The Tranmission Elder, the Elder who taught skills died in battle, and with no one else to take his place, Zi Tianjun had no choice but to shoulder the responsibilities of the Transmission Elder and personally teach the disciples under his care.
Now, the majority of the remaining disciples were from the younger generation of each peak, with varying strengths in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages.
There were distinctions between direct disciples and inner disciples, as well as differences in spiritual roots, including those with single and dual spiritual roots.
In the midst of this, there was even a five-spirit root disciple who had never formally attended a transmission class and knew nothing.
Therefore, Zi Tianjun began teaching from scratch according to the standards for training new disciples.
This allowed Bao Gu and others to learn comprehensively what they had never learned before, while also enabling those who had previously attended transmission classes or had direct mentors to review and fill in gaps in their knowledge.
Strengthening the foundation during the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages would be beneficial for future cultivation.
Zi Tianjun started the transmission classes at dawn, lasting for two hours, and used the remaining time to supervise the disciples’ practice.
Since entering the Xuantian Sect, Bao Gu had learned swordsmanship from Little Martial Aunt and a few simple formations from her senior sister.
The rest was self-taught from jade slips, most of which she only grasped superficially.
Now, sitting with her fellow disciples to listen to their master’s teachings, she often experienced moments of enlightenment, realizing, “So that’s how it is,” or “Ah, I misunderstood that before.”
Previously, Bao Gu thought that cultivation was simply about improving her cultivation level according to the techniques recorded in the jade slips given by her senior sister, and that learning a superb sword technique would suffice.
If she had spare time, she would practice alchemy, artifact forging, or talisman crafting to earn resources for her cultivation.
However, after following Zi Tianjun in her cultivation, she discovered it was far from that simple.
Cultivation required not only improving her own level but also learning spells and abilities that corresponded to her level and spiritual roots, including alchemy, artifact forging, and talisman crafting, all of which needed to be gradually improved alongside her cultivation level.
In other words, she had missed out on a lot of foundational knowledge.
For example, the simplest foundational spell for the Qi Refining stage, “Palm Thunder,” and the “Water Condensation Technique” for water spiritual root disciples, as well as the “Fire Gathering Technique” for fire spiritual root disciples—these were all fundamental for future spell practice and implementation.
To give a simple example, if her senior sister had not practiced the “Fire Gathering Technique,” even though she had a fire attribute spiritual root, she would struggle to control fire, let alone ignite a flame.
As Bao Gu realized how much foundational knowledge she had missed, she also discovered a tragic truth.
Her fellow disciples all had single or dual spiritual roots, and there were no disciples with three spiritual roots.
Others only needed to practice one or two techniques, while she had to master all five elemental techniques of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
This was because she had a Xuantian Jade Mansion in her dantian that awaited her to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage to achieve the unity of the five elements before it could be unlocked.
Bao Gu believed she wasn’t slow-witted; her speed of learning spells was no slower than that of her fellow disciples.
If others could learn something in a day, she could too.
However, she had to practice five techniques simultaneously, which was five times the workload of a disciple with a single spiritual root.
What others could finish in a day, she needed five days to complete.
Her master had to consider the progress of the majority of the disciples and could not slow down the entire younger generation for her sake.
Thus, while her fellow disciples had already mastered their spells, she still had two or three techniques left to learn…
She thought that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep up.
Those fellow disciples were even more diligent than her; they practiced day and night without rest, even while eating, using the restroom, or bathing, they still didn’t forget to practice spells.
Bao Gu had no choice but to consider asking her master for special attention.
Since her master couldn’t slow down the pace to wait for her, could she be pulled out from the group of disciples for individual teaching?
She could just learn at her own pace!
When Bao Gu approached Zi Tianjun to bring this up, she was met with a fierce glare from him, who asked, “How long do you plan to learn slowly?
If I let you fall behind today, you’ll fall behind again tomorrow.
In three to five years, won’t you be thousands of steps behind?
Instead of pondering this, why not focus on how to improve your learning speed?”
Bao Gu felt a surge of tears!
She knew her master was afraid she would slack off if given the chance, but meals must be eaten bite by bite, and techniques must be learned step by step.
She wanted to keep pace with everyone else, but her workload was several times greater!
Not just one or two times, but three to five times!
