Understanding dawned on Zhou Qing's face as he read this.
Resources were certainly important to a cultivator's cultivation, but guidance from their predecessors was just as important.
Why had Zhou Qing insisted on serving under Pill Master Yun in the first simulation? Hadn't it been because he wanted Pill Master Yun's guidance?
Even in the current simulation, Zhou Qing had still gone to every possible length to build a good relationship with Alchemist Yun. One of his goals was to wait for the man to become a high-grade alchemist and give him a helping hand.
From the looks of it, Zhou Qing had made exactly the right choice. Although Pill Master Yun had become a high-grade pill master first, he had not forgotten Zhou Qing.
Every so often, he found an alchemy inheritance for Zhou Qing to consult.
Without Pill Master Yun, who knew how much effort Zhou Qing would have needed to become a high-grade pill master?
Ye Feng had only just entered the third layer of Qi Refining back then, yet in a little over thirty years, he had become a powerful Senior Cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. There were far too many things about that which did not make sense.
Without the experience of his predecessors, how many pitfalls would a rogue cultivator have to stumble into before reaching that point?
Now it seemed he had relied on the "old grandpa" inside this sky-blue ring.
Thoughts whirled through Zhou Qing's mind as he continued watching the simulation.
[You carefully examined the sky-blue ring and noticed wisps of red flowing within it.] ["Boy, what are you staring at? I am the artifact spirit of this Mountain Sea Ring. Which True Person is the current sect master of the Mountain Sea Sect? How did the illustrious Mountain Sea Ring end up in the hands of a mere middle Qi Refining period cultivator like you?"] [The voice continued to emerge from the sky-blue ring.] [You thought for a moment, then said, "Senior Artifact Spirit, I know nothing about any Mountain Sea Sect. I obtained this ring from... from a fellow cultivator..."] [You did not reveal everything you knew. The Mountain Sea Sect's name would spread in a few years, but right now? Very few cultivators knew that the secret realm was connected to the Mountain Sea Sect.] ["So that is how it is."] [Only after a long silence did the aged voice inside the sky-blue ring slowly speak again. "Even a treasure as precious as the Mountain Sea Ring has been lost to the outside world. The Mountain Sea Sect..."] [At this point, the aged voice inside the sky-blue ring changed tack. "Since you obtained this Mountain Sea Ring, you must have some affinity with the Mountain Sea Sect. Boy, meeting me is the greatest opportunity of your life. I will nurture you into a True Person and restore the Mountain Sea lineage..."] [In the cultivation world, True Person referred to cultivators at the Core Formation Stage. Only experts at that level were qualified to call themselves True Persons.] ["A True Person?"] [Even though you had been mentally prepared, your heart surged when you heard this.] [Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators lived for two hundred years, while Core Formation Stage True Persons lived for five hundred.] [Five hundred years, enough for blue seas to become mulberry fields, were merely a single lifetime to a Core Formation Stage True Person.] ["What are you still standing there for? Aren't you going to take me as your master? Or do you think I'm unfit to be your master?"] [The aged voice inside the ring continued.] ["Take you as my master?"] [You were taken aback once again.]
Outside the simulation, rows of illusory text rapidly coalesced into three choices.
[You must choose one of the following three options.] [One: Agree to take him as your master.] [Two: Refuse to take him as your master.] [Three: Throw away the ring. I want to forge my own path.]
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Qing selected the first option.
What a joke. Even if the Mountain Sea Ring Artifact Spirit's promise to nurture Zhou Qing into a True Person was merely painting a cake to satisfy his hunger-
Helping him reach the peak of the Qi Refining Stage and attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm was something Ye Feng's experience in the first simulation had already proven possible.
That alone made taking this master worthwhile.
Besides, he was taking a master inside the simulation.
Even if there were hidden dangers, such as attracting the attention of the Mountain Sea Sect's enemies, they would have nothing to do with Zhou Qing in reality.
