Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

The treasure house of the painting world, the five elements of spiritual roots, and the queen of tenderness.

Xue'er leaned against Li Mu's chest and told Li Mu in detail what she saw when she was overcoming the inner demon tribulation.

"Brother Li, if the spiritual energy of this world is exhausted, the seal of the passage will collapse! Then the Immortal Demon God will descend upon this world, right?" Xue'er said worriedly.

Hearing this, Li Mu paused while stroking Xue'er's hair, then showed a brilliant smile: "Silly girl, don't let your imagination run wild. The issue of spiritual energy exhaustion has not yet been determined. Even if spiritual energy exhaustion really happens, we still have the cave-heaven magic treasure of the Painting World Treasure Mansion as a shelter, so there is no need to worry about the issue of spiritual energy exhaustion. The collapse of the seal of the two-world passage is even more absurd. The passage seal formation has lasted for countless years without breaking, which shows how solid it is."

“As for the Immortal Demon God, even if it can really break through the seal of the passage and descend into this world, the Dao Lord of Xuantian Sword Sect will be there to deal with it. Moreover, after a thousand years, with my speed of cultivation, I might have been promoted to the Mahayana Dao Lord. If the passage between the two worlds is opened, maybe I can even fly to the upper world!” Li Mu added with a smile.

Xue'er raised her head and looked straight at Li Mu, her eyes sparkling, as if she could see through the barely perceptible solemnity behind Li Mu's smile.

Xue'er opened her red lips and said in a soft but firm voice: "Brother Li, although you said so, I can feel that you are also a little uneasy in your heart. Please don't hide anything from me!"

Hearing this, the smile on Li Mu's face gradually faded, a hint of apology flashed in his eyes, he sighed softly, and quickly apologized: "I do have some concerns in my heart. Although the Painting World Treasure House can provide us with shelter, it is not a long-term solution. We still need to find a fundamental solution to the exhaustion of spiritual energy. If the spiritual energy is really exhausted, the sealing formation of the passage between the two realms is estimated to not last long. By then, the passage to the Demon Abyss and the upper realm will most likely be opened."

A trace of solemnity flashed across Li Mu's eyes. He had previously joined forces with Feng Jianzhu and others to kill the Immortal Demon Lord, which had attracted the attention and hatred of the Immortal Demon God. Once the passage to the Demon Abyss was opened, the Immortal Demon God would definitely find ways to find him.

How could Li Mu not take it to heart after getting involved with such a being!

"I am indeed a little worried about the Immortal Demon God. Its power is unfathomable. Once it really comes, I'm afraid this world will fall into an unprecedented crisis. Although I am confident that I can advance to the Mahayana stage within a thousand years, facing such an existence, I dare not guarantee that I will be foolproof." Li Mu sighed, looked at Xue'er and admitted frankly.

"Brother Li!" Xue'er nervously grabbed Li Mu's hand.

"Don't worry! What you experienced during your inner demon tribulation will not happen in reality!" Li Mu smiled and shook Xue'er's hand, comforting her: "Next, I plan to continue studying the divine patterns to see if there is a chance to improve the foundation of the treasure house and continue to improve my strength in case of emergency. Although the Immortal Demon God is strong, he still has a thousand years to prepare. There is no difficulty that cannot be overcome."

"Brother Li, no matter what decision you make, I will fully support you." Xue'er nodded seriously.

The two smiled at each other, and their tacit understanding and determination seemed to be able to penetrate all the haze.

……

A hundred years have passed in a flash. The passing of time has taken away the dust of the past, but it has also witnessed the growth and transformation of countless practitioners.

The Qixuan Sect welcomed the grand event of recruiting new members and holding a disciple competition, which took place once every ten years.

As the morning light breaks, the mist-shrouded gate of the Qixuan Sect gradually appears before the eyes of the world. On the ancient and solemn stone steps, young monks from all directions have gathered. Some of them have a desire for power, some carry the expectations of their families, or simply come for the legendary holy land of practice. Everyone's eyes are shining with longing and determination for the future.

As the sun rose higher, the square in front of the Qixuan Sect's mountain gate became increasingly crowded and bustling.

The young monks gathered in groups of three or five, some communicating in low voices, some gazing up at the mountain gate that towered into the clouds, their eyes filled with endless yearning and admiration for the Qixuan Sect. Among them, there were many gifted ones. Some of them revealed an otherworldly aura between their brows, and they were born with a connection with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; some of them were diligent and through unremitting efforts, they finally had the opportunity to stand here. At a young age, they had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, and were only one step away from building a foundation. They came here to pursue a higher realm.

