Comparison

The first thing Zhang Xuezhou did after regaining consciousness was to discuss philosophy with Cai Ma. The two talked for most of the day before stopping.

Zhang Xuezhou was satisfied, while Cai Ma's throat was somewhat hoarse but also filled with satisfaction.

Newcomers to the Kunlun Sacred Land are extremely rare. Cai Ma was previously the youngest cultivator in the Sacred Land, but after Zhang Xuezhou entered the Sacred Land, she became the second youngest and was finally able to pass on her Human Sect to those below.

Whenever Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation was slow, she would scold him a few times, just to experience the comfort of being superior.

Thinking about her own little schemes, Cai Ma couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

"What's so funny? You ate just as much as I did after you Grain Avoidance Instruction!"

After sitting and discussing the Dao, Zhang Xuezhou used the Dust Avoidance Instruction remove dust and dander from his body. Feeling refreshed, he then drank water and ate.

After ending his Grain Avoidance Instruction, he ate several times more than an ordinary person could eat in a single meal.

Seeing Cai Ma secretly laughing to himself, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but mutter something.

"I'm not going to practice a technique that can replenish what you lack just by eating!"

Cai Ma replied sullenly, clearly disliking the Grain Avoidance Instruction).

Cultivating Fate Technique made her appear weak and useless, only having a deterrent effect against some elderly powerful cultivators. If she were to put effort into cultivating techniques that could solve problems with a few bites of food, Cai Ma felt that it would be utterly useless.

She felt that Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation was a misguided path. If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't been taught by the Emperor and Empress, Cai Ma felt that Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation was completely distorted.

Normal cultivators cannot devote so much time to the Grain Avoidance Instruction. Even if one cultivates this technique to its peak, one will only never need to eat for the rest of one's life, and then one will die and be buried in the ground when one's lifespan ends.

But the teachings of the emperor and empress have their reasons.

"Speaking of which, I haven't yet asked you about your level of mastery in these Evasion Technique," Cai Ma pondered before asking, "The Empress specifically instructed me to know how many techniques you've mastered!"

"They're roughly the same level," Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"That's about right!"

"My Bigu Aperture Opening Grain Avoidance Instruction 54,038 acupoints, followed by the Poison Avoidance Instruction with 48,672 acupoints, then the Water Avoidance Technique with 48,233 acupoints. There are also six other Evasion Technique with similar acupoints, differing by only ten to twenty acupoints!"

"This... you mean something like this?"

Having been a student of Zhang Xuezhou for decades, Cai Ma still carried a certain sense of superiority.

She considered herself a senior among the younger generation, even though they were the only two newcomers in the Kunlun Sacred Land.

However, the number of acupoints announced by Zhang Xuezhou was a bit overwhelming for her, as her cultivation of the Longevity Technique was still below the limit of 32,000 acupoints.

Cai Ma felt that Zhang Xuezhou's Evasion Technique were a bit too advanced; this shouldn't be the normal pace.

In Cai Ma's mind, it was normal for Zhang Xuezhou to have mastered thousands or even tens of thousands of acupoints. The existence of multiple Evasion Technique would make cultivation extremely complicated, making it difficult to maintain the same pace. Only those at a low level could achieve the same level, and it was almost impossible to push the nine avoidance techniques to the mid-to-high level.

"So you've already entered the Body Transformation Realm?"

She belatedly realized what was happening, and only then did she guess Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation level.

The Evasion Technique not only correspond to acupoints, but also require sufficient cultivation level to open and unblock Aperture Opening.

This is not merely a matter of cultivating Evasion Technique; it also requires a sufficient level of cultivation.

"Those at the Body Transformation Realm are as numerous as carp crossing a river; this realm is nothing special!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied while eating.

If this statement had been made twelve days ago, Cai Ma would have criticized Zhang Xuezhou for being overly ambitious and emphasized that cultivators at the Body Transformation Realm should not be underestimated.

