Chapter 14: Earth Source Formula

Three days later!

After undergoing multiple layers of inspections and assessments, Ye Qingxuan and Ye Qingxiao finally successfully joined the Xuantian Sect after swearing the Sect Dao Oath.

It could only be said that the Xuantian Sect lived up to its reputation as a hegemon-level power; even with the reduced difficulty of the assessments, nearly ten percent of the people in the reception courtyard were still eliminated.

Although the annual entrance assessment was not particularly difficult and had lowered the requirements for cultivation talent and perseverance, the Xuantian Sect did not lower its standards for personal character. They preferred quality over quantity; the Xuantian Sect would not allow a single "bad apple" to spoil the whole bunch.

Among them, Long Tian, who had clashed with Ye Qingxuan a few days prior, failed his assessment within an illusion array and missed the chance to join the sect.

In short, the Xuantian Sect was not lacking in disciples!

Since it was merely an annual entrance ceremony, the high-level leaders of the Xuantian Sect did not appear. At most, an elder-level figure showed up during the Sect Dao Oath segment.

This showed that the Xuantian Sect did not pay much attention to these disciples recruited once a year; most of them did not possess the talent required to meet the standards of the high-level masters for discipleship.

Shortly after Ye Qingxuan and Ye Qingxiao joined the sect, Mo Tian found them. Under Mo Tian's arrangements, the two were quickly separated.

Ye Qingxiao became a miscellaneous disciple of the Xuantian Sect. He was brought by Mo Tian to the Miscellaneous Services Courtyard to cultivate, where he was required to complete daily chores for the sect.

As for Ye Qingxuan, because he was a reserve disciple for the Blessed Cultivators, he was taken to the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, located in a building at the foot of Blessed Cultivation Peak.

As a reserve disciple of the Blessed Cultivators, Ye Qingxuan was not required to perform any sect tasks at all; the Xuantian Sect would provide sufficient cultivation resources for his practice.

This was essentially the case for everyone in the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard.

However, those willing to become Blessed Cultivators generally possessed very poor talent, typically possessing only single or dual-element spiritual roots. Those with even a modicum of talent and a glimmer of a future would generally not choose to become Blessed Cultivators.

Therefore, despite not having to perform sect tasks and having sufficient resources provided, the cultivation speed of those in the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard remained extremely slow.

After much wandering, Ye Qingxuan had finally settled down within the Xuantian Sect.

Upon entering the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard, Ye Qingxuan soon received the first cultivation technique of his life—the Earth Source Manual!

The Earth Source Manual was the specialized cultivation technique for all reserve Blessed Cultivators; every Blessed Cultivator practiced the Earth Source Manual.

Cultivation techniques are divided into nine ranks. Ye Qingxuan did not know the specific rank of the Earth Source Manual, but he had only received the first four layers of the technique for the time being.

The first four layers of the Earth Source Manual were sufficient for Ye Qingxuan to cultivate up to the Golden Core Realm, making it equivalent to a fourth-rank technique.

After obtaining the Earth Source Manual, Ye Qingxuan could not wait to enter his private courtyard. After activating the array built into the courtyard, he began his very first experience of cultivation.

For the first time, one must sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth and guide it into the body to refine it into one's own spiritual power; only then can one truly step into the Qi Refining Realm!

Ye Qingxuan sat cross-legged, suppressed the excitement in his heart, emptied his mind, and worked hard to sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

In a state of meditation, time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, a day had gone by.

It wasn't until late at night, when Ye Qingxuan woke up hungry, that he realized he still had not been able to sense spiritual energy or enter the Qi Refining Realm.

However, Ye Qingxuan was not discouraged. He did not rush to continue cultivating; instead, he left the courtyard and went to the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard's supply point to collect enough food.

Returning to his small courtyard, he ate a hearty meal and then chose to fall into a deep sleep to recover the mental energy consumed that day.

This continued for two days.

On the third day, thanks to the dense spiritual energy environment within the Xuantian Sect and Ye Qingxuan's extraordinary soul, he successfully sensed spiritual energy by the evening of the third day. He smoothly guided the energy into his body and refined it, producing his first wisp of spiritual power, officially stepping into the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Ye Qingxuan became the first person among his cohort in the Blessed Cultivation Courtyard to break through to the Qi Refining Realm.

