At the entrance to the menial courtyard.
Han Xuanji saw a group of disciples gathered together, pointing at a young man dressed in plain gray robes.
The young man was speaking with a beautiful young woman.
As they spoke, the young man clenched his fists, clearly holding his emotions in check, tears welling in his eyes.
The woman, meanwhile, looked calm, as though she had long since made up her mind.
A long while passed.
The woman left.
The young man stood where he was, his whole body trembling.
The disciples watching from the side shook their heads.
"How pitiful."
"Yeah. If I were Lin Potian, I probably wouldn't even want to keep cultivating."
Han Xuanji listened for a while and soon understood everything.
The young man was named Lin Potian. He and his childhood sweetheart had joined the Divine Profound Sect together, but when their talents were tested later, the gap between them proved enormous. Lin Potian could only become a menial, while his childhood sweetheart was promoted directly to an inner disciple.
Such situations were not uncommon in the Divine Profound Sect.
For a menial disciple, breaking through to Foundation Establishment and becoming an outer disciple was usually the limit. Becoming an inner disciple upon joining meant one had outstanding talent and would reach at least the Nascent Soul Realm someday.
Normally, the two had belonged to different worlds from that moment on.
But for Lin Potian to be so heartbroken, he had probably invested a great deal of feeling in her, and the way things had ended now was too hurtful.
Han Xuanji had heard every word of their conversation.
Han Xuanji looked at Lin Potian again and found that he had a rather good mindset. Though he looked sad, he showed no anger at all despite being the subject of so much discussion. He was not particularly handsome, but he was pleasant to look at and gave off a precocious air.
Could he be another protagonist?
Han Xuanji fixed his gaze on Lin Potian. The young man looked utterly unremarkable, and his Spirit Root aptitude was even worse than Han Xuanji's had once been. His talent was probably only low-grade yellow rank. With aptitude like that, who knew how much effort it had taken him to join the Divine Profound Sect?
Only after activating his Void-Penetrating Divine Eye did Han Xuanji discover that Lin Potian's Root Bone and physique were quite extraordinary. Unless one's cultivation was extremely high, this was difficult to discern.
This special physique required nourishment from vast amounts of Spiritual Qi before it could awaken. In other words, if Lin Potian could not awaken his physique, it was an ordinary one, with a somewhat stronger body at best.
Without the Void-Penetrating Divine Eye, Han Xuanji would not have noticed it either.
As expected, unless Lin Potian had some fortuitous opportunity, he would never awaken his talent in his lifetime. It was uncertain whether anyone in the entire Divine Profound Sect could see his hidden talent, and even if there were, he might not meet them.
"Why should we cultivators lose ourselves in the love between a man and a woman?"
Han Xuanji walked up to Lin Potian and spoke earnestly.
Lin Potian looked up at Han Xuanji and was instantly struck by his bearing. Then he said in a low voice:
"If I had your looks, senior brother, I'm afraid Yan'er wouldn't have acted this way."
Hearing this, Han Xuanji could not help being speechless. After quite a while, he said:
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Do not bully a poor young man... If you keep wallowing like this, no one will look up to you."
With those words, Han Xuanji said no more and left at a brisk pace.
He had been wondering whether he could help him, only to find he was a simp.
It had merely been a passing whim, prompted by scenes from novels he had read in his previous life.
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Do not bully a poor young man.
Lin Potian repeated the words under his breath, his eyes lighting up. But when he raised his head, he found that Han Xuanji had disappeared.
"Who was that senior brother?"
Lin Potian hurriedly asked the other disciples.
As it happened, some of the disciples present knew Han Xuanji.
"So he's a senior brother from the outer sect... Even a man of such outstanding talent is only an outer disciple. It really is an immortal sect."
Lin Potian thought to himself, and his gaze grew resolute.
He would cultivate diligently and make those who had once looked down on him regret it!
After leaving the menial courtyard.
Han Xuanji soon put Lin Potian out of his mind:
"I need to raise my cultivation quickly. Perhaps I can go to the heart of Pill Cauldron Peak to check in."
It was not that Han Xuanji thought poorly of the rewards from the Soaring Cloud Palace.
He simply felt he could not keep fleecing the same place.
Though the Soaring Cloud Palace was good, many of the things he obtained from checking in there were not very useful to him. Pill Cauldron Peak had a greater chance of yielding pills as rewards, which would help his cultivation more.
This time, however, he was no longer content to check in at the many pill-refining workshops on Pill Cauldron Peak.
Instead, he planned to check in at the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall on Pill Cauldron Peak.
