He had felt deeply just how important cultivation was. As the sect master of the Righteous Qi Sect, he could not rely on his senior brother to solve every problem in the future. To forge iron, the hammer itself had to be strong. Cultivation was the true path to supremacy.
After going to Kunlun Mountain and killing Feng Jinglei to establish his might, Li Dalong returned to the Forbidden Grounds of the Rear Mountain. He continued his peaceful days of cultivating, checking in for system rewards, and teaching Zhou Xue to cultivate.
Ding-dong. Would you like to check in?
Hearing the familiar system notification, Li Dalong answered instinctively.
"Check in."
Check-in successful. Congratulations, host. You have obtained the Vast Righteous Qi Formula.
"The Vast Righteous Qi Formula?" As far as Li Dalong remembered, the Righteous Qi Sect had no such cultivation method.
"System, explain. What kind of cultivation method is this?"
The Vast Righteous Qi Formula is the advanced successor to the Righteous Qi Formula. Naturally, it does not belong to the Cultivation World, but comes from a certain mysterious greater realm. Alongside cultivating spiritual power, the Vast Righteous Qi Formula also cultivates the primordial spirit. Once successfully cultivated, your divine sense will advance into primordial spirit power. Primordial spirit power is one level above divine sense. You must explore its further mysteries yourself.
"Haha! Now I have a more advanced cultivation method. The system really delivers!"
Li Dalong was overjoyed. Unable to wait, he sank his divine sense into the cultivation method's Jade Slip, and an immense flood of information instantly poured into his mind. Before long, he had memorized the Vast Righteous Qi Formula's energy circulation routes, its methods for cultivating primordial spirit power, and all its prohibitions.
With this new cultivation method and the assistance of the Spirit-Gathering Array, Li Dalong was confident he would break through to the next realm within a few years.
Without dwelling on it, he immediately began cultivating the Vast Righteous Qi Formula. It had many more spiritual power circulation routes than the Righteous Qi Formula, and they were far more complex, but its efficiency in absorbing and converting spiritual energy was nearly twice as high.
Soon, Li Dalong was immersed in the joy of cultivation.
Time passed swiftly, and a year went by. The Righteous Qi Sect had another happy occasion to celebrate. Thanks to Zhou Yong's diligent sowing, his wife, Yun Yao, bore him another child-a son. Delighted, Zhou Yong named him Zhou Tianlong.
The sect master's wife had given birth to a dragon son, and everyone in the Righteous Qi Sect beamed with joy. The sect master now had an heir. Zhou Yong ordered the entire sect to celebrate for three days and increased every disciple's monthly stipend by thirty percent.
As the Righteous Qi Sect's prestige grew by the day, more and more disciples came to join it. Even the admission standards for its outer disciples had risen a full notch. There was no helping it. Ever since Li Dalong had slain Feng Jinglei, the leader of the Dao Alliance, with his sword, countless mortals and rogue cultivators had sought to join the sect. To keep their numbers under control, the sect could only raise its admission standards. Those who would once have qualified as elite disciples could now only become inner disciples, while those who could once have entered the inner sect could now only join the outer sect.
Zhou Yong's cultivation had also reached the late Out-of-Body stage. He needed only the right opportunity to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage. His talent was good, and Li Dalong occasionally supplied him with system rewards that Li Dalong himself had no use for. Combined with his continued cultivation using the Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones Li Dalong had given him, Zhou Yong's cultivation had already surpassed that of every elder in the Righteous Qi Sect.
Zhou Tianlong's birth brought a great change to his state of mind. His heart felt much lighter, as though something had begun to crack, though he could not say exactly what. At the same time, he felt the bottleneck he had long been unable to break through begin to loosen.
Without hesitation, he entered his cultivation chamber, activated the Spirit-Gathering Array, and began attacking the bottleneck, silently resolving, I won't leave seclusion until I've broken through to the Spirit Transformation stage!
He sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation method, gradually feeling his meridians begin to expand as spiritual power flowed swiftly through them. The change made his body feel wonderfully comfortable, as though his entire being were enveloped in a warm breath.
As time passed, Zhou Yong felt as though his body had become a wisp of vapor, gradually merging into his surroundings. He felt his consciousness slowly detach from his body, while his body seemed to cease to exist. Before he knew it, he had entered the Spirit Transformation stage.
With the breakthrough, his spirits soared, as though every worry had been cast behind him. He felt his body brimming with power, as though he could command everything. That feeling thrilled him. After years of arduous cultivation, he had finally broken through to the Spirit Transformation stage and joined the ranks of the Cultivation World's foremost experts.
The days passed uneventfully, and several years slipped by in the flick of a finger. During those years, the rate at which Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy increased began to slow. Even so, compared with before the upheaval, the Cultivation World had become a blessed paradise. More natural treasures emerged, newborn children possessed vastly better aptitude, and the bottlenecks between cultivation realms were no longer so firm, making breakthroughs much easier.
With numerous advantages supporting him and the Vast Righteous Qi Formula in hand, Li Dalong's cultivation advanced even faster. In just a few short years, he smoothly broke through from the Spirit Transformation stage to the Mahayana Realm.
His little nephew, Zhou Tianlong, was now five years old. Since his birth, Zhou Tianlong had been showered with affection by everyone in the Righteous Qi Sect. This time, however, Zhou Yong had learned his lesson from Zhou Xue. He also held high hopes for Zhou Tianlong and was grooming him to become sect master, so his expectations were much stricter.
Yet Zhou Tianlong's temperament was completely different from his older sister Zhou Xue's. Zhou Xue was lively and restless, while Zhou Tianlong was obedient and rather solemn. He behaved like a little adult, with a maturity beyond his years, and his aptitude and intelligence surpassed his sister's. Perhaps this also had something to do with his being born later, after Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy had further transformed the Cultivation World.
With the resources Zhou Tianlong now enjoyed from the Righteous Qi Sect, he had built a very solid foundation. This time, his mother, Yun Yao, took the initiative to suggest to Zhou Yong that they entrust Zhou Tianlong to Li Dalong so he could cultivate under his senior martial uncle. In the years since Zhou Xue had begun cultivating under Li Dalong, her cultivation had risen rapidly, and she had also reined in her temperament and become more sensible! Thus, asking his senior brother to teach their son would nurture the child without requiring them to live apart.
But Zhou Yong found himself in a difficult position. Zhou Xue alone already kept his senior brother busy. Sending Tian Long over as well would delay his senior brother's own cultivation. He wanted to reject his wife's suggestion, but feared she would banish him to the guest room. For a moment, he felt caught between a rock and a hard place.
Then he remembered that Xue’er had been cultivating under his senior brother for almost ten years and was older now. He should go discuss it with his senior brother and plead with him if necessary. If he failed to get it done, his wife's nagging would become a daily performance.
Zhou Yong arrived at the forbidden grounds and saw his senior brother explaining cultivation principles to Xue’er. He did not disturb them, but stood quietly to one side, smiling as he watched the pair, one teaching with concentration and the other studying earnestly.
After a while, Li Dalong looked up and said to Zhou Yong, "Sect master, how did you find the time to come over today?"
"Senior brother, I had nothing to do today, so I came to take a look."
"There's also something I need to discuss with you, senior brother," Zhou Yong said to Li Dalong, looking embarrassed.
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