After breaking through, due to being in an unfamiliar environment and out of a sense of caution, Ye Qingxuan did not report it immediately.

His talent was not the highest among his peers; breaking through too quickly would be unreasonable. Therefore, after reaching the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm, he chose to remain hidden rather than seeking attention.

After all, there were no rewards for being the first to break through, so there was no need to report it so soon. Besides, he would be cultivating in seclusion in his courtyard anyway, so no one would notice him.

After breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm, mundane food was no longer useful to him; the spiritual energy his body automatically absorbed daily was generally enough to provide the energy required for his physical needs.

Thus, while hiding his progress and living a secluded life to consolidate his first-layer Qi Refining cultivation, Ye Qingxuan secretly monitored the cultivation progress of the others in his cohort.

During this period, Ye Qingxuan attempted to refine the mysterious bead in his mind, but it had no effect. This left him somewhat disappointed, but he was not discouraged; the bead was in his mind and couldn't run away, so it would serve him sooner or later.

Once he had consolidated his breakthrough, Ye Qingxuan took out the storage ring given to him by the family head, Ye Yuhong. Using his meager spiritual power, he successfully refined it and claimed ownership of the ring.

The interior of the storage ring contained a space of 8 cubic meters, filled with various medicinal herb seeds prepared by the family head, a pile of jade slips and books, and thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones.

With a thought, he took out a spirit stone and then put it back, feeling quite amazed.

"Right, I also seem to have ten Qi-Inducing Pills and three hundred low-grade spirit stones!"

At this moment, Ye Qingxuan remembered the rewards handed to him by Ye Yonglun for placing first in the family assessment.

Finding the small purple bag Ye Yonglun had given him in his belongings, Ye Qingxuan similarly refined it with spiritual power and discovered it was a 1-cubic-meter storage bag.

Taking the Qi-Inducing Pills and the three hundred low-grade spirit stones out of the storage bag, he placed the spirit stones into his storage ring and picked up the Qi-Inducing Pills to examine them.

Pills are divided into nine ranks!

The Qi-Inducing Pill was a first-rank pill that could increase the speed at which a Qi Refining Realm cultivator draws in spiritual energy, thereby accelerating their cultivation speed.

Driven by curiosity, Ye Qingxuan decided to try the sensation of assisted cultivation with a Qi-Inducing Pill.

He took out one pill, swallowed it, and entered a state of cultivation.

Sure enough, with the assistance of the Qi-Inducing Pill, Ye Qingxuan's speed in drawing in spiritual energy increased by about thirty percent.

Pleasantly surprised, Ye Qingxuan immediately seized the time to cultivate, accelerating the refinement of the spiritual energy.

One first-rank Qi-Inducing Pill could maintain its effect for two hours!

However, Ye Qingxuan soon discovered a problem.

While his speed in drawing in spiritual energy had indeed increased, his efficiency in converting that energy had not improved much.

Once spiritual energy enters the body, a cultivator must use their spiritual root to refine it and convert it into their own spiritual power. Although the Qi-Inducing Pill increased the speed of drawing in energy—meaning more energy entered his body—the improvement in conversion efficiency was negligible. At most, it could only be considered an increase in the concentration of spiritual energy within his body, which passively improved conversion efficiency slightly.

Noticing this change, Ye Qingxuan smiled bitterly

"As expected, even with the superior cultivation environment of the Xuantian Sect and the help of pills, the cultivation speed increase for a single-element spiritual root remains limited. Ultimately, my talent is just too low!"

Spiritual veins were everywhere in the Xuantian Sect, with countless high-grade veins; the internal spiritual energy concentration was at least a hundred times higher than the outside world. Yet, Ye Qingxuan's cultivation speed in the Xuantian Sect would not be more than a hundred times faster than in the outside world.

All of this was due to the innate limitations of his single-element spiritual root's energy conversion efficiency. Within the Xuantian Sect, due to the influence of the spiritual energy concentration, his cultivation speed—without any pill assistance—was at most three to four times faster than the outside world.

"Slow is fine! There is plenty of time ahead. Besides, I don't believe the Xuantian Sect doesn't have a way to solve this problem!" Ye Qingxuan thought to himself.

With the Xuantian Sect as his backing, he might find solutions to many problems within the sect. This was the confidence that came with relying on a hegemon-level power, and it was one of the reasons he had chosen to join the Xuantian Sect.