Chapter 36: Forging Ahead

After the banquet ended.

Ye Qingxuan resumed his rhythm of cultivation, even reducing the refining of medicinal pills to devote more time to his training.

Although he possessed eternal life, he did not allow himself to become complacent because of it.

The path to immortality is long; one slow step leads to many more!

Sometimes, once missed, an opportunity is gone forever. The peak of the Immortal Dao cannot be reached by relying solely on eternal life.

To the true powerhouses of the Immortal Dao, eternal life is nothing special!

If he wanted to reach the absolute peak, he could not harbor any illusions or slack off in his cultivation just because he possessed eternal life.

Heavenly timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony—sometimes, if one misses the timing, the chance to reach the peak is lost forever!

On the path of cultivation, the higher one climbs, the narrower the path becomes, and the fewer opportunities arise to aid one's progress. Missing a single chance could potentially sever the road ahead entirely.

Only by stepping forward one pace at a time, trampling through thorns, forging ahead with perseverance, and maintaining consistency can one seize every opportunity, undergo transformation, and transcend everything!

Therefore, since the moment Ye Qingxuan stepped onto the path of cultivation, he had never relied on his eternal life. What he valued was merely the assistance that eternal life provided during his early stages.

If, in the future, he could exchange this eternal life for a chance to reach a higher realm, he would discard this so-called eternal life without a moment's hesitation to seize that opportunity.

Since reducing his time spent on alchemy and increasing his time spent on cultivation, Ye Qingxuan's rate of progress had increased slightly compared to before!

Though it was only a slight increase each day, through the accumulation of time, this sliver of progress began to yield significant results.

In just six years, Ye Qingxuan's cultivation reached his expectation: the Perfection of the Qi Refining Stage.

This was a full year earlier than his previous estimate.

After advancing to the Perfection of Qi Refining, the next step was to open a Blessed Land and use the feedback from the newly opened land to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Before opening a Blessed Land, Ye Qingxuan could not advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage prematurely. Once one breaks through to Foundation Establishment, the essence, qi, and spirit of a cultivator begin to solidify.

If he tried to separate his essence, qi, and spirit to merge with the essence of a spiritual land at that point, the success rate would drop drastically!

However, before that, he planned to return home!

Standing in his small courtyard, Ye Qingxuan looked up at the sky, a trace of reminiscence flashing in his eyes.

"In the blink of an eye, twenty-two years have passed. It is time to go home and visit!"

He had joined the Xuantian Sect at the age of twelve, and he was now thirty-four years old. It had taken twenty-two years to finally break through to the Perfection of Qi Refining.

If he were outside the Xuantian Sect, he might have needed over a hundred years to achieve his current results, wouldn't he?

Taking one last look at the small courtyard where he had lived for twenty-two years, Ye Qingxuan felt no lingering attachment. He opened the courtyard gate, stepped out, and his figure grew more and more distant!

Arriving at the Affairs Hall of the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, Ye Qingxuan found the manager, Bai Zichun, and said respectfully

"Manager Bai, this disciple has broken through to the Perfection of Qi Refining and has come to register!"

"Broken through? So quickly?"

Looking at the disciple he had only met face-to-face twice, Bai Zichun's eyes revealed a look of approval

"You are quite impressive!"

He had already tried his best to overestimate Ye Qingxuan's cultivation progress, yet he hadn't expected that the time it took for Ye Qingxuan to reach the Perfection of Qi Refining would still exceed his estimates.

The first time he had met Ye Qingxuan was when the boy had first entered the Qi Refining Stage and come to the Affairs Hall to register his cultivation!

And the second meeting was this very moment.

Although the small courtyards where the disciples of the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard resided were protected by formation restrictions, preventing him from investigating the specific conditions within each courtyard, he had gained a general understanding of each disciple's cultivation status through daily observation.

Facing Bai Zichun's praise, Ye Qingxuan's expression remained calm as he responded humbly

"The Manager overpraises me; this disciple is unworthy of such praise!"

