How can one become an immortal with such laziness?

In the dimly lit hut, the light emitted by the spirit stone made Huo Le's face appear even more defined, half of his face hidden in shadow, and a faint spiritual energy emanating from his two somewhat aged and rough hands: "Spirit stone, oh spirit stone, tell me, what is the most talented disciple in the sect doing!"

Spirit Stone: "..."

"Shh."

The Tulou drew back the curtains, and the shadows receded.

"Hey, senior brother, snap out of it."

Mu Ling sat to the side with her long legs crossed, glanced at Elder Huo, and said speechlessly, "Senior brother, please let it go. It's just an ordinary communication spirit stone, not some ancient artifact. It's not something you can use to spy on girls' privacy."

"Hey, don't use such harsh language! What do you mean by 'peeping into privacy'?"

Elder Huo Le's forehead creased with a "well" sign, and he couldn't help but say, "I just can't help but feel that Xiao Li can abandon the darkness and turn back to say that she wants to work hard and revitalize the sect!"

"uh-huh."

Mu Ling didn't even turn her head, carefully trimming her nails, and casually said, "You just think about it, but you're actually very conflicted, aren't you?"

On one hand, he didn't want his disciples to be sad, but on the other hand, he was thinking about revitalizing the sect...

To be honest, you've done a great job over the years, and everyone has seen and appreciated it.

Even when facing your master, you are the one with the clearest conscience, and your master will be proud of you.

"uh-huh."

The earthen building leaned against a shelf and spread its hands, saying, "We tried to stop them once before, and everyone saw the result."

Spiritual practice also requires a calm and peaceful mind. If the mind is unsettled and the spirit is unsettled, let alone progress, simply avoiding spiritual deviation is a good outcome!

"I know, I know, I understand all of that."

Huo Le sighed, "But how terrifying is the tribulation of lightning when a Golden Core cultivator advances to the Nascent Soul stage? Countless talented individuals throughout history have been reduced to ashes by it."

Even our master specifically instructed us before he left that we should never attempt to touch the Nascent Soul stage without complete certainty.

But he didn't say exactly what level of control constituted complete mastery.

"Well, let me think about it..."

Tulou Muling's gaze shifted upwards, her memories stirred.

Ah, when you all feel it's time, then it's time! Yes, the right time!

"..."

"Master, he..."

Black lines appeared on the top of the earthen building.

"It's the same as saying nothing at all..."

Mu Ling sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Think about it, the Nascent Soul stage cultivators who are currently visible in the cultivation world..."

Huo Le counted on his fingers: "Master Gu Jian of the Boundless Sword Sect, Elder Shan Xing of the Pu Xing Chen Sect, Daoist Ding Jiang and Daoist Ding Hai of the Seeking Immortals Sect..."

I wanted to ask for advice, but either they were elusive and never showed up, or they were too busy with other commitments to find an opportunity.

"What's the use of asking for advice? Wasn't Master's cultivation level higher than theirs back then?"

Tulou said nonchalantly, "In the end, they didn't tell us much. We still have to figure it out ourselves."

"I've heard that in the past, cultivators who encountered lightning tribulations when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage didn't call them lightning tribulations..."

Mu Ling pointed to a finger and sighed, "People usually call tribulations 'heavenly blessings,' regarding them as a gift from heaven, believing they are divine intervention to help them break through their golden core and achieve final sublimation. They're not only not afraid, but they also look forward to it. And yet, in our current cultivation world..."

Ancient cultivator: Huh? No way, people can die while advancing to the Nascent Soul stage? Even heavenly lightning would slap you twice if it passed by! Take this punch first!

Cultivator: Waaaaah, we've gotten into a conflict with another sect! How terrifying! We need to close the mountain immediately to prevent the conflict from escalating. Waaaaah, please don't let this disaster befall me!

Tulou: "..."

Huo Le: "..."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 196 I made plans with my classmates to play games together at home, but once I got home, I forgot all about it, saying I'd definitely do it next time.

"Ahem, let's not talk about that, let's not talk about that..."

Huo Le chuckled and waved his hand: "At least the world is more peaceful now than it was back then..."

In short, since we can't find an opportunity to consult those Nascent Soul stage experts, we can only explore the relics left behind by Nascent Soul stage experts.

By combining this with the resources left to us by our master, we can draw inferences from one instance to another, find the differences and similarities between the two, and thus forge our own path.

"Speaking of this..."

