Can you be considered cultivation if you haven't skipped grades?

Penglai Yuqing Temple, Daozang Pavilion.

Luo Yan looked up from the pile of books, his expression a little dazed.

He had flipped through hundreds of scriptures but still hadn't found any information related to "Li Palace."

The only mention was in A General History of the Ancient Heavenly Origin Sect, which stated, "The Celestial Venerable worried and thus built the Li Palace."

So, who was this Celestial Venerable?

What was he worrying about?

Why would worrying lead to building a Li Palace? And what even is a Li Palace?

He glanced at the author's name on the scripture, and sure enough! It was written by a senior from the ancient Kunlun.

Any scripture from the Kunlun Taiqing Sect was always in this infuriatingly minimalist style. If a word could describe something, they wouldn't use two—as if writing more would lower their prestige.

Less text, more prestige? Why not just make a PowerPoint? Couldn't they include some clear charts?

Luo Yan showed this passage to Shi Liuli, and even the Eldest Young Lady scratched her head.

"Celestial Venerable should refer to the Lord of the Heavenly Origin Sect, Primordial Celestial Venerable," Shi Liuli speculated. "As for the matter of worry..."

"Wait a moment!" Luo Yan said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Senior Sister, if it was truly built by Primordial Celestial Venerable, then the status of this Li Palace would be terrifyingly high. It shouldn't be related to our Qi Refining Stage."

"You have a point," Shi Liuli said, troubled. "So, who exactly is this Celestial Venerable?"

"Let's not worry about who this Celestial Venerable is for now," Luo Yan tried to persuade the Eldest Young Lady. "But the scriptures in the Daozang Pavilion are as vast as the ocean. Finding a specific term in here is like searching for a needle in a haystack. I think it would be better to get Senior Brother drunk and pry the information out of him..."

"You think I haven't tried?" Shi Liuli glanced at him sideways. "He's been wary of me lately and carries hangover pills with him."

"That's strange," Luo Yan mused. "Is this some kind of secret that everyone needs to keep so tight-lipped about?"

"It might not be a secret," Shi Liuli replied. "It's just that Senior Brother and the other disciples are very obedient to Father."

"Father might have just casually said something like, 'Don't tell me directly,' and they've all agreed not to tell me."

"I see," Luo Yan thought for a moment and made up his mind.

Asking for help from the audience!

"I'm going to the restroom," he said, getting up.

"No way!" Shi Liuli snapped.

"Senior Sister! You won't even let me go to the restroom? That's too overbearing!" Luo Yan said with a pained expression.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Shi Liuli put her hands on her hips. "As a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, you've long since achieved grain abstinence. What do you need the restroom for?"

Luo Yan: ...

This Eldest Young Lady suddenly became sharp again!

"See? You clearly want to run away!" Shi Liuli exclaimed angrily.

"Senior Sister," Luo Yan said helplessly. "Actually, I've had an inspiration, and I was just planning to go to the restroom to organize my thoughts."

"What kind of inspiration needs organizing in the restroom?" Shi Liuli sneered.

"Divination," Luo Yan lied.

"You can't divine here?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Senior Sister is too beautiful, and it distracts me. I can't concentrate on calculating."

Shi Liuli:?

"Oh, I can't do anything with you," she said, waving her hand with a smile. "Why go to the restroom? Our Heavenly Crafts Workshop doesn't have such a filthy place. There's a quiet room in the Daozang Pavilion. You can go there to divine, but no running away, okay!"

"Okay, okay," Luo Yan said quickly, getting up.

He went into the quiet room and, confirming he was alone, mentally called out to the Kunlun Mirror:

"Yao Yao, I need to reload!"

The Kunlun Mirror ignored him.

"A Jing?" Luo Yan immediately changed his address.

"Which save file?" the Kunlun Mirror asked.

"Kunlun."

[Waypoint 1: Kunlun Taiqing Sect, Jinling Cave Mansion.] [Character Identity: Qiu Changtian.] [Mirror Flower Water Moon template overlay, currently time-traveling.]

His body reappeared in Kunlun, overlaid with the Mirror Flower Water Moon illusion with the Invincible Persona. He quickly switched to Qiu Changtian's mental state, calmly left the cave mansion, and took flight on his sword.