The spiritual root testing ceremony was about to begin. In the center of the square, an ancient spiritual testing platform was carefully arranged. It was inlaid with several high-quality spiritual stones, shining with mysterious light. Around it, several elders of the sect sat on them. They looked solemn and their eyes were like torches, ready to conduct a strict test on each young cultivator.

Su Hongxiu, Liu Yuqian, Xiao Qingyun and others have now advanced to the Divine Transformation Stage and become the new generation of elders of the Qixuan Sect.
Qingyangzi, Qin Wentong, Zhong Zilin, Ge Xinyu and others were promoted to supreme elders, retreated behind the scenes, and practiced seclusion to reach the next level.

Lin Maoshan, who was sitting in the main seat, had only the cultivation level of the late Nascent Soul stage, and became the acting leader of the Qixuan Sect. He calmly watched the spiritual root testing ceremony being carried out below.

With the sound of a loud gong, the spiritual root test officially began.

Under the gaze of everyone, the first young monk slowly walked towards the spirit testing platform, gently placed his hands on the platform, closed his eyes and concentrated. The gems on the spirit testing platform instantly lit up, and the colorful lights intertwined to form a complex pattern, revealing the spiritual root attributes and aptitude of the young monk.

"A top-grade water-type spiritual root, an excellent talent!" A sect elder announced loudly, drawing an uproar and envious glances from the surroundings; then, another young cultivator walked onto the spiritual testing platform, and this time it was a top-grade fire-type spiritual root, which was equally extraordinary.

As time goes by, more and more young cultivators have completed their spiritual roots. Among them, there are both peerless geniuses with single-line spiritual roots and hardworking people with multiple-line spiritual roots.

"Senior Sister Su, isn't Senior Brother Zhao coming over? The sect is recruiting quite a few new disciples with outstanding qualifications this time!" Liu Yuqian looked at Su Hongxiu beside her and asked with a smile.

Su Hongxiu smiled slightly and replied softly, "Although Senior Brother Zhao has not come in person, he is concerned about our peak and has already informed me through the communication talisman. If there are suitable disciples, please help him recruit one or two."

"One or two? So few. There are quite a few outer disciples participating in the competition this time, and they all have good qualifications. Many geniuses have emerged in this recruitment. If not for the fact that our sect has repeatedly set strict selection standards, I'm afraid the number of newcomers in the square would have increased several times." Liu Yuqian's lips curled up into a confident smile, and she was obviously quite proud of the sect's current prosperity.

Hearing this, a gentle smile flashed across Su Hongxiu's eyes, and she said with emotion: "Indeed! The Seven Profound Sect today is no longer the same as when we joined the sect. Those disciples are either outstanding children of cultivation families, or they are the best who come from all corners of the country and have gone through untold hardships and relied on their own efforts and extraordinary perseverance to break through numerous tests and come here." Su Hongxiu's eyes swept over the young cultivators in the square one by one, as if recalling when she was this age. At that time, the Seven Profound Sect would not have the glory it has today, with the Zhongzhou Spiritual Realm, large and small cultivation families doing everything possible to send outstanding disciples, and so many disciples with excellent qualifications for them to choose from.

Over the past hundred years, the Qixuan Sect has undergone tremendous changes, all of which are due to the relationship with the master - Li Mu. Not only is he famous for his extraordinary weapon refining skills, but also for his powerful network of contacts, which has brought the Qixuan Sect to an unprecedented height and become the largest sect under the Xuantian Sword Sect.

The overall strength of the Qixuan Sect has made a qualitative leap, and countless precious magic weapons, spiritual tools and even divine tools were born in his hands, greatly enhancing the overall strength of the sect. These magic weapons not only became a powerful assistant for the disciples on the road of cultivation, but also protected the Qixuan Sect from foreign enemies.

In addition to teaching the art of refining, the master also personally set up the Qixuan Sect's protective formation, using the spiritual energy between heaven and earth and special materials to build an indestructible defense system. The many sect formations can not only effectively resist the invasion of foreign enemies, but also form a good cultivation environment within the sect, allowing the disciples to practice more efficiently.

All in all, the Qixuan Sect has undergone tremendous changes from top to bottom compared to the past hundred years.

Sometimes, after coming out of seclusion, Su Hongxiu couldn't believe that the sect could shine so brightly in just a hundred years.

“I remember when we first joined the sect, we were also full of longing. But at that time, we had never imagined that one day we would be able to stand here as the elders of the sect and witness the growth of the new generation of disciples.” Su Hongxiu smiled at Liu Yuqian and said with emotion.

"Yes, Senior Sister Su." Liu Yuqian nodded in agreement: "Luckily we were chosen by the Master."

"In fact, the reason why so many outstanding disciples joined our sect is not only because of our great reputation, but also because other sects began to withdraw from the world and no longer accept disciples!"

