"System, sign in!"
It was Ye Xuan's first visit to the summit of Wood Spirit Peak. Looking at the enormous Pill Cauldron in the air, he thought this was a good opportunity to sign in.
[Ding!] [Sign-in successful!] [Congratulations, host! You have obtained a Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill!] [Claim the sign-in reward now?]
"Claim the reward."
Ye Xuan's mind trembled slightly. He had never expected this sign-in to yield a Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill, a pill every cultivator at the golden core peak dreamed of obtaining.
Looking again at the Pill Cauldron in the air, he suspected that what was being refined inside was a Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill.
In the outer sect of the Azure Feather Dao Sect, every Peak Master had a cultivation of at least the golden core late stage. Ye Xuan had also sensed the imposing might of the golden core peak from Zheng Huaiyuan.
"It's just a pity this pill came too early. I'm only at the foundation establishment middle stage right now."
Ye Xuan sighed inwardly and could only bury the Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill deep inside his Qiankun pouch.
An ordinary man was innocent, but possessing a jade made him guilty.
Ye Xuan understood this principle.
If Ye Xuan took out the Nascent Soul Breakthrough Pill now and gave it to Zheng Huaiyuan, Zheng Huaiyuan would probably not be pleased at all. Instead, he would seize Ye Xuan and send him to the Law Enforcement Hall.
Before long, Ye Xuan rallied his spirits.
Now all of Wood Spirit Peak was his own backyard, and he had a master at the golden core peak. Getting good things through signing in could hardly be easier.
Previously, at Dao Preaching Peak, an outer sect Golden Core elder's explanation of Qi refining methods had earned Ye Xuan ten years of cultivation. If he had Zheng Huaiyuan explain Qi refining methods, or even foundation establishment methods, wouldn't he gain even more cultivation?
At once, Ye Xuan's gaze grew fervent.
Zheng Huaiyuan stood where he was, watching the two treat each other with the affection and respect of brothers. His mood brightened as well, and he summoned them over again.
"Fenghe, do you know why I won't let you break through to the foundation establishment realm this year, and instead want you to devote yourself to studying alchemy?"
"This disciple does not know."
Ji Fenghe raised his right hand. An iron ring encircled his wrist. This was no ordinary iron ring, but a Spirit Suppression Ring, which could lock a person's Dantian and prevent a cultivator from breaking through a bottleneck.
At first, Ji Fenghe had thought his foundations were not solid enough and his master wanted him to strengthen them.
But after Zheng Huaiyuan put the Spirit Suppression Ring on him, he knew things were not so simple.
"Do you remember the Immortal Alliance envoy who came to the Dao Sect earlier?"
Zheng Huaiyuan spoke solemnly. Recalling the scene that day sent ripples through his heart. In a hundred years of cultivation, it had been his first time looking directly at such a powerful being. Ao Jin's hundred-thousand-foot-long body was deeply etched into his heart.
"Of course we remember."
Ye Xuan and Ji Fenghe answered, both sinking into their memories.
Ever since seeing Ao Jin, Ji Fenghe had changed his cultivation goal from Ling Ziling to Ao Jin, swearing that one day he, too, would enter the void penetration realm and tear space apart with a wave of his hand.
Ye Xuan thought more about the Immortal Alliance's strength. He remembered Ao Jin calling himself a mount under the Immortal Alliance, which meant Ao Jin was merely someone's mount within the Immortal Alliance.
With even a mount being an existence at the void penetration realm, the Immortal Alliance's strength was beyond Ye Xuan's imagination.
"The Immortal Alliance envoy came to bestow a reward upon the Dao Sect-a reward allowing us to enter another world!"
At that moment, Zheng Huaiyuan recalled the shock he had felt when the Sect Master announced the reward.
For a hundred years, Zheng Huaiyuan had cultivated within the Southern Region. The farthest he had ever traveled from the sect was only ten thousand li. How could he ever have imagined that there were other cultivation worlds beyond the Yellow Origin Realm?
"Other cultivation worlds?"
Ji Fenghe cried out in shock.
Ye Xuan frowned and looked at Zheng Huaiyuan.