Mu Ling's face showed worry: "Senior Brother Shui Ran is about to lose control of his cultivation level, isn't he?"

"Ah, yes."

Tulou nodded: "That's why he thought of taking advantage of this opportunity to find a breakthrough and give it a shot."

"Then he'll keep Hei Xiaolong by his side..."

Mu Ling's pupils contracted: "Yes..."

"Well, that's it."

Elder Huo Le said quietly, "When Senior Brother felt that there was no hope of survival, he probably had to make arrangements for his affairs after death..."

If Senior Brother successfully advances, Xiao Long will remain the honorary elder as promised. If Senior Brother fails... he will become the next Water Department Elder..."

Tulou and Muling lowered their heads, remaining silent for a long time.

"Ha, how should I put it..."

Tulou smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Xiaolong entered the sect at the age of ten, and now at fourteen he has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Moreover, we have watched him grow up."

With some more time and experience to grow, becoming the Water Elder... shouldn't be a problem!

"Pah, what discouraging things are you saying!"

Mu Ling frowned: "Your senior brother is perfectly fine, and you're already thinking of cursing him to die?!"

"Hey, why are you reacting so strongly? I'm just being prepared for the worst, to avoid losing my composure and then you're putting this label on me?"

Tulou said unhappily, "Fine, I won't get involved in this anymore. You'll handle it all and be in charge!"

"Here……"

Mu Ling's tone was slightly weaker as she whispered, "In short, Xiao Long's cultivation level is still too low. It's too much of a stretch for him to be an elder like the Water Elder. He should learn and hone his skills more under his senior brother's guidance..."

"That's true..."

Before Elder Huo could finish speaking, the communication stone, which had been silent until now, finally flickered again.

"!!!"

The three of them jumped to their feet, their hearts pounding: "Connect it quickly!"

Elder Huo Le calmed himself down and activated the communication spirit stone. The light and shadow flickered, revealing Shui Ran's figure.

Before the other party could speak, Elder Huo hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother! You finally replied? Where are you now? Have you entered the ruins? Are you safe now? Why is the image so blurry and intermittent? Where is Junior Sister? Where are Xiaolong and the disciples?"

"Junior brother, please don't get agitated. I'm fine for now..."

Shui Ran's voice remained steady, though somewhat distorted. Judging from the rapidly moving, swaying images around him, they were currently in a state of rapid movement: "I am with most of my disciples. Apart from a few who are injured, the rest are all fine."

As for my junior sister, there shouldn't be any major problems with her being with Xiaolong, so there's no need to worry about that.

"Huh?! What do you mean?!"

Huo Le exclaimed in surprise, "You two broke up? Why?"

"I'll keep it short."

Shui Ran quickly said, "To put it simply, what should have been a perfectly good exploration of the ruins was that we and the people from the Rolling Wave Sect were guarding outside, while the disciples were only facing the traps, mechanisms, and restrictions inside the ruins."

But for some reason, a third-party force, and it was even a member of the Siren Clan, had infiltrated the sealed barrier. You know, we've been watching the situation there the whole time, and we haven't been able to detect anything amiss!

Now that a third party has entered the fray, we suspect that someone from the Rolling Wave Sect has secretly leaked information, while the Rolling Wave Sect believes that there is a mole among us. In short, for now, everyone is trying to avoid getting involved with each other and get rid of the third party first before dealing with anything else.

Junior Sister and Xiaolong, along with a group of disciples, have already clashed with the Sea Demon Clan. The opposing side should also have Golden Core level combat power.

I am leading the weaker disciples, or those with lower combat abilities, to evacuate from here first, and then we will go back to provide support!

In short, you guys just need to stabilize things first, everything else is negotiable, yeah, that's it.

After Elder Shui finished speaking in one breath, the three people present all showed astonished expressions as they digested this huge amount of information.

However, Elder Huo was more concerned about something else: "Xiaolong went along too? How could that be!"

Elder Huo said somewhat emotionally, "With Xiaolong's talent, he will definitely be able to advance to the Golden Core stage in the future. But now you are letting him fight against alien races with the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage, facing the danger of death. This kind of thing... Didn't you say that you would keep Hei Xiaolong by your side forever?!"

"Shouldn't he have done that a long time ago?"

Shui Ran's voice was calm and steady: "Huo Le, yes, junior brother, you have protected the sect's disciples, especially those genius disciples, too well."

"Isn't the elder's duty to protect his disciples?"

Without a second thought, Elder Huo declared, "They are the hope of the sect, the future of the sect!"