In the same amount of time, she had to practice techniques that were three to five times the amount of others; she wasn’t a genius!
With no other options, Bao Gu could only grit her teeth and practice various attribute techniques day and night according to her own pace.
Aside from the two hours of morning class each day, she didn’t forget to practice spells even while eating, drinking, or taking care of her needs.
On the tenth day of attending morning classes, Feng Yi and Elder Niu finally returned from their expedition.
Both Feng Yi and Elder Niu looked exhausted, especially Elder Niu, who was already disheveled and now appeared even more unkempt, with his clothes in tatters and wrapped in animal skins.
Zi Tianjun abandoned the half-finished morning class and stood up, eagerly asking, “How was it?”
After greeting Zi Tianjun, Feng Yi replied, “It’s just as it was when Senior Nanshan came; there are no signs of human habitation in the vast mountains of a hundred thousand miles, nor any cultivators around.”
Hearing this, Bao Gu thought, “With such abundant spiritual energy and pleasant climate, how could there be no signs of habitation or cultivators?”
At the same time, she understood who had chosen this place—Nanshan Yijian.
Zi Tianjun pondered for a moment and said to Feng Yi, “You should rest first; I’ll talk to you in detail later.”
Feng Yi cupped his fists in salute and went to rest with Elder Niu.
Seeing Zi Tianjun return to his mat to continue teaching, Bao Gu focused her mind and listened attentively.
When Zi Tianjun finished the class and stood up, she quickly got up and followed him like a little tail.
She noticed Zi Tianjun looking back at her, and feeling nervous, she shrank her neck.
However, seeing that her master said nothing and continued walking, she mustered the courage to follow him into the wooden house.
Upon reaching the door, she saw Feng Yi, Elder Niu, and Nanshan Yijian already inside, and even spotted a dragon head peeking in from the window.
Zi Tianjun sat down on the mat and said to Feng Yi, “Speak in detail.”
Noticing there were no extra mats on the ground for her to sit on, Bao Gu took out a tiger skin and sat down at the back.
Feng Yi said, “In the past ten days, I searched the mountains within a hundred thousand miles and found no signs of human habitation.
The only creatures resembling humans were a type of long-armed giant ape, which is nearly ten feet tall, possesses immense strength, can leap seven or eight feet, and lives in caves, showing signs of cultivation.”
He thought for a moment and added, “There are many beasts cultivating here, not just beasts and birds, but also many sentient plants, including powerful great demons, and even groups of demon beasts.
This place is very similar to the snowy region outside Xuan Yue Ancient City, but the overall strength of the demon beasts here is much stronger than those in the snowy region.
A Nascent Soul cultivator entering the snowy region usually can return alive, but here, even Elder Niu and I, relying on my speed as a wind attribute cultivator, barely escaped with our lives!”
Bao Gu thought, “If there are so many demon beasts here, why haven’t we seen a single one in the ten days we’ve been here?”
Just as her thoughts stirred, she caught a glimpse of Uncle Chen’s head peeking in from the window and immediately understood.
Even if the demon beasts here were powerful and not afraid of Spirit Transformation cultivators, they would certainly fear Chen Shibo, who possessed the aura of a dragon, and likely avoided this area.
Zi Tianjun then inquired in detail about the powerful demon beasts and any threatening groups of demon beasts, as well as the distribution of nearby demon beasts.
Feng Yi answered carefully.
Zi Tianjun also asked about the distribution of spiritual energy and whether it was abundant.
Feng Yi replied, “It far surpasses the snowy region; otherwise, the demon beasts here wouldn’t be stronger than those in the snowy region.”
Unable to hold back, Bao Gu interjected, “Elder Feng, what about the spiritual veins? Are they better than those in the snowy region?”
Zi Tianjun glanced at Bao Gu.
Feng Yi cleared his throat and said, “Bao Gu, I haven’t studied the art of finding spiritual veins, and no one in the Xuantian Sect has mastered this technique. If we want to find spiritual veins in this vast mountain range, we would need to seek out high-level experts in the cultivation world who specialize in locating them. Typically, these experts have intricate connections with major cultivation powers.”
He knew Bao Gu was new to the cultivation world and didn’t understand many things, so he added, “Finding spiritual veins is like searching for gold mines in the mortal realm.”
Zi Tianjun said to Bao Gu, “Alright, don’t interrupt; just listen carefully.”
Bao Gu dared not speak again and listened quietly.
Nanshan Yijian slowly said, “I have learned some techniques for finding spiritual veins. However, if we are only establishing a sect here for rest and recuperation, that’s fine, but if we want to mine spiritual veins, it will likely bring great trouble.”
Feng Yi asked, “What do you mean, Senior Nanshan?”
Nanshan Yijian replied, “There are many formidable great demons in this land of spiritual veins.”
Bao Gu shivered inwardly.
If even Nanshan Yijian referred to them as “formidable great demons,” it was clear how powerful these demons were!
She thought, “No wonder there are no cultivators or humans here. If cultivators and humans came out, wouldn’t that just be feeding the demon beasts?”
She wanted to ask, “Senior Nanshan, since there are such powerful great demons here, how can we establish a sect?”
She knew that the cultivation world and demons were traditionally opposed, and establishing a sect on the territory of demon beasts would likely invite attacks from them.
After pondering for a long time, Zi Tianjun said, “In that case, Feng Yi, you should carefully investigate the nearby mountain peaks to see which ones can be included in our sect. In the future, our disciples will likely have to rely on teleportation arrays to come and go.”
Bao Gu thought, “Are we going to establish the Xuantian Sect right in the heart of the demon territory like the second Xuan Yue Ancient City?”
The Xuan Yue Ancient City often faced demon invasions, and conflicts between cultivators and demons were constant.
If the Xuantian Sect were established here, it would also face continuous conflicts with demons in the future.
She felt uneasy and wanted to say something, but was afraid her master would scold her for interrupting, so she looked at him with a conflicted expression.
Seeing Bao Gu was about to speak, Zi Tianjun said, “Bao Gu, if you have something to say, just say it.”
Bao Gu expressed her concerns and added, “I think the cultivation world outside the hundred thousand mountains must know how dangerous this place is, so they likely won’t venture here now. Why don’t we establish our sect on the edge of the hundred thousand mountains, avoiding building in the heart of the demon territory, thus reducing conflicts and dangers with the demon race? Once we grow stronger, we can expand outward. We are a cultivation sect, and we can’t completely detach from the cultivation world. This is just a temporary measure to avoid disaster; sooner or later, we will have to interact with the cultivation world.”
She paused and continued, “Not to mention, the materials needed to rebuild the sect will still have to be purchased from cultivation cities, and the expenses for maintaining the teleportation arrays for daily exchanges will be substantial. Right now, with few disciples, it’s manageable, but if we grow to thousands of disciples in the future, the daily expenses for the teleportation arrays alone will amount to thousands of spirit stones. Any disciples below the Spirit Transformation stage will have to rely on the teleportation arrays to come and go, or they will risk their lives crossing tens of thousands of miles of demon territory. This… is not conducive to the cultivation of new disciples who are starting from scratch.”
“What are you talking about?”
A voice that Bao Gu was very familiar with and missed suddenly rang out from outside, startling her.
She quickly turned her head to look at the door and exclaimed in surprise, “Senior Sister, Senior Sister, you’re here!”
She rubbed her eyes and saw her lively and spirited senior sister striding into the room, bowing respectfully to Nanshan Yijian, Zi Tianjun, Feng Yi, Elder Niu, and Chen Shibo outside the window.
She couldn’t believe her eyes and thought in fear, “Could it be that my senior sister has turned into a demon?”
She called out, “Senior Sister, isn’t it the demon territory outside?
How did you get here?”
Yu Mi turned her head and glanced at Bao Gu, then sat down on Bao Gu’s tiger skin with her knees bent.
She respectfully nodded to Zi Tianjun and said, “Master, Little Martial Aunt received your message and gave the coordinates to the Demon Saint. I’ve recovered from my injuries, and the Demon Saint teleported me here. She asked me to bring you a message.”
Zi Tianjun asked, “What message?”
“Leave quickly; that place is not a suitable dwelling.”
Zi Tianjun asked in surprise, “Why?”
This was a place recommended by Senior Nanshan, and the Demon Saint said it was unsuitable…
He then looked at Bao Gu, thinking, could it be that the Demon Saint shares the same view as Bao Gu?
