"Sure enough, I still had to take a master. Not only did I gain someone to lean on, but my cultivation path was laid out clearly for me. Even my future divine abilities had been taken into consideration."
Outside the simulation, Su Yang was deeply moved.
If he had not taken a master, his simulated self might have blindly cultivated spells and still reached Qi Refining Level Eleven or Twelve before breaking through to Foundation Establishment. But without a coherent system of spells, cultivating divine abilities in the future would have been a mountain of difficulties and a sea of hardships.
Divine abilities were powerful arts that could only be cultivated after reaching the Golden Core Realm. They often possessed extraordinary effects, surpassing spells of the same rank by more than tenfold.
That indestructible blazing sun atop Sun Sword Peak had been left behind by a divine ability, and even after ten thousand years, it had yet to go out.
[You asked what level of divine ability the blazing sun on Sun Sword Peak belonged to.]
[Gu Changfeng laughed and said that it turned out you had set your sights on Solar Fusion.]
[You nodded.]
[You were indeed very interested in this divine ability.]
[A miniature sun that had not gone out for over ten thousand years was, in your previous life, practically controlled nuclear fusion technology capable of running forever. And this was something an individual could master and wield, making it all the more extraordinary.]
[Gu Changfeng told you that Solar Fusion was a Great Divine Ability. Its prerequisite at the Qi Refining Realm was merely reaching Qi Refining Level Twelve. If you wished to learn this divine ability in the future, you would need to work hard.]
[You nodded heavily.]
[At age 21, even the weakest of your eight sword techniques had reached the Minor Mastery stage, with three of them reaching Major Mastery.]
[At age 22, you broke through to Qi Refining Level Eight.]
[At age 25, you broke through to Qi Refining Level Nine. Your sword techniques successively broke through to Major Mastery, and two had already reached the Perfection stage.]
[At age 26, your spiritual power had accumulated to its limit, allowing you to enter Qi Refining Level Ten. That same year, you broke through to Qi Refining Level Ten.]
[At age 27, all eight of your sword techniques had reached Perfection, yet not a single one had broken past its limits.]
[At age 32, two of your sword techniques broke past their limits, giving birth to Spell Seeds. You broke through to Qi Refining Level Eleven.]
[Your master was overjoyed. At your current pace, Qi Refining Level Twelve would absolutely not be able to stop you before the age of 60.]
[At age 33, Yuanyang, who had already formed her Golden Core and become a reserve elder of Sun Sword Peak, came to find you.]
[She said that one of her junior sisters had admired you for a long time and asked whether you had any intention of becoming cultivation partners.]
[You were at a critical stage of cultivation and did not wish to be distracted by matters between men and women, so you refused her.]
[She left in dejection.]
[At age 36, you cultivated another sword technique to the Limit-Breaking stage, giving birth to a Spell Seed.]
[That same year, the sect's grand competition, held once every twenty years, officially began. It was divided into Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining sections. As one of Sun Sword Peak's sixteen representatives, you participated in the Qi Refining tournament.]
[Throughout the competition, you cut through every obstacle and entered the top eight, capturing the hearts of countless junior brothers, junior sisters, senior brothers, and senior sisters.]
[Even many Foundation Establishment senior sisters were conquered by your heroic bearing.]
[Yet in the top-eight-to-top-four match, you lost—and there was no question about it. Your opponent used only two strikes. With one sword strike, he broke through your four Limit-Breaking Sword Techniques; with the next, he sent you flying off the arena.]
[After the match, you learned that his name was Zhou Mingdao. He was a True Disciple of Earth Sword Peak and, like you, was at Qi Refining Level Eleven.]
[You could not understand it. With the same cultivation, even if he had cultivated more Spell Seeds than you, how could he possibly be so much stronger?]
[Distracted and dazed, you sought out Gu Changfeng for answers.]
[Gu Changfeng told you that there was no need to be disheartened over losing to Zhou Mingdao. Through a first-rank spell, he had comprehended a trace of intent. He had once defeated a Foundation Establishment cultivator head-on and possessed the bearing of a Sword Child.]
[Sword Child—this was the first time you had heard this term in all your years since joining Tianjian Sect.]
[Gu Changfeng explained that it was the highest honor for Tianjian Sect disciples. Every Sword Child was someone who could easily become a Nascent Soul True Lord and even had hope of becoming a Deity Transformation Venerable.]
