarily transformed the true qi within one's body into supreme heavenly fire.

Unlike the Spring Wind Wood Spirit Art, which focused on support and healing, the Heavenly Fire Art was a pure Great Killing Technique, an offensive secret art.

As Ye Feixue comprehended the Heavenly Fire Art, she too entered a state of enlightenment.

Lu Xuanji glanced at it and casually committed the Heavenly Fire Art to memory, intending to study it later.

Seeing the two of them in enlightenment, the Grand Elder could not help but smile.

The first two or three years after entering the Foundation Establishment Realm were when one's thoughts were at their most active, and also when enlightenment came most easily.

Many cultivators chose to enter seclusion and cultivate bitterly, digesting what they had comprehended.

Passage of Time flowed on. A year later, Ye Feixue's aura began to change. A flame of destruction rose from her body. After a long while, the flames gradually withdrew and shifted, returning to calm.

Yet Ye Feixue Opened Her Eyes, and flames seemed to burn within her pupils.

The Aura of Destruction surged forth. It was pure destruction, abandoning everything but destruction itself. It was powerful because it was pure, and terrifying because it was pure.

A moment later, the Aura of Destruction withdrew, and the flames in her pupils vanished.

The light in her eyes faded, returning them to normal.

But at that moment, a talisman was inscribed with true qi within Ye Feixue's dantian.

This talisman was called the Skyfire Talisman.

She had entered the Heavenly Fire Art.

Condensing the first Skyfire Talisman only counted as entry.

Condensing nine Skyfire Talismans counted as minor accomplishment.

Condensing thirty-six Skyfire Talismans counted as Great Accomplishment.

Only condensing sixty-four Skyfire Talismans represented completion.

Using talismans to guide the Dao, one could evolve divine powers.

Its power was merely ordinary in the early stages, but the further one progressed, the more terrifying its power became.

The beginning was relatively easy and required little time, but the further one went, the longer it took and the greater the difficulty became.

"A peerless genius."

The Grand Elder commented.

He did not wish to say anything more, because there was no need.

At that moment, Lu Xuanji was still comprehending.

The Grand Elder's expression shifted slightly.

He had once believed this junior possessed a special constitution, but after he entered Foundation Establishment, he realized he had been wrong.

This descendant merely had a Mortal Body, without any special constitution. His comprehension, however, was astonishing.

At that moment, Lu Xuanji's body underwent a violent transformation. Dense wood spiritual qi rose up, transforming into a towering tree.

The tree was incomparably immense, spanning the starry sky and piercing through Hundun. Its roots spread beneath it into one dark netherworld after another, while its crown connected to the Immortal Realm above, drawing in streams of spiritual qi.

The phenomenon lasted only three breaths before vanishing.

Next, Yi Wood energy rose and transformed into an Azure Lotus. Then Li Fire energy surged and transformed into flames that coiled around the Azure Lotus. Then Wu Earth Qi rose and settled beneath the Azure Lotus, becoming its nourishment. The three fused together Perfectly.

Earth nourished wood, and wood aided fire.

The phenomenon continued rising and changing. After a long while, it scattered away as though it had never existed.

Yet as his cultivation art circulated, it continuously absorbed the spiritual qi of the outside world. The spiritual qi formed vortexes that surged toward his body in Unceasing Growth.

This rate of absorbing spiritual qi was far, far too fast.

It was more than fifty percent faster than that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

"He created his own cultivation art, one that Perfectly matched his three attributes."

A trace of astonishment flashed through the Grand Elder's eyes.

Low-level cultivators rarely created their own cultivation arts. First, their lifespans were limited and their time precious, leaving them no time to create cultivation arts. Second, their knowledge was limited and their comprehension insufficient, making them incapable of doing so.

In short, the cost-effectiveness was far too poor. It was not worth it.

Most low-level cultivators learned the cultivation arts left behind by their predecessors.

Only after reaching the Golden Core stage did one's lifespan become exceptionally long. With a lifespan approaching a thousand years, cultivators could continuously comprehend all kinds of cultivation arts, gather the strengths of a hundred schools, and create their own cultivation arts.

A self-created cultivation art could better suit its creator and increase cultivation speed.

Of course, if one was especially fortunate and happened to encounter a cultivation art that suited them, with compatibility reaching one hundred percent, there was no need to insist on creating one's own.

Creating a cultivation art was exceedingly difficult. Without astonishing talent and comprehension, without a long lifespan, and without extensive knowledge and experience, it was hard to reach that point.

Yet Lu Xuanji had only just become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and he had already created a cultivation art and progressed quite far with it.

After a long while, Lu Xuanji withdrew his aura and thoroughly stabilized his cultivation.

The Azure Lotus Creation Art Perfectly suited him, accelerating his cultivation speed.

He had also entered the Spring Wind Wood Spirit Art.

Within his dantian, three spirit woods had been inscribed.

"How does it feel?" the Grand Elder asked.

"It feels very good," Lu Xuanji said happily. "Better than ever before."

"That is good." The Grand Elder smiled. "Since you have both become Foundation Establishment Cultivators, you should hold a grand feast, invite guests, and celebrate lavishly."

When a cultivation family produced a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it too had to celebrate grandly. This was not only a display of strength, but could also raise the clan's morale.

Such liveliness was even more festive than marriage in his previous life.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators affected the fate of some small families and determined their future.

Even in the Danyang Sect, Foundation Establishment Cultivators were regarded as backbone figures who influenced future shifts in the landscape. They were seeds of Purple Mansion cultivators, and held status equivalent to elders or Inner Sect Disciples.

The Danyang Sect only counted how many Foundation Establishment Cultivators its subordinate powers possessed, levied taxes on them by collecting offerings, conscripted them for service, and primarily registered Foundation Establishment Cultivators in its household censuses.

As for the Qi Refining Cultivators and ordinary commoners under its rule, they were not counted at all.

Likewise, only Foundation Establishment Cultivators were qualified to establish cultivation families. If every Foundation Establishment Cultivator in such a family died, its status as a cultivation family would be revoked.

Once it lost its status as a cultivation family, it would no longer pay taxes to the Danyang Sect or be subject to its conscription. Yet at the same time, it would no longer receive the Danyang Sect's protection and could only become Rogue Cultivators.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators were of immense significance to every family.

"Grand Elder, our Lu Clan is weak right now. There is no need to be so high-profile. We should keep a low profile and follow the Dao of Caution," Lu Xuanji said, explaining his philosophy of caution.

The Grand Elder smiled, but there was a hint of madness on his face. "The Cultivation World is a place where the weak are meat and the strong eat. Competition never ceases. Although the Danyang Sect has rules that prevent great wars from breaking out, all kinds of open and hidden struggles, all kinds of schemes, never stop. If you remain low-key without end, people will take you for weak and easy to bully, and you will become someone else's prey."

"It is best to bare your savage claws and fangs, to show your terrifying side. Only then can you frighten off the tigers and wolves closing in to besiege you."

"Xuanji, you are good in every way, but your one flaw is that you are too calm and too rational. You are only a child, yet you are as calm as an old man. That is not good."