But Zhang Xuezhou himself was already at the Body Transformation Realm, which left Cai Ma speechless.

She thought for a few seconds, then considered her own pathetic Fate Technique, and felt as if she had once again been trampled on to the lowest level in the Kunlun Sacred Land, even though Zhang Xuezhou, the last Holy Son to enter Kunlun, had surpassed her.

This left Cai Ma extremely frustrated. After getting the information, she wilted like a frostbitten eggplant and fell silent.

She mentally counted on her fingers, pondering the 34,522 longevity apertures she had opened in her 36 years of cultivation, and then gritted her teeth as she thought about the 54,038 apertures Zhang Xuezhou had opened in his 5 years of cultivation, plus eight other Evasion Technique, totaling about 390,000 apertures.

The more Cai Ma calculated, the more distressed she felt.

She couldn't understand how to cultivate like this. Even if Cai Ma were given hundreds or thousands of years of lifespan, Cai Ma felt that it would take her at least four hundred years to reach Zhang Xuezhou's level.

Even setting aside cultivation, it would take her a long time to memorize these acupoints without getting them confused.

This comparison, where five years of cultivation is equivalent to four hundred years of practice, deeply stung Cai Ma's heart. For the first time, she even doubted whether she would truly have an advantage after reaching a sufficient level in cultivating the Fate Technique.

If Zhang Xuezhou can cultivate at this pace for ten years, does that mean she would need seven or eight hundred years to catch up?

"Everyone in the Sacred Land praises me as a genius, but how can I be considered a genius!"

For a moment, Cai Ma felt that cultivation had lost its meaning.

Long lifespan will give her enough room for error, but aptitude for cultivation will make a huge difference.

Cai Ma imagined herself emerging from seclusion after hundreds of years of cultivation, only to find herself in an era she was completely out of touch with, an era that might produce even more geniuses than Zhang Xuezhou.

The strength she has cultivated over hundreds of years may be something that some future geniuses can achieve in just a few years.

The thought of numerous young geniuses treating her like an old hag and easily beating her up sent chills down Cai Ma's spine.

How long will it take you to cultivate the Longevity Technique?

After pondering for a long time, Cai Ma whispered a question to Zhang Xuezhou, asking him the most direct comparison.

"It depends on how long it will take me to gather all the medicines," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Cultivating the Longevity Technique isn't difficult; the difficulty lies in preparing the medicines. Gathering all these herbs won't be easy for me!"

"Is it not difficult?" Cai Ma asked blankly. "If I gave you enough cultivation medicine, how long would it take you to cultivate?"

"It will take at least ten days to half a month to fully advance to the 36,000 acupoints," Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"Ten days to half a month..."

Cai Ma thought about Zhang Xuezhou's time and then pondered his own arduous cultivation in the Kunlun Sacred Land.

She couldn't believe Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation speed, and she found it hard to imagine how he could cultivate like that.

"What if the Holy Son is just bragging? Wouldn't it corrupt my Dao heart if I believed him?"

Cai Ma pondered Zhang Xuezhou's words over and over, finding them difficult to accept.

She felt she couldn't trust Zhang Xuezhou's casual reply, but if it was true, she needed to observe how Zhang Xuezhou cultivated himself; perhaps she could learn corresponding learning methods and thus become less clumsy.

In the past, it was the emperor and empress who instructed Cai Ma to keep an eye on Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation progress. But now, Cai Ma felt that this was not only due to the emperor and empress's instructions, but also because she needed to keep an eye on Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation for her own sake.

Cai Ma felt as if her once bright sky had suddenly turned dark.

As she walked out of the kitchen to clear her mind, a white-bearded old Daoist priest strode confidently through the door.

"Dongfang Shuo, you, Master Li... how come there's such a young female cultivator here? Cultivating life force? What bad luck!"

The white-bearded old Daoist priest stepped through the door, glanced at Cai Ma several times, sniffed the air, and even took a step back, as if he feared Cai Ma as much as a snake.