Cultivation Realms

Zhang Yang's words left everyone who had already joined the Azure Cloud Sect feeling uneasy.

When they had come to the Azure Cloud Sect for the assessment, they had known that Immortal Cultivation required talent. But since they had all joined the Azure Cloud Sect this time, they had thought there would be no more assessment. Who would have expected the assessment to be here?

However, hearing Zhang Yang's assurance put them much more at ease.

No matter what, they were already disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect. That was enough.

"Eldest Senior Brother, please test our talents!" Wang Baole stepped forward and volunteered.

Zhang Yang glanced at Wang Baole and continued, "Before you begin cultivating, I need to explain the cultivation realms and the general methods of cultivation to you.

"The most important step in Immortal Cultivation is Foundation Establishment. It signifies that you can step onto the path of cultivation.

"Foundation Establishment is merely a general term. In truth, it consists of several steps: Qi Gathering, Body Refinement, Sea Opening, and Dao Seed.

"Qi Gathering means sensing the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth and drawing it into your body.

"This step is already where talent begins to show.

"Some people are gifted and possess strong sensitivity to the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth, allowing them to enter the Qi Gathering stage with ease. Others have weak sensitivity to the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth, and Qi Gathering alone takes them a great deal of time. Some cannot sense the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth at all, leaving them with no way to cultivate."

Everyone felt uneasy, yet they understood.

If they could not even sense the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth, how could they cultivate immortality?

"After successfully gathering qi, the next step is to use the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth to continuously temper the impurities in your body, making it increasingly pure. This step is actually not so important, since many medicinal herbs can help temper the body.

"Once the body has been tempered to purity, the next step is to open the Spirit Sea.

"Opening the Spirit Sea involves different cultivation techniques.

"At that point, you can collect the cultivation technique you wish to practice from the sect and open your own Spirit Sea.

"Once the Spirit Sea has been successfully opened through a cultivation technique, you must nurture a Dao Seed within that empty Spirit Sea. Only then does it count as true Foundation Establishment.

"Foundation Establishment alone has four such difficult steps, including two barriers to overcome.

"So, before you embark upon the path of Immortal Cultivation, I must remind you: if you do not have sufficient perseverance or enough confidence, give up this thought as soon as possible."

Wang Baole said with a smile, "Eldest Senior Brother, since we had already made up our minds to come for the assessment, we naturally have both confidence and perseverance."

"Yes, we definitely will not disappoint Eldest Senior Brother!"

"Please believe in us, Eldest Senior Brother."

Voices rose one after another.

Zhang Yang raised a hand to signal for silence, then continued, "The reason I am telling you this is because Foundation Establishment is something the vast majority of you can only rely on yourselves to achieve. The only help the sect can give you is some medicinal herbs for tempering your bodies, as well as some experience regarding Foundation Establishment.

"Only after you successfully establish your foundation and begin stepping into the Golden Core Realm can the sect provide you with its greatest assistance.

"Let me also tell you about the Golden Core Realm in advance, so you may have some vision of the road ahead.

"The Golden Core Realm also has three steps: Core Formation Realm, Core Tempering, and Core Nurturing.

"The Core Formation process is the process of forging the Dao Seed into a Golden Core.

"Once Core Formation succeeds, you can sense the Laws of Heaven and Earth and thus travel through the skies.

"After successfully forming a core, your lifespan can also break through its limits. Living for several centuries is no problem.

"Core Formation is not actually that difficult. I myself am at the Core Formation Realm, so everyone still has hope."

Everyone's eyes went wide, and they nearly drooled.

Jiang Zhiqiu, standing nearby, could not help but freeze for a moment. He muttered inwardly, Was Core Formation really that easy?

He had spent over twenty years forming his core back then!

Do not be fooled by how young he looked. He was actually over a hundred years old, and he had spent one-fifth of his life forming his core!

"After the Golden Core Realm come the Nascent Soul Realm, Primordial Spirit Realm, Dao Integration Realm, and the subsequent Tribulation Realm. Those are all too far away from us, so you need not understand them for now.

"Oh, and let me introduce the person beside me. He is also your senior brother, Jiang Zhiqiu. He has only just joined the sect as well, but his realm is even higher than mine. He has already reached the Core Tempering Realm." Zhang Yang took the opportunity to introduce Jiang Zhiqiu to everyone. "Come, greet your senior brother! Senior Brother is a wealthy man. If he is pleased, he might reward you with a Spirit Stone. Spirit Stones contain abundant spiritual qi, and they can be of considerable help to your Qi Gathering."

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

Wang Baole hurriedly bowed, while the others also quickly greeted him and looked at Jiang Zhiqiu eagerly.

"Greetings, junior brothers and junior sisters!" Jiang Zhiqiu hurriedly replied, then gave everyone five Spirit Stones.

He still had tens of thousands of Spirit Stones on him. Even giving five to each person only amounted to a few hundred Spirit Stones, which was nothing to him.

Everyone who received Spirit Stones was overjoyed, becoming even more enthusiastic toward Jiang Zhiqiu.

Having just joined the Azure Cloud Sect, Jiang Zhiqiu gained a little more sense of identification with his status as a senior brother.

And that was Zhang Yang's purpose.

Otherwise, he would have been willing to part with a few hundred Spirit Stones himself.

"After receiving the Spirit Stones, make full use of the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth within them and succeed in Qi Gathering as soon as possible!" Zhang Yang reminded everyone. "However, while cultivating, you must also do some work for the sect. For example, houses are being built recently, and the entire sect is a complete mess. You need to tidy it up.

"Also, in your spare time, you can search for medicinal herbs and submit them to the sect. These things can all count as merit.

"When you need to collect things from the sect in the future, you can exchange that merit for them."

When Zhang Yang had first gone up the mountain, the Azure Cloud Seven Sons had covered all of his cultivation needs.

But now that there were more people in Azure Cloud Sect, they could no longer simply give things away.

No one had any objections. They felt that this was probably how a sect ought to operate in the first place.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Those who should cultivate, cultivate; those who should work, go work." Zhang Yang waved his hand, signaling everyone to scatter, then turned to Jiang Zhiqiu. "Junior Brother, I'll take you to the Scripture Repository to choose a cultivation technique."

Jiang Zhiqiu hurriedly thanked him. "Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother!"

Zhang Yang led Jiang Zhiqiu past the main hall toward a tall tower behind it, introducing it as they walked. "This is Azure Cloud Sect's Scripture Repository. It contains all kinds of cultivation techniques from Azure Cloud Sect. The first floor holds Foundation Establishment techniques, the second floor holds Golden Core Realm techniques, and the third floor holds Nascent Soul techniques.

"You are currently at the Core Tempering Realm, so you may only choose techniques from the second floor."

Jiang Zhiqiu looked at the five-story tower, his heart deeply shaken.

Especially after entering the second floor and seeing the jade slips laid out there, he was even more stunned.

He understood better than anyone what this meant.

As a Rogue Cultivator, other cultivation resources were manageable, but cultivation techniques were certainly a tremendous restriction.

Without an inheritance, let alone obtaining a good cultivation technique, merely having something to cultivate was already fortunate.

Yet Azure Cloud Sect possessed so many Golden Core Realm cultivation techniques. They were not quite as common as turnips and cabbages, but they were close enough.

This was the foundation of a great sect.

In truth, this was also why he had agreed so readily when Zhang Yang had asked him to join the Azure Cloud Sect.