"Elder Mo, she's undergoing Spirit Awakening and Enlightenment. You see..."
Zhang Xingfeng briefly explained it to Mo Lingyuan.
"How extraordinary! That young lady is a mortal, yet she's sat there for a full day and night? Her willpower has my admiration!"
Mo Lingyuan stroked his long beard and sighed in wonder.
Dongfang Muxue, however, ached for Lü Liu.
Thud!
Suddenly, Lü Liu toppled from the Dao-Enlightenment Stone.
"Oh no! Lü Liu's fainted!"
Zhang Xingfeng cried out and raced toward her.
"Lü Liu!"
Dongfang Muxue shouted, sprinting after him.
"Hm?!"
At the same moment, Li Moqing shot out of the Discussion Hall as a streak of light.
Whoosh!
But a blue streak flashed ahead of all three. It was Mo Lingyuan.
He landed before Lü Liu and sent a stream of Source Qi over her.
"How is she?"
The three who arrived behind him asked anxiously.
Dongfang Muxue's face was especially tight with worry.
"She's fine." Mo Lingyuan smiled. "She was simply exhausted and famished, so she fainted. I'm treating her with Source Qi. She'll wake shortly."
"Thank goodness."
The three breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, once the Source Qi entered her body, Lü Liu slowly woke.
"Lü Liu, are you all right?"
Dongfang Muxue asked urgently, tears in her eyes.
"Senior Sister, I'm fine."
Lü Liu's reply was weak.
"Sect Master, I did it. I gained enlightenment!"
She turned to Li Moqing, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"Good..."
Li Moqing answered with that single, gentle word.
"Sect Master?!"
Mo Lingyuan looked at Li Moqing, astonished.
The Sect Master looks so young, yet I can't see through his cultivation?
Could he be a mighty expert beyond the Spirit Transformation Realm? Unbelievable. Search Province has had such an expert hidden away all this time!
I'm truly unworthy of being called 'Search Province's foremost expert'!
Li Moqing neither confirmed nor denied it. "Never mind that for now. Let's help Lü Liu back to the Discussion Hall."
"All right."
Mo Lingyuan channeled his Source Power, buoyed Lü Liu with Source Qi above his hands, and carried her back to the Discussion Hall.
The Sect Discussion Hall.
"Lü Liu, eat some of this first."
Li Moqing handed her food he had prepared.
"Thank you, Sect Master."
Lü Liu hurriedly thanked him.
"Sect Master, what is this?"
Mo Lingyuan looked at the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture on the wall and felt a flash of insight.
"Our Sect's Cultivation Method—the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture. Heaven-Tier Upper Grade."
Li Moqing's answer was calm.
"Heaven-Tier Upper Grade? No wonder one glance gave me so many insights!"
Mo Lingyuan exclaimed and began studying it closely.
Whoosh!
As he read, the Sect's Source Qi surged into his body like raging waves.
Boom!
At the same time, his mind became utterly clear, and his power of comprehension reached an unprecedented height!
"Profound. Truly profound!"
Mo Lingyuan's eyes shone with admiration.
"Perfection? I've actually reached perfection?!"
The moment he finished reading, Mo Lingyuan shouted with excitement, scarcely able to believe it. "So quickly? As expected of a Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method!"
With his cultivation brought to perfection, he ignored the astonished looks from Zhang Xingfeng, Dongfang Muxue, and Lü Liu. He immediately took out a Supreme Source Stone and sat cross-legged.
Boom!
He channeled his Source Power, turned the Source Stone into a huge drop of liquid, and drew it into his body.
A moment later, he took out another and absorbed it the same way.
He did not stop until he had absorbed five hundred Supreme Source Stones.
"Huh? It used to take six hundred and fifty Supreme Source Stones to fill me up. Now five hundred are enough?"
Mo Lingyuan sensed that the power within him had reached its limit and wondered at the change.
Then again, I'm now practicing a Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method, and the Sect's Source Qi is abundant. Needing a hundred and fifty fewer Supreme Source Stones makes sense.
Never mind. Strengthening my Nascent Soul and breaking through come first!
When cultivators reached the Nascent Soul Realm, the Laws within them resonated with heaven and earth, shattering the Source Core they had formed in the Core Formation Realm and condensing it into a Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul could leave the body for a short time. Only by destroying it could one truly kill a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
With each layer of cultivation, it grew stronger and harder to destroy.
Now that Mo Lingyuan was on the verge of a breakthrough, he naturally had to strengthen his Nascent Soul.
He cleared his mind and circulated the Divine Breath Pure Heart Scripture, guiding the Source Stone's power through his body and into his Nascent Soul.
Hum!
A quarter of an hour later, a clear note rang out inside him. His Nascent Soul glowed yellow, becoming sturdier and purer!
Boom!
As his Nascent Soul suddenly grew stronger, Mo Lingyuan's long hair stirred without wind. Pressure rolled off him and swept through the Discussion Hall like a giant wave!
"Hm?!"
Zhang Xingfeng and Dongfang Muxue raised their brows and hurriedly channeled Source Power to withstand it.
Dongfang Muxue also shielded Lü Liu behind her. Though Lü Liu had undergone Spirit Awakening and Enlightenment, she was still a mortal.
Even so, the pressure hurled all three several yards back.
"Hm?"
Seeing this, Mo Lingyuan hastily withdrew his pressure.
"Hahaha! I've broken through! After three thousand years, this old man has finally broken past the Fourth Layer of the Nascent Soul Realm!"
Another quarter of an hour passed before he stood, shouting in excitement without a trace of an immortal's composure.
He did not care. After breaking through a bottleneck that had held him for thousands of years, how could he possibly keep his composure?
"I, Mo Lingyuan, greet the Sect Master!"
After a few breaths, Mo Lingyuan barely managed to calm himself. He clasped his fists, bowed, and formally paid his respects to Li Moqing.
"Congratulations on reaching the Fifth Layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, Elder Mo."
Li Moqing took his seat at the head of the hall and offered his congratulations.
"From now on, you'll be the Sect's Reception Elder, responsible for welcoming and guiding its members."
"That includes explaining matters concerning the Sect and arranging living quarters for members. You'll also receive visitors from outside the Sect."
"Your building is the third in the first row on the west side."
"Yes, Sect Master. I'll bend my back to the task and give my last breath to it!"
Mo Lingyuan answered solemnly.
"Your monthly stipend will be fifty Gold Yuan, ten Supreme Source Stones, and three leaves of Sourceheart Tea. This stipend is provisional, not fixed."
Li Moqing spoke evenly.
"Yes, thank you, Sect—" Mo Lingyuan broke off mid-thanks and cried out, "Sourceheart Tea?!"
"Sourceheart Tea is found only on Western Region Spirit Island. Even when I was the patriarch of Search Province's First Sect, I never had the chance to drink it!"
If I'd had it, perhaps I wouldn't have been stuck at the Fourth Layer of the Nascent Soul Realm for three thousand years!
Still struggling to believe it, Mo Lingyuan asked, "Sect Master, does the Sect truly have Sourceheart Tea?"
"Of course."
Li Moqing answered without a ripple of emotion.
"Thank you, Sect Master!"
At the confirmation, Mo Lingyuan thanked him again.
With Sourceheart Tea, a Heaven-Tier High-Grade Cultivation Method, and the Sect's abundant Source Qi, my cultivation will advance a thousand miles a day!
Mo Lingyuan rejoiced inwardly.
"That's not all. You may also choose an Earth-Tier Upper Grade Cultivation Art from the Scripture Repository."
Just as Mo Lingyuan was reveling in his good fortune, Li Moqing's words made him sway.
Before you continue