Master Jingzhi!

"What level have you reached in the Chiming Nine Heavens Map?" After a brief moment of surprise, Master Jingzhi asked again.

"The fourth level; I've just stepped into the Xiantian realm," Zhou Hao replied.

"The fourth level..." Master Jingzhi shook his head. "What a pity."

"Why is that a pity?" Zhao Hu blinked, looking at Master Jingzhi in confusion.

"The Chiming Nine Heavens Map has a hurdle every three levels. Brother Zhou Hao has already crossed the bottleneck of the third level to become a Xiantian being. He will face no more obstacles until the peak of the Xiantian realm; it is merely a matter of time. How could that be a pity?"

Zhou Hao nodded as well, failing to understand what Master Jingzhi meant.

"Do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Master Jingzhi did not answer, instead asking the two of them with a smile.

"What day? Tomorrow is the monthly martial arts tournament of the Green Flood Dragon Army," Zhao Hu said, still looking somewhat bewildered. "What does that have to do with which level of the cultivation technique Brother Zhou Hao has reached?"

"Then do you know how many Xiantian beings are currently in the Xiantian Battalion?" Master Jingzhi asked again.

"New people have been joining throughout the year. It should be over five hundred, maybe close to six hundred," Zhao Hu thought for a moment, speaking with some uncertainty.

In their Xiantian Battalion, five Xiantian beings form a squad, five squads form a row, and five rows form a company.

Most routine missions are carried out by a single squad; dispatching five Xiantian beings is usually sufficient.

Opportunities to mobilize a row of twenty-five Xiantian beings, let alone an entire company, rarely occur more than a few times a year.

Even the monthly martial arts tournament is aimed at the regular Green Flood Dragon Army and does not require the Xiantian beings of the Xiantian Battalion to participate, which is why Zhao Hu did not know the exact number.

"It's not 'close to six hundred.' Including this little fellow, it is exactly six hundred and twenty," Master Jingzhi stated firmly. "The military department has not yet issued the order, but you will receive it later. The General will be present at tomorrow's tournament. Why do you think that is?"

"Could it be... could it be that they are adding new commanders?" Zhao Hu's eyes lit up. "There were rumors earlier that a new company was to be added to the Xiantian Battalion, but Jade Dragon City has remained calm, and there was no follow-up on the new formation. Is it confirmed this time?"

Although he was asking, Zhao Hu knew well that since Master Jingzhi was telling him this, it must be confirmed, just not yet announced.

"Jade Dragon City is not as calm as it looks." Master Jingzhi shook his head and walked into the Martial Arts Hall with his hands behind his back. "Wait here; I am going to get the technique."

"Not as calm?" Zhou Hao watched Master Jingzhi's retreating figure, lost in thought.

"No, I have to go tell Boss Cao and the others to save some energy tonight." Zhao Hu seemed to realize something and turned to leave, but after only two steps, he remembered Zhou Hao was still there.

"Uh, Brother Zhou Hao, are you staying in the barracks tonight, or are you going back to be with your tribesmen?"

"Once I get the technique, I will go to my tribesmen. Don't worry about me."

Iron Ox and the others could not enter the inner city at will and were currently still over at West Gate Market. Zhou Hao had entrusted the restaurant owner, Zhu Da, to help look after them.

Now that Zhou Hao had entered the Xiantian Battalion, thanks to the influence of Cao Rong and the others, the female soldiers processed his request with lightning speed, and in less than half a stick of incense, he had obtained the Tribe Decree to settle his people.

However, even with the Tribe Decree, it was too late today to find a suitable location outside Jade Dragon City to set up camp, so he had to go settle everyone first.

"Alright, don't forget about tomorrow's tournament," Zhao Hu tossed out a parting remark and hurried away.

I hope he still has time... Zhou Hao thought to himself.

At this moment, Master Jingzhi walked out of the Martial Arts Hall, holding a book with a blue cover.

"Since you have stepped into the Xiantian realm by practicing the Chiming Nine Heavens Map, you can control both water and fire. Therefore, your Qi-refining technique should ideally be of the water and fire elements."

"This Water Source Sutra is a Qi-refining technique that only outer sect disciples of the Jade Dragon Sect are permitted to study. Although it is much cruder than what inner sect disciples practice, it is still far beyond the town-guarding techniques of those small tribes outside."

As he spoke, Master Jingzhi walked up to Zhou Hao and handed him the book.

"Moreover, crude techniques have their advantages; at the very least, it is easier to break through to the Purple Mansion. If you can enter the inner sect of the Jade Dragon Sect later, you can simply switch techniques then."

Finally, he could refine Qi and cultivate immortality!

Zhou Hao held his breath as he took it, flipping open the book impatiently. To his surprise, the first page was not a technique, but an oath.

"This is a Heavenly Dao oath," Master Jingzhi said from the side.

"No immortal sect will allow their techniques to be spread externally. If you want to study them, you must first swear an oath."

"It is not just for studying techniques; when joining an immortal sect, you are also required to take an initiation blood oath. Otherwise, without any constraints, disciples could betray their masters at will, and that would be a joke."