He was preparing to visit the Foundation Establishment Realm Great Chief Disciple, Xu Changqing.

Xu Changqing, born into the Xu Family of Tiannan, was the 276th generation Chief Disciple of Kunlun and the current Foundation Establishment Realm Great Chief Disciple, known as the "Number One Under the Golden Core" in the Kunlun Taiqing Sect.

Incidentally, among the Shangqing Sect of Shushan, the "number one person below the Golden Core" is Senior Sister An Zhisu.

There's no need to elaborate on the relationship between Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu, and the relationship between Qiu Changtian and Xu Changqing isn't much different.

The reason is simple: in the genealogy of the Xu Family of Tiannan, Xu Changqing is Xu Yinglian's granduncle, meaning her grandfather's uncle.

In other words, according to the already established Dao Companion marriage contract, Qiu Changtian is Xu Changqing's future grandnephew-in-law.

Although the title is a bit convoluted, Xu Changqing indeed treats Qiu Changtian as a junior of his own family due to this connection.

"Changtian?" Seeing Qiu Changtian arrive for a visit, Xu Changqing, who was meditating, got up to greet him.

His appearance was maintained at around thirty years old, possessing neither the immaturity of youth nor the weariness of middle age; his appearance could be said to be unremarkable.

He also acted very low-key in his daily life, which Qiu Changtian envied immensely: he wished he could be the same, but his persona wouldn't allow it.

"Senior Brother Changqing," Qiu Changtian respectfully bowed, then got straight to the point, "I've come to ask you about a location, Senior Brother."

"What location?" Xu Changqing asked, slightly surprised.

"The Li Palace," Qiu Changtian said in a deep voice.

Xu Changqing blinked, then chuckled:

"I see. I didn't expect you to have heard the rumors so early."

Qiu Changtian:?

What, does this Li Palace have something to do with me, Qiu Changtian?

Seeing his expression unchanged, Xu Changqing pondered for a moment before slowly explaining the connection:

"Changtian, as you know, the cultivation of the Qi Refining Stage is mainly about guiding Qi into the body to fill the Sea of Qi."

"The Marrow Cleansing stage involves bone and marrow cleansing, expanding the meridians, which requires a large amount of True Qi as assistance, thus necessitating a full Sea of Qi."

"Overall, depending on the cultivator's individual aptitude and the quality of their Qi Refining Technique, filling the Sea of Qi takes about thirty to sixty years."

"During this period, without external aids like Flying Swords or Magic Treasures, the combat ability of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator is very fragile."

"And in ancient times, the Heavenly Origin Sect faced a problem: the number of their low-level disciples was far less than that of the Intercepting Sect."

"Although their average aptitude was higher, their low cultivation realm prevented them from widening the gap with the Intercepting Sect disciples."

"Therefore, a powerful being in the ancient Heavenly Origin Sect used supreme Spiritual Power to construct a 'Li Palace Secret Realm' beneath the East Sea, utilizing the immense Spiritual Power of the Earth Vein Volcano."

"This Li Palace Secret Realm was specifically designed for the trial of disciples of the Heavenly Origin Sect in the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"As long as you can pass the trial, you will not only have the chance to obtain Flying Swords, Magic Treasures, Spiritual Medicine, and Daoist Magic, but you can also steadily advance your cultivation realm by one stage."

"From Qi Refining to Marrow Cleansing, from Marrow Cleansing to Dantian Formation, you can jump directly from the initial stage of Dantian Formation to the Great Perfection of Dantian Formation, a realm of half-step Golden Core, all through the Li Palace Secret Realm."

Qiu Changtian suddenly understood:

"So that's how it is, then this Li Palace..."

"The opening and closing periods of the Li Palace are beyond our prediction," Xu Changqing said with a smile. "But according to my Master, the next opening should be very soon."

"The reason the sect doesn't inform you all is simply because they fear that knowing the Li Palace Secret Realm can guarantee advancement will make you complacent in your cultivation."

"However, since you've already caught wind of it, I won't keep it from you any longer."

Qiu Changtian naturally understood his meaning and nodded solemnly, saying, "Senior Brother, rest assured, I will not reveal this to Junior Brothers and Sisters, not even Junior Sister Xu."

However, how should I explain this to Eldest Young Lady Shi?