The hall stood atop Pill Cauldron Peak and was a renowned holy land of the Dao of Alchemy. It had produced countless pill-refining masters and grandmasters, and even supreme masters of the Dao of Alchemy
"As expected of a world-famous holy land of pill refining. Whether in its layout or anything else, it could be called perfect..."
Han Xuanji gazed at the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall from afar and nodded slightly to himself.
Compared with the grandeur of the Soaring Cloud Palace, the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall undoubtedly had more of an immortal air. A wisp of crimson light curled around the hall's ridge, nine-revolution purple-gold bells hung from the corners of the eaves, and a Taiji formation was carved into the steps.
The plaque before the hall bore eight large characters: "Majestic Li Fire, Radiant Pill Heart."
"Compared with the Soaring Cloud Palace, Pill Cauldron Peak is clearly much more heavily guarded..."
Fortunately, Han Xuanji's cultivation had grown greatly, and his perfected Myriad Phenomena Instruction made his presence even harder to detect.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully checking in at the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall. Reward: one Taiji Cauldron.] [This location can be checked in at repeatedly.]
"Taiji Cauldron?"
Han Xuanji looked puzzled. Though he knew how to refine pills, he usually obtained them by checking in and would not go to the trouble of refining them himself.
Still, the cauldron was an eighth-tier Pill Furnace. In other words, it was a Law Artifact of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, a treasure worthy of being a sect's crowning treasure.
Han Xuanji returned to his cave abode and took out the Taiji Cauldron. Its exterior was ancient and mysterious, with a pattern of two yin-yang fish engraved on its body, and an immortal air faintly flowing around it.
Eight crimson-gold inscriptions floated on the inner wall of the cauldron's belly. They could harmonize the yin and yang of heaven and earth and possessed boundless power.
Han Xuanji thought that even if he did not use it to refine pills, perhaps it would work quite well for smashing people?
Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by. Han Xuanji checked in back and forth between the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall and the Soaring Cloud Palace.
At the Li Fire Pill Heart Hall, Han Xuanji obtained quite a few treasures over time. They included numerous Dao of Alchemy inheritances, such as Pill Cauldron Peak's supreme inheritance, the Supreme Purity Pill Scripture, as well as Spirit Refining Pills and Creation Pills for those at the Spirit Transformation Realm to take.
He could only say that those two places were simply too good. With all kinds of precious pills and spirit medicines, he could hardly bear to check in anywhere else.
With the help of an endless supply of pills, Han Xuanji could feel his cultivation soaring every day. This was despite the time he spent each day consolidating his foundation, striving to reach the utmost limit of every realm.
Even so.
The Void Return Realm was within reach.
One day.
Han Xuanji suddenly sensed a presence outside his cave abode.
"Is Senior Brother Han there?"
"Hmm?"
Han Xuanji looked and saw that it was a junior brother from the menial courtyard.
This was the first time in all these years that anyone had come to visit him.
Han Xuanji immediately opened the cave entrance and walked out.
"Junior brother, what do you need me for?"
"Steward Li has successfully broken through to the Golden Core Realm. He sent me specially to invite Senior Brother Han to the feast."
"That truly is a joyous occasion."
Han Xuanji spoke in surprise.
Before long, Han Xuanji left his cave abode and arrived at the breakthrough banquet.
Li Shanhai cultivated diligently and was a good person. He was also well liked; even some outer sect elders had come.
Seeing Li Shanhai in high spirits, Han Xuanji was filled with emotion.
Time passed so quickly.
When Li Shanhai had reached Foundation Establishment, Han Xuanji had still been in Qi Refinement. Now that Li Shanhai had reached the Golden Core Realm, he had already reached Spirit Transformation.
Li Shanhai noticed Han Xuanji then and hurriedly called him over for a drink.
"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Senior Brother Li."
Han Xuanji immediately offered his congratulations.
He did not know whether he had helped, but his congratulations to Li Shanhai on his successful breakthrough came from the heart.
After all, Li Shanhai was one of the few people he knew.
"Haha, stick with me from now on, and I'll see that you have nothing to worry about."
Li Shanhai laughed.
"Haha."
Han Xuanji smiled without replying and took a sip of spirit wine.
Wouldn't a mighty Spirit Transformation expert like him lose face by following a Golden Core cultivator?
As Li Shanhai drank, he said:
"I don't know why, but after that conversation with you, I felt that if I didn't choose to attempt a breakthrough, I might regret it for the rest of my life."
As the two chatted.
Li Shanhai sighed,
"It's just a pity that I'll be transferred somewhere else in the future."
After all, he was now a Golden Core Realm cultivator, and serving as steward of the menial courtyard on Lingxiu Peak would be a waste of his talents.
"Would you like to become the menial courtyard's steward?"
Li Shanhai suddenly asked.