Quite a few people looked down on Qin Haoxuan, a mere weak-seed disciple, for presuming to instruct Xu Yu, a purple-seed disciple; some even sneered at him. Yet Xu Yu nodded earnestly and said, "Brother Haoxuan, don't worry. I won't be like them. What you said is right!"
One of Zhang Kuang's lackeys mocked without restraint, "A weak-seed disciple lecturing a purple seed? What a laughable farce! Only someone as innocent and kind as Senior Sister Xu would believe his nonsense."
Qin Haoxuan could not be bothered to respond to the provocation. Li Jing merely laughed inwardly at Qin Haoxuan's short-sightedness. As expected of a hunter from some backwater—an emperor or prince could already obtain and freely enjoy resources beyond the imagination of common folk, let alone the Taichu Sect's headmaster!
The resources such a person could obtain were probably so abundant that no one present could imagine them, no matter how hard they racked their brains. The spiritual energy of Hidden Dragon Temple alone was beyond the reach of anywhere else in Taichu Sect.
Only by standing higher could one see farther! Without reaching that height, how could one know just how astonishing the resources visible from there were?
The more Li Jing thought about it, the more he felt he had previously placed too much importance on Qin Haoxuan. A toad standing at the bottom of a well was, in the end, still a toad at the bottom of a well. If Qin Haoxuan had ever been to Hidden Dragon Temple, if he had experienced spiritual energy ten or even a hundred times denser than outside, he surely would not dare spout such nonsense. Hmph, but Qin Haoxuan was only a weak seed, fated to be a menial disciple all his life. How could he ever have the chance to visit a place like Hidden Dragon Temple?
Zhang Kuang furrowed his brow. Rarely, he did not immediately fly into a rage and retort to Qin Haoxuan. After True Lord Huang Long's teachings, now that he had calmed down and listened to Qin Haoxuan's words, he found them somewhat reasonable. It was just that... while those principles were correct, they were not comprehensive enough.
"Haoxuan, what you said does make some sense, but unfortunately..." Zhang Kuang smiled. "Cultivation still requires resources. Without resources, don't even dream of achieving anything great. Only by becoming headmaster can one enjoy Taichu Sect's finest cultivation resources. It is a pity that you are merely a weak seed and will never understand the benefits of becoming headmaster. If you keep spouting nonsense and affecting Junior Sister Xu Yu's future as a purple seed, be careful that the elders hear of it and charge you with leading a purple seed astray, turning you into a fool."
Faced with Zhang Kuang's lofty, mocking lecture, Qin Haoxuan merely smiled without speaking. When people's words failed to align, even half a sentence was too much.
At the side, Zhang Yang secretly nodded. Though he had already torn all pretense of civility with Zhang Kuang, he deeply understood Zhang Kuang's point that becoming headmaster would grant access to better sect resources and benefit one's future achievements. With Gu Yunzi's guidance, the pills he provided, and his help in cleansing Zhang Yang's marrow and remaking his bones, Zhang Yang, a gray seed, had rooted only a few hours later than Zhang Kuang—and even before Li Jing and Xu Yu, the two purple-seed disciples!
This was the benefit of resources!
It was a pity Qin Haoxuan's words could not reach the ears of True Lord Huang Long, the sect headmaster. After serving as headmaster for decades, he would surely view Qin Haoxuan in a new light! As Taichu Sect's headmaster, although he enjoyed its best resources, those resources were limited. Ever since reaching the Immortal Infant Dao Fruit Realm, his cultivation had failed to advance even an inch. Bound by his status as headmaster and unable to leave, True Lord Huang Long, at his level, understood even more clearly the importance of one's state of mind and breadth of vision. Reading ten thousand books was not as good as traveling ten thousand miles; being tied down to little Emperor Huang Peak was equivalent to shackling one's thoughts and vision, causing one to miss all manner of possible encounters and opportunities!