[There were only two Tianjian Sect Sword Children of the current generation. One was already a Nascent Soul True Lord, while the other had long formed a Golden Core and become a Golden Core True Person. They were not on the same level as you, so you had never heard their names or deeds.]
[You understood.]
[You asked about the requirements for becoming a Sword Child.]
[Gu Changfeng replied that there were two paths to becoming a Sword Child. The first was to maintain a cultivation speed no worse than that of other True Disciples while possessing unrivaled combat power, then clear the Heavenly Sword Path corresponding to one's own realm.]
[The second was to possess cultivation speed that could be called invincible: achieve Perfect Foundation Establishment with Qi Refining Level Twelve before the age of 20, or form a first-rank Golden Core before the age of 50.]
[You shook your head, feeling that these requirements were simply too difficult.]
[You had also challenged the Heavenly Sword Path. Of its seven Qi Refining stages, you could only pass the third. Even upon reaching Qi Refining Level Twelve, you would absolutely be unable to pass the fifth stage, let alone the final two.]
[As for cultivation speed, achieving Perfect Foundation Establishment with Qi Refining Level Twelve before the age of 20 was even more despair-inducing.]
[The grand competition ended. Zhou Mingdao indeed claimed first place and received many precious rewards, stirring envy within you.]
[But you quickly gathered your heart again and continued cultivating earnestly.]
[At age 45, you finally broke through the final barrier and cultivated nine Spell Seeds. You broke through to Qi Refining Level Twelve.]
[After seeing your master, you immediately entered seclusion to break through to Foundation Establishment.]
[This breakthrough process was exceptionally smooth, without the slightest obstacle. In less than a day, you succeeded.]
"Foundation Establishment... I've finally reached Foundation Establishment."
Outside the simulation, Su Yang was also incomparably excited when he saw this.
His simulated self reaching Foundation Establishment meant that he had hope of exchanging for Foundation Establishment cultivation.
Now it depended on whether he could gather enough Simulation Points after the simulation ended.
[After reaching Foundation Establishment, you held a Foundation Establishment celebration and received many gifts. You were very happy.]
[Three months later, the sect's Mission Hall came looking for you.]
[They said that your cultivation had now stabilized, and it was time for you to undertake an experiential mission.]
[You nodded and did not refuse. This was a process every Foundation Establishment True Disciple of Tianjian Sect had to undergo.]
[Within one year of breaking through to Foundation Establishment, you had to leave Tianjian Sect and travel for five years, while also completing the corresponding sect missions, lest disciples become greenhouse flowers with cultivation but no understanding of life-and-death slaughter.]
[After paying respects to Gu Changfeng, you set out.]
[The Mission Hall assigned you the task of exterminating a group of Foundation Establishment evil cultivators in Donglin Kingdom. They controlled Donglin Kingdom's court and harvested vast numbers of mortal souls and blood essence every year to refine evil cultivator artifacts and pills.]
[You carefully reviewed the mission and discovered that the sect's intelligence listed three Foundation Establishment evil cultivators: one at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and two at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. All had broken through via evil arts, and their combat power was not particularly strong among cultivators of the same realm.]
[With your strength, even though you had only just broken through, you could absolutely protect yourself against them. If you were careful enough, you could even wipe them out directly.]
[Three months later, you arrived in Donglin Kingdom and discovered that the people here truly lived a life worse than death.]
[You concealed yourself near the capital and began carefully investigating the whereabouts of the Foundation Establishment evil cultivators.]
[You discovered that they had actually split up on their own initiative.]
[One was refining evil artifacts in the eastern part of the kingdom, another was refining evil pills in the south, while only the strongest, the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, remained in the capital enjoying himself.]
[You first went east and killed the evil cultivator refining evil artifacts with a single ambush sword strike.]
[You then went south to deal with the evil cultivator refining evil pills. This one lasted a few more exchanges, but you killed him with your third sword strike.]
[You returned to the capital again. Seeing that the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage evil cultivator had shown no reaction at all, you knew they had no method of sensing one another's life or death.]
[You quietly infiltrated the imperial palace, preparing to kill him with your sword.]
[At that moment, an unexpected incident occurred.]
Before you continue