As long as he could cultivate to Qi Refining Perfection, Zhou Qing could accept gaining another enemy in the simulation.
Besides, the Mountain Sea Sect had already been gone for hundreds of years. It could not even protect its own secret realm stronghold. Whether it still had enemies was anyone's guess.
["Greetings, Master."] [Without any hesitation, you immediately acknowledged him as your master.] ["I have only recently awakened. I will sleep for a while first..."] [After saying this, the aged voice inside the ring fell silent.] [You carefully examined your surroundings and, after confirming that no cultivators were following you, quietly returned to Wushan Market.] [Nothing had changed inside the cave dwelling. Dachun had remained in the courtyard, practicing his body-refining technique.] [You prepared plenty of grain-avoidance pills for Dachun, enough to last him anywhere from several years to a decade.] ["...Pill Master Yun left me a message asking me to find him after I came out of seclusion..."] [You announced to the outside world that you were entering secluded cultivation. For cultivators, remaining in seclusion for several months or even several years was perfectly normal.] [You fell into brief contemplation, vaguely guessing why Pill Master Yun wanted you to find him.] [In the first simulation, Pill Master Yun had also disappeared for several years around this time.] [Only later did you learn that during his absence, Pill Master Yun had gone to "Jade Moon Immortal City" to attempt a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm.] [Jade Moon Immortal City was the largest gathering place for cultivators in the region. Pill Master Yun's master, the one surnamed Zhao, resided there.] [Jade Moon Immortal City was built atop a large third-tier spiritual vein and could provide cultivators with an excellent spiritual energy environment. Many cultivators at the peak of Qi Condensation who had the means chose this immortal city when attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.] [You immediately went to the Yun Pill Workshop and found Pill Master Yun.] [Pill Master Yun looked at you and said solemnly, "Brother Wang, I'll be staying with Master Zhao for the next few years, preparing to attempt Foundation Establishment. I'll have to entrust the Yun Pill Workshop to you. Sorry for the trouble."] [Pill Master Yun did not hide anything from you. After twenty years together, he trusted you completely.] [Pill Master Yun had once planned to give you the Yun Pill Workshop's entire twenty-percent share of the profits, but you had refused. This made him realize that you were not a cultivator who clung too tightly to worldly gains.] ["...Attempting Foundation Establishment... Brother Yun, are you confident...?"] [You asked quietly.] [In the first simulation, Pill Master Yun's attempt at Foundation Establishment had ended in failure.] [In this simulation, however, with your help, Pill Master Yun had become a high-grade pill master several years earlier, giving him more time and energy to hone himself.] [Perhaps he could break free of his fate of failing at Foundation Establishment in the first simulation.] ["Attempting Foundation Establishment is a heavenly chasm cultivators like us must face. Aside from those with earth spiritual roots or variant spiritual roots, who would dare claim confidence?"] [Pill Master Yun sighed.]
An earth spiritual root was a spiritual root aptitude that surpassed a high-grade spiritual root.
[For cultivators with such spiritual roots, attempting Foundation Establishment was practically a sure thing.] [Variant spiritual roots, originally called mutated spiritual roots, arose from mutations of high-grade spiritual roots and were equivalent to earth spiritual roots.] [You remained silent.] [You had countless opportunities to simulate. Even if you could not achieve Foundation Establishment in this simulation, there would always be a chance to succeed in the next one, or the one after that.] [But for the vast majority of cultivators, there was only one chance to attempt Foundation Establishment. Once they failed, their fate was to grow old and die in the Qi Refining Stage.] [You watched Pill Master Yun leave Wushan Market.] [At the same time, you began gradually selling the large stock of healing and lifesaving pills you had refined over the past several years.] [Now, as more and more cultivators entered the Mountain Sea Secret Realm, the prices of these pills had risen noticeably. You had spent several years preparing for this, and at last it was time to draw in the net.]