Compared to the enlightenment born of chance encounters and the many heavenly treasures, spiritual pills, and wondrous medicines, the little bit of superior resources available to the Taichu Sect headmaster was truly not worth mentioning.
Of course, if Huang Long had been present, he would not have looked down on Zhang Kuang and the others either. These disciples had only just entered the Immortal Dao and were merely sixteen years old. Their cultivation and state of mind still had vast room to grow. Purple seeds possessed extraordinary talent, so it was inevitable that they would develop pride. As their cultivation deepened day by day, their temperament would naturally mature greatly as well. There was no need to rush.
Cultivation was not a sprint, but a long-distance race!
"One day, when your cultivation can no longer advance by even an inch, you will naturally know that what I said today was right." Knowing Qin Haoxuan did not care in the least about their remarks, Zhang Kuang saw no point in further ridicule and turned to return to his room.
Qin Haoxuan still smiled calmly. Speaking of cultivation resources, could the resources of Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley possibly be less than those available to the mere headmaster of Taichu Sect? Even with Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley's resources, one still needed personal diligence and an open, broad state of mind to attain great achievements. If resources alone could make someone a powerful master, would that not be utter bullshit? One-Leaf Golden Lotus was a living example.
Was a heavenly treasure that even ancestor-level figures dreamed of not good enough? If he had not cultivated the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique, eating it would have made him burst to death on the spot!
At present, he was only in the Immortal Root Planting Realm. He merely needed to absorb abundant spiritual energy and pour it into his immortal seed so it could sprout sooner. But as one's realm deepened, not only would one need accumulated spiritual energy, one would also need a broad and open state of mind.
As the Great Dao Heart Seed Demon Technique said, a moment of enlightenment was worth ten years of bitter cultivation!
After suffering under the medicinal power of One-Leaf Golden Lotus these past days, Qin Haoxuan had thought long and hard. The conclusion he finally reached was that a cultivator's opponent was never another person, but Heaven!
Aside from Xu Yu, who agreed with Qin Haoxuan's view, many people believed Qin Haoxuan was calling grapes sour because he could not eat them. Yet in an unnoticed corner stood a burly, bearded man with a cold expression. Standing beneath the shade of that great tree, he seemed to merge with nature itself. Unless one looked very carefully, a casual glance would never reveal him.
He had watched the entire affair unfold, and he repeatedly nodded at the words Qin Haoxuan had spoken to Xu Yu. He sighed inwardly: His Dao heart is strong and his comprehension is excellent, but his aptitude is too poor! What a pity, what a pity. If this Dao heart and comprehension had belonged to any one of the other three purple-seed disciples, their future achievements would have been immeasurable.
This farce ended on an unhappy note. After breakfast, they hurried to the classroom.
When Elder Chu entered the classroom, he sensed four faint pulses of Essence Energy—the clear sign of successful Rooting. He stared in astonishment at the three purple-seed disciples and Zhang Yang, the gray seed, his eyes lingering especially long on Zhang Yang.
It was understandable that the three purple-seed disciples had rooted successfully in eight days. They were Supreme Purple Seeds, after all; it was only natural for them to surpass others in every respect. But Zhang Yang was merely a gray-seed disciple. Elder Chu remembered that even True Lord Huang Long, also a gray seed back then, had needed a full twenty days to root successfully, and that had set Taichu Sect's record for the fastest Rooting.
When he looked at Murong Chao, the other gray seed, he found that Murong Chao had not rooted yet.
Could Zhang Yang have encountered some extraordinary opportunity? Otherwise, how could he possibly have rooted so quickly?
Even the fastest gray-seed disciple needed twenty days of cultivation to Root, while a full Colorless Seed required over twenty-five days. A Colorless Weak Seed might not manage to root even after one or two months!
Though shocked, Elder Chu did not forget his duty. He cleared his throat and said, "Today, I will teach you Eight Trigrams Numerology. If you do not learn it well, you will not be able to learn how to set up arrays in the future, because this is the foundational knowledge for arranging arrays!"
