Immortality: Starting with the Fruit of Taiyin

……

Outside the Sutra Repository.

"Listen up, you newbies!"

"Starting today, work in groups of three to be responsible for cleaning, dusting, and inspecting the library."

"The pavilion is protected by an array, and no one is allowed to use their magic here, so cleaning can only be done manually... If I find any omissions, don't blame me for giving your general affairs a 'C' rating."

"If we fail to complete the sect's mission, someone will come to hold us accountable."

"Any other questions?"

In front of the Scripture Pavilion, the black-clad steward spoke coldly, revealing his peak Qi Refining cultivation.

Before him, a group of disciples nodded obsequiously, including the sharp-mouthed youth Li Xiang.

Just as Wang Xuan had predicted, Li Xiang had been selling courses to amass wealth, intending to break through his cultivation level at the last moment in the lower academy and enter the late stage of Qi Refining before the age of twenty-eight, so that he could directly enter the inner sect when he went to the mountain gate.

However, breakthrough pills are expensive, and the Azure Cloud Pill, which helps break through the bottleneck of the late stage of Qi Refining, is even more valuable than many commonly used second-tier pills. As a result, he ultimately failed to collect enough spirit stones and missed out on an inner sect position.

In this situation, once outer disciples leave the lower academy, they must perform corresponding duties and serve the sect, and can no longer devote all their time to cultivation and breakthrough.

So, after going around in circles, he returned to this place.

However, upon returning to this familiar place, Li Xiang's identity had changed.

Although he is still an outer disciple, he can no longer enjoy the various benefits that belong to the lower academy.

"So close...so close!"

Even though a long time has passed since that day, Li Xiang still can't let it go.

"I was born with a mid-grade metal spiritual root of 30 points, just one step away from top-grade, and I also have a Foundation Establishment ancestor supporting me... If I had more resources, how could I have been turned away by the inner sect when I left the lower academy!"

Taking a deep breath, Li Xiang felt a surge of resentment.

It should be noted that this failure not only cost him his position as an inner disciple, but also meant that the resources his family provided for him would be greatly reduced, making it impossible for him to maintain this cultivation speed.

But circumstances dictate his actions. Standing among the crowd, he dared not defy the sect's rules and could only obediently listen to the instructions of the outer sect steward.

Although he was physically present, Li Xiang's mind had already wandered off somewhere else... His gaze unintentionally swept across the crowd, and at a certain moment, he caught sight of a familiar figure from behind.

"Um?"

"It's him?"

At first, I didn't react, but in a moment, past memories flooded my mind.

It turned out to be him, the new disciple who had been reminded and thus failed to deceive anyone.

Damn it, if he sees me looking like this... A flash of annoyance crossed Li Xiang's face, and he lowered his head slightly.

Years have passed, and he wonders what has become of the female disciple who gave him that advice back then.

He vaguely remembered the girl's arrogant and conceited tone, as if she were a true disciple of some sect and an unparalleled genius.

Since that day, although he was still busy "selling courses", the other party's reputation still reached his ears.

To have mastered the basics of the technique in a single day and received praise from the academy headmaster—what incredible luck!… Gritting his teeth slightly, a nameless fire ignited within him.

Although Li Xiang knew very well that he had no grudge against the lower academy disciple whose name he didn't even know, it was actually Li Xiang who tried to deceive the disciple's friend first.

But if everyone in the world could think about problems fairly, then the world would have long been at peace.

"It's infuriating...why are there so many smart people in this world? Can't you all be a little stupid?"

"If you had meddled less back then, I might have been able to find a way to raise that amount of spirit stones!"

With resentment in his eyes, Li Xiang felt indignant.

The person before him was merely a trigger for his memories; what truly angered him was his current predicament and the many new disciples who, like Chen Yao, had reminded others or even himself of their mistakes.

If he were already an inner disciple, why would he waste his cultivation time coming here to do some mundane tasks?

He should have had his own independent cave dwelling long ago, so that his family members could contribute their time and effort to complete the sect's missions for him, and ultimately obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill in return.

He could only desperately recall that already blurred figure until Wang Xuan disappeared from sight. Li Xiang could only feel powerless rage in his heart, but in reality, he could do nothing.

After all, this is the Nanhua Sect, and he is not some desperate criminal.

Let alone the fact that he has no idea how that female disciple is doing now, even if he did know, or even if they met outside the sect, Li Xiang might not dare to risk being discovered by the sect and having a bounty placed on his head to attack his fellow disciple, let alone the fact that this is not outside the sect.

Feeling indignant but helpless, he could only shift his gaze and secretly observe the other lower-level disciples passing by.

Ha, how ridiculous. Don't be fooled by how comfortable you are now. How many more years can you stay here peacefully?

I have at least a spiritual root close to the top grade, and I also have the support of my family. Back then, I was able to work hard to break through to the inner sect. What do you have?

Aside from a few so-called geniuses, you'll all ultimately only be able to ascend to the main sect as outer disciples, eventually serving the inner disciples to the bitter end. In the end, what difference is there between you and me...?

"Ha, enjoy your last good days."

With a cold laugh, Li Xiang felt much better after thinking about this.

Just because others are unlucky doesn't mean you'll be lucky, but that's human nature.

People are not worried about scarcity but about inequality. It doesn't matter if you are not doing well yourself, as long as others are not doing well either, you can find some comfort in that.

……

Leaving the Scripture Pavilion, they were unaware of the psychological changes in a certain outer disciple.

Wang Xuan didn't pay much attention to this little incident and went straight to the General Affairs Office.

Li Xiang's existence is not a threat; he is only a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator who entered the field a few years earlier.

As a mid-grade spiritual root, a bottleneck at the seventh level of Qi Refining can hold him back for several years.

That being said, today's encounter still served as a wake-up call for Wang Xuan as he walked down the street.

That's right, this is Baiyun Mountain, the Linzhang branch of the Nanhua Sect. Almost no one dares to violate the sect's order here, so neither Li Xiang nor anyone else poses any threat to Wang Xuan.

However, order is not everywhere in the cultivation world, and one is not always the one protected by order.

Therefore, for the long term, improving combat capabilities is now an urgent matter.

"However, there are only two ways to improve combat strength."

"It's either one's own cultivation and supernatural powers, or external magical artifacts and talismans."

"But for me right now, the former cannot be improved in a short time, and the latter lacks sufficient financial support, so neither is the optimal solution."

Silently pondering, Wang Xuan didn't plan to spend too much energy cultivating spells or purchasing powerful magical artifacts and talismans to improve his combat strength.

Since the former is meaningless, he only needs to learn some commonly used spells.

The latter is simply unaffordable, since low-level talismans have a very short "shelf life," while top-level magical artifacts often cost hundreds of spirit stones.

Moreover, when it comes to cultivating magic, Wang Xuan prefers to deduce his own unique secret methods that fit the [Taiyin Jade Scroll] rather than spending his essence to comprehend and improve those second-rate techniques circulating in the market.

In this regard, he only needs to practice a little in his spare time to prevent it from becoming a weakness.

As for the means to defeat the enemy... After careful consideration, Wang Xuan suddenly realized that, compared to the methods that other cultivators could think of, cultivating a powerful demon beast, especially one with excellent bloodline cultivated with the power of Dao Fruit, was a choice that was more in line with his interests.