This was Ye Qingxuan's true feeling; compared to true geniuses, his cultivation speed was still far from sufficient!

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's humble response, Bai Zichun became even more satisfied with him, thinking to himself

"He can endure loneliness, and his temperament is excellent. This child truly possesses the potential for Blessed Cultivation!"

Although Ye Qingxuan's talent was not among the very best in the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, he was able to surpass other disciples with dual spiritual roots through his own efforts alone, becoming the second person in his cohort to break through to the Perfection of Qi Refining.

This was within Bai Zichun's expectations, but the timing of Ye Qingxuan's breakthrough was slightly faster than he had predicted!

Ever since Ye Qingxuan entered the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, he had lived a secluded life. Bai Zichun had observed his uninterrupted, day-after-day rhythm of cultivation.

As for the other disciples of the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, after entering the Xuantian Sect...

Who could be like Ye Qingxuan, capable of enduring loneliness and resisting the urge to wander around exploring the scenery of the Xuantian Sect? How could one ever see enough of the various mountain peaks?

Most disciples of the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard basically held the mindset of "playing while they could" before officially becoming Blessed Cultivators. They spent their days traveling in groups to the various peaks of the Xuantian Mountain Range, calling it "balancing work and rest."

There were even many disciples who, at the final moment, could not withstand the temptations of the outside world and would delay their cultivation speed just to prolong their time for play.

Time slips away in such inadvertent ways!

Disciples like Ye Qingxuan were extremely rare in the history of the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard.

Naturally, Bai Zichun was very fond of such disciples.

Taking a map from his robe, Bai Zichun said kindly

"This map marks the Tier 1 spiritual lands born within the Xuantian Mountain Range. You may choose a spiritual land to contract on your own."

Taking the map, Ye Qingxuan said hesitantly

"Manager, before this disciple contracts a spiritual land, I wish to go home to visit my parents. Would that be...?"

If he contracted a spiritual land now, wouldn't he be unable to return?

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's words, Bai Zichun said with a chuckle

"Hahaha, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You can select the spiritual vein first. Once you have selected and registered the spiritual vein, it won't matter if you go home afterward!"

"Although they are all Tier 1 spiritual lands, there are significant differences between them. Among the remaining Tier 1 spiritual lands, there are three that have just reached the late stage of Tier 1."

"The spiritual lands are first-come, first-served. Securing a good spiritual land early will be of great help to your early development."

Hearing Bai Zichun's words, Ye Qingxuan's eyes lit up. He was not foolish enough to refuse Bai Zichun's kindness.

"Thank you for your guidance, Manager!"

After expressing his gratitude, Ye Qingxuan opened the map and saw over a hundred markings for Tier 1 spiritual lands!

Among them, three markings were particularly conspicuous, clearly indicating the locations of those three late-stage Tier 1 spiritual lands.

Of these three late-stage Tier 1 spiritual lands, one was not far from the Xuantian Sect's main peak, Xuantian Peak, separated by only about twenty thousand kilometers—making it the closest Tier 1 spiritual land to Xuantian Peak.

The other two late-stage Tier 1 spiritual lands were located on the outskirts of the Xuantian Mountain Range, essentially approaching the border of Xuanzhou.

"Manager, may I go to inspect these three spiritual lands?"

The Xuantian Mountain Range was too vast, and Ye Qingxuan did not intend to visit every single spiritual land, so he only planned to look at these three late-stage Tier 1 locations.

Bai Zichun was intimately familiar with the information regarding these Blessed Lands, so he did not refuse

"You may. There are teleportation arrays near those three spiritual lands that can take you there; it won't waste much of your time to go and see!"

Then, Bai Zichun continued

"By the way, once you officially become a Blessed Cultivator, you will be entitled to two followers. You might as well use this opportunity to return home to recruit them yourself!"

"Followers?"

(End of Chapter)