"Arrays are also a profound branch of learning for cultivators, with many uses. For instance, when exploring outside in search of treasure, if one encounters danger, one can use an array to turn danger into safety."
"Arrays can be divided into two categories: Illusion Arrays and Attack and Defense Arrays. Illusion Arrays cause enemies to experience all sorts of hallucinations, such as heaven collapsing and earth splitting, mountains of blades and seas of fire, or sheer cliffs and precipices. When powerful experts lay down Illusion Arrays and combine them with divine-sense attacks, enemies trapped within may very well be frightened to death."
"As for Attack and Defense Arrays, as the name suggests, they are arrays for attack and defense. If someone inside takes a single wrong step, the array will borrow the might of Heaven and Earth to attack them. There are also some profound arrays that can bolster the person who set them up, giving them greater resistance to attacks."
After Elder Chu introduced the wonders of arrays, the disciples listening below had bright gleams in their eyes. Clearly, they were greatly interested, all eager to give it a try. To keep them from being rash and seeking quick success, he added, "Arrays are a profound field of learning and place extremely high demands on their creators. One mistake may even cause backlash. If an array setter's fundamentals are lacking, it is very difficult to successfully create an array. Even if one succeeds by luck, poor fundamentals may ultimately leave one unable to escape one's own array, trapped to death inside it. There have been many such jokes."
Elder Chu's words immediately dispelled the thoughts of that eager crowd. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Elder Chu smiled faintly. "However, arrays are not quite so difficult. As long as you build a solid foundation, setting up a few Illusion Arrays will be quite simple."
"All right, let us first discuss Eight Trigrams Numerology. The Eight Trigrams consist of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Gen, Li, Kan, Dui, and Xun. Numerology refers to the various calculations derived from their differing arrangements. Vastly different methods of deduction produce all manner of results. For example, an array's Life Gate, Death Gate, Injury Gate, and so on are all derived from this..."
Elder Chu spoke with great enthusiasm, and the new disciples below listened with fascination. Though Eight Trigrams Numerology was foundational knowledge for array construction, it was unfathomably profound. Some disciples with good comprehension could grasp fragments of it, while those with poorer comprehension were left lost in a fog. Still, to avoid becoming the joke of trapping themselves to death in their own arrays someday, they pricked up their ears and listened with all their might.
Among these two hundred new disciples, only one person was an exception.
Sitting in the classroom, Qin Haoxuan felt the remaining medicinal power in his body begin to stir again. His flesh and blood seemed about to combust on their own. With such blazing heat consuming him, how could he possibly calm down and listen? Had the torment of recent days not greatly strengthened his endurance, anyone else would already have stripped naked to the waist. Qin Haoxuan endured for a while longer, but when he truly could not bear it anymore, he quietly said to Xu Yu, "Help me take notes. I'm going to meditate for a while."
Under Xu Yu's astonished gaze, Qin Haoxuan assumed a five-hearts-facing-Heaven posture and began absorbing spiritual energy to neutralize the increasingly scorching medicinal power within him, afraid that if he delayed even a moment longer, that medicinal power would burst his body apart.
Elder Chu saw Qin Haoxuan's action, and a trace of displeasure flashed through his eyes. But after glancing at Xu Yu beside him, diligently recording notes, he spared Qin Haoxuan for Xu Yu's sake and did not interrupt him. Otherwise, with Elder Chu's temperament, he would have long since stormed over and thrown Qin Haoxuan out of the classroom!
He sighed inwardly that this disciple was too obsessed, completely putting the cart before the horse.
Cultivation was not something one could achieve simply by meditating, refining Qi, and absorbing spiritual energy. It was a vast field of learning, encompassing alchemy, talismans, array construction, and many other disciplines. And among those disciplines, which was easy to understand? Many geniuses with exceptional aptitude and astonishing comprehension spent their entire lives only attaining mastery in a single discipline within the immense field of cultivation. Even so, they could become towering figures in the cultivation world!
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