After all, to succeed in cultivation, one needed all four essentials: the Dao, companions, wealth, and a place to practice!
Here, "the Dao" meant cultivation techniques and guidance from a great master.
If you didn't even have a cultivation technique, what the hell were you supposed to cultivate?
When it came to the most important of the four essentials, "the Dao," how did those who practiced unorthodox methods manage?
Once practitioners of unorthodox methods reached a certain level, they had only two paths before them. One was to become a dog for a great orthodox sect like Emei and receive from them the hope of advancing further.
That was one of the main reasons the Emei Sect could summon a hundred responses to a single call in the world of Legend of the Swordsmen of Shu Mountain.
The second path was to risk their lives and see whether they could survive the Three Disasters and Six Difficulties. If they did, they could continue living freely in the world. If they didn't, then all was over—they would be reincarnated and begin the next cycle.
Grand Ancestor Taiyi Hunyuan had appeared in an era when unorthodox paths were in decline and the orthodox sects held sway. With his great wisdom and perseverance, he had carved out a third path for unorthodox practitioners.
That was why practitioners of unorthodox methods had acclaimed Grand Ancestor Taiyi Hunyuan as their leader. The Wutai Sect he founded had also become a major cultivation sect, one that could stand alongside orthodox powerhouses like Emei!
But how to put it? There was only so much fortune in the world. If unorthodox paths flourished, then the fortune that should have belonged to the orthodox sects would naturally diminish. As the foremost orthodox sect, Emei wasn't about to accept that.