"Swearing an oath is useful?" Zhou Hao was somewhat skeptical.

Whether in his past life or before he transmigrated in this one, he had heard too many people treat oaths like empty air.

"It is useless for mortals, but for those who cultivate immortality, it is an absolute, unbreakable Great Oath."

Master Jingzhi looked solemn. "Cultivating immortality is an act of defying the heavens. Everything that follows the Heavenly Dao is still subject to the trials of the Three Disasters and Nine Calamities. If one violates the Heavenly Dao, one will immediately suffer a calamity."

"I see." Zhou Hao nodded. He scanned the contents of the book and, seeing that it only required him to swear never to spread the technique and had no other conditions, he read aloud according to the text.

"With the Heavenly Dao as my witness..."

As Zhou Hao uttered the words "Heavenly Dao as my witness," his keen divine sense sensed an inexplicably ancient aura descend and swirl around him.

This made Zhou Hao feel even more solemn.

"I, Zhou Hao, swear that I will never spread the technique learned today... If I violate this oath, may I suffer the Nine-Fold Lightning Tribulation and die, never to be reincarnated."

After the Heavenly Dao oath was completed, Master Jingzhi nodded in satisfaction. "That is all. You may only read the technique here; you cannot take the book with you."

"Understood." Zhou Hao possessed a powerful soul and had long been able to memorize things at a glance, so this was naturally no challenge for him.

However, given how important the cultivation technique was, after he finished reading, he recited it silently to compare and confirm he had memorized it word-for-word before returning the book to Master Jingzhi.

"Hmm." Master Jingzhi took the book back, not in a hurry to put it away, looking at Zhou Hao as if a child were looking at a new toy. "I see you didn't even know about the Heavenly Dao oath. Did your tribe have no immortal cultivators before?"

It's not just that there are no cultivators; if I hadn't come to this world, I wouldn't even know how many years I had left to live.

"Yes. I obtained the body-refining technique purely by chance."

Killing someone and looting their corpse should count as a type of fortuitous encounter, right?

"That's wonderful." Master Jingzhi chuckled. Seeing Zhou Hao's suspicious gaze, he quickly corrected himself, "What I mean is, not understanding cultivation simply won't do. Even if you have a technique, if you practice it improperly, the best-case scenario is ruining your foundation, and the worst-case is death and soul dissipation. It would be too late for regrets then."

"..." Zhou Hao stared at Master Jingzhi.

Are you sure that's what you meant earlier?

Master Jingzhi ignored the skepticism in Zhou Hao's eyes and pulled him toward a nearby clearing.

Judging by his posture, he seemed terrified that Zhou Hao might run away.

In the clearing, besides a lounge chair, there was a stone table and a few stone stools.

Master Jingzhi pressed Zhou Hao down onto a stone stool: "Sit here and listen to me explain this carefully."

Once finished, he waved his hand, and a black stone slab ten feet wide and long appeared in the clearing, while a white stone appeared in his hand.

"This, could this be... a blackboard and chalk?" Zhou Hao was stunned.

"Let me first tell you about the seven great realms on the path of cultivation. You already know about the first level, Post-Heaven, and the second level, Xiantian."

Master Jingzhi wore a serious expression as he wrote the large characters for Post-Heaven and Xiantian on the black slab, then continued.

"The third level is Purple Mansion, known as 'Purple Mansion Cultivators,' with a lifespan of five hundred years."

"The fourth level is Myriad Phenomena, known as 'Myriad Phenomena True Person,' with a lifespan of eight hundred years."

"The fifth level is Primordial Spirit, known as Primordial Spirit Daoist. Upon reaching this realm, while there is no limit to one's lifespan, one is constantly plagued by the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, making premature death difficult to avoid."

"The sixth level is Void Return, also known as a Land Immortal, or 'Earth Immortal.' In the final stage of Void Return, one must face the trial of the Heavenly Tribulation. If you fail, death and the destruction of your soul are the least of your worries; those who are lucky enough to have their Primordial Spirit escape and survive become Loose Immortals."

"The seventh level is Heavenly Immortal. Upon reaching this realm, one is no longer subject to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, and only then can one truly be called someone who has leaped out of the Three Realms and is no longer within the Five Elements..."

Zhou Hao watched as Master Jingzhi spat while he spoke, the blackboard behind him filled in an instant, only to be wiped clean with a flick of his sleeve so he could continue writing. Suddenly, he had an ominous premonition.

... Outside the military camp.

"Oh no." Zhao Hu suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I forgot to warn Brother Zhou Hao to leave immediately after learning the technique, and to make sure he doesn't get caught by Master Jingzhi for a lecture."

The reason the Martial Repository was so quiet, with even patrolling soldiers taking detours to avoid it, was primarily because Master Jingzhi was obsessed with lecturing, and once he started, he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied.

"If I go back now, what if I get caught too..." Thinking of this, Zhao Hu's pace quickened.

My apologies, Brother Zhou Hao! It's not that I, Zhao Hu, hold a grudge.

Haha, you're on your own.