When he obtained the Chaos Dao Scripture, he had witnessed chaos evolving, so he naturally knew that countless great thousand worlds existed within the whole of chaos.
From the look of it, the Immortal Alliance was even stronger than he had imagined and had even gained control over other worlds.
"Indeed. The world the Immortal Alliance has granted us is called the Spirit Medicine Realm. It is a small thousand world that the Immortal Alliance has been developing for over a hundred thousand years. Spiritual Qi is abundant there, and spirit medicines are countless..."
At this point, Zheng Huaiyuan's thoughts drifted somewhat. Back then, the Sect Master had also shown footage of the Spirit Medicine Realm. Spirit medicines covered its mountains and plains. Thousand-year-old spirit medicines could be seen everywhere, and ten-thousand-year-old spirit medicines blanketed the mountains and plains as well.
"Master, has the Immortal Alliance granted the sect permission to enter the Spirit Medicine Realm to gather medicinal ingredients?"
Ye Xuan asked.
"Gathering medicinal ingredients is only part of it." Zheng Huaiyuan's expression turned somewhat strange. After a long silence, he said, "The information provided by the Immortal Alliance says that anyone who breaks through to the foundation establishment realm inside the Spirit Medicine Realm will receive the blessing of the world's will. So the Immortal Alliance requires that only those in the qi refining realm may enter the Spirit Medicine Realm."
Zheng Huaiyuan did not know what a world consciousness was, and even the Sect Master did not know. At the time, the cultivators had debated for ages and could only attribute it to fortune.
Beside them, Ji Fenghe's mouth fell wide open. There was rather a lot of information in Zheng Huaiyuan's words, and his mind was somewhat muddled.
Ye Xuan also fell silent. According to Zheng Huaiyuan, the Spirit Medicine Realm was definitely a good place to sign in. He simply did not know how many slots the Immortal Alliance had given the Dao Sect or how the sect would distribute them.
"The sect received three thousand slots this time. The Sect Master has decided to send twenty-five hundred inner disciples and five hundred outer disciples."
Zheng Huaiyuan glanced at Ji Fenghe. He had suppressed Ji Fenghe's cultivation precisely so that Ji Fenghe could compete for a slot.
Then he looked at Ye Xuan. Before, he had only had one disciple. Now that he had another, he needed to give the matter more consideration.
Ye Xuan was currently only at the qi refining fourth layer. Although his talent was very high, his aptitude was very poor. If he could enter the Spirit Medicine Realm and receive the world's blessing, this disciple of his would go farther in the future.
Ji Fenghe also looked at Ye Xuan, then turned an expectant gaze toward his master. He was confident he could rank among the top five hundred in the outer sect. Now, he hoped Zheng Huaiyuan had some way to let Ye Xuan enter the Spirit Medicine Realm as well.
"This outer sect selection will consider only cultivation, nothing else. There is still half a year until the selection. Ye Xuan, you will live here for these six months. If you encounter any problems with your cultivation, you may come and ask me at any time."
Zheng Huaiyuan pondered for a while, then handed Ye Xuan a Qiankun pouch containing a large quantity of pills and Spirit Stones.
As a cultivator at the golden core peak, he could naturally pull up the shoots to help them grow and help Ye Xuan break through to the qi refinement peak. But that would be somewhat like drinking poison to quench thirst, harming Ye Xuan's future cultivation. Moreover, raising his cultivation this way would leave Ye Xuan's foundations insufficiently solid, making his chances in the outer sect selection slim.
"Thank you, Master!"
Ye Xuan bowed deeply. He could feel Zheng Huaiyuan's concern and was somewhat moved.
After giving them a few instructions, Zheng Huaiyuan hurried away.
Ji Fenghe came over and patted his chest as he spoke.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother. If you encounter any problems with cultivation, you can ask me anytime. You can also use me as a sparring partner."
With time suddenly pressing, even the normally laid-back Ji Fenghe grew anxious. After settling Ye Xuan in, he hurried down the mountain and moved his own belongings into the main hall as well, accompanying Ye Xuan in cultivation.
Looking at Ji Fenghe's earnest expression, Ye Xuan felt warmth in his heart.