At this moment, Lin Maoshan suddenly interrupted, looking at Su Hongxiu, Liu Yuqian explained.

"Hmm? Junior Brother Lin, I have just finished my retreat. Can you tell me the reason in detail?" Su Hongxiu turned her gaze to Lin Maoshan, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes, and asked.

Lin Maoshan nodded slightly, looked into the distance with deep eyes, and said in a heavy heart: "Senior Sister Su, Senior Sister Liu, you don't know that there have indeed been some special changes in the external world. Among them, the most significant point is the increasing decrease in spiritual world cultivation resources."

Lin Maoshan paused and continued, "With the increasing number of immortal cultivators and the sharp rise in the demand for cultivation resources by high-level cultivators, the originally abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth, rare medicinal materials, spiritual stone veins and other resources are gradually becoming scarce. This change has not only intensified the competition between sects, but also prompted some ancient sects to decide to retreat from the world."

"Fifty years ago, the Yunyin Sect, a sect famous for its concealment and escape techniques, suffered repeated heavy losses in the war for resources. Eventually, it decided to close the mountain gate and hide the sect in a secret place shrouded in clouds and mist, no longer interacting with the outside world."

"Thirty-seven years ago, several major sects announced their decision to retreat from the world. For example, the Danding Sect, which was famous for its alchemy, chose to close its doors due to the increasing scarcity of medicinal materials and the difficulty in maintaining the huge consumption required for alchemy... Most recently, five years ago, the Wentian Sect, which was famous for its array formations, announced its decision to retreat from the world."

"In addition to these large sects, many small sects and cultivation families have also followed suit and chosen the path of seclusion. Either for self-protection or to seek a better cultivation environment, they have closed their mountain gates and their contact with the outside world has gradually decreased."

“Now, these disciples with excellent spiritual roots have come from thousands of miles away to seek to join our sect. This is also a forced move.” Lin Maoshan finally sighed: “It is not easy for the Seven Profound Sect to remain strong in such a difficult situation.”

"Why is this so? Could it be related to that rumor?" Xiao Qingyun's voice suddenly interrupted, speaking with some solemnity.

"What rumors?"

Su Hongxiu frowned and looked at Xiao Qingyun and asked.

"Junior Brother Xiao is right. This is indeed related to a widely circulated rumor." A complicated look flashed across Lin Mao's eyes. He looked at Su Hongxiu and answered, "Various signs in recent years indicate that the spirit world is experiencing an unprecedented crisis of spirit vein depletion."

"Spiritual veins exhausted?" Su Hongxiu and Liu Yuqian's faces changed when they heard this. This word was like a bolt from the blue for cultivators.

"That's right, the spirit veins are exhausted." Lin Maoshan said in a deep voice: "In the spirit world, the spirit veins are where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathers, and they are the foundation of our cultivation. However, with the passage of time, coupled with the excessive absorption of spiritual energy by high-level cultivators, and the subtle changes in the laws of heaven and earth, many ancient spirit veins have begun to gradually lose their vitality, or even completely dry up. This phenomenon has not only led to an extreme shortage of cultivation resources, but also caused a fundamental change in the ecological environment of the entire spirit world."

"Now, several main spiritual veins of our sect are relatively stable because of the magic array set up by our master. Our master is a genius who is well versed in the art of formations. He uses his deep understanding of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to set up a large formation to protect the sect. This formation can not only gather and store the surrounding spiritual energy, but also mitigate the impact of the depletion of spiritual veins to a certain extent." Lin Maoshan introduced.

“Other sects will find it difficult to resist this trend of decline without the support of the master’s formation. Many sects, especially those that lack deep foundation and powerful formation protection, can only watch their own spiritual veins gradually decline and eventually dry up. This is what prompted them to choose to retreat from the world and no longer accept disciples.” Lin Maoshan concluded.

"How could this be? Does our sect still need to accept so many disciples? Junior Brother Lin, have you informed our master about this? Does he know about it? What did he say?" There was a hint of urgency in Su Hongxiu's voice. She was extremely concerned about the future development direction of the sect and the attitude of her master.

Lin Maoshan nodded slightly, a complicated look flashing in his eyes: "I have indeed reported this matter to Master. He had anticipated this and did not give any serious instructions. He did not stop the sect from recruiting disciples, nor did he ask the sect to retreat from the world."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. In their eyes, Master Li Mu was omnipotent. Since he did not explicitly express his opposition, he must have his own reasons and considerations. Perhaps the spiritual vein depletion was only temporary. Who knows, he also thought of a countermeasure.

Those talented disciples who are not accepted by other sects may be their chance to pick up a bargain. (End of this chapter)