After paying his respects to his teachers Zhang Junsheng, True Lord Dinghai, and Slaughter Spirit True Lord, Jiang Ding approached An Siyan, Jin Lingfeng, Liu Mei, and the other cultivators of his generation, looking at each of them in turn.
After so many years—a stretch of time that seemed impossibly long—only eight or nine of his peers remained before him.
Every classmate from primary school, middle school, and high school had vanished into the endless years. No matter how he called out, none would come out to see him again.
"Greetings, Great Sun Heavenly Lord!"
An Siyan, Liu Mei, and the others spoke with grins.
"Hahaha!"
"Greetings, True Lords."
Jiang Ding laughed and cupped his fists in return.
He did not feel that advancing to Spirit Transformation made him so different from Nascent Soul Cultivators that he could put on airs.
"Back when we were young and taking the college entrance exam, Jiang Ding, you were still at the Innate realm—not even at Qi Refining. Who would have thought you'd be ahead of us now..."
Liu Mei sighed.
"Only one step ahead."
"Classmate Liu, you're at the peak of Nascent Soul yourself. All you lack is the chance to take that last step into Spirit Transformation. You're no less accomplished."
Jiang Ding smiled.
They caught up and reminisced about their days more than two thousand years ago, all of them overcome with emotion.
After chatting for a while, Jiang Ding bade his friends farewell and walked toward the lecture platform standing amid the stars. Following the Immortal Sect's ancient tradition, he began telling the many Nascent Soul Cultivators what he had learned from breaking through to Spirit Transformation.
"Fellow cultivators, hello. Today, we'll discuss breaking through to Spirit Transformation..."
The azure-robed young man's